The experimental group received predominantly (but not exclusively) authentic materials (as defined by Morrow 1977, in section 2.2) throughout the trial, taken from films, documentaries, Ôreality showsÕ, TV comedies, web-based sources, home-produced video of native speakers, songs, novels and newspaper articles. Materials were selected on the basis of their ability to highlight some aspect of communicative competence, along similar lines to those suggested by Celce-Murcia, Dšrnyei & Thurrell (1997) in their Ôprincipled communicative approachÕ, and so, at times, textbook resources were utilized where it was considered expedient. The syllabus is summarized in table 4.8 and sample materials are given in appendix XII.
Theme Content 1. Dictionary skills
2. Listening to NSs of English
3. English pronunciation & intonation
4. Circumlocution strategies
5. Conversational repair strategies
6. Hesitation devices & British sociopragmatic conventions
7. Starting conversations in English
(sociopragmatic& pragmalinguistic conventions)
8. Closing conversations in English (sociopragmatic & pragmalinguistic conventions)
9. Discourse intonation
10. Developing conversations in English
11. Listener responses (reactive tokens) & ellipsis in spoken English
12. Oral narratives & register in English
Using a monolingual dictionary effectively Stress-timing, linking, weak forms, accents from around the world (Ellis & Sinclair 1989: 56-57), ÔTomÕs DinerÕ (Suzanne Vega), ÔThis is the house that Jack builtÕ (childrenÕs verse), phonemic charts Scenes from ÔMy Fair LadyÕ (George Cukor), Ôas + adj. + as + nounÕ expressions, acting out scenes What to do when you donÕt know a word (Ellis & Sinclair 1989: 39), describing unfamiliar objects, miming activities
Taking control of a conversation (Ellis & Sinclair 1989: 63), giving directions & practice using conversation strategies
Scenes from ÔBig BrotherÕ (UK reality show), practice using common hesitation devices, introductions in English, colloquial expressions, HW assignment - student Big Bother audition tapes,
in case vs. so that (Naunton 1994: 32-33)
Extracts from ÔAround the World in Eighty DaysÕ (Jules Verne: 1873) & scenes from ÔAround the World in 80 DaysÕ (BBC TV series), strategies & expressions for opening up conversations with strangers, role-play activities, HW assignment Ð start a conversation with a stranger
Scenes from ÔAnnie HallÕ (Woody Allen), scenes from ÔLouis TherouxÕs Weird WeekendsÕ (BBC TV series), practice closing conversations
Sentence stress, ÔtellingÕ & ÔreferringÕ (fall/fall-rise) tones, tone units, tonic stress (Bradford: 1988: 5-17) Interview with a musician (Falla 1994: 20-24), extract from ÔPolite FictionsÕ (Sakamoto & Naotsuka 1982: 80-87), strategies for developing conversation in English, transition relevance places (TRPs), topic shift, paralinguistics of turn-taking, practice developing conversations
Scenes from ÔSecrets & LiesÕ (Mike Leigh), showing interest, surprise, understanding, agreement, etc. in English, ellipsis, colloquial language, practice using reactive tokens in conversation, discussing adoption, role-play - Hortense meeting her mother for the 1st
time Scenes from ÔReservoir DogsÕ (Quentin Tarantino), conversational story-telling skills (Jones 2001: 155-
13. Formal & Informal registers in English (pragmalinguistic conventions)
14. Listening to NSs of English II
15. Body language
16. Negotiating plans in English & common discourse markers
163), structure of oral narratives, strategies for making stories interesting (use of historic present, exaggeration, pitch range, body language), formal/informal register, colloquial language, role- play scenes, HW assignment Ð telling a personal story in an interesting way, taboo words
Scenes from ÔFargoÕ (Joel & Ethan Coen), scenes from ÔFawlty TowersÕ (BBC TV series), article from The Guardian on The British class system, ÔWhat Class are You?Õ quiz:
http://www.pbs.org/peoplelikeus/games/index.html, features of formal & informal discourse in English, using intonation to show politeness, role-plays Ð checking in & making complaints in a hotel (politely or impolitely)
Short documentary films from ÔVideo NationÕ (BBC web-site):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/videonation/ , transcribing NS English, Video Nation presentations
Extracts from ÔHow to Communicate SuccessfullyÕ (Wright 1987: 35-42), extracts from ÔEverybodyÕs Guide to People watchingÕ (Wolfgang 1995: 64-67), scenes from ÔNew Headway Video, BeginnerÕ (Murphy 2002), facial expressions, eye contact, gestures, inter-personal space, touching, etc., HW assignment Ð interview a foreigner about common gestures in their country
ÔWeekend AwayÕ activity from ÔKeep TalkingÕ (Klippel 1984: 45-46), video of NSs planning a weekend away, natural ways to give opinions, agree & disagree in English, could & would modal auxilaries, will to confirm plans, present continuous to talk about fixed plans, discourse markers, role- play: planning a weekend away in Japan
Table 4.8 Summary of syllabus for experimental group
Most of the experimental materials were developed on a week-by-week basis by the author over the course of the 10-month investigation and a number of general guidelines were followed in this process:
Materials selection
In order to be considered for inclusion in the experimental syllabus, materials had to fulfill a number of criteria:
a) They had to include examples of specific target discourse features (both verbal and non-verbal) in order to raise learnersÕ awareness of a wide variety of elements necessary for effective and appropriate communication in English and fulfill the courseÕs aim of developing a broader range of communicative competencies. b) They had to be judged intrinsically interesting for the Japanese participants in the
trial, regardless of their language content. This was felt to be important to
maximize learnersÕ affective engagement with the texts, assuming that this would also encourage processing of the language at a deeper level.
