elta journal (volume 2, no. 2, december 2014

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2

E-mail correspondence: [email protected] Copyright ELTA Journal 2014 www.eltajournal.org.rs

ELTA Journal: An International & Interdisciplinary Journal of the ELT Practice & Research

ISSN 2334-9662 (Online)

ELTA – English Language Teachers’ Association

Nemanjina 28, 11000 Belgrade Serbia + 381 (0) 63 210 460 + 381 11 36 11 644 ext. 110

[email protected] Danijela Serafijanović, ELTA President

[email protected]

Editor-in-Chief: Maja Jerković, Vocational Medical School, Zrenjanin, Serbia

Co-editor:

Olivera Ćatić, MA student of Lifelong Learning, Aarhus University, Copenhagen, Denmark

Proofreader and cover designer:

Marija Panić, ELTA - English Language Teachers’ Association, Belgrade, Serbia

Website:

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Send your submissions electronically to: [email protected]

Contributors are requested to refer to the guidelines on the ELTA Journal

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The authors bear full responsibility for the content of their papers.

The journal is published annually.

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E-mail correspondence: [email protected] Copyright ELTA Journal 2014

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Editorial ELTA Journal

ELTA, teachers' association in Serbia is proud to present the second issue of ELTA Journal.

In this first issue, last December, we presented the ideas that have shaped the creation of

ELTA Journal and, this year, we would like to introduce new ideas that have guided us in

developing this issue.

Our aim was to connect research and practice and to present some theoretical

considerations in the field of ELT. Our journal is blind peer-reviewed, allowing our authors to

have their articles rechecked, reevaluated and inspected by unbiased experts.

Carefully selected articles that we have prepared for you in this issue are written by

teachers, associate professors and researchers in the ELT field. For some authors this is

another way of reflecting on their practice and, for others, this is a form of teacher

development.

We are particularly proud that, as in the previous issue, our contributors are both domestic

and international, and tackle interesting research areas in their studies in theoretical

discussions. Our readers might be interested in an article by Radmila Palinkašević on a very

current topic of bilingualism and its advantageous and disadvantageous effects on cognition

and third language acquisition. Join another one of our colleagues Brankica Bojović in her

exploration of the rich experience of translating metaphors from SL to TL and vice versa, and

her use of Newmark’s translating methods in her classroom practice with students. Our

contributor from a Tribhuvan University in Nepal, Pramod Kumar Sah, gathered and

analysed data on how the undergraduate students in China, through their peer interactions,

mediate understanding about the new language introduced to them and how they develop

language competence. See what the result was of the joint study of Aleksandra Oletić from

Stockholm University and Nina Ilić from University of Novi Sad on levels of intrinsic and

extrinsic motivations to learn English as a foreign language among high school and

university students. Ali Erarslan and Devrim Hol explored language interference and transfer

of L1 into L2 when students do a translation test, while a UK freelancer Willy Cardoso

shared with us his consideration of how teaching is a form of artistry, stressing the




importance of teacher intuition, and value of inquiry and collective engagement. Zorana

Vasiljević will familiarize you with collocation studies in corpus and applied linguistics and

offer suggestions for making criteria for the selection of target collocation, and developing

activities that help students learn them and use them autonomously. Last, but not least,

ELTA’s known contributor, Nina Kisin, discussed the ways of teaching business English

vocabulary which is a rich source of new terminology in English and used around the world.

The Editorial team would like to thank all the people who contributed to this issue and our

former Editor-in-Chief, Ms Marija Ivanović, who was also among the initiators of ELTA

Journal.

We owe much gratitude to eminent professors and colleagues who reviewed the articles

and, of course, to our contributors whose ideas will help advance the EFL research and the

teaching practice.

We hope you enjoy reading this issue and we look forward to receiving your feedback and

article contributions for our next issue.

Yours faithfully,

ELTA Journal Editorial Team



Table of Contents

1. Language Interference on English: Transfer on the Vocabulary, Tense and reposition

Use of Freshmen Turkish EFL Learners by Ali Erarslan and Devrim Hol

2. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation for Learning English as a Foreign Language by

Aleksandra Oletić and Nina Ilić

3. Mediation in Peer Interaction among Chinese EFL Learners by Pramod Kumar Sah

4. Teaching Collocations in a Second Language: Why, What and How? By Zorana

Vasiljević

5. Strategies of Metaphor Translation by Brankica Bojović

6. The Influence of Bilingualism on Cognition and Third Language Acquisition by

Radmila Palinkašević

7. Developing Artistry in Teaching by Willy Cardoso

8. Teaching and Learning Financial English Vocabulary by Nina Kisin




Language Interference on English:

Transfer on the Vocabulary, Tense and

Preposition Use of Freshmen Turkish

EFL Learners

by Ali Erarslan, Pamukkale University, Turkey

and

Devrim Hol, Pamukkale University, Turkey

Abstract In this study, the degree to which Turkish EFL learners make use of L1 transfer was examined in terms of vocabulary use, use of prepositions and the use of Simple Present Tense. The study was conducted by having participants perform a translation task and take a translation test. Results showed that most L1 interference took place in the use of prepositions and vocabulary following it. Participants showed more signs of transfer while they were making guesses on the meaning of given vocabulary items, phrases or sentences. The least rate of L1 transfer was observed in the use of Simple Present Tense. Key words: L1 transfer, language interference, cross-linguistic influence, errors Apstrakt U ovom radu ispitaćemo u kojoj meri turski učenici stranog jezika koriste transfer maternjeg jezika po pitanju upotrebe vokabulara, predloga i sadašnjeg vremena (The Simple Present Tense). Studija je izvedena tako što su učesnici imali prevod kao zadatak i tako što su radili test na kome su imali prevod. Rezultati pokazuju da se većina transfera iz maternjeg jezika dešava pri upotrebi predloga, a zatim pri upotrebi vokabulara. Znaci transfera kod učenika su uočljiviji kada su učesnici pogađali značenja datog vokabulara, fraza i rečenica. Najmanji transfer maternjeg jezika je primećen pri upotrebi sadašnjeg vremena (The Present Simple Tense). Ključne reči: L1 transfer, transfer jezika, među-lingvistički uticaj, greške

1. Introduction

The nature and extent of the influence of

native language (L1) on L2 learning

process have been debated in ESL and

EFL contexts in the field of Second

Language Acquisition (SLA) over the past

four decades. Though there have been

various discussions related to what

"transfer" is or not, one of the most

accepted definitions of the term "transfer"




is made by Odlin (Odlin, 1989) since this

definition is regarded as broad enough to

include different viewpoints related to

“transfer". According to Odlin (Odlin, 1989,

pg 27): "transfer is the influence resulting

from similarities and differences between

the target language and any other

language that has been previously (and

perhaps imperfectly) acquired”. Transfer is

also known as L1 interference, linguistic

interference or cross-linguistic influence.

First language “interference” and “transfer”

are sometimes used interchangeably and

sometimes as two different terms.

Interference is the automatic transfer, due

to habit, of the surface structure of the first

language onto the surface of the target

language(Dulay, Burt & Krashen, 1982).

Lott (Lott, 1983, p. 256) defines

interference as ‘errors in the learner’s use

of the foreign language that can be traced

back to the mother tongue’. As Lott (Lott,

1983) suggests, by analyzing the students'

errors, teachers can begin to attribute a

cause to an error with some degree of

precision and find out whether, for

example, mother tongue interference, or

teaching techniques, or problems inherent

in the target language are the major cause

of their students’ errors. Additionally, Ellis

(Ellis, 1994) refers to interference as

‘transfer’, which he says is 'the influence

that the learner’s L1 exerts over the

acquisition of an L2'. He argues that

transfer is governed by learners’

perceptions about what is transferable and

by their stage of development in L2

learning. In learning a target language,

learners construct their own interim rules

(Selinker, 1971, Seligar, 1988 and Ellis,

1994) with the use of their L1 knowledge,

but only when they believe it will help them

in the learning task or when they have

become sufficiently proficient in the L2 for

transfer to be possible. In fact, the

difference between the terms “interference”

and “transfer” comes from the similarity or

the difference in the structures of the two

languages. According to Ellis (Ellis, 1994)

two languages having distinct linguistic

structures may result in a high frequency of

errors in the target language which in turn

indicates an interference of L1 on L2.As

suggested by Gao (Gao, 2013), the learner

who comes in contact with a foreign

language may resort to his/her native

language features to replace those

difficulties in the target language.

One of the most important changes in

second language researches has been the

issue of “errors”. Traditionally, learners’

producing an ill-formed structure in target

language was seen negatively and thus the

teachers needed to correct such ill-formed

structures as soon as possible. Among

different methods in second language

teaching, behaviorist theory views errors

as a part of habit formation and they




should be corrected immediately in order

not to be fossilized (Griffiths,2008).

However, some recent methods regard

errors as an indicator of actual acquisition

process in action (Yule, 1996, James,

1998).According to Harmer (2003), errors

are part of the students’ interlanguage,

which is a developmental area of the

learners and changes continuously until

the learners become proficient in the

language. Historically, in the 1950s and

1960s, it was considered that by

comparing and contrasting the structures

of L1 and the target language, errors would

be easily predicted with the error analysis

which saw a reaction in the 1970s claiming

that the L2 was learned in the same way

as the L1, and independently of it; however

currently it is accepted that transfer occurs,

but in a more complex way and it is not

regarded as the source of errors only

(Benson, 2002). As suggested by Benson

(Benson, 2002), transfer can be facilitative

(positive transfer), or transfer can result in

avoidance if the structure of the target

language does not exist in L1 and it can

lead to different rates of development

(p.68). Additionally, another phenomenon

regarding L1 influence is the effect of L2

proficiency. The relationship between L2

proficiency and its effect on transfer is

listed by Jarvis (Jarvis, 2000, p.246,247)

as:

1. L1 influence decreases with

increasing L2 proficiency.

2. L1 influence increases with

increasing L2 proficiency.

3. L1 influence remains constant

with increasing L2 proficiency.

4. L1 influence ultimately

decreases, but nonlinearly.

5. L1 influence ultimately increases,

but nonlinearly.

6. L1 influence ultimately never

decreases nor increases, but

its presence continually fluctuates

as L2 proficiency increases.

Arguments related to the term "transfer"

mainly focus on "errors"; thus, all these

views raised another important question:

what is the distinction between errors and

mistakes? According to Ellis (Ellis, 1994),

an error takes place when the deviation

arises as a result of lack of knowledge and

he views mistakes as the result of

problems that prevent learners from

accessing their knowledge of a target

language rule and cause them to fall back

on some alternative, non-standard rule that

they find easier to access. Ellis (Ellis,

1994) also refers to errors as gaps in the

knowledge of the learners, which assumes

that the learners ‘system of knowledge is

the source of the errors. Thus, errors are

considered systematic and occur

repeatedly. On the other hand, according

to Corder (1967, cited by Ellis 2008), a




‘mistake’ is a deviation in learner language

that occurs when learners fail to perform

their competence. Within this point of view,

mistakes as randomly occurring slips,

unlike errors, are regarded as an indicator

of performance.

It is assumed that the learner’s mother

tongue (MT) will positively or negatively

affect his learning a foreign language in

second language acquisition (SLA). When

the learner’s mother tongue and target

language are similar, the native language

will actively aid foreign language in

learning that is in case of similarities

between the native language and target

language, the transfer functions positively,

while in case of differences, it functions

negatively. Considering that Turkish

language belongs to the Altaic branch of

the Ural-Altaic family of languages and

English is a West Germanic language of

Indo European family of languages, most

learners are assumed to transfer linguistic

structures in a negative way because of

the distance between these two languages.

Through the language learning process,

learners appear to rely on their mother

tongue (L1) considering L1 facilitates L2

learning in that both languages have

similarities with each other. However,

these learners usually make use of at

least three domains in terms of linguistic

knowledge while acquiring the target

language as (1) the L2-input in a natural

L2 speaking or classroom based learning

environment (2) the structures of their

native language (L1); and (3) innate

linguistic knowledge 7.

Learners appear to accumulate structural

entities of English, but demonstrate

difficulty in organizing this knowledge into

appropriate, meaningful structures and

there seems to be a significant gap

between the accumulation and the

organization of the knowledge. When

writing or speaking in English, the target

language (L2), Turkish students seem to

rely on their Turkish language (L1)

structures to produce written or spoken

pieces. Thus, with this aim in mind, based

on the learners' level of English, this study

seeks answer to the following research

question:

1- Based on language levels of students in

English (elementary, pre-intermediate and

intermediate), how does L1 transfer affect

the use of English in terms of

a. Vocabulary

b. Prepositions

c. Tense (Present Continuous

Tense instead of Simple

Present Tense)?

This study aims to investigate the effects of

Turkish language on students’ production

of English; transfer on vocabulary, tense




and preposition use of students at a state

university in Turkey.

2. Method

This research study was primarily designed

as a descriptive study and therefore adopts

a quantitative approach. In line with the

approach, survey methodology was used

to obtain the opinions of participants.




3. Setting and Participants

This study was conducted at a state university aiming to explore the degree to which L1

transfer was evident in producing vocabulary, tense and prepositional items in English. In the

research, the degree of L1 transfer on vocabulary, preposition and tense was evaluated

separately depending on the students’ level of English. In the study, in order to investigate

how L1 transfer was evident in English, 323 participants participated in the study at a state

university in Turkey. The participants were randomly selected based on their language levels

in English as Elementary, Pre-Intermediate and Intermediate level. The students receive

English education in these levels under a program run by School of Foreign Languages and

all the students use the same course book within the same framework. It has been an

advantage for this study that using the same book in all English levels eliminates the risk of

language transfer due to material use provided to students.

Table 1. Distribution of participants and their language levels (N=323)

General characteristics of the participant English preparatory class students were

investigated in terms of their age, gender, and their level of English. Of the 323 students 255

(29 %) were between the age of 17-20 and 68 (21,1% ) were between the age of 21-25.

Additionally, 216 (66,9%) were female and 107 (33,1 %) were male. As for the participants’

level of English, nearly half of the participants (46,4 %) were Elementary level students, 27,6

% were pre-intermediate and 26 % were in intermediate level.

f %

Age 17-20 255 78.9

21-25 68 21.1

Total 323 100.0

Gender Female 216 66.9

Male 107 33.1

Total 323 100.0

Lang. Level

Elementary

Pre-intermediate

150

89

46.4

27.6

Intermediate 84 26

Total 323 100.0




4. Data Collection

Initially, before constructing the items in

the data collection tool in the form of a

knowledge and translation test, a total of

90 students' assignments in their writing

course were randomly English and

analyzed for each level. The written

assignments were collected and analyzed

in the second semester to ensure that they

all had acceptable knowledge and skills in

L2 writing. When the academic year starts,

students in preparatory classes are

exposed to writing exercises embedded in

the core language course in the first three

months until the end of first semester. In

the second term, writing course starts and

they learn writing based on “process

approach”. During the academic year, the

students are taught paragraph writing and

paragraph types first, and then essay

writing and essay types (Erarslan, 2011).

Students' writing assignments both in the

paragraph and in essay format were

analyzed based on their transfer errors.

After the analysis, their transfer errors

were categorized and it was seen that

three major errors were found to be in the

vocabulary, tense and preposition use.

Thus, for the actual study, based on their

writing assignments, three parts were

chosen as vocabulary, tense and

preposition use. For the vocabulary and

preposition parts, the items were chosen

from the students' writings. Moreover,

those which were added for the actual

study were chosen based on "The

General Service List (GSL)"(West,

1953), which contains the most widely

useful 2,000 word families in English.

West (1953, cited in Fox, 1979) used a

variety of criteria to select these words,

including frequency, ease of learning,

coverage of useful concepts, and stylistic

level. In addition, Academic Word List

(AWL), containing 570 words which

appear with high frequency in academic

textbooks across a range of disciplines

was used as the vocabulary criteria. The

AWL was created so that this word list

could be used by students to learn the

words most needed to study at universities

(Coxhead, 2000).

After constructing the test items, to collect

data, a form was developed having two

parts: a translation part and a test part

where the participants were provided 20

vocabulary items, 10 tense items and 10

preposition items in each part. In both

parts, students were provided the same

vocabulary, tense and preposition items.

All our participants were asked to

complete a translation task having 20

vocabulary items, which mainly consisted

of phrasal verbs, collocations and




compound words our students find difficult

to understand, 10 phrases with

prepositions and 10 sentences that require

the use of Simple Present Tense. The

participants were asked to translate these

items into English. In this task another

important point was that the participants

were provided with two columns. They

were asked to write their translations to

the column with the heading “I know” if

they were definitely certain about their

response and they were asked to write

their translation to the column with the

heading “I guess” if they were not certain

about their response but guessed that it

should be such. The aim was to find out

the rate of transfer occurred in guesses

and in definitely known items. Transfer

items in the “I know” column would be

interpreted as mistakes; whereas, the

ones in the “I guess” column would be

interpreted as transfer errors.

Immediately after the transfer task,

participants were asked to take a

translation test. In this test, the same items

in the first part were asked, however, this

time participants were provided with a

correct translation and a literal translation

of the items in the form of multiple choice

items. Participants were asked to identify

the choice they thought was the correct

alternative. The aim of this test was to find

out whether input would make any change

in the rate of transfer items, if yes, in what

way.

5. Procedure

The study was conducted in a state

university in Turkey among students who

have one year intensive English

preparatory education. It was conducted in

the first thirty minute of the course and

participants were given brief information

about what the aim of the study was and

what they had to do while doing the tasks.

They were specifically asked to write

whatever they think as the English

equivalents of the provided phrases in

Turkish. In order to make the participants

feel free in their responses, they were

asked not to write their names on any of

the tasks given. The study was conducted

in elementary, pre-intermediate and

intermediate level classes at the same

time.

6. Data Analysis

In analyzing the collected data, any kind of

literal translation, either partial or

complete, was accepted as language

transfer in the vocabulary section. In the

preposition section, any kind of literal

translation, absence of preposition where

needed, use of unnecessary preposition in

order to replace a suffix in Turkish, and

finally, any kind of word transformation to

replace a suffix in Turkish was accepted

as language transfer. In the tense section,




any use of Present Continuous Tense or

attempt to use Present Continuous Tense;

that is, using auxiliary verb in front of the

main verb without adding the –ing or

adding –ing without using ‘auxiliary' in front

of the main verb was accepted as

language transfer.

The translation tasks and translation tests

were evaluated separately. In the

translation task, each transfer item the

total number of questions answered in

each section was identified. The same

procedure was followed in the preposition

section, tense section, “I know” section

and “I guess section”. So, after each

analysis, it was possible to see how many

questions were answered by the

participant in each section and how many

of them were transfer items. The

translation test was also checked in the

same way. The number of answers given

by the participant to each section and the

transfer items in each section were

carefully marked.

The results obtained from the research

have been analyzed separately and

calculated according to their percentage of

transfer.

7. Results

1) Vocabulary Transfer of Elementary, Intermediate and Intermediate Level Students

a) Vocabulary Transfer of Elementary Level Students

Table 2. Transfer Evident in Vocabulary Items in Elementary Level of English

Average Transfer Rate Average Test Items

Answered

Total Percentage of

Transfer

5,69 11,83 35%

At first, the data obtained were analyzed in terms of vocabulary, tense and preposition based

on the participants' level of English. Elementary level students' responses in the tests related

to vocabulary items analyzed and students answered an average of 11,83 vocabulary items

out of 20 questions in translation part. Among vocabulary items answered, the transfer

evident in vocabulary was 5,69 in average which was 35 % in total. Table 2 shows that

students at university apply their knowledge from Turkish language to English in vocabulary

choice which are mostly irrelevant to their English equivalents. Among vocabulary items

where Turkish transfer was intensively applied are “Mutfak Robotu” which means “Food




Processor” in English. However, this word was mostly translated as “Kitchen Robot” as a

direct translation and “Spor Ayakkabı” meaning “trainers” transferred as “Sports Shoes” by

the students. Additionally, it is possible to say that the same case is true for “Köpek Balığı”

meaning “Shark” in English. A majority amount of students translated it as “Dog Fish” just

focusing on its Turkish equivalent word by word. One possible reason for such negative

transfer is that words such as “köpek balığı” and “spor ayakkabı” are compound words in

Turkish and students prefer using a compound translation in English. Their limited exposure

to English may also be another reason for their incorrect transfer of vocabulary choice as

they may still fail in mastery of target language.

b) Vocabulary Transfer of Pre-Intermediate Level Students

Table 3. Transfer Evident in Vocabulary Items among Pre-Intermediate Level Students


Answered

Total Percentage of

Transfer

3,19 14,56 21,90%

When compared to transfer evident in vocabulary items according to Elementary Level of

English(see Table 2.), transfer in vocabulary items according to Pre-intermediate level of

English, students answered an average of 3,19 vocabulary items out of 20 questions in

translation part. Among vocabulary items answered, the transfer evident in vocabulary was

14,56 in average which was 21,90 % totally. Table 3 shows that Pre-intermediate level

students show less tendency to use Turkish vocabulary knowledge compared to Elementary

students. The total amount of vocabulary transfer is 35% according to Elementary Level of

English while it is 21,90 % totally according to Pre-intermediate level of English. However,

the results here show that vocabulary transfer is still evident in both groups.

c) Vocabulary Transfer of Intermediate Level Students

Table 4. Transfer Evident in Vocabulary Items among Intermediate Level Students


Answered

Total Percentage of

Transfer

4,21 14,86 28,33%




In terms of transfer in vocabulary items according to intermediate level of English, students

answered an average of 4,21 vocabulary items out of 20 questions in translation part. Among

vocabulary items answered, the transfer evident in vocabulary was 14,86 in average which

was 28,33 % totally. Table 4 shows that intermediate students make more use of Turkish

vocabulary knowledge than Pre-intermediate level students and less transfer compared to

elementary students.

One of Studies related to L1 (Turkish) transfer to L2 was conducted by Erkaya (Erkaya,

2012) and in her study in which written texts of the participants in terms of errors were

analyzed, it was the word choice appeared with the highest percentage as transfer error the

students applied using their L1 knowledge. Additionally, according to another study focusing

on written essays of the adult beginner Turkish students conducted by Kırkgöz (Kırkgöz,

2010), learners had mainly two types of errors as interlingual and intralingual errors and she

suggests that one of major sources of student errors was result of L1 transfer. In her study,

the words transferred from Turkish did not prevent the comprehension as Erkaya (Erkaya,

2012) mentions. Similarly, according to Karakas (n.d), Turkish students had serious

problems in generating words and combining them into phrases and finally into sentences,

which might range from a very simple to highly complex ones.

2) Preposition Transfer of Elementary, Intermediate and Intermediate Level Students

a) Preposition Transfer of Elementary Level Students

Table 5. Transfer Evident in Preposition Items among Elementary Level Students


Answered

Total Percentage of

Transfer

3,19 7,61 41%

The most striking result of the study was in the use of preposition in English. Transfer evident

in preposition items according to Elementary Level of English was analyzed and students

answered an average of 3,19 preposition items out of 10 questions in translation part. Among

preposition items answered, the transfer evident was 7,61 in average which was 41 % totally.

