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Dialog on Language Instruction Editor Lidia Woytak Editorial Advisors Christine M. Campbell * Gordon L. Jackson * John Hedgcock Copyeditor CTI2(NAC) Megan N. Williams 2007 Volume 18 · Numbers 1 & 2 Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center and Presidio of Monterey Dialog on Language Instruction 2007 · Volume 18 · Numbers 1 & 2 Dialog on Language Instruction is an occasional internal publication of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) and part of its professional development program. Its primary function is to promote the exchange of professional information by increasing opportunities to share knowledge among DLIFLC faculty and staff and by encouraging professional communication within the worldwide Defense Foreign Language Program. This publication presents professional information. The views expressed herein are those of the authors, not the Department of Defense or its elements.The content does not necessarily reflect the official US Army position and does not change or supersede any information in official US Army publications. Dialog on Language Instruction reserves the right to edit material to meet space constraints. Further reproduction is not advisable. Whenever copyrighted materials are reproduced in this publication, copyright release has ordinarily been obtained only for use in this specific issue. Requests for reprints should be directed to the individual authors. Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center ATTN: ATFL-P-AJ Monterey, CA 93944-5006 Telephone: (831) 242-5638 DSN: 878-5638 Facsimile: (831) 242-5850 To access Dialog on Language Instruction on the internet, type www.dliflc.edu/Academics/academics_index.html Dialog on Language Instruction Cover design Word processing & Formatting Printing Coordinators Barney Inada CTI2(NAC) Megan N. Williams Tom Colin & Lynda Yokogawa Dialog on Language Instruction 2007 Articles 1 Volume 18 Numbers 1 & 2 The RAP Project: Using Technology to Reach Advanced-Level Proficiency in Foreign language Learning Hussny Ibrahim Russian Arms Control Speaking Proficiency Course in Defense Threat Reduction Agency Valentina Freeman, Elena Krasnyanskaya, and Wesley Reed Toward an Integrated Approach to the Development of Interactive Listening Lessons Abdelfattah Boussalhi and Maria Ortenberg How to Enhance Students' Proficiency Through Movies Kyung Sook Lee The Role of Aptitude in Foreign Language Learning Marina Cobb Pre-Interpretation Strategies in the Foreign Language Classroom and on-Line Teresa Gryminska 15 27 39 49 57 Review Article 69 Foreign Language Teaching Methodology at DLI: 1985 to Present Christine Campbell and Deanna Tovar Faculty Exchange 77 Notes from an OPI Tester Trainer to DLIFLC Instructors Why Can't They Describe? Patricia Fay-Magiera News and Views 81 Former DLI Russian Faculty Member Publishes Book Christine Campbell General Information 83 Index 89 Calendar of Events 93 Information for Contributors The Rap Project Dialog on Language Instruction 2007, Vol. 18, Nos. 1 & 2, pp. 1-14 The RAP Project Using Technology to Reach Advanced –Level Proficiency in Foreign Language Learning Hussny Ibrahim Middle East School II In an attempt to respond to national needs for linguists with advanced level proficiency in Modern Standard Arabic, I launched the Research, Analyze, and Present (RAP) project in one Arabic department at DLIFLC. My objective was to extend the learners’ proficiency to the advanced level by maximizing their interaction with authentic audio and reading materials and by making use of the students’ creativity and analytical skills. Through teacher-guided Internet searches, the learners systematically selected and interacted with authentic materials. This paper is a case study of Class 505, which graduated 38 students in June 2006. In this paper I show how the project evolved and what the outcomes were in terms of proficiency test results and student opinion. Background The need for high level linguists in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) has prompted national interest in preparing students to reach advanced to superior levels (Malone, 2005). A new policy at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC), which will be implemented in 2008, will require students to meet new Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) standards of levels 2+, 2+, 2 in listening, reading, and speaking, respectively. The ILR scale, used throughout the U. S. Government for measuring language proficiency, provides descriptors of each base and plus level from 0+ to 5. The higher DLIFLC graduation standards are equivalent to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) standards of Advanced to Superior levels. With ILR level 3 equivalent to ACTFL’s Superior level and level 2+ identified as that closer to level 3 than to level 2, the new goal is, in effect, to prepare students to reach near-superior competency in reading and listening. The ability to understand hypothesis, supported opinion, implications, and abstract linguistic formulations are major examples of Superior level requirements. As a further challenge, future Arabic students will be tested with a much more rigorous MSA listening and reading examination. The Defense Language Proficiency Test 5 (DLPT 5) is characterized by authentic reading and listening texts with strong cultural and sociolinguistic references, based on such topics as geography, history and politics. In addition, the authentic MSA listening texts are delivered by several Arabic speakers with accents as varied as the countries using the language. 1 Hussny Ibrahim With these challenges in mind I started a project with Class 505 when the students began Semester 2. On Wednesday July 13th, 2005, the students of class 505 were instructed to go to the new Multi Media Language Lab (MMLL) where they were given the assignment, due by Friday of the same week, to search the Internet for current Arabic news items related to the topic “Health and Science.” They were to report their findings in a class room setting in any manner they chose as long as they used the available technologies--Smart Board, networking facilities, and the available software [i.e. PowerPoint, Adobe Audition, Movie maker, etc.). Their tasks were to find relevant reading texts and to develop a list of key vocabulary encountered during their search (i.e. idioms, expressions, sociolinguistic references, etc.). In addition, they had to write a commentary on the news reflecting their individual interaction with the news medium. Commentaries could range from one sentence to more than one paragraph. The results were impressive; the variety of styles and innovations reflected students’ analytical skills, as well as their individualized manner of interacting with and internalizing authentic materials through the use of technology. That week marked the beginning of the Research, Analyze, and Present project (RAP) that evolved into a detailed methodology that makes its core curriculum the wide world of the Internet. The teacher is a tutor, guide, and a coach, while the students are placed at the center of the learning process. They control the learning material, select the audio and reading texts to be studied, analyze and synthesize the information, and explain their interactions with the texts in individual presentations that they systematically design and deliver every Friday afternoon. As the project evolved and the advantages became more apparent, it was expanded into all of Department D, Middle East School II, as an essential part of the curriculum. The Project The RAP project approaches theory and methodology from a simple motto that rejects dogmatic thinking and embraces creativity-- “If it works, do it.” For example, the Audio-Lingual Method, with its emphasis on grammar drills, which is now largely outside the mainstream, may have a place in the MSA classroom. With a Level 2+ objective, teachers simply cannot afford to leave the intricate Arabic grammar to the natural unconscious mechanism advocated by Krashen (Krashen, 1981). Grammar drills and conscious instruction of grammar can be used alongside the practice of providing the learner the opportunity to “mentally construct the grammar from extensive natural data” (Krashen 1981). The RAP motto embraces pragmatism and empirical decisions about the most effective foreign language methodology for each facet of learning. The process of trial and error has been the leading force behind the implementation of the RAP project. The project has gradually acquired a methodology that reflects a variety of theories, including those utilizing neurological discoveries about the brain and language and the cognitive mechanism involved in the learning of a foreign language (Chomsky 1968 & Krashen 1981), and those emphasizing grouping and community and the need for cultural social interaction (Vygotsky, 1991) in order to progress to advanced levels of communicative competence. Also, this project is based on the recognition that we are witnessing a technological revolution that will no doubt play a role in all learning in the future. 2 The Rap Project The following pages will show how the RAP project integrates the computer, networking, and the Internet into the language learning process. I will explain how the RAP methodology was developed and how the socio-cognitive and cognitive concepts influenced the progress of the project. I will attempt to assess the effectiveness of the project through two measures. First, I compare DLPT results of class 505 with overall MSA results in previous years. This comparison with the results of MSA classes using the traditional written curriculum during the same timeframe may provide a reasonable tool to help assess the program. Second, I discuss outcomes of an evaluation questionnaire administered to the students with the assistance of the DLIFLC Research Division. Literature Review The RAP project was influenced by both cognitive and socio-cognitive theories of language learning. Concepts such as “cognitive mechanism,” “socio-cultural interaction,” “internalizing knowledge,” “social contexts,” and “communicative competence,” are important parts of the intellectual basis of the RAP program. “Acquisition of language requires extensive use of data” is an aspect of Krashen’s cognitive theory used in the RAP project. According to Krashen’s “input hypothesis”. . . we acquire the language only when we understand language that contains structure that is a little beyond where we are now.” (Krashen, 1981). This means that acquiring language, which relies on an unconscious cognitive mechanism, occurs when the learner receives data, or input, somewhat more complex than one’s current ability. According to Chomsky, “the development of an individual grammatical system was guided by innate cognitive structure, not behavioral reinforcement. Language learning was viewed not as “conditional response,” but as an active process of generating and transforming knowledge.” (Kern & Warschaur, 2000). Though holding some reservation regarding his theory, I applied Krashen’s ideas in the RAP program by affording the students maximum exposure to authentic reading and listening material somewhat higher than their current level. Maximizing the learners’ knowledge and interaction was realized through cross-reading and crosslistening, as well as the sharing of information within each group of students and through the students’ weekly presentations in small groups. In the process of fulfilling their tasks, the students had to read and listen to a great amount of high level material. My premise was that this practice, done systematically and methodically, would inevitably enrich their language; slowly and gradually, with consistent tasking, the learners would foster their communicative competence and hence their foreign language proficiency. Initial expectations were reasonably modest. At first the students delivered their weekly presentations with difficulty and no fluency. According to Krashen, as cited by Wilson (2006), ...language acquisition does not occur overnight, however, real language acquisition develops slowly, and speaking skills emerge significantly later than listening skills, even when conditions are perfect. The best methods are therefore those that supply “comprehensible input” in low anxiety situation, containing messages that students really want to hear. These methods do not force early production in the second language , but allow students to produce when they 3 Hussny Ibrahim are ”ready”, recognizing that improvement comes from supplying communicative and comprehensible input, and not from forcing and correcting production. (Wilson, 2006). Realizing the importance of “comprehensible input,” I ensured the students received such input through both classroom teaching and tutoring in the MMLL as the students were exposed to real world material through the Internet. The socio-cultural approach to learning and development is based on the concept that human activities take place in cultural contexts and are mediated by language and other symbolic systems, or what Vygotsky termed “semiotic mediation” i.e. “ language; various systems of counting, mnemonic techniques; algebraic symbol systems; works of art; writing; schemes; diagrams, maps and mechanical drawings, etc” (Mahn, 2006). According to Vygotsky , learning and development are socially situated. The theory presupposes a dialectical relationship between social context and meaning negotiation through a cognitive mechanism. As Meskill ( 2000), defines the term “ sociocognitive”: The term represents a growing attempt to reconcile the social and affective side of learning with what happens “in the black box” as it were……”within socio-cognitive framework learners are seen as dialectically connected to social contexts in a synergistic, two-way relation. Mediating the relationship is the cognitive realm that is viewed as marshaling, routing, channeling, and generally guiding the interplay of the known and the unknown. Meaning in the sociocognitive sphere is dynamic, never fixed. Its imperative is to capture and value the richness of this fluidity. Its central tenet that learning and cognition are social not autonomous acts. In the socio-cultural theory learning and development are achieved through internalization of knowledge which in turn is achieved through interaction. The concept of “Internalization” is therefore vital in understanding the Vygotiscan view of learning and development. Internalization is defined in Vygotsky’s approach as “an internal reconstruction of an external operation” (Vygotsky, 1978 , p. 56). Ehrich ( 2006), a Vygotsky researcher, explains the term in Vygotsky’s theory: [L]anguage is a psychological tool and the usage of this tool invariably led to a series of inner or mental transformations such as the development of higher thought and concept development. This transformation in thinking is achieved through a process of internalization in which language is the key ingredient. Steiner and Man (2006), view Vygotsky’s concept of internalization as a process in which both the brain and the social context form dynamic reciprocal relations occurring simultaneously, and through which knowledge, afforded by the social context, is transformed in dialectical process: Our concept of internalization recognizes unique human minds which owe their existence to and are inextricably intertwined with social, 4 The Rap Project historical, cultural and material processes (including brain activities). Internalization is conceived of as a representation activity, a process that occurs simultaneously in social practice and in the human brain/ mind. Internalizing knowledge thus became a necessary component in the RAP program. The hypothesis was that the language learning process would be incomplete unless the learner internalized the knowledge through the “analyzing” portion of the task (i.e., concept formation through rewriting the news and composing a commentary; negotiating the meaning within the group, including the native-speaker teachers; utilizing the social contexts afforded by the authentic material, etc.). The hypothesis was that if we placed the students in a relaxed, anxiety-free, supportive environment; then immersed them in an atmosphere of listening, reading, speaking, and writing with authentic language; offered opportunities for them to internalize that knowledge by interacting with native–speaker teachers, they would quite likely advance to a higher proficiency level. In socio-cognitive learning, according to Hymes (1971), language should not be learned in isolation from its social contexts but rather as ”socially reconstructed phenomenon”, as cited by Kern & Warschauer (2000,, p. 6). The goal of learning in the socio-cognitive theory is to develop communicative competence. Language is viewed as a social and cognitive phenomenon that develops through social interaction. Learning instruction, as seen by Warschaur and Kern, “ was oriented towards negotiation of meaning through collaborative interaction with others, and creating a discourse community with authentic communicative tasks” ( Kern, & Warschaur, 2000). Human interaction is thus a pivotal element in learning and development in the socio-cultural theory. As Ehrich articulates it : “ The quintessence of Vygotsky’s theory of socio cultural development… is, that all the higher mental functions such as voluntary attention, logical memory, and concept formation, have their origins as a consequence of human interaction “ (Ehrich, 2006). It follows, I believe, that since communicative competence is the goal of language learning, incorporating sociolinguistic competence, discourse competence and cultural competence is necessary to achieve higher degree of communicative capabilities. A key goal thus is to foster the learners’ communicative competence through developing their cultural competence. This in turn is achieved through interaction, ideally with native speakers in their own cultural context. Yet the persisting question is how to best utilize the socio-cognitive theory in teaching foreign language outside its natural “social context.” Since “social cultural interaction” is so essential in learning a language in the socio-cognitive theory, how can we maximize learners’ socio-cultural interactions to effectively teach a foreign language outside its original environment? Immersion activities with simulated “situations” and “socially situated tasks” may hold the answer in the view of the majority. In my view, maximum exposure to the authentic materials through the Internet is an ideal alternative to physically being in the target language region. Proper tasking that affords the learners opportunities to interact with natives and internalize authentic material is one logical answer. I use the term “interaction” here to encompass not only the interaction of the students with native speakers and peers, but also interaction with authentic reading and listening texts. This stems from my view that reading, for example, is an interactive 5 Hussny Ibrahim process. Through interaction with authentic texts, learners may draw upon the social contexts afforded by the material. In turn, internalizing knowledge can be achieved through such processes as rewriting the news and reconstructing it through summary writing and concept formation. In a comprehensive study on “Vygotskian Inner Speech and the Reading Process”, J Ehrich (2006) viewed reading as a process that involves two dynamic dialectically related components, “ R= D x C , which may be interpreted to mean that reading is equivalent to decoding times comprehension. (Gough & Wren 1999 p 70, as cited in Ehrich (2006) ). He further elaborates: “…the written text must be analyzed from the interaction of two contrasting processes, i.e., the analytical particularistic evaluation ( the decoding of individual units) in conjunction with broader, more global concerns ( the use of context and inference to establish meaning). ( Ehrich 2006). Creating a “community” within the two teams where the students share their own writings and engage in dialogues with their peers and teachers is one attempt to create a simulated social context, and afford a room for sociocultural interaction. We attempted to do that through creating a computer Drive within the existing DLI network we called it Q Drive. Method Participants At the time of graduation Class 505 was composed of 38 students and distributed in two teams, D1 and D2. All participants were military students, male and female, ranging in age from 18 to 30. The majority of the students either had no college experience or had attended for only a semester or two. Their status and military rank varied. Their proficiency in other foreign languages or previous experience at DLIFLC was not examined in this study. It should be noted that the Middle East School II has no control over the initial selection or assignment of students. Attendance at DLIFLC requires an aptitude test, the Defense Language Aptitude Battery (DLAB). DLAB results, along with the demand for linguists, are used to assign military personnel to a specific language. Middle East School II is organized into teams, with each team consisting of six teachers. All are native speakers of MSA (1). Teachers are selected for a team according to their background in Arabic dialects. Efforts are made to create a balance with regard to gender and the major three Arabic dialects-- Levantine, Egyptian, and Gulf or Iraqi. Initially, each class is composed of thirty students distributed into three sections. Throughout the course, students who fail may be recycled to a less difficult language or may restart the Arabic course. Hence, a team may lose a number of students during the progress of the course, but it may gain students from other classes as well. The Arabic course is 64 weeks long; it is divided into three semesters. Semester 1 lasts 29 weeks; Semester 2 lasts until week 48; and the third semester extends until week 62. Materials The material used in the RAP project can be characterized as authentic, current, and unlimited. All material was written or spoken by natives for native readers or listeners. The curriculum came from the Internet, which provides a window onto the authentic social contexts of the language. Though the topics were determined by those used in 6 The Rap Project the traditional curriculum, the RAP focus was on current events. No outdated news was allowed. News had to come from sources accessible to very large numbers of Arabic listeners and readers—for example, the Arabic equivalents to the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, etc. Students were encouraged to read and listen to the news in English during their free time, so they would be familiar with the same news in Arabic and able to contextualize the meaning, and even understand new vocabulary from context using knowledge gained through their L1 experiences. The starting point of the program was to “Google” the term “Arabic News Media.” The teachers could help students identify the most widely circulated Arabic media ( i.e., Asharq Alawsat Newspaper, the Arabic BBC out of London, and the major newspapers in Arabic countries, such as Al-Ahram in Egypt, Addustor in Jordan, and Alhyat in Lebanon.) Task The RAP project has three components: Research, Analyze, and Present: First, each week, students are given a research task. Using the internet search in the MMLL setting and equipped with proper training, students work in pairs to accomplish the assignment. Second, the partners analyze the news item selected, discuss it together, and develop a commentary that may vary from a sentence to a few paragraphs, depending on the week of the course. Third, students individually present the findings to classmates in their section, using the Smart Board, audio, and video. Other students in the section discuss the news item and presentation with the presenter. Everything takes place in the target language. Students are required to learn how to use both the technology and the language needed to select, record, and edit audio passages; to save, archive, and retrieve audio, video, and written text; and, then, to present the findings using the Smart Board and available programs. Each student has to write an Arabic summary of the news and have it reviewed by a teacher. Students also must prepare a vocabulary list including terms, idioms, expressions, etc., acquired during their investigation; they share these with their classmates as part of the presentation. Each student has to be prepared to brief the section in the target language, answer questions, and engage in discussion with the audience. Each classmate is required to ask at least one question in the target language to ensure productive discussion and interaction with the texts. In the first stage of the RAP project students read from a script and used a certain amount of English. After a few weeks this behavior changed; students were required to deliver their presentation without relying on a script. This, in fact, motivated them to seek the help of teachers for rehearsal, which ensured more correct pronunciations and contextually appropriate use of vocabulary. In the past, pronunciation of Arabic had always been a challenge for students. Rehearsing with the teachers, according to the students of Class 505, as well as their teachers, has significantly helped their pronunciation. Rehearsal has now become mandatory and is considered an integral part of the project. As the project evolved, the rule to use only the target language was enforced during both the presentation and the follow-up question period. Though students’ speaking abilities were often poor in the beginning, with persistent and consistent practice, the students’ speaking performance gradually improved.. This confirmed Krashen’s observation that speaking ability is demonstrated at a later stage of the language acquisition process. (Krashen, 1981). 7 Hussny Ibrahim The teachers’ role in the RAP project is a critical one. All of the teachers available were present, in a ratio of at least one to every five students, in the multi media lab. These native speakers provided the students in the lab with unique and necessary cultural and language resources. They contributed greatly to providing an environment conducive to learning with a curriculum as potentially unwieldy as the Internet. Teachers checked the students’ selections to ensure they were manageable and within the range of the I+1 concept. If needed, they explained difficult idioms or expressions or area background as well as the culture embedded in the language, all of which would have otherwise been inaccessible to students because of the difficulty level on the ILR scale. The teachers’ support was also needed in the MMLL to alleviate any sense of frustration as students interacted with higher level audio and written texts. As student questionnaires indicate, the project might not have succeeded if the overall environment had not been supportive. Through support in the MMLL and in rehearsals, teachers ensured that students’ vocabulary lists and written summaries were sound and that their pronunciation was correct. The teacher’s job was, in effect, to help the student prepare for the presentation. Not only did the teachers help students with pronunciation, syntax, and lexicon, etc., but they also helped explain the culture embedded in the MSA texts, including the sociolinguistic references, idioms, value systems, and area background such as social, political and economic systems. The standards represented by the ILR scale and the Final Learning Objectives required by the military services provide both students and teachers with clear guidelines to control and utilize the stream of authentic reading and listening materials on the Internet. Therefore, the teachers had to be trained on the ILR descriptors, and the faculty needed to familiarize students with the scale to help direct their efforts to complete the tasks. The Task is one determining factor in the success of the RAP program. Designing the task is critical to the success of the project. Unless the task is well-defined and guided by the teachers, the students could spend hours on the Internet without achieving the desired outcome. The first listening comprehension assignment given to the students was to search, record, and later present the headline news of the day related to the topic of Health and Science. While some students were listening to advertisements at level 1, some were listening to talk shows discussing culturally-loaded, superior–level topics. The latter group could have experienced considerable frustration when trying to work with such high level materials. These students were immediately redirected to narrow their search by looking for the key word in a website: AL Akhbar, or The News. Once redirected, the students started searching through the vast number of news items, which usually range from level 1+ to 2+. The clear instructions given to the students with regard to the topic, scope , purpose , and appropriateness for their current level, all helped make the results promising. The broad topic Health and Science allowed students to produce a variety of approaches. One student gave a presentation on the benefits of dates to human health. Another made a presentation on the role of exercise in the health of infants. A third reported on a study of job discrimination against the obese. Each used his/her own style, selected his/her own images, and personalized their delivery of the news. The task aimed at improving three skills--reading, listening, and speaking. While writing was not a top priority, it later proved instrumental in internalizing knowledge and in identifying students’ errors in structure and spelling. This prompted us to make 8 The Rap Project writing an essential activity. The teachers sought and realized a balance in promoting all major skills and avoided promoting one skill while neglecting the others. Students were encouraged to use three skills during their presentation, as the tasks assigned to them were equally distributed. The tasks progressed as the course developed. Semester 2 tasks were less demanding than those for Semester 3. From the start students were required to report concrete, factual news items; by Semester 3, they had to add a commentary and express their interaction with the news. This encouraged the use of MSA to support opinions and argue the points addressed in the news item. One example was the Danish cartoons that resonated in the Arab and Islamic world. During their presentations, students conversed and exchanged ideas using high-level vocabulary learned during their research and preparation. Results The DLPT Results As stated above, Class 505 had 38 students completing the course. There were two teams, D1 and D2, and each had six teachers. Though both teams started the course at the same time and both participated in RAP project equally, each team had its own dynamics and variables that affected results. Variables included the teachers, the morale of the class, the role of military class leaders, attitudes towards the learning of MSA, and attitudes toward the RAP project. For that reason, I analyzed results from both perspectives— separately by team and collectively. Looking at each group separately, in general we find that students assigned to team D2 scored better than those assigned to team D1. Team D2 had 71.4 % of the students scoring 2+, 2+, 2 in listening, reading, and speaking skills respectively; while 41.2 % of Team D1 students scored 2+,2+,2. 