1 1 Developing Foreign Language Courses Using a Multiple Literacies Approach CERCLL Summer 2009 Workshop Heather Willis Allen Assistant Professor, Second Language Acquisition & French University of Miami Heather Willis Allen Assistant Professor, Second Language Acquisition & French University of Miami

2 Introductions Teaching context (language, level, type of institution) Courses you teach Approach(es) that inform your teaching Experience / interest in literacy-based language teaching

3 Introductory Activity - Reflect & Share 1.What do you associate with the word LITERACY? Write down the first five words/expressions that come to mind. 2.What does being literate in a language mean for you? What abilities does it entail? 3.What situations, events, or experiences contributed the most to your L1 literacy? Your FL literacy? 4.In your opinion, what are the major challenges to developing FL literacy in a classroom setting in the U.S. for students? For teachers?

4 Defining what we mean by LITERACY... the use of socially-, historically-, and culturally- situated practices of creating and interpreting meaning through texts. It entails at least a tacit awareness of the relationships between textual conventions and their contexts of use and, ideally, the ability to reflect critically on those relationships... literacy is dynamic —not static—and variable across and within discourse communities and cultures (Kern, 2000, p. 16)

5 Defining what we mean by LITERACY (2) Kern, 2000

6 Why MULTIPLE literacies? “Dealing with linguistic differences and cultural differences has now become central to the pragmatics of our working, civic, and private lives. Effective citizenship and productive work now require that we interact effectively multiple languages, multiple Englishes, and communication patterns that more frequently cross cultural, community, and national boundaries... When the proximity of cultural and linguistic diversity if one of the key facts of our time, the very nature of language learning has changed” (New London Group, 1996, p. 64)

7 What does it mean to be literate? (1) i googled it posted it on my blog and then i IM’d my friends (Kern, 2006) literacy is anchored by time, context

8 What does it mean to be literate? (2) RépublicainLibéral La France qui se lève tôtLes people / pipole excerpts from “A French political lexicon for non-Francophones” literacy is tied to sociocultural uses of language in a given society

9 What does it mean to be literate? (3) the ability to make meaning from a text depends on understanding much more than the words on the page or the images

10 Breaking down literacy: 7 principles Kern, 2000, p. 17 interpretationcollaboration conventionscultural knowledge problem-solvingreflection & self- reflection language use

11 Rationale for a literacy-based approach In the context of globalization and in the post-9/11 environment, then the usefulness of studying languages other than English is no longer contested. The goals and means of language study, however, continue to be hotly debated... Institutional missions and teaching approaches typically reflect either the instrumentalist or the constituitive view of language. Freestanding language schools and some campus language-resource centers often embrace an instrumentalist focus to support the needs of students they serve, whereas university and college foreign language departments tend to emphasize the constituitive aspect of language and its relation to cultural and literary traditions, cognitive structures, and historical knowledge (MLA Report, 2007).

12 Rationale for a literacy-based approach “The language literature dichotomy has been institutionalized in departments of foreign languages and literatures at North American universities... [t]eaching language is consistently viewed as a less sophisticated, hence less difficult task than teaching literature” (Kramsch, 1993, p. 7) “Replacing the two-tiered language-literature structure with a broader and more coherent curriculum in which language, culture, and literature are taught as a continuous whole... will reinvigorate language departments as valuable academic units central to the humanities and to the missions of higher education” (MLA, 2007)

