This issue of the Journal has a variety of articles related to our daily English language teaching practices. Each one provides us with possible solutions to problems we face in the classroom or provides us with insights into the language learning processes of our students.
The first article, “Struggling for Meaning and Identity (and a passing grade): High-Stakes Writing in English as a Second Language” by Maria Coady and Eileen Ariza, examines the writing of one bilingual, Spanish-dominant secondary school student. The student’s document reveals his multiple identities, as explained by the authors.
The following article, “The Impact of Instruction in Phonetic and Phonemic Distinctions in Sounds on the Pronunciation of Spanish-speaking ESL Learners”, addresses the area of pronunciation. In this article Jaya S. Goswami and Hsuan- Yu Chen show us that explicit instruction in the distinctions of sounds was helpful for the students under study.
Next, author Jill Pellettieri looks at the results of a study involving two relatively new forms of language practice: synchronous computer-mediated communication and on-line chat. The results of the study are revealing and will perhaps make us rethink our perceptions of the learning value of “open” chat forums. So, be sure to read Jill’s article “Online Chat in the Foreign Language Classroom: From Research to Pedagogy”.
We return to the area of writing again in the article, “Impact of Teacher/Student Conferencing and Teacher Written Feedback on EFL Revision” by Elsa Fernanda González. In this article two types of teacher feedback on students’ writing are examined. The author draws conclusions about the nature of the feedback the teacher provides, as well as about student preferences for teacher feedback. The author invites us to continue this line of research in this area of the teaching- learning process.
In the domain of classroom management, the article “Making Student-centered Teaching Work” by W. I. Griffith, Ph.D. and Hye-Yeon Lim, Ph.D., presents us with practical ways in which classroom activities can more easily involve the students’ input, which, in turn, motivates the same students and enhances learning.
And to complement the articles in this issue of the Journal, Karin Zotzmann has written a review of Mark A. Clarke’s book Common Grounds, Contested Territory. Examining the Roles of English Language Teachers in Troubled Times (2007).
We’re sure there is something for every ELT professional and member of MEXTESOL in this issue.
Please note that as of the next issue of the MEXTESOL Journal, and, actually since the beginning of 2010, the new Editor-in-Chief is Martha Lengeling of the Universidad de Guanajuato. In addition, there are six new members of the Editorial Board who will be serving six-year terms.
In the current context of high stakes testing, writing is gaining ground as an important measure of student achievement, as much for English language learners as for native English speakers. Research on the way a student’s first language affects the development of writing in English is emerging; however, we know little about how bilingual children negotiate meaning in terms of the primary language influence on writing (i.e. language transfer) and the construction of the student’s cultural identity. At times, these appear to be in conflict, that is, while students have limited abilities in English writing, they simultaneously write sophisticated and rich pieces that reflect their varied, cultural backgrounds and identities. In this paper, we present samples of data: a writing piece from one bilingual, Spanish-dominant secondary student in the process of acquiring literacy in English. Data from this study demonstrate the ways in which the student negotiated multiple identities despite the limitations of his knowledge of English writing conventions. Our conclusions from the data analysis have implications for educators and exam scorers working with bilingual populations in the area of writing.
Second language learners must know the linguistically significant sounds in the second language to read, write, and speak fluently, and to avoid miscommunication. This raises the question of whether, how much, and in what form instruction in phonetic and phonemic distinctions in sounds should be implemented in the second language classroom, and whether or not such intervention is effective. This study evaluated the impact of instruction in phonetic and phonemic distinctions in sounds on the English pronunciation of English language learners, specifically, Spanish speakers learning English as a second language (ESL). Target sounds in English deemed difficult for Spanish speakers learning ESL were identified. The target sounds were categorized into sounds having allophonic distinctions between the two languages; sounds having phonemic differences in the two languages, and sounds which are phonemes in English but absent in Spanish. Subjects in the experimental group were instructed in the distinctions between the sounds in English and Spanish through lecture-type as well as technology-enhanced materials. Results indicated that the intervention had a statistically significant impact on the experimental group’s pronunciation of the target sounds. Further, subjects’ showed improvement in the pronunciation of individual target sounds in the following order: sounds with allophonic distinctions, phonemic differences, and absence in the native language. The paper discusses these findings and their pedagogical implications.
The study was carried out within the framework of second language acquisition (SLA) theory and investigated whether synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) or on-line chat would lead foreign language (FL) learners to engage in a more acquisition-rich discourse than would interaction in the oral mode. During two different class periods, eight university FL (foreign language) students of Spanish were paired to complete a similarly structured interactive language task in each mode of communication. The results revealed that in both the oral and the electronic modes learners spent equally large percentages of their turns negotiating meaning and pushing each other to more comprehensible L2 (second language) production, suggesting that the nature of the communicative activity had a greater impact on the quality of discourse for L2 acquisition than did the mode of communication. This finding provides empirical support for the use of structured interaction through SCMC as a tool to promote L2 acquisition in the FL classroom, while casting doubt on the effectiveness of informal paired and group electronic conversation, such as that which occurs in Internet chat rooms, as a means of obtaining acquisition-rich L2 practice. The study offers several recommendations for using SCMC with FL learners.
Revision, considered an essential component of the process approach to writing, refers to changes writers decide to make on their written drafts. Providing students with opinions, comments or any other type of feedback helps them to notice possible changes that may allow them to meet their audience’s expectations and to improve their written work through revision (Berg, 1999; Mendoca & Johnson, 1994: Paulus, 1999; Tsui & Ng, 2000). In other words, feedback enables writers to review, analyze and modify texts to produce improved compositions. This case study documents data obtained from seven EFL (English as a Foreign Language) high school students and their teacher in Mexico. Two feedback techniques used to enhance revision were compared: Teacher/Student Conferencing (T/SC) and Teacher Written Feedback (TWF). The impact that each feedback technique produced was documented along with the participants’ preferences towards feedback. Results suggest that: 1) TWF had more impact on the number of revisions made; 2) the participants’ revisions focused mostly on surface aspects rather than on deeper text-based changes; finally 3) while the teacher had a strong preference for T/SC, some of the participants preferred TWF and others liked receiving both types of feedback techniques.
MEXTESOL Journal es una publicación cuadrimestral editada por la Asociación Mexicana de Maestros de Inglés, MEXTESOL, A.C., Versalles 15, Int. 301, Col. Juárez, Alcadía Cuauhtémoc, C.P. 06600, Ciudad de México, México, Tel. (55) 55 66 87 49, mextesoljournal@gmail.com. Editor responsable: JoAnn Miller Jabbusch. Reserva de Derechos al uso Exclusivo No. 04-2015-092112295900-203, ISSN: 2395-9908, ambos otorgados por el Instituto Nacional de Derecho del Autor. Responsable de la última actualización de este número: Jo Ann Miller, Asociación Mexicana de Maestros de Inglés, MEXTESOL, A.C., Versalles 15, Int. 301, Col. Juárez, Alcadía Cuauhtémoc, C.P. 06600, Ciudad de México, México. Fecha de la última modificación: 05/03/2021. MEXTESOL Journal emplea la licencia Atribución-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 4.0 Internacional (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) que permite remezclar, retocar, y crear a partir de su obra de forma no comercial, siempre y cuando den crédito y licencien sus nuevas creaciones bajo los mismos términos.