81 % of team D2’s students scored level 2 in speaking in comparison with 52.9 % of those taught by team D1 (see Table 1). Collectively, the entire Class 505 generated impressive results with 57.9 % of the students meeting DLIFLC’s objectives planned for 2008 (2+, 2+, 2 in listening, reading, speaking respectively: 73 % scored level 2+ or higher in listening; 86.8 % scored 2+ or higher in reading; 65.8 % scored level 2 or higher in speaking (see Table 2). The percentage scoring level 3 was 23% in listening and 50 % in reading; level 3 is actually the ceiling for the DLPT. The percentage scoring level 2+ in speaking was 7.89 %. 97 % of the students met the current objective of 2/2/1+. Table 1. Class 505 DLPT Results Level 1+ 2 2+ 3 Listening NA 10 (26.3 %) 5 (13 %) 23 (60.1 %) Reading 1 (2.6%) 4 (10.5 %) 14 (36.8 %) 19 (50 %) Speaking 13 (34.2 %) 22 (57.89 %) 33 (7.89 %) NA * Total number of students: 38 9 Hussny Ibrahim Table 2. Comparison of Results of Class 505 DLPT to 2005 and 2006 Classes Meeting Current Goal (2, 2, 1+) Class 505 2005 Classes 2006 Classes 97% 79.5% 89.9% Questionnaire Results Because of the many variables involved in the students’ progress in learning MSA, it was difficult to determine the role of the project in the students’ success. As an additional tool for understanding, a questionnaire was administered to obtain students’ opinion of the effectiveness of the RAP project. Results will be used to identify areas needing improvement for future iterations of the project. The questionnaire contained 14 statements on a scale ranging from 0 (no opinion) , 1 (strongly disagree), 2 (disagree), 3 (agree), to 4 (strongly agree). Four additional questions allowed students to write direct comments. The results were very informative. 95.3 % of the students with D2 and 80 % with D1 reported that the project noticeably improved their reading ability. The vast majority expressed the opinion that reading off the internet helped them to be faster in skimming. Many reported that enriched their vocabulary. 71.4 % of the students with D2 and 60% with D1 reported that the project noticeably improved their listening skills. Most students showed appreciation for the authenticity and currency of the news. Though the texts seemed harder, they found the benefits rewarding. Examples of comments included: It was faster & more colloquial so it exposed me to something new. I get to hear different speech. It helps to get used to new voices and unfamiliar accents. I had to use the word again and again which helped retaining the vocab. There is no substitute for authentic listening material. To hear native speakers interact in real life situations such as radio talk show provide an invaluable demonstration of not only phrasing but also idiomatic speech. Although I expected students to express frustration with reading and listening materials higher than their current levels, none did. They only acknowledged the difficulty level and expressed appreciation for the opportunity to select and listen directly from authentic sources. There was some frustration resulting from occasional malfunctions of the network and multimedia lab. 10 Exceeding Current Goal (2+. 2+, 2) 57.9% 26.4% 39.2% The Rap Project Almost half of D2 (47 %) and 20% of D1 students reported that they used the writing skill in their assignments and stated that the project noticeably improved their writing. The rest of the students reported that they did not write. Majority of the students (90.5 %) reported the activities of searching the internet and presenting once a week enriched their vocabulary In responding to a question about the most effective part of the project, searching the Internet for material was the most frequent answer, writing a summary rated second, and giving the presentation came last. The vast majority of the students expressed appreciation for the currency of the news encountered during the project. Some of the comments included: Many of our school materials are extremely outdated so it is nice to be able to apply our knowledge to things that are occurring now. The internet search is the most useful-not only are we reading and listening to new vocab but it also helps us stay current on news which will help with OPI. The questionnaire also confirmed the advantage of the project in providing information about Middle Eastern culture, politics, economy and related material. One student wrote: Our curriculum is so centered around the language that we can not actually learn about politics and current events. This project allows us to learn about events and ideas so we can use these ideas and thoughts as a knowledge base for advanced speaking. For example if I am asked to state my opinion on Geo-politics in the Middle East I may have the vocabulary, fluency and all necessary language skills , but no knowledge base to draw from. This program solves that. Conclusion As seen in the test results and students’ comments, the project demonstrated significant progress by students learning a foreign language. Success was due to many factors, chief among them the teachers’ commitment and students’ morale and positive attitude. Success was not limited to improving language skills but extended to fostering student motivation and attitude towards learning a foreign language. Stronger awareness of and interest in current events was another valuable outcome. In addition, the program indicated noticeable progress in students’ understanding of Arabic culture and Middle Eastern area studies, a key component in attaining higher levels in MSA. Through the project teachers managed to fully utilize the available technology resources at DLIFLC. This technological environment was fostered and facilitated by native Arabic teachers. Above all, the project showed how to maintain flexibility necessary for further development, and the application of better ideas. The RAP project, I believe, offered a versatile means for students to gradually build a solid foundation in the language, from which they can attempt to reach higher levels. 11 Hussny Ibrahim Yet, many steps need to be taken to improve the RAP project. All teachers and students should be trained on the ILR descriptors and appropriate texts for each level to help identify the relevant texts among the vast offerings on the Internet. To encourage maximum participation of teachers during the Internet searches, the faculty should receive hands-on orientation in the MMLL. All available team members should be present in the lab to tutor and guide through the virtual Arab world. For that reason both teachers and students should be trained to use the available software, i.e. power point, U-lead, movie maker Adobe Audition, etc. There should be clear written guidelines detailing the role of the students and the teachers. The specific weekly tasks should be distributed to both students and teachers to ensure organization and communication. It should be explained to students early that they must approach the Arabic media as researchers and reporters and demonstrate the ability to listen to, read, report, and react to the news in an analytical, mature manner. Dismissing the authentic material as propaganda will impede progress in the project and overall language learning. The second point that needs to be addressed concerns the future of RAP within the CALL, or Computer Assisted Language Learning in general. A natural next step of the RAP is to take the concept of “Interacting with authentic material” one step further towards “Interacting with other native speakers” in their own distant environment via the Internet. I believe that in the future, such an approach will surely be dominant in some settings to further learners’ communicative competence. This seems a possible outcome of the socio-cognitive view of language learning. According to Warschauer (2004), technology does not automatically cause the outcome or change, but “it can create new social contexts that shape, or enable processes and outcomes.” Just as the invention of the printing press created social contexts through which notions of teaching and learning were dramatically altered, today’s technology will ultimately help shape the future of learning foreign language. We must keep this notion in mind when we develop curricula or adapting teaching techniques. I hope that the concept of the project, the use it makes of technology and the positive outcomes will tempt others to carry this work further. References ACTFL Foreign Language Standards Writing Team. (2002). Program standards for the preparation of foreign language teachers. Alexandria, VA: ACTFL. Retrieved August 1, 2005 from http://www.actfl.org Anderson, N. (1991). Individual differences in second language reading strategies. Paper presented at the 25th Annual TESOL Convention, New York. Byrnes, H. (1984). The role of listening comprehension: A theoretical base. Foreign Langauge Annals 17:317-29 Chamot, A.U. & Kupper, L. (1989). Learning strategies in foreign language instruction. Foreign Language Annals, 22(1), 13-24. Chamot, A. U., Barnhardt, S., El-Dinary, P. B., & Robbins, J. (1996). Methods for teaching learning strategies in the foreign language classroom. In R. L. Oxford (Ed.), Language learning strategies around the world: Cross-cultural perspectives (pp. 175-187). Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press. 12 The Rap Project Chinnery, G., M, January 2006. Emerging Technologies, Going to the MALL: Mobile Assisted Language Learning. Language Learning and Technology 10(1). Chun, D.C, & Plass. J.L. (2000). Networked multimedia environment for second language acquisition. Ehrich, J., F. (2006). Vygotsky. Inner Speech and Reading Process. Australian Journal of Educational & Developmental Psychology 6, 2006, pp 12-25 [website: http:// www.newcastle.edu.au/group/ajedp/ Kern, R., & Warschauer, M. (2000). Theory and practice of network-based language teaching. New York: Cambridge University Krashen, S. (1981), Second language acquisition and second language learning. Oxford: Pergamon Press. Meskill, C., & Rangelova, K .(2000). Relocating the “cognitive” in sociocognitive views of second language learning. London: Peter Lang-Verlag. Malone, M., Christian, D., & Johnson, D. (2005). Attaining high levels of proficiency: Challenges for foreign language education in the United States. Center for Applied Linguistics, Benjamin Rifkin, Temple University. http://www.cal. org/resources/digest/attain.html Omaggio, Hadley, A. (2001). Teaching language in context (3rd Ed.) Boston: Heinle and Heinle Simon, P. (2001, October 23). Beef up the country’s foreign language skills. The Washington Post. Vandergriff, Ilona ( January 2006) : Negotiating common ground in computer-mediated versus face to face discussions. Language learning & Technology ,10(1). San Francisco State University Vandergrift, L. (2006). Listening: Theory and practice in modern foreign language competence. http://www.LLas.ac.uk/resources/goodpractice. aspx?resourceeid=67 Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind and society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Vygotsky, L. (1991). Thought and language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Warschauer, M., &, Kern, R. (2000). Theory and practice of network-based language teaching. New York:Cambridge University. Warschauer, M. (2004). Technological change and the future of CALL. In S.Fotos & Brown (Eds.), New perspectives on CALL for second and foreign language classrooms (pp.15-25). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Wilson, R. (2006). A summary of Stephen Krashen’s “Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition”. Language impact http://www.languageimpact.com/ articles/rw/krashenk.htm Acknowledgment I am grateful to Dr. Martha Herzog for editing this paper, and for her invaluable insights and advice throughout. I thank Dr. Gordon Jackson in the Research Division at DLIFLC for his support in administering the students’ questionnaire. My gratitude also goes to the teachers of department D in Middle East School II, especially the teachers of D1 and D2 teams. Without these exceptional teachers the project would not have succeeded. 13 Hussny Ibrahim Author HUSSNY IBRAHIM, Department Chairperson, Middle East School II, Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, Presidio of Monterey, CA 93944-5006. Specializations: Development of DLPT5, Target Language Expert in the joint DLI/MIT Machine Translation Project, language analysis. 14 Russian Arms Control Speaking Proficiency Course Dialog on Language Instruction 2007, Vol. 18, Nos. 1 & 2, pp.15-25 Russian Arms Control Speaking Proficiency Course in Defense Threat Reduction Agency Valentina Freeman, Elena Krasnyanskaya School of Continuing Education, Defense Language Institute, California Wesley Reed Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Fort Belvoir, Virginia Given the needs and requirements of the Department of Defense to develop foreign language and cultural expertise among the military, the faculty of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency Russian Arms Control Speaking Proficiency Course turned to development and implication of the 47-week intensive advanced course. This program can motivate students to develop their language skills in order to fulfill their duties in the Agency. This article describes this course, which is still being developed and modified, and certain principles of its development. However, the core portion of the course has already been designed and implemented. Drawing on this experience, this article addresses the value of such a course to foreign language curricular development, in part, to meet the requirements of the Defense Language Transformation Roadmap. Introduction The review of “The Defense Language Transformation Roadmap” recently published in the Foreign Language Annals (2005), emphasizes that the Department of Defense (DoD) is paying much attention to the quality of military linguists, especially to those who study “critical” languages, including Russian. This language has been taught in Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) since 1991, and DTRA military interpreters are widely recognized as being among the finest military linguists in the DoD. As evidence of their abilities, Agency teams have remained undefeated since the inception of the Worldwide Language Olympics (now known as “Language Competition”) in 1992. But, more important is the stellar reputation DTRA enjoys within the U.S. Government for its ability to put a large number of extremely capable Russian experts on the ground, wherever they are needed, sometimes at a short notice. The primary mission of DTRA military interpreters is to provide interpretation and arms control inspection expertise on U.S. inspection, escort and monitoring teams. As members of these arms control teams, they have actively participated in ridding the world of thousands of nuclear missiles and millions of tons of chemical and biological agents. Due to their high level of expertise, Agency linguists are also called on to conduct a wide variety of other missions for the U.S. Government. One of the first such missions came when the Soviet Union fell, in 1991, and teams from the On-Site Inspection 15 Freeman, Krasnyanskaya, and Reed Agency (a DTRA legacy organization) were assigned to support Project Provide Hope. Under this Department of State humanitarian relief program, teams were sent to each of the 15 former Soviet Republics to deliver medicines and other humanitarian aid. They were among the first (in some cases the first) Americans ever to set foot on the free soil of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). DTRA linguists have since conducted hundreds of various challenging “adhoc” missions. Each linguist assigned to DTRA has the opportunity not only to see history in the making, but to play a key role in the actual events themselves. For those linguists who have been selected by the DTRA Linguist Recruiters, the road begins at the Russian Arms Control Speaking Proficiency Course (RACSPC) at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC), Monterey, California. The RACSPC Program was originally established in 1990, as the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty Course. For more than a decade, it would see few major changes. The course incorporated many of the features that continue to make the RACSPC so successful: low student-to-teacher ratio; mission-focused training; realworld activities, such as interpreting excursions, etc. However, by 2002, for various reasons, it became clear that a general restructuring was in order. These are some of the key changes made to the program: • Course extended from 32 to 47 weeks adding a 15-week Refresher Program, focusing mainly on grammar skills and vocabulary building; this extension allows allotting 15 vs. 8 weeks to review grammar and vocabulary. A more comprehensive grammar review course containing a new DTRA RACSPC grammar review textbook has been developed and a number of commercial textbooks are used. • The most fundamental changes to the curriculum were increased emphasis on speaking skills (including 1-on-1 Conversation) and support / reinforcement of a broad (weekly) topical theme in all classes; a new topic is introduced each week, and Conversation, Listening Comprehension, Reading Comprehension, Interpretation, Translation classes, and Roundtable discussions are centered on that topic during this week, which allows to reinforce students’ vocabulary and skills of grammatical structures, and to raise their speaking proficiency level; the topics being repeated at a higher level during the third trimester, adding the interpreting tours into the mix to further reinforce and strengthen the students’ cultural knowledge and language skills in all the modalities. • Extension of the amount of time to teach Consecutive Interpreting techniques. The Interpreting Course has been developed to compliment the DTRA Consecutive Interpreting Training (CIT), and provides students with a better foundation for developing interpreting skills. It also incorporates a number of off-post excursions course to give the students experience of consecutive interpreting in real-world situations. • Special selection procedures established to assemble highly-trained professional faculty • Course development and complete scrub / update / enhancement of all course materials, replacing the vast majority of the obsolete and ineffective materials • Wide use of technology (and the understanding that it does not replace quality instructors.) 16 Russian Arms Control Speaking Proficiency Course • Improved standardization, establishment of, and adherence to, the Curriculum and • The Diagnostic Assessment (DA), which gives a more comprehensive look at linguists’ strengths and weaknesses, is conducted three times per course, in addition to the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) • Homework load specifically identified and tightly controlled Syllabi. A RACSPC-Prep Program has also been devised, in order to ensure students have the best opportunity possible to be successful in the course. From the time our recruiters identify future students until they arrive at DLI can be over a year. A member of our staff at DTRA engages these linguists and offers them various training materials they can use to prepare in advance. In the near future we will begin using a webdelivered training platform to “push” this training out to the field. The RACSPC Staff is creating the course materials (texts, digital audio for listening comprehension, tests, etc.) that will be loaded into this system. In the DTRA Language Training Program, we are always looking for new and better ways to train our military linguists. We remain on the cutting edge in the use of technology, and are helping to drive some the most promising and forward-thinking initiatives in language education, including Diagnostic Assessments. This, combined with steadfast adherence to sound methodologies (with emphasis on fundamental skills) has resulted in our program being widely acclaimed as the “Model Program for DoD”. The RACSPC is our flagship program and proof of what can be done when DLI faculty, agency participation and the proper support, including funding, are brought to bear on real-world requirements. Thanks to the efforts of the RACSPC Staff, I am confident that we will continue to enjoy the success we do today. In the following articles, their expertise and professionalism are evident, as in all they do. RACSPC Purpose To train military members to entry-level qualifications for military duty at the DTRA as English-Russian consecutive interpreters in support of arms control treaties and agreements. Course Description Our course focuses on training in the active communication skills and lasts 235 training days. This equates to 47 weeks of training for five days each week. The graduation requirements are 2+ in Listening Comprehension / 2+ in Reading Comprehension, successful completion of the Diagnostic Assessment, and the DTRA approval. A specialized program consisting of 300-level courses designed to prepare select students for the mission of working as English-Russian interpreter-inspectors, interpreter-escorts and interpreter-monitors for DTRA, On-Site Inspection Directorate, under the provisions of current and future arms control treaties and agreements. 17 Freeman, Krasnyanskaya, and Reed The course comprises five upper-level subjects corresponding to the following credits: • Communicative skills including one-on-one conversation for at least one hour each day, discussions of current news, and round table discussions: FL 364 Communicative Skills (5 Credits): Conversation (1:1), News, Round Table Discussions • Interpreting and Translation, including real-world interpreting activities in the local area: FL 365 Interpreting and Translation (5 Credits): Real-world Interpreting Training • Extended Grammar: FL 370 Grammar (2 Credits) • History and Area Studies: AS 383 History and Area Studies (3 Credits) • An overview of Treaties and Agreements: MS 384 Treaties and Agreements (3 Credits) Our graduates receive a total of 18 upper-level college credits for their 47-week course work. Course Development In 2002, when for various reasons, it became clear that a general restructuring was necessary, a new course development program was worked up and it is now approaching its completion. It does not mean that DTRA RACSPC faculty will stop this program. All the textbooks and other materials will be updated and modified continuously. The core materials have already been developed in all the courses, the textbooks for the instructors and students have been published in Vocabulary, Speaking, Listening Comprehension, Consecutive Interpreting, Geography of Russia. In addition, a commercial textbook has been selected for History of Russia. The DTRA system of instruction materials (SIM) consists of the ranked multitude of interconnected elements of the structure. These elements are distinguished on the basis of certain characteristics, united by their general function, control, and interaction with the environment. Ilyina (1972) considers that all the SIM’s possess a certain structure that characterizes the way these elements are organized into a system. Thus, this structure presents a stable combination, mutual influence, and interaction of the elements of the integral system. In compliance with general principles developed by Lyakhovitsky (1972), the SIM in the DTRA RACSPC contains two subsystems: 1) a subsystem to organize instructor’s work; 2) a subsystem to organize student’s work. Both subsystems are united into the SIM to teach Russian as a foreign language (RFL) that is defined as a complex of didactic means to teach and to learn RFL These two subsystems are interconnected and function on the basis of the goal and content of instruction, methodology, approaches and techniques in the teaching / learning process. 18 Russian Arms Control Speaking Proficiency Course The instructor subsystem curriculum syllabi textbooks methodological recommendations tapes, CD’s, DVD’s, video grammar charts sets of pictures (diagrams, clips, etc.) additional handouts movies books for reading The student subsystem textbooks dictionaries books for reading computers iPods portable recorders tapes CD’s grammar charts additional handouts The student subsystem is subordinated to the instructor one, but within each subsystem, its elements are coordinated with each other. For the purpose of development, the elements of the SIM to teach RFL were considered mainly from the logic point of view that stipulated the sequence, nature and interconnection of the SIM components. However, selection and organization of language material and its comprehension be the students, development, reinforcement and realization of their skills in different modalities were considered from linguistic, psychological, and pedagogical points of view. Basic Principles of SIM Development The general principles developed by Lyakhovitsky (1972) were modified to create an effective SIM for the intensive advanced DTRA RACSPC (Krasnyanskaya, 2006). I. Systematic design and completeness define: 1) systems of vocabulary and grammar (language aspects) exercises and tasks as well as exercises, tasks, and activities in different modalities (speaking, listening comprehension, reading comprehension, consecutive interpreting, and translation) in accordance with the adopted typology; 2) sequence and succession in methods and techniques of teaching and testing; 3) availability of all the materials that an instructor and a student should possess. II. Taking into account the peculiarities of each phase of training (trimester) determines not only different amount of time and different volumes of instruction materials, but also the following parameters: 1. correlation of different modalities in each trimester: the DTRA RACSPC Syllabus (2005) contains a strict distribution of the aspects of language and modalities correlated with different courses and time allotted to them in each trimester; 2. characteristics of the course material: trimester I: grammar (phonetics, extended morphology and syntax); authentic materials for reading and listening on levels 1+ - 2+ in compliance with “Interagency Language Roundtable”(ILR) (1985); speaking: topics of level 2 in compliance with ILR (1985) – concrete themes (narrations in the past, present, and future); description of a human or physical object; giving direction; giving instruction; stating facts (current events); role-plays with “tourist” survival situations with complications reflecting personal life experience of the speaker 19 Freeman, Krasnyanskaya, and Reed without involving personal feelings and emotions, however, requiring limited sociocultural competence; text produced – two-three full paragraphs; trimester II: grammar (revision and reinforcement of elaborate morphological and syntactical structures); authentic materials for reading and listening on levels 3-4 in compliance with ILR (1985); speaking: themes of levels 2-3 in compliance with ILR (1985) – abstract topics (discussing societal issues, formulation, clarification, explanation, and support of an opinion on the societal issues; formulation and support of hypothesis); roleplays presenting complicated or conflict situations that occur in the societal everyday life reflecting speaker’s societal experience without personal feelings and emotions, but requiring appropriate socio-cultural competence; text produced – three-four full paragraphs and extended discourse; trimester III: grammar (revision and reinforcement of elaborate morphological and syntactical structures); authentic materials for reading and listening on levels 3+-5 in compliance with ILR (1985); speaking: themes of levels 2+-3 in compliance with ILR (1985) – abstract topics (discussing societal issues, formulation, clarification, explanation, and support of an opinion on the societal issues and human values; formulation and support of hypothesis; participation in discussions); role-plays presenting complicated or conflict situations that occur in the societal and personal life of an individual reflecting speaker’s societal experience with or without involvement of personal feelings and emotions, and requiring extended socio-cultural references; text produced -- extended discourse and discussions; 3. linguistic and methodological characteristics of grammar and vocabulary to be studied that were taken into consideration while developing exercises and tasks to create and reinforce knowledge and skills of the language aspects and to develop, reinforce and realize skills in different modalities in each trimester; it should be noted here that Russian is, in fact, one of the most “grammar-oriented” languages with a very rich and detailed vocabulary; 4. psycho-physiological peculiarities of the students, on the basis of which the rational and effective modes of instruction were developed for each trimester. III. Succession of all the instruction materials (IM) concerns selection and organization of the language material (aspects of the language and modalities) in the exercises, tasks, and activities that are included into textbooks for each trimester, succession being ensured between the initial Basic Course of RFL and trimester I, between trimesters I and II, II and III of the DTRA RACSPC, III of the DTRA RACSPC and DTRA CIT; as well as between weekly cycles in each trimester. IV. Taking into account peculiarities of English (native language) and conditions of target language environment (Russian) requires explanation of certain linguistic phenomena and concepts in English (native language) and Russian (target language) at the beginning of the course and in certain classes during the course, especially such linguistic and socio-cultural phenomena and concepts that do not exist in one of the languages or differ greatly. V. Science-based approach to selection of IM and its rational distribution in the intensive advanced DTRA RACSPC in accordance with the levels of different modalities described in the ILR (1985) and adopted in U.S. government agencies, which ensures selection of language materials (aspects and modalities) on the basis of the following principles: а) topical, b) linguistic-statistical, c) frequency