Getting to L 3 Proficiency in Listening, Reading and Speaking

1. Getting to L 3 Proficiency inListening, Reading and Speaking Presenter: Sabine Atwell Defense Language Institute Monterey, California USA

2. Definition of Level 3Listening • Can understand the essentials of all speech in a standard language • Can follow accurately the essentials of conversations between educated native speakers on general concrete and abstract topics and areas of professional interest • Can understand argumentation and hypothesis • Can understand implications and can often detect emotional overtones

3. Definition of Level 3Reading • Can understand a variety of authentic texts on unfamiliar subjects with almost complete comprehension • International news items, general reports and technical material in his/her professional field • Texts may include argumentation, supported opinion, and hypothesis • Able to read “ between the lines” • Misreading is rare

4. Definition of Level 3Speaking • Can converse formally and informally about concrete and abstract topics • Can converse extensively in formal and informal situations • Can support opinions and convey abstract ideas and concepts • Can clarify points, answer objections, justify decisions, state and defend policy • Can deal with unfamiliar situations • Can hypothesize • Can use the language as part of normal professional duties

5. Accuracy Requirements for L3 Speaking • Broad enough vocabulary for effective formal and informal conversations on concrete and abstract topics • Use of structural devices is flexible, errors occur in low-frequency and highly complex structures • Speaks readily and fills pauses suitably • Discourse is cohesive • Uses cultural references • Misunderstandings are rare

6. Getting to Level 3:A Process that requires • acquiring abstract and more precise vocabulary • building cultural schemata • improving accuracy of comprehension and production • developing an understanding of formal and informal registers • developing an understanding of extended discourse

7. What Do We Mean by Abstract? • An abstract topic or domain as opposed to a concrete one • An abstract linguistic formulation of a topic Example: From a news broadcast American officials and Iraqis marked Saddam Hussein’s birthday by convening in the capital to discuss how to forge a new government for Iraq.

8. Recast in more general and concrete language, this might read: American and Iraqi people celebrated Saddam Hussein’s birthday by getting together and talking about how to form a new government. What is lost in the more concrete and general recasting of language?

9. Acquiring Abstract and More Precise Vocabulary • Investigating an author’s choice words? Example: An excerpt of a text dealing with the ambivalence of the Poles toward joining the EU: “A Polish company exports tulips to Holland. Blue jaguars cruise the streets of Warsaw past snazzy coffee shops serving up frothy cappuccinos. However,….” • Working with collocations Why don’t we ever say…? Butter and bread issues, line at the bottom, ballpark number, bad dictator, for worse or for better, etc.

10. Acquiring Abstract and More Precise Vocabulary • Working with vocabulary for formal and informal purposes byusing letters, video and film clips, recordings, radio broadcasts, e-mail, a thesaurus Examples: Dear Brian, it was great hanging out with you and the kids on the on the 4th. Dear Professor Leneaux: It was a pleasure meeting you this past weekend.

11. Acquiring Abstract and More Precise Vocabulary • Working with synonyms and antonyms and why they are important Examples: What is the opposite of gregarious? How are excellent, delicious and scrumptious different? What is the opposite of luxury goods? • Working with vocabulary multipliers Examples: Cognates (depending on the language) Affixes: re-, de-, mis-, mal-, ill-; -able, -ify, -tion Latinisms: de jure, de facto, quid pro quo, en loco parentes

12. Acquiring Abstract and More Precise Vocabulary • Working with a Thesaurus, or What fits? Example: The San Francisco Giants but --A monster storm --A huge house --A gigantic wave --A Herculean effort --A colossal mistake --A vast desert --A jumbo cheeseburger

13. Building Cultural Schemataor Why do Americans move so much? • Background reading in students’ native language Examples:In history, scholarly books and articles, etc. • Working withpredictions Example from an ad: Taking Your Mortgage With You • Comparing cultures in various categories Examples: Issues of time, views on work, privacy, family, gender, political organization, economy, etc. • Automatic cultural processing in the TL culture

14. Building Cultural Schemata • What do you need to know and react to automatically without having to think about it ? Examples for the American culture: • Individualism and Personal Freedom • Frontier Heritage • Jeffersonian Democracy • Legalism • Separation of Church and State • Pluralism • Youth Culture

15. Building Cultural Schemata • What is cultural, personal , universal? • A Level 3 is able to sort out the difference Cultural refers to what a group of people have in common with each other and how they are different from other groups. Personal refers to ways in which each person is different from everyone else, including those in the same group. Universal refers to ways in which all people in all groups are basically the same.