Table 5 shows that students in university level apply their knowledge from Turkish language

to English in preposition choices which are mostly irrelevant to their English equivalents. This

result indicates that preposition use is the most problematic part of students’ English learning

process. The reason for this may be that the Turkish equivalents of “in, on, at” in English are

all “-de, and –da” in Turkish. For example, almost all students answered the question “Ayşe




ile evlenmek” as “marry with Ayşe” in English instead of “marry to Ayşe”. The preposition “ile”

is “with” in English. As a result, when students come across or have to produce a phrase

including “ile” in Turkish translation of an English phrase, they prefer to use it with its Turkish

equivalent. On the other hand, the other most commonly transferred preposition item was

“eve gelmek” for “come home”. In this question, most students again gave its English

equivalent referring to its Turkish translation “come to home”, as it includes -e, -a suffixes

showing direction.

b) Preposition Transfer of Pre-Intermediate Level Students

Table 6. Transfer Evident in Preposition Items among Pre-Intermediate Level Students


Answered

Total Percentage of

Transfer

1,52 7,07 21,49%

Transfer evident in preposition items according to Pre-intermediate level of English was

analyzed and students answered an average of 1,52 preposition items out of 10 questions in

translation part. Among preposition items answered, the transfer evident was 7,07 in average

which was 21,49 % totally. Table 6 indicates that Pre-intermediate students tend to make

less transfer in preposition items compared to elementary students. It is quite surprising that

while elementary students have the highest amount of transfer in preposition use, the figures

related to pre-intermediate students do not make so much difference compared to

vocabulary and tense items.

c) Preposition Transfer of Intermediate Level Students

Table 7. Transfer Evident in Preposition Items among Intermediate Level Students


Answered

Total Percentage of

Transfer

1,57 7,36 21,33%

Transfer evident in preposition items among intermediate students was analyzed and

students answered an average of 1,57 preposition items out of 10 questions in translation

part. Among preposition items answered, the transfer evident was 7,36 in average which was

21,33 % totally. Table 7 shows that intermediate students tend to make transfer in




preposition items equally. However the highest amount of transfer in preposition was seen

among elementary students.

Studies on prepositions show that Turkish students also have overgeneralization from L1

when applying prepositional rules to TL 16. Karakas (n.d) mentions that most prepositional

errors can be explained as an L1 impact as the translation of the preposition encompasses

the meaning of "through" in L1. According to Koban (Koban, 2011), the largest number of

errors consisted in the misuse of prepositions and it may be caused by the fact that the

learners probably learned a particular preposition with one type of verb and later used the

same preposition with similar verbs (p.170).

3) Tense Transfer of Elementary, Intermediate and Intermediate Level Students

a) Tense Transfer of Elementary Level Students

Table 8. Transfer Evident in Tense Items among Elementary Level Students


Answered

Total Percentage of

Transfer

1,66 8,71 19%

Transfer evident in tense items according to Elementary Level of English was analyzed and

students answered an average of 1,66 tense items out of 10 questions in translation part.

Among tense items answered, the transfer evident in tense items was 8,71 on average which

was 19 % totally. Table 8 indicates that university students who have been learning English

in Elementary Level tend to rely on Turkish knowledge in the use of tense less when

compared to vocabulary items. One of the most challenging items in tense translation was

the ambiguity caused by meaningless responses given by the students. Some papers

included responses such as “I am work post office” as an equivalent of “I work at the post

office”.

b) Tense Transfer of Pre-intermediate Level Students

Table 9. Transfer Evident in Tense Items among Pre-Intermediate Level Students


Answered

Total Percentage of

Transfer

1,59 8,00 19,87%




Transfer evident in tense items according to Pre-intermediate level of English was analyzed

and students answered an average of 1,59 tense items out of 10 questions in translation

part. Among tense items answered, the transfer evident was 8,00 in average which was

19,87 % totally. Table 9 indicates that Pre-intermediate students tend to make transfer in

tense items equally with elementary students.

c) Tense Transfer of Intermediate Level Students

Table 10. Transfer Evident in Tense Items among Intermediate Students


Answered

Total Percentage of

Transfer

1,79 8,43 21,23%

Transfer evident in tense items among intermediate was analyzed and students answered an

average of 1,79 tense items out of 10 questions in translation part. Among tense items

answered, the transfer evident was 8,43 in average which was 21,23 % totally. When

compared to previous groups, Table 10shows that intermediate students tend to make

transfer in tense items mostly. Though the results are nearly same in two other groups, the

highest amount of tense transfer is seen among intermediate students. In theory, it is

expected that the more the students have input in learning a second language, the less they

make L1 interference.

According to the study of Erkaya (Erkaya, 2012), among the transfer errors, the verb tense

errors were not as many as word choice and preposition errors. Similarly, among the errors

identified in Koban’s (Koban, 2011)study, tense errors were listed as the less frequent ones

compared to prepositional and lexical errors, however, Koban (Koban, 2011, p.171) mentions

that “the actual source of most tense errors is interference from the other terms of the

English system, and only rarely from the corresponding Turkish form. The influence of

Turkish is apparent in the second category in which the verbs are marked with -ing for the

progressive aspect”. In fact, although tense choice of the participants focused only at

progressive form and at present form as in our study, as Koban stated (Koban, 2011), the




influence of Turkish on English is apparent in terms of –ing form in tense use, and for this

reason instead of focusing on other aspects of tenses, this study only focused on –ing

aspect. Similar to our study, Kirkgoz (Kirkgoz, 2010, p. 435) explains based on her study that

“the major source of errors in the tense choice is that for the given situations, simple present

tense is used to express in English language, whereas in Turkish present continuous tense is

employed”. It is true that most state verbs are expressed in Present Continuous tense in

Turkish language, thus most Turkish students have a tendency to say” I am loving you”

instead of “I love you” as the English equivalent.

Figure 1. Comparison of Vocabulary, Preposition and Tense Transfer among language

levels

Figure 2. The Transfer Evident Based on “I Know” and “I Guess” section

Figure 2 shows the amount of transfer items in vocabulary, tense and preposition sections

according to language levels. The table shows the amount of the transferred items based on

participants' choices "I know" or "I guess" indicating that whether they know the English

equivalents of the test items or they guess them. In the ‘I know’ column, Elementary

students' rate of transfer was 29%, Pre-intermediate level was 18, 87%, and the rate of

transfer among intermediate students was 20, 35%.




In the ‘I guess’ column, the amount of the transfer in the Elementary group was 41%, Pre-

intermediate level was 40%, and the rate of transfer among intermediate students was 49%.

Table 11. Transfer Evident in Vocabulary in Both Translation and Test Item

Vocabulary Preposition Tense

Translation Part 31% 33% 19%

Test Part 40% 46,98% 24%

Table 11shows the percentages of items based on transfer in two parts of the data collection

instrument as “Translation task” and “test item”. The rate of all the item types asked in the

study showed an increase in Test item part. Interestingly, the aim of providing input in the

test item part of the study was to see if the students could find the true equivalents of the

items asked in Turkish. Contrary to the expectations, students used their knowledge of

Turkish in a greater extent in Test item part though they were given the right answer in the

options. Transfer on vocabulary increases by 9% in test item part, the rate of increase was

5% in tense and transfer on preposition increased by 13, 98% in test item part.

8. Conclusion

The major concern of this study has been

to investigate Turkish language

interference, or transfer, on English in

vocabulary, tense and preposition use.

The learners have used some L1

structures to produce appropriate

responses in L2, producing acceptable

equivalents of the Turkish phrases.

However, the learners have also used L1

structures interchangeably with L2

structures, producing inappropriate L2

responses, indicating an interference of L1

on L2. In both translation and test item

phases, the responses which the students

gave reflect failure in producing

appropriate use of the target language

among the provided items. In using L1

structures, the learners have taken some

risks that include guessing of a more or

less informed kind. They have attempted

to use invented or borrowed items,

producing meaningless items in English.

Most linguists agree that transfer is mostly

seen in beginner levels and in less

proficient learners. Studies have shown

that less proficient learners have been

reported to transfer more elements from

their first language than learners who

present higher levels of proficiency

(Cenoz, Hufeisen and Jessner, 2001).

Jiang and Kuehn (Jiang and Kuehn, 2001)




conducted a study on immigrant students from different language backgrounds. They found

out that beginner to intermediate level students made use of transfer strategies while

advanced students made use of cognitive strategies. Major (Major, 1986) and Wenk (Wenk,

1986) have also found out that beginner level students were more likely to make transfer

errors than more advanced ones. On the other hand, linguists such as Kellerman (Kellerman,

1983) see the errors of beginner level learners as developmental errors and claim that, in

order to be able to make transfer errors learners should have developed awareness in the

language (cited in Ellis, 1994). Our study also shows similar results in that the elementary

level students made use of L1 transfer more than the advanced ones. Additionally, Ringbom

(Ringbom, 2007) views transfer as lexical borrowing. Similarly, Odlin (Odlin, 1989) states that

lexical level transfer in the early stage is seen in the form of borrowing as is seen in our

study.

When the learners fail to recognize the appropriate items in English and interpret

them out of their actual use, they adjust the form of their L2 written responses by using items

which are part of their L1. The analysis of the learners 'translation and test item tasks

revealed the extent to which their L2 responses are affected by their L1, the procedures

aimed to express the phrases which included vocabulary, tense and preposition items and to

see the extent to which and the manner in which L1 knowledge interferes with L2. The L2

errors made are traceable to the learners' L1 and we can conclude that there is definite

interference of L1 on L2.

In the process of attempting to relate L1 to L2, they consider about the similarity or

difference between L2 and L1. The result is that the students rely heavily on their L1

knowledge and respond to items of L2 under known categories in L1, hence a translation

process has taken place. It is seen in this study that the second language learners have

adopted their L1 structures to help them in their L2 translations and option choices.




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Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation for

Learning English as a Foreign Language

by Aleksandra Oletić, Stockholm University / Stockholm, Sweden

Nina Ilić, University of Novi Sad / Novi Sad, Serbia

Abstract In the last few years, the topic of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation has raised a lot of interest in EFL learning. Intrinsic and/or extrinsic motivation and the correlation between motivation and success in learning a foreign language have been examined. The goal of this paper is to examine how the self-determination framework (Deci and Ryan, 2000) for L2 learning motivation extends to a group of Serbian language learners of English. The focus of our research is on examining intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of Serbian students of English, with the aim of answering the question whether or not the students are intrinsically/extrinsically motivated and to what extent. High school students and university students were given the Post-Experimental Intrinsic Inventory test and the method used for analyzing the results was descriptive statistics. The results obtained show that there are generally low levels of intrinsic motivation present among both high school and university students. It was expected that the results for Interest/Enjoyment would be more decisively in favor of university students, but this was not the case. The differences in motivation are minimal in relation to gender, even though female students show an increase of intrinsic motivation across the age variable. Key words: motivation, intrinsic, extrinsic, students Apstrakt U poslednjih nekoliko godina interesovanje za temu intrinzične i ekstrinzične motivacije stalno raste u oblasti učenja engleskog kao stranog jezika. Istražuju se intrinzična i/ili ekstrinzična motivacija i korelacija između motivacije i uspeha u učenju stranog jezika. Cilj ovog rada je da istraži kako se teorija samoodređenja (Deci i Rajan, 2000)u okviru motivacije za učenje stranog jezika može primeniti na grupu učenika engleskog jezika iz Srbije. Naše istraživanje se bavi ispitivanjem intrinzičke i ekstrinzičke motivacije učenika srednjih škola i studenata engleskog jezika u Srbiji, sa ciljem dobijanja odgovora na pitanje da li su učenici intrinzički/ekstrinzički orijentisani i u kojoj meri. Učenici srednje škole i studenti su ispitani metodom posteksperimentalnog intinzičkog inventara ličnosti, a rezultati su obrađeni deskriptivnim statističkim tehnikama. Dobijeni rezultati pokazuju da je kako kod učenika srednjih škola tako i kod studenata prisutan relativno nizak nivo intrinzičke motivacije. Očekivalo se da će rezulatati za varijablu Interesovanje/ Uživanje biti u značajnoj meri u korist studenata, ali ovo nije bio slučaj. Razlike u motivaciji su minimalne kada je u pitanju pol kao nezavisna varijabla, iako ženski studenti pokazuju malo veću sklonost ka intinzičkoj motivaciji. Ključne reči: motivacija, intrinzična, ekstrinzična, učenici

1. Introduction

In the last few years, the topic of intrinsic

and extrinsic motivation has raised a lot of

interest in EFL learning. The goal of this

paper is to examine how the self-

determination framework for L2 learning

motivation extends to a group of Serbian

language learners of English. The focus of

our research is on examining intrinsic and

extrinsic motivation of Serbian students of

English, with the aim of answering the

question whether or not the students are

intrinsically/extrinsically motivated and to

what extent.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Definition and theories




In basic terms, motivation can be defined

as the main incentive a person may have

to perform a particular action. Motivation is

what urges people to initiate an action and

to persist in performing it (Topalov, 2011).

As far as student motivation is concerned,

it is based to a great extent on the

students’ subjective experiences, i.e. their

willingness and personal motives to

engage in the learning process (Brophy,

2004). This section will provide an

overview of different theories of motivation,

beginning from its early development under

the influence of behaviorism to more

dynamic current models based on

cognition.

The first theories of motivation were

developed under the influence of

behavioral theory in the 1950’s. At first,

behaviorism emphasized the importance of

human drives and needs. Later, the focus

shifted to reinforcement as the primary

means of shaping behavior (Brophy, 2004).

In the classroom environment, various

reinforcements are available: praise, high

grades, extra points, competitions etc. To

be precise, some behaviorists often talked

about control rather than motivation.

Stimulus control is what reminds learners

that a certain kind of behavior will lead to

reinforcement. If a desired behavior is not

yet accomplished, gradual improvement is

achieved by the means of approximations.

Once it is accomplished, occasional

reinforcement is what preserves it (Brophy,

2004). However, the subsequent phase of

motivation research moved away from the

mechanical interpretation of motivation

within the behaviorist framework.

In the last few decades, more

cognitive approaches to motivation were

developed. They emphasized the

importance of students’ interpretation of

certain events and the role of their beliefs,

emotions and values in achievement

situations. Therefore, motives were no

longer looked for outside, but inside the

individual (Topalov, 2011). The three

important theoretical approaches within the

cognitive framework are expectancy-value

theories, goal theories, and self-

determination theory.

Expectancy-value theories treat

behavior as a function of one’s

expectancies and the value of the goal

toward which one is working. Atkinson’s

achievement motivation theory holds that

motivation to succeed depends on the

motives, one’s estimate of the degree of

probability of succeeding in the task, and

the degree to which one values the

potential rewards (Topalov, 2011).

According to this theory, the two essential

parts of achievement motivation are

motivation to succeed and motivation to

avoid failure (Brophy, 2004). As opposed

to achievement theory in which people

orient themselves toward the future,

attribution theory explains how people

interpret their past behavior. Furthermore,

attribution theorists focus on how those

explanations influence people’s future




motivation and performance (Topalov,

2011).

Goal theories are oriented towards

the goals which individuals seek to fulfill.

Two theories have been particularly

influential in the last two decades: goal-

setting theory and goal orientation theory.

The former stresses the importance of goal

existence for purposeful action and

motivation, whereas the latter deals with

success and achievement in the

classroom. There are two tendencies that

can be distinguished in relation to goal

orientation: learning goal and performance

or ego-involvement goal (Topalov, 2011).

Finally, self-determination theory

was created by Edward Deci and Richard

Ryan. According to self-determination

theory, motivated actions can be either

self-determined or controlled. Self-

determined actions are those which

individuals freely choose and want to do.

This means that the only incentive for

undertaking this kind of actions comes

from one’s enjoyment and interest in a

particular activity i.e. intrinsic motivation.

On the other hand, controlled actions are

those which are determined by an external

force. Therefore, they come as a result of

extrinsic motivation (Brophy, 2004).

2.2. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation is related to an internal

wish to do something. Deci (1975:23)

defines intrinsically motivated activities as:

“the ones for which there is no apparent

reward except the activity itself.” Self-

determination theory puts emphasis on

three innate psychological needs which

need to be satisfied in order for an

individual to feel intrinsically motivated.

Those needs are: autonomy (in deciding

what to do and how to do it), competence

(abilities and skills by which we manage to

control our environment) and relatedness

(relationships we develop through our

interaction with others). This assumption

has significant implications for students

engaged in the learning process. Namely,

students are more likely to experience

intrinsic motivation in an environment that

promotes the satisfaction of these needs

than in the one which neglects them

(Brophy, 2004). Moreover, according to

some studies, intrinsically motivated

learning tends to be more valuable than

extrinsically oriented one (Deci and Ryan,

2000).

Intrinsic motivation was adeptly

illustrated by the concept of flow,

developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

Flow represents the feeling of complete

absorption in the activities which we enjoy.

For an artist, flow is most likely to take

place while creating a certain piece; for a

mathematician, while solving a math

problem. At any rate, whenever it happens,

people lose their sense of time. They stay

focused on the task without letting any

distractions keep them away from what

they are doing (Brophy, 2004).




On the other hand, those who are

extrinsically motivated perform a certain

action not because they truly enjoy it, but

because of a reward that is available in

their environment (Topalov, 2011).

Extrinsic goals can vary from short-term

goals (good grades, prizes from the

teacher and parents, participation in

competitions, etc) to long-term ones

(possibility of winning scholarships, better

job opportunities, higher social status, etc).

Certain studies carried out in the 1970s

and 1980s showed that rewards can lead

to a decrease in intrinsic motivation among

people who are already doing something

because of their own reasons (Brophy,

2004).

Even though the distinction

between the two types of motivation is still

essential when discussing motivation, the

attitude towards extrinsic motivation has

changed. Today, it is thought that intrinsic

motivation and extrinsic reward can work

together toward motivated learning

(Topalov, 2011). In line with this, Deci and

Ryan (2000) have reconsidered their

original theory of self-determination in

order to include extrinsic motivation. This

reviewed theory claims that even

extrinsically motivated behavior can be

self-determined if the process of

internalization (transformation of external

regulations into internal ones) takes place.

Four types of extrinsic regulation can be

identified in relation to the degree of

internalization. The first type is external

regulation, which is connected to those

actions purely motivated by external

rewards or constraints. Therefore, the

actions are fully controlled. The second

type, introjected regulation, is responsible

for those activities which are slightly more

internalized, in the sense that we have

learned how to behave in an expected

way. If not, we feel guilty, which means

that we no longer need an external factor

which would control our behavior.

However, the mechanisms we have

adopted are in conflict with our sense of

self. The next type of regulation, identified

regulation occurs when an individual

identifies a certain value that s/he has

adopted as important. Finally, integrated

regulation is the most self-determined type

because of the complete integration of

adopted values and one’s sense of self

(Brophy, 2004).




2.3. Related work

Noels, Clement, and Pelletier (2001)

measured the intrinsic, extrinsic, and

integrative motivation of French students in

a summer immersion course. The

questionnaire administered to the students

measured their perceptions of autonomy

and competence, learning effort,

determination, and reasons for language

learning with their achievement in the

course. They analyzed the connection

between different types of motivation

(hierarchically ordered from extrinsic

motivation and its subtypes as less self-

determined to intrinsic motivation as the

most determined type) and its expected

antecedents and consequences. The

variables they chose were students’

perception of autonomy and English

competence compared with their

persistence in English studies (their

intention to continue their studies), and

motivation (the effort they exerted for

studying language).

They hypothesized that perceived

autonomy and competence were the

antecedents of motivation and that

persistence in learning, motivation in

learning, and that final grades were the

consequences. In their research, extrinsic

and identified regulations were endorsed to

a larger degree than intrinsic motivation

and introjected regulation. Their findings

suggest that amotivation (lack of any, both

extrinsic and intrinsic, goals for learning

(2001, Noel)) is indicative of lack of effort in

learning English. Greater identified

regulation and intrinsic motivation

correlated with higher intensity and

persistence in learning English. In fact,

both Anglophone and non-English learners

of English showed high levels of identified

and external regulation and low levels of

amotivation. French students of English

reported that they were motivated

extrinsically (due to internal or external

pressures) if the learning environment did

not support their sense of autonomy. On

the other hand, the presence of internal or

external pressures did not predict the

amount of effort a student would put into

the learning process. The results of the

research indicate that the amount of effort

is influenced by the proximity of external

punishment/reward, whereas intrinsic

motivation correlates with higher levels of

learning effort.

Bakar, Sulaiman and Rafaai (2010)

explored motivation of Muslim learners of

Arabic. The purpose of the study was to

see if the 7-factor structure of motivational

orientation, which accounted for the

previous study of Anglo-French learners of

English and French (Noels, 2000), would

be appropriate for Muslim learners of

Arabic as well. They used 45 items related

on a 7-point scale. Items were based on

the subscales which were adopted by

Noels et al. (2000): intrinsic motivation-

knowledge, intrinsic motivation-

accomplishment, intrinsic motivation-




stimulation, extrinsic motivation-external

regulation, extrinsic motivation-introjected

regulation, extrinsic motivation-identified

regulation and amotivation. Specific

religious orientations were also

incorporated into the existing scale.

The results of this study show that a

difference should be made between the

types of motivation, since no correlation

between the subscales was found.

However, the scales that proved to be

important for Muslim learners are not

identical to those found in the previous

study by Noels (2000). Namely, intrinsic

motivation-knowledge, intrinsic motivation-

accomplishment, extrinsic-motivation

identified regulation, amotivation and

religious motivation surfaced as distinctive

orientations. What should be pointed out is

that Religious motivation appeared as a

new dimension as a result of the religious

environment in which the study was carried

out. Since Arabic is the sacred language of

the Muslim religion and Muslim students

have very strong feelings about it, items

which had a religious connotation could no

longer be classified under the initial

subscales, but ensured a special

dimension. Although 5 out of 6 items in this

newly established dimension were initially

part of the Introjected Regulation construct,

students’ religious motives were so

internalized that they surpassed the

intrinsic/extrinsic boundary. All this shows

that social and cultural factors are very

important when it comes to motivation

orientations.

Finally, we would like to mention a

study that comes from another field of

education (Physical Education). The

reason for mentioning it is to show the

distribution and usefulness of Intrinsic

Motivation Inventory (IMI), which we used

in our research. McAuley and Duncan

(1988) claim that IMI is a flexible

assessment tool and that neither inclusion

nor exclusion of one of the factors

negatively affects other dimensions.

Moreover, they state that IMI is a very

useful instrument, because items can be

easily paraphrased in order to adjust to

different types of activities. This allows

researchers to freely moderate the items in

a most convenient way, which suits their

needs and goals. This was the case with

our study as well.

3. Method

3.1. Participants

Two groups of students completed the

questionnaire: the first group consisted of

30 high school students (ages 17 to 18,

average age = 17) and the second group

were 30 third year university students at

the English department of the Faculty of

Philosophy in Novi Sad, Serbia (ages 21-

27, average age = 22). Women comprised

74% of the study’s sample, and men 26%.

Even though the number of female

students is much higher than of male

students, the sample gathered is




representative of the prototypical

classroom setting in which English is

learned as a second language in Serbia.

3.2. Instrument

The instrument consisted of a set of 23

randomly ordered items of a Post-

Experimental Intrinsic Motivation Inventory

test developed by Ryan in 1982. Each item

belonged to one of the following

subcategories of motivation:

Interest/Enjoyment, Effort/Importance,

Perceived Choice, Value/ Usefulness. We

adapted the instrument by completing the

items in the Value/Usefulness category so

that they would fit the purpose of research

which was to examine the students’

general motivation for learning language.

Students were to select a number on a

scale from 1 to 5 which represented the

extent to which a given statement applied

to them.

3.3.1. Interest/Enjoyment. Seven

items of the questionnaire (1, 8, 12, 17, 20,

21 and 23) belonged to this sub-category,

with two negative statements whose score

was reversed. A high mean score for this

item indicates a strong interest (intrinsic

motivation) for learning activities.

