Stephen van Vlack

Sookmyung Women`s University

Graduate School of TESOL

Discourse Analysis

(Spring 2006)

Week 14 - Riggenbach (1999), Chapter 4, pp. 146-210 & Bailey (2005), Chapter 4, pp. 119-157 - Answers

1. What do discourse analysis activities offer in the area of grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary? (Rigg4)

One way of heightening awareness about language is to allow students to act in the role of discourse analysts or language researchers so that they can make observations about language and discover evidence of patterns and rules for themselves. They can choose materials that will be useful to them, targeting the areas of grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary that they want to work on. They can be involved with the design of exercises and activities that they find most challenging and interesting, and in this way, they engage meaningfully with the language.

In the area of grammar, discourse analysis activities offer that spoken English is notably different than written English. Adult native speakers often do not use complete, fully formed sentences; they rephrase and repair their utterances; they cut themselves or each other off in midsentence or midphrase; do not always obey the rules of prescriptive standard English grammar. A number of studies address the ways in which spoken language differs syntactically from written language(e.g, Ford 1993; Horowitz and Samuels 1987; Kroll and Vann 1981; Ochs 1979). Discourse analysis activities also offer that the choice of grammatical structures may differ in different contexts. Different settings can shape the form an utterance takes: a request may take the form of an imperative in one setting(Close the window), a question that uses a modal in one setting(Could you close the window, plesase?), a seemingly unrelated statement in another(Im freezing) Observing how grammar corresponds with the situation and setting can be done using a discourse analysis approach.

In the area of vocabulary, discourse analysis activities designed by learners themselves generate tailor-made vocabulary studies. Learners can concentrate on high frequency words or specialized vocabulary that they determine is useful to them. Students can observe the vocabulary that is used in a certain setting and notice how usage may differ in other settings. For example, the words used in a conversation may be notably different than those used in an academic lecture. Authentic spoken language data collected by students can be used in a discourse analysis activity in which students make hypotheses about why particular vocabulary choices were made instead of others.

In the area of pronunciation, learners can collect audiotaped speech from speakers of different dialects of English and systematically compare the pronunciation of specific words and the sounds in words. This kind of activity is helpful for raising consciousness about the notion of standard English that considerations of power and status figure into the determination of what is standard among the many varieties of English. Also included in the study of pronunciation is the phenomenon of fast English. In speech, words are not discrete or separated from each other; they are normally linked together, often in one clause-length stream of words. Discourse analysis activities can encourage students to examine these features of pronunciation. In addition, learners can explore how their own pronunciation corresponds to these features. Then, to target these features in their own speech, learners can design meaningful activities.

2. Among the 4 sample activities in grammar, which do you think the most effective one would be in your classroom, and why? (Rigg4)

 I think that Present Perfect versus Simple Past is the most effective one among the four sample activities in grammar. My students are low-intermediate in general, and they are confused when to use Present Perfect and when to use Simple Past. Besides, they are accustomed to solving grammar exercises isolated from the contexts. At first, they may find difficulty in doing discourse analysis activity. However, through this activity, they can focus on particular grammatical structure in natural speech and observe how what is actually said may or may not conform to the prescriptive rules in textbooks. Consequently, they get to realize that this kind of activity is useful and meaningful for them. They discover that the predicting and planning stages of this research project can be helpful as a grammar refresher. In addition, the results of their analyses, both native/expert data and their own data, help learners build confidence in their own investigatory skills. It is enlightening for nonnative speakers to learn that native speakers do not necessarily follow the rules of formal prescriptive grammar: such grammatical structures as the present perfect may turn out to be used infrequently, even at points where present perfect usage would be appropriate.

Step 1 Predict: Learners can work with other students to think of situations where the present perfect is likely to be used. They should think of contexts that focus on duration or on the experience rather than on a specific time

Step 2 Plan: Learners decide how to get collect data through the direct interview of a native speaker, or indirect spoken data on the radio, TV, or the internet.

Step 3 Collect data: Learners conduct and audiotape or videotape news or conversations. The goal is to collect natural-sounding samples of a native or expert speaker talking. However, it is difficult to collect authentic spoken data of a native or expert speaker talking in EFL situation. Thus, they can find spoken data on the radio, TV, or the internet.

Step 4 Analyze: Learners listen to their recorded news, focusing on verb tense usage. They jot down examples of present perfect forms. They discuss their findings, being sure to address questions that emerged in the predicting and planning stages.

Step 5 Generate: Learners imagine how they might report a news event they have just heard on the radio to a friend who hasnt heard it. It is important that learners generate language on topics that could involve present perfect usage.

Step 6 Review: Learners analyze the tape-recorded data they produced in Step 5. It is appropriate for learners to first analyze their own data and then have their analyses checked by a classmate and/or instructor. The check can confirm validity and can also reinforce learners` self-analyses.