in authentic materials; d) correspondence to a certain level in a certain modality; and criteria: 20 Russian Arms Control Speaking Proficiency Course а) semantic value, b) word formation value, c) collocation ability, d) frequency in usage, e) correspondence to the goals and tasks of each trimester, f) typical use in each modality; that have already been developed, tested, and applied by Krasnyasnkaya (1985), Barcroft (2004) and others in the USA and abroad. VI. IM modality orientation stipulates that all the textbooks (except “History of Russia”, “Geography of Russia” and “Government Structure of the Russian Federation”) for each trimester provide students with the appropriate tools to develop, reinforce, realize their skills in different modalities within a framework of a specific topic, the theme being the same, but materials being different and diverse for speaking, listening comprehension, reading comprehension, and consecutive interpreting in each weekly cycle. VII. IM concentric lay-out and cyclic structure of exercises, tasks, and activities in the textbooks are accepted for introduction, reinforcement, and realization of any materials. The chapters of a textbook are characterized by the cyclic structure, i.e., weekly cycles corresponding to certain topics are stereotyped in their structure, but inside each weekly cycle maximum possible diversity and number of exercises, tasks, and activities are offered. VIII. IM variability provide rational differentiation of instruction, i.e., two or more variants and volumes of IM in a textbook for specific conditions of teaching RFL taking into account the level of student preparedness. IX. Natural combination of all the forms of classwork and homework RFL instruction presupposes strict coordination of classwork, homework, individual and additional tasks for the students. All these forms of instruction are integral because the homework is a continuation and consequence of the classwork, additional tasks being a necessity for the students with lower linguistic skill, levels, while individual tasks, being used for the advanced students, are designed to raise their linguistic levels higher than the program requirements. Х. Intensive, rational, and proportional application of all the IM’s in all the links of the instruction process provides high efficiency of training and proves systematic nature of RFL teaching process. Unconditionally, the key IM is a properly developed textbook, since it is a textbook that represents a principal component of the instruction process and functions as an intermediary in the “student – textbook – instructor” didactic system. The students’ reaction to this course is reflected in their ESQ’s: “All aspects of the course were great and challenging.”, “The course materials are unique and effective. The curriculum is challenging, but effective, and the teachers’ skills are of high caliber. They are tireless and professional”, “It is hard to criticize this course. I think that the teachers are probably the best at DLI, and as far as the materials are concerned, I think that we had all what we needed.” As a result of training, the DTRA RACSPC graduates not only meet the requirements of the Agency in their proficiency (2+ / 2+ / 2), but also receive higher scores. Conclusion If designed carefully and professionally, any course of RFL can become a vital means of fulfilling a specific foreign language education mission for the DoD. Recent 21 Freeman, Krasnyanskaya, and Reed changes and developments in the DTRA RACSPC underline the importance of: a) special selection procedures established to assemble highly-trained professional faculty, and b) professional, thorough, systematic, and science-based approach to the course development. When students are given a tool they need and can easily use, they can fulfill their tasks confidently and with higher motivation, the direction of this motivation being the same for the students. A properly designed textbook in hard copy as well as available in soft copy stipulates application of tapes, CD’s, DVD’s, videos, movies, grammar charts, roleplay scenarios, etc. to develop, reinforce, and realize, language skills in the appropriate modalities as well as to check up on them at any stage of the instruction process. This allows an instructor and students to intensify the process of teaching / learning RFL, to use time rationally and effectively, to make this process omnigenous, to raise motivation of both instructors and students. As a whole, curriculum, syllabi, SIM, and the entire instruction process in DTRA RACSPC can address today’s pressing need to improve foreign language expertise of the military and civilians to meet the requirements of the DoD and can serve as a model for advanced-level foreign language training with specific cultural work focus in other languages. References The Defense Language Transformation Roadmap. A Major Government Initiative to Improve Foreign Language Expertise. (2005) Foreign Language Annals, 38(2), 297, 300. Ilyina, T. A. (1972). Systematic Structural Approach to Organize Education. Moscow: Znaniye Publishers. (Russian) Lyakhovitsky, M. V. (1972). Main Principles of Development of the Textbooks in Foreign Languages. Methods of Teaching Foreign Languages, 7, 73-83. (Ukrainian) Krasnyanskaya, E. N. (2006). The System of Instruction Means in the Defense Threat Reduction Agency Russian Arms Control Speaking Proficiency Course. The Russian Language Abroad, 3(197), 94-100. (Russian) Interagency Language Roundtable. Language Skill Level Descriptions. Speaking. Listening. Reading. Writing. (1985). Department of Defense, Department of State, Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, Department of Interior, National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundations, Department of Agriculture, Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, ACTION / Peace Corps, Agency for International Development, Office of Personnel Management, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Department of Education, US Customs Service, US Information Agency, Library of Congress. Krasnyanskaya, E. N. (1985). Complex of Vocabulary Exercises to Develop Skills of Reading Job-Related Military Technical Texts at the Military Educational Institutions. Doctoral dissertation; National Linguistic University, Kiev, Ukraine. ( Russian) Barcroft, J. (2004). Second Language Acquisition: A Lexical Input Processing Approach. Foreign Language Annals, 37(2), 200-208. Krasnyanskaya, E., Freeman, V., Novitskaya, A., Kovalev, A. (2006). Defense Threat Reduction Agency Russian Arms Control Speaking Proficiency Course. Syllabi. Trimester 1: 15-week 450-hour focus-on-form refresher course. Trimester 2: 16-week 480-hour course. Trimester 3: 14-week 420-hour course. Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, Monterey, California. 22 Russian Arms Control Speaking Proficiency Course APPENDIX A Courses in Trimesters 1-3 No 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Courses in Trimester I English Grammar (for Russian learners) Russian Grammar Vocabulary Listening Comprehension Speaking Reading Comprehension Consecutive Interpreting Translation Hours 12 138 94 68 75 14 28 21 Weeks 1 1-15 1-8 / 915 1-8 / 915 1-15 9-15 9-15 9-15 No 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Courses in Trimester II Russian Grammar (revision and reinforcement) Vocabulary Listening Comprehension Speaking Reading Comprehension Consecutive Interpreting Translation Geography of Russia. Revision of CIS Members Geography (in Russian) Government Structure of the Russian Federation (in Russian) History of Russia (in Russian) Round-table Discussions Treaties and Agreements Hours 32 31 64 80 32 64 48 26 4 35 32 32 Weeks 16-31 16-31 16-31 16-31 16-31 16-31 16-31 16-28 28-31 16-31 16-31 16-31 23 Freeman, Krasnyanskaya, and Reed No 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Courses in Trimester III Russian Grammar (revision and reinforcement) Vocabulary (revision and reinforcement) Listening Comprehension (Russian TV, live) Speaking (revision and spiraling up the level) Reading Comprehension Consecutive Interpreting (interpreting tours and reports) Translation Round-table Discussions Government Structure of the Russian Federation (in Russian) History of Russia (in Russian) Treaties and Agreements Graduation tests in speaking, treaties and agreements, consecutive interpreting, translation, and a graduation ceremony Hours 28 14 42 70 28 70 42 14 6 64 42 Weeks 32-45 32-45 32-45 32-45 32-45 32-45 32-45 32-45 32-34 32-45 32-45 46-47 APPENDIX B The score reports (a new DLPT-5 and OPI as of 02/16/06 and 06/19/06) Student Listening Reading Speaking 0192 3 3 2 0455 3 3 2 1232 3 3 3 3849 3 3 2 4427 3 3 3 4519 3 3 2+ 7319 3 3 2 3 3 2+ 8110 8792 2+ 3 2 9028 3 3 3+ 24 Russian Arms Control Speaking Proficiency Course Student Student N. Student M. Student Sh. Student O. Student W. Student T. Student J. Listening 2+ 3 3 3 3 3 2+ Authors VALENTINA FREEMAN, Associate Professor, Defense Threat Reduction Agency Russian Arms Control Speaking Proficiency Course, Branch Chief, Directorate of Continuing Education, Field Support Division, Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, DoDCMB, 400 Gigling Rd., Seaside, CA 93955. Specialization: methodology of teaching foreign languages, management and leadership. ELENA KRASNYANSKAYA, PhD (Education), Associate Professor, Defense Threat Reduction Agency Russian Arms Control Speaking Proficiency Course, Directorate of Continuing Education, Field Support Division, Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, DoDCMB, 400 Gigling Rd., Seaside, CA 93955. Specialization: methodology of teaching foreign languages, interpretation / translation, curriculum and course development. WESLEY W. REED, Program Manager, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, 8725 Kingman Rd., Ft. Belvoir, VA 22060-6201. Specialization: translation, interpretation, management and leadership. Reading 3 3 2+ 2+ 2+ 3 2+ Speaking 2+ 2+ 3+ 2+ 2+ 3 2+ 25 Development of Interactive Listening Lessons Dialog on Language Instruction 2007, Vol. 18, Nos. 1 & 2, pp. 27-38 Toward an Integrated Approach to the Development of Interactive Listening Lessons Maria Ortenberg Abdelfattah Boussalhi Curriculum Development Division The political and social consequences stemming from such phenomena as globalization, the fast development of technology, and the interpenetration of cultures create an ever increasing demand for higher-level language specialists. For the past three years DLI’s Global Language Online Support System (GLOSS) has been providing linguists with higher level (L2 and up) reading and listening materials based on authentic sources covering 10 topical domains, and featuring a combination of real-life and linguistic objectives. At present GLOSS contains more than 1000 online lessons in 9 languages. During the first three years of work devoted exclusively to developing online reading lessons, a methodological foundation for GLOSS has been built. However, a reevaluation needed to be conducted of all the components of the methodological approach from the point of view of their applicability to teaching listening skills. The GLOSS task force team has done considerable reading and research on listening comprehension issues and has come up with some ideas that have established a foundation for GLOSS listening lessons. In language teaching lore, listening is sometimes described as the most elusive of all the skills. In many instances, listening is treated as the aural counterpart of reading. As a consequence, the same reading activities and often the same texts in voiced form are used for teaching listening comprehension. This could be due to the notion prevalent in traditional language teaching approaches that considers the acquisition of grammar as the cornerstone skill, and all other skills as mere manifestations of grammar. Within the communicative and proficiency approaches, the differences between the reading and listening skills have been more emphasized. But practitioners of Communicative Language Teaching sometimes tend to overemphasize the speaking skill to the detriment of listening comprehension. This article is an attempt to capture what we already know about listening, and to propose an approach to teaching listening. The approach we advocate is based on classroom and online applications. We will attempt to answer some of the fundamental questions about teaching listening: what is distinctive about listening; how we should approach a listening text; what it is that we need to focus on, so that we are presenting students with better learning opportunities; and on what basis we should make our choices. We need to make one qualification, before we proceed any further, namely that isolating the listening skill here does not assume that listening, reading, speaking or 27 Maria Ortenberg and Abdelfattah Boussalhi writing need to be taught separately. Whether the particular teaching environment we are working within supports integration of skills or not, the same teaching rationales apply. This deliberate emphasis on listening in this article aims to highlight the particular issues involved in teaching listening, whether integrated or taught separately. Thus, this paper attempts to analyze the inherent difficulties of listening comprehension and to find some practical ways to help learners overcome them. Overview of Listening Comprehension Teaching Theory and Practice During the past decade listening comprehension has been transformed from the stepchild of language teaching into its most favored offspring. Many scholars have been researching the phenomenon of L2 listening from many different angles, trying to find pedagogically effective ways of taming this whimsical and psychologically illusive child. And although a lot of progress has been made in pinpointing some of listening comprehension’s most important characteristics, there is still a long way to go before effective methods of teaching this skill will find their way into the classroom. The Basic Issues Why should the listening skill be taught as a separate modality and why can’t it be acquired through communication as part of the speaking practice? What are the characteristics of oral input, and how is it different from written input? What are some of the specifics of the cognitive processes involved in listening? And finally, how can answers to these questions facilitate teaching learners to become better listeners? These are the basic questions which form the foundation of the present day research on this topic. The Role of Listening in Communication Listening is an integral part of communication. Wilt (1950) found that 30 percent of communication time is spent speaking, 16 percent reading, 9 percent writing, and 45 percent listening. Listening plays a critical role not only in communication, but also in language acquisition (Morley, 1991). It is the first language mode a child is exposed to and acquires. However, it is one of the most difficult skills for a FL learner to acquire. Very often it is much easier to ask a question than to understand the answer. Therefore, it is important to analyze and understand the psycholinguistic processes that constitute listening, to enable teachers to select appropriate materials and develop effective strategies and approaches to meet the needs of their students. The Underlying Processes Defined in the Literature “Listening is like a popcorn popper. Like popcorn, words change when they hit the hot coil (the listener accomplishes the change)” (Michael Rost, 2003). What we retain as a result of listening will always be our version of what we heard. How close this version is to the speaker’s intent depends on our ability to process audio information, which in its turn is affected by multiple factors. 28 Development of Interactive Listening Lessons “It is not so much that speech sounds contain meaning; it’s rather that speech sounds trigger meaning in the mind of the listener” (James Nobblitt, 1995). As listeners, we rely on support from our general intelligence and measure meaning against our inner “cognitive map.” “Information that does not fit the cognitive schemata of the listener is simply not processed” (James Nobblitt, 1995). How can FL learners compensate for missing cultural schemata, and how can teachers provide a learning environment that can help the learners to bridge this gap? Both top-down and bottom-up processing take place simultaneously, due to the interactive nature of the listening process. While top-down processing (compensating with real-world knowledge for the inability to decode unfamiliar input) has become the most used approach in pedagogy, bottom-up processes “such as linguistic decoding and lexical access that take place when the auditory speech signal is first encountered” (Catherine Doughty, 2003) seem to be of primary importance for successful listening at higher level. Debra Hoven (1991) suggests a classification of the three interrelated aspects contributing to the difficulty of listening comprehension: content; 1. Text features – features of the text language, discourse organization, and 2. Task features – including classification of task types and response demands; 3. Context features – paralinguistic features of the text (could be speaker-related gestures, mimicry, or world-related/situational factors), level and nature of support, processing load. How Oral Speech Differs from Written Language It is of paramount importance to understand that oral speech is radically different from the written language. Speech consists of sounds, and every language has its own sound system, pronunciation rules, and its own ways of changing sounds in fast speech. Each language has a variety of accepted accents. Whereas written language consists of complete sentences, speech consists of idea units, which sometimes may be complete sentences and sometimes not. Spoken idea units are normally shorter than written. Grammar may be simpler, but the difficulty may lie in distinguishing word boundaries, or singling out endings and prepositions. Spoken language is characterized by a lot of false starts, filler words, and unfinished sentences. It uses its own auditory markers, such as tone and intonation. Dialect words, slang, and colloquialisms find their way into the spoken language more easily. Teaching Listening All of the above-mentioned factors should help teachers select materials and provide tasks that will create a challenging learning environment, not setting up students for failure, while guaranteeing some degree of success. 29 Maria Ortenberg and Abdelfattah Boussalhi More Is Not Necessarily Better There is no doubt that in order to become a better listener one has to listen more. But more is not necessarily better. “Much of the academic listening to which learners are exposed is more like written texts than spoken, with the structure of the formal written paper underlying it” (Debra Hoven, 1991). Acoustically enhanced recordings, which are commonly used in the classrooms, “and which are useful for establishing norms… do not provide practice in dealing with the redundant signals of everyday, situational, listening comprehension” (James Nobblitt 2003). It is now generally understood that authentic materials should be used in the classroom in order to recreate the social and cultural schemata much needed for enhancing listening skills. Authentic recordings of news, which have been a popular teaching tool for many years now, are only one facet of all the available text types and all the variations of spoken language. On the other hand, authentic materials alone are not a panacea, and may lead to frustration and failure, if not used judiciously. Supporting the Learning Environment James Nobblitt (2003) suggests that an adequate learning environment requires support of at least three modes: • The sequential mode: linear presentation of information that takes the students to areas that would not be discovered by browsing or other adventitious means; • The relational mode: access to relevant reference materials such as dictionaries; • The creative mode: learning by doing, stressing communicative competence. Lexical Difficulties and Bottom-up Processing Several scholars (Craig Chaudron, Catherine Doughty, Michael Long) participating in the NFLC Listening Symposium 2003 have pointed out that lexical difficulties are among the most often cited, and have stressed the importance of automaticity of vocabulary acquisition and the enhancement of bottom-up processing skills. They also suggest some strategies to help facilitate this process: • Elaboration: rather than simplifying the text, explication of vocabulary by means of redundancy; • Teaching synonyms and multiple meanings of words; • Simple repetition of the same item; • Repeated practice with auditory materials under differing listening conditions but within a lexically controlled domain; • Metric segmentation: identifying where words begin (Michael Rost); • Meta-cognition, which facilitates reflection on the comprehension process, utilizing explanations on how to listen, including comments on accents, dialects, and any other listening-specific issues (Larry Vandergrift and Craig Chaudron); • Advance organizers recreating cultural schemata, social context, and activating topical vocabulary. 30 Development of Interactive Listening Lessons Genuine Texts with Genuine Tasks And last but not least, the importance of accompanying genuine texts with genuine tasks is continually stressed in the literature, such as critiquing, summarizing (Rubin), and providing the purpose for listening (Doughty). All researchers agree that computers provide “an excellent medium for balancing the analytic or form-focused study of language with synthetic or content-focused learning environment” (James Nobblitt). Computers also combine auditory, visual, and textual information with interactivity. All of this helps recreate context, provide conceptual support, and reduce stress by allowing students to work at their own pace. Translating Theory into Practice Listening Text Issues In this section, we propose a synthesized framework for approaching the listening text as a teaching and learning resource, based on our current understanding of the listening process. We propose that there are three main levels to an audio text, all of which contribute to the degree of difficulty for the non-native listener. These levels of access attempt to capture the different aspects of the audio text that the listener has to deal with, starting with 1) delivery or audio processing features, 2) listening-specific textual features, and 3) core textual features. Delivery concerns more the features that compound the initial auditory processing of a text, whereas the other two levels concern more the linguistic features of the text. Fig. 1. Levels of Access to the Listening Text 31 Maria Ortenberg and Abdelfattah Boussalhi Delivery/Auditory Processing Features When teachers and curriculum developers think of listening as a different skill, they usually think of delivery, which they often view as what separates listening from reading. Likewise, delivery is viewed as the biggest challenge to acquiring listening proficiency in a foreign language. Before we look at the impact of delivery on the acquisition of listening proficiency, we will try to define delivery, and what it entails. We will use delivery to mean all environmental and individual voice characteristics that mark an utterance along its path from speaker to listener. You can envision this as an outward manifestation of sound in the same way that handwriting or quality of ink or paper is a manifestation of writing. Under this definition, we would include the following speech characteristics: Para-linguistic Aspects of Delivery. These are the factors external to the speaker, but which still affect the way utterances sound to the listener, and include a) acoustics, or physical factors surrounding the speaker and the listener as they communicate using speech, such as speaking from a distance or through a loud speaker; b) background noise, such as conversation in a crowded room; and c) situational factors, referring to the manner of the interaction between the speaker and listener, and degree of involvement of the listener, such as whether the speaker is visible or not, or if the listener is expected to respond or not. Linguistic Aspects of Delivery. The other aspects of delivery are linguistic in nature, in the sense that they are integral to speech, and that they affect the production of speech rather than its transmission or reception. Linguistic aspects of delivery include speed, voice quality, and individual pronunciations. Idiosyncratic accent and intonation can be also included in this list, since they may compound the auditory processing of speech. However, it may not be as easy to determine when an idiosyncratic accent ends and where the societal dialectal accent begins. At the same time, there are individual differences in speed, voice quality, accent and intonation that may not be accounted for in terms of the systematic rules of the language in question, and may be more universal in nature, such as high/low voice or idiosyncratic pronunciations of sounds, etc. All of these compound auditory processing and make it difficult for students to get into the text. Listening-Specific Textual Features. Beyond the initial interaction with the audio text is the vast domain of aural linguistic features. This domain includes all the vocabulary, utterance structures, discourse elements, and schemata underpinnings particular to aural communication. This is one of the most neglected areas in foreign language teaching. Students are often exposed to skill-neutral texts, where the linguistic features are applicable across all skills. Obviously, there is nothing detrimental about this approach, but what is not covered in these materials is equally important. We know well that not all authentic speech is prepared or structured in the way text books present it. Aural speech is different from the printed one in its lexical, structural and discourse composition. Lexical Features. One of the elementary lexical challenges of listening is the lack of word boundaries. Unlike reading, there are no visual clues to delineate words. In listening, words blend into each other, making it harder for the learner to identify the uttered words. We have observed in face-to-face diagnostic interviews students who fail to recognize aural words, but who would recognize the same words when presented with them in printed form. 32 Development of Interactive Listening Lessons In the process of acquiring a foreign language, students may also develop a habit of attributing their own pronunciation to certain words, following their own native language patterns in the case of cognate languages, or other dominant foreign languages they have learned. This attributed pronunciation may act as a filter when listening to the same words used by native speakers, and thus students miss words that they would otherwise know. Oral speech does not necessarily draw from the same registers as written speech, and thus also includes lexicon that is listening-specific. In spoken communication, speakers tend to use or borrow more dialectal usage. A typical foreign language student is mostly exposed to the standard variety of the language in question, thus being sheltered from a whole spectrum of dialectal and register variation. This does not mean that a student should be exposed to all varieties of a particular language, but rather to the typical variations occurring across topical domains at the desired proficiency levels. Syntactical Features. Syntax may not necessarily present more difficulties in listening, but may present rather different ones, and in some cases, syntax may be less of a challenge in listening. One reason for this comparative advantage is that syntax in listening tends to be minimally embedded, particularly in speech that originates in informal or unrehearsed situations. Speech that is delivered from prepared notes is usually similar in syntactic structures to written texts. Another advantage that listening may provide in terms of syntactical features concerns those features whose functions are not marked by visible forms in reading texts, but are rather determined by contextual meaning. In this case, the listener is spared the misconstruction, and is given immediate access to the right pronunciation, and therefore to the functional meaning of the word. One example can be found in Arabic, where the passive verb form is not marked in the written form, and as a result, a struggling reader may misunderstand a sentence, because he may read the verb as active. In listening, this difficulty disappears, since passive pronunciation is distinguishable from active pronunciation. On the other hand, syntactical markers that have written forms do present more difficulties in listening. Case suffixes, and number or gender markers, for example, may not be easily detectable in aural form, particularly for beginning and intermediate proficiency levels. The biggest syntactical challenge in listening is that conversational speech does not necessarily follow standardized (written) syntactical structures. If a student is looking for a sentence that has a standardized beginning and end, he may not always be successful. Oral speech is full of so-called incomplete sentences and false starts. A speaker may start an utterance, but may stop midstream, or restart his utterance in accordance with his thinking process or the dynamics of the interaction. Unprepared speech may also be characterized by non-standard grammatical features, where word order may change or “sentence” components get deleted, such as asking a question in declarative form or without an interrogative particle. Discourse Features. Coherence in aural discourse is attained through a variety of means, both in terms of the linguistic devices and the underlying text organization used. Listening texts do use common cohesive devices found in written texts, such as conjunctions and pronominal references, but they also rely on other cohesive devices specific to verbal communication. Similarly, frequency and meaning of cohesive devices common also to written discourse are different in listening. In English, for example, “as I said” or “actually” are more common in verbal interaction. 