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Learning History In English Dr Peter STOREY The Open University of Hong Kong

How to use English to conduct learning and teaching activities in junior secondary History classes (New). Learning History In English Dr Peter STOREY The Open University of Hong Kong. CD1020120035. In 1961, Professor Edward Hallet Carr, fellow of Trinity College Cambridge, posed the question:

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Learning History In English Dr Peter STOREY The Open University of Hong Kong

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  1. How to use English to conduct learning and teaching activities in junior secondary History classes (New) Learning History In EnglishDr Peter STOREYThe Open University of Hong Kong CD1020120035

  2. In 1961, Professor Edward Hallet Carr, fellow of Trinity College Cambridge, posed the question: ‘WHAT IS HISTORY?’

  3. According to Carr (1961): HISTORY IS NOT ABOUT FACTS The facts are … like fish swimming about in a vast and sometimes inaccessible ocean; and what the historian catches will depend partly on chance, but mainly on what part of the ocean he chooses to fish in and what tackle he chooses to use – these two factors being, of course, determined by the kind of fish he wants to catch. By and large, the historian will get the kind of facts he wants. Carr (1961) pps 23-24 … NOR IS IT ABOUT ACCIDENTAL COINCIDENCES "Cleopatra's nose, had it been shorter, the whole face of the world would have been changed.“ Pascal (1669)

  4. What is history? History is about stories. Whether or not the ‘facts’ are objectively true or representative… • The enjoyment of a well-told narrative • Something related to who we are • A way of thinking and reasoning • A LANGUAGE … to cultivate a sense of cultural identity (CDC Syllabus) … nurturing a healthy perception of history and culture, and a sense of responsibility to nature, nation and humanity (Basic Beliefs of PSHE) Reasoning about history and with information about the past is an important cultural practice of societies and an important part of the history curriculum (van Boxtel & van Drie (2004) )

  5. Historical reasoning in English clearly involves specific language skills which are distinct and different from basic English proficiency skills. van Boxtel & van Drie (2007)

  6. What is history? • a way of thinking and relating which requires specific language skills for: • asking historical questions • describing change • comparing • explaining • arguing • contextualising • interpreting • in the process of constructing one’s cultural identity 2014/9/12

  7. To study History in English • Students need to develop the academic English language skills they need to engage in historical reasoning. • What are these skills? • academic literacy skills (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) as distinct from Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS) (Cummins, 1979, 2003) 2014/9/12

  8. CALP vs BICS i.e. they have BICS (basic interpersonal communicative skills) ‘… native speakers of any language come to school at age 5 or so virtually fully competent users of their language. They have acquired the core grammar of their language and many of the sociolinguistic rules for using the language appropriately in familiar social contexts. Yet schools spend another 12 years (and considerable public funds) attempting to extend this basic linguistic repertoire into more specialized domains and functions of language.’ Cummins (2003, p. 323) but they have not yet developed cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP) 2014/9/12

  9. Academic English: Linguistic components 2014/9/12 Based on Scarcella, R. (2003) Academic English: a conceptual framework

  10. Vocabulary Learning – some findings from the ELA study • Does vocabulary learning consist of ability to memorize meaning /spelling and recognise the Chinese equivalent of English terms… • Should teachers focus on the technical vocabulary of the subject… • … or being able to pronounce the words and to use the words to give oral and written responses in classroom discussions and in exams? • … or also teach more general English terms which are unfamiliar and hinder students understanding of key concepts and ideas?

  11. Technical vs non-technical vocabulary From Scarcella (2003) p. 14

  12. Second language classrooms contrast strongly with subject classrooms: • The communication patterns found in language classrooms are special, different from those found in content-based subjects …. in a history or geography lesson … attention is principally on the message, not on the language used. Walsh, 2006, p.3

  13. In language classrooms … the linguistic forms used are … simultaneously the aim of a lesson and the means of achieving those aims (Walsh, 2006) Meaning and message are one and the same thing (Long, 1983) Language is both the focus of activity … as well as the instrument for achieving it (Willis, 1992)

  14. Principal characteristics of L2 classroom discourse from the teacher’s perspective: • control of patterns of communication; • elicitation techniques; • repair strategies; • modifying speech to learners. Walsh, 2006

  15. 1. Control of patterns of communication • It is the teacher who ‘orchestrates the interaction’ (Breen, 2001) • ‘Getting the best’ out of a group of learners – that is, facilitating contributions, helping them say what they mean, understand what they are studying and making sure the rest of the group is able to follow – is dependent on a teacher’s ability to make professional use of language. This ability has to be learned and practised over time, in the same way that teachers acquire and perfect classroom teaching skills. • Walsh, 2006, p

  16. 2. Elicitation techniques • Questions facilitate production of target language forms. The roles of different question types: Closed questions  short responses. Referential questions  more natural responses. Display questions  various functions.

  17. Role and function of questions • Classroom discourse differs from ‘normal’ communication: • a much greater number of questions is used • the function of questions is largely to encourage involvement rather than elicit new informationLong & Sato, 1983 • Length and complexity of learner utterances are determined more by whether a question is closed or open than whether it is a referential or display one. Musumeci, 1996

  18. display precision recitation cognition _ + depth of processing Teacher: Good, say the whole sentence: Water is heating the radiators. (Recitation) Teacher: Good, what do we call that construction? (Display) Teacher: And can you think of some things that it might be heating? (Cognition) Teacher: Aha, can you explain that in a little more detail? (Precision) van Lier, L. (2001: 95) 2014/9/12

  19. 3. Repair • making linguistic errors and having them corrected directly and overtly is not an embarrassing matter Seedhouse (1997)

  20. 4. Modifying speech to learners • to provide comprehensible input; • to influence learner language (to ‘model’) • to increase student exposure to language • to cater for comprehension difficulties. • simplify vocabulary; avoid idiomatic expressions; • simplify grammar – shorter utterances, use of present tense; • slower, clearer speech and modified pronunciation; • increased use of gestures and facial expressions. Chaudron (1988) 2014/9/12

  21. A content-based approach • Potentially excellent environment for L2 learning • But does good content teaching = good academic language teaching? • PROBLEMS: • practice opportunities for language consolidation • balance of focus on language skills • aims/objectives in respect of language skills/knowledge • comprehensible input/output

  22. The content teacher may • rarely ask for modifications to learner speech, relying instead on imposing their own interpretation (Musumeci, 1996). • persist in ‘smoothing over’ learner contributions as a means of maintaining the flow of the lessson. • in doing so, deny learners crucial opportunities for learning.

  23. The content teacher may: giving little opportunity for sustained student talk needed to develop complex language use (Swain, 1988). seeing writing as the work of the English teacher and not useful in promoting learning of the subject content (Langer & Applebee, 1987). • only require students to give brief oral answers to questions or to fill in blanks • be reluctant to devote time to writing as a means of learning • not formulate language objectives, or place them at lower priority • not pitch teacher instruction and exposition at the appropriate level of linguistic difficulty to facilitate language development specification of language-learning objectives must be undertaken with deliberate, systematic planning and coordination of the language and content curricula (Snow, Met, & Genesee, 1989). Learning activities need to enable students both to understand and to develop language ability through listening (comprehensible input) and speaking (comprehensible output) (Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2006; Swain, 2000).

  24. Setting language objectives • Identify the language demands of the learning tasks/activities of each selected topic. • Consider the language functions, language structures and vocabulary necessary for completing the tasks. • Provide language support for students to cope with the language demands while completing the learning tasks and achieving the content objectives of the topic.   Based on Gibbons, 1991

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