3.3.2. Effort/ Importance. Five

items of the questionnaire (2, 7, 11, 13 and

14) belonged to this sub-category, with two

negative statements whose score was

reversed. A high mean score for this item

indicates a high amount of effort and

degree of perceived importance of learning

English.

3.3.3. Perceived Choice. Five

items of the questionnaire (3, 6, 10, 16 and

18) belonged to this sub-category, with

three negative statements whose score

was reversed.

3.3.4. Value/ Usefulness. Six items

of the questionnaire (4, 5, 9, 15, 19 and 22)

belonged to this sub-category. A high

mean score for this item indicates a high

degree of usefulness and perceived value

(extrinsic motivation) of learning English.

3.4. Procedure

The questionnaire was administered to

university students during regular class

hours. The participants were informed that

the data gathered were anonymous and

used for the purpose of research. Only

their age and gender was collected from

personal information. The questionnaires

were filled out at the students’ own pace,

but the average time of completing the

data sampling was approximately 10

minutes.

For the purpose of this paper, we

used descriptive statistics to quantitatively

describe our results. We measured

standard deviation and the mean and

average value for the student’s answers to

different items of the survey and compared

them across the variables of age and

gender. The results reflect the students’

general attitudes toward learning English

and are to be interpreted as broad




generalizations rather than definite

descriptions. However, the sample

selected for this study is representative of

the target group in a real-life situation and

thus the descriptions in the following can

be used to pinpoint some tendencies that

may be a possible course of future

research.

4. Results and Discussion

4.1. Data

Table 1: Responses from all participants

ITEM Student item responses (%)

Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5

1 3.33 6.67 20 28.33 41.67 3.98 1.09

8 15 18.33 33.33 20 13.33 2.98 1.23

12 8.33 13.33 36.67 16.67 25 3.37 1.22

17 15 10 28.33 21.67 25 3.32 1.35

20 11.7 18.33 36.67 16.67 16.67 3.08 1.22

21 18.3 25 31.67 20 5 2.68 1.13

23 13.3 11.67 41.67 15 18.33 3.13 1.23

Total: 3.22 1.21

2 8.33 16.67 23.33 36.67 15 3.33 1.16

7 5 15 28.33 6.667 45 3.72 1.31

11 11.7 10 31.67 21.67 25 3.38 1.28

13 0 6.67 15 35 43.33 4.15 0.91

14 3.33 20 20 23.33 33.33 3.63 1.22

Total: 3.64 1.18

3 5 5 31.67 40 18.33 3.62 1.02

6 6.67 8.33 11.67 13.33 60 4.12 1.28

10 15 21.67 26.67 10 26.67 3.12 1.40

16 0 8.33 13.33 20 58.33 4.28 0.98

18 13.33 8.33 21.67 11.67 45 3.67 1.45

Total: 3.76 1.23




4 0 3.33 5 21.67 70 4.58 0.74

5 0 3.33 3.33 15 78.33 4.68 0.7

9 1.67 1.67 10 31.67 55 4.37 0.86

15 3.33 3.33 15 36.67 41.67 4.1 0.99

19 0 1.67 18.33 28.33 51.67 4.3 0.82

22 0 5 16.67 31.67 46.67 4.2 0.89

Total: 4.37 0.83

In table 1, we present the results of all our participants. At first sight, it is apparent that the

subjects are more extrinsically than intrinsically oriented, since the Value/Usefulness

variable is the highest rated one (4.37). What is interesting is that the highest rated item is

the item 5, which means that the majority of students believe they will have a long-term

reward i.e. learning English will help them while traveling abroad. The variable with the

lowest mean is Interest/Enjoyment (3.22). The only two items which were rated lower than 3

(items 8, 21) belong to this variable, which suggests students do not find activities they do in

their English classes especially fun. However, this does not mean that students are not

intrinsically motivated, since the mean of the both of the remaining two variables exceeds

3.5. It should be pointed out that it is important for students to do well (mean 3.64) and that

they consider learning English to be their own choice to a large extent (3.76).

Table 2: Student responses in relation to age

ITEM

Male and female high school

students

Male and female university

students

MEAN SD MEAN SD

1 3.47 1.18 4.5 0.7

8 2.8 1.28 3.17 1.2

12 3.17 1 3.57 1.4

17 3.03 1.43 3.6 1.2

20 3.03 1.2 3.13 1.2

21 2.57 0.96 2.8 1.3

23 3.07 1.21 3.2 1.2

Total: 3.02 1.18 3.28 1.2

2 2.7 1.04 3.97 0.9




7 3.3 1.29 4.13 1.2

11 2.97 1.28 3.8 1.1

13 3.87 1.02 4.43 0.7

14 3.13 1.15 4.13 1.1

Total: 3.19 1.16 4.09 1

3 3.2 1.05 4.03 0.8

6 3.87 1.23 4.37 1.3

10 2.83 1.27 3.4 1.5

16 3.73 1.09 4.77 0.5

18 2.63 1.28 4.7 0.6

Total: 3.25 1.18 4.25 0.9

4 4.6 0.84 4.57 0.6

5 4.77 0.5 4.6 0.8

9 4.2 0.95 4.53 0.7

15 3.83 1 4.37 0.9

19 4.5 0.72 4.1 0.9

22 4.27 0.89 4.13 0.9

Total: 4.36 0.82 4.38 0.8

What student responses in relation to age (Table 2) show is that there are differences in the

students’ perception of Importance/Effort and Perceived Choice. University students try

harder and it is more important for them to do well in their classes. Moreover, they feel that

learning English is their choice more so than high school students do. This was somewhat

expected due to the fact that the university students participating in the study are

professional learners of English. Having this in mind, it is a bit surprising that one item in the

Perceived Choice variable was rated only 3.4 (item 10), which shows that a certain number

of them feel somewhat obligated to learn English. As far as other two variables are

concerned, the results are virtually the same. It was expected that the results for

Interest/Enjoyment would be more decisively in favor of university students, but this was not

the case.

Table 3: Gender variation in student responses

ITEM Female student responses Male student responses

MEAN SD MEAN SD




1 4.07 1.1 3.75 1.03

8 3.02 1.25 2.88 1.17

12 3.34 1.28 3.44 1.06

17 3.39 1.35 3.13 1.32

20 3.09 1.22 3.06 1.2

21 2.73 1.19 2.56 0.93

23 3.2 1.24 2.94 1.2

Total: 3.26 1.23 3.11 1.13

2 3.39 1.11 3.19 1.29

7 3.75 1.28 3.63 1.36

11 3.39 1.28 3.38 1.27

13 4.23 0.82 3.94 1.09

14 3.68 1.2 3.5 1.27

Total: 3.69 1.14 3.53 1.26

3 3.8 0.87 3.13 1.22

6 4.25 1.25 3.75 1.3

10 3.34 1.4 2.5 1.22

16 4.36 0.93 3.94 1.09

18 3.7 1.53 3.56 1.17

Total: 3.89 1.19 3.38 1.2

4 4.64 0.68 4.44 0.86

5 4.64 0.74 4.81 0.53

9 4.41 0.78 4.25 1.03

15 4.14 0.92 4 1.17

19 4.32 0.82 4.25 0.83

22 4.23 0.88 4.13 0.93

Total: 4.39 0.8 4.31 0.89

When it comes to gender variation (Table 3), we can see that women are more motivated

than man regardless of the variable. However, differences between them are minimal.

Therefore, a separate comparison of female high school and female university students and

male high school and male university students was needed (Table 4). Indeed, this analysis

provided some more relevant data. Namely, female university students are much more

motivated than female high school students according to all the variables except Value /




Usefulness, where the results are the same (mean 4.4). The results of male high school and

university students are more similar.

Female student responses Male student responses

ITEM High school University

ITEM High School University

MEAN SD MEAN SD MEAN SD MEAN SD

1 3.4 1.2 4.6 0.56 1 3.6 1.1 4 0.82 8 2.7 1.27 3.3 1.17 8 3 1.3 2.67 0.94

12 2.9 0.89 3.7 1.43 12 3.7 1 3 1 17 2.8 1.44 3.9 1.05 17 3.5 1.3 2.5 1.12 20 2.9 1.11 3.3 1.27 20 3.4 1.3 2.5 0.76 21 2.6 0.97 2.9 1.33 21 2.6 0.9 2.5 0.96 23 3.1 1.24 3.3 1.21 23 3.1 1.1 2.67 1.25

Total: 2.9 1.16 3.6 1.15 Total: 3.27 1.1 2.83 0.98 2 2.7 1 4 0.84 2 2.7 1.1 4 1.15 7 3.3 1.27 4.1 1.17 7 3.3 1.3 4.17 1.21

11 2.8 1.17 3.9 1.17 11 3.3 1.4 3.5 0.96 13 4 0.95 4.4 0.64 13 3.6 1.1 4.5 0.76 14 3.1 1.12 4.2 1 14 3.3 1.2 3.83 1.34

Total: 3.2 1.1 4.1 0.96 Total: 3.24 1.2 4 1.09 3 3.5 0.92 4.1 0.7 3 2.7 1.1 3.83 1.07 6 4.2 1.06 4.3 1.37 6 3.3 1.3 4.5 0.76

10 2.9 1.18 3.7 1.46 10 2.7 1.4 2.17 0.69 16 3.8 1.08 4.8 0.37 16 3.6 1.1 4.5 0.76 18 2.3 1.19 4.9 0.33 18 3.3 1.2 4 1

Total: 3.3 1.09 4.4 0.85 Total: 3.12 1.2 3.8 0.86 4 4.6 0.8 4.7 0.54 4 4.7 0.9 4 0.58 5 4.8 0.43 4.5 0.91 5 4.8 0.6 4.83 0.37 9 4.2 0.75 4.6 0.76 9 4.2 1.2 4.33 0.47

15 3.9 0.83 4.3 0.94 15 3.7 1.3 4.5 0.76 19 4.5 0.74 4.2 0.87 19 4.6 0.7 3.67 0.75 22 4.4 0.8 4.1 0.91 22 4 1 4.33 0.75

Total: 4.4 0.73 4.4 0.82 Total: 4.33 0.9 4.28 0.61

4.2. Discussion

Relatively low results for the

Interest/Enjoyment variable can have

practical applications for professors and

teachers who could use the results as

impetus to modify the existing curriculum.

In particular, because the majority of

students rated English learning activities as

not fun, efforts should be made to make

learning English an inherently pleasant

process by introducing elements of fun to

the curriculum. However, it is a positive

sign that university student answers

indicate that they feel that learning English

is their choice to a greater degree than

high school students. At the same time, it

is somewhat peculiar that they show a very




high degree of extrinsic motivation. A

possible reason for this could be that they

believe English will form the basis of their

future careers, secure job opportunities,

etc. In fact, one of the highest rated items

of the survey was Item 5, which indicated

that all survey participants judged English

to be useful for traveling abroad.

Even though the distribution of students

across the gender variable is

representative of learning situations in real

life, a possible venue of future research

would be to collect a larger sample of male

student responses in order to get a more

precise picture of the nature and levels of

their motivation.

Paper-and-pencil self-report scales have

become the dominant method in studies of

student motivation. Even though the

structure of the self-report consisting of

numerical scales offers the benefits of

quick administration and inferential

statistical analysis, this method is limited in

focus. Namely, it considers only the

cognitive aspect of motivation and neglects

affect-related factors, possibly due to the

definition of motivation in relation to the

individual’s character (Murphy and

Alexander, 2000). Indeed, the main

criticism of self-report scales is that it treats

motivation as a stable trait because there

are some lines of research that hold that

motivation is a fluid concept that changes

across situations (Hidi et al, 1992). A more

general criticism of self-report

methodologies is that it is based on the

assumption that students have conscious

mental access to motivation, and Hannula

showed that an individual has only partial

access to motivation (2006). A criticism

more specifically related to this research

paper is that it is difficult to use the same

self-report scale to measure motivation

across different age groups due to

developmental changes in students’ self-

concept and motivation. A longitudinal

study of self-motivation may address these

limitations.

The Intrinsic Motivation Inventory imposes

certain limitations, as well. It contains items

such as “I believe/think/… that learning is

important”, which measure values rather

than intentional commitment of the

students. Elliot and Murayama noted that

these items contain complex constructs

whose analysis goes beyond the scope of

the survey method (2008). Another

problem with these items is that different

elements of them are subject to the

individual’s interpretation (Fulmer and

Frijters, 2009). In addition, they observed

that self-reports usually merge the goals of

an activity with the reasons for performing

an activity, even though different students

may pursue the same goal for a different

reason. Furthermore, different researchers

use dissimilar subscales on self-reports to

analyze same domains, and consequently,

there are scales that appear to be

equivalent but measure different domains,




as well. For example, for assessing

students’ general motivation, Gottfried

examined students’ curiosity, persistence,

and desire to master challenging tasks

(1986), and Harter assessed their

preference for challenge, independent

judgment, and other (1981).

Because there are no tests that have

proven validity and robust measures,

researchers tend to use non-published and

modified self-report scales for assessing

motivation. This causes another issue;

namely, some researchers give a new

name to a previously existing concept,

which adds to terminological confusion and

decreases construct validity of self-report

scales. This is particularly true for the

concepts of self-concept, self-esteem, and

self-efficacy. A very specific criticism of the

numerical scale is that students’ select the

middle value or the neutral response for

various reasons such as indecision,

disapproval, rebellion, and these may not

be related to the construct the item is

testing (Fulmer and Frijters, 2009). To

summarize, the self-report scale method

may be improved by combining it with

alternative methods (some of which are

outlined in Fulmer and Frijters, 2009), but

these are often time-consuming and

significantly reduce the objectivity of the

results.

5. Conclusion

The results of this research show that there

are generally low levels of intrinsic

motivation present among high school and

university students. The results of this

study should be used as indications of

possible tendencies to be researched in

the future and not as exhaustive data. It

was expected that the results for

Interest/Enjoyment would be more

decisively in favor of university students,

but this was not the case. The differences

in motivation are minimal in relation to

gender, even though female students show

an increase of intrinsic motivation across

the age variable.




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illustration, and application. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100, 613–628.

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the measurement of student motivation. Educational Psychology Review, 21/3, 219-246.

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*****

Nina Ilić was born in Novi Sad in 1991. She graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad

with a degree in English language and literature in June 2014. She applied for master studies at the

same college in October 2014. She is interested in teaching, theoretical and applied linguistics.

Aleksandra Oletić was born in Novi Sad in 1991. She earned her BA in English Language and

Literature at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad. She enrolled in the Master’s Programme in

Applied Linguistics at Stockholm University in Sweden, where she is pursuing her degree with a focus

on interlanguage development, second language acquisition and inter-cultural pragmatics.




Mediation in Peer Interaction among

Chinese EFL Learners

by Pramod Kumar Sah, Tribhuvan University, Nepal

Abstract It is widely accepted that classroom interaction, either between peers and a teacher or among learners facilitates students’ language learning. An individual learner can benefit from his/her peer(s) who are at higher level of competence through interaction. The most common proposition of the role of peer interaction is the mediation of understanding that helps them develop language competence by noticing the gap. This study examines the strategies adopted by the Chinese undergraduate level learners while mediating the understanding. The data has been generated from peer interaction while doing language classroom activities. In the interaction, the participants attempt to mediate the understanding about the language introduced to them and the activity they were asked to do. The study reveals that Chinese learners of English basically use repetition, first language, elaboration, paralinguistic signs, and contextual and real life instances in order to mediate their understanding. Key words: classroom interaction, Mediation of understanding, ZPD, paralinguistic signs Apstrakt Široko je prihvaćena činjenica da interakcija u učionici, bilo između vršnjaka ili nastavnika i učenika, olakšava učenje jezika. Učenik kao pojedinac može kroz interakciju imati koristi od svog vršnjaka koji poseduje viši nivo jezičkih kompetencija. Najčešća teza o ulozi vršnjačke interakcije je posredovanje u razumevanju koje im pomaže da razviju jezičke kompetencije primećujući leksičke praznine. Ova studija ispituje strategije koje su usvojili kineski preddiplomski učenici dok su posredovali u razumevanju. Podaci su generisani iz vršnjačke interakcije, tokom jezičkih aktivnosti u učionici. U interakciji, učesnici pokušavaju posredovati u razmevanju jezika kome su izloženi i zadatim aktivnostima. Istraživanje otkriva da kineski studenti engleskog jezika u osnovi koriste ponavljanje, maternji jezik, elaboraciju, paralingvističke znakove i kontekstualne i životne primere kako bi pospešili razumevanje. Ključne reči: interakcija u učionici, medijacija razumevanja, ZPD, paralingvistički znaci

1. Introduction

It has been largely evidenced that it is not

always the teachers to mediate the

understanding among the learners. There are

plenty of spaces where the learners can learn

from other peers. However, the peer who

mediates is believed to have higher level of

competence in language. The mediator uses

different techniques in order to mediate the

understanding. The techniques they use might

differ according to contexts. To be specific, this

study attempts to discover the techniques

Chinese EFL learners use in particular.

2. Defining Mediation

Mediation largely refers to the use of auxiliary

objects or tools to execute an activity efficiently.




It is the creation and use of artificial auxiliary

means of acting physically, socially and

mentally (Lantolf, 2009). These auxiliary

resources are used to do our tasks with ease.

Such auxiliary tools, in the physical world,

include hammers, shovels, dynamites,

bulldozers, etc. These tools greatly enhance

human capacity to perform tasks with ease and

less effort. In particular, we use shovels to dig

the ground that makes our job easier than

digging with our hand. Here, shovels function

as mediators to perform tasks efficiently.

Identically, such auxiliary tools are also used in

social and physical worlds, in which the tools

such as numbers, graphs, models, drawings

and linguistic symbols are used for efficient

performance. In addition, in communication we

broadly use linguistic symbols while interacting

with other interlocutors (Lantolf and Throne,

2006, Karpov & Hayward, 1998). In this regard,

language is one of the most important symbolic

systems for the mediation of human mental

activity (Lantolf, 2009).

3. Theoretical Orientation

The development of mediation is the core

feature of the socio cultural theory (SCT) of

Vygotsky (1986). The basic principle of SCT is

that all types of human cognitive and emotional

activities that refer to learning a language are

mediated by psychological tools such as

language, signs and symbols (Karpov and

Hayward, 1998). To put it other way, when a

person interacts with other interlocutors and

artefacts, his/her behaviour is mediated by

sign/ symbol system (Swain et al., 2011) and

(Van Lier, 2000).

Following Oheta (2000), SCT believes that

language learners are not only as processers of

input or producers of output, they are rather

speakers or hearers involved in developmental

processes which are realized in interaction .The

rate of mental activity goes higher in humans in

interactions when they enter into with other

members (Lantolf, 2009 and Donato &

McCormick, 1994). Watanbe (2008) seems to

believe the Vygotsky’s (1978) principle that

learning comes from social mediation as he

also states that knowledge and cognition are

built through social interaction. Vygotsky’s SCT

of mind points out that concept appears

through dynamic interaction by shaping and

transforming each other in an interconnected

system. Consequently, language development

is intrinsically a social process (Apple and

Lantolf, 1994). Learning a language supports

cognitive development in a human being since

it mediates interaction between two humans,

one with comparative more knowledge to

support another person (Vygotsky, 1986).

The next view of SCT believes that language

development takes place in the context of

collaborative activities (Vygotsky, 1978). Van

Lier (1996, p.171) supports the thesis as “in

order to learn, a person must be active”.

Language development does not continue as

an unfolding of inborn capacities, rather it is the

transformation of innate capacities as they are

linked to socio culturally constructed

meditational tools (Lantolf and Pavlenko, 1995).

Mediation can be of different types but useful

mediation must be linked to learners’ zone of

proximal development (ZPD) (Lantolf, 2009).

ZPD refers to the gap between the real

developmental level and the potential

developmental level that a learner can achieve




with support from others with higher level in

course of interaction (Vygotsky, 1978). This

shows that a mediator needs to know what an

individual can acquire with support or additional

mediation. The ZPD is related to the different

characteristics that a learner possesses and

the actual activities the learner undertakes; as

a consequence, what is unachievable alone

becomes achievable (Lantolf, 2009).

4. Peer interaction

Peer interaction is a broadly used technique in

a language teaching and learning that

promotes learning by mediating it. It is only

myth to say learning does not take place in the

absence of experts. Lantolf (2009) advocates

that learning does not always emerge from

expert, it can even occur in the absence of

experts. Dialogues or interaction among

learners can be as effective as the instructional

conversations between learners and experts

(Swain, 1995). In this regard, Lantolf (2009)

claims that learners can scaffold each other

more efficiently by using interactive strategies

that are sensitive to their ZPD.

Stressing on the learning originated through

peer interaction, Olmendo (2003) argues that a

group member in a peer interaction (as a

mediator) can judge the understanding of other

peers and facilitates comprehension. They

produce scaffolding to other peers to enhance

communication and understanding. A language

learner can make the most of the affordances

(Van Lier, 2000) or occasions for learning

(Swain & Lapkin, 1998) that are often made

available by the peers in the interaction.

Olmedo (2003) suggests the following steps for

the participation in the language mediation role

in peer interactions.

a. The mediator must have clue for

the communicative intention of

his/her peer’s speech.

b. The mediator should be able to

monitor the behaviour of the peers

to ensure that they have got the

message.

c. The mediator must opt for a

strategy that ensures real

understanding of the message

conveyed.

d. The mediator should address the

peers that strategy.

5. Related Research

A large amount of research has been

conducted on classroom interaction, most of

which is on a group and pair work. These

studies usually focus on the linguistic

interactions that occur between the participants

of the same group (Long, 1983). Almost all the

studies have evidenced their findings in

reference to Vygotsky’s (1986) theory of

cognitive development that basically refers to

the knowledge constructed through interactions

between individuals within society. The findings

of some research have outlined the general

strategies that the learners use in mediation

while interacting with others.




Olmedo (2003) based his research to

investigate the strategies adopted by learners

to mediate understanding in English. The study

showed that the learners use different types of

strategies to mediate understanding such as,

translation, paraphrasing, code-switching,

scaffolding by providing verbal cues,

paralinguistic cues, modelling the behaviour,

providing situational cues and interpreting

contextual and situational cues.

With regard to peer’s assistance in learning a

language, Watanbe (2008), in a research on

peer interaction, evidenced that both the higher

and the lower proficiency peers could provide

opportunities for learning when they work

collaboratively. Identically, Storch (2002)

researched four different patterns of interaction

in pair works that include: collaborative,

expert/novice, dominant/dominant and expert/

passive. The findings of the study showed that

language learning takes place more effectively

in pairs when the activity is done collaboratively

or if the interaction is organized between an

expert and novice. Similarly, Swain (2000), in

his study on collaborative dialogue (the

dialogue in which all the learners take active

role and engage with each other’s ideas),

suggested that when learners involve in

collaborative dialogues, they complete a task

and construct their knowledge. Moreover,

Donato’s (1994) research also demonstrated

that the university level students can

collectively build scaffolding for each other’s

performance in a collaborative interaction.

Correspondingly, Gibbons (2003) focused on

the ways how the teachers tend to mediate

between the students’ present linguistic level in

English and their understanding of the content

of the subject through interaction with students.

His findings showed that teachers can mediate

language learning in a number of ways such as

mode shifting through recasting, signifying the

need for reformulation, signalling to learners’

ways to formulate and recontextualising

individual knowledge.