33 Maria Ortenberg and Abdelfattah Boussalhi Fillers constitute another element of discourse coherence in aural speech. Contrary to popular belief, fillers are not meaningless “fillers” of dead time or an indication of a speaker’s level of fluency or inarticulateness, but are rather an integral part of discourse that shape the coherence and meaning of the text. Fillers also carry significant cultural content that constitute one of the content layers of the listening text. In both their breadth and function in verbal communication, conjunctions and fillers serve to break continuous speech into meaningful and manageable units. Prosodic features also help structure verbal discourse. In listening, prosodic features replace the clues visible in written texts. Stress and intonation replace periods and paragraphs. The successful listener will need to understand the usage and meaning of these prosodic features to be able to follow an utterance. While many of these discourse elements are comparatively identifiable, there are some other types of listening texts whose coherence may depend less on the use of such explicit markers but more on the implicit structural pattern of the interaction. Recurring verbal communication often depends on predictable exchange structures. By virtue of the characteristics of a situation and its embedded assumptions, two or more interlocutors will engage in an interaction that would seem meaningless to the novice non-native interlocutor or listener. Predictable situations include, for example, daily transactions, such as shopping or banking. These transactions typically follow a certain order of exchanges that usually fall with the interlocutors’ expectations with minimal personalization. In second language teaching, raising student awareness of these predictable patterns will provide students with a tool to navigate these types of aural texts. Core Textual Features Any text, be it written or spoken, draws from the same linguistic code. The code may branch out at certain points, but the code is sustained by a core of items, functions and relations. If you take a written text from a language and an aural one from the same language, you are bound to find similar lexical items, sentence structures and cohesive devices in these two texts. Such uni-skill features form the core textual features, which are also found in listening texts. In typical traditional teaching materials, much of the focus in aural materials is on the core textual features, leaving out large elements of listening text features. This targeting of core textual features also affects teachers’ selection of materials, as they focus more on edited aural texts and on carefully delivered texts. For a well-rounded set of listening materials, students need to be exposed to all types of authentic listening texts, and be made aware of the major delivery and listeningspecific textual features. As Figure 1 shows, the listener in his encounter with the listening text has to deal first with the delivery features. If the listener is not familiar with the particular delivery features he has to deal with, he will not be able to access the actual content. Delivery constitutes the first layer of the text a listener has to deal with, once the delivery issues are clarified, after which content will become more accessible. But the majority of learning will need to take place in the middle layer, where all the listening-specific textual features come to light. The role of the teacher and the materials developer is to highlight the language of speaking and listening in all of its lexical, structural and discourse elements. One of the challenges in this area is that the 34 Development of Interactive Listening Lessons teacher will have limited resources to address these particular listening-specific features, and she may need to do her own analysis of authentic texts. This does not mean that listening materials should not target core textual features. Core textual features are present in every text, and need to be addressed in accordance with the teaching objectives. But the lesson that we can take from this layer image of listening is that raising proficiency levels in listening would need to pay particular attention to the distinctive textual features of listening, as the other features can be addressed through other skills. The Importance of Appropriate Material Selection for Successful Teaching We believe that material selection plays a very important role in effective FL teaching and learning. If we want our students to be able to function in different social and cultural contexts we need to provide the environment where they will be exposed to a variety of topics and speech samples reflecting multiple social and cultural settings. Whereas everybody agrees on the main topical domains*, the issue of text type is not always addressed in modern day classrooms. Here are some examples of audio text types that should be considered for teaching listening comprehension: announcements, commercials, news broadcasts, interviews, talk shows, personal conversations, personal stories, telephone conversations, narratives. The level of the text/audio piece offered to the student is of paramount importance. Thus, it would be totally counterproductive to offer an opinion piece to a L1 student who can only function at sentence level, or to continue feeding factual narration to a L2 student who is striving towards L3. The audio pieces should present a challenge to the students, but at the same time they should not be overwhelming. If we want a strong L2 student to eventually be able to listen to opinion pieces and discussions on abstract topics, we should start to gradually introduce them to the features typical of those types of discourse, such as long or run-on sentences, abstract vocabulary, idioms, specific discourse markers preceding opinion, etc. The word “gradually” is the key, since it means that we have to find materials that are half-way between the factual and the abstract domains. In text/audio selection we are being guided by the theory of text modes by James Child, according to whom there are 4 basic text modes corresponding to 4 proficiency levels*: • Orientation mode-L1; • Instructive mode-L2; • Evaluative mode-L3; • Projective mode-L4. Child addressed the linguistic qualities of written texts representing each mode, making it easier to define language-specific features for each level. At the same time the linguistic and non-linguistic specifics of oral speech that a listener may be exposed to remain unexplored. The above research is an attempt to define listening-specific language features across languages, and the actual development of listening lessons for GLOSS has provided us with rich data concerning language-specific features for each mode for a variety of text types. 35 Maria Ortenberg and Abdelfattah Boussalhi As a result of our research we have concluded that we can successfully apply the text mode theory to listening materials, while understanding that the linguistic descriptors of each mode will be drastically different from those characteristic of reading materials. The most obscure issue remains the issue of delivery – both its linguistic and para-linguistic aspects. According to the ILR, delivery issues are addressed only above L3*. Up to L3 the listener is only supposed to deal with normal rates of speech, no interference, and standard dialects. While it may be fair for a testing setting, it is not very helpful for a real-life situation. We are convinced that for teaching purposes we should start exposing our students to delivery issues from the very beginning. We should certainly use good judgment and common sense in selecting only the most typical and common occurrences of speech samples for each text mode and text type. Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities Based on all the characteristics of audio texts, the following deciphering skills are crucial for a successful listener: ability to decode the auditory stream, ability to hear idea units, automatic access to a wider range of vocabulary, spontaneous knowledge of schemata, and effective compensatory strategies. Developer/Teacher’s Tool-Box In addition to all the usual tools used by the developers of reading lessons such as linguistic explanations, area study notes, tips, hints, and detailed feedback, some additional tools are necessary to address the difficulties associated with aural comprehension: paraphrasing, providing a slower version, a clearer version, a standard (dialect) version, and parsing. How to facilitate instruction using these tools in the body of the lesson is up to the developer’s judgment, but the main goal is to teach students useful strategies, to give them the necessary understanding and knowledge to deal with unabridged, unedited authentic audio texts, and to help them transfer the acquired skills into real life situations. Developer Pitfalls There are some pitfalls that materials developers have traditionally fallen into. One of these pitfalls is to plan a listening a lesson on the basis of a transcript of the audio instead of using the actual audio as the basis for the planning. The problem with transcripts is that, while they provide easy access to the content of the text, they reveal little about auditory processing problems or listening-specific textual issues. Solely relying on the transcript, a developer would miss a variant pronunciation of a word, for example. Another common pitfall in developing listening lessons is solely concentrating on core textual features found in other skills, such as core lexical meaning or core structural uses. While this is naturally of value to the learner, audio text will be better used if focus is extended to the special textual challenges of listening texts, such as spoken idioms or spoken discourse connectors. The last pitfall that we will include here is common to the development of materials in all of the other skills. It concerns the tendency of developers to establish 36 Development of Interactive Listening Lessons priorities in selecting linguistic features to cover in their resource on the basis of predetermined lists, be it textbooks or individualized list of priorities, rather than on linguistic features that arise from the texts themselves. This is particularly relevant if the organizing principle behind a course or a set of materials is driven by textual difficulty and not by grammar topics. If linguistic features are explored by the developer as they arise from the text, and if enough topics are sampled at each incremental level of difficulty, a more realistic distribution and categorization of linguistic features will emerge. At the end of the day, feedback in the form of developer input or commentary on the text earmarked for the learner should integrate all the of the layers of the audio text, but in the order of the priorities that occur in the text and in dozes (through different activities). It is possible that a particular audio segment is so standard in all of its aspects - in delivery and in linguistic choices - that all a developer can draw attention to are core textual features, such as one would encounter in a prepared speech. Nevertheless, a rich listening resource should sample as many listening text types as possible. With such sampling, a learner would be exposed to a variety of listening challenges across the functional and topical spectrums. Conclusion Our purpose in presenting this article is to advance an approach to the listening text as a teaching resource. Our approach to developing lessons around authentic listening texts is based on our synthesis of the general trends in the literature and our on-the-ground experience with developing Web-delivered lessons for GLOSS. From the last discussion of developmental pitfalls, you may have already realized that developing a good resource for teaching listening requires some courage in going beyond the conventional textbooks, as well as assuming the role of researcher, since a teacher or developer would find a paucity of references that touch on the previously discussed listening–specific issues. We believe that small-scale exploration of authentic listening texts will yield a growing insight into listening, and will ultimately lead to the enrichment of any listening resource. As technology is a major component of GLOSS, we can report that in listening, we can perhaps see that technological innovations have a more useful role to play, rather than technology merely fulfilling a complimentary role. With all the layered intricacies of the typical authentic listening text, and the demands it exercises on our cognitive processing, today’s technology can provide us with various tools to break down the process of listening into meaningful and manageable doses, from players that can slow down speech or loop selected portions, to speech-editing software that can allow you to develop an infinite array of activities. The goal should always remain facilitating the learner’s access to the original listening text. 37 Maria Ortenberg and Abdelfattah Boussalhi References Child, J. (1987). Language proficiency levels and the typology of texts. In Defining and developing proficiency: Guidelines, implementations, and concepts. Edited by Byrnes, H. and Canale, pp.97-106. Hoven, D. Towards a cognitive taxonomy of listening comprehension tasks. . Available [Online]: http://jcs120.jcs.uq.edu.au/~dlh/pubs/SGAV91.htm. Noblitt, J. S., Ph. D Cognitive approaches to listening Comprehension. Available [Online]: http://www.unc.edu/cit/iat-archive/publications/noblitt/noblitt3.html. Peckham, B. The Global Project, University of Tennessee. Listening comprehension: Some Notions and Strategies. Available [Online]: http://globegate.utm.edu/ french/globegate mirror/rtvintro.html. Ortenberg, M.; Boussalhi, A.; Combacau, P. (2004). Developing GLOSS Lessons. Dialog on Language Instruction, 16 (1 & 2). Rost,M.(1991) Listening in Action: Activities for developing listening in language teaching. New York: Prentice Hall Rubin,J. (1994) A review of second language listening comprehension research. The Modern Language Journal.78(2),199-221. In NFLC Listening Symposium Materials, 2003. Morley, J. (1991). Listening comprehension in second/foreign language instruction. Teaching English as a second or foreign language (2nd ed) Boston: Heinle and Heinle. Authors MARIA ORTENBERG, Academic Specialist for Online Development, Curriculum Development Division, Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, Presidio of Monterey, CA 93944-5006. Interests: FL teaching and testing. ABDELFATTAH BOUSSALHI, Online Diagnostic Assessment, Curriculum Development Division, Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, Presidio of Monterey, CA 93944-5006. Interests: Applied linguistics, teaching Arabic as a foreign language, language testing. 38 How to Enhance Students' Proficiency through Movies Dialog on Language Instruction 2007, Vol. 18, Nos. 1 & 2, pp. 39-48 How to Enhance Students’ Proficiency through Movies Kyung Sook Lee Korean School This article discusses how to use movies in foreign language education, particularly in intermediate and advanced courses. It consists of four parts: (1) An introduction to the author’s contention that the techniques of either guessing or scanning/skimming focused on factual as well as contextual comprehension of any text on the lower level will not do the job of leading students to go beyond Level 2; (2) Three cautionary remarks in leading students to achieve such goal, while using high tech materials such as video or internet scripts: instructions for preparing a movie showing; rationale for choosing comprehensible input; and outlining the contents of three selected movies; (3) A summary along with students’ results from using movies; and (4) An appendix containing one sample task sheet as part of the process of showing a selected movie in the classroom. It is now a usual practice with the DLI faculty and students to use multimedia to enhance students’ proficiency on all skill levels from Basic to Advanced. This practice started just a few decades ago from merging Internet materials on to video or cassette tapes, as well as CDs or DVDs, initially taking authentic materials from real-time SCOLA programs. Tovar and Barbudo (2002) have well traced this trend. My experience with basic course students, especially when dealing with high tech materials, has shown me that at best the use of video or internet scripts has been tantamount to either a guessing game going from known to unknown, or a scanning/ skimming technique focusing on comprehension of the context. On the other hand, my experience in the advanced course tells me that such contextual or factual knowledge alone will not lead my students beyond Level 2, precisely because they already have reached that level. These students are now required to upgrade themselves to Level 3 or above, which requires them to deal not just with the hypothetical, interpretative, and evaluative, but with area studies, as well. How do I, or for that matter, my students handle the pressure thus imposed on us to get to the higher level? The following discussion is an attempt to answer such a perennial, though self-imposed, question in the upper levels of foreign language education. The actual answer, however, can be found in results shown by my students who have gone through the process of getting to the higher level. 39 Kyung Sook Lee Preparing a Film Session There are several points you must keep in mind before you use a movie as teaching material in your drama hour: 1. Beyond fun. You are likely to finish the entire hour just in fun. “Wow, we had a lot of fun watching that movie! That’s a thriller!” Your students might make statements such as these, as though they had been in a movie theater and learned nothing—languagewise, that is. Since students can grasp the content, however vaguely, only through the scenes on the surface of the screen, they will want to watch the scenes without interruption. Most students find interrupting the movie annoying. The question arises as to how not to lose your students in the entertainment aspect of the movie. You will need to know how to lead your students to those not-fun parts, so to speak, that are made of images, color-tones, effects of music, sound or even noises, whether in the background or out front, facial expressions and gestures of the performers and their dialogues, all of which in fact make up the total scenario. These parts, in my judgment, play a crucial role in mediating between the linguistic meanings and contextual situations, especially when the movie is action-oriented such as the movie Shiri. Perhaps, the nonnative audience such as our students, although on a higher level of foreign language education, have to rely heavily on these nonlinguistic parts, or the “fun” parts, in order to savor the “actions” to their heart’s content. Even so, the actions should be educationally valid for any serious language students who are, by definition, not an audience whose goal is to be entertained only. In other words, serious study can be compatible with fun, but not with sheer entertainment. 2. Choosing comprehensible input. Before you select a movie, get a general idea of the proficiency level of your class. This seems a plausible task; yet if you neglect it, the result will be disastrous: if the text is far above their level, you will violate Krashen’s formula (i + 1), and your students will lose their interest. If the text is below their level, no doubt they will get easily swept into the very entertainment aspect, and become bored. Either way, the minds of students are coaxed into an easy going attitude which ends up in an urge to get over with the hard job of learning. I, personally, witnessed this happening in many classes, and the students never made Level 3. Perhaps, American students learn better, while “having fun”; but I am not too sure that applies to any higher level of education, even in America and in particular at the Institute as it is seriously engaged in foreign language education and with a highly intensive curriculum. 3. Language-specific situation. The merit of showing a movie, as we all know, lies in exposing our students to colloquialisms, slang, and dialect and, at the same time, to current terms, which reflect changes in the target language and culture. However, we must understand that our students in learning Korean, a Category IV language, have to acquire an extra language system, if they are to achieve Level 3 or above, i.e., the Sino-Korean words that are embedded in the dual system of Korean, (and for that matter, of Japanese, as both languages are historically tied to the Chinese culture): Without understanding this complex language situation, our students cannot possibly acquire, the Korean language at the level of 3, 2+, or even 2. Additionally, this situation extends to spoken language such as daily exchanges on the street, over the radio and on TV. It literally takes an intense study to master this complex, authentic system of language. 4. Movie as a rich medium. My last point is how to utilize the rich media of communication, movies, in our rather rigid classroom environment. Fortunately, a lot 40 How to Enhance Students' Proficiency through Movies of award winning and internationally acclaimed movies have been exported to the U.S. from Korea these days. These movies are certainly facilitating our method for teaching the Korean language, furnishing our students with a superb means of study. In the following sections, I will share how I made use of movies, specifically presenting sample task sheets to demonstrate the process of watching the whole movie— from silent to voiced, from one segment to another, and eventually in its entirety, ending with the student’s commentary or summary. The homework and research presentation, which students complete is also described. Selecting Three Movies One academic year of 47 or 63 weeks is a period during which you can handle at most three or four movies. The first step is the selection of movies in a gradual sequence of proficiency levels. If you are to raise the level of the movie text from entry levels of 2/2+ in intermediate/advanced courses to levels 2+/3, you have to deal with the SinoKorean language. In other words, in order for students to acquire the higher level of Korean mixed with Sino-Korean script (not necessarily the Chinese characters), they must receive intense training. 1. Shiri is a good movie to start, because it is simple in terms of content and one of the first Blockbusters in Korea. It is packed with “actions” and based on a love story between a girl and a boy in the intelligence business from respectively the North and the South. This theme certainly suits the common interest and sentiment of DLIFLC students. What is really important, however, is the deluge of over 400 Sino-Korean words in this movie; yet students are not likely to have any problem in absorbing them, simply because they soon get immersed in the thrills and suspense of the movie (until all the actions entwined with intrigues reach the denouement, the meaning of the code name “Shiri” is never revealed). 2. The Hourglass, in this movie, the drama turns to a social problem dealing with college students and citizens alike who had no choice but to fight against their repressive regime. In the meantime, the real tragedy impinges on two old chums who confront each other as enemies—one is a political thug and the other a serious law student who, following an infamous event, prevails in a court of law. The theme of this movie can be seen from the same perspective as that of the previous, Shiri—a bipolarized psyche of the Korean people as yet politically divided. Also, the linguistic forms of both movies lie in a similar vein: straight talk, and simple expressions, though the second movie contains an enormous amount of colloquialism together with dialects containing regional differences. Again, the linguistic pool is huge, full of those idiomatic expressions that are necessary for the students of Korean at the advanced level, namely the four-character composition of idiomatic phrases in classical Chinese, i.e., Sino-Korean words, proverbs and maxims, or even riddles. In this fashion, my students certainly were able to easily acquire the skills of listening, reading, and even speaking in contextual depth. 3. Joint Security Area (JSA). After watching a long series of scenes on the Hourglass, my students come to have a strong grip with the miserable situation of present day Korea, which the movie JSA superbly depicts in a high drama of tragic-comedy. It is here, with the production of this movie, that the director and the writers alike prove 41 Kyung Sook Lee themselves to have overcome adversity transforming it into the beauty of human comedy. Students must comprehend this notion if they are to understand the true picture of their target area; otherwise, they will never become good linguists. The film introduces a Swiss team of international observers who are politically neutral, yet incapable of resolving the deadlock caused by soldiers on both sides committing the error of humanely possible comedy of compassion, which has turned out to be a grand illusion. I, as teacher, must elevate the competence of my students in area studies in addition to the language, to the level where they can comprehend, through this movie, the sarcasm and cynicism prevalent in Korean society today. In the end, my students will surpass proficiency Level 3 and will freely demonstrate their skill of ‘supporting and opposing opinions’. Summary and Results At the outset, the fun approach was characterized as insufficient in that it stops short of leading students to the required proficiency Level 3 in all three skills. Although the selection of comprehensible input after checking the proficiency level of the class is said to be desirable, the language situation specific to each target language, Korean in our case, demands special attention to its unique Sino-Korean dual system. The subtleties contained in the details as revealed in the process of analyzing scenarios along with student task sheets actually make up the authenticity of the material. Watching a movie, especially for acquisition of a second language, is virtually a listening exercise, while reading the scripts or events in the play or even players’ expressions follows suit; and thereupon students step up to the higher level of proficiency. And, most importantly, my students, after being exposed to those approaches that I have designed by way of fitting movies to classroom teaching, have shown me their positive results: I was amazed to see that none of my students were showing any sign of boredom, not a single student dozing, or doing wayward things, and that all were absorbed in watching the movie, not only out of curiosity, but also with keen interest in their present work; and at the end of every movie hour, many said “Time went too fast for us.” They had no problem in memorizing about 400-450 words of Sino-Korean, which was the natural effect of their intensity and concentration, not a result of their unnatural and mechanical exercise on rote-memorization. Each student, when acting out a role in the play, did a perfect job of imitating the actor’s tone of speeches such as intonation, pronunciation, pitch, as well as facial expressions and gestures, that were real and lively. Finally, students lost no time in quoting certain phrases from the play and made quick-witted use of them for daily exchanges with their teachers; for instance, when they were given a heavy homework assignment: Student A: [Quoting literally from Shiri, Act. 4, Scene 3] “Teacher, have you lost your mind?” (선생님, 지금 제정신이야?) Teacher: [Quoting from the next line in the same scene] “I am just fine.” (응, 나 아주 멀쩡해.) Student B: [Quoting an idiomatic expression]: “I won’t do it even if Heaven and Earth were recreated.” (천지개벽이 일어나도 난 못 해!) 42 How to Enhance Students' Proficiency through Movies Students were enthused to watch the vivid scenes of social, political and historical events through cinematic representations, without the teacher’s dry lectures on such events as though they were separable from linguistic matters. APPENDIX Sample Task Sheet Shiri Act 4, Scene 3: CTX Transport Truck Task 1. �: Discuss the scene you viewed yesterday, talk freely about the characters and their dialogs, when and where their actions were taking place, etc. Task 2. �: Today you will view the next scene. After watching the scene once,describe what happened. Task 3. �: Check the list of new words on the last page of this task sheet to preview today’s scene. Task 4. �: You will view the same scene once more, focusing on listening. Write in the box below what you hear: the known or unknown words, numbers, proper nouns, loan words, idiomatic phrases, etc., as many as you can remember. Compare your work with your neighbor’s. Words Phrases 43 Kyung Sook Lee Task 5 �: You will see the same scene once more. This time, try to understand the content of the entire scene and summarize the entire story. Summary Task 6. �: Write your summary on the board. Task 7. �: Point out any errors in grammar, spelling, sentence flow, etc., and correct them. 44 How to Enhance Students' Proficiency through Movies Task 8. �: Now, listen to the dialog without watching the scene. While listening, fill in the parentheses below. 소령: ( [짚차 안에서 앞쪽을 보면서] 왜 갑자기 서라 마라 )게 구는 거야? )시킬 모양입 부관: 기간 요원인 것 같은데 이 차량을 ( 니다. 소령: 기간원? 아, 걔들은 왜? [터널 저쪽에 길을 막고 서 있는 군 인들을 보면서] 저건 또 뭐야? 박: 짚차에 다가서면서] 단결! 잠시 ( 소령: 보고 받은 일 없어! 무슨 일이야? 박: 무장병들의 CTX( ( )해 주시죠. ) 정봅니다. 이송( )과 신분증 )! )이 있겠습니다. 소령: CTX는 잘 있으니까 염려할 것 없어. 어서 길이나 ( 내 말 안 들려?! 소령: [짚차 문을 확! 열고 나오며] 너 지금 제 ( 박: [조용히, 아주 침착한 태도로] 아주 ( )해. )이야?! 소령: [박을 이리 저리 훑어 보며] 완전히 갔구만! [발로 차며] 네 ( ) 풀어라, 이 새끼야! 이거 ( ) 새끼 아냐?! [박의 주위를 빙빙 돌며] 어~라? 머리까지? [박의 머리 털을 움켜 쥐며] 야! 이 자식아! 너 소속 부대가 어디야?! 박: [무게 있는 낮은 목소리로] 조선 민주주의 인민 공화국! [순간, 칼로 소령의 배를 푹 찌른다. 소령의 피가 박의 얼굴에 튄다.] 45 Kyung Sook Lee (Task 8: Glossed in English.) MAJ: [seeing soldiers way out of the tunnel…] Why are these guys always (messing) with us. “Stop. Go.”…What do they want? ADJ: Looks like agents; seems like we’re gonna have to (stop). MAJ: Agents? Geez…why do they do this? CAPT: Unit! This is a (security check) point. Please cooperate, sir. MAJ: You have no need to check. What is this all about? CAPT: We have some information that someone (took) some CTX. Please show me your (papers) and (ID). MAJ: CTX is fine, and it is none of your concern. Just (get out of my way)! Can’t you hear me? CAPT: Didn’t I tell you to (show) me your (papers) and ID? MAJ: Come on. Captain. I don’t have time for this (idle chit-chat)! If you need my paper, I (will) fax you (a copy). CAPT: If you continue to (reject) me, I will (be forced to arrest) you. MAJ: What? What did you just say to me?! Say it again! CAPT: I said I’d (arrest) you. That aside, I could (shoot) you too. MAJ: Have you (lost your mind)? CAPT: I (am just fine). MAJ: Oh, this is perfect. I’ll (grant your wish), you bastard! [kicking on Captain’s leg] You (f***in weirdo)! What’s this? Hair like this? Ok, little bastard! What unit do you belong to? CAPT: [Solemnly in a low voice] Democratic People’s Republic of Korea! [stabs Major in the belly and blood splashes on his face.] 46 How to Enhance Students' Proficiency through Movies Task 9. �: Discuss and exchange your opinion with your neighbor on the questions below: 1. Describe briefly what happened in the scene. 