Action Research Findings: Implications for Teaching ELLs

1. Action Research Findings: Implications for Teaching ELLs Applied Linguistics Winter Conference March 1, 2014 Daryl Gordon, Maki Nakayama, Huan Ren Adelphi University

2. Our Context

3. Process of Action Research • Defining Action Research • Process and Steps • Framing a Research Question • Scaffolding the Literature Review • Methods of Data Collection • Data Analysis Presentation • Framing Implications of Study

4. The Research Question • Researchable • Suits classroom context • Within your locus of control • Connects to ESL, bilingual, or EFL students • Authentic question which does not prejudge result • Free of educational jargon • Open-ended

5. Presentation Agenda • Maki Nakayama – Process Writing • Huan Ren – Oral Error Correction and Language Anxiety • Q & A • Methodology of action research • Defining the research question • Implications of action research projects for teacher candidates and ELLs.

6. What happens when ESL students in an intensive English program practice process writing? Maki Nakayama MA TESOLAdelphi University

7. English Education in Japan • Faces a great shift • Elementary school students will start learning English from the 3rd grade in a few years. • 3rdgrade students will be familiar with English sounds & Speaking English • 5th grade students will focus more on output skillsincluding writing skills

8. English Education in Japan • Writing Instruction in Japan • Write words and expressions • Cloze Activity • Translate from Japanese to English WRITING = MEMORIZING

9. Research Question • What happens when ESL students in an intensive English program practice process writing? • How do their writing skills progress through the writing cycle? • How can the teachers help the students’ writing?

10. Setting • An intensive English language school in Long Island • 12 Levels:3 beginners, 3 intermediates, 3 advanced, 3 college preparation classes • Observation: an intermediate writing class that uses process writing • 4-week session • Monday – Thursday, 2 hours each

11. Case Study (a Chinese Student) • Came to the US before the session started • Three writing assignments (process writing) (1) Comparison – Yunnan and Shanghai Food (2) Biography – Helen Keller (3) City - Bangkok • Collected Student A’s work and analyzed

12. Method of Writing Instruction • Hand-writing for the first and second drafts, and typed the final draft • Held mini-lessons when the teacher noticed the common errors that students made • Provided a one-on-one conference where students received feedback both orally and in writing

13. How Useful Is Writing Feedback? • Truscott (1996) All error correction is unnecessary, ineffective, and even harmful. • Ferris (1999) Research studies reviewed by Truscott were investigated at various settings as well as instructions. • Truscott (1999) Students who did not receive grammar correction looked happier than those who received it. • Ferris (2004) More research studies required.

14. Error Correction/ Feedback • Evans, Hartshorn, and Strong-Krause (2011) Dynamic Written Corrective Feedback “A constant, meaningful, manageable feedback from the teacher, on a timely manner” (Pickett, 2000) • Students who wrote 20 pages without prewriting and drafting • Students who wrote 10-minute paragraphs 3 or 4 times per week with feedback on each paragraph and required to revise the paper until they would be free from error (received dynamic written corrective feedback). • Tested by pre- and post- writing exams  Students who received dynamic written corrective feedback improved their writing accuracy more

15. Data from a Case Study of a Chinese Student

16. Challenges • Verb tense No past tense in the Chinese language; 了 (le) (example 1) (example 2)

17. Challenges “ • Run-on Sentence Usage “

18. Strengths • High Cognitive Skills: Self-correction • Vocabulary • Grammar 

19. Efficacy of Process Writing first draft • Conclusion Strengthened second draft

20. Efficacy of Process Writing final draft • Conclusion Strengthened

21. Students’ L1 transfers to their targeted language’s writing negatively and positively. • Process writing benefits students’ writing in various ways through each phase. • Process writing enhances students’ revising and editing skills and this will help students to be an independent writers. • Completing all the phase of process writing will increase students’ academic awareness. • Long-term study is needed. • Conclusion

22. Implications for Teaching Writing • Understand students’ first language tendencies & challenging aspects • Provide implicit & explicit feedback For Japanese English teachers… ○Shift to the actual writing instruction ○Understand how the Japanese language transfers to the English language writing ○More research studies is needed

23. How does an ESL teacher provide oral corrective feedback without creating language anxiety? Huan Ren MA TESOLAdelphi University

24. Rationale 24 • Learners’ creative ability to construct language is important in L2 learning. • Learning processes of ELLs become more and more important • Impact of ineffective error correction may last long • Effective feedback benefits learning performance, cognitive and mental development

25. Research Question 25 How does an ESL teacher in a high school setting provide corrective feedback on student oral errors without creating language anxiety about oral accuracy?

26. Setting 26 • A public high school located in New York City • Apull-out ESL classroom from grade 10 to 12 • 26 English language learners and 1 ESL teacher • Intermediate English language proficiency

27. Data Collection And Analysis 27 • Interviews • Observation journals • Classroom or after class engagement

28. Error Analysis 28 • What is Error Analysis? A research-based or evidence-basedapproach for the studying of English language learners’ learning process. Focus more on internal perspectives(Saville-Troike, 2006). • Why Error Analysis? It focuses on learners’creative abilityto construct language, has more developmental improvementsthan prior approaches, study from a learning perspectiverather than a teaching perspective, and make learning process itself become more and more important (Saville-Troike, 2006).