In particular to Chinese context, Gao’s (2010,

p.69) data supports the argument that “the

participants experience of learning English and

strategy use were mediated by their interaction

with peers, although their learning of English

was largely done in isolation”. Cheng (2000) as

cited in Gao (2010) also finds that in learning

process, Chinese students participate in

interaction with other English language learners

at schools and universities in light of the strong

culture for mutual collaboration among other

Chinese learners.

6. Methodology

6.1. Objectives of the study

The purpose of this study is to investigate the

strategies Chinese learners of English adopt to

mediate understanding while taking part in peer

interactions.

6.2. Subjects

The subjects of the study were Chinese

learners of English who were undertaking

undergraduate course in International Business

Communication at the Shanghai University of

International Business and Economics,

Shanghai, China. The study was conducted

while those students were taking a short EAP

course. Three different groups were formed

comprising of lower and higher level learners




and their interactions were observed while they

were doing the tasks.

6.3. Method

This research is largely based on the primary

source of data that was elicited from classroom

activities while the participants were attending a

short EAP course. As already stated, three

specific groups were formed that included both

lower and higher level of learners. While they

were asked to do classroom activities, primarily

grammar based exercises, the interaction

between lower and higher level learners was

observed without giving any clue to them of

being observed. The learners were not

informed that they were being observed

because they might have acted differently. In

other words, Mackey and Gass (2005, p. 187)

call this limitation as “The Hawthorne Effect”

when the participants act differently upon their

knowledge of being observed. This is one of

the reasons that the researcher did not opt for

recording the interaction, and other being the

case that observation is a good tool for

gathering in-depth information about activates,

interactions, instructions that occur in

classroom (Mackey and Gass, 2005). The

teacher being the researcher observed the

strategies used by the higher level learner while

mediating comprehension to the lower level

learners. However, it does not seem to be

possible to take over the lesson and keep

everything noticed in the memory

simultaneously. So, the researcher maintained

journal writing for four different lessons to draw

valid conclusion.

6.4. Analysis

This section accounts for the classroom

interaction of the students in which they tend to

mediate their understanding in various ways.

Based on the researcher’s journals, he

attempts to analyse the language used by the

students in order figure out the strategies that

the students used while mediating their

understanding. The following are different

interactions of the students.

Task 1

(Talk to your partner. What was the last plan

you cancelled? Why did you cancel it? When

was the last time you did something even

though you didn’t feel like it?)

Mediation 1

Li: What is ‘cancel’?

Lao: Means ....(.......) (Chinese word).

Li: Ok. Um....what I should write?

Lao: Ok...suppose. You had decided to go on

shopping and.... it was raining....... but

you didn’t cancel your plan.

Li: Ok...I understood.

Mediation 2

Yang: Chen ...which language to use?

Chen: Teacher told.....um....language of

contrast.

Yang: Con-?

Chen: Contrast. (Modified pronunciation)

Wang: How?

Chen: We can use ‘despite’.

Wang: Oh..like he said.




In the excerpts above, it can be noticed that all

the participants work collaboratively to

comprehend the task, so it is a collaborative

dialogue (Swain, 2000). In mediation 1, Loa

has higher level of competence, and so does

he try to mediate understanding to Li. At the

beginning, the first technique Lao used is

Chinese language (participants’ first language)

to make Li understand the meaning of the word

‘cancel’. At the same time, Li asked for clues to

write the answer. Lao attempts to explain the

task by giving a real life and contextual

example.

Correspondingly, in mediation 2, Chen being

better known than others mediates

comprehension. It can be seen that when Yang

is unable to understand the pronunciation,

Chen pronounces the word ‘contrast’. Chen

tends to repeat the word with modified

pronunciation to mediate understanding and it

works.

As a result, it can be analyzed that Chinese

learners of English use the techniques such as

first language, repetition, modified

pronunciation, and real and contextual

examples to mediate understanding.

Task 2

(The students were given a set of corpus data

to work on in order to find the pattern and use

of the discourse marker ‘despite’. They had to

find out the patters that follow and precede

‘despite’, and to construct sentences based on

the patterns.)

Mediation 3:

Kong: What he mean to say follow and proceed

despite?

Peng: Ok....um..look at sentence. Which word

is before despite?

Kong: Um..use

Zhai: So, this is follow despite?

Peng: Yes, you’re right.

Kong: Ok...a recall is follow?

Peng: Yeah.

Mediation 4:

Peng: Have you noticed? ....There is doing

word after despite!

Kong: Yeah, you mean ‘riding’ in sentence 2?

Peng: Yes.

Zai: Then, what is the meaning?

Peng: This is showing contrast.

Zai: What is contrast?

Peng: Um..means .. in contrast to

something....opposite idea.

Kong: I didn’t understand.

Peng: (..........) (uses Chinese language)

Zai: Oh, I got it.

Having a look at the mediation 3, Kong does

not know the meaning of follow and precede in

the task. In this concern, Peng tries to mediate

the meaning through elaborating the concept

by getting their peers to raise their

consciousness at the same time. As a result of

peer interaction, both Kong and Zhai seem to

have understood the meaning. This indicates

that their peer is able to offer them opportunity

for learning (Wantabe, 2008 & Stroch, 2002).

Next, in mediation 4, Kong asks Peng to tell her

the meaning of the term ‘contrast’. Initially,

Peng tries to mediate meaning by defining the




term but Kong does not seem to understand

the meaning. Then, he explains the concept in

Chinese language. This reveals the fact that

the mediator feels easy to translate into their L1

after s/he fails to mediate through other

techniques. However, using L1 is only possible

in monolingual classrooms.

Despite they produce grammatically incorrect

utterances, they are able to communicate with

ease and the mediator is able to mediate the

comprehension among his/her peers using

techniques such as repetition, first language,

elaboration, paralinguistic signs, and contextual

and real life instances in order to mediate their

understanding.

7. Conclusion

The analysis based on the interaction that

occurred among the Chinese peers in the class

specifies that they use different strategies to

mediate comprehension (Olmendo, 2003). The

key strategies the Chinese EFL learners use

include: repetition, first language, elaboration,

paralinguistic signs, and contextual and real life

instances in order to mediate their

understanding

The results can be interpreted in terms of

Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development.

These techniques, using language as a

cognitive tool to make and shape meaning

(Swain,2006), have helped the participants

mediate their understanding. The researcher

noticed that the participants involved in task

collaboratively and co-constructed the

understanding, which is also evidenced by the

interaction patterns. The knowledge was

subsequently appropriated and internalized by

the members of the group through mediation.

The mediators were able to provide support to

their peers during the interaction (Donato, 1994

and Webb, 1989) and to facilitate the

understanding to their peers (Olmendo, 2003

and Webb, 1989). To put it other way, they

were capable of scaffolding each other quite

efficiently using different strategies and learning

occurred through those strategies (Lantolf,

2009). More significantly, from a pedagogical

perspective, the finding of this study might also

suggest that learning seems to take place when

students get the opportunity to work

collaboratively and a learning strategy that an

individual develops while working in group may

assist their future learning.




References:

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Language Journal, 78(1994): 437-452.

Brooks, L. et al.. Mediating between scientific and spontaneous concepts through

languaging. Language Awareness,19 (2010): 9-110.

Donato, R. Collective scaffolding in second language learning.Vygotskian approaches to second

language research, (1994): 33456.

Donato, R. and McCormick, D. A sociocultural perspective on language learning strategies: The role

of mediation. The Modern Language Journal, 78 (1994): 453-464.

Gao, X. Strategic language learning: the role of agency and context. Bristol: Multilingual Matters,

(2010).

Gibbons, P. Mediating language learning: Teacher interactions with ESL students in a content based

classroom. Tesol Quarterly, 37(2003): 247-273.

Karpov, Y. V. and Haywood, H. C. Two ways to elaborate Vygotsky's concept of mediation. American

Psychologist, 53 (1998): 27.

Lantolf, J. P. Sociocultural theory and L2: State of the art. Studies in second language

acquisition, 28(2006): 67-109.

Lantolf, J. P. Second language learning as a mediated process. Language teaching, 33(2009): 79-96.

Lantolf, J.P. The sociocultural approach to second language acquisition. In Dwight, A. (Ed) Alternative

approaches to second language acquisition. London, New York: Routledge,2011.

Lantolf, J. P., & Pavlenko, A. Sociocultural theory and second language acquisition. Annual Review of

Applied Linguistics, 15(1995): 108-124.

Long, M. H. Native speaker/non-native speaker conversation and the negotiation of comprehensible

input. Applied Linguistics, 4(1983): 126–141.

Mackey, A. and Gass, S. Second language research: methodology and design. London: Lawrence

Erlbaum Associates Publishers,2005.

Ohta, A.S. Rethinking interaction in SLA: Developmentally appropriate assistance in the zone of

proximal development and the acquisition of L2 grammar. In J.P. Lantolf (Ed.), Sociocultural

theory and second language learning (pp. 51–78). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Olmedo, I.M. Language mediation among emergent bilingual children. Linguistics and education, 14

(2003): 143-162

Storch, N. Patterns of interaction in ESL pair work. Language learning,52 (2002): 119-158.




Swain, M. Three functions of output in second language learning. In G. Cook & B. Seidlhofer (eds.),

Principle & practice in applied linguistics. Studies in Honour of H. G.Widdowson, Oxford:

Oxford University Press, 1995: 125-44.

Swain, M. The output hypothesis and beyond: Mediating acquisition through collaborative

dialogue. Sociocultural theory and second language learning, 97,(2000). 114.

Swain, M., & Lapkin, S. Interaction and second language learning: Two adolescent French immersion

students working together. The Modern Language Journal, 82 (1998): 320-337.

Swain, M, et al. Languaging: University students learn the grammatical concept of voice in

French. The Modern Language Journal, 93 (2009): 5-29.

Van Lier, L. Interaction in the language curriculum: Awareness, autonomy and authenticity. London:

Longman, 1996.

Van Lier, L. From input to affordance: Social-interactive learning from an ecological

perspective. Sociocultural theory and second language learning, (2000): 245- 259.

Vygotsky, L.S. Mind in society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1978.

Vygotsky, L. Thought and language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1986.

Watanabe, Y. Peer–peer interaction between L2 learners of different proficiency levels: Their

interactions and reflections. Canadian Modern Language Review/La Revue canadienne des

langues vivantes, 64 (2008):605-635.

Webb, N. M. Peer interaction and learning in small groups. International journal of Educational

research, 13 (1989):21-39.

*****

Pramod Kumar Sah is a Non-native EFL teacher from Nepal. He earned a Master’s Degree in

Education, specialization in English Language from Tribhuvan University, Nepal, and a Master of Arts

Degree in TESOL with Applied Linguistics from the University of Central Lancashire, UK. He began

his career as a school level EFL teacher and later worked as a Lecturer for an affiliated college of

Tribhuvan University, Nepal. In addition, he worked as TV presenter in Nepal. After his mover to the

UK, he was invited as a guest lecturer in a Chinese university and later worked as part-time

teacher at the University of Central Lancashire.He is particularly interested in corpus-driven

language learning and has investigated into the effectiveness of Data-driven learning (DDL). He has

authored a couple of books namely ‘Academic Writing’ and ‘English for Mass Communication’, and

has presented and published papers at national and international level.




Teaching Collocations in a Second

Language: Why, What and How?

by Zorana Vasiljevic, Bunkyo University, Japan

Abstract Although there is little doubt that collocation knowledge is crucial for fluent language use, collocations often do not receive sufficient attention, either inside or outside the language classroom. While more recent EFL textbooks include some collocation work, this work is rarely systematic and the associated activities are often too few. Due to curriculum constraints and time pressure, teachers are frequently not in a position to create supplementary collocation study materials, and as collocations usually do not pose comprehension problems, they may opt not to attend to them at all. Furthermore, collocations may present a challenge for instructors. While they may have a good command of grammatical patterns and a large receptive vocabulary, they may lack confidence when it comes to selection of syntagmatic phrases or advising students about acceptable word combinations in the target language. Learners, for their part, are often not even aware of the significance of collocation knowledge. They tend to identify vocabulary learning with an expansion of vocabulary size, and they perceive knowledge of difficult or specialized words as an indicator of language progress. As a result, they often focus on memorising long, decontextualized word lists, and they seldom pay attention to how these words are actually used. This paper will review some major findings that have emerged from collocation studies in corpus and applied linguistics, and it will offer some suggestions for possible applications of these findings in the language classroom. Special attention will be given to the criteria for the selection of target collocations, and the activities that may help bridge the gap between the learners’ receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge. Finally, some ideas about how student autonomy in collocation learning could be fostered will be shared. Key words: collocation teaching activities and tests, online corpora, learner autonomy Apstrakt Premda kljucne za tecnu upotrebu jezika, kolokacijama se ne poklanja dovolno paznje ni u ucionici ni izvan nje. Iako noviji udzbenici za ucenje engleskog ukljucuju neke aktivnosti za vezbu kolokacija, one su nesistematicne i nedovoljne. Zbog programskih obaveza i nedostatka vremena, profesori cesto nisu u mogucnosti da pripreme dodatne materijale, i kako poznavanje kolokacija obicno nije kljucno za razumevanje teksta, one su ponekad i potpuno eliminisane iz programa. Dodatni razlog za njihovu eliminaciju je i to sto kolokacije cesto predstavljaju teskoce i za same profesore.Uprkos dobrom vladanja gramatikom i poznavanja velikog broja reci, nije neobicno da i profesori imaju nedoumica kad je u pitanju izbor sintagmatskih izraza ili upucivanje studenata ka pravom izboru reci na stranom jeziku. Studenti, sa druge strane, cesto nisu ni svesni koliko je poznavanje kolokacija vazno. Oni poistovecuju ucenje vokabulara sa povecanjem broja reci i veruju da je poznavanje teskih reci ili specijalizovanih izraza dokaz njihovog napretka.Rezultat je njihovo koncentrisanje na memorizaciju dugih, nekontekstualizovanih lista reci i nedovoljno paznje posvecene njihovoj upotrebi.




Ovaj clanak sumira neka od vaznijih saznanja iz studija kolokacija u okviru korpusne I primenjene lingvistike, i upucuje na nacine na koje bi se ona mogla primeniti u jezickim institucijama. Posebna paznja je posvecena kriterijumima za selekciju kolokacija za direktnu nastavu i aktivnostima kojima bi se mogao smanjiti procep izmedju pasivnog i aktivnog vokabulara. Clanak takodje izlaze ideje za podsticanje studentske autonomije u ucenju kolokacija. Ključne reči: poducavanje i testiranje kolokacija, elektronski korpus, autonomija studenata

1. Introduction: The notion of

collocations

One feature common to natural languages

is that words tend to occur together with a

restricted set of other words. These

frequently co-occurring word strings are

known as collocations. A collocation is a

phrase which consists of the focus item

known as the node or the base, a co-

occurring word or the collocate, and the

span, which is an environment in which

the node and the collocate co-occur. The

relationships between the phrase

constituents within a span are by no

means uniform and clear-cut, and a wide

range of classification schemes have been

developed. Handl (2009) identifies three

dimensions along which collocations can

be classified:1) semantic, 2) lexical and 3)

statistical. On a semantic level,

collocations differ in their level of

transparency. As can be seen from the

examples below, while the meanings of

some phrases are transparent and

matches that of the component words,

other phrases are highly idiomatic.

Table 1. Examples of collocations of different levels of transparency (based on Reveir, 2009)

Transparent Semi-transparent Non-transparent

Example 1:

Example 2

make tea

take the money

make a complaint

take a course

make the grade

take sides

Some researchers (e.g. Reveir, 2009)

argue that semantic transparency affects

how the collocations are processed.

According to Reveir (2009), transparent

collocations tend to be processed

compositionally (i.e. as separate items),

and their use is linked to general lexical

and grammatical knowledge. However, the

use of semi-transparent and non-

transparent collocation requires the

phrases to be stored and accessed as

holistic units.

On the lexical level, collocations differ with

regard to the number of words that

particular phrase components tend to

collocate with. While some words have a

large number of syntagmatic associations,

others have a highly restricted use (e.g. a

slice of bacon vs. a rasher of bacon).

On the statistical level, collocations can be

analyzed with regard to their combined

frequency as well as the frequency of the




phrase constituents. The ratio between the

two frequencies reveals the strength of the

collocation and the direction of the

attraction between the phrase

constituents.

Collocations also differ in terms of the

level of substitutability of their combinatory

elements (Howarth, 1998a). While some

phrases are characterized by a relatively

high level of commutability of the

constituent words, others tend to be more

restricted, as can be seen from the

following examples: blow a trumpet (free

combination), blow a fuse (restricted

collocation), blow your own trumpet

(figurative idiom), blow the gaff (pure

idiom) (Howarth, 1998b)

As can be seen from the examples above,

the concept of collocation covers a large

number of multiword chunks of different

compositional structure, associative

strength and semantic transparency.

2. WHY should collocations be taught?

One of the most important tasks that

language learners face is acquiring an

extensive vocabulary. Collocation

knowledge is one of the most important

properties of lexical competence.

Language is phrasal in its nature, and

collocations represent building blocks of

spoken and written discourse (Wray,

2002). They facilitate communication by

reducing the processing load of both

speakers and hearers alike (Halliday,

1966).Native speakers notice, process

and store formulaic word sequences as a

whole, and that allows them to take

advantage of language idiomaticity during

language comprehension and gives them

fluency during language production

(Pawley & Syder, 1983; Wray 2002).

Collocations are also important because

they define the meaning of individual

words and phrases or, as Firth (1957:179)

famously put it, “You shall know a word by

the company it keeps.” In other words, the

sense of a lexical item and its functional

value are defined through its use and

through the relationships it forms with

other words in a specific situational

context (e.g. run a marathon vs. run a

shop vs. run a risk).

However, while collocation knowledge is

an essential component of communicative

competence, collocations also pose one of

the biggest challenges for second

language learners even at very advanced

stages of language proficiency (Arnaud &

Savignon, 1997; Barfield, 2009; Howarth,

1998a, 1998b).

There are several reasons why collocation

development is a slow and difficult

process. One problem is that collocational

restrictions are not imposed by the

semantic compatibility of the phrase




constituents but by the norms of language

use. Knowledge of collocations is not the

same as the knowledge of the phrase

component parts. Even advanced learners

may experience difficulty in using common

delexical verbs such as ‘make’ and ‘take’,

although they are familiar with their

meaning (Nesselhauf, 2003).

Another problem is that learners often do

not recognize the importance of

collocation knowledge (Jiang, 2009;

Laufer 2005; Peters 2007).One reason for

this may be the fact that collocations tend

to pose little difficulty in language

comprehension. Learners often

underestimate the difference between

receptive and productive vocabulary

knowledge, and they assume that if they

understand the words, they will be able to

use them as well. As a result, many

students tend to identify vocabulary

learning with the acquisition of new words,

and they fail to pay sufficient attention to

collocational relationships in the input.

Insufficient attention given to word

combinations during class instruction and

limited coverage of syntagmatic phrases in

the reference books are also some

reasons why L2 collocations are difficult to

acquire. Due to curricular constraints and

time pressure, many teachers find it

difficult to integrate collocation instruction

in regular classes. For example, Jiang

(2009) found that about two-thirds of 75

Chinese students she surveyed had never

done any collocation-focused vocabulary

practice. Similarly, due to limitations of

space, lexicographers cannot include

extended collocational information in

learner dictionaries, despite the great

progress that has been made in corpus

studies in recent years.

Lack of awareness combined with a lack

of attention to collocational phrases may

significantly impede learners’ progress.

The inability to recognize collocations

means that learners cannot take

advantage of the lexical priming in the

natural discourse. Words that they

encounter in the text do not generate any

expectations for them, which significantly

increases the pressure on their working

memory and slows down their processing

of the input (Siyanova & Schmitt, 2008).

Lack of collocation competence also

causes problems during language

production. Languages differ in the range

of acceptable combinatory choices of

phrase constituents. For example,

according to the Oxford Collocations

Dictionary for Students of English (2002),

some common verb collocates of the noun

decision are make, take, arrive at, come to

and reach. In Japanese, however,

‘decision’ collocates with ‘do’ (kettsui

/kesshin/kettei + suru). Spanish allows

take but not do or make (tomar decisión),




while in Serbian decision collocates with

bring (doneti odluku). Due to the lack of

awareness and L1 interference, learners’

attempts to “re-assemble” individual items

often result in erroneous, unnatural or

oversimplified output (Lewis, 2000;

Schmitt, 2004; Singleton, 1999; Wray,

2002; Yang & Hendricks, 2004).

The findings above suggest that if learners

are to benefit from the reduced processing

load, fluency and idiomaticity that

collocation knowledge offers, they must

learn to approach L2 vocabulary as a

network. This means that instruction

should aim at helping students learn to

process, store and retrieve word strings

holistically, in chunks, rather than

assembling them at the production stage.

For this purpose, it is necessary to have a

systematic and comprehensive analysis of

common word combinations in native

speakers’ corpora, and develop effective

teaching strategies that would make these

combinations more accessible to language

learners. The next section will examine the

problem of the selection of collocations for

targeted teaching.

3. WHAT should be taught?

The sheer number of collocations and

their pervasiveness in natural language

pose challenges in terms of setting the

learning goals and in terms of choosing

the learning priorities. The Oxford

Collocations Dictionary for Students of

English (2002) includes about 150,000

collocations, and that list is far from being

exhaustive. In the limited class time

available, teachers have to be highly

selective with regard to the phrases that

will become the focus of class instruction.

One common criterion for collocation

selection is their frequency of occurrence

in the corpus. Developments in computer

technology have enabled the analysis of

very large language corpora making it

possible for researchers to obtain

comprehensive data on the frequency of a

particular word combination in the natural

language. There are a number of online

corpora available to language teachers

and researchers. Some of the biggest

ones are the 100 million-word British

National Corpus (BNC) and the 450

million-word Corpus of Contemporary

American English (COCA). Both corpora

include a large collection of samples of

written and spoken language from a wide

range of sources. The corpora websites

offer a number of useful features such as

search by word or phrase, by lemma, or

by a part of speech, and they enable the

users to perform an analysis of word

frequencies, collocates, and distribution of

synonyms in different types of texts, as

well as indifferent time periods. These

corpora have served as a basis for a large

number of research publications

throughout the world, and have permitted




the development of authentic teaching

materials and resources.

The COCA corpus

(http://corpus.byu.edu/coca), from which

the examples in this paper are taken, is

balanced between five different text types:

spoken, fiction, magazine, newspaper and

academic, allowing a comparison of word

frequencies and use in different contexts.

There are four basic search functions: 1)

LIST which shows a list of words or word

combinations ranked according to their

frequency; 2) CHART which allows a

comparison of frequencies in different

genres or time periods; 3) KWIC (Key

Word in Context) which displays search

words in context with colour-coding for

different parts of speech, and 4) the

COMPARE option which allows a

comparison of two words according to

their general frequency or with their

specific collocates. A variety of search

options available to researchers goes

beyond the scope of this paper, but for

readers who are interested in learning

more, the three COCA tutorials shared

online by Professor David Brown

(http://www.thegrammarlab.com/?page_id

=15) present an excellent general

introduction into how corpora could be

used for research purposes. As the

research interfaces are similar, the

tutorials will also come in useful in the

search of other corpora.

This paper will now examine more closely

how corpora like COCA could be used to

facilitate the development of the

collocation knowledge of second language

learners. COCA contains the largest and

one of the most accurate lists of

collocations currently available, with about

4.3 million node/ collocate pairs extracted

from a 450 million-word corpus.