2. What is the fight about between MAJ and CAPT? 3. Listen carefully to the changing process of the verb endings, and check how the verb conjugation influences the relation between the two people. Relation Equal Superior & subordinate Hostile 4. You will hear many curse/vulgar words, slang, dialect in the scene. Write down those words you hear. _____________________/____________________/____________________ _____________________/ ____________________/ ___________________ 5. Students, as a class, discuss/debate on a topic selected from the content of the scenario, and express/support their own opinion. Task 10. �: The entire class participates in the scene and acts it out imitating the actor’s/actress’s tone of voice, accent, facial expression and gesture. Keep in mind that language is not just language by itself. You must use your body to achieve successful communication. Task 11. �: For your homework tonight, transcribe a piece of scenario that you think is interesting and translate it in English. Make it a meaningful translation, not a word for word/sentence by sentence translation. Turn it in by tomorrow morning! Who and who Verb-ending Conjugation 47 Kyung Sook Lee LIST OF NEW WORDS (Shiri, Act 4, Scene 3): 놓치다: 손에 든 것을 떨어트리다; 실패하다; 기회를 잃다. 기간요원: 필요한 직원; 간부. 귀찮다: 귀엽지 않고 성가시다. 동승: 차에 같이 타다; 태우다. 굴다: ─게 행동하다; “귀찮게 굴다”, “밉게 굴다”, “귀엽게 굴다”. 탈취: 빼앗다. 단결: 많은 사람들이 한데 뭉치다; 힘을 한데 모우다. 제시하다: 내 보이다. 노닥거리다: 별로 중요하지 않은 이야기를 하며 시간을 보내다. 비키다: 있던 곳에서 물러나다. 멀쩡하다: 흠이 없이 깨끗하고 온전하다; 완벽하다. 원: 소원; 바라는 것. 원을 풀다: 바라는 것을 이루다. 만만하다: 부드럽다; 다루기 쉽다. 만만치 않은: 쉽지 않은; 다루기가 아주 어려운; 두려운. References Krashen, S.D. (1985). The Input Hypothesis: Issues and implications. Harlow: Longman. Romaine, S. (1994). Language in society: An introduction to sociolinguistics. New York: Oxford University Press. Tovar, D., & Barbudo, C. (2002). Integrating video and the internet into the classroom. Dialog on Language Instruction, 15,(1&2), 35-45. Author KYUNG SOOK LEE, Associate Professor of Korean, Defense Language Institute, Foreign Language Center, Presidio of Monterey, CA 93944-5006. Specializations: Acquisition theory in applied linguistics, immersion practice that completes the process of acquisition, and the task-based approach to proficiency teaching. 48 The Role of Aptitude in Foreign Language Learning Dialog on Language Instruction 2007, Vol. 18, No 1, pp.49-56 The Role of Aptitude in Foreign Language Learning Marina Cobb Faculty and Staff Development Aptitude and Proficiency Enhancement Program at DLIFLC In fiscal year 2006 the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center began implementing its Proficiency Enhancement Program whose major goal is bringing the language proficiency of the institution’s Basic Course graduates to the ILR Levels of “2+” in Reading and Listening and Level “2” in Speaking. The institution is planning to achieve this goal by lowering the student-teacher ratio in the classroom, improved instructional techniques and curricula, ongoing academic support for students, and ongoing faculty development. Another planned aspect of DLIFLC’s PEP is raising the entering students’ aptitude scores as measured by the DLAB (Defense Language Aptitude Battery) which the majority of DLIFLC students take before they can be enrolled in a basic language course. A minimal score is established for each of the four language categories DLIFLC teaches. Much to the delight of the faculty, these minimum score requirements are expected to be raised in the near future by 10 points for each category. Like all aptitude tests, DLAB comes under a great deal of scrutiny and a discussion about the next generation of this aptitude test is under way. However, even the best designed aptitude test can only be a more or less reliable predictor of language learning success for groups of students, but not necessarily for each individual student. Too many other important factors come into play and influence each individual learner’s success, i.e. motivation, maturity of learning strategies, etc. (The formula for determining each of DLIFLC’s teaching teams TSI (Team Success Index) when the team graduates a class of students takes into account the average class DLAB score as compared to the average class score for each language, in addition to the graduates’ proficiency results, class attrition rate, etc.) Classroom teachers often believe that they are capable of recognizing foreign language aptitude, or lack thereof, in their students. However, they often find it difficult to articulate what cognitive and other characteristics they associate with the perception of aptitude. In light of PEP, it appears particularly worthwhile to find out how the literature in the field of second language acquisition defines language aptitude and its components. What is Foreign Language Aptitude? In his article entitled “Twenty-five years of research on foreign language aptitude,” Carroll (1981) defines aptitude (not foreign language aptitude specifically) as a notion that “in approaching a particular learning task or program, the individual may be thought of as possessing some current state of capability of learning this task - if the individual is motivated and has the opportunity of doing so” (p. 84). In the same source, 49 Marina Cobb the author further clarifies that he does not believe motivation to be a component of aptitude and emphasizes a distinction between aptitude (as potential capability to master a task) and achievement (as evidence of this mastery). In relation to classroom learning, aptitude can be defined as the ability of a learner to benefit from good teaching and a well-designed curriculum (Ehrman, 1990). Review of relevant literature reveals a very important premise: all people are assumed to be capable of learning a foreign language under the right conditions and in the absence of serious cognitive deficiencies. Aptitude is only believed to denote the ease and rate with which successful language acquisition would occur in a particular individual (Carroll, 1981). Even though all individuals may arguably be able to achieve success with a foreign language, those with lower aptitude may only be able to do so with a great degree of difficulty and over a longer period of time. Aptitude and IQ Mitchell & Myles (1998) state that learners who score above average on formal measures of intelligence and in general academic attainment, generally tend to do well in learning languages. However, research shows only a moderate positive correlation between general intelligence, as measured by IQ tests, and foreign language aptitude. Skehan (1998) reports that correlational studies and studies involving factor analysis show a correlation at the .43 - .44 level between the subjects’ IQ and language aptitude. Known studies of exceptionally good individual language learners, on the one hand, and individual poor learners, on the other hand, indicate that these learners do not necessarily show markedly high or markedly low IQ scores respectively (Ioup et al, 1994; Schumann, 1976). Basic Assumptions about Language Learning Skehan (1998) analyzes some basic assumptions generally made about language aptitude in literature, such as: 1. Assumption of specificity that purports that a talent exists which is specific to language learning (a contrasting viewpoint states that abilities which facilitate language learning are the same as for any learning in any field, which is consistent with the theory of general intelligence); 2. Assumption of stability and untrainability that basically affirms that language aptitude is stable, not susceptible to easy training, and is not environmentally influenced to any significant degree, once the individual has passed the early years. These theoretical foundations, or assumptions, for aptitude research have been criticized by some authors, most notably Krashen (1981), who contests that the whole discussion of language aptitude issues is irrelevant to naturalistic unconscious acquisition, and that so-called language aptitude tests measure the person’s ability to consciously learn individual elements of the language. The Krashenists’ point of view is that all adult individuals possess ability to acquire a second language under the right holistic, acquisition-rich conditions that promote natural development of language, provided that the individuals’ affective filter is down (and thus allows acquisition). Krashen (1981) 50 The Role of Aptitude in Foreign Language Learning argues that only attitudinal factors, not aptitude factors, can serve as predictors for language acquisition success. Even though motivation and other affective factors arguably are important for successful language acquisition, most researchers appear to oppose Krashen’s view. It is generally recognized that language learning aptitude plays a part under both natural, or untutored, and formal (classroom) learning conditions. Recognized Components of Foreign Language Aptitude The three components of foreign language aptitude that are generally recognized in the literature are: 1. phonetic coding ability, or the ability to discriminate between and retain sounds and pitch variations of the language and the ability to associate them with meaning; 2. memory ability, or the ability to make associations between the verbal stimuli and their referents sometimes referred to as associative memory; 3. linguistic analytic ability, or the ability to infer and generalize about structural encoding of meaning (Skehan, 1998). Some authors (Carroll, 1990) split the third component, linguistic analytic ability, into two subsets: grammatical sensitivity (ability to recognize grammatical and syntactic functions that words fulfill in a sentence) and inductive language learning ability (ability to infer structural patterns form the language input, to induce rules and to make predictions about how the new material may be encoded on the bases of these inferences; ability to generalize about structural encoding of meaning and to produce language on the basis of identified patterns). These components are measured by well-known tests of language aptitude, such as MLAT (Modern Language Aptitude Test), PLAB (Pimsleur Language Aptitude Battery), and DLAB (Defense Language Aptitude Battery). It is noteworthy that these recognized components of aptitude do not have to be represented equally in successful learners. A high degree of ability in one of the three stated components can compensate for a lesser degree of ability in other components. Skehan (1998) notes that some learners appear to have achieved success through a high degree of linguistic analytic ability, and others due to their memory abilities (as there were few subjects who tested high on both subsets). Other Possible Components of Foreign Language Aptitude At the ILR Invitational Symposium on Language Aptitude Testing held on September 14-16, 1988 at the Foreign Service Institute Language School in Arlington, Virginia, Carroll (1990) lists “other potentially useful abilities,” or subsets of language aptitude, whose role may need to be investigated in future research. As an example, he names the so-called verbal fluency, which is described as ability to quickly name as many ideas as possible on a given topic, or ideas related to a particular semantic category. An additional component of foreign language aptitude, discussed by Wesche (1981) and Carroll (1990), is the so-called auditory abilities, which may exist separately from the phonemic coding ability. A major subset of auditory abilities is the hearing 51 Marina Cobb ability, i.e. ability to perceive sounds through the ear (i.e., lack of hearing loss, which becomes especially relevant in the case of older adults). Stankov and Horn (1980, as cited in Carroll, 1990) identify other subsets, such as speech perception under distraction as measured by the following tests: 1. Talk masking (subjects are required to write isolated words spoken by one speaker, accompanied by increasingly loud, continuous speech produced by another speaker); 2. Cafeteria noise masking (same as above, but the background distractor noise is the typical noise of a busy cafeteria). These authors also propose testing temporal tracking (ability to remember the order of occurrence of sounds, pitches, syllables, etc.), maintaining and judging rhythm and discrimination among sound patterns. According to Carroll (1990), these subsets may already be tested by the MLAT and the PLAB. Nevertheless, he suggests investigating their predictive value in more detail in the future. Some Limitations of Current Aptitude Models According to Skehan (1998), even though the described views on the components of aptitude have “endured well on the whole,” the researchers’ conceptions of memory have changed over time. For example, Carroll (1990) admits that he was never as confident about the validity of the memory part of MLAT that he had authored entitled Paired Associates, as he was confident about the validity of the other parts, such as Phonetic Script and Words in Sentences. Carroll (1990) further reveals that the validity of the Paired Associates test fluctuates widely over different samples in the studies conducted. Skehan (1998) points out that a more effective predictive value was observed on memory tests (administered to British armed forces personnel), which went beyond the associative memory test to include short-term memory span, memory for text, for visual patterns, and for material with very unfamiliar structure. Apparently, individual differences in memory capacity can be further broken down as variations in the ability to (1) code, (2) store, and (3) quickly retrieve the language material (fast retrieval appears crucial for both successful comprehension of incoming language and for real-time communication) (Skehan, 1998). Ability to logically organize language material that needs to be committed to memory appears to play a role as well. Future research that would separate these memory-related abilities may be beneficial. On a different note, it is questionable whether the same components of aptitude are required to excel in various language skills, e.g., in speaking versus listening or reading. It is well-known that every skill modality has a set of related subskills. Facility with these subskills would undoubtedly enhance an individual’s potential to excel in a particular modality. The question is: even if reliable test measures for these subskills could be designed, could the learners’ performance in these subskills actually be considered part of their language aptitude or should it rather be grouped together with other cognitive and personality characteristics that may have a significant effect on language acquisition (as discussed in the next section)? Another issue raised by Child (1998) and Lowe (1998), among other researchers, is whether one generic aptitude test can reliably predict ability to learn all the world 52 The Role of Aptitude in Foreign Language Learning languages with their individual characteristic features, e.g., the tones in Chinese, the memory-taxing quantity of characters in Chinese and Japanese, or the agglutination in Turkish, etc. The division of languages into four major categories by the US State Department based on their “distance” from English and, therefore, their expected difficulty for an English-speaking learner does not necessarily capture all of these intricacies of structure or the sociolinguistic challenges of mastering underlying thought patterns. It is conceivable that some learners may be better suited for certain languages than others. The question is whether we can potentially have a test that will attempt to match individual learners to languages for which they may be most suited. Furthermore, it is feasible that certain subsets of aptitude assume a more prominent role at particular stages of second language acquisition. Skehan (1998) believes that the role of phonemic ability tends to level off at higher stages, which is to be expected after the sound system and intonation patterns of the language have already been mastered. He further notes that the relationship between language analytical ability and language learning success remains steady at higher proficiency levels and memory may even assume a heightened importance. Child (1998) notes that there does not appear to be a great deal written about language aptitude testing in terms of predicting learner ability to surpass ILR Level 2 (the goal of the Proficiency Enhancement Program) and points out the difficulties entailed in incorporating elements characteristic of higher levels into the test design. These elements possibly include so-called cultural sensitivity and other highly complex factors that would predict ability to master sophisticated syntax and lexicon, as well as organize one’s discourse for the purposes of hypothesizing, providing argumentation, etc. According to Child (1998), current aptitude models do not reflect these features, and the task of incorporating them in the near future appears quite daunting. On a related note, it is conceivable that certain lower category languages, such as Spanish or Indonesian, are only relatively “easy” for English-speaking learners at lower stages of acquisition, but are markedly more difficult to acquire in the mid and upper ranges (Lowe, 1998). To illustrate this point, Lowe cites the complexity of Spanish present and past subjunctive which is required in many tasks at Level 3 and even needed to form negative imperatives. Finally, it is hard to overlook the fact that the existing aptitude tests do not appear to be in line with the current methodology of context-based and task-based instruction. Ehrman (1998) quotes an opinion that MLAT in particular was designed for the audio-lingual methodology. It also appears reasonable to see a connection between the analysis of decontextualized sentences that examinees are required to perform and the grammar-translation method. The question is whether the current aptitude tests can predict an individual’s ability to excel in a communicative classroom environment and whether they work for individuals who lack formal education (Ehrman, 1998). Other Learner Variables that May Facilitate Language Acquisition A large body of research has been conducted with the goal of categorizing learner styles and strategies used by language learners and finding possible links between preferred styles and the use of strategies, on the one hand, and the learning outcomes, on the other hand. Several researchers have attempted to investigate a possible relationship between cognitive and learning strategies and language aptitude (Oxford, 1990; Ehrman, 53 Marina Cobb 1990; Rubin and Thompson, 1994). Among those addressed were compensation strategies employed by learners to guess unknown meanings and to overcome gaps in knowledge, and social strategies, which facilitate interaction and thus provide valuable opportunities for practice when knowledge of the foreign language is limited. Investigating a possible relationship between cognitive styles and aptitude, Oxford (1990) examines the significance of such cognitive traits as field independence vs. dependence, reflexivity vs. impulsivity, tolerance of ambiguity, etc. Oxford records a noteworthy observation that field independent learners have been shown in some studies to be superior to field dependent learners in such areas as native speech perception and “sentence disambiguation.” It is reasonable to assume that field independent learners may have a higher ability to handle activities requiring high precision of interpretation and communicating meaning once they have reached Level 3 in receptive skills and Level 2 in Speaking on the ILR level. It is important not to overlook numerous other factors that, if investigated further, may conceivably serve as predictors of future success with foreign language learning. These factors are facility with the use of learning strategies, certain individual cognitive traits (e.g., tolerance of ambiguity), and such personality traits and attitudinal factors as empathy, ego permeability, confidence, willingness to take risks, and, of course, motivation. These variables are typically not thoroughly understood and are usually measured through self-assessment questionnaires which always present a significant risk of subjectivity. It is also unclear at this point whether any of these factors can technically be included into the definition of aptitude or will simply continue to be recognized as factors contributing to success in foreign language acquisition. In summary, variables that constitute components of language aptitude and contribute to learner success are numerous and multifaceted, and it is not easy to devise instruments to measure them reliably in individuals. It is quite possible that, in Neufield’s words (1979, as quoted in Skehan, 1990), “hundreds of other seemingly irrelevant independent variables might conceivably have correlated as highly, or higher, had they been examined.” Even though it appears that many more learner variables have been examined since the above statement was published in 1979, it is still not a guarantee that all possible avenues of exploration have been pursued, or even considered. In Ehrman’s (1990) words, even though one might say that “bad” learners are those that do not benefit from the teachers’ efforts and, therefore, lack aptitude, it is quite possible that, in absence of cognitive deficiencies and with evidence of success in other fields of learning, these language learners may not be so “bad” after all. They may simply have needs that we do not yet know how to identify and meet. Conclusion Aptitude appears to play a role in both conscious learning/acquisition in a structured classroom environment and in acquisition under natural input-rich conditions. It is conceivable, however, that learners with different talents will thrive under different learning conditions. Since there are potentially many more variables of language aptitude that have not yet been discovered, some learners may have needs that we have not been able to clearly identify so far. It is, therefore, extremely important not to make hasty conclusions about an individual’s lack of ability to learn a foreign language. The complex, multi-faceted nature of factors contributing to each learner’s success, or lack of notable 54 The Role of Aptitude in Foreign Language Learning success, emphasizes the need for ongoing, collaborative, supportive style- and strategybased academic counseling for language learners. In any case, it is important to provide learners with a balanced teaching approach which combines an utmost variety of teaching techniques with enriching out-of-class activities. References Carroll, J. B. (1981). Twenty-five years of research on language aptitude. In Diller, K.C. (Ed.), Individual differences and universals in language learning aptitude (pp. 83-118). Rowley, MA: Newbury House. Carroll, J. B. (1990). Cognitive abilities in foreign language aptitude: then and now. In Parry, T. S. & Stansfield, C. W. (Eds.), Language aptitude reconsidered (pp. 11-29). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Child, J. R. (1998). Language aptitude testing: Learners and applications. Applied Language Learning, 9, 1-10. Ehrman, M. (1990). The role of personality type in adult language learning: an ongoing investigation. In Parry, T.S. & Stansfield, C.W. (Eds.), Language aptitude reconsidered (pp. 126-178). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Ehrman, M. (1998). The Modern Language Aptitude Test for predicting learning success and advising students. Applied Language Learning, 9, 31-70. Ioup, G., Boustagui, E., Tigi, M. E., & Mosel, M. (1994). Reexamining the Critical Period Hypothesis: A case study of successful adult SLA in a naturalistic environment. Second Language Acquisition, 16, 73-98. Krashen, S.D. (1981). Aptitude and attitude in relation to second language acquisition and learning. In Diller, K. C. (Ed.), Individual differences and universals in language learning aptitude (pp.155-175). Rowley, MA: Newbury House. Lowe, P. (1998). Zero-based aptitude test design: Where’s the focus for the test? Applied Language Learning, 9, 11-30. Oxford, R. L. (1990). Styles, strategies, and aptitude: connections for language learning. In Parry, T. S. & Stansfield, C. W. (Eds.), Language aptitude reconsidered (pp. 67-125). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Rubin, J., & Thompson I. (1994). How to be a more successful language learner: Toward learner autonomy. Boston: Heinle & Heinles. Schumann, J.H. (1976). Second language acquisition: The Pidginization Hypothesis. Language Learning, 26, 391-408. Skehan, P. (1998). A cognitive approach to language learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Wesche, M. B. (1981). Language aptitude measures in streaming, matching students with methods, and diagnosis of learning problems. In Diller, K.C. (Ed.), Individual differences and universals in language learning aptitude (pp.119-154). Rowley, MA: Newbury House. 55 Marina Cobb Author MARINA COBB, Faculty and Staff Development, Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, Presidio of Monterey, CA 93944-5006. Specializations/ Interests: Teacher educationh, organizational leadership, computer-assisted language learning. 56 Pre-Interpretation Strategies Dialog on Language Instruction 2007, Vol. 18, Nos. 1 & 2, pp. 57-67 Pre-Interpretation Strategies in the Foreign Language Classroom and Online Teresa Gryminska European and Latin American School Language translation or interpretation is a transposition of a text from one language into another (Viaggio, 1991). According to Viaggio it is a three-step process which involves (1) isolation of semantic meaning (interpretation); (2) conversion of that semantic meaning back into a linguistic form in the target language (re-expression); and (3) refinement or specification (collation). Such interpretation is likely to vary depending on sociolinguistic and cultural background, intention, and motive. The basic concepts of language interpretation encompass the relationship between input and output, listening and speaking skills, linguistic and extra-linguistic aspects of memory, and communicative competence. Critical to language interpretation is the ability to differentiate between what is said and what is meant. Since the selection of lexical and structural items may be quite different in the foreign language, it is important to render the intended meaning rather than specific words. There is nothing more distracting and detrimental to an original spoken passage than literal interpretation without attention to broader meaning. Research shows there are many individual techniques for successful interpretation. Johnson - Laird (1983) stresses the importance of creating mental models. Callahan (1994) recommends taking notes during the process of preparation for interpretation. Straight (1997) suggests using rough paraphrases or inferences rather than translations to help participants understand difficult phrases or sentences. According to Buck (2001), the interpretation of the speaker’s meaning is greatly influenced by the context. “Context is important, because speakers often do not say exactly what they mean,” says Buck. He adds, “The listener uses the knowledge of context to make implications in reference to the intended meaning. There is no such thing as the correct interpretation of many spoken texts, only a number of different reasonable interpretations.” In my opinion, the most effective interpreters use a wide variety of interpretation and pre-interpretation strategies. “Interpretation strategy” refers to the method by which an interpreter solves a particular problem in order to reach an interpretation goal. It involves the utilization of linguistic and extra-linguistic strategies to compensate for gaps in the speaker’s knowledge of area background or lexical and structural items. Memory and Interpretation Memory development, training and organizing are significant aspects of the pre-interpretation process. According to Conway (1997), memory capacity can be classified into different categories, such as short term, long term, permanent, working and sentient/sensory storage systems. Stevick (1978) distinguishes between various types of memory, such as memory for items, memory for relationships, “chunking,” memory for pairs of items. All of these types of memory can be trained and organized. The best 57 Teresa Gryminska way to develop memory for numbers is combining them with letters and studying them in the context of authentic materials. According to some researchers, such combinations of numbers and letters are easier to remember than numbers alone. An effective memory training activity is studying authentic realia like the combinations of letters and numbers found on license plates (Gryminska, 1999). Memory grids are useful memory helpers. They involve note taking in a grid format. A memory grid is useful in visualizing “holes” in a text and connecting the available information in a logical way. Nagle and Sanders (1986) discuss the importance of the echoic type of memory. They suggest that the acoustic input captures the sound and passes it onto the working memory. They recognize the role of affective factors, especially motivation, which may strengthen the input, or weaken it due to lack of attention or interest at this stage. Buck emphasizes the importance of memory development, “building mental representations of meaning,” or “the flow-chart approach.” According to Buck, “Mental representations are structurally similar to the world, rather than to linguistic representations of it, we do not remember either the language of the text, or the actual propositions. All we remember is the meaning.” The mental models help to determine how later parts of the text will be interpreted. Sociolinguistic Aspect of Interpretation Adding to the complexity of interpretation is sociolinguistic context. Spoken texts of different cultures reflect different patterns of rhetorical thinking. Whereas English spoken text is mostly chronological and linear, East European passages are predominantly spiraling, with lengthy subordinate clauses. Some phrases seem to be complicated because they are unfamiliar, other phrases seem to be extremely simple and easy to interpret, but when used in unknown sociolinguistic contexts, they may change their meaning and may thus hinder comprehension of a given passage. Students’ preconceived beliefs in reference to seemingly familiar phrases make it sometimes impossible for them to predict different meaning in unfamiliar contexts. When students cannot find a proper schema – they usually create their own schemata. If their understanding of the text implications is wrong, they may misinterpret the meaning of words or phrases in the surrounding context. For example students, who are unfamiliar with the concept of dedovshchina or hazing in the Russian army may wrongly interpret the meaning of they have got it – poluchali in an interview with a Russian soldier as a positive phenomenon whereas in a given context it means they have got bruises - sinyaki. Foreign language interpreters always need to be made aware of a statement’s cultural affective connotations. Contextual clues can be helpful only if the interpreter pays attention to rhetorical and cultural contexts. An awareness of cultural differences is part of understanding a foreign language. Directness and indirectness are features of both language and culture. Cultural behaviors such as different ways of turn-taking, starting and ending conversations, interrupting, and taking the floor are also very important factors when teaching interpretation. The most difficult task for students of Russian may be the cultural tendency of Russian speakers to speak at the same time and raise their voices during both official and unofficial gatherings, which is oftentimes mistaken for arguments. This unique behavior is also typical within other cultures. An example of this phenomenon could be the discussions during Mr. 58 Pre-Interpretation Strategies Zhirinovsky’s San Francisco conference, where members of the audience interrupted and questioned his interpreters, talked at the same time and raised their voices. The Role of Discourse in Interpretation The basis for developing pre-interpretation skills is discourse analysis. There are two major factors to this kind of pre-interpretation practice: the ability to use cohesion devices to put fragments of interpreted text together; and the ability to apply coherence rules to organize it semantically (such as sequencing, consistency and relevance of ideas, word partnership, and word thematic and structural association). According to G. Buck “the discourse structure – is really a stream of ideas, connected not so much by grammatical devices, but more by their juxtaposition in the text and the coherence of the ideas, which may appear ‘very ungrammatical’.” Strategies Effective pre-interpretation strategies that can be used both in the classroom and online include brainstorming, schema building, prediction, parsing, active listening, word/imagery association, word association games, discourse analysis, memory training and categorizing, memory development games, memory grids, top down and bottom up information processing, paraphrasing, reverse paraphrasing and circumlocution. All of these strategies can be practiced in the foreign language. This enables instructors and online curriculum developers to avoid excessive reliance on English in the classroom and online and manipulate both input and output in the foreign language before the actual interpretation process starts. A lot of useful strategies are currently successfully used by the WTE (Weekly Training Events) program I was part of, and previously by the GLOSS program of the Curriculum Division. The WTE program places a lot of emphasis on productive skills (Allison, 2006), which include interpretation. Brainstorming and Schema-Building While brainstorming is an important strategy which builds on students’ existing knowledge and activates their background information, schema building relies on the their expectations. Shaw (1997) writes that brainstorming and schema-building strategies are important for all fields of language learning, including content-based instruction. They are similarly useful in task-based instruction and interpretation. Predicting Text Organization Prior to interpretation, it is useful to predict the organization of a spoken text and compare it with the organization of a native language text. It definitely helps students to prepare for the organization of interpretation of a given passage, since it appears that spoken texts of different cultures reflect different patterns of rhetorical organization. Whereas English texts are predominantly chronological and linear, East European passages 59 Teresa Gryminska are oftentimes spiraling, with numerous embedded clauses, in contrast to the English simple, straightforward sentences. This organizational feature shows in the works of Joseph Conrad (Korzeniowski), the English writer of Polish origin, who preserved the Polish way of rhetorical thinking even though he wrote his novels in English. Another example of such differences would be the structure and organization of Russian interviews which differ from the American ones, since they involve interruptions and overlapping speech. In teaching foreign language interpretation, teachers may find that culturally biased texts, overloaded with information about a particular country, oftentimes delivered under unfavorable conditions (such as background noise), may increase the student’s burden, if not broken down into pieces. Therefore it is important to divide a spoken text into segments and listen to them repeatedly during the pre-interpretation process. Prior to interpretation, it is useful to predict the subject matter possibly on the basis of the title, subtitle, or first paragraph. The opening sentences of the first paragraph quite often build a complete image of the major ideas of the entire text. In the next stage of pre-interpretation, one should try to determine both the explicit and implicit meaning of the passage as a whole and its main themes. Prediction often involves the ability to anticipate the meaning of a spoken text on the basis of its cognates. A person who is completely unfamiliar with a given language can still successfully speculate on the fundamental meaning of the text. According to Gascoigne (2001), cognate status must also be taken into consideration in terms of both language instruction and the positing models of bilingual memory. A useful pre-interpretation activity is asking listeners to fill in a chart solely with cognates they hear. The next step would involve finding out information about the text and making a guess on the basis of those cognates. For example, students, who listen to a news report about recent wars, should be able to successfully get a summary from common cognates. In this case example of cognates could be political, terrorist, bombing, officers. When one combines these cognates with numbers and dates one gets a pretty good idea about what the main facts and ideas of the text are, even if one does not know the language! The only skill that is required here is the ability to actively listen for cognates in order to extract them from the text. There is, however, a danger of misinterpretation of false cognates in the two languages involved in paraphrases or interpretation. The ambiguity and vagueness of some expressions and false cognates can be overwhelming. For example, the Russian words, familia, karta, and fakul’tet, do not necessarily have to carry the meaning of family, card, and faculty in English. In a given contextual frame, they may have a different meaning, such as last name, map, and department. In such cases, a word-for-word interpretation of false cognates outside their context does not convey the intended idea. Pre-interpretation comparison strategies are extremely useful in anticipating the text content. One can make cultural, linguistic and other kinds of comparisons. For this purpose, it is advisable to compare different spoken or written texts and skills on the same subject as well as texts with similar and opposing views. For example, we can anticipate the content and implied meaning of Russian anecdotes if we know their structure and if 60 Theme Pre-Interpretation Strategies we are aware of the fact that the climax of Russian anecdotes is often included in the last sentence in contrast to preceding statements. Intent According to Buck, it is important to understand the intended purpose of a given text. Comprehension is an inferential process; therefore it is absolutely necessary to make predictions and inferences before even starting the interpretation process. An interpreter needs to read between the lines, capture implied intent, which certainly adds to the complexity of interpretation process. Examples of text with implied intent would be Russian political speeches that tend to contain such ambiguous elements as proverbs, sayings and anecdotes. An example could be the Russian President Putin’s Annual Message to the National Assembly, which contains these elements. In order to understand his hint Comrade Wolf knows who to eat, for example, we have to analyze the Russian folk anecdotes that often deal with animals and have deeper meaning. It is also important to predict the intended audience as well as possibly unintended recipients, their opinions and beliefs. Language (Word Association; Parsing/Collocations; Cohesive Devices; Rhetorical Devices) Word association, word partnerships and collocations are excellent preparaphrase and pre-interpretation strategies. It is especially important to study thematic vocabulary and word association in the initial stages of interpretation studies. Parsing (Rost, 1990) is an interesting type of prediction since it involves completion of incomplete paragraphs or sentences in a logical and creative way. To avoid potential pitfalls, however, one should bear in mind cultural differences between the foreign country and the US. It is extremely important for students to understand the hidden meaning of rhetorical devices, such as irony, sarcasm, metaphors, hyperboles, similes, ambiguities, emotional overtones. An example of irony would be President Putin’s praise of the US military budget – Molodcy, molodcy! (And rightly so. Rightly so!) – in his annual address to the National Assembly. Although his words indicate praise, his tone shows irony. Helpful linguistic pre-interpretation strategies may include the ability to predict the type of language to be used (for example, official, informal, colloquial, idiomatic or slang), cohesive devices, paragraph/sentence length, embedded phrases, filler words, clarity of word boundaries, ellipsis. Useful extra-linguistic pre-interpretation strategies involve the ability to open, close conversations, take turns, attract attention, take the floor, conduct “parsing,” predict comments or questions, pauses or breathing patterns, find completion points, return to a point, interrupt, negotiate for meaning, elicit clarification or simply buy time. In some languages like East European languages speakers tend to shift topics abruptly, introduce topics unexpectedly, overlap, and speak faster than speakers of English. Henry Widdowson (1978) recommends an analysis of sociolinguistic and rhetorical devices at a social party or in conditions that resemble a social gathering, with all the features of an informal discourse, like using different conversation openers and closers and ways to interrupt and take the floor. 61 Teresa Gryminska Identifying Register Register is a very important element in pre-interpretation. An excellent preinterpretation task is having students listen to authentic internet chats, conversations and phone calls, and then determine who is talking or who they are talking to on the basis of the register and the choice of words, or to which social, economical or political group a speaker belongs. The famous saying, “let me know how you speak and I will tell you who you are,” is quite fitting. The above sources are also gold mines of sociolinguistic information about authentic situations. While preparing my online lesson about traffic violations and traffic police in Russia, I remember getting a lot of background information about the subject and current colloquial language and slang from authentic internet exchanges, behaviors, attitudes and expressions that many Russians do not even know – for example, musor (a pig with reference to a cop, lit. trash) or dat’ w lapu (to give a bribe; lit. to put {money} in a paw). An interesting aspect of Russian Internet chats is the habit of speakers to switch their register to an informal, familiar tone in order to show lack of respect. While quoting their conversations with authority figures, the speakers oftentimes use the familiar “ty = you” form, which may seem disrespectful when addressing superiors or older strangers. Paraphrasing, Summarizing After the prediction/comprehension stage of pre-interpretation, students should try to re-express the messages of a spoken text and thus build up both their productive interpretation skills. Paraphrasing is the most important pre-interpretation process, which allows students to use the target language output in addition to input and reinforces both their listening and speaking ability. According to Tarone (1989), paraphrasing is ‘the rewording of the message in an alternate, acceptable target language construction, in situations where the appropriate form or construction is not known or not yet stable.’ Within this category Tarone singles out three types of paraphrase strategies: approximation, word coinage, and appeal for assistance or simply avoidance. • Approximation involves word/phrase substitutions to be used in place of the more exact lexical item. • Word coinage is making up a new phrase in order to express a given notion. • Circumlocution is a paraphrase strategy, which includes the process of describing the aspects of the object instead of using the corresponding target language lexical item. Nowadays most researchers provide a different definition of paraphrase and circumlocution. They claim that circumlocutions represent all the relevant information about a lexical item while paraphrase is only a partial equivalent. The basis for developing paraphrasing skills is discourse analysis. A discourse analysis strategy is generally considered to be the ability to perceive and to achieve coherence of separate lexical and structural items in meaningful communication patterns. 62 Pre-Interpretation Strategies When students try to re-express messages, they are often tempted to paraphrase them without thoroughly researching paraphrasing/interpretation problems they might present. At this stage of the pre-interpretation process, one should also develop an awareness of the distinction between the usage of language and professional/social/cultural concepts in the original and target language countries, as well as an awareness of specific problems that these distinctions may present. Reverse paraphrasing is good preparation for the interpretation process, especially for two-way interpretation. Another useful pre-interpretation process is summarizing. I remember receiving excellent practice in both identification of cultural differences and paraphrasing during a course in the Teaching of English conducted by Henry Widdowson at the College of Education in Glasgow. Widdowson asked some members of our group with opposing viewpoints on a given subject to stand up and argue. The rest of us had to identify the cultural behaviors of the speakers and their ways of opening and closing their arguments, interrupting each other, and taking the floor. This exercise was followed by paraphrasing, circumlocution and summarization. It was very useful practice and fun, too! Applications I developed the following online lesson within the Curriculum Division WTE program with the purpose of teaching interpretation skills. It is created for students who want to comprehend spoken Russian and also use their productive skills in foreign language interpretation. The lesson title is “Comrade Wolf Knows Who to Eat” and is based on the address by President Putin to the Federal Assembly in which he uses this phrase while emphasizing Russia’s need to augment its military budget. The lesson’s objectives are given in the introduction and are followed by a chain of pre-interpretation and interpretation tasks: 1. Prepare for your interpretation tasks by reviewing some set phrases related to politics. 2. Capture implied content and explain the point of a joke. 3. Identify essential direct and implied elements of information while working with the Russian President’s speech. 4. Practice two-way interpretation in an interview between an American journalist and the Russian Duma representatives. 5. Test your understanding of the concepts presented in the lesson. Before students get to the most important interpretation task of this online lesson (the interpretation of the segments of the President’s speech and the interview with the Duma representatives on its subject – objectives 3 and 4), they are provided with a matching activity, where they have to associate Russian idiomatic phrases with their English equivalents. For example: 63 Teresa Gryminska Их дом, их крепость Товарищ волк знает, кого кушать Гнаться за количественными показателями To chase after quantitative goals Their home is their castle. Comrade Wolf knows whom to eat. In the next activity (task 2), an anecdote with the Comrade Wolf reference is provided to prepare students for the task of listening to an excerpt of Putin’s speech and understanding its possible hints. It is followed by multiple-choice questions and feedback regarding the basic meaning of the anecdote, which should help students get its point. Анекдот В глубокую яму провалился козленок. Потом в эту яму провалился мужик, а немножко попозже в неё провалилась лиса и другие животные. По истечении получаса, в неё провалился волк, защелкал зубами и начал их есть по очереди. - “Бэээ, мэээ...” - жалобно заблеял козленок. - “Что бэээ, что мэээ” - сказала лиса. - “Товарищ волк знает, кого кушать!” A Joke * A goat fell into a deep pit. Then a peasant fell into the pit, and a little later a fox and other animals fell in. After half an hour had passed, a wolf fell in, clicked its teeth, and started eating them, one by one. “Baaaah, baaaah,” bleated the goat, piteously. “What’s with the ‘baaaah, baaaah’,” said the fox. “Comrade wolf knows who to eat!” Russian anecdotes are often symbolic and consist of two parts: the one compared with or weighed against the other. In oppositional anecdotes, their parts often stand in contrast to emphasize differences. Anecdotes also often deal with stereotypical animal symbols, like a bad wolf, shy, scared sheep or goat. The point of an anecdote is often a surprise final statement. Therefore, analyzing its conclusion is very important. In addition to developing the student’s ability to get the point of anecdotes, this activity also provides practice in reading between the lines. The lesson proceeds to a more complicated task (task 3) – the interpretation of an official, political speech that includes cultural and political allusions. Again, students get help in understanding by means of a series of pop-up windows with instructions, feedback and various hints. This task provides pre-interpretation practice in summarizing in the target language. The student’s objective is to identify essential direct and implied elements of information while working with the Russian President’s speech. The goal is to listen to excerpts from the speech and give a gist of the most important information in simple Russian. Students are advised to listen to the entire message, try to grasp its main idea first and then determine the essential ideas of its parts. They need to pay attention to the general structure of the excerpts from the president’s yearly message. They have to note that Russian political speeches are usually very logical, brief, and to the point. The President’s speech draws on the anecdote and proverbs given in the first part of the lesson. He ironically mentions the fairytale motif of “comrade wolf who knows 64 Pre-Interpretation Strategies who to eat and does not listen to anybody” and its high-handed behavior. Although the President refrains from mentioning the United States by name, according to some Russian journalists, the wolf in question refers to the U.S. The Russian press also claims that this may be a veiled response to Vice President Dick Cheney’s accusations that Russia is rolling back on democracy and strong-arming its ex-Soviet neighbors. In the same speech, President Putin also uses a proverb about building a fortress-like house to illustrate Russia’s need to strengthen its defenses. Although he uses positive words like “And rightly so. Rightly so!” that are commonly used to express praise and admiration, the intonation, pauses, and the tone of his voice seem to indicate that in reality he denounces U.S. military spending. In the next interpretation activity (task 4), the student is asked to imagine that he is an interpreter for an American journalist who comes to the Russian Duma to interview Parliament representatives about the President’s annual speech. The student’s role is to orally render questions from English into Russian and answers from Russian into English. The student is given advice regarding strategies and key phrases and may listen to the interview segments and actual oral interpretation segments as many times as necessary. An example of the interview is given below: Original Questions and Answers American Journalist: What do you think about the political references in the president’s message? Translation* Американский журналист: Что вы думаете о политических намёках послания Президента? Oleg Morozov – deputy chairman of the Gosduma Remember that he said that the wolf, uh, eats when it wants to eat. So, nobody’s waiting for us, the strong, not in the world economic markets, or not with decent ships. We ourselves, as a great nation, have to understand that we have to be strong, and only then we can conduct effective social policy. Uh, a person can only be protected in a strong, economically developed state capable of defending itself. Олег Морозов – заместитель председателя Госдумы: Помните, когда он сказал, что волк, э, кушает, когда хочет кушать. Вот, никто нас, сильных, не ждёт ни на мировых экономических рынках, ни с хорошими кораблями. Мы сами как великая нация должны понимать, что мы должны быть сильными, и только тогда мы сможем проводить эффективную социальную политику. Э, человек может быть защищён только в сильном, экономически развитом, обороноспособном государстве. • The above Russian authentic materials were superbly translated by Mr. Richard Mayer of the DLIFLC Curriculum Division. 65 Teresa Gryminska The lesson ends with a short true/false quiz. An example of a question may be: “Double standards are two sets of standards” – true or false? The above online lesson is an example of the Weekly Training Events program (a continuation of the GLOSS program with emphasis on production skills), which is very effective in developing a student’s understanding of a foreign language and culture and interpreting it properly by its stress on production. Conclusion All of the above-mentioned pre-interpretation strategies provide students with numerous opportunities to use the target language. At the same time they prepare them for the final process of interpretation, for identifying and interpreting both direct and implied elements of information. An important implication of the above observations is that foreign language interpretation involves more than knowing the meaning of basic vocabulary. Students also need to know the socio-cultural and psycholinguistic information, both linguistic and extra-linguistic aspects of interpretation, the importance of conveying implicit content and intent, emotional overtones, the illocutionary force of sentences. Another implication for language interpreters is the need to consider cultural and rhetorical differences as well as linguistic differences between texts in the native and foreign languages in their pre-interpretation practice. The distinction between a foreign language and a native language in various fields of study (e.g. political science) should be definitely emphasized. An additional value of pre-interpretation strategies is that they raise the level of the interpreter’s confidence, motivation, enthusiasm and positive thinking about the upcoming interpretation task which contributes to the overall success of interpretation. Positive thoughts can eliminate the interpreter’s tension, affective filter and consequently pitfalls. References Allison, E. (2006). Weekly Training Events, CDD Newsletter, 1(2). Monterey, CA: DLIFLC. Baddeley, A. D. (1989). The uses of working memory. In P. R. Solomon, G. R. Goethais, C. M. Kelley, B.R. Stephens (Eds.), Memory: Interdisciplinary approaches. New York: Springer-Verlag. Buck, G. (2001). Assessing listening. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Callahan, T. (1994). Take my tape-recorder – please! (Taking notes during an interview). Writer’s Digest, 74, 3. Conway, M. A. (1997). Cognitive models of memory. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Gascoigne, C. (2001). Lexical and conceptual representations in more–and less–skilled bilinguals: The role of cognates. Foreign Language Annals. Gryminska, T. (1999). Teaching interpretation strategies in the FLO classroom. Bridges: A publication dedicated to teaching the Final Learning Objectives. Monterey, CA: DLIFLC. Johnson-Laird, P.N. (1983). Mental models. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 66 Pre-Interpretation Strategies Nagle, S.J., and Sanders, S.L. (1986). Comprehension theory and second language pedagogy. TESOL Quarterly, 20(1). Rost, M. (1998). Active listening: Expanding learners’ skills and strategies. Workshop. DLIFLC, Monterey. Shaw, P. (1997). With one stone: Models of instruction and their curricular implications in an advanced content-based foreign language program. In Stryker, S., Leaver, B, (Eds.), Content-based instruction in foreign language education: Models and methods. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. Straight, H. S. (1997). Language-based content instruction. In Stryker, S., Leaver, B, (Eds.), Content-based instruction in foreign language education: Models and methods. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. Tarone, E., Yule, G. (1989). Focus on the language learner. Approaches to identifying and meeting the needs of second language learners. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Viaggio, S. (1991).The first thing to teach (which is often never taught). Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the First Language International Conference, Elsinore, Denmark. Widdowson, H. (1978). Teaching language as communication. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Author TERESA GRYMINSKA, Curriculum Developer, European and Latin American School, DLIFLC, Presidio of Monterey, Monterey, CA 93944-5006. Specializations/Interests: Curriculum development, teaching foreign languages and cultures with TV, music and technology. 