TESL Canada Journal
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The Effect of Three Consecutive Context Sentences on EFL Vocabulary-Learning
No full textInvestigations into the role of context have often failed to find a positive role for this in vocabulary learning. This study, following a line of research concerned with the role of context, adds to the literature by examining the effect of three consecutive context sentences instead of one. Thirty-three Iranian EFL learners were asked to learn 20 challenging English words in two conditions. They encountered half of the words in three consecutive sample sentences plus their Farsi equivalents and the other half merely with their Farsi equivalents devoid of any context sentences. The results of both immediate and delayed post-tests revealed a positive role for context sentences in vocabulary learning. It is proposed that successful vocabulary learning through context sentences could be attributed to the mixed effects of both context and frequency of occurrence
Second-Language Education Policy in Quebec: A Critical Analysis of the Policy of English as a Compulsory Subject at the Early Primary Level in Quebec
No full textThis is a critical policy study of language planning and policy in Quebec regarding the new policy direction requiring the compulsory teaching of English at the early primary level (grades 1-2, Cycle 1) in francophone public schools. Based on the analysis of policy documents, archives, and narratives from interviews, the goal of this policy study is to determine how and why language-policy decisions about the compulsory teaching of ESL at the early primary level were made by policymakers in Quebec
“But My Students All Speak English”: Ethical Research Issues of Aboriginal English
No full textIn this article I explore ethical issues in relation to the topic of Aboriginal students who speak a dialect of English. Taking the form of a retrospective inquiry, I draw on data from an earlier study that examined Aboriginal English in the broader context of Aboriginal language loss and revival. Three interrelated ethical issues are discussed: the relationship between the dialect spoken by Aboriginal students and the ancestral language they no longer speak; the educational implications of Aboriginal English-speakers in the classroom; and insider-outsider issues of a non-Aboriginal English-speaking researcher working in the areas of Aboriginal education and language. I also review the recent literature in the field of Aboriginal English and outline changes that have occurred in classroom practice. Whereas in the past the common aim was to eliminate the home dialect, the goal of current programs is to add Standard English as an additional dialect to students’ repertoires of linguistic varieties. Suggestions are offered for educators interested in using a bi-dialectal approach in the classroom
Reality, Dysconsciousness, and Transformations: Personal Reflections on the Ethics of Cross-Cultural Research
No full textIn this personal narrative, I offer reflections about the process of conducting a cross-cultural, cross-linguistic research project with teachers of English in China. Lessons learned from this study address some of the hegemonic perspectives and assumptions that can be dysconsicously held by native English-speakers, the value of crossing borders both literally and metaphorically to learn about others, and the reciprocal transformations that can occur when cultures and languages converge
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Second-Language Learning Through Imaginative Theory
No full textThis article explores how Egan’s (1997) work on imagination can enrich our understanding of teaching English as a second language (ESL). Much has been written on ESL teaching techniques; however, some of this work has been expounded in a standard educational framework, which is what Egan calls an assembly-line model. This model can easily underlie our unconscious structures. The article begins by reviewing Egan’s kinds of understanding and then discusses how conceptions of English-language learning may be changed when Egan’s Imaginative Education (IE) theory is used as the theoretical base. For example, ESL learning jumps from a simple progression through language levels to multiple and interacting ecological zones that interplay with and within the learner. As well, the focus moves from the generation of activities to the students themselves as conscious, living beings. This theoretical orientation provides possibilities for second-language learning to become wondrous, multifaceted, and intricate
Knowledge Base of Pronunciation Teaching: Staking Out the Territory
No full textDespite decades of advocacy for greater investigative attention, research into pronunciation instruction in the teaching of English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL) continues to be limited. This limitation is particularly evident in explorations of teacher cognition (e.g., teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, and understandings), an area emerging as a vibrant focus for grounded research on the development, preparation, and instructional behaviors of ESL/EFL teachers. This article provides a comprehensive review of teacher cognition literatures tied to ESL/EFL pronunciation instruction. The review’s dual purposes are (a) to document the current knowledge base of pronunciation teaching, and (b) to propose future directions for classroom-based teacher cognition research in this area
Translating Interviews, Translating Lives: Ethical Considerations in Cross-Language Narrative Inquiry
No full textThrough two narrative inquiries, in this article I explore the challenges for qualitative researchers in working with multiple languages in capturing, translating, analyzing, and representing narratives. I discuss the effect on research when we engage in these processes considering what was happening as we translated both texts and experience from one language into another. Woven into this discussion is attention to the effect that choosing one language or another might have on our research: the participants, the processes, and the findings. I consider how to remain awake to the ethical and relational issues regarding language choices that we make at every step of the research process
Ethical Issues in Addressing Inequity In/Through ESL Research
No full textThis article outlines a researcher’s struggles with conducting ethical” research when her case study reveals racializations faced by a minority teacher in a Canadian ESL program. How might ecoming privy to research participants’ experiences of inequity in ESL education complicate the notion of research ethics when doing the right thing” runs counter to a researcher’s ethical duties of ensuring trust, commitment, and confidentiality? The article speaks to the complexities of research ethics in the light of issues of negotiating researcher/researched identities, conducting anti-racist research, and addressing larger issues of power and inequity in ESL education