Collocation data can be of use in various

strands of linguistic research such as the

analysis of syntactic patterns, pragmatics,

semantic prosody, and sociolinguistic and

discourse analysis. One way to search

collocations in COCA is to type in the

target word in the search field followed by

a tag for the specific part of speech. For

example, in order to search for which

prepositions can follow the adjective

similar they should type in the following

search string: similar [i*], where [i*] stands

for “all prepositions”.

http://www.thegrammarlab.com/?page_id=15

http://www.thegrammarlab.com/?page_id=15




Figure 1. Searching collocations in COCA using the basic search field

The results show the most frequent collocates of ‘similar’ and their frequency of occurrence.

Figure 2. Most common prepositions that collocate with similar and their corpus frequencies

A click on the particular collocation provides concordance data, that is, the keywords

displayed in context. Concordance data includes information about the year in which when

the phrase was used, the text-type and the sub-genre from which the phrase was extracted.

Figure 3. A sample of concordances similar to




This analysis can be extended by using the KWIC option, which displays search words in

context using a colour code for different parts of speech.

Another way to search collocations in COCA is by entering a word string in the search field

(e.g. similar to) and then use the COLLOCATES function to take advantage of additional

search options. The COLLOCATES function, for instance, makes it possible to set the

collocation range. For research purposes, the span is conventionally set at + 4, that is four

orthographic words to the left or to the right of the node, as this is a distance at which 95% of

collocational influences have been found to occur (Jones & Sinclair, 1974). This span,

however, can be modified depending on the research question that we are trying to answer.

Figure 4. Collocation search with COLLOCATES option

COLLOCATES search can also be useful when users are not sure which word might be

suitable in a particular phrase, but they are aware of the part of speech that they are looking

for. For example, a learner may not know a suitable preposition for a sentence “I am going to

Cuba _______ Christmas break”. COCA has a so-called ‘wildcard’ search option that allows

the user to search for a specific phrase collocates by part of speech only. Typing Christmas

break in the WORD box and selecting “prepALL” tag in the POS LIST shows that during and

over may be good choices in this context.

COCA can also help learners adjust their level of formality. For example, if we enter the

phrase ‘You’re kidding ‘and select the CHART option, we will get the following results:




Figure 5. Collocation distribution analysis by text type

The bar chart clearly shows that ‘You’re kidding ‘is most likely to occur in fiction and spoken

language and is rarely found in journalistic publications or academic work.

The use of the COMPARE button allows a comparison of collocates of two different words at

the same time. This function can help learners to select a more common collocate of a

particular word. For example, if a learner wants to know whether it is better to say reduce

stressor decrease stress, he/she should select COMPARE, enter reduce and decrease in

the search fields, type stress in the COLLOCATES box, set the collocate range and click on

SEARCH. In the example given below, the range was set at 0:4, which means that

collocates should appear within 4 word slots after the search words.

Figure 6. Collocation search with COMPARE option

A COCA search produced the following results.

Figure 7. Results of collocate search in COCA using COMPARE option




The word reduce (W1) was used 410

times, while decrease (W2) was used only

32 times. Therefore, a learner can

conclude that reduce would be a better

choice.

Some limitations of corpora-based

collocation research are that the results

obtained are based only on the statistical

probability of particular words occurring

within a certain span. The data reveals

little about the degree of opacity and the

substitutability of the combinatory

elements of particular formulaic

sequences. Computation scores do not

account for homonymy and polysemy and

the figures tell little about the

phraseological significance of the

extracted text. Nevertheless, there is no

doubt that online corpora can be a very

useful tool in foreign language instruction.

Computer-based corpora such as COCA,

allow teachers to select the phrases that

should be given priority, and present

learners with a large number of

contextualized examples as well as

quantitative data that can help them to

make better syntactic and stylistic choices.

4. HOW should collocations be taught?

4.1 Dictionary training

Like online corpora, dictionaries can also

be a very useful tool in collocation

learning. In addition to meaning

explanations and grammatical notes,

learners’ dictionaries today include

common and useful collocations that can

help learners improve their fluency,

precision and naturalness of expression.

Useful collocations are typically

highlighted in bold type tomake them more

salient. In some learners’ dictionaries such

as the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s

Dictionary (CALD), collocations are

grouped in semantic sets making it easier

for the learner to select the appropriate

word combinations. The CD-ROM version

of the CALD dictionary also has a special

collocation search option which allows

learners to quickly access detailed

information about the collocates of the

headword quickly. The collocates are

grouped by part of speech and followed by

examples of usage. The entries also

include information about the formality

level of individual expressions aimed at

helping learners select the appropriate

language register.

The problem, however, is that due to the

limited amount of space; collocation

information in general dictionaries is

seldom presented in detailed and

systematic way. Sometimes, there is no

clear division between the literal and

extended meanings (Revier, 2009), and

learners are left to decide for themselves

which of the word combinations that they




encounter in a lexical entry are significant

and worth remembering (Handl, 2009).

In an effort to correct these shortcomings,

a number of specialized collocation

dictionaries have been developed in

recent years.

The Oxford Collocations Dictionary for

Students of English (OCDSE) released in

2002 defines different meanings of

polysemous words and provides a list of

common collocates for each word sense

with some usage examples. The

collocates are grouped according to their

grammatical category and listed in

alphabetical order. Phrasal verbs are

treated separately at the end of the verb

entries. The dictionary also includes some

information about the register, usage

restrictions and figurative meaning of the

phrases.

The Macmillan Collocations Dictionary,

first published in 2010, was the first fully

corpus-based dictionary specially

designed to help upper-intermediate to

advanced students produce natural and

more accurate English. The headwords

are printed in red font, and when a word

has more than one meaning, each

meaning is numbered and followed by a

definition. Codes show the grammatical

relationship between headwords and

collocates (e.g. adj+N; v+N). Collocates

are semantically grouped and followed by

examples of usage in which common

prepositions are highlighted in bold type.

The dictionary also includes notes about

the typical usage of the expressions.

As in the examples above, collocation

dictionaries are comprehensive and

include information that can potentially be

highly useful to the learner. However, as

Laufer and Kimmel (1997) point out, the

usefulness of a dictionary, that is, the

extent to which a dictionary provides the

necessary information to the user, is not

the same as its usability, which is defined

by the user’s willingness to use a

particular dictionary and their satisfaction

with it. Klotz (2003) points out that while

the overall layout of the entries in OCDSE

is clear, having the collocates listed in

alphabetical order can make it difficult for

the learner to distinguish between near-

synonyms listed in the same entry. A

similar observation was made by Komuro

(2009) who monitored Japanese learners’

OCDSE use during a translation task and

found that learners often felt overwhelmed

by a large number of collocates presented

together. The questionable semantic

grouping of the collocates combined with

structural differences between L1 and L2

made it difficult for them to retrieve the

correct sytnagmatic phrases.




These findings suggest that learners are

likely to benefit from some dictionary use

training. This can be done by presenting

learners with the questions that would

prompt them to examine the information

about collocations in their dictionaries. For

example, learners may be asked to

consult their dictionary and list the

collocates of the target word that they can

find, or to observe how these collocates

are marked and whether or not their

dictionary indicates the level of formality of

the collocations. A comparison of the

entries for the same word in several

dictionaries can also raise learners’

awareness about the differences that exist

between them and the ways that they can

be used.

McCarthy and O’Dell (2005:11) suggest

an activity in which the learners are asked

to group the collocates based on their

meaning. The learners are asked to

classify expressions such as to suffer

pain, to alleviate pain, to be racked with

pain etc. in one of the following three

groups: 1) expressions that mean ‘making

others experience pain’, 2) phrases that

refer to the experience of ‘being in pain’

and 3) expressions that convey the idea of

‘making pain go away’. This exercise

requires from learners to closely examine

the usage examples in their dictionaries

and can help them learn the collocates in

semantic groups.

In short, both general and specialized

collocation dictionaries can help students

improve their vocabulary usage, but

learners need to develop dictionary skills

in order to take advantage of them.

4.2 Teaching Activities

The limited exposure to the target

language and learners’ tendency to

overlook chunks when they do not cause

comprehension problems are strong

arguments for the explicit teaching of

collocations. However, considering the

limited time that most learners have at

their disposal, instruction must be efficient

and effective. Therefore, collocations must

be a part of the planned language input. In

their excellent book Teaching Chunks of

Language, Lindstromberg and Boers

(2008) proposed the following three-stage

programme for teaching multiword chunks:

1) helping learners notice chunks and

raising their awareness of chunk

importance;

2) helping learners commit chunks to

memory;

3) helping learners consolidate knowledge

that they acquired through review.

Given the large number of lexical chunks

that exist, teachers must be highly

selective in their choice of target phrases.

The frequency of use is one of the most

commonly applied criteria, and as




discussed earlier, dictionaries and online

corpora can help instructors make more

informed choices. Teachers must also be

selective with regard to the number of

collocation patterns they may want to

introduce. In some resource books such

as BBI Combinatory Dictionary of English

(Benson, Benson & Ilson, 1986), a

distinction is made between lexical and

grammatical collocations. In a grammatical

collocation, a node (noun, adjective or

verb) is combined with a preposition or

grammatical structure. Lexical collocations

are made of nouns, verbs, adjectives and

adverbs only. Benson and his colleagues

identified 7 types of lexical and 8 types of

grammatical collocations, which, with a

number of subcategories, resulted in over

30 collocation patterns. While these

patterns may be interesting for research

purposes, they may be overwhelming for

an ordinary language learner. In my

experience, for teaching purposes, it is

more effective to restrict the term

collocation to the following seven patterns:

1) Adjective + noun

2) Noun + verb

3) Noun + noun

4) Verb + noun

5) Verb + preposition

6) Verb + adverb

7) Adverb + adjective.

To help students notice the target

phrases, they could be asked to read a

text and then complete a chart with one or

more of the patterns above. Their choices

could then be examined through class

discussion, and the teacher could draw

their attention to some important phrases

that they might have missed.

Lindstromberg and Boers (2008) also

suggest activities such as reading out loud

with pauses and memorizing short

dialogues. Another interesting activity that

they propose is text reconstruction, a

modified form of ‘dictogloss’ with the focus

on lexical chunks. The teacher selects the

important phrases from a text, writes them

on the board and makes sure that the

learners understand them. After that

he/she reads the text, which contains all

the chunks aloud. The learners are then

asked to work in pairs or groups, and use

the chunks that they can see on the board

to reconstruct the text. Another activity

that is both fun and conducive to learning

is putting chunks into chronological order.

Chunks related to romantic relationships

work particularly well. Lindstromberg and

Boers (2008) suggest the following

phrases: make up, pop the question, tie

the knot, hang out together, chat…up,

have a row, break off their engagement,

catch…eye, get on, be engaged to be

married, fall in love, hit it off, set a date for

and so far so good. The learners are

presented with a list of jumbled sentences

that contain the phrases above, asked to

guess their meaning, and to make a




typical story. Later they can be asked to

tell their stories without looking at the

paper.

In addition to helping learners notice

collocations, teachers should also try to

help them remember common word

combinations. This can be done by

making the learners aware of the linguistic

motivation of multiword chunks.

Lindstromberg and Boers (2008) identify

three types of linguistic motivation:

1) the influence of the past, of culture, and

of economics;

2) the influence of register and genre;

3) the influence of the repetition of sounds.

For example, if the teacher explains that

words which have their origin in Norman

French or Latin tend to be more formal

than words of a Germanic origin, it may be

easier for learners to understand and

remember why it is more common to say

remain in custody as opposed to stay in

custody. Recognition of sound repetition

patterns may also have a positive

mnemonic effect. As Lindstromberg and

Boers observe (2008), while words from

different kinds of combinations, the ones

that provide sound repetition sound more

natural. For instance, sound repetition

may explain why it is more common to say

boy bands as opposed to guy bands, head

of the house and not boss of the house, or

to go from hero to zero rather than to go

from hero to nothing.

Finally, just like in the case of individual

words, review is crucial for the acquisition

of multiword chunks. Learners must be

given opportunities to encounter the target

phrases, in different contexts and in a

relatively short period of time, so that

memory traces can be formed. For this

reason, it is important that the instructors

keep a record of the phrases that were

covered in the course. One activity that

could be used for the consolidation of

collocations is giving learners a text that

they have already encountered with

slashes indicating the phrases that they

should recall. Lindstromberg and Boers

suggest this be done as a pair activity

where one student reads the text and

pauses and the other has to guess the

word or the rest of the phrase.

Alternatively the students could be given a

list of the target phrases and asked to

place them in a new text.

Another way collocations can be reviewed

is by asking students to correct the

sentences containing collocation errors

such as in the following example:

I succeeded my dream. I achieved /

accomplished my dream.

Problematic collocations can also be

practiced through a translation exercise,

so that the students can re-notice the

differences between L1 and L2 word

combinations. For example, English




students of Spanish may be asked to

translate a sentence such as: I spent the

whole year studying Spanish where the

literal translation of the verb spend as

gastar would be inappropriate.

Vocabulary substitution exercises can also

be useful ways of consolidating learners’

collocation knowledge. Focus Paraphrase

(Vasiljevic, 2008) is a pair work activity in

which learners are provided with a list of

words grouped by part of speech from

which they need to form appropriate or

adjective-noun collocations so that they

can paraphrase the target L2 sentences.

Adjectives

Nouns

Example: strong big heavy

vehicles transportation traffic

There were many cars on the street that

day. Traffic was heavy that day.

To make the activity more interactive, the

learners work in pairs. One student has to

paraphrase a sentence and the other acts

as a “coach”, who has the model answer

and can correct his / her partner. The

activity has two parts, so that each student

gets to play both roles.

Collocation Bingo (Vasiljevic, 2008) is

another activity that can be used to review

the words that the students encountered in

the class materials and to consolidate their

collocation knowledge. The teacher reads

a list of associates that the learners should

be familiar with and the students need to

identify the target word.

Sample Bingo Card

Teacher: “delicious exquisite rich strong mellow subtle…..”

ingredients restaurant menu

specialty order serving

flavour portion cuisine

In short, collocation learning requires teacher-led guidance as learners tend to overlook the

common word combinations in the text and they often lack the knowledge and language

sensitivity to take advantage of linguistic motivation behind the meaning and the form of

multiword phrases. For learners to remember collocations, it is necessary to have well-

planned and well-structured instruction that will prompt them to notice important collocations




and then help them remember them through multiple exposures and activities that promote

deep level processing and draw on linguistic motivation with regard to multi-word phrases.

5. Testing

In order to assess learners’ needs and their lexical progress, it is necessary to have good

and reliable tests of their phrasal knowledge. Regular testing of collocations may have a

positive backwash effect leading to an increase in learners’ awareness of the importance of

lexical chunks. However, currently there are still no standardized tests that can objectively

measure learners’ syntagmatic competence in the second language. As Eyckmans (2009)

points out, some reasons may be the difficulties associated with defining lexical phrases.

Multiword phrases differ in their lexical composition, in the function they have, as well as the

collocation patterns they exhibit. Some popular ways of testing collocation knowledge are:

1) L1-L2 translation;

2) L2 sentence cloze items;

3) sentence generation tasks;

4) discrete tests where learners are presented with a node-word prompt and asked to select

or supply one or more of its collocates.

However, each of the test formats above has some limitations. For example, it would not be

practical to use a translation test in a context in which learners come from different language

backgrounds. In sentence cloze format, leaving out the whole collocation has been found to

result in multiple responses with different types of collocations. A more restricted format

where the first one or two letters of the lexical constituents were provided made some

learners focus on finding the words that matched the letters so much that they overlooked

the propositional meaning of the sentence prompt (Revier, 2009). Sentence generation

format can be time-consuming, and therefore the number of items that can be tested at one

time is limited. Some studies (e.g. McNeill, 1996) also suggest that advanced learners can

sometimes produce acceptable sentences even if they do not have a good understanding of

the target words, which raises concerns about the validity of this test format. The scoring

may be arbitrary too. Discrete tests where learners are asked to select or produce

associates of a node-word do not provide sufficient information of the learner’s knowledge of

the whole collocation (Revier, 2009).Just like single words, collocations have their own

formal, semantic and usage properties. For example, productive knowledge of a verb -

object noun collocation requires knowledge of not only the phrase meaning but also its

grammatical properties such as noun determination and number.




The limitations above made Revier (2009) argue that collocations should be viewed as an

independent construct and tested as a whole. He developed a new test format entitled

CONTRIX, which presents a modified form of a cloze test where learners are asked to select

the combination of a verb, article and noun that best complete a sentence.

The quickest way to win a friend’s trust is to show

that you are able to

tell a / an joke

take the secret

keep truth

(Revier, 2009:129)

Revier argues that although the test involves selection, which is a characteristic of receptive

tests, the CONTRIX format requires test takers to combine phrase constituents and

grammatically encode the noun constituent for determination, providing some insight into the

learners’ productive vocabulary knowledge. Revier pilot-tested the CONTRIX format with a

group of Danish EFL learners and found that the test met the criteria of validity and reliability

and proved to be very effective in distinguishing among learners of different L2 proficiency.

Some downsides of this test format are that sentence prompt writing, distractor selection,

and native-speaker norming make the test somewhat time- consuming to prepare.

Furthermore, as Revier himself observes, while the test validity could be improved by

increasing the number of items per section, there is a risk that a longer test may have lower

reliability due to the possible fatigue of test takers, in particular those at lower levels of

proficiency.

Gyllsatad (2009: 157~158) offers two new test formats for testing collocation knowledge. In

the first one entitled COLLEX (collocating lexis), the learners are presented with three word

sequences and asked to select the one that is most likely to be used by native English

speakers.

a. drive a business b. run a business c. lead a business a b c

The second format known as COLLMATCH is basically a Yes / No test, where learners are

asked to judge whether or not the given word sequences are common English collocations.




catch a cold draw a limitation

yes yes

no no

For both tests, an important issue is the selection of the target phrases. Gyllstad suggests

that one possibility would be to sample a large corpus such as BNC for a particular

syntagmatic pattern (e.g. V + NP)and then use a stratified random sampling technique to

select the target items. This approach however, would also require some manual analysis in

order to eliminate idioms and free word combinations.

Some research suggests that intonation patterns may also be indicative of the learners’

collocation knowledge. In fluent, coherent speech, phraseological sequences tend to be

produced with no or little hesitation and with unbroken intonation contour (Lin & Adoplphs,

2009; Moon, 1997; Wray, 2004).If multiword phrases are pronounced as single intonation

units, then prosodic breaks can show where language chunking takes place. Lin and

Adolphs (2009) predicted that as learners’ speech tends to be slower and contains more

hesitations, smooth and fluent stretches of speech are likely to be salient, which in turn

would make the presence of phraseological units more explicit. This hypothesis was partially

confirmed. A complete match between phraseological unit boundaries and intonation unit

boundaries was found 55% of the time. While these results raise some concerns about the

test validity, some mismatches were caused by the use of conjunctions at the beginning of

the phrases and word repetitions. Further studies are needed in order to determine to what

extent phraseological units determine intonation boundaries, and whether intonation patterns

can be used to identify multiword phrases in the learner language.

6. Learner Autonomy

In spite of the great advances in corpus research and lexicography, very little is still known

about how learners approach collocation learning, how they achieve a particular level of

performance, and how they interpret their own learning practices. One of very few studies

which has examined individual learner development of collocation knowledge was conducted

by Barfield (2009), who followed collocation learning practices of four language learners over

one academic year. He identified five major processes of development:




Understanding and reconfiguring past vocabulary practices;

Interpreting different worlds of everyday use;

Moving from quantity of lexical knowledge to quality of collocation use;

Reconnecting what is known and projecting new identities;

Developing authorship(Barfield, 2009:211-212).

Barfield’s observations confirmed the tendency of second language learners to identify

vocabulary learning with expansion of vocabulary size. However, with practice, his students

became aware of the limitations of this approach, and modified their learning strategies. For

example, one of the students started to question her own learning strategies as she got

more experienced with collocation learning. She noticed that “more” does not necessarily

mean ”better”, and that indiscriminate recording of collocations just resulted in long lists of

phrases that she found difficult to remember. She finally opted for a simpler form of

representation that entailed creating small lexical networks that she labeled ‘collocation

packages’ that enabled her to skillfully use a highly limited number of collocation choices.

This transformation can clearly be seen in the following two figures:

debt

fall into debt

get into debt

run up debt

clear a debt

owe a debt to ~

be in debt

Figure 8. A sample of a learner’s collocation notes at the beginning of a school year

(Barfield, 2009: 214).




“Developed countries should control industrial emission levels.”

Figure 9. A sample of a learner’s collocation notes at the end of a school year (Barfield,

2009: 221)

Another learner reported reducing the number of collocations and moving from two-word

combinations to longer phrases. This shift from quantity to quality is believed to reflect the

greater control that learners establish over their learning (Benson & Lor, 1998).

This process of transformation was fostered by the teacher inviting learners’ to reflect on

their practices and through collaborative learning with other students. Barfield (2009) asked

his students to interview each other about their collocation learning experiences. In order to

prepare for the interviews they had to look into their collocation development, and reconsider

the reasons behind the selection of particular phrases, their ways of recording, and the

strategies they used to remember them.

Barfield also observed that learners’ collocation development was to some extent affected by

the process of sociocultural reorganization that they underwent in the course of language

learning. The way the learners selected the vocabulary, and their willingness to use the

phrases, were influenced not only by their communicative needs but also by their beliefs and

attitudes, and the new social identities that they assumed during the learning process. For

example, some students reported that good command of collocations helped them sound

‘less Japanese’, ‘more international’ and ‘cool’.

These results are encouraging. Japanese students are known for their conformist and

teacher- dependent learning style, and for being part of an English language education

where vocabulary learning is often identified with memorizing long lists of decontextualised




words in preparation for the university entrance exam. The transformation of Barfield’s

students shows that with some guidance learners are capable of and willing to adopt more

autonomous learning practices and shift their priorities from the quantity of lexical knowledge

to the quality of collocational use. The results of other studies suggest that just raising

learners’ awareness of the importance of collocation knowledge is likely to make them

become more aware of multiword phrases, even when the instruction is not collocation-

oriented. For example, Peters (2009) observed that advanced EFL learners who were

familiar with the concept of collocations, were likely to remember vocabulary in phrases even

when collocations were not explicitly targeted as part of the learning task. This finding is

significant as it suggests a long-term positive effect of consciousness-raising activities; if

learners recognize the importance of collocations they may be able to overcome some of the

deficiencies they may encounter in the teaching materials and in classroom instruction.

One way of helping learners become more selective and more independent in their

collocation learning is by giving them some practice with the use of online corpora. Corpus

analysis can help learners focus their attention on the phrases with the highest frequency of

use. Corpus data can also be used to promote learners’ autonomy in error correction. Self-

correction is an important aspect of language learning that raises both the learner’s

language awareness and his / her confidence. Therefore, helping learners become more

self-sufficient should be an important teaching objective and students must be given

opportunities to make adjustments to their language production. However, error correction, if

left unguided, can turn into a very frustrating experience. For the reasons discussed earlier,

collocation errors may be particularly difficult to detect. Therefore, the teachers can help

learners by letting them know that they have a problem in terms of word choice. For

example, a student may say I succeeded my dream. The teacher should underline the

incorrect word and ask the student to look for a more appropriate expression. This can be

done by using the earlier explained ‘wildcard search’ or doing a synonym inquiry as below.




Figure 10. Synonym search in COCA

The results of the search show that

achieved may be the best synonym in this

context.