67 Foreign Language Teaching Methodology at DLI Dialog on Language Instruction 2007, Vol. 18, Nos. 1 & 2, pp. 69-75 Review Article Foreign Language Teaching Methodology at DLI 1985 to Present Christine Campbell Evaluation and Standardization Deanna Tovar European and Latin American School Throughout the years DLIFLC has been in existence, it has kept abreast of theoretical developments in foreign language methodology and their practical application. When Colonel Monte Bullard became Commandant in 1985, he recognized the need to provide the faculty with more professional development opportunities. Specifically, he supported adding more substance and length to the Instructor Certification Course for new faculty, encouraged faculty to do action research, and promoted attendance at professional conferences. Dr. Ray Clifford, who came to DLIFLC as Provost in 1981, was known internationally in the foreign language learning field as an expert in language proficiency assessment after the publication of the germinal article “The Push Toward Communication,” (Higgs & Clifford, 1982). Dr. Clifford’s arrival ushered in a new era for DLIFLC in which leadership set the goal of becoming not only the premier language institute of the Department of Defense, but of the world. That goal remains the focus of DLIFLC to this day. This short article will provide a brief history of the recent trends in foreign language methodology that have influenced teaching and learning at DLIFLC. Communicative Language Teaching In general terms, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) has been the prevailing, over-arching methodological approach since the late 1970s. CLT has its roots in theoretical perspectives on communicative competence posited by Hymes (1972), Munby (1978), Canale and Swain (1980), Canale (1983) and Savignon (1972, 1983, 1997) among others. In Teaching for Proficiency, the Organizing Principle, Higgs and others (1984) focused on the practice of CLT. Fundamental principles of CLT follow: Teacher acting as a facilitator Use of a real-life context for activities Integrating skills Use of authentic materials 69 Christine Campbell and Deanna Tovar Personalizing activities Use of pair work Use of group work Teacher/student negotiation about curriculum Maximizing student-student interaction Maximizing student participation Use of task-based instruction Tailoring to learner styles or preferences Use of a variety of communication activities Use of Information Gap activities Use of appropriate forms of feedback Maximizing use of TL The Principled Communicative Approach In the 1990s, a number of language professionals (Widdowson, 1990; Savignon, 1990; Larsen-Freeman, 1990; Legutke and Thomas, 1991; Celce-Murcia, 1991; CelceMurcia, Dörnyei, and Thurrell, 1995, 1997; Schmidt, 1991; Kumaravadivelu, 1992, 1993; Scarcella and Oxford, 1992) criticized certain aspects of CLT and proposed changes. The majority of the criticism was related to two main issues: The linguistic content base of CLT; the pedagogical treatment of linguistic forms in CLT. Regarding the former, the scholars pointed to the absence of an in-depth description of the content base of CLT to be used in syllabus design that would go beyond the language functions and language notions of the late 1970s. In 1995, Celce-Murcia, Dörnyei, and Thurrell proposed such a description as part of what they termed a “pedagogically motivated framework for communicative competence” (p. 144). Viewing their framework as an extension of Canale and Swain’s (1980; Canale, 1983), they divide communicative competence into five areas: discourse competence (the core), linguistic competence, actional competence, sociocultural competence, and strategic competence. Concerning the latter issue—the pedagogical treatment of linguistic forms in CLT, the researchers observed that CLT proponents were neglecting the development of linguistic competence in their quest to promote the functional-notional aspects of the language, i.e., CLT proponents were not paying the proper attention to grammar instruction. This lack of attention typically translated to teacher avoidance of explicit grammar instruction in the classroom. To remedy the situation, scholars such as Long and Crookes (1992) proposed combining pedagogic tasks with a systematic focus on form, or grammar, as the fundamental organizational units in a communicative syllabus. In 1997, Celce-Murcia, Dörnyei, and Thurrel argued that the foreign language learning field is experiencing a paradigm shift towards a “principled communicative approach” that incorporates both direct, explicit grammar instruction and task-based instruction into CLT. Learner-Centered Curriculum and Instruction In the list of CLT principles examined earlier, there are references to “negotiating by teacher and students about aspects of the curriculum,” “maximizing student-student interaction,” and “use of pair [and] group work.” These references specifically apply to 70 Foreign Language Teaching Methodology at DLI a sub-trend within CLT-- learner-centered instruction. Although the concepts “learnercentered” instruction and curriculum were discussed in general terms in the literature focusing on learner differences in the late 1980s and 1990s (e.g., Oxford, 1990; O’Malley and Chamot,1990; Scarcella and Oxford, 1992; Ehrman, 1996; Cohen, 1998; Chamot et al., 1999), they were especially examined by Nunan (1988) in The Learner-Centered Curriculum (1988) and in his other publications (2004, 1998, 1997, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989). Learner-centered instruction promotes active learning where there is a considerable amount of student-student interaction through pair and group work. Perhaps Nunan’s (2006) most succinct definition of learner-centered instruction follows: “[It has] two dimensions: (1) Learner involvement in making choices about what to learn, how to learn, and how to be assessed. (2) Learners are actively involved in learning through doing.” Content-Based Instruction Another methodological approach which DLIFLC has incorporated into various language programs is content–based instruction (CBI). A considerable number of language programs have specifically adopted this approach into their third semesters. This approach is also especially suited for the culture and area studies courses taught at DLIFLC: Courses--140-Introduction to Foreign Language Culture; 240-History and Geography of the Foreign Language Region; and 340-Area and Intercultural Studies within the Foreign Language Region. CBI has two primary goals. The first is to develop the learner’s communicative competence while integrating the four language skills. The secondary goal is to “… introduce concepts and terminology relevant to a given subject area …” (Scarcella & Oxford, 1992, p. 89). At DLIFLC, the most frequently adopted CBI model is the themebased model. In this model, language skills are integrated into thematic content areas that have been identified as important to the learner. The content areas have been identified by its stakeholders, the National Security Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency in a document, Final Learning Objectives for Basic Language Programs in the Defense Foreign Language Program (2004) that outlines the topical areas that military language students need in order to do their jobs in their assigned language fields. An example of a theme-based lesson relevant to today’s military language specialist might deal with a trans-national issue such as, “…narcotics trafficking and organized crime particularly as they affect relations between the culture or nations being studied and the United States” (p. 12). The specific area studies content objectives identified as critical to the military language learner are as follows: Military and security; economic and political; scientific and technological; cultural and social; and geography (physical, political, and economic). DLIFLC course writers and teachers build curricula and prepare instructional lessons based on these content areas. Additional areas are incorporated as needed. Task-Based Instruction Task-Based Instruction (TBI)) is another language teaching approach familiar to DLIFLC faculty. Most materials prepared either by the Institute’s curriculum development teams or daily by classroom teachers contain the elements that are characteristic of TBI. 71 Christine Campbell and Deanna Tovar These characteristics are: Communication through interaction (problem-solving) Use of authentic materials Learner focus on language and learning process Personalization (The learner’s own experiences as critical to the learning process) Links between classroom language learning and language use outside of the classroom (Nunan, 1991). H. Douglas Brown (1994) observes that “[a] task-based curriculum, then, specifies what a learner needs to do with ... language, in terms of target tasks…” [Brown’s emphasis] (p. 229). Teachers in DLIFLC classrooms and in off-site immersions focus on tasks that reflect the real world. In both the classrooms and in immersions, students are given scenarios that place them in a plausible, future, real-world military context. For example, Russian students may be asked to interact with teachers and other students in a situation/scenario that takes place in a Russian - speaking country. These students must solve a problem by listening to and then reading authentic materials that deal with the situation. They must extract critical information and report this information to a superior. They then must interact with their teachers who play the roles identified in the scenario and the students must find out information relevant to the accomplishment of the task. In other words, the students have to solve the problem. They must engage in all of the tasks in order to come up with a solution and report their findings or solution. Focus on Learner Autonomy One of the most recent developments in L2 is the focus on learner autonomy (Cotterall, 1995; Dickinson, 1995; Benson & Voller, 1996; Pemberton et al., 1996; Palfreyman & Smith, 2005; van Lier, 1996). The challenge for the teacher is to help learners understand how they learn and to guide them to language learning resources that would expand their knowledge outside of the classroom. Beyond Methodology In the 1990s and into the new millennium, a number of language professionals (Brown, 1994; Kumaravadivelu, 1992, 1994; Larsen-Freeman, 1991; Long, 1991; Bell, 2003) have suggested the term “methodology” has outlived its significance given the reality of today’s language classroom where teachers typically apply an eclectic approach, continually selecting from among an array of methodologies and/or techniques according to learner needs. Most educators, however, do recognize the merits of having common organizing principles and related terminology to guide the profession. The notion that the profession is in a post-methodology era is still being discussed in the literature. Conclusion Although the prevailing, over-arching methodological approach at DLIFLC since the mid-80s has been CLT, teachers typically apply different aspects of existing 72 Foreign Language Teaching Methodology at DLI L2 methodologies as they adapt to learner needs. By taking advantage of DLIFLC’s professional development opportunities, e.g., courses through the Faculty Development Division, conference attendance, action research projects, and more, they learn about the latest developments in the field such as learner-centered instruction, content-based instruction, and task-based instruction. In the technological arena, they integrate teaching tools such as the Smart Board, which DLIFLC experimented with and integrated into the curriculum before any other language learning entity in the world, into the classroom. DLIFLC is constantly working to maintain its current status as the premier language institute in the Department of Defense, if not the world, and will strive to remain at the forefront of foreign language teaching and learning. References Bell, D. M. (2003). Method and postmethod: are they really so incompatible? TESOL Quarterly, 37, 325-336. Benson, P., & Voller, P. (Eds.). (1996). Autonomy and independence in language learning. London, UK: Longman. Brown, H. D. (1994). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Regents. Canale, M. (1983). From communicative competence to communicative language. In J. Richards & R. Schmidt (eds.), Language and communication (pp. 2-27). Harlow, UK: Longman. Canale, M., & Swain, M. (1980). Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics, 1, 1-47. Celce-Murcia, M. (1991). Language and communication: A time for equilibrium and integration. In J. E. Alatis (Ed.), Georgetown University Round Table on Language and Linguistics 1991 (pp. 223-237). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. Celce-Murcia, M., Dörnyei, Z., & Thurrell, S. (1997). Direct approaches in L2 instruction: A turning point in communicative language teaching? TESOL Quarterly, 31, 141-152. Celce-Murcia, M., Dörnyei, Z., & Thurrell, S. (1995). Communicative competence: A pedagogically motivated model with content specifications. Issues in Applied Linguistics, 6, 5-35. Chamot, A., et al. (1999). The learning strategies handbook. White Plains, NY: Longman. Cohen, A. (1998). Strategies in learning and using a second language. White Plains, NY: Longman. Cotterall, S. (1995). Readiness for autonomy: Investigating learner beliefs. System, 23(2), 195-203. Dickinson, L. (1995). Autonomy and motivation: A literature review. System, 23(2), 165-174. Ehrman, M. (1996). Understanding second language learning difficulties. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Final Learning Objectives for Basic Language Programs in the Defense Foreign Language Program. (2004). Presidio of Monterey, CA: The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center. 73 Christine Campbell and Deanna Tovar Higgs,T., & Clifford, R. (1982). The push toward communication. In T. Higgs (Ed.), Curriculum, competence and the foreign language teacher (pp. 57-79). Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook. Higgs, T. (Ed.). (1984). Teaching for proficiency, the organizing principle. Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook. Hymes, D. (1972). On communicative competence. In J. Pride & J. Holmes (Eds.), Sociolinguistics. Harmondsworth, NY: Penguin. Kumaravadivelu, B. (1994). The postmethod condition: Emerging strategies for second/ foreign language teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 28, 27-48. -----. (1993). Maximizing learning potential in the communicative classroom. ELT Journal, 47, 12-21. -----. (1992). Macrostrategies for the second/foreign language teacher. Modern Language Journal, 76, 41-49. Larsen-Freeman, D. (1991). Research on language teaching methodologies: A review of the past and an agenda for the future. In K. de Bot, R. B. Ginsberg, & C. Kramsch (Eds.), Foreign language research in cross-cultural perspective (pp. 119-132). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Larsen-Freeman, D. (1990). On the need for a theory of language teaching. In J. E. Alatis (Ed.), Georgetown University Round Table on Language and Linguistics 1991. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. Legutke, M., & Thomas, H. (1991). Process and experience in the language classroom. Harlow, UK: Longman. Long, M. (1991). Focus on form: A design feature in language teaching methodology. In K. de Bot, R. B. Ginsberg, & C. Kramsch (Eds.), Foreign language research in cross-cultural perspective (pp. 39-52). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Long, M., & Crookes, G. (1992). Three approaches to task-based syllabus design. TESOL Quarterly, 26, 27-56. Munby, J. (1978). Communicative syllabus design. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Nunan, D. (2006). Go for it! Energizing your classes: A learner-centered approach. Presentation on website. -----. (2004). Task-based language teaching. Cambridge Language Teaching Library. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. -----. (1998). Second language teaching and learning. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle. -----. (1997). Designing and adapting materials to encourage learner autonomy. In P.Benson & P. Voller (Eds.), Autonomy and independence in language learning (pp.192-203). London, UK: Longman. -----. (1992). Research methods in language learning. Cambridge Language Teaching Library. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. -----. (1991). Language teaching methodology: A textbook for teachers. London, UK: Prentice Hall International. -----. (1990). Action research in the language classroom. In J. C. Richards & D. (Eds.), Second language teacher education (pp. 62-81). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. -----. (1989). Basic issues and concerns. Understanding language classrooms. A guide for teacher-initiated action. London, UK: Prentice Hall International. -----. (1989). Designing tasks for the communicative classroom. Cambridge Language 74 Foreign Language Teaching Methodology at DLI Teaching Library. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. -----. (1988). The learner-centered curriculum. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Applied Linguistics. Cambridge University Press. O’Malley, J., & Chamot, A. (1990). Learning strategies in second language acquisition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Oxford, R. (1990). Language learning strategies: What every teacher should know. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle. Palfreyman, D. & R. Smith (Eds.). (2005). Learner autonomy across cultures. New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan. Pemberton, R. et al. (Eds.). (1996). Taking control: Autonomy in language learning. Hong Kong, China: Hong Kong University Press. Savignon, S. (1997). Communicative competence: Theory and practice. 2nd Ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. -----. (1990). Communicative language teaching: Definitions and directions. In J. E. Alatis (Ed.), Georgetown University Round Table on Language and Linguistics 1990 (pp. 205-217). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. -----. (1983). Communicative competence: Theory and practice. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. -----. (1972). Communicative competence: An experiment in foreign language teaching. Philadelphia, PA: Center for Curriculum Development. Scarcella, R. & Oxford, R. (1992). Tapestry of language learning: The individual in the communicative classroom. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle. Schmidt, R. (1991). Input, interaction, attention, and awareness: The case for consciousness raising in second language teaching (Anais do X Encontro Nacional de Professores Universitários de Língua Inglesa I). Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Pontífica Universidade Católica. van Lier, L. (1996). Interaction in the language curriculum: Awareness, autonomy, and authenticity. New York: Longman. Widdowson, H.G. (1990). Aspects of language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Author CHRISTINE CAMPBELL, Assistant Provost, Evaluation & Standardization, Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, Presidio of Monterey, CA 939445006. Specializations: Langugage assessment. DEANNA TOVAR, Dean,European and Latin American Language School, Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, Presidio of Monterey, CA 939445006. Specializations: Faculty development. 75 Notes from an OPI Tester to DLI Instructors Dialog on Language Instruction 2007, Vol. 18, Nos. 1 & 2, pp. 77-80 Faculty Exchange Notes from an OPI Tester Trainer to DLI Instructors Why Can’t They Describe? Patricia Fay-Magiera Proficiency Standards Division So often, when conducting OPI Certification and Recertification Workshops, the difficulties the practice examinees from DLI have when trying to fulfill the Level 2 description task become very apparent. Just as often, the workshop participants turn to the OPI tester trainers and ask in desperation, “Why can’t they describe?” The problem with the description task cannot be overlooked and has led to the following considerations. They are offered here in the spirit of generating a dialogue and faculty exchange in order to find some solutions. In his ILR Handbook On Oral Interview Testing, Dr. Pardee Lowe assigns the linguistic skill of describing to Level 2. He presents the skill simply as the ability “to describe a person, an object, or a place” (Lowe, pp.1991, 7-20). In the shorthand characterizations, he states succinctly that a Level 2 “can describe and narrate” (Lowe, 1991, pp. 7-22). In the absence of further elaboration, the description task does appear to be simple to understand and easy to accomplish. Arthur Hughes, in his well-respected text Testing for Language Teachers, details some guidelines for eliciting description in order to accurately test for this skill. For example, he suggests describing selected pictures, or describing specific situations, as an assessment method (Hughes, 1989). Unfortunately, these methods are not a part of the OPI testing system of elicitation and therefore, cannot be implemented in the OPI. So, the search for answers and solutions to the problem of improving performance on the description task remain for DLI teachers, OPI testers and OPI trainers to explore and discuss. Difficulty with the description task is demonstrated by Faculty Personnel examinees, as well as DLI students. The question arises as to why this is so and what can be done to alleviate the problem. One answer to the cause of the difficulty in performing the description task may be found in an inherent lack of an elementary sense of spatial relationships on the part of the individual speaker. On the other hand, the difficulty in describing may be due to a lack of training in spatial awareness and spatial terminology. If the latter explanation is the case, DLI instructors are in a position to help. A good place to begin an investigation of the causes of the inability to “describe” is in The Student Learning Center at DLI. Here, the difficulties the basic course students have in dealing with an extended concept of spatial relationships in English (EN) is apparent. By “an extended concept of spatial relationships” is meant, in the DLI context, the maturity of the learner in relation to the physical world and the people who populate it. Due to differences in maturity, by the time they have arrived at DLI, the average basic course students have identified themselves in relation to the physical environment and the people living in it, to varying degrees of accuracy. This is a process which, ofcourse, continues for the rest of their lives. A good example of the varying degrees of maturity 77 Patricia Fay-Magiera with regard to self-awareness and awareness of the physical world and people can be seen in the shock some students often experience when practicing certain FLO skills in EN. Linguistic abilities, which the new students had taken for granted, suddenly revealed themselves to be totally inadequate when faced, for example, with the FLO task of correctly transcribing numbers in their native language. They often had to face the fact that they usually had been listening, as the Germans would say, “with only half an ear”. They were simply unable to concentrate long enough in order to transcribe a 6 to 8 digit number correctly in English! Another example can be seen in their inability to summarize the main points of an argument, or even to clearly express their own opinion. They knew what they wanted to say, but they did not have the narrative and procedural language and terminology to speak or write about it. Another aspect of the interaction between the degree of maturity and the real world and people relates to virtual reality. As an ongoing process, virtual reality competes with the learner’s concepts of “real-time” spatial and personal relationships. In some cases, the need to focus on a range of moving objects contained within a limited background, and to possibly react in a specific manner within a short period of time, reduces the ability to focus on the details of a larger picture, and to retain and recall the individual objects and their positions. The result can be that the ability to observe and concentrate on a static scene may become diminished. This could affect the ability to give a detailed description of stationary person, object or place, particularly when, as in the OPI, the description is given from memory. Finally, the disconnect between the degree of maturity of the learner in relation to the physical world and people who populate it can also be explained by the sheer overload of cognitive and affective tasking the DLI student is required to master. They are already multi-tasking to a considerable degree, observing themselves, their own abilities, or lack thereof, observing the outside world and its population, their physical position and personal position in relation to these varied objects and entities, and, finally, contending with the lessons in self-awareness which accompany this process. It is no wonder that they are at a loss for words in English, or in a Target Language (TL), as so much of what is happening is entirely new to them. Nevertheless, the DLI classroom offers the first step to bridging the gap between emerging maturity and observing, and describing, the physical world and people. For the first step, the TL instructor needs to recognize the implications of the over-arching learning process in which the basic course student finds himself/herself. The next step would be to continue to present – in context - the high-frequency vocabulary necessary for basic Level 2 descriptions. This includes the procedural language of description commonly used the TL. Some general examples of words and terms used in EN are the following: when describing and object or a place - on the left; on the right; in the foreground; in the background; diagonally across from; the number of “storeys” a building has, when seen from the outside; the number of “floors” a building has, when seen from the inside; the shape of the roof, windows, etc. When describing a person, some general physical features which are typically described are the following: the general build of the body (heavy-set, medium build , slight or thin build); the shape of the face (oval, round, long, square); the shape of the nose (long, thin, short, straight, crooked); the shape (almond, round, big, small) and color (blue, green, brown, hazel) of the eyes; the color (blond, black, brown, gray, white, etc.), length (long, short, crew cut, thin, bald), and type (straight, curly, wavy) of the hair. 78 Notes from an OPI Tester to DLI Instructors Each of these steps is surely already being undertaken by the DLI instructors. However, it may also be necessary to mention that the instructors actually need to take the time to teach the students to “see” in a systematic way. This the TL instructor can do by “slowing down the action” and asking the student to take a physical position in front of the person, object or place to be described. In this way, the learner, first of all, notes his/her own physical position in relation to the person, place or thing. This might be practiced in “real life” in the classroom, for example, with the class divided and standing, facing in four different directions. Each student imagines that he/she is holding a camcorder and pretends to photograph and describe what he/she actually sees within specified perimeters, as he/she slowly swings the “camcorder” in a 180 degree arc, from left to right. The students can not jot down notes about what they have seen but must report back from memory. The other students in the group can observe, first hand, how detailed or superficial the description is and award a “prize” to the best student in the group. Another version of the exercise could be to have four groups compete to see which group can write down the most complete description of the same picture of a person, place or thing – from memory - within a specific allotted time. Needless to say, there will be a lot of invaluable self-knowledge and copy-cat learning going on during these feedback sessions. These activities could be expanded to become assignments to be prepared outside of classroom, describing on-site and off-site locations, objects and individuals. Finally, this activity could be very effectively included in immersion exercises, if this is not yet the case. As H. Douglas Brown emphasizes in his classic text Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, activities which appeal to the genuine interests of your students and are relevant to their lives are the best source of intrinsic motivation (Brown, 1994). Whereas DLI students know that describing may be a part of their military duties in the future, knowing that it will be a definite part of immersion exercises, with immediate feedback and/or consequences, will make the ability to describe a person, place or thing an integral part of their immediate lives as students and soldiers. Teaching description also presents many enjoyable and amusing opportunities to introduce cultural aspects of language. The shape of roofs, windows, doors, courtyards, gateways, walls, and even hedges are often culturally specific and offer a way to teach necessary, specific vocabulary,. These features can even be used to teach history, climate and topography. Just as words such as shanghaied, garage, adobe, veranda, patio and khaki, sirocco, monsoon and tsunami have become part of American English, TL instructors can be on the lookout to include everyday words used in ways specific to the TL culture. The learner may experience a pleasing “aha” effect in learning the true origin of words in American English. On the other hand, he/she may enter into a unique and intriguing lesson on culture with the teacher. The description of the physical features or appearance of a person is another area which reflects cultural values. For example, in China, a person with an oval-shaped face is considered classically beautiful, or good–looking. This is expressed by saying that the person has an egg-shaped face. Literally, one says in Chinese that the person has a “goose-egg shaped face”. A “tall nose” refers to the pleasing shape and height of the bridge of the nose. When describing the eyes, the Chinese are not sensitive to color but to the shape, size and brightness of the eyes. Blond hair is always described as “golden hair” in Chinese. In Korean, blond hair is described as being “yellow”, while in SerbianCroatian, it is described as being “blue”. To the Chinese, a “small, cherry-red mouth” is preferred to a “big, full mouth”, which is considered unattractive. A person is “tall 79 Patricia Fay-Magiera or short”, or “not tall” or “not short”. An athletic-looking person is said to have “welldeveloped muscles”. In Serbian-Croatian, a big, strong, athletic-looking man is described as being “a black, small man”. The “blackness” or “darkness” of the man conveys the idea of his great strength. This strength is so large and great that it overpowers all else making everything else look small. Conclusion Creative and systematic ways of teaching proficiency in describing accurately have no bounds. It would be good to take a fresh look at how this proficiency can be made more accessible to all our students, to try out new teaching methods and to share them, along with the data on their effectiveness, with colleagues across all languages and divisions. In this way, an answer to the question “Why can’t they describe?” might indeed be found together. References Brown, H. D. (1994). Principles of language learning and teaching. Engelwood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall. Hughes, A. (2003). Testing for Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lowe, P, Jr. (1991). ILR handbook on oral interview testing. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. Author PATRICIA FAY-MAGIERA, Proficiency Stndards Division, Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, Presidio of Monterey, CA 93944-5006. Specializations/Interests: Language assessment and second language acquisition. 80 News and Views Former DLI Russian Faculty Member Publishes Book Christine Campbell Evaluation and Standardization Ms. Regina Todd, a retired DLILFC faculty member who was a member of the Russian faculty for 33 years, recently published the book My Struggle for Survival (2006, Park Place Publications, www.parkplacepublications.com) that outlines her life from childhood through her choice of Monterey as a place to settle in the United States. An autobiography, the book begins with her birth and childhood in Leningrad, under the Stalinist terror. It goes on to relate her horrific experiences as a victim of the 900-day siege of Leningrad by Nazi Germany during which time more than one million city residents died of bombings and starvation. Next, it traces her life in Central Asia, her studies in Law at and graduation from Leningrad University in 1951, her work as a corporation lawyer for five years in the former Soviet Union, and her flight to Europe and the United States. Ms. Todd arrived in the United States in 1960. Living in Los Angeles, California, she worked and participated in the Art Linkletter Show as a member of an international panel that discussed life in the Soviet Union. Her topic was “Family Life in the Soviet Union.” She then went to New York, where she became a Research Assistant at Columbia University School of Law from 1964 to 1967. Afterwards, she was on the faculty of Monterey Institute of International Studies (then, Monterey Institute of Foreign Studies) and Middlebury College. She received her M.A. in Russian Language and Civilization from the Institute in 1965. Later, she met the renowned New York Times journalist Harrison Salisbury. Salisbury is the author of 900 Days: The Siege of Leningrad. 81 DLI Index General Information Index Authors and Articles Allard, Yoshimi. (1997). Significance of Output in Language Acquistion.12(1 & 2), p. 17. Allsopp, Jeanette. (1995). Foreign Language Methodology in the Carribean: A Historical Survey. 11(1 & 2), p. 13. Antokhin, Natalia. (2000). Error Treatment: Does It Help in Second Language Acquisition? 14(1 & 2), p. 7. Arellano, Albert. (1992). Increasing Motivation by Peer Tutoring. 8(1 & 2), p. 77. Arellano, Albert. (1991). Individual Coaching for Language Proficiency. 7(1), p. 55. Asher, James. (1994). Imagination in Second Language Acquisition. 10(1), p. 19. Atwell, Sabine. (1994). Teaching Listening: Lessons Drawn from Classroom Observation. 10(1), p. 59. Barnwell, David. (1992). Foreign Language Teaching and Testing During World War II. 8(1 & 2), p. 23. Blackburn, James. (1995). Teaching Aspect in Beginning French Courses. 11(1 & 2), p. 33. Blackburn, James. (1999). Instructional Value of Voice in Elementary French. 13(1 & 2), p. 45. Boussalhi, Abdelfattah, Cambacau, Pamela, & Ortenberg, Maria. (2004). Developing Materials for Gloss: Principles, Content, and Instructional Technology. 16(1 & 2). p. 25. Boyadjieff, Kiril. (1995). Lessons Learned on Management of CAS Development. 11(1 & 2), p. 49. Boyadjieff, Kiril. (1997). Applicability of Digital Video to Computerized Language Learning. 12(1 & 2), p. 25. Boyadjieff, Kiril. (2005). Learning Management Systems Conference. 