13 Critique of CLT in the context of post- secondary FL programs “Communicative approaches generally emphasize the use of appropriate comprehensible input; meaning is perceived as more important than form... Furthermore, communicative approaches encourage negotiation of meaning and aim to offer learning experiences that do not cause anxiety in the learners. Considerable instructional time is devoted to so-called skill-using activities performed in small groups of learners... Communicative approaches do not specify a content... Are communicative approaches and goals the most appropriate, sufficient, and effective in terms of learning outcomes in the general education language study sequence? I take the stance that communicative competence is neither a realistic nor a sufficient goal for the general education FL requirement... unrealistic because neither time nor instructional context is sufficient or appropriate to develop a meaningful and lasting level of proficiency. It is insufficient because short -lived communicative survival skills are taught without intellectually challenging content...” (Schulz, 2006, pp ) “Communicative approaches generally emphasize the use of appropriate comprehensible input; meaning is perceived as more important than form... Furthermore, communicative approaches encourage negotiation of meaning and aim to offer learning experiences that do not cause anxiety in the learners. Considerable instructional time is devoted to so-called skill-using activities performed in small groups of learners... Communicative approaches do not specify a content... Are communicative approaches and goals the most appropriate, sufficient, and effective in terms of learning outcomes in the general education language study sequence? I take the stance that communicative competence is neither a realistic nor a sufficient goal for the general education FL requirement... unrealistic because neither time nor instructional context is sufficient or appropriate to develop a meaningful and lasting level of proficiency. It is insufficient because short -lived communicative survival skills are taught without intellectually challenging content...” (Schulz, 2006, pp )

14 Literacy-based and CLT approaches CLTLiteracy-based EmphasisDoing Language functions Expressing personal experiences Doing & reflecting on doing Form/function relations Personal readings of texts Role of reading & writing Language practice (linguistic) Separate skills (R v. P) Design of meaning (social, cognitive, linguistic) Integrated commun. acts Role models for teachers & learners Native speakersDiscourse analysts Intercultural explorers Predominant learner role Active participation-- Using language in face- to-face interaction Active engagement-- Using language, reflecting on language use, & revising

15 Literacy-based and CLT approaches “Communicative teaching programs have largely succeeded in their goal of promoting learners’ interactive speaking abilities. They have tended to be somewhat less successful, however, in developing learners’ extended discourse competence and written communication skills—areas of academic ability that are extraordinarily important in academic settings” (Kern, 2000, p. 19) On CLT vs. literacy-based approaches: “It is not so much a difference of authenticity of communication... Rather it is a difference in the ways that teachers and students make use of texts—their own and others’—to expand their awareness of a new language and culture” (Kern, 2000, p. 15)

16 Two metaphors for communication-- Conduit versus design of meaning Conduit: Communication = fax transmission Language as a conduit for transferring info. Mastery of code -> unambiguous communication Understanding the words -> understanding ideas Design: Communication = construction of meaning Language as a resource for communication Meaning / messages are shifting, situational “communication occurs at the intersection between language and context and relies on the perception of linguistic, cognitive, and social relationships” (Kern, 2000, p. 45)

17 Design of meaning “We propose to treat any semiotic activity, including using language to produce or consume texts, as a matter of Design involving three elements: Available Designs, Designing, and The Redesigned” (New London Group, 1996, pp )

18 Available designs Available designs involve learners’ existing knowledge structures and knowledge resources that are drawn on, consciously or unconsciously, in understanding and making meaning from texts

19 Reading as meaning design reading = a dynamic communicative act that is both individual and social; creating discourse from texts “reading and writing are always socially-imbedded activities involving relationships, shared assumptions, and conventions as well as individual, personal acts involving imagination, creativity, and emotions” (Kern, 2000, p. 111) readers as representatives of a given interpretive community “We are socialized to read in certain ways for particular purposes in particular settings and to hold certain beliefs about texts... We abide by certain interpretive conventions established within the discourse communities to which we belong and we gain entry into new discourse communities by learning their conventions through apprenticeship” (Kern, 2000, p. 117)

20 Writing as meaning design Writing = a dynamic process of designing meaning through texts; a process both individual and creative as well as socially constrained Key aspects of writing in a FL: Allows manipulating and “trying out” new forms so they can consider the effects of such manipulation on meaning Allows time for learners to process and create meaning Allows learners' language use to go beyond purely functional communication and opens the possibility "to create imagined worlds of their own design" (Kern, 2000, p. 172)