In short, considering the amount of

language that needs to be covered in the

classroom, it is essential to equip learners

with the skills that will enable them to learn

collocations and confirm their vocabulary

choices outside the classroom. By

encouraging learners to reflect on their

learning practices and offering them some

training in the use of online corpora,

teachers can help students take control

over their vocabulary learning.

7. Conclusion

This paper has highlighted the importance

of incorporating collocation instruction in

the L2 classroom, discussed the

resources that could help teachers and

learners select their vocabulary learning

targets, introduced some activities that

could help learners to notice and

remember the L2 collocations, and

examined some test formats through

which learners’ needs and progress could

be assessed. Attention was also paid to

the challenges that learners face in

reconfiguration of their learning practices

during their transition to more autonomous

productive word learning and resources

that could help them in that process.

As discussed above, many of the features

relevant to vocabulary learning in general,

such as noticing, depth of processing, and

multiple encounters with the target

phrases are applicable to collocation

learning as well. First, in order to revise

their learning priorities, students must

recognize the value of a chunk-based

approach to vocabulary learning.

Unselective, mechanical recording of

teacher-selected phrases is not likely to

produce the desired effect. What is

needed is learners’ active engagement in

the learning process. They need to

redefine what word knowledge entails and

recognize that vocabulary learning is more




than just adding single new words to the

lexicon. It is only when learners can see

the significance of collocations that they

will persist in their efforts to master them.

Teachers play an important role in guiding

students to appreciate the importance of

collocation knowledge.

Second, learners need class instruction

where selected multiword phrases are

targeted explicitly. Learners sometimes

lack the cognitive resources to notice new

language elements in the input (Laufer &

Hulstijn, 2001), and therefore simple

exposure to authentic language may not

be sufficient for phrase uptake. Planned

and structured in-class learning tasks are

necessary to help learners commit

language chunks to memory and to

ensure that they have multiple encounters

with the target phrases in order to ensure

consolidation of their collocation

knowledge.

Finally, learners need to acquire the

cognitive and metacognitive strategies that

will help them to identify and remember

multiword combinations effectively outside

the classroom, and enable them to

monitor their progress and take control of

their vocabulary learning. Given the

enormous number of collocations in the

English language, even the most

dedicated teachers will only be able to

teach a small fraction of them.

Furthermore, while collocation learning

may begin with the acquisition of the most

frequent word combinations, in the end, it

is the learners’ communicative needs and

their perception of usefulness that will

determine which word combinations will

be attended to. To this end, in addition to

explicit teaching of the selected multiword

phrases, classroom instruction should

incorporate dictionary use training and

practice in using online corpora such as

COCA. In addition, students should be

introduced to different ways of making

collocation notes and prompted to discuss

their strengths and weaknesses. They

should also be encouraged to experiment

with various collocation recording formats

until they develop the style that best suits

their needs. Class practice should be

complemented with homework activities

designed to promote more autonomous

learning. For example, students could be

asked to keep journals in which they

reflect on their learning. These reflections

should prompt learners to reexamine their

learning strategies and make adjustments

where necessary.

8. Future directions

One of the remaining challenges for

teachers and for textbook writers is

establishing better connections between

EFL materials and the results of

experimental research. In spite of the

great progress in corpus studies and




lexicography, a large number of the

existing course books target too few

language chunks and do not do enough to

help learners remember them

(Lindstromberg & Boers, 2008). New

insights about the various kinds of

collocational relationships should be

reflected in the teaching materials as well

as in classroom methodologies.

More research is needed to find out how

learners use dictionaries and other

reference materials, and which strategies

they employ to master L2 collocations.

There is also a need for new, more

sensitive ways of tracking the

development of learners’ collocation

knowledge, and assessing the

effectiveness of different kinds of input on

learners’ uptake of lexical phrases. It is

hoped that this paper will encourage

teachers to adopt the chunk-based

approach to vocabulary instruction and

prompt them to further explore creative

and communicative ways through which

such an approach can be implemented in

the language classroom.

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*****

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Strategies of Metaphor Translation

by Brankica Bojović, PhD, Associate Professor,

Alpha University, Belgrade

Abstract Specialised English dictionaries offer a unique treatment of metaphors, showing how lexicalised metaphors and phrases have monosemous or polysemous metaphorical meanings. Besides them, there can be found some specific regular patterns which can help students in the cognitive mechanism of translating metaphors. This paper discusses the usefulness of Newmark's dual theory of semantic and communicative methods of translation. He proposes seven strategies of metaphor translation that are here analysed, discussed and illustrated by a corpus from classes. For Newmark, translation is a craft. A student, as a translator, acquires a technique in which the process to be followed takes into account the acts of comprehension, interpretation, formulation and recreation. My students in our translatology workshops are involved in the translation process and they both practice and gain skills in the strategies of translation of figurative language from the SL to TL and vice versa. Key words: strategies, translation, figurative language, Newmark's prescriptive model Apstrakt Specijalizovani rečnici engleskog jezika nude jedinstven prikaz metafora time što pokazuju kako leksičke metafore i idiomi mogu biti jednoznačni ili višeznačni. Osim toga, u njima se mogu pronaći određene šeme ili 'paterni' koji mogu pomoći učenicima u kognitivnim mehanizmima prevođenja metafora. Ovaj članak obrađuje temu korisnosti Njumarkove dvojne teorije semantičkih i komunikativnih metoda prevođenja i njegovih sedam strategija za prevođenje metafora će se analizirati, razmotriti i ilustrovati korpusom primera sa časova. Za Njumarka prevod je veština. Učenik kao prevodilac stiče tehniku pri kojoj process koji treba da prati podrazumeva činove razumevanja, interpretacije, formulacije i stvaranja. Moji učenici na našim prevodilačkim radionicama su uključeni u proces prevođenja i time vežbaju i stiču veštine u okviru strategija prevođenja figurativnog jezika sa izvornog jezika na ciljni jezik i obratno. Ključne reči: strategije, prevod, figurativni jezik, Njumarkov preskriptivni model

1. Introduction

Scholars of metaphor use different

theoretical concepts and parameters for

the purposes of identifying, describing

metaphors and their translatability as well

as transfer methods. Such parameters,

either combined with others from within

translatology or used in specialised papers

of scholar’s journals, can form the basis

for the research of metaphors in the

process of translation. A number of

translation strategies in dealing with this

issue will be discussed and suggested.

The paper focuses on the practical

dimension of the translation process

between two different languages: English




and the native language (Serbian,

Montenegrin), at my translatology

workshops.

Metaphors are very frequent and widely

used tropes in English. According to Steen

et al. (2010), every seven-and-a-half

lexical units in the British National Corpus

is related to a metaphorical mapping

structure. This means that translators

should deal with them on a daily basis and

attention should be paid to this. As

outlined in the following paper, Newmark’s

typology was used to examine the kinds of

metaphors in the texts. A distinction was

made between lexicalised and

unlexicalised expressions.

2. About Newmark’s types of

metaphors

For many centuries, metaphors were

studied within rhetorics. Strategies of

translating metaphors can be prescriptive

(Newmark) and descriptive (Snell-Hornby).

In this paper it was decided that

prescriptive ones would be considered,

since I translated the other type into

Serbian with authorised rights three years

ago, and on this occasion they will not be

analysed.

According to Newmark (1988:106) any

word can be a metaphor and to find out if

it is, the primary meaning has to be

matched against the linguistic and cultural

contexts.

Evans and Green (2006:303) pointed out

that an important idea relates to hiding

and highlighting: when a target is

structured in terms of a particular source,

this highlights certain aspects of the target

while simultaneously hiding other aspects.

Invoking the metaphor ARGUMENT IS

WAR highlights the adversarial nature of

argument but hides the fact that argument

often involves an ordered and organised

development of a particular topic (he won

the argument, I couldn’t defend that point,

and so on). In contrast, the metaphor AN

ARGUMENT IS A JOURNEY highlights

the progressive and organisational

aspects of arguments while hiding the

confrontational aspects. (We will proceed

in a step-by-step fashion. We have

covered a lot of ground.) In this way

metaphors can perspectivise a concept or

conceptual domain.

The most important definitions associated

with metaphors, which help understanding

the theme in the best way, will be

mentioned since they can create

difficulties in the translation process

because of their vagueness and

implication

In the Oxford English Dictionary (2002) a

metaphor is described as a figure of

speech in which a name or descriptive

phrase is transferred to an object or an

action different from, but analogous

to, that to which it is literally applicable; 2.




A thing considered as representative of

some other (usu. abstract) thing.

A metaphor is defined as an indirect

comparison between two or more

apparently unrelated things. The point of

similarity may be physical but often it is

chosen for its connotations (Newmark

1988:85). He states that the first purpose

of a metaphor is to describe something

comprehensively, economically and

generally more forcefully than what is

possible in literal language (Newmark

1988:111).

According to Newmark (1988:104),

metaphor could be any figurative speech:

the transferred sense of a physical word;

the personification of an abstraction; the

application of a word or collocation to what

it does not literally denote, i.e. to describe

one thing in terms of another. Note also

that metaphor incidentally demonstrates a

resemblance, a common semantic area

between two or more or less similar things

the image and the object.

On the basis of his typology of metaphors,

he distinguishes six types of them

(1988:108):

(1) Dead metaphors, whose images are

highly unmarked (e.g. at the mouth of the

river, the arm of a chair);

(2) Cliché metaphors, which refer to the

use of cliché expressions in text (e.g. long

time, no see; a transparent lie);

(3) Stock or standard metaphors, which he

defines as an established metaphor […]

not deadened by overuse. These

metaphors are frequently applied in

informal language (e.g. the body of a car;

he sees fear in my heart);

(4) Adapted metaphors, where the

fixedness of a stock metaphor has been

adapted or personalised in some way.

Usually, proverbs, which reflect the

relationship between language and

culture, fall into this category. They are

actually stock metaphors, but adapted by

a translator or speaker into a new context.

Newmark illustrates this type by the

following (e.g. the ball is a little in their

court, get them in the door); (5) Recent

metaphors, where an anonymous

metaphorical neologism has become

generally used in the SL. Newmark

categorises this metaphor as a live

metaphor (e.g. groovy)

(6) Original metaphors, which are created

by the writer or speaker usually to make

discourse more interesting and often used

to highlight particular points or as

reiteration. It is created from the SL’sown

original thoughts and ideas (e.g. a forest

of fingers).

3. Newmark’s prescriptive model of

metaphor translation




The word translation is defined either as a

process (Meaning 1) or a product

(Meaning 2) as it is described:

e.g. translation, n.

1. The act or an instance of

translating.

2. A written or spoken expression

of the meaning of a word,

speech, book etc in

another language.

It means that the translation process goes

beyond the simple concept of merely

replacing words in one language with

words in another. Metaphor has been

widely discussed within translatology,

primarily in the translatability and

strategies of their translation.

There are three main strategies of

metaphor translation found in translatology

(Bassnett, Lefevere, 1993; Snell-Hornby,

2006) and these are: 1) a metaphor into

the same metaphor, named direct

translation; 2) a metaphor into a different

metaphor—substitution of the image in the

SL by a TL metaphor with the same or a

similar sense and the same or similar

associations; 3) a metaphor into the

sense—paraphrase, a shift to a non-

figurative equivalent.

Postmodern trends in translatology have

been recognised by Bassnett (1993:47),

who perceived them as inaugurating a

poststructuralist stage in the discipline,

given that translation is now perceived as

one of a range of processes of textual

manipulation, where the concept of

plurality replaces dogmas of faithfulness to

a source text, and where the idea of the

original is being challenged from a variety

of perspectives.

Newmark binds the translation strategies

to the type of metaphor (standard, recent,

dead, original, adapted, cliché) as well as

text types.

According to Newmark’s prescriptive

model of metaphors translation (1988)

there are strategies for transfer of their

proper meaning.

While dead metaphors are not especially

problematic, literal translation is often not

possible.

In vocative texts, cliché metaphors should

be upheld in the TT (Newmark 1988: 107).

In informative texts, they should be

reduced to their sense or replaced with a

more credible stock metaphor.

For the translation of stock metaphors, the

SL image should be legitimately

reproduced in the TL, but the metonyms

used may be transferred as long as the

substitutes have the same connotations as

the SL. However, the SL image is more

commonly translated by images that are

established to a similar degree. Stock

metaphors may also be reduced to their

sense or literal language.

Adapted metaphors should be translated

using equivalent adapted metaphors or

reduced to their sense.




Recent metaphors should be translated

using componential analysis (ibid. 114).

In vocative texts, original metaphors

should be translated literally, as they

“contain the core of an important writer’s

message…” (ibid. 112). If the metaphor is

obscure and of little importance to the text,

it should be replaced with a descriptive

metaphor or reduced to its sense. In

informative texts, consideration should be

given to the number and variety of original

metaphors in the text as a whole and a

decision should be taken between literal

translation, reduction to its sense or

modification of the metaphor.

Newmark contributed to translatology with

his seven strategies of metaphor

translation that have almost always been

taken up by the researchers and which are

considered here.

They are:

1. Reproducing the same image in the TL.

This is the best way to translate stock

metaphors, most frequently, idioms.

2. Replacing the image in the SL with a

standard TL image. It is used when there

is no image that corresponds exactly to

the one in the SL and which does not

clash with the TL culture.

3. Translating metaphor by simile. This

strategy modifies an emotive metaphorical

expression to suit the TL if that context is

not as emotive in character as the SL.

4. Translating metaphor by simile + sense.

5. Converting a metaphor to its sense.

This is a strategy where the image of the

SL is reduced to its sense and rewritten to

suit the TL.

6. Deleting. It is used when the metaphor

is redundant.

7. Combining the same metaphor with the

sense.

These strategies are arranged according

to preference, which means that Newmark

recommends that translators opt for the

replacement strategy in the first instance

and only if this is not possible, due to

cultural clashes, to move down the list and

opt for an alternative strategy. Newmark

(1988: 48-49) argues that the most

translatable metaphors are dead ones,

whereas the translatability of stock and

original ones is proportional to the

proximity of the two systems involved.

Semantically speaking, the issue of

metaphor translation deals with

translatological equivalence which is

bound to their communicative role and

type, nature and function of a trope as

such.

As for types of metaphors, the criterion of

time, or in other words, the novelty or

originality of expressions, as proposed by

Newmark has been often applied. On one

hand, there are unlexicalised metaphors

which are absolutely or relatively novel

and creative, while on the other hand,

there is a whole world of lexicalised

metaphors whose metaphorical nature is




still apparent, but which are already

established in the language.

Here Newmark’s typology of metaphors

(1988:106) is considered and discussed:

1) Dead metaphors (are metaphors where

you are hardly conscious of the image and

describe and relate to universal terms like

space and time; their figurative meaning is

lost or very hard to distinguish and they

are lexicalised.

2) Cliché metaphors (are ones that have

temporarily outlived their usefulness like

jewel in the crown of the country’s

education); Newmark (1981:87)

distinguishes them by saying that clichés

are made up of two types of fixed

collocations (figurative adjective + literal

noun or figurative verb + figurative noun).

They are similar to dead metaphors

because they have been overused and

very often, their secondary, figurative

meanings can be found in dictionaries.

Newmark (1988:108) argues that it is the

translator’s choice to distinguish stock

metaphors from clichés since they

overlap.

3) Stock or standard metaphors (are

established metaphors used in an informal

context referentially pragmatically efficient

like oil the wheels); they are often

culturally bound, they have certain

emotional warmth and are not, as

opposed to most dead and cliché

metaphors, deadened by overuse

(Newmark, 1988:108).

4) Adapted metaphors (are metaphors

which involve an adaptation of an existing

metaphor)

5) Recent metaphors (are metaphorical

neologisms which spread fast in language,

like skint without money); these metaphors

are lexicalised ones.

6) Original metaphors are unlexicalised

ones; they portray the writer’s personality

and comment on life (Newmark 1988:112).

Newmark (1988:104) considers as

metaphors those that have two purposes:

the first one is to describe a mental

process or state, a concept, a person, an

object, a quality or an action more

comprehensively and concisely than is

possible in literal or physical language.

The second one is that metaphors should

appeal to the senses, to interest, to clarify

graphically, to please, to delight. His

definition can be explained as both

cognitive and aesthetic, since a metaphor

on its own covers these two purposes

together.

4. Conclusion




Over the decades, beginning from

Aristotle, metaphors have been classified

in different ways by different linguists. This

paper has primarily discussed Newmark’s

classification (1988) of metaphors into six

types and his categorisation was

considered easier to apply to the analysis

of English metaphors, because of the

practical way that the definitions were

provided and the students’ practical skills

and explanations at translatology

workshops.

In translatology, metaphors were reflected

on with respect to translatability or what

was lost in translating them, their

originality, cultural background or TL

language richness. Metaphors are also

culture-specific; they cannot be transferred

intact from a source language (SL) to a

target language (TL). There are several

strategies of metaphor transfer from SL to

TL.

Newmark contributed to translatology with

his seven strategies of metaphor

translation that have often been taken up

by other researchers. Most of the work in

translatology has commented on

metaphors in a more traditional view,

defining a metaphor as a linguistic

expression which can describe the object

more comprehensively, succinctly and

forcefully than is possible in literal or

physical language (Newmark 1988: 95).

By using Newmark’s typology, it was

possible to categorise different metaphors

depending on type, such as dead, cliché,

stock, recent or original metaphors. His

extensive research on the strategies of

metaphor translation proved immensely

significant in the practical translatological

perspective.

However, since the advent of a cognitive

approach, mainly initiated by Lakoff and

Johnson (1980), it has repeatedly been

demonstrated that metaphors have not

been just decorative elements of rhetoric,

but rather basic resources for thought

processes in human society. They are

cognitive devices for forming and

communicating conceptualisations of

reality.

In conceptual metaphor theory, metaphors

are means to understand one domain of

experience, a new, unknown one, a target

domain, in terms of another, a familiar

one, a source domain. The source domain

is mapped onto the target domain. The

structural components of the base

conceptual schema are transferred to the

target domain, thus also allowing for

knowledge-based inferences and

entailments.

For Newmark (1988:84) translatology is

mainly concerned with the huge purpose

of metaphor which is to describe an entity,

event or quality more comprehensively

and concisely and in a more complex way

than is possible by using literal language.

And translators, my students, decide on

their translation strategies focusing on the




items such as the SL or TL, culture and

style.

References:

Bassnett S. (1993) Comparative Literature. A Critical Introduction, Oxford, Blackwell.

Bojović B. (2011) Pravci u studijama prvođenja, Podgorica, Obodsko slovo. (autorizovani

prevod Snel-Hornbi M.)

British National Corpus, BNC Interface: http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk

Oxford English Dictionary (OED) (2002)

Concise Oxford English Dictionary (2011)

Evans V. and Green M. (2006)Cognitive Linguistics: An Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

Lakoff G. & Johnson M.(1980) Metaphors We Live By, Chicago and London, The

University of Chicago Press, online.

Newmark, P. (1981; 1988) Approaches to Translation, London, Prentice Hall

International

Newmark, P. (1988) A textbook of translation. London, New York, Prentice Hall International

Steen G. J. et al. (2010) Metaphor in usage, Cognitive Linguistics Vol. 21/ 4 (765-796)

http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/




The Influence of Bilingualism on

Cognition and Third Language

Acquisition

by Radmila Palinkašević, Mihailo Palov Preschool Teacher Training College,

Vršac, Serbia

Abstract The aim of this paper is twofold. Firstly to explore how bilingualism influences cognition and secondly how it influences the third language learning process. Some of the most prominent advantages of bilingualism on cognition were explored such as higher level of metacognition, inhibitory control, task switching etc. together with the most significant disadvantages to form a comprehensive view of the issue. The effects on third language acquisition were explored with a slight emphasis on cross-linguistic influence and transfer. In order to understand why bilingualism can have such diverse effects the factors that influence the development of bilingualism were also explored. Key words: bilingualism, acquisition, cross-linguistic influence, cognitive advantages, transfer Apstrakt Ovaj članak se bavi odgovorom na dva pitanja, gde je prvo kako bilingvizam utiče na kogniciju, a drugo kako utiče na usvajanje trećeg stranog jezika. Istražene su neki od najznačajnijih pozitivnih uticaja bilingvizma na kogniciju kao što su viši nivo metakognicije, brzo menjanje zadataka itd. Takođe su istraženi i negativni uticaji bilingvizma. Pri razmatranju uticaja bilingvizma na usvajanje trećeg stranog jezikastavljen je blag naglasak na međujezički uticaj i transfer. Razmotreni su i faktori koji utiču na razvoj bilingvizma i kognitivnih prednosti. Ključne reči: bilingvizam, usvajanje, međujezički uticaj, kognitivne prednosti, transfer

1. Introduction

In the 21st century where knowledge is the

most valuable commodity the importance

of language is even more prominent. It is

no longer enough to know only one

language to be a successful and integrated

individual in today’s society. Bilingualism

and multilingualism is no longer considered

a rare phenomenon, there are actually

more bilingual and multilingual speakers in

the world than monolinguals. According to

the Ethnologue (2009) more than 7000

languages are spoken in 149 countries. In

such a linguistic environment

multilingualism and bilingualism are

inevitable. Furthermore David Cristal

(2003:69) estimates that two thirds of the

world’s children grow up in a multilingual

environment. Consequently research on

bilingualism and multilingualism has




dramatically increased in the last few years

in quantity, quality and breadth (T. K.

Bhatia 2013).

Therefore this article aims to explain how

this omnipresent phenomenon influences

cognition and even more relevant for

teachers, how it influences the acquisition

of a third language.

2. The influence of bilingualism on

cognition

Bilingualism is a phenomenon which has

always provoked a strong response. Our

understanding of bilingualism and its

effects has colossally changed over the

years. From the early 19th century to

approximately the 1960’s it was considered

that bilingualism had a negative effect on

cognitive development. The research

supported the view that bilingual children

suffered from academic retardation, were

socially maladjusted and had a lower IQ

than monolingual children. Pinter & Keller

(1922) spoke of ‘linguistic handicap’ and

Sear (1923) spoke of ‘mental handicap’ to

describe the bilingual cognitive

development (Baker 2011, Hammers

2000).

However, modern research gives us

opposite research findings and speaks of

positive effects of bilingualism on cognitive

development. This difference is explained

by the fact that the early research had

many methodological problems (for a

detailed overview of these problems refers

to Baker 2011).

The first in the series of studies in which

the conditions met modern standards was

Pearl and Lambert (1962) where the age,

socioeconomic status and sex of the

participants were matched. Here balanced

bilinguals were chosen to participate in the

study. The results were that bilinguals

showed higher scores on verbal and non-

verbal intelligence. Their explanation of

these results is that since bilinguals

manipulate two symbolic systems they

analyze underlying semantic features in

greater detail and have greater mental

flexibility and facility in concept formation

(Hammers 2000).

Since this important study numerous

cognitive advantages of bilinguals have

been found, we will note just some of the

most prominent but not a comprehensive

list. Some of the advantages of

bilingualism on cognition are (according to

Hammers 2000): better ability in

reconstructing perceptual situations

(Balkan 1970); superior results on verbal

and non-verbal intelligence tests, verbal

originality and verbal divergence tests (

Cummins & Gulutzan 1974); greater

sensitivity to semantic relations between

words (Lanco-Worrall 1972, Cummins

1978), higher scores on Piagetian concept

formation tasks (Liedtke & Nelson, 1968);

better performance in rule-discovery tasks

(Bain, 1975); a greater degree of divergent




thinking ( Da Silveira 1989); higher

efficiency in verbal-transformation and

symbol substitution tasks (Ekstrand 1981);

greater originality in creative thinking

(Torrance, 1970); greater metalinguistic

ability (Pattnaik & Mohanty, 1984).