17(1 & 2), p.35. Bueler, William. (1987). Trivial Pursuit as a Language-Learning Game. 4(2), p. 47. Byrnes, Heidi. (1987). Teaching Reading in the Foreign Language Classroom. 4(2), p. 23. Cicekdag, Mehmet Ali. (1995). Information-Gap Activities. 11(1 & 2), p. 59. Cicekdag, Mehmet Ali. (1987). Cultural Distance and the Foreign Language Teaching/ Learning Process. 4(1), p. 15. Cobb, Marina. (2004). Input Elaboration in Second and Foreign Language Acquisition. 16(1 & 2). p. 13. Cole, Charles. (1991). Helping Students Cope with Supplemental Materials: The Design and Use of Learner Notebooks. 7(1), p. 52. Cole, Charles. (1989). Error Treatment in the Adult Foreign Language Classroom. 5(1), p. 43. Cucalón, Raul. (1992). Code-Switching and Its Role in the Chicano Population. 8(1 & 2), p. 55. de Barros, Rene. (1987). Teaching Without Texts. 4(2), p. 43. Dudney, Grazyna M. (2000). Supervisory Class Observation as a Teacher Development Tool. 14(1 & 2), p. 17. Dudney, Grazyna M. (1990). Sound Stories. 6(1 & 2), p. 102. Dudney, Grazyna M. (1989). Communicative Vocabulary Review. 5(1), p. 66. Dutertre, Ayca. (1999). Officers and Enlisted Personnel Success in Foreign Language Learning in DLIFLC’s 25-Week Spanish Basic Program. 13(1 & 2), p. 117. Eighannan, Alaa. (2004). Putting Principles of Interactive Language Teaching Into Your Classroom Practice. 16(1 & 2). p. 67. 83 Dialog on Language Instruction El-Barouki, Foazi. (2000). Arabic as a Foreign language in the New Millennium: Integrating language and Culture Through the Comprehension of Idioms. 14(1 & 2), p. 23. El-Barouki, Foazi. (1997). How Arab Émigré Writers in America Kept Their Cultural Roots. 12(1 & 2), p. 31. Elghannam, Alaa. (1997). Peer Observation: Concepts and Practices. 12(1 & 2), p. 41. El-Nady, Mamdouh. (2000). Drama as a Teaching Technique in the Second Language Classroom. 14(1 & 2), p. 41. El-Nady, Mamdouh. (1994). Teaching Culture through Language Analysis: Use of Pronouns in the Egyptian Dialect. 10(1), p. 69. Erdener, Yildiray. (1987). Communicating with More Than Words. 4(1), p. 31. Esfahani, Abolghasem Soheili. (2005). A Communicative Way of Teaching Structure: The Case of the Pro-drop Feature in Persian/Farsi. 17(1 & 2), p.17. Fakhhouri, Grace. (2004). Interaction in Group Work: Can It Enhance FL Acquisition? 16(1 & 2). p. 1. Feghali, Maksoud. (1989). Interactive Video Authoring in Teaching Foreign Languages. 5(1), p. 68. Ferguson, Umit. (2005). Improving Proficiency Through Learner-Centered Instruction. 17(1&), p. 1. Ford, Maria. (1995). The Power of Politeness around the World. 11(1 & 2), p. 1. Fox, Lisette. (1999). Reflections on Culture. 13(1 & 2), p. 89. Gale, Roderic. (1997). Computer Roles in Language Teaching and Learning: Let the Dialog Expand–Robustly! 12(1 & 2), p. 1. Garrett, Nina. (1987). The Problem with Grammar: What Kind Can the Language Learner Use? 4(1), p. 79. Goroshko, Natalia. (1993). Four-Handed Instruction. 9(1), p. 49. Iaremenko, Grigori. (2004). Conditionally Communicative Exercises. 16(1 & 2). p. 41. Kaneda, Yoshiko. (1999). An Experiment in Listening Material: Is Packaging More Important Than Its Content? 13(1 & 2), p. 131. Khoshaba, Matti Philliops. (2004). The Integrative Test of Arabic (IAT). 16(1 & 2) p. 53. Konderski, Stefan. (1990). “Eavesdropping” in Foreign Language Instruction. 6(1 & 2), p. 105. Koppany, Steven. (1995). Computers and the Foreign Language Curriculum: Old Questions, New Horizons. 11(1 & 2), p. 55. Koppany, Steve. (2005). Learning Management Systems Conference. 17(1 & 2), p.35. Kordecki, Ann. (1989). Dealing with Underachievers in a Classroom. 5(1), p. 63. Krasner, Irene. (1999). The Role of Culture in Language Teaching. 13(1 & 2), p. 79. Lee, Dae Sok. (2005). The Articulatory Positions for the Korean Vowels. 17(1 & 2), p.9. Lee, Megan. (2005). Learning Management Systems Conference. 17(1 & 2), p.35. Lett, John. (1987). Research at DLI. 4(1), p. 46. Lett, John. (1989). Components of Language Proficiency. 5(1), p. 57. Litvinenko, Elena. (2000). Scheduling Special Assistance. 14(1 & 2), p. 37. Maly, Eugene. (1993). Task-Based Instruction: From the Teacher’s Perspective. 9(1), p. 37. Masliyah, Sadok. (1999). A Cross-Cultural Misunderstanding: The Case of the Arabic Expression Inshallah, “If God Wills.” 13(1 & 2), p. 97. Masliyah, Sadok. (1990). Student Opinions and Preferences for Error Treatment. 6(1 & 2), p. 27. McDermott, James. (1999). Implicit and Explicit Learning of Languages. 13(1 & 2), p. 27. 84 DLI Index Nasr, Michel. (1993). Pioneers of Social Change. 9(1), p. 55. Nicola, Michel. (1994). An Integrated Arabic Basic Course. 10(1), p. 27. Nicola, Michel. (1991). Theories of Second Language Acquisition and of Physics. 7(1), p. 17. Nicola, Michel. (1990). Experimenting with the New Methods. 6(1 & 2), p. 61. Nicola, Michel. (1989). The “Far Side” Treatment. 5(1), p. 72. Orr, Joseph. (2000). Surviving Immersion. 14(1 & 2), p. 63. Otto, Frank. (1987). Foreign Language Technology in the 21st Century. 4(1), p. 1. Oxford-Carpenter, Rebecca. (1989). A New Taxonomy of Second Language Learning Strategies. 5(1), p. 1. Park, Bo Young. (2000). Out of the Korean Classroom: Trip to the Temple; Language Exercises. 14(1 & 2), p. 69. Poulin, Gerald. (1997). Applicability of Digital Video to Computerized Language Learning. 12(1 & 2), p. 25. Rivers, Wilga. (1987). Comprehension and Production in Interactive Language Training. 4(1), p. 78. Rowland, Howard. (1991). Diglossia in Arabic: The Phenomenon and Some Possible Solutions. 7(1), p. 45. Rowland, Howard. (1990). A Solution for DLI’s “Arabic Problem.” 6(1 & 2), p. 89. Rubinstein, George. (1993). Foreign Language versus Second Language. 9(1), p. 23. Sampson, Kenneth. (1999). Instilling Passion for Language: Strategies and Techniques. 13(1 & 2), p. 73. Sedrak, nagib Z. (2000). Will Translation Replace Humans? 14(1 & 2), p. 31. Shin, Ilsoon. (1997). The DLPT as a Learning Objective. 12(1 & 2), p. 29. Shin, Ilsoon. (1991). The ILR Proficiency Interview. 7(1), p. 77. Shin, Ilsoon. (1990). The Classroom Observation. 6(1 & 2), p. 107. Slutsky, Leonid. (1993). Four-Handed Instruction. 9(1), p. 49. Sparhawk, Carol. (1991). Teacher as Intensive Student: How it Feels. 7(1), p. 29. Swaffar, Janet. (1990). Competing Paradigms in Adult Language. 6(1 & 2), p. 1. Terdjman, Jean-Michel. (1991). Putting Meaning Before Form. 7(1), p. 39. Terrell, Tracy. (1987). Avoiding Fossilization in Communicative Approaches. 4(2), p. 1. Thompson, Irene. (1989). Some Implications of Reading Research for L2 Reading Instruction. 5(1), p. 19. Tuman, Walter. (1991). CALLware: Design, Development, and Distribution. 7(1), p. 1. van Daalen, Margaret. (1999). Test Usefulness in Alternative Assessment. 13(1 & 2), p. 1. van Daalen, Margaret. (1992). Adult Dialogue Journals in Dutch as a Foreign Language. 8(1 & 2), p. 35. White, Philip. (1997). The Role of Dictionaries in Language Learning. 12(1 & 2), p. 7. Woytak, Lidia. (1997). Language for a Lifetime: 1997 Command Language Program Manager Seminar. 12(1 & 2), p. 47. Woytak, Lidia. (1999). Life of an Idea: DLIFLC Annual Program Review. 13(1 & 2), p. 135. Woytak, Lidia. (1990). Guidelines for Presentations. 6(1 & 2), p. 75. Woytak, Lidia. (1987). Goals and Objectives in Foreign Language Teaching. 4(1), p. 36. Zeuge, Helma. (1990). German FLO Goes EIDS. 6(1 &2), p. 97. Authors and Editors of Books Bahat, Ester. (1991). Ha-’Ilton Ke-emtsa’I Lehora’at Safah Shniyah. 12(1 & 2), p. 57. Reviewed by Masliyah, Sadok. (1997). 85 Dialog on Language Instruction Hoffmeister, Gerhart and Tubach, Frederic. (1986). Germany: 2000 Years, Volume 3, From the Nazi Era to the Present. 4(1), p. 82. Reviewed by Maier, Wofgang. (1987). Lauden, Edna & Weinbach, Liora. (1993). Multi-Dictionary, Hebrew From Scratch, Arabic for Living. 11(1 & 2), p. 65. Reviewed by Masliyah, Sadok. (1995). Lee, William W. & Owens, Diana L. (2000) Multimedia-Based Instructional Design. 16(1 & 2). p. 71. Reviewed by Farahmand, Shoreh. (2004). Mahnke, M. Kathleen. (1999). Grammar Links: A Theme-Based Course for Reference and Practice. 16(1 & 2). p. 72. Reviewed by Roemer, Ann E. Mueller, Kurt. (1986). Language Competence: Implications for National Security. 4(2), p. 62. Reviewed by Goodrick, John. (1987). Nicola, Michel. (1985). A Thousand and One Nights. 4(2), p. 64. Reviewed by Nasr, Michel. (1987). Nydell, Margaret. (1991). From Modern Standard Arabic to the Iraqi Dialect, Levantine Dialects, Maghrebi Dialects–Conversation Courses. 10(1), p. 75. Reviewed by Rowland, Howard. (1994). Pellisier, Sidney and Smith William. (1985). Bulletins–Premier Niveau: Sight Readings in French. 4(1), p. 83. Reviewed by Moreno, Rejane. (1987). Rixon, Shelagh. (1989). Developing Listening Skills. 8(1 & 2), p. 81. Reviewed by Moravec, Eva. (1992). Rost, Michael. (1991). Listening in Action. 8(1 & 2), p. 85. Reviewed by Smith, Robert. (1992). Rauch, Holger von & Trad, M. Sadek. (1998). Travel wise: Arabic. 14(1 & 2), p. 74. reviewed by Rowland, Howard D. (2000). Polish Individualized Instruction. 5(1), p. 75. Reviewed by Woytak, Lidia. (1989). Watcyn-Jones, Peter. (1997). Pair Work 1. 13(1 & 2), p. 155. Reviewed by Allard, Yoshimi. (1999). Williams, F.C. & Wu,Yenna. (1999). Chinese: The Easy Way. 14(1 & 2), p. 73. Reviewed by Zhao, Jim Jielu. (2000). Williams, F.C. & Wu,Yenna. (1999). Chinese: The Easy Way. 14(1 & 2), p. 73. Reviewed by Sun, Dawn Hsu Chao. (2004). Zilkha, Avraham. (2000). Modern English-Hebrew Dictionary. 16(1 & 2), p. 70. Reviewed by Masliyah, Sadok. (2004). Authors of Reports Allard,Yoshimi and Lee Robert. (1999). ACTFL Conference Attendance Highest Ever. 13(1 & 2), p. 153. Armstrong, Marianne. (1987). Social Conventions in the Foreign Language Classroom (ACTFL Conference Presentation). 4(1), p. 55. Atwell, Ssbine. (1995). Teacher Education and Curriculum at TESOL. 11(1 & 2), p. 75. Campbell, Christine. (1991). DLI at ACTFL. 7(1), p. 69. Cicekdag, Mehmet Ali. (1994). ACTFL ’93–A Personal View. 10(1), p. 77. El-Barouki, Foazi. (1987). Social Conventions in the Foreign Language Classroom (ACTFL Conference Presentation). 4(1), p. 55. Hammoud, Salah-Dine. (1993). ACTFL ’92 Impressions. 9(1), p. 59. Hurtt, Meei-Jin. (1997). Chinese Teachers’ Workshop. 12(1 & 2), p. 37. Koppany, Steven. (1991). DLI at ACTFL. 7(1), p. 69. Koppany, Steven. (1987). Real-Life in the Classroom (ACTFL Workshop Report). 4(1), p. 71. Lee, Alice. (1987). Social Conventions in the Foreign Language Classroom (ACTFL Conference Presentation). 4(1), p. 55. Ludgate, Brigitta. (1991). DLI at ACTFL. 7(1), p. 69. Mohamed, A. Monim S. (2005). Reflective Teaching: Input and Output Experience. 17(1 & 2), p.51. 86 DLI Index Ortiz, Jose. (1991). DLI at ACTFL. 7(1), p. 69. Patterson, Elena. (2005). Engaging Students in Activities. 17(1 & 2), p.48. Tabuse, Motoko. (1987). Social Conventions in the Foreign Language Classroom (ACTFL Conference Presentation). 4(1), p. 55. Tovar, Deanna. (1991). Teacher Education at TESOL ’90. 7(1), p. 57. Tovar, Deanna. (1987). Coming of Age (TESOL Conference Report). 4(2), p. 53. van Daalen, Margaret. (1990). Second Language Research Forum Conference Report: Multidisciplinary Perspectives. 6(1 & 2), p. 109. Woytak, Lidia. (1991). Report from ACTFL. 7(1), p. 66. Woytak, Lidia. (2000). Language Enhancement: The 1999 Worldwide Language Olympics and the 1999 Command Language Program Seminar. 14(1 & 2), p. 49. Woytak, Lidia. (2005). Developing and Testin New Materials. 17(1 & 2), p.45. Editorials Clifford, Ray. (1987). Guest Editorial. 4(2), p. iii. Hutchinson, Joseph. (1987). Editorial. 4(1), p. iii. Panetta, Leon. (1987). Letter from Congressman Panetta. 4(1), p. 88. Sampson, Kenneth L. (2000). Values for the New Millennium. 14(1 & 2), p. 1. Interviewees Di Donato, Robert. (1994). Interviewed by Woytak, Lidia. 10(1), p. 1. Rivers, Wilga. (1993). Interviewed by Woytak, Lidia. 9(1), p. 1. Rohrer, Josef. (1992). Interviewed by Woytak Lidia 8(1 & 2), p. 1. Gagné, Robert. (1987). Interviewed by Woytak, Lidia. 4(2), p. 36. Correspondence Molan, Peter. (1994). A Reply to Michel Nicola’s “An Integrated Arabic Basic Course.” 10(1), p. 43. Nicola, Michel. (1994). Response to Peter D. Molan’s Reply. 10(1), p. 55. Announcements Broz, James. (1989). Foreign Language Foundation Moves from Concept to Reality. 5(1), p. 79. Woytak, Lidia. (1990). Obituary: James W. Dodge. 6(1 & 2), p. 73. 87 Calendar of Events General Information Calendar of Events* 2007 Southern Conference on Language Teaching (SCOLT), 1–3 March, Atlanta, GA. Contact: Lynne McClendon, Executive Director, SCOLT, 165 Lazy Laurel Chase, Roswell, GA 30076; (770) 992-1256, Fax (770) 992-3464; Email: [email protected] Web: www.valdosta.edu/scolt Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, 8–10 March, Kansas City, MO. Contact: Patrick T. Raven, Executive Director, CSCTFL, PO Box 251, Milwaukee, WI 53201-0251; (414) 405-4645, Fax (414) 276-4650; Email: [email protected] Web: www.centralstates.cc Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), 21–24 March, Seattle, WA. Contact: TESOL, 700 S. Washington Street, Suite 200, Alexandria, VA 22314; (703) 836-0774, Fax (703) 836-7864; Email: [email protected] Web: www.tesol.org Association of Teachers of Japanese Seminar, 22 March, Boston, MA. Contact: Yoshiko Mori, Seminar Committee Chair; Email: [email protected] Web: www. japaneseteaching.org/ATJseminar/2007/ Association for Asian Studies (AAS), 22–25 March, Boston, MA. Contact: AAS, 1021 East Huron St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104; (734) 665-2490; Fax (734) 665-3801; Email:[email protected] Web: www.aasianst.org 17th International Conference on Pragmatics and Language Learning, 26–28 March, Honololu, HI. Contact: National Foreign Language Resource Center, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, 1859 East-West Road #106, Honolulu, HI 96822; (808) 956-9424, Fax (808) 956-5983; Email: nfl[email protected] Web: nflrc.hawaii. edu/prodev/pll/ International Society for Language Studies (ISLS), 2–4 April, Honolulu, HI. Contact: John Watzke; Email: [email protected] Web: www.isls-inc.org/conference/ conference.html American Educational Research Association (AERA), 9–13 April, Chicago, IL. Contact: AERA, 1230 17th St., NW, Washington, DC 20036-3078; (202) 2239485, Fax (202) 775-1824, Web: www.aera.net Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (NECTFL), 12–14 April, New York, NY. Contact: Northeast Conference, Dickinson College, PO Box 1773, Carlisle, PA 17013-2896; (717) 245-1977, Fax (717) 245-1976; Email: nectfl@dickinson.edu Web: www.nectfl.org Social and Cognitive Aspects of Second Language Learning and Teaching, 12–14 April, Auckland, New Zealand. Contact: Farina Ibnul; Email: f.ibnul@auckland. ac.nz Web: www.arts.auckland.ac.nz/sites/index.cfm?P=9209 * Courtesy of The Modern Language Journal (University of Wisconsin) 89 Dialog on Language Instruction Southwest Conference on Language Teaching (SWCOLT), 12–15 April, Las Vegas, NV. Contact: Jody Klopp, Executive Director, SWCOLT, 713 Rock Hollow Road, Edmond, OK 73034; (405) 330-1318, Fax (405) 340-0923; Email: [email protected] Web: www.swcolt.org American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), 21–24 April, Costa Mesa, CA. Contact: AAAL, 3416 Primm Lane, Birmingham, AL 35216; (205) 824-7700, Fax (205) 823-2760; Email: [email protected] Web: www.aaal.org National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL), 26–29 April, Madison, WI. Contact: NCOLCTL, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 4231 Humanities Building, 455 N. Park Street, Madison, WI 53706; (608) 265-7903, Fax (608) 265-7904; Email: [email protected] Web: www.councilnet. org/conf/conf2007/prpsl.htm International Reading Association (IRA), 13–17 May, Toronto, Canada. Contact: International Reading Association, Headquarters Office, 800 Barksdale Rd., PO Box 8139, Newark, DE 19714-8139; (302) 731-1600, Fax: (302) 731-1057; Web: www.reading.org First Congress of Chinese Applied Linguistics, 16–21, May, Bejing, China. Contact: Email: celea@fltrp.com Web: www.celea.org.cn/english/5celea.asp Second CELC Symposium for English Language Teachers, 30 May – 1 June, Singapore. Contact: Symposium Secretariat, Centre for English Language Communication, National University of Singapore, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 119260; (65) 6516-3866, Fax (65) 6777-9152; Email: [email protected] Web: www.nus.edu.sg/celc/symposium/ Fifth International Conference on Language Teacher Education, 31 May – 2 June, Minneapolis, MN. Contact: CARLA, University of Minnesota, 619 Heller Hall, 271 19th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55455; (612) 626-8600, Fax (612) 624-7514; Email: [email protected] Web: www.carla.umn.edu LSA Summer Institute, 1–27 July, Stanford, CA. Contact: Department of Linguistics Attn: 2007 LSA Summer Institute, Stanford University, Building 460, 450 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305-2150; Email: [email protected] Web: www. lsadc.org/info/inst-2007.cfm American Association of Teachers of French (AATF), 12–15 July, Baton Rouge, LA. Contact: Jayne Abrate, AATF, Mailcode 4510, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901-4510; (618) 453-5731, Fax (618) 453-5733; Email: [email protected] Web: www.frenchteachers.org EUROCALL, 5–8 September, University of Ulster, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, UK. Contact: Web: www.eurocall-languages.org/confs/index.html British Association for Applied Linguistics, 6–8 September, Edinburgh, UK. Contact: Web: www.baal.org.uk Second International Conference on Task-based Language Teaching, 20–22 September, University of Hawai’i-Manoa, Honololu, HI. Contact: Email: [email protected] Web: www.hawaii.edu/tblt2007/index.html African Studies Association (ASA), 18–21 October, New York, NY. Contact: Kimme Carlos, Annual Meeting Coordinator, Rutgers University, Douglass Campus, 132 George Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1400; (732) 932-8173, Fax (732) 932-3394; Email: [email protected] Web: www.africanstudies.org 90 Calendar of Events American Translators Association (ATA), 31 October – 3 November, Miami, FL. Contact: ATA, 225 Reinekers Lane, Suite 590, Alexandria, VA 22314; (703) 683-6100, Fax (703) 683-6122; Email: [email protected] Web: www. atanet.org American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), 16–18 November, San Antonio, TX. Contact: ACTFL, 700 S. Washington St., Suite 210, Alexandria, VA 22314; (703) 894-2900, Fax (703) 894-2905; Email: headquarters@actfl. org Web: www.actfl.org American Association of Teachers of German (AATG), 16–18 November, San Antonio, TX. Contact: AATG, 112 Haddontowne Court #104, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034; (856) 795-5553, Fax (856) 795-9398; Email: [email protected] Web: www.aatg.org American Association of Teachers of Italian (AATI), 17–19 November, Nashville, TN: Contact: Paolo Giordano, President AATI, Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of Central Florida, PO Box 161348, Orlando, FL 32816; (773) 508-2855, Fax (407) 823-6261; Email: [email protected] Web: www. aati-online.org Chinese Language Teachers Association (CLTA), 16–18 November, San Antonio, TX. Contact: CLTA Headquarters, Cynthia Ning, Center for Chinese Studies, Moore Hall #416, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822; (808) 956-2692, Fax (808) 956-2682; Email: [email protected] Web: clta.osu.edu National Network for Early Language Learning (NNELL), 16–18 November, San Antonio, TX. Contact: Mary Lynn Redmond, NNELL, PO Box 7266, B 201 Tribble Hall, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109; Email: [email protected] Web: www.nnell.org 2008 Events Linguistic Society of America (LSA), 3–6 January, Chicago, IL. Contact: LSA, 1325 18th St. NW, # 211, Washington, DC 20036-6501; (202) 835-1714, Fax (202) 835-1717; Web: www.lsadc.org Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, 6–8 March, Dearborn, MI. Contact: Patrick T. Raven, Executive Director, CSCTFL, PO Box 251, Milwaukee, WI 53201-0251; (414) 405-4645, Fax (414) 276-4650; Email: [email protected] Web: www.centralstates.cc American Educational Research Association (AERA), 23–28 March, New York, NY. Contact: AERA, 1230 17th St., NW, Washington, DC 20036-3078; (202) 2239485, Fax (202) 775-1824; Web: www.aera.net Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (NECTFL), 27–29 March, New York, NY. Contact: Northeast Conference, Dickinson College, PO Box 1773, Carlisle, PA 17013-2896; (717) 245-1977, Fax (717) 245-1976; Email: nectfl@dickinson.edu Web: www.nectfl.org Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), 2–5 April, New York City, NY. Contact: TESOL, 700 S. Washington Street, Suite 200, Alexandria, VA 22314; (703) 836-0774, Fax (703) 836-7864; Email: conventions@tesol. org Web: www.tesol.org 91 Dialog on Language Instruction Southern Conference on Language Teaching (SCOLT), 3–5 April, South Carolina. Contact: Lynne McClendon, Executive Director, SCOLT, 165 Lazy Laurel Chase, Roswell, GA 30076; (770) 992-1256, Fax (770) 992-3464; Email: [email protected] Web: www.valdosta.edu/scolt International Reading Association (IRA), 4–8 May, Atlanta, GA. Contact: International Reading Association, Headquarters Office, 800 Barksdale Rd., PO Box 8139, Newark, DE 19714-8139; Web: www.reading.org AILA 2008, 24–29 August, Essen, Germany. Contact: AILA 2008 Conference Office, Julian Sudhoff, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Campus Essen, FB Geisteswissenschaften, Anglistik, Universitätsstrasse 12, 45117 Essen, Germany; +(49) 201-183-2727; Email: [email protected] Web: www.aila2008.org British Association for Applied Linguistics, 11–13 September, Glasgow, UK. Contact: Web: www.baal.org.uk. American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), 21–23 November, Orlando, FL. Contact: ACTFL, 700 S. Washington St., Suite 210, Alexandria, VA 22314; (703) 894-2900, Fax (703) 894-2905; Email: headquarters@actfl. org Web: www.actfl.org American Association of Teachers of German (AATG), 21–23 November, Orlando, FL. Contact: AATG, 112 Haddontowne Court #104, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034; (856) 795-5553, Fax (856) 795-9398; Email: [email protected] Web: www.aatg.org Chinese Language Teachers Association (CLTA), 21–23 November, Orlando, FL. Contact: CLTA Headquarters, Cynthia Ning, Center for Chinese Studies, Moore Hall #416, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822; (808) 956-2692, Fax (808) 956-2682; Email: [email protected] Web: clta.osu.edu National Network for Early Language Learning (NNELL), 21–23 November, Orlando, FL. Contact: Mary Lynn Redmond, NNELL, PO Box 7266, B 201 Tribble Hall, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109; Email: [email protected] Web: www.nnell.org 92 Information for Contributors Purpose The purpose of this internal publication is to increase and share professional knowledge among DLIFLC faculty and staff, as well as to promote professional communication within the Defense Foreign Language Program. Submission of Manuscripts The success of Dialog on Language Instruction depends on your cooperation and support. Dialog on Language Instruction accepts only original manuscripts with the understanding that they have not been submitted for publication elsewhere. All materials submitted for publication should conform to the Publications Manual of the American Psychological Association (4th Ed., 1994), available from the American Psychological Association, P. O. Box 2710, Hyattsville, MD 20784. We encourage you to submit a previously unpublished manuscript, a review, a description of innovative classroom activities, a news item, or even a comment on language instruction. Express your ideas on all aspects of language instruction including teaching, learning, and research. Present your findings on language teaching, learning, classroom strategies and techniques, and applied research. Articles Manuscripts should not exceed 20 double-spaced pages. Divide your manuscript into • Abstract • Introduction • Organizing Construct Point 1 Point 2 Point 3 • Discussion • Conclusion • Appendices • Notes • References • Acknowledgments • Author the following sections: 93 Abstract Provide a brief overview of your manuscript in 75 to 100 words. First, identify the topic of your manuscript in one sentence. Next state the purpose and the scope of your manuscript in a couple of sentences. Next name the sources used, for example personal observation, published books and articles. Finally, state your conclusion in the last sentence of the abstract. Introduction Describe the purpose of the manuscript. Relate it to the content of the recently, within the last two to three years, published literature. Describe work that had a direct impact on your study. Avoid general references. Cite only pertinent research findings and relevant methodological issues. Provide the logical continuity between previous and present work. Identify the main issues of your study. Point out the implications of your study. Organizing Construct Divide this part into subsections. Focus each subsection on a specific issue identified in the introduction. In each subsection, identify the issue, describe it, and present your finding. Discussion Respond to the following questions guide: (1) What I have contributed here? (2) How has my study helped to resolve the original problem? (3) What conclusions and theoretical implications can I draw from my study? Conclusion Summarize your findings. References The list of references should be submitted on a separate page of the manuscript with the centered heading: References. The entries should be arranged alphabetically by surnames of authors. The sample list of references below illustrates format for bibliographic entries: Dulay, H., & Burt, M. (1974). Errors and strategies in child second language acquisition. TESOL Quarterly, 16(1), 93-95. Harris, D. P. (1969). Testing English as a second language. New York: McGraw-Hill. 94 Reference citations in the text of the manuscript should include the name of the author of the work cited, the date of the work, and when quoting, the page numbers on which the material that is being quoted originally appeared, e.g., (Jones, 2001, pp. 235-238). All works cited in the manuscript must appear in the list of references, and conversely, all works included in the list of references must be cited in the manuscript. Notes They should be used for substantive information only, and they should be numbered serially throughout the manuscript. Subsequently, they all should be listed on a separate page titled Notes. Faculty Exchange This section provides an opportunity for faculty to share ideas through brief articles up to two double-spaced pages on innovative classroom practices, such as suggestions on communicative activities, team teaching, use of media and realia, and adaptation of authentic materials. Each sample of a model classroom activity should state the purpose, provide instructions and, if applicable, give supporting texts or illustrations. Reviews Manuscripts should not exceed two double-spaced pages. Reviews of textbooks, scholarly works related to foreign language education, dictionaries, tests, computer software, video tapes, and other non-print materials will be considered for publication. Both positive and negative aspects of the work(s) being considered should be pointed out. The review should give a clear but brief statement of the works contents and a critical assessment of contribution to the profession. Quotations should be kept short. Do not use footnotes. Reviews that are merely descriptive will not be accepted for publication. News and Views Manuscripts should not exceed one double-spaced page. Items related to language instruction such as reports on conferences, official trips, official visitors, special events, new instructional techniques, training aids or materials, research findings, news items, etc., will be considered for publication. 95 Specifications for Manuscripts Manuscripts should be typed on 8.5 x 11 in. paper, double-spaced, with margins of about 1.25 in. on all four sides. All pages should be numbered consecutively. Each manuscript should be submitted in three copies. The first page should include only the title and the text. It is recommended that passages orquotations in foreign languages be glossed or summarized. Authors are advised to prepare a note pertaining to their professional status. An author’s name, position, department, school, address (if outside of DLIFLC), and interests would be identified in the note. An example of such a note is presented below: Author JANE C. DOE, Assistant Professor, Foreign Language Education, University of America, 226 N. Madison St., Madison, WI 55306. Specializations: foreign language acquisition, curriculum studies. Specifications for E-mail Preferably use Windows-based software, or name the software used. Attach manuscripts to e-mail. [email protected] Review Process Each manuscript will be evaluated anonymously by at least two foreign language educators. To assure anonymity, authors should not put their names on submitted manuscripts, but should include a 3 x 5 in. card listing the title of the manuscript, author’s name, department/division, and telephone number. Each author will be informed of the evaluation results. In general, a manuscript will be accepted for publication if two anonymous readers recommend acceptance, and, by the same token, manuscripts not recommended by the readers for publication will be rejected. In cases in which one reader recommends acceptance, and the second one, rejection—a third reader will be asked to review the manuscript. Accepted Manuscripts A manuscript accepted for publication may be accepted “as is” or may require certain revisions which may target the need to consider other sources, or to elaborate on a certain point; or, finally, may address such minor details as a typo or a lack of citation. In the latter case, the author is asked to revise it and subsequently the editor checks whether the author complied thoroughly with the guidance 96 Rejected Manuscripts Manuscripts are rejected due to such major flaws as: • inappropriate/unsuitable topic for DLIFLC • lack of purpose • lack of organization • poor quality of writing • lack of applicability to instruction The editor duly informs the author that the manuscript is unacceptable for publication. Normally this finding ends the revision process. In some cases, an author whose manuscript was already rejected decides to revise the manuscript thoroughly and to resubmit it for publication. Since the quality of the version is unpredictable, no promises can be issued to the author regarding publication. Correspondence Submit your correspondence and manuscripts to Dialog on Language Instruction, ATTN: ATFL-CD-AJ (Editor), Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, Presidio of Monterey, CA 93944-5006. 97 Dialog on Language Instruction Dialog on Language Instruction Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center Presidio of Monterey Monterey, CA 93944-5006 2007 Volume 18 Numbers 1