Acritiqueofapublishedresearchstudy:“TeachingEnglishasasecondlanguagetochildrenandadults:variationsinpractices”(Hirdetal.2000)

Acritiqueofapublishedresearchstudy:“TeachingEnglishasasecondlanguagetochildrenandadults:variationsinpractices”(Hirdetal.2000)

黄伟英

黄伟英（深圳市福田区华强职业技术学校广东深圳518034）

中图分类号：G652.2文献标识码：A文章编号：ISSN0257-2826（2019）01-0207-03

1.Introduction

InthisassignmentIaimtodescribeandevaluatethestudy“TeachingEnglishasasecondlanguagetochildrenandadults:variationsinpractices”byHirdetal.(2000).Inpart2,Iwilldescribethetopicandcontextoftheresearchstudy.Inpart3,Iwillgiveadescriptiveaccountoftheresearchdesignandprocess.Inpart4,Iwillevaluatethestudyinrelationtotheanswersprovidedtotheoriginalquestions,theproceduresfollowed,theconclusionsreachedandwhataspectsoftheresearchmeritfurtherenquiry.

2.Topicandcontextoftheresearchstudy

Unlikeresearchwhichinvestigates‘goodteaching’,inthisstudy,Hirdetalsetouttodocumentandanalysewhattheteachersdoandwhytheydothatintheirclassroom.Thepracticesthatthisstudydocumentedwereusedby18inpidualteachersinAustralianclassrooms.

Thisresearchcoversthefollowingareas:

?SLA

?Classroominteractions

?Teacher’sroleinclassroompractice

Forexample,oneofthefindingsisaboutPracticesthatdemonstrateteachers’attitudestohowstudentslearn.ThisisrelatedtotheareaofSecondLanguageLearning.AccordingtothetheoryofSLA,theteacherusedthepracticeoforganizationofstudentsintopairs/smallgroupssothatinteractionbetweenpeerscouldtakeplace.Alsointhesameparagraph,anotherpracticeusedbytwosetsofteacherswasalsoconcludedthatduetothenotionthatprimaryschoolshouldbefunthat‘hands-on’techniquesandamultisensoryapproachwerekeyelementsinlanguagelearning.ThetheoryofSecondLanguageAcquisitionwasalsoappliedhere.Withregardstotheclassroominteraction,aswecanseeinthesectioncategories3‘Practicesthatusetheclassroomforoptimumlearning.’Itindicateshowtheteachercreatesapositiveclassroomatmospheretoencouragethelearnerstoparticipateintheclassroom.Itisrelatedtoclassroominteraction.RegardingofTeacher’sroleinclassroompractice,itisclearlystatedinthesectionofcategories5‘practicesinwhichtheroleoftheteacherisexercised’.Inthefirstsentence,itpresentedthatthepracticeofcheckingandmonitoringtheworkofinpidualstudentswastheaspectoftheteacher’srole.

3.Adescriptiveaccountoftheresearchdesignandprocess

Thissectionwillpresenttheresearchquestions,methodsofdatacollectionsandanalysisofdata,andthemainfindingsofthestudy.

3.1Researchquestions:

Thisresearchdescribesandclassifiesactualteachingpracticesusingby18ESLteachersinAustralianclassroomsintermsof:

?Whattypeofpracticeswasfound?

?Werethereanydifferencesbetweenthepracticesofteachersofadultsandthoseteachersofchildren?

?Apartfromtheageofstudents,werethereanyotherfactorsaffectingteachers'practices

Inthefollowingpart,Iwilldescribethemethodologyusedinthisresearch.

3.2Methodology

Thisresearchdescribesandclassifiesactualteachingpracticesusedby18ESLteachersinAustralianclassrooms.AsdescribedbySeliger,(1989:188))thatqualitativemethodsareconcernedwithstudyinghumanbehaviorwithinthecontextinwhichthatbehaviorwouldoccurnaturallyandinwhichtheroleoftheresearcherswouldnotaffectthenormalbehaviorofthesubjects.Thisstudyisaqualitativeresearchandthatitisappropriatefortheresearchquestionsandcontext.Todefinethequestionmorecarefully,theauthorsconstructedaqualitativeresearchthatwouldmeasuredataontheobservedclassroompracticesthroughobservation,videorecordingandinterview.Hirdetalbelieveinteachers’centralrolesinclassroom-basedresearch.Sotheyprovideopportunitiesforteacherreflectionontheirownpracticesinthisresearch.Duringdatacollection,theresearchersaskedtheteacherstodescribetheirownpracticesandgivereasonsforeachaction.Theyalsoaskedtheteacherstonominatewhattheyexpecttheobserverstowatchfor.Thesekindsoftechniquesenabledadifferentperspectiveontheirpractices.