Recent studies have focused on bilingual’s

enhanced problem solving abilities where

solutions depend on inhibitory control

(Grosjean 2011). The bilinguals’ advantage

in tasks where inhibitory control is needed

is explained by the “inhibitory control

theory” which was proposed by D. W.

Green in 1998 (Hilchey& Klein 2011).

Research has shown that when a bilingual

person uses one language, the other is

activated at the same time. When people

listen they do not hear the whole word

simultaneously and even before the whole

word is said our brain starts to process the

information and guess what the word could

be. Therefore if a person hears the word

‘can’ he/she will probably also activate the

word ‘candle’ or ‘candy’ at least in the

earlier stages of word recognition. For

bilingual speakers this process is not

limited to the language that they are using

but both languages are activated (Marian &

Shook, 2012). In order to retrieve the

relevant word, one of the words needs to

be inhibited. The supervisory attentional

system (SAS) regulates this process in

which only the relevant semantic unit for

speech or language is retrieved by solving

the conflict associated with two

simultaneously activated semantic units, by

virtue of inhibition (Hilchey & Klein 2011).

Because bilingual speakers need to

activate the SAS every time they speak or

listen it is highly strengthened.

Bilingual people are also better at

switching between two tasks and switching

strategies quickly on the fly (Prior &

MacWhinney 2010). Bilinguals also have

heightened metalinguistic abilities but it is

only present when inhibitory control is

needed for the task. Therefore when a

problem contains a conflict like for example

counting the words in correct sentences

bilinguals would have an advantage, but if

it were just a metalinguistic task without the

conflict like for example correcting

mistakes in sentences or replacing one

sound with another bilinguals and

monolinguals obtain similar results

(Grosjean 2011).

Bialystok, Craik and Freedman (2007)

discovered that bilingualism protects

against symptoms of dementia into old

age. This relates to the ‘cognitive

enrichment hypothesis where a wide

variety of specific lifestyle factors have

pervasive beneficial effects on cognitive

functioning through the lifespan (Hilchey&

Klein 2011).

Another area in which bilinguals differ from

monolinguals is the neurological activation.

Bilinguals appear to have advantages in

auditory attention. ‘The cognitive control

required to manage multiple languages




appears to have broad effects on

neurological function, fine-tuning both

cognitive control mechanisms and sensory

processes.’ (Marian & Shook 2012, p 5).

The brain’s structure is also influenced by

bilingualism. Bilinguality correlates with

higher gray matter volume in the left

inferior parietal cortex (Mechelli et al.,

2004). Scientists have found that damage

to this part of the brain causes uncontrolled

language switching which implies that it

may play an important role in managing the

contextual usage of language. Furthermore

researchers have found that white matter

volume changes in bilingual children and

adults (Luk et al., 2011; Mohades at al.

2012). All this implies that bilingualism not

only influences the neurological functioning

but also the neurological structures (Marian

& Shook 2012).

However the parallel activation of two

languages in bilinguals can also have

some negative effects. Scientists have

concluded that bilinguals are slower on

picture naming tasks (Gollan, Montoya,

Fennema-Notestine, & Morris, 2005), that

they produce fewer words in verbal fluency

tasks (Rosselli, Ardila, Araujo, Weekes,

Caracciolo, Padilla, & Ostrosky-Solis,

2000) perform worse on lexical decision

tasks (Ransdell & Fischler, 1987), and

experience much more difficulty with lexical

access, despite sometimes similar

receptive vocabulary scores (Gollan &

Acenas,2004 as cited in Hilchey & Klein

2011). It appears that one domain in which

they do less well than monolinguals are

verbal tasks such as “choose a picture that

illustrates the spoken word” or the ones

that have been mentioned earlier. These

results could be explained by the

complementary principle according to

which the bilinguals usually use their

languages for different purposes in

different contexts and with different people.

When bilinguals are tested in both their

languages the results improve significantly

(Grosjean, 2011).

3. The influence of bilingualism on

third language acquisition

Most of the research on the effects of

bilingualism on third language acquisition

shows that bilingualism has a positive

effect on third language acquisition (Cenoz

et al, 2001). As evidence for this statement

we can mention some studies done in

Spain where the acquisition of English as

the L3 was tested in monolingual Spanish

students and bilingual (Basque-Spanish or

Catalan-Spanish) students. Catalan and

Basque are minority languages in Spain

but they are regarded as an asset by the

whole community in Spain. The

monolingual learners received education in

Spanish while the bilinguals were educated

in their minority languages. In these

conditions the results of research from




Cenoz, 1991, 1996; Cenoz & Valencia,

1994; Lasagabaster, 1998, 2000

concluded that bilingualism was a factor

that predicted better general proficiency in

the third language regardless of other

factors such as age, intelligence, exposure

and motivation (Mesaros [no year] ).

However, other researchers suggest that it

is not bilinguality, but biliteracy which

facilitates the acquisition of an L3 (Swain,

Lapkin, Rowen & Hart, 1990 as cited in

Sanz 2000).

L3 learners have more experience at their

disposal than do the L2 learners because

they have already gone through the

process of learning a language twice

(Cenoz and Jessner, 2000). Furthermore

the knowledge of these two languages and

the experience of the acquisition process

of another language are likely to influence

the acquisition of a third language (Cenoz

et al, 2001).

One of the most researched positive

effects of bilingualism on L3 acquisition is

the higher level of metalinguistic

awareness. Metalinguistic awareness

allows a person to deeper understand and

analyze language by focusing on different

levels of linguistic structure such as words,

phonemes, syntax, phonological

awareness, word awareness, sentence

awareness and semantic awareness

(Weiqiang 2011). Research by Bialystok

(1986, 1987, 1991), Diaz (1985),

Galambos and Goldin-Meadow (1990),

Yelland, Pollard, and Mercury (1993), and

Ricciardelli (1992a, 1992b) found bilinguals

to have greater explicit knowledge of the

language. According to Ellis (1994) the

weak interface position in L2 acquisition

theory proposes that: “while explicit

knowledge cannot be transformed into

implicit knowledge of the L2, it can help in

the acquisition process by acting as an

advanced organizer, focusing learners’

attention on the relevant features of the

language. That is, heightened

metalinguistic awareness, which results

from exposure to literacy in two languages,

gives bilinguals the capacity to focus on

form and pay attention to the relevant

features in the input. Just as more efficient

use of memory space enhances the

amount of input that can be processed into

intake, metalinguistic awareness enhances

the quality of the intake that feeds into the

interlanguage system.”(Stanz 2000, p 14).

Klein (1995) suggests that because

bilinguals have two sets of vocabularies

they have a better understanding of the

arbitrary relationship between words and

their referents. This suggests that

bilinguals would have an advantage over

monolinguals in lexical awareness. This is

important for L3 acquisition because the

skills used in the acquisition of the second

set of vocabulary are transferable and

applicable to the acquisition of the L3

vocabulary. However, this positive effect is

more evident in consecutive than




simultaneous bilinguals since in the case of

simultaneous bilinguals the acquisition of

both vocabularies was spontaneous and

not as much attention was given to the

learning strategies as in the case of

consecutive bilinguals (Weiqiang 2011).

The advantages connected to lexical

awareness brought up the issue of transfer

which in turn invokes the question of cross-

linguistic influence, because transfer is just

one of the forms of cross-linguistic

influence.

It is by now fairly obvious that L3

acquisition is not just another case of L2

acquisition. Even though the two

processes may be similar as Clyne (1997:

113) put it: “the additional language

complicates the operations of the process”

(as cited in Mesaros [no year]). The

differences are most evident when we look

at Cross-linguistic influence. In second

language acquisition the first language can

influence the second and vice versa so that

the cross-linguistic influence can occur in

these two languages in both directions (L1

← → L2). This process is considerably

more complicated in third language

acquisition because cross-linguistic

influence occurs between the first

language and the second language, the

first language and the third language as

well as between the second language and

the third language (L1 ← → L2; L1←

→L3; L2← →L3) (Cenoz et al., 2001).

Research on cross-linguistic

influence in L3 acquisition is grounded on

psycholinguistic theories of speech

processing and production in monolinguals

(Levelt, 1989) and bilinguals (Green, 1986;

De Bot, 1992; Grosjean, 1997), as well as

on specific proposals of cross-linguistic

influence in second language acquisition

(Kellerman, 1983 as cited in Cenoz et al.,

2001).

It is beyond the scope of this paper to go

into all of the aspects and factors that

affect cross-linguistic influence. Therefore

we will only focus on one aspect of cross-

linguistic influence – transfer.

The definition of transfer that I will use in

this paper is Odlin’s (1989): “transfer is the

influence resulting from similarities and

differences between the target language

and any other language that has been

previously (and perhaps imperfectly)

acquired” (p 27 as cited in Murphy, 2005). I

have selected this definition because it is

rather general and it includes both positive,

facilitative and negative transfer.

The first question that arises when we talk

about transfer in L3 acquisition is from

what language to what language the

transfer occurs. Different hypothesis

propose different answers to this question,

and we will mention some that we perceive

to be the most representative.

The Developmentally Moderated Transfer

Hypothesis (Hakansson et al. 2002) which

incorporates transfer in Processability




theory argues that transfer will occur only

between the L1 and L2 and L1 and L3 but

that no transfer will occur between L2 and

L3 (Bardel & Falk, 2007). The Failed

Features Hypothesis (Hawkins 1998, 2000;

Hawkins & Chan 1997; Smith & Tsimpli

1995) also states that no transfer will

happen between L2 and L3 but that L1 will

influence both L2 and L3 (Leung, 2005).

On the other hand the Full Transfer Full

Access Hypothesi (FTFAH)s, as the name

implies, argues that transfer happens

between all of the languages in other

words L1 ← → L2; L1← →L3; L2← →L3

(Leung, 2005).

Transfer hypothesis also differ in regard to

the presumed impact of the L1 grammar.

According to the FTFAH all syntactic

properties of L1 initially constitute a base

for new developing grammar, which is

constructed with the involvement of

Universal Grammar. There are weaker

views which predict different levels of

involvement of first language grammar. For

example Vainikka and Young-Scholten

(1994; 1996) propose that there is only

transfer of the lexical categories. Eubank

(1993/94; 1994) proposes that both lexical

and functional categories are transferred

but that feature strength is not. After this

initial transfer phase, the learner is

assumed to construct an interlanguage

grammar on the basis of L2 input and the

Universal Grammar (Bardel& Falk 2007).

Bardel and Falk (2007) studied the effects

of bilingualism on third language

acquisition. More specifically they wanted

to see whether transfer would occur and

from what language. They tested the

placement of sentence negation. The

participants were separated into two

groups: In the first group were bilinguals

whose L1 had the same placement of

negation (verb second V2) as the target

language L3, in the second group were

bilinguals whose second language L2 had

the same placement of negation (V2) like

the L3. This study showed that transfer did

occur. Transfer occurred from L2 to L3 in

both groups. The researchers interpreted

these results by attributing the fact that

transfer occurred only from L2 to L3 to the

stronger status factor of the L2 which in

this case overpowered the typology factor.

The results of this research also confirm

the Full Transfer Full Access Hypothesis if

we accept the explanation as to why L1

transfer did not occur.

As we have seen from the results from the

aforementioned study transfer and cross-

linguistic influence is a phenomenon which

is influenced by many factors. These

factors can be loosely divided into two

categories: learner based variables and

language based variables. The learner

based variables are: proficiency, amount of

target language exposure, language mode,

age, linguistic awareness and educational

background. The language based variables




are typology, frequency and word class

(Murphy, 2005).

However, the evidence of the positive

effects that bilingualism has on L3

acquisition should not lull us into acquiring

a black and white view on this topic and

immediately assume that if a person is

bilingual they have acquired these

advantages.

There are a number of studies that show

no statistical differences between bilingual

and monolingual performance (Balke-

Aurell & Lindblad, 1982; Jaspaert &

Lemmens, 1990; Sanders & Meijers, 1995;

Schoonen et al.,2002). The effects of

bilingualism on internal cognitive variables

are mediated by external factors related to

particular sociolinguistic situations.

The sociolinguistic situation results either

in subtractive or additive bilingualism

(Sanz, 2000). In the case of additive

bilingualism the bilingual should show the

positive cognitive abilities of bilingualism

while in subtractive bilingualism no

advantages will be acquired in comparison

to monolingual speakers. A number of

factors influence which type of bilingualism

will be acquired.

Additive bilingualism occurs when both

languages have high social standing and

are valued by the community. If the

languages are valued by the community

this will also influence the learners

motivation and attitude towards the

language. Motivation and attitude are

important factors since they directly

influence the level of language proficiency

that will be achieved. If the level of

proficiency is high in both languages then

the bilingual will enjoy the cognitive

benefits that come with additive

bilingualism (Hammers 2000).

This is supported by Cummins’s (1979)

threshold theory according to which a

bilingual will be able to acquire the

cognitive benefits associated with

bilingualism only if a certain minimum

threshold of competence in a second

language is acquired. There are essentially

two thresholds the lower and the higher

threshold of bilingual competence. If the

lower threshold is reached the individual

will be a dominant bilingual and will not

reap the benefits of the cognitive

advantages of bilingualism but will also not

suffer from the disadvantages of

subtractive bilingualism. If the higher

threshold of bilingual competence is

reached the individual will be a balanced

bilingual who enjoys the cognitive

advantages of bilingualism.

The developmental interdependence

hypothesis (Cummins 1979) tells us how

L1 and L2 skills are related. It proposes

that the level of L2 competence which a

bilingual child attains is partially a function

of the type of competence the child has

developed in L1 at the time when intensive

exposure to L2 begins. For children whose

L1 skills are less well developed in certain




respects, intensive exposure to L2 in initial

grades is likely to impede the development

of L1. If this would happen the individual

would not gain the cognitive benefits

associated with bilingualism.

As we have mentioned status of the

languages affects the motivation and

attitude of the learner but it is also linked to

the distinction between elite bilingualism

and folk bilingualism. The languages of

elite bilinguals as the name implies are

highly valued in the community and country

in which they live. An example of this

would be English- or German-speaking

immigrants in the Netherlands who

consider their language a valuable asset

and make every effort to maintain it and

pass it on to their children –efforts which

are encouraged by the host community.

The languages of folk bilinguals do not

enjoy high social status. An example of this

are Turkish migrants who will be

confronted with the attitude that it is

detrimental for them to continue speaking

their L1 and for their children to learn it,

that this will impair their chances for

assimilation and career opportunities, and

that a switch to monolingual Dutch is

preferable. It is evident that elite

bilingualism would have positive effects on

the gain of bilingual cognitive advantages

(Baker, 2011).

The country's minority language policy is of

crucial importance. As we have mentioned

before it is not bilingualism per se, but

biliteracy which enables the forming of

cognitive advantages of bilingualism

therefore an opportunity for the bilinguals

to be educated in both their languages

improves their chances of reaping the

benefits of bilingualism (Stanz, 2000).

When the L2 is present in the community

the quality and quantity of the interaction

with the speakers of the L2 is another

factor. This is connected to L1

maintenance, if we are talking about a

minority language situation. As we know

from the developmental interdependence

hypothesis the higher the levels in the two

languages the better developed the

cognitive functions. But it has also been

confirmed that in minority settings it is

better for the family to communicate in their

L1. This is because L1 maintenance

positively influences the acquisition of the

L2 and L3.

4. Conclusion

As we have seen the effects of bilingualism

on cognition are quite a complicated

matter. The stand on this issue today is

well described in the quote by Ellen

Bialystok and Xiaojia Feng: "The picture

emerging from these studies is a complex

portrait of interactions between bilingualism

and skill acquisition in which there are

sometimes benefits for bilingual children,

sometimes deficits, and sometimes no

consequence at all."(p. 121 as cited in

Grosjean 2011).




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Second Edition. Blackwell Publishing, Ltd. [Electronic version] (25.03.2014)

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Cenoz, J., Hufeisen, B. &Jessner U. (Eds.)(2001). Cross-linguistic Influence in Third

Language Acquisition: Psycholinguistic Perspective [Electronic version]. Clevedon:

Multilingual Matters. (19 Jul 2013)

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Cummins, J. (1979). Linguistic Interdependence and the Educational Development of

Bilingual Children. Review of Educational Research, Vol. 49, No. 2 (Spring, 1979), pp. 222-

251; American Educational Research Association (28 June 2013)

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bilingualism

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7.pdf?auth66=1412286766_f2dbb47dcb4809d233cc95d13711e85c&ext=.pdf

Leung, Y. I. (2005) Second vs. Third Language Acquisition of Tense and Agreement in

French by Vietnamese Monolinguals and Cantonese-English Bilinguals. Proceedings of the

4th International Symposium on Bilingualism. MA: Cascadilla Press. (16 April 2014)

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Marian, V. & Shook, A. (2012).The Cognitive Benefits of Being Bilingual. The DANA

Foundation.(23 April 2014)

https://dana.org/Cerebrum/2012/The_Cognitive_Benefits_of_Being_Bilingual/

Mesaros, B.T. (no year). Learning English as a Third Language “The Case of Romanian

Community in Spain”. Universitat Jumae. [Electronic version] (22 June 2013)

http://www.uji.es/bin/publ/edicions/jfi14/filang/3.pdf

Murphy, S. (2005). Second Language Transfer During Third Language Acquisition. Teachers

College, Columbia University Working Papers in TESOL and Applied Linguistics (16 April

2014) http://journals.tc-library.org/index.php/tesol/article/viewFile/23/28

Sanz, C. (2000). Bilingual education enhances third language acquisition: Evidence from

Catalonia. Applied Psycholinguistics 21 (2000), 23-44; (3 May 2014)

http://faculty.georgetown.edu/sanzc/Sanz2000.pdf

Weiqiang, A. A. (2011) Bilingualism and Multilingualism: The Effects of Bilingualism on the

Acquisition of a Third Language (02 March 2014)

https://www.academia.edu/6050076/The_Effect_of_Bilingualism_on_the_Acquisition_of_a_T

hird_Language

*****

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/life-bilingual/201106/what-are-the-effects-bilingualism

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/life-bilingual/201106/what-are-the-effects-bilingualism

http://books.google.rs/books?hl=en&lr=&id=2r2l3Nre9sAC&oi=fnd&pg=PP10&dq=definition+of+bilingualism&ots=cvA2Rqs4_y&sig=CylsoviO8fdy3AqdDrgVhv-sovM&redir_esc=y



http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/839/art%253A10.3758%252Fs13423-011-0116-7.pdf?auth66=1412286766_f2dbb47dcb4809d233cc95d13711e85c&ext=.pdf

http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/839/art%253A10.3758%252Fs13423-011-0116-7.pdf?auth66=1412286766_f2dbb47dcb4809d233cc95d13711e85c&ext=.pdf

http://www.lingref.com/isb/4/105ISB4.PDF

http://www.uji.es/bin/publ/edicions/jfi14/filang/3.pdf

http://journals.tc-library.org/index.php/tesol/article/viewFile/23/28

http://faculty.georgetown.edu/sanzc/Sanz2000.pdf




Radmila Palinkašević has graduated from the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade And she is currently

doing her PhD thesis. She works at the Mihailo Palov Preschool Teacher Training College in Vršac.

Her interests are ESL methodics, bilingualism and psycholinguistics.




Developing Artistry in Teaching

by Willy Cardoso, freelance, Oxford, UK

Abstract Considering the current practice that evaluates teaching in terms of demonstrable classroom behaviours, and teacher knowledge in terms of the accumulation of techniques, there is an increasing concern that the artistry of language teaching is not given enough credit. In this article, the author discusses how this impacts on the work of teachers, especially in terms of performance evaluation and definitions of best practice. This paper also suggests some alternative frames to address areas such as disposition towards inquiry-based development, acknowledgment of the centrality teacher intuition, and the necessity of collective engagement. Key words: artistry, professional development, teacher knowledge, reflective practice, professional knowledge, evaluation Apstrakt S obzirom na trenutnu praksu koja ocenjuje nastavu u smislu dokazivih ponašanja u učionici, i znanja nastavnika u smislu akumulacije tehnika, sve je veća zabrinutost da umetnost učenja jezika nije dobila dovoljno na važnosti. U ovom članku, autor ukauzuje na to kako ovo utiče na rad nastavnika, posebno na polju ocenjivanja i definicijama najbolje prakse. U radu se takođe ukazuje na neke alternativne okvire za rešavanje ove oblasti kao što su određenje prema istraživačko-baziranom razvoju, priznanje važnosti intuicije nastavnika i nužnosti kolektivnog angažmana. Ključne reči: umetnost, profesionalni razvoj, znanje nastavnika, reflektivna praksa, stručno znanje, ocenjivanje

1. Introduction

At the present moment, one of the

challenges of teacher development and

evaluation, both formal and informal, is to

swim against the current of a so-called

‘box-ticking’ culture (Cardoso and

Madhavan, 2014). A box-ticking culture is

one that: (a) focuses on visible behaviour

as the main form of evidence of

professional knowledge; (b) considers that

change in behaviour means change in

cognition; (c) focuses on teachers’

techniques, methodologies, classroom

management and control, repertoire of

activities, rationales for activities, etc; all of

which matching externally constructed

knowledge and its translation into

assessment criteria (i.e. boxes to tick).

With modes of evaluation defining what

valid professional knowledge is, we have to

be reminded that evaluation is never

neutral, and that valid professional

knowledge is never neutral either. They are

constructed within discourse, which is

inevitably value-laden: culturally and

politically. Within these interrelated spaces

there are power structures that will

delineate the dominant mode of discourse,




which can be emancipatory for some and

oppressing for others. Advances in our

understanding of the role teachers tend to

open up new ways of thinking; however,

they can simultaneously limit or suppress

less dominant ways of thinking as well. By

evaluating teaching in terms of

demonstrable classroom behaviours, and

teacher knowledge in terms of the

accumulation of techniques, current modes

of evaluation, with their focus on

competencies, may give us a false

impression of teaching as a coherent,

linear process, when in fact, the day-to-day

teacher would not find it hard to evaluate

one’s practice in terms of “uncertainty,

rupture, dissonance, tentativeness,

provisionality and self-disclosure” (Smyth,

1995, p.8).

The challenge is that at the same time the

work of teachers becomes more regulated

and standardised; teachers are asked to

become reflective practitioners and to

engage in lifelong learning through

continuous professional development. The

kind of reflection teachers are encouraged

to engage in is also constituted within a

dominant discourse which reinforces that

teachers should reflect on the practical and

personal, which may neglect reflection on

the values constituting their teaching. If

your work is mainly spoken in practical and

personal terms then you are accepting a

definition of yourself as you speak

(Goodson, 1995). This means reproducing

the status of teachers as ‘classroom

technicians’ and giving away the

intellectual work and responsibility to

others. One of the main implications would

be that “differences in teaching practices

are viewed as merely differences in

teaching style rather than as differences

that derive from ethical and critical

considerations” (Hursh p. 102). As a

counter-narrative, the author proposes

through this article a view of teaching as

art, and that teacher development takes

onboard elements similar to the

development of artistry. He also proposes

that classroom experiences work their way

towards the opening up of more

opportunities for artistic experiences. It

should be emphasised that this is not a

novel or revolutionary view of teaching, but

it is one that is not promoted as often as it

should. This article is then taken as an

opportunity to join in the debate and invite

others to this less travelled route of inquiry

into our profession.