16. Building Cultural Schemata • Role-playing “linguistic” misunderstandings • Example: Jack: Hi, Natasha. What’s cooking? Natasha: We’re having fish with rice tonight. • What does it really mean? Examples: See you later. I’m ready when you are. Just get me a ballpark figure. I’ll stop by some time. • What’s funny? The role of humor Example: Working with cartoons and jokes

17. Building Cultural Schemata • Working with “Dear Abby” advice columns What do you think these letter writers are concerned about? Examples: Woman in love is ready to face the truth Sexy gift from in-laws has multiple meanings Trucker’s midlife crisis makes for rocky road Moocher wears out welcome by criticizing the handouts Mother of sons dreads her future as a mother-in-law Roller-coaster romance makes boyfriend queasy

18. Building Cultural Schemata • Special expressions, idioms, proverbs that express the TL culture. Where do they come from and why? Examples for American English Shakespeare: To be or not to be; all that glisters is not gold Proverbs: The early bird gets the worm; boys will be boys Sports: Hit a home run; heavy hitter Pioneer: Son of a gun, a gunman Bible: To turn the other cheek; Good Samaritan General Western: Freudian slip, Orwellian nightmare

19. Improving Accuracy of Comprehension and Production • Working on grammatical accuracyby transcribing L 3 texts Example: Students transcribe own oral production, L 3 audio texts, correct own production and use follow-on peer editing • Cloze exercises Example: Can be used for any kind of structures, lexicon, idioms and collocations, depending on focus needed Text from the N.Y. Times: Hug an Evangelical

20. Improving Accuracy of Comprehension and Production I’___argued often that gay marriage______be legal and that conservative Christians_____show a tad more divine love for homosexuals. ____there’s a corollary.___ liberals demand that the Christian right show more tolerance for gays and lesbians,_______liberals need to be ____respectful of conservative Christians. • Improving accuracy through writing Example:Using L3 writing prompts:What measures may have to be taken to avoid increased obesity in children and adults in the U.S.? Cite cultural,social and medical factors.

21. Improving Accuracy of Comprehension and Production • Using summaries to improve comprehension Example: Learnerswrite summaries of L3 audio or printed texts, compare and discuss their summaries, choose the one that best represents the text. • Accent reduction exercises – if accent interferes with comprehension or is very heavy • What accuracy issues does this speaker need to work on? Example:Learnerslistento different taped speech profiles, discuss what each speaker needs to work on. Note: L3 is a non-compensatory level

22. Developing an Understanding of Formal and Informal Register • The acquisition of register for second language learners poses no simple problem • Cross-cultural variation is a primary barrier • It is difficult to understand cognitively and affectively what levels of formality are appropriate or inappropriate • American culture tends to accept lower registers for given occasions than other cultures • Many learners of English consequently experience difficulty in gauging appropriate formality distinctions • Acquisition of registers combines linguistics and culture

23. Developing an Understanding of Formal and Informal Register • Exploring speech register (Martin Joos, 1967) Examples: oratorical or frozen, deliberative or formal, consultative, casual, intimate • Identifying formal and informal situations Example:Brainstorming which situations at work might be formal vs. informal; which situations in the family, etc. • Identifying and understanding the function of formal and informal language in films Examples:Moonstruck, The Shawshank Redemption, Scent of a Woman

24. Developing an Understanding of Formal and Informal Register • Reading and writing formal and informal letters Examples: Hi, Tyler how is it going? Sure hope we can swap more war stories soon. It was great seeing you guys. Give Janelle a hug for me and don’t be a stranger. Take care, … Dear Dr. Miller: I hope all is well with your family. It was a real pleasure meeting you recently. We are very pleased that you have decided to continue to serve on our board and appreciate your many contributions. Regards, …

25. Developing an Understanding of Formal and Informal Register • Formal, informal and mismatched conversations Example: Discuss plans for the weekend with a close friend, with a colleague and with a high ranking member of your organization • How intonation and stress can change the meaning. Marked or unmarked? Example: “Thanks a lot” “I appreciate the help you gave me yesterday on that paper. Thanks a lot.” BUT “Mom, I’m really upset I can’t spend the night at Lisa’s house.She already rented my favorite movie, and we were gonna have pizza. Thanks alot!” Be nice now. Nice work. Yeah, right? I know.

26. Developing an Understanding of Formal and Informal Register • Euphemisms and other interesting things Examples: Sales associate, team player, homemaker, linguist,departed or pass on,visit the ladies room Euphemisms are usually nicer and socially more acceptable • Working with other areas of the Level 3 lexical domain: Proverbs, quotations, phrases from Shakespeare, biblical references, popular fallacies Examples:Don’t rock the boat! We put our cat to sleep. He had to go for the forbidden fruit. Much ado about nothing! The whole nine yards! She is just too chicken.

27. Developing an Understanding of Extended Discourse Definition: At Level 3 and above, a writer/speaker develops an argument, an analysis, a synthesis, a hypothesis or an evaluation using appropriate historical, legal, social and/or cultural references. Level 3 listeners and readers will be able to comprehend such spoken or printed texts. Therefore, extended discourse can be defined as a series of well organized paragraphs shaped into a fully developed argument resulting in language that contains frequent embeddings and interjections.

28. Developing an Understanding of Extended Discourse • Analyzing topical development and organizational patterns of Level 3 printed and spoken texts Examples: Learners identify organizational patterns of a variety of authentic texts; identify markers that are used to create each type of organizational pattern. Learners watch a variety of movie/TV clips and jot down organizational markers • Writing term papers Students write short term papers consisting of several paragraphs in the L3 topical domain