3.3.Descriptionofresearchprocedure

Thedataofthisresearchwerecollectedwiththetechniquesofobservationandinterview.FromTable2(whichispresentedasAppendixA),itisclearthatthereare3observationsincludingonelessonvideorecordingsandfourinterviews.Muchworkwasdonebeforeeachobservationandinterview.Theresearchstartedwithanobservationfollowedbythefirstinterview.Beforethefirstinterview,theresearcherdistributedabiodataformtocollectthedescriptionofteachingpractices.Latertheresearcherhadthefirstinterviewwiththeteacherforalistoftheactionsandreasonsforperformingeachactionintheteacher’sownwordonaseparatesetofcards.Onthebasisoftheinformationonthecards,theresearcherdrewupagridofactionandreason.Afterthattheresearcherhadthesecondinterviewwiththeteacherinordertocollecttheteacher’sreflectiononthepractices.Andthentheresearcherwoulddiscusstogetherwiththeteachertogroupthepracticessoastoascertainthepatterns.Whentheresearcherascertainsthepatterns,hehadthethirdinterviewwiththeteacherfortheteacher’sownwordontheclusterofactionsandreasonsidentifiedbytheresearcher.Theresearcheralsoaskedtheteachertocompleteaformwiththeteacher’scriticalincidentinhis/herteachinglifebeforethesecondobservationandnominatedanaspectoftheirteachingwhichtheywouldliketheresearchertopayparticularattentionto.Withthehelpofthisinformation,theresearcherobservedtheclassforthesecondtime;hetooknotesofwhatthenominatedareaandofthemesfromgrid.Thefinalstageofthedatarecordingwasthelastobservationbyvideorecordingalessonnominatedbytheteacherfollowedbythefourthinterview.Atthelastinterview,theresearcherandteacherviewedthevideotogetheranddiscussedkeymomentandthecriticalincident.Basedonalltheinformationcollectedtothispoint,theresearcherswrotea’third-personaccountoftheteachers.

3.4Dataanalysisandfindings

TheresearchisconductedinanaturalcontextofESLclassroomsinAustralia.Thedatacollectedbythetechniquesofinterviewsandobservationwasfinallyanalyzedwithethnographicapproach.Itmeanstheresearcherdidn'tapplypredeterminedcategoriesbeforedatacollection,butprovidingtheteacheropportunitiestoreflectontheirownpractices.Datacollectedtothispointwasanalysedbytheresearcherandtheteacherstogethertogrouppracticesrelatedtotheresearchquestions.Thentheresearchercameupwith5categoriesaccordingtothedata.Sointhewholeresearchtheteachers’perspectivesontheirpracticesremainedcentralintheformationofthecategories.The5categoriesofpracticesweresummarizedasfollows:

1.Practicesthatdemonstrateteachers’attitudestohowstudentslearn

2.Practicesrevealingattitudestowardsstudentsthemselves

3.Practicesthatusetheclassroomforoptimumlearning

4.Practicesrelatingtothecontentbeingtaught

5.Practicesinwhichtheroleoftheteacherisexercised

Apartfromthese5categoriesofpractices,theresearcherssummarizethedifferencebetweentheteachersofadultsandchildren,teachers’ownsecondlanguagebackgroundandlengthofteachingwouldhavesomeimpactonlanguageteachers’practices.

Iwilldealwiththeanswersthatthisresearchprovidestoitsresearchquestionsinsection4.2

4.Anevaluativecommentaryontheresearchprocedureandfindings

Inthissection,Iwillevaluatethestudyinrelationtotheanswersprovidedtotheoriginalquestions,theproceduresfollowedandtheconclusionsreached.

4.1Towhatextendhavetheresearchquestionsin3.1beenanswered?