c) They had to illustrate language variation in English and give learners exposure to different accents, genres, speech rates, registers, etc.
d) Audio-visual materials, taken from web-based sources or DVDs, were given priority over the more traditional, audio-only, materials typically used in language classrooms. This was because the visual element can provide learners with an enormous amount of additional pragmatic information: on the context in which the discourse is situated, the speakersÕ ages and social positions or the
relationships between different participants (Brown & Yule 1983: 85). These contextual details dictate the kind of speech acts and NVC speakers employ and can be used to sensitise learners to language variation in English
(pragmalinguistics) as well as the behavioural norms in the target speech
also support learnersÕ listening comprehension since the Ôextra articulatory effortÕ (ibid: 86) on stressed syllables, reflected in mouth movements, facial expressions and gestures, provides valuable information on which words are Ôcontent wordsÕ (those ÔcarryingÕ the key information).
e) The intensive language work with transcripts, planned for the post-listening stages of activities, meant that only relatively short scenes (up to approximately 10 minutes) were selected for inclusion. It was hoped that the material covered in class would motivate students to continue watching the DVDs in their own time in order to give them valuable extensive listening practice.
f) Heavily edited extracts, with frequent cuts, were avoided since the rapid changes in speaker and context that they produce was felt to increase the difficulty of comprehension.
g) Extracts from films, documentaries, etc., had to be able to Ôstand aloneÕ in the classroom. In other words, scenes had to make sense, when isolated from the rest of the work, without the need for excessive introduction or contextualization. h) DVDs were given preference since they have several advantages over other types
of audio-visual medium. Selected scenes can be quickly found during lessons since DVDs are organized into ÔchaptersÕ and fast-forward, rewind and search functions are superior to video. In addition, most DVDs also come with the option of English sub-titles, which can be used with particularly challenging material. Finding authentic materials to fulfill all of these criteria can be a time-consuming process but once appropriate scenes have been identified and transcribed, they can be placed in a Ômaterials bankÕ and used over many years.
Transcription procedures
In order to facilitate the intensive language work suggested for the post-listening stages of lessons, and encourage learners to become Ômini conversational analystsÕ (as
recommended in chapter 2), the spoken discourse has to be ÔfrozenÕ in transcripts.
Decisions therefore have to be made in terms of how much detail to include in the written representation of speech. A Ôthick descriptionÕ of discourse (Geertz 1973) could include phonological, turn-taking, or NVC features, as well as the actual words spoken. However, too much information can be off-putting for learners so it was decided to keep the
transcriptions simple on pedagogic grounds, unless there was a particular reason to include more detail.12 Transcription lines were numbered for ease of reference during
lessons and double-spaced to give students space for note taking on any discourse features of interest.
Task design
The materials were designed to include the pre-, while- and post-listening tasks typical in mainstream Communicative Language Teaching methodology.
Pre-listening tasks focused on raising learnersÕ interest in the topics, introducing difficult vocabulary and providing any necessary cultural background knowledge. These kinds of activities help students develop schemas and scripts for the texts they are about to watch, which can support, or ÔscaffoldÕ (Bruner 1983), learning. In some materials, such as ÔFreeze! DonÕt move!Õ (appendix XII), learners were first asked to write and role- play their own versions of scenarios occurring on the DVDs. This not only helped their comprehension in the listening tasks, but also encouraged them to Ônotice the gapÕ
12
There are some powerful arguments for not representing spoken discourse as written text, using sentences and traditional punctuation (see section 1.6.5), but these were put aside for the purposes of this investigation.
between their own interlanguage and the NS discourse, something which is believed to enhance the acquisition of intake (Schmidt & Frota 1986).
While-listening tasks normally focused on the meaning of the discourse first, before shifting to form, to avoid overloading learnersÕ language processing systems. They also typically began with gist listening questions, followed by more detailed comprehension questions to encourage effective listening strategies.
Post-listening tasks were designed to ÔrevisitÕ the material in a new way. This involved a wide variety of task types, such as recycling vocabulary, focusing on target discourse features, or getting students to use target language in speaking activities.
The overall goal of the experimental materials was to provide learners with interesting, challenging and varied authentic texts as input, which would also raise their awareness of a range of discourse features important in the development of communicative
competence. The syllabus attempted to maintain a balance between the different aspects of the communicative competence model (linguistic, pragmalinguistic, sociopragmatic, strategic and discourse competencies) although the specific needs of the participants meant that some areas were given more attention than others. Since language proficiency has both knowledge and skills elements associated with it, learners were also given numerous opportunities to listen to, or use, the target language in communicative tasks.