21 3 approaches to teaching writing Product-based -> Emphasis on grammatical and syntactic accuracy Process-based -> Emphasis on creating meaningful texts, the steps involved in doing so, and being creative Genre-based -> Emphasis on familiarizing learners with the discourse conventions and rhetorical “moves” considered appropriate in a given genre “[Process-based approaches] tend to favor students who are already familiar with a variety of culturally-appropriate academic genres over those who are not. The lack of explicit models can make it especially difficult for second language learners to discover the tacit expectations for various types of writing... At stake is learners’ understanding of links between form and communicative conventions that will allow them to construct meanings in ways that are appropriate within the immediate academic context as well as the larger societal context” (Kern, 2000, p. 182)

22 A framework for teaching using a multiliteracies approach “[P]edagogy is a complex integration of four factors: Situated Practice based on the world of learners’ Designed & Designing experiences; Overt Instruction through which students shape for themselves an explicit metalanguage of Design; Critical Framing which relates meanings to their social contexts & purposes; and Transformed Practice in which students transfer & re- create Designs of meaning from one context to another” (New London Group,1996, p. 83)

23 Situated practice Immersion in language use Focus on learners expressing thoughts, opinions, feelings Does not involve conscious reflection and metalanguage Involvement in legitimate communicative activities using the target language Teacher’s role: Modeling linguistic actions to be used, guiding students in recognizing the meanings of these actions, and helping them to produce their own Immersion in language use Focus on learners expressing thoughts, opinions, feelings Does not involve conscious reflection and metalanguage Involvement in legitimate communicative activities using the target language Teacher’s role: Modeling linguistic actions to be used, guiding students in recognizing the meanings of these actions, and helping them to produce their own

24 Overt instruction Involves learners developing an explicit metalanguage of Design in order to identify, discuss, and learn those elements that contribute to meaning making Entails participation in scaffolded learning opportunities rather than drill-like exercises (e.g., noticing the gap, input enhancement, inductive grammar participation) Allows students to step back and talk about the meaning-making process in order to gain skills and knowledge needed for competent participation in target language communication Role of grammar: Requires intentional focus, viewed as a tool or resource for meaning making rather than an end in and of itself

25 Critical framing Involves stepping back and trying to understand the social, cultural, historical, and ideological contexts of communication and texts Entails developing a critical awareness of language use and how the meanings / rules related to communication are tied to context in complex ways Can involve cross-cultural comparisons or inter-cultural comparisons

26 Transformed practice Involves learners recreating designs of meaning by transferring them from one context to another by creating new texts on the basis of existing ones or reshaping existing texts for a different context Allows learners to take the lead and use what they know to create something original and personal

27 The four curricular components Situated practice and overt instruction have traditionally been the primary focus of language programs and instructional materials What consequences does this lead to for learners if critical framing and transformed practice are not included in classroom activities and assessment? What challenges exist to incorporating critical framing and transformed practice into the lower-level language curriculum?

28 Student participation structures Individual Peer (paired) Small group Whole group -> Literacy-based instruction does not stipulate an ideal participation structure but rather aims to incorporate a range of opportunities for student participation in learning. -> Experience has showed me that literacy-based instructional activities, particularly “writing to speak” type activities can tremendously enhance participation and lower anxiety.

29 Linking instruction to assessment Literacy-based assessment is multi-dimensional and aims to evaluate learners' ability to use language as a tool of creative and critical thought Involves both formative assessment (process-oriented, providing ongoing feedback to facilitate improvement) and summative assessment (to evaluate performance/achievement at the end of a unit or the course) Needs to be highly integrated with instructional activities and outside-class work Example: Participation / Informal Quizzes / Journal or wiki writing / Formal writing portfolio / Midterm Exam / Final Exam / Group Presentation / Oral Recordings