Inthisstudy,theresearchquestionshavebeenclearlyansweredthroughtheanalysisofthedate.Ethnographicapproachwasusedtoanalysethedatainthisresearch,whichseemstobeappropriatelychosen.AsdefinedbyDavidNunan(1992:55),‘Ethnographyinvolvesthestudyoftheculture/characteristicsofagroupinrealworldratherthanlaboratorysettings.Theresearchmakesnoattemptstoisolateormanipulatethephenomenaunderinvestigation,insightsandgeneralizationsemergefromclosecontactwiththedataratherthanfromatheoryoflanguagelearninganduse’.TheresearchbyHirdetalshareseveralcharacteristicswithit.First,theresearchtakesplaceinESLAustralianclassrooms,withanattempttominimizethedisruptioncausedbytheresearchers.Theresearcherdonotattempttocontrolormanipulatetheresearchbutprovidetheteacherswithasmanyopportunitiesaspossibleforreflectionsontheirownpractices.WhichwasclearlyindicatedintheresearchprocedureinTable2(presentedasappendixA)?Theresearchprocedurewasreallywelldesignedforthispurpose.Fromtheresearchprocedure,itiscleartoseethattheresearchentailedthecollaborativeinvolvementoftheresearchersandtheteachers.Theresearchdoesnotgiveanypre-determinedquestions.Theyevolveduringthecourseofdatacollectionandanalysis.Thisresearchcomesupwith5categoriesofpracticesusedby18ESLteachersinanalysisofthedata.Thedevelopmentsofthese5categoriesanswersthefirstresearchquestionof3.1aboveandtheresearchersusecasestudiestofurthersupporttheirfindings,whichalsoillustratethedifferencebetweenteachersofchildrenandadults.

4.2Howappropriatearetheresearchprocedures?

Inthispart,Iwillevaluatethestrengthandweaknessofthemethodologyandresearchprocedure.Inthisresearch,thegoalwasclearlystated,theresearchquestionswerewelldefined,andthemethodologywasconsiderablywelldesigned.Thestrengthoftheresearchprocedureisitprovidesopportunitiesforteachers’reflectionontheirpractices,thisisappropriateforthisqualitativeresearchaccordingtoSeliger(1989:188,citingJacob1987)thatqualitativemethodsattemptedtopresentthedatafromtheperspectiveofthesubjectsorobservedgroups,sothattheculturalandintellectualbiasesoftheresearcherdidnotdistortthecollection,interpretation,orpresentationofthedata.Videorecordingtoengagetheteachersindiscussingwhytheyweredoingthepracticesinclass,thustheycanminimizetheresearchers’disruptionbycollaborativeevaluation.SoitisagoodmethodologyforthisresearchaccordingtotheethnographicmethodologicalprinciplesstatedbyMichaelGenzukthatanimportantimplicationofnaturalism,oneofethnographicmethodologicalprinciples,isthatinstudyingnaturalsettingstheresearchershouldseektominimizeherorhiseffectsonthebehaviorofthepeoplebeingstudied.Avarietyofmeanswereusedtocollectdatainthisresearch,whichfacilitatesitsvalidationandtriangulation.Subjectivityiscontrolledthroughtriangulationasmentionedabove.

However,thereisnocontrolfortheintroductionofpossiblesubjectivefactorsintheinterpretationofdata.Ityieldshugequantitiesofdatathatonlyasmallfractioncanbepresentedinthewrittenreport.Intheresearch,almost300inpidualpracticeswereidentified.Thismakesitimpossibletoinvestigatetheinternalreliabilityoftheresearchthroughlearner’sperspectiveonthepractices.

Inthisstudy,asmentionedaboveallthedatawerecollectedbyclassroomobservation,interviewsandvideorecording.Itiswisetoadoptclassroomobservationtocollectdataaboutprofessionalaction(practice)for3reasons.First,theteachingtobeanalysedhasbeendonebytheteacherswhoareconcernedwiththeanalysis.Theyhaveopportunitiesforreflectionsontheirownteachingpractices.Itisuniqueandextremelyvaluableinanyaccountof‘whatreallyhappened’.Second,thepracticesaredirectlyobservedbytheresearcherswhowerepresentintheclasseswhentheoriginalclassestookplace.AccordingtoWallace(1991),‘thiskindofobservationisalsoextremelyvaluable,sincecertainaspectsoftheactionwillbecleartotheobserverinawaythattheycannotbetotheteacher.’Ifeelthattheauthorsarewisetogetcollaborativeinvolvementsoftheresearchandteachersinthedatacollectionandanalysis.Inthisway,theresearcherscanseewhatreallyhappensinclassandviewtheactionthroughtheteacher’seyesbyinterviewswiththeteachersabouttheirreflectionsontheirownpractices.