3.Among the 4 activities in pronunciation, which one is the most suitable to your teaching situation and why? (Rigg4)

Pronunciation is believed to be one of subskills related to speaking. Even though it is just one mirco-level skill, it plays an important role in communication effectively. However, we had neglected the factor from now on in public education system for some decades. According to Celce-Murcia, Brinton, & Goodwin (1996), pronunciation instruction tends to be linked to the instructional method being used. In the grammar-translation method of the past, pronunciation was almost irrelevant and therefore seldom taught. Most Koreans have rarely taught English pronunciation because the grammar-translation method has dominated for several years. In the audio-lingual method, learners spent hours in the language lab listening to and repeating sounds and sound combinations. With the emergence of more holistic, communicative methods and approaches to ESL instruction, pronunciation is addressed within the context of real communication. Nowadays, the trend of teaching English is speaking-oriented from reading-oriented in the past in Korea. The more people have recognized the importance of speaking, the more people are teaching phonics. For the reasons, I suggest that discourse analysis activities which learners can be encouraged to examine features of pronunciation and explore how their own pronunciation corresponds to features of pronunciation.

In teaching and learning word stresses and pauses, they can design meaningful practice activities. The activity can be as follow.

Step 1. predict

- Ask learners to predict where pauses and word stresses will occur in native speaker speech. Listen to the tape and see how accurate their predictions were.

Step 2. plan

- Ask students prepare a short talk of one minute at most.

-audiotaped or videotaped of their speaking accompanied by a transcript

Step 3. Collect data

Transcribing one or two minutes of their own speech (all full words, including filler, backchannel, or partial word)

Step 4) Analyze

- Learners trade transcript with a partner : analyzing the transcript

- Listen to the tape : comparing their predictions to what actually happened

- in pairs or groups, discussing their findings

Step 5) Generate

 Make word stress visible

- Encourage learners to indicate word stress in their notes.

- Learners can audiotape their own speech to practice

Step 6) Review

- Looking specifically for the kinds of problems pointed out in the analysis in step 4

- Asking feedback from a small group of students

Through the activity, students may discover that monitoring their own speech for stress and pauses is accessible activity that comes more easily than an awareness of pronunciation problem.

4. Among the 4 sample activities in vocabulary, which one do you think would have the most versatile effects in your classroom?(Rigg4)

My personal belief based on the things I have read is that the activity for guessing the meaning and learning new words would tend to be the most important. Language learners cannot remember all the words and even native speakers cant do it. English teachers should help learners analyze and associate new words in meaningful ways and thus build their vocabulary. Also they need to practice that once words are recognized as new or unknown in the course of talk, context clues can be helpful in guessing the meanings of these words. However, as we have already experienced, noticing new words and guessing their meaning does not guarantee these words will be learned. Therefore, new words need to be associated with in meaningful ways.

Step1; Predict

- Identify one or two settings related to the difficulty

Step2; Plan

- form research team with others who have identified the same setting as a challenging one

Step 3; Collect data

- record the speech by an audio tape or a video tape

Step 4; Analyze

- transcribe difficult excerpts and identify the cause of difficulty

; guess the meaning from the context, write them down, compare and discuss them as a group. After that, figure out what clues helped learners to guess the meaning

Step 5; Generate

- associate the new words learners learned with words they already know (word map, research notebook)

Step 6; Review

- game; word lists, written passages, small talk

- research notebook; word lists, interesting notes

peer evaluation (recording, note-taking (examples of words, phrases), discussion

5. What are three important principles to consider for teaching speaking to advanced learners? (B4)

So far we have discussed important principles for teaching to beginning students, false beginners, and intermediate students. Those considerations are also important with more proficient learners. There are more key principles to keep in mind for teaching speaking to advanced learners. As teachers we should consider these essential principles to help our students to get as much as possible from our speaking lessons.

Firstly, teachers should help learners to combine fluency and accuracy, which have to be necessarily taken into consideration when we prepare for or lead the advanced lever learners. We have already discussed those two terms in chapter 1. Accuracy refers to the ability to speak properly-that means making reasonable choices of words and expressions in order to conduct what is meant. However fluency is the ability to speak fluidly, confidently maintaining conversational rhythm. What we should focus on is to develop natural balance between those two parts together. Secondly, teachers should encourage learners to take reasonable risks in speaking English. It seems that advanced learners are not willing to take more chances to make a progress further. Students themselves should take responsibility for their own language learning. But from this point the responsibility lies with teachers. What they should do is actively encouraging proficient students by trying new things and take reasonable risks in speaking English. There are some suggestions; talking with a stranger in English, attending a party where English is spoken, participating in a job interview, or giving a talk to a civic organization in English can be helpful ways. Thirdly, teachers should provide opportunities for learners to notice the gap. The term notice the gap refers to the learner`s awareness that the way he is saying something in the target language differs from the way native or proficient speakers say it. Learner`s awareness can be individual words, grammar rules, idioms like any types of language they learn. It is necessary to make clear distinction between notice the gap and monitoring. Monitoring is learners checking that he doesn`t know the word or the structure he is trying to say. Thus it does not include linguistic development from learner`s self-awareness.

By noticing the gap , students will be able to see what their weaknesses are, eventually realizing what parts in the target language should be improved .

6. Describe and illustrate some task and activity types that can be used with advanced learners. (B4)

7. What are some of things to consider assessing the speaking skills of advanced learners? (B4)