29. Oral Correction 29 • Why oral correction comes with specific significance? Happens authenticallyin ESL classroom The significance of oral practicingraised • Language Anxiety More frequent in various socio-cultural L2 learningcontexts (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986; MacIntyre, 1999; Young, 1991). Arise from many kinds of sources, according to the learners' individually unique frameof reference (Skehan, 1989; Young, 1991). Has potentially harmful effects--often called "debilitating anxiety"(Brown 1994)

30. Types of Oral Correction 30 • Explicit Correction • Recast • Elicitation • Clarification • Repetition • Metalinguistic Feedback

31. 31 Findings • Language anxiety happens more frequently in L2 speaking. • Effectiveness of oral correction varies under different conditions. • Negotiation of meaningis more effective inproviding corrective feedback duringcommunication.

32. Negotiation of meaning • Negotiation of meaning is a process that speakers go through to reacha clear understanding of each other. • Strategies for the negotiation of meaning: Asking forclarification, rephrasing, andconfirmingwhat you think you have understood

33. Language anxiety happen more frequentlyin L2 speaking 33 • Language anxietyusually can potentially hamper the optimal learning and teaching, thus pose a challenge to all language teachers(Ohata, 2005). • Language anxiety happens more frequently in L2 oral activities, especially among individuals who are emotionally more sensitive, more vulnerable, and more shy.

34. 34 Why languge anxiety happens -Me: G, how do you think about the discussion we did before in class? -G: Good. They talk interesting things. -Me: I didn’t hear your voice that often. Why not join them? -G: I...I sometimes know the answer, and know what to say. But I don’t know they are right or wrong. They, my classmates, will think I speak nothing or I am stupid. And I speak too slow. -Me: If given more time, do you think you will speak more, and talk more with other classmates? -G: I don’t know. Sometimes I am afraid make mistakes, and my classmates will laugh me.

35. Effectiveness of oral correction varies under differentconditions 35 • Teacher feedback and student uptakedoes not yield conclusive results (Lyster & Ranta, 1997). • Different types of oral correction are used under different conditions, and may have different effects, the effectiveness of different types of oral correction also varies.

36. 36

37. 37 Little Uptake Student: The man named Sam. He’s America... Teacher: He is? Ameri-can. Student: ...(skipped) and talk to everyone. Very smart. When people all the time...complin... Teacher: Complain. Student: ...(skipped)all the time...about carrying water, he start contest. Hesaid how adul couldn’t solve problem... Teacher: Ok, He said how adult (rise tone) couldn’t slove problems (emphasize ‘-s’ sound). Student: He say he give twenty dollars to child under twelve who has best idea. Teacher: He...what? Student: (silent)... Teacher: It is ‘He said’ here.

38. Negotiation of meaning is more effective 38 • Negotiation of meaning proved to be more effective at leading to immediate repair. • Corrective feedbackcreates opportunities to negotiate the meaning by encouraging more active learner involvementin the error feedbackprocess(Lyster & Ranta, 1997). • Language anxiety will be released to the most extent.

39. 39 Strategies for negotiation of meaning Teacher: Good morning! How’s everything? Are there any interesting things happen to you? Student A: Yea! Yesterday is my birthday! Teacher: Oh wow! Yesterday was your birthday?! Happy birthday! How did you celebrate your birthday? Student A: I go to..., oh! I went to the park, with my parents. We have...had? (Looked at the teacher to make sure) ...had lunch there. Then I went shopping with my friend. Student B: Happy birthday! I saw you yesterday in the mall! Student A: Really? You should call me! Teacher: You two were not together yesterday? Student B: No. She was with another friend… (Stopped, looked at the teacher and asked) “Another?”

40. 40 Strategies for negotiation of meaning Teacher: Yes! Another! Student A: Yea, I was with C! We didn’t see each other for a long time! Teacher: Wow! How long? Student A: Almost two year! Teacher: Oh so you haven’t seen your friend for almost two years? Student A: Yeah! I haven’t seen her for long! ‘Haven’t’, right? Teacher: Yes! When we talk about something that happened before, and had already finished now, we use the past perfect aspect! Student A: Ah! I see!

41. 41 Why Talk Me: Do you want to be corrected by others when you are speaking? Student A: Sometimes. When my teacher corrects me in class, I will feel a little embarrassed. Student B: Me too. But if I am corrected when I am talking with my friends--like we do before class--I will feel more relax. Me: Why do you feel more relax at that time? Student A: Because nobody is listening to you so seriously, and we just talk! Student B: Yes! You can just say what you want to say, but you will feel pleasure when your friend and your teacher find your small mistake and help you to make it right!

42. 42 Why Talk Students C: I feel I want to speak more when we are talking together. Mistakes are not important because I can understand my friends and my teacher. If I don’t understand, I will askthem, and they will explain, and tell me more! Student B: Yeah! I can speak more clear when my friends and my teacher ask me to explain more. I also feel more confident when I speak more and more. Student C: Yes. You will not be...be... (ask her classmates in Spanish for the word ‘anxious’ in English)...? Student A: Anxious! Student C: See?! You will not be anxious when you ask something, or make mistake. Student B: That’s true. I can also practice more in this way. Student A: Practice make perfect! Oh! Makes! Practice makes perfect, right? Me: Yes! Practice makes perfect!

43. 43 Implications • Stimulate students’language learning motivation and inspiration • Engage in active negotiation actions • Provide more interactive oral correction practices • Build up a less anxious classroom environment Further Questions How can we improve our correcting strategies to lead to more successful uptake for students?

44. Questions? • Methodology of action research • Defining the research question • Implications of action research projects for teacher candidates and ELLs.

45. Thank you! ありがとうございます。 谢谢!