Theauthorsuseethnographicapproachtoobservationintheresearch,whichisreallyappropriate.HammersleyandAtkinson(1983:2)describethemethod:‘…forusethnography(orparticipantobservation,acognateterm)issimplyonesocialresearchmethod,albeitasomewhatunusualone,drawingasitdoesonawiderangeofsourcesofinformation(Wallace1991:76).Thisisagoodwaytoovercometheperceiveddisadvantagesofthekindof“fixedsystem”approachwhichwasdescribedbyStubbsandDelamont(1976:9,citingfromWallace1991:76)thatThesystemsusepre-specifiedcategories:‘…categorysystemsmayassumethetruthofwhattheyclaimtobeexplaining’andfurther‘…byplacingarbitrary(andlittleunderstood)boundariesoncontinuousphenomenamaycreateaninitialbiasfromwhichitisdifficulttoescape’and’Mostofthesystemsdonotconcernthemselveswiththeteacher’s(orstudents’)intentions(PP76).‘Oneoftheproblemswiththeuseofobservationalschedulesandschemesisthatthevariouscategoriescomprisingtheschedulesarepredeterminedbytheresearchersbeforetheyactuallygointotheclassroomtocollecttheirdata.Theypredeterminewhatweshouldlookfor,andtothatextentarelikelytoconditionwhatwesee(Nunan,1989:87).EthnographicapproachisasdescribedbyWallace（1991:76）,isamuchmoreopen-endedapproach,wheretheobserverfirstidentifiesareasofconcern(withoutnecessarilypredeterminingwhatthosemightbe),anddeviseswhatkindofdatacollectionmightseemappropriate.Soitcanbeseenthatthisapproachtoobservationanddataanalysisisappropriateandextremelyflexible.

Inthisstudy,theresearchershavedoneakindofcollaborativeresearchbetweentheteachersandacademicresearchers.Asindicatedin‘Understandinglanguageclassrooms’byDavidNunan(1989),‘collaborativeresearchcanbemuchmorefruitfulandrewardingthaninpidualresearch’(Nunan,1989:114).Ingeneral,theresearchersdesignedandperformedtheresearchprocedureappropriately.(SeetheAppendixA).Withatable(appendixA),theauthorexplainedtheresearchprocedureveryclearlyandmadeitreadable.Allthedatafromclassroomobservation,interviewsandvideorecordingwereanalysedviaethnographicapproach.AswecanseeintheAppendixA,theresearchersprovidedmostopportunitiesfortheteachers’reflectionsontheirownpracticesbydiscussingobservationsoflessonandthemesfromgridandbiodataforms,soitisadheretothestandardofethnographicapproachtoobservationanddataanalysisasindicatedabove(Wallace,1991).

4.3Howappropriatearethefindings

Inanalyzingthedatacollectedbytriangulationofobservation,interviewandvideorecording,theresearchersclassifiedtherecurringpracticesinto5categorieswhicharepervasive,becausethepatternsofpracticesthattheresearchersareconcernedwithweresummarizedfrompracticesthatwereusedbyatleasthalfoftheteachersintheirlessons.Thatistosay,theycovertherecurringprofessionalactions(orpractices)ofmostproportionsofteachersinthisresearch.Sobythismeans,theauthormadethisfindingsconvincing.Theauthoralsoprovidescasestudiestosupportitsfindings,whichprovidesin-depthinsightintowhatreallyhappensinclassroom.Basedonthedataanalysis,thisstudyrevealedthedifferencebetweenteachersofadultsandteachersofchildrenandthelanguagebackgroundoftheteachersandthelengthofteachingexperiencewillaffectteachers’practices.Itisquitetruethattheteachers’practicesareaffectedbytheirownexperiences.‘Teachers,likeotherlearnersinterpretnewcontentthroughtheirexistingunderstandingandmodifyandinterpretnewideasonthebasisofwhattheyalreadyknoworbelieve’(FreemanD1996:)and‘teachersselectandmodifytheoreticalideasinwaysthatareconsistentwiththeirownpersonalbeliefsaboutteachingandlearningandtheirpracticalknowledgeoftheESLinstructionalcontext(Freeman,D1996:214).

5.Commentsonconclusions

Inmakingconclusions,theauthorsemphasizedthatforthepurposeofprovidingdescriptiveaccountofpracticesofareasonablysizedgroupofESLteachersintheirparticularcontext,theethnographicapproachwerefoundtobeappropriate.Onthebasisofthedataanalysiswiththisapproach,thefindingsarevaluableandpervasive.Asmentionedabove,theauthorusedavarietyofmeanstocollectdata,whichiscalledtriangulation.‘Intriangulation,thesamepatternorexampleofbehaviorissoughtindifferentsources.Useoftheprocessincreasesthereliabilityoftheconclusionsreached.’(Seliger,1989:123).Theywerewellrelatedtotheresearchquestions.Therefore,asummarywasmadebytheauthorsthatthemostcommonpracticesacrossall18teachersinvolved‘correctness’and‘accuracy’inusingEnglishandpracticesthatdevelopedasupportiveorpositiveclassroomenvironmentwerealsoverycommonacrossalltheteachers.Accordingtotheresearchquestions,theauthoralsodrewupaconclusionoftheclearestpracticesdifferencesbetweenteacherswhotaughtadultsascomparedwiththosewhotaughtchildrenstronglysupportedbythedata,anditwouldappearthatageoftheclasshasstrongeffectontheteacher’schoiceofparticularpractices.Itiswisefortheauthorsalsotomentionthatitremainsthecasethattherewasarangeofverycommonpracticeswhichwereadoptedbyalltheteachersregardlessoftheageofthestudents.Inthisway,theauthorhasmadethefindingsmoreconvincing.Astheauthorsstated‘ateachermayadoptparticularpracticeswhichareseentobeappropriatetothespecificcultureandethosoftheteachingsituation.

Intheconclusions,theauthorsacknowledgedthelimitationofthestudyandhemadearecommendationforfurtherexploration.Theresultislimitedbythetimeallocationandthelackofdataaboutlearner’sperspectiveonthepractices.Asmentionedbytheauthors,theresearchmaybebetterifausefulexercisetofacilitatefocusgroupsofteachersfromsimilarcontextswhocouldprovideperspectivesoneachother’sworkandifausefultoollikesTeacherjournalsforreflectionontheirownpracticesprovided.However,itisnotclearthatwhetherthepracticesusedbytheteacherswererehearsedbeforetheywereobserved,whichwillbeaproblemforclassroomobservation.

6.Summary

Theresearchstudydescribedinthearticleistoinvestigatewhatreallyhappensinaparticularteachingcontext.Itnotonlyprovidedanin-depthinsightofwhatreallyhappensinclassroom,butalsogavetheteachersanopportunitytoreflectontheirownteachingpracticesandgotinvolvedintheresearch.Insomeway,ithelpstheteacherstoimprovetheirabilitytoevaluatetheirownteachinganddeveloptheirteachingpedagogy.AsHooksuggested,theknowledgeofandexpertiseinclassroomobservationwillprovidetheteacherswith:

1.Theabilitytomonitoranddescribeboththeirownandtheirpupils’activitiesandbehaviors.

2.anunderstandingofinstructionalmethodsandmaterialsandtheirapplication

3.anawarenessoftherelationshipbetweenclassroombehaviorsandpupilgrowth

4.Theabilitytomodifyorchangetheirbehaviorsonthebasisoftheirunderstandingofclassroomsettings.(CitingfromNunan,D.andRichardsJ1990:76)

Inspiteoftheflawsintheresearch,thestudyshowedthedifferencebetweenpracticesofteacherswhoteachadultsandthosewhoteachchildreninaparticularcontextaswellasthecommonpracticesthatwereusedbytheteachers.Theseresultsareveryusefulandinspiringtoteacherswhohavelittleexperience.Thisresearchalsoprovidesusachancetoobtaintheknowledgeofpracticesinaparticularcontext.However,someaspectsoftheresearchmeritfurtherenquiry.

References

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