2. Understanding artistry in teaching

It is curious that after many years of

experience and many years of academic

engagement with teaching, a well-prepared

teacher may still find that his/her lesson

plan failed to address the reality of the

students, as individuals and as a group

studying together. Sometimes, the

knowledge we have about what we should

do does not fit, and sometimes we find

ourselves in classroom situations which




are so context/person-specific that it would

have been impossible to foresee and plan

for a known outcome; even though,

generally speaking, these situations are

nothing but common. For example, what

kind of knowledge stock the author draws

from to tackle situations in which: students

seem to be unresponsive to the material

presented; a student starts to cry out of

frustration for not achieving a task; one can

overhear a ‘good’ student say the lesson is

boring. It is felt that these fairly common

classroom situations are practically

impossible to be theorised and studied

based on an overarching conception of

teaching.

These doubts led the author to look at the

knowledge base of our profession: how it is

constructed, what philosophies and

ideologies underlie the methodologies

teachers use; what assumptions they hold

about teaching and the work of teachers.

The author found out that there was a

certain world view, a way of seeing things,

that could maybe be lacking in some

respect; that would have certain

normalised ways of being and behaving

that could be counterproductive to the work

teachers do and consequently to the

learning they are trying to bring about in

their students.

One of these views, and the dominant one,

is that teaching is a science, or better an

applied science. The contrasting view, and

the one promoted is that teaching is also

an art. It could even be argued that it is

more of an art form than a science one.

However, one cannot be entirely sure

about it. At any rate there are some very

important things to reconsider if we agree

that teaching resembles artistry.

Elliot Eisner (1985) defines teaching as an

art in the sense that teachers, like artists,

make judgments based on qualities that

are emergent, that is, which unfold during

the course of action, a course of action

which is not dominated by prescriptions but

by contingencies – unpredictability.

Teaching then is dependent on the

perception and control of these emergent

qualities. Likewise, the ends achieved in

teaching are also emergent, that is, ends

are not predetermined but often found in

interaction with students.

For the sake of clarity and simplicity, the

author will confine this exploration of

artistry in teaching within an understanding

of artistry which consists of artistic ability,

artistic quality, and artistic pursuit. With this

in mind, he will further explore how

teachers can develop artistry.

3. Inquiry-based development and

problem-setting mindset

It is difficult not to relate artistry in teaching

to the notion of the reflective practitioner.

Especially in ELT, this theory of practice is

usually traced back to the work of Donald

Schon, who in turn was influenced by the

philosophy of education of John Dewey.

Schon builds his theory on the hypothesis




that “there is an irreducible element of art

in professional practice” (Schon, 1987: 18)

and because of that we should revisit what

an epistemology of practice looks like and

in turn rewrite what is valid professional

knowledge and how people acquire it. For

Schon, professional practice is not only

about solving problems but also, and very

importantly, about ‘finding the problems’

(problem-setting). It is with the latter

concern that problem-setting becomes

central in the art of reflective practice.

Problem-setting, in essence, consists of an

exercise in naming and framing, which can

form a continuous cycle once in the ‘art’ of

practice it is unlikely that a solution to a

problem will always be the only solution

possible. In Schon’s words,

When we set the problem, we select what

we will treat as the “things” of the situation,

we set the boundaries of our attention to it,

and we impose upon it a coherence which

allows us to say what is wrong and in what

directions the situation needs to be

changed. Problem setting is a process in

which, interactively, we name the things to

which we will attend and frame the context

in which we will attend to them. (ibid. p. 40)

The process then is always open-ended,

working in iterations and becoming more

developed as it becomes more reflective.

However, this is easier said than done. The

major problem is that of mindset, or the

epistemological standing of the

professional when faced with situations of

problem solving and problem setting. In

lacking the tradition, and therefore the

instruments and the language, to describe

‘artful competence’, teachers may find

themselves unable to make sense of the

situation and the process of naming and

framing once their foundational grounds or

models no longer apply (at least in theory);

i.e. they have nowhere to go and grasp the

necessary knowledge that will solve the

problem if we agree with Schon that

knowledge is in the action. In sum,

“complexity, instability, and uncertainty are

not removed or resolved by applying

specialized knowledge to well-defined task”

(ibid. p. 19). In sum, an inquiry-based

approach to teacher development which is

focused on problem-setting requires the

teacher to accept the unpredictable nature

of his/her practice. The challenge, on the

other hand, is that in many cultures the

teachers’ job is equated to control, that is,

to direct students’ behaviour and cognition

through effective control of materials and

group dynamics.

In practice, that means that in trying to

develop artistry from an inquiry-based

approach, a teacher could consider

‘development’ as being able to do more

with less; that is, with a lesson plan that is

never ‘complete’ as it always leaves room

to experience and experiment with what

emerges. This approach requires a

relatively different set of skills and

dispositions.




4. Observing and evaluating practice

If relying on scientific knowledge to

develop the practice of teaching is to be

temporarily suspended in order to give way

to artistry, then what will lay the grounds

for practice? That is, what can teachers

rely on? An interesting analogy to start to

formulate an answer is that of how

musicians improvise.

Musicians know that behind a seemingly

effortless performance or improvisation

there is an incredible amount of training.

The purpose of such an intense training is

that during the actual performance the

musician can “forget” all s/he knows. In this

case, during the performance the

improviser will rarely think about what has

just happened or what is about to happen;

improvising requires an incredible

awareness, and a need, to be in the

present. For this reason, besides the

technical knowledge and skills, improvisers

show us they have a ‘feel’ for what is going

on as they adjust their play in light of what

others are playing; and vice-versa.

Linked to the idea of developing a ‘feel for’

the material or situation is that of ‘tact’.

Tact seems characterized by moral

intuitiveness: A tactful teacher seems to

have the ability of instantly sensing what

the appropriate, right or good thing to do

on the basis of perceptive pedagogical

understanding of children's individual

nature and circumstances is. (van Manen,

1995, p. 10)

A tactful teacher makes classroom

decisions on the fly by interpreting

students’ indirect clues such as body

language and expression. Tact involves

seeing through what is apparently only a

cause-effect relation (van Manen, 1995).

In practice, intuition can be developed by

reflecting on classroom decision-making.

By examining the factors that led the

teacher to make a pedagogical decision on

the spots he might find that many of these

decisions are not supported by her

formal/explicit knowledge of teaching.

When realising a decision was made

based on intuition the teacher can then

examine the conditions in which this was

possible (e.g. who was involved, the time

of the day, the type of lesson and material,

and so on) - these will not determine future

practice of similar situations but will inform

them. If successful, these classroom

events will also build the teacher’s self-

confidence on partly relying on intuition. To

this end, reflection journals and video

recordings of classrooms come highly

recommended.

As Eisner (1985) put it, the arts teach us to

judge in the absence of rule and to make

choices based on an attention to nuances

and a reliance on feel. For Parks (1992),

there are certain attributes of artistry which

should be included as a model for judging

the quality of teachers’ performance. In

terms of ‘artistic’ communication, teachers




would demonstrate sensitivity to allegory,

metaphor, irony and other similar concepts,

as well as the ability to think qualitatively

about the best way to communicate an

idea which can trigger empathic and

interested responses from students.

Another relevant attribute is self-knowledge

and its relation to the subject and skills

taught; along with self-motivation and self-

directedness which enable the

artist/teacher to place the pursuit of

knowledge and personal growth above

other activities and beyond custom and

conventions.

From a similar perspective, but with an

added layer of critical theory, Smyth (1995)

argues that teachers can gain some control

over defining best practice through self-

government, self-regulation and self-

responsibility, which will be essential

aspects of their portrayals of practice and

reflection. This will reinforce the view that

teachers are the ones who know best

about teaching.

In sum, one of the downsides of

evaluations following a technical-rational

model of knowledge is the emphasis on

prediction and control, perhaps at the

expense of exploration and discovery. This

model diminishes the importance of

opening oneself to uncertainty, and

consequently to artistic practices (Eisner,

1985).

5. Collective engagement

The author suggests that professional

development should focus on teachers’

active process of contesting and

determining the ends of their work; instead

of just adapting to innovations which focus

on ends determined by others. There has

been a constant call for teachers to

develop in the light of the ‘new’ - that is,

methodological or technological

innovations. But many times what is

needed is development which focuses on

renewal. A focus on renewal will pool the

local expertise already present in a school

and create conditions for teachers to

collectively strengthen local knowledge

arising from critical examination of their

accumulated personal experiences (Eraut,

1994). In this case, teachers become

central in determining the ends of their

practice, and not only the processes.

Each discipline requires us to learn how to

think within it, however, disciplines are not

static and unsullied, by thinking within a

discipline we can learn how to change it.

An artist develops techniques with which

s/he can manipulate materials that aid the

expression of his art; and in many cases

the artwork is an expression of deeper

values, commitment and ideologies - with

this awareness, the teacher can also

develop techniques that will serve as a

means to an end. In other words, teaching

techniques are not the ends; the




accumulation of resources, materials,

activities, etc, is not the ends of teacher

professional development - if taken as

artistry; it is a means by which the teacher

can express her educational values and

achieve her educational aims.

A conflict of ends cannot be resolved by

the use of techniques derived from applied

research. It is rather through the non-

technical process of framing the

problematic situation that we may organize

and clarify both the ends to be achieved

and the possible means of achieving them.

(Schon1983, p. 41)

In a recent interview for TEA Austria, I was

asked whether the forces of box-ticking

cultures in this age of measurability are

unstoppable. I think they are, indeed,

unstoppable – but that they don’t preclude

the emergence of parallel narratives, or

even counter-narratives. Many artistic

expressions develop first as a subculture,

and are initially frowned upon for their

subversion of the status quo; however

imperfect they are they can form novel

forms of communities of practice and bring

freshness to the field.

In this scenario, engagement stops being

an option and becomes a necessity. If left

to the external forces of curriculum,

policies, performance indicators, and other

influencers, the classroom can contribute

to and become a representation of the

teacher’s isolation. We ought to be careful

when collective concerns are turned into

individualised concerns; because where

teachers could benefit from sharing there

might be in place a culture in which asking

for help is seen as a sign of weakness

(Britzman, 1986). In face of a certain kind

of (isolating) autonomy culture, collective

engagement is thus of utmost importance.

This bottom-up counter-narrative is what

can actually empower teachers.

6. Conclusion

To make sense of their experiences in

artistic terms, teachers will have to

overthrow the image created by

researchers, administrators and

policymakers (Smyth, 1992). One way to

rework this cultural image is to reframe

teaching as a transformative intellectual

activity (Aronowitz and Giroux, 1985). The

artist-teacher as a transformative

intellectual can offer a counter-narrative for

what is possible (and potentially desirable)

in classrooms.

Because perception of relationship

between what is done and what is

undergone constitutes the work of

intelligence, and because the artist is

controlled in the process of his work by his

grasp of the connection between what he

has already done and what he is to do

next, the idea that the artist does not think

as intently and penetratingly as a scientific

inquirer is absurd. (Dewey, 1934 p. 45)

Rubin (1985) talks of attitude and

professional “hunger” being the roots of

great teaching. Artistry in teaching is




important, but artistry alone does not

suffice - it is less a matter of talent and

more a matter of developing talent along

with the sort of dedication and attitude

which do not come prescribed.

In this vein, a number of questions remain:

how can teachers tap into acts of artistry?

How can they create classroom cultures

that welcome artistry? What role should

artistry play in professional development

activities and what would it look like, feel

like, if it played the lead role?

From this brief development of the

opportunities and necessities of

understanding teaching as an art form, we

can see teachers and artists share similar

functions and characteristics. Not the least

important of which is that becoming a

teacher or an artist involves more than

making a career choice; above all it is a

choice of how one wants to live –a life

choice.




References:

Aronowitz, S., & Giroux, H. A. (1985) Education under siege: The conservative, liberal &

radical debate over schooling. South Hadley, M A : Bergin & Garvey.

Britzman, D. (1986) Cultural Myths in the Making of a Teacher: Biography and Social

Structure in Teacher Education. Harvard Educational Review, 56 (4).

Cardoso, W. and Madhavan, D. (2014) Box-ticking or Mind-mapping: Questions about ELT

Professional Knowledge. Paper presented at the 48th Annual International IATEFL

Conference.

Dewey, J. (1934). Art as Experience, reprinted in 1989, John Dewey: The Later Works,

1925–1953. vol. 10. Boydston, J. (ed.), Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press

Eisner, Elliot W. (1985) The educational imagination: on the design and evaluation of school

programs. New York: Macmillan.

Eraut, M. (1994) Developing professional knowledge and competence. London: Falmer

Press.

Parks, M. E. (1992) The Art of Pedagogy: Artistic Behavior as a Model for Teaching. Art

Education, 45 (5), pp. 51-57.

Rubin, L. J. (1985) Artistry in Teaching. New York: Harper and Row.

Schön, D. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner. How professionals think in action, London:

Temple Smith.

Schön, D. (1987) Educating the Reflective Practitioner, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Smyth, J. (1992) Teachers’ Work and the Politics of Reflection. American Educational

Research Journal, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 267-300

Smyth, J. (ed.) (1995). Critical discourses on teacher development. London: Cassell

Hursh, D. (1995) It’s more than style: reflective teachers as ethical and political practitioners.

In J. Smyth (Ed.), Critical discourses on teacher development. London: Cassell.

Goodson, I. F. (1995). Studying the teacher’s life and work. In J. Smyth (Ed.), Critical

discourses on teacher development. London: Cassell.

Van Manen, M. (1995) On the Epistemology of Reflective Practice. Teachers and Teaching:

theory and practice. 1(1), pp. 33-50.

*****

Willy Cardoso is a freelance teacher trainer and course writer with 13 years’ experience in ELT. He

tutors in the Certificate in Teaching English as a Life Skill and is the publications editor of IATEFL

Teacher Development SIG. He has an MA in Education from the University of Bath.

http://willycardoso.com




Teaching and Learning Financial English

Vocabulary

by Nina Kisin, MA in English language and literature (the Faculty of

Philosophy, the University of Novi Sad)

PhD candidate, Teaching Methodology (the Faculty of Philosophy, the

University of Novi Sad)

Abstract English today is growingly based on English for Finance. Knowledge of new, specific terminology in English not only enriches the rhetoric and the written word, but also leads to the creation of successful diplomatic relations. This article is aimed at presenting some ways of teaching and learning Financial English at intermediate level. Our aim is to present the ways of teaching and throw some light on the new and compelling Business English terms, as well as their widespread use. Data was mostly found in Cambridge University Press – Professional English Online and many dictionaries, with occasional reference to newspaper headlines dealing with current socio-economic developments. Key words: teaching, learning, Financial English, intermediate level, financial vocabulary Apstrakt Savremeni engleski jezik sve se više bazira na engleskom za finansije. Poznavanje nove, specifične terminologije na engleskom jeziku, ne samo da obogaćuje retoriku i pisanu reč, već i dovodi do stvaranja uspešnih diplomatskih odnosa. Ovaj članak ima za cilj predstavljanje nekih načina poučavanja i učenja engleskog za finansije na srednjem nivou znanja. Naš cilj je da predstavimo načine poučavanja i predstavimo novu i interesantnu terminologiju poslovnog engleskog jezika, kao i njenu široku primenu. Podaci su uglavnom prikupljeni iz: Cambridge University Press - Professional English Online i mnogih rečnika, s povremenim pozivanjem na novinske naslove koji se bave aktuelnim društveno-ekonomskim kretanjima. Ključne reči: poučavanje, učenje, finansijski engleski, srednji nivo, finansijski vokabular.

1. Introduction

A language is a reflection of our times. Still,

when it comes to the semantic

development of the lexeme, it seems as if

every epoch had something in common

with the previous one. Thus, from

Shakespeare's sonnets in which a

ʻmortgage’ was used, as in: “and I my self

am mortgaged to thy will” (Shakespeare

1609, In (eds.): R. Proudfoot et al. 1998:

40) to the present ‘Harry Potter Stock

Index,’ lexemes convey meaning and link

the old views with the new ones. A

conscious language speaker should keep

pace with changes that affected lexeme

meanings and vocabulary of many

languages. Business English is that




contemporary and sophisticated area in

which the vocabulary develops by

immense introduction of new words.

Teaching Business English is an umbrella

term for English for Specific Purposes

(ESP). ESP represents, as its name says,

concrete purposes for learning, such as

technical, professional, or academic

studies (Hashimoto, 1994: 101). More

precisely, “ESP is an approach to language

teaching in which all decisions as to

content and method are based on the

learner's reason for learning” (Hutchinson

and Wafters, 1987: 19 as cited in

Hashimoto, 1994: 101). Having this in

mind, we need to create adequate

materials and use different techniques with

business (English) students, because

“business English is not only about

language, but about language use”

(Robinson, 1990 as cited in Stan,

2013:102). Consequently, it becomes

extremely important to present the

techniques for teaching and learning

vocabulary of English for Specific

Purposes (Financial English, in particular),

although, unfortunately, this topic is not

present to that extent in scientific research.

Vocabulary instruction is often neglected in

classroom, as well, whereas grammar is an

inevitable and significant part of foreign

language learning and instruction.

This article is aimed at presenting some

ways of teaching and learning Financial

English at intermediate level. This paper

will be recognized, hopefully, as a signpost

to the teachers of Business English

whenever they find themselves in need of

a better technique for teaching vocabulary

and learners of Business English searching

for a better way to learn financial

vocabulary. Techniques for vocabulary

learning and instruction are classified into

three groups (explicit, independent and

incidental vocabulary learning). The

vocabulary is, however, adapted to the

students of Business English at

intermediate level.

2. Different approaches to

vocabulary learning and

instruction

There are three different approaches to

vocabulary learning and instruction:

1. Explicit vocabulary learning

2. Independent strategy development

3. Incidental vocabulary learning

A reader of this article will be able to link

these approaches to some of the

techniques for Financial English

vocabulary learning and instruction

mentioned further in this text.

Explicit vocabulary learning relies on the

direct way of vocabulary learning. The

learning aim is lexeme acquisition in the

second language, L2. It includes some of

the techniques for learning Financial

English vocabulary, mentioned in this

article: dictionary use, vocabulary lists and

their translations, matching words with

different definitions, semantic mapping…

(Nation 2001 as cited in Trong Tuan 2011:

1689). The drawback of this vocabulary

learning approach is that it is too teacher-

oriented (Schmitt, 2000as cited in Trong

Tuan 2011: 1689) and relies on the first

language, L1, especially in translation.

However, it is useful in teaching

elementary learners (Coady, 1997as cited

in Trong Tuan 2011: 1689).

Pictorial vocabulary teaching and learning,

presented further in this article belongs to

the independent vocabulary learning. In




this approach, the meaning is inferred from

context or through “pictures, diagrams,

charts…” (Nunan 1999 as cited in Trong

Tuan 2011: 1689).

The incidental vocabulary learning could

be defined as learning a foreign language

by accident, or unintentionally. Nation

(2001) defined it as “the fact that a person

can expand his or her vocabulary

knowledge while being involved in any

language activities without any specific

intention to focus on vocabulary” (Nation

2001 as cited in Trong Tuan 2011: 1689).

This includes: “learning from joining

conversations; listening to radio, stories,

music; watching movies, television;

especially extensive reading; or any other

exposure of input and output both in and

out of the classrooms” (Ibid.). This article

presents reading specialized journals and

case studies as shining examples of

incidental vocabulary learning.

Furthermore, since incidental vocabulary

learning requires a context from which we

deduce meaning, Financial English

vocabulary can be contextualized in a

sentence.

3. Contextualizing Financial English

vocabulary in sentence / case

studies

Teaching Financial English vocabulary is a

challenge that teachers face. First, lexeme

meaning found in Financial English is

specific, often context-dependent. Students

at intermediate level, in general, find it

difficult to understand the meaning and

make nouns or compounds memorable.

The form (pronunciation, spelling) of

lexemes is another problematic aspect

when it comes to students’ output.

However, there are many effective ways to

teach new lexemes. For example, first, as

it was suggested in Cambridge University

Press – Professional English Online, we

tried to play hangman and see if students

could guess the missing letters. Then, we

provided them with the definition of ʻcash

cowʼ as “a very profitable business or part

of a business” (Longman Business English

Dictionary 2000: 66). This was quite a

successful technique, as well as the

translation of ʻcash cowʼ into Serbian.

Students readily offered their translations

of ʻcash cowʼ into Serbian, although they

improvised to some extent: krava muzara,

zlatna koka…

A learning technique to make novel

lexemes memorable is to use them in a

sentence. The students mentioned above

did not know how to use ʻcash cowʼ in a

sentence. Thus, teacher provided them

with example sentences (input): ‘Souvenirs

sold at The Royal wedding were the cash

cow’ (Cambridge University Press –

Professional English Online, n.d.); “GM

and Ford have used luxury cars as cash

cows; giving those up could have a terrible

impact on profitability” (Longman Business

English Dictionary 2000: 66). The former

sentence can provoke further discussion

on the topic of the Royal Wedding, for

example. This is an excellent way to

incorporate culture in EFL (English as a

Foreign Language) classroom.

Also, case studies represent a valuable

teaching technique. Unlike using lexemes

in a sentence, case studies provide a wider

context in which students can eventually

learn some new nouns or compounds that

appear in the text.

There are some characteristics of an

effective case study: “a good case

presents an interest provoking issue and

promotes empathy with the central




characters” (Boehrer and Linsky1990: 45

as cited in Stanford University Newsletter

on Teaching 1994: 1).The author of this

paper remembers the reactions of

Business English students at intermediate

level after they read the case study

entitled: “Florida father battles to save his

home” (Connolly 2010, bbc.co.uk). The

case study is completely dedicated to the

dangers of sub-prime mortgages. This

case study provides a good context for

understanding the meaning of this noun

and it promotes critical thinking in

classroom. Sub-prime mortgages entered

Financial English vocabulary in 2007 when

“loans to sub-prime borrowers, which had

previously registered high profits, turned

sour as millions of borrowers were unable

to keep up repayments on their loans and

defaulted on their debts” (General

Secretariat of the Council 2012: 4).

4. Fill-in task and matching exercise

It is believed that fill-in tasks increase the second language acquisition. Fill-in task is an

excellent way to learn novel nouns (compounds) or other parts of speech. Below is an

example of this effective technique for learning Financial English. Students are satisfied with

this technique, primarily because it is an excellent way to use new lexemes in contexts.

Later, a translation of key words into Serbian is offered to them.

Figure 1. Example of fill-in the gaps exercise

(Data source: Sweeney, S. Test your Professional English – Finance, England: PENGUIN

English, 2007: 73)

Teacher can also translate some additional unknown lexemes that appear in the text (loans,

wages). For instance, there is a significant distinction between loan and mortgage, or wage

and salary. ‘Loan’ is “money that an organization such as a bank lends and somebody

borrows” (Oxford Learner’s Pocket Dictionary of Business English, 2006: 279). On the other

hand, ‘mortgage’ is defined as “a legal agreement by which a bank or similar organization

lends you money to buy a house […] and you pay the money back over a number of years”

(Ibid. 307). Wage is “a regular amount of money that you earn, every week, for work or

COMPLETE THE SPACES WITH WORDS OR PHRASES FROM THE BOX.

consumer spending building societies balance of payments exchange rates interest rates

When banks and _______________ offer credit, or cheap loans at low _______________,

consumer spending rises and _______________ go up. High _______________ creates

pressure to increase wages. High consumer spending also creates more demand for imports.

This causes problems for the _______________.




services” (Ibid. 523), whereas salary is paid on a monthly basis. These differences in

meaning should be highlighted and lexemes should be translated into the first language, L1.

ENGLISH SERBIAN

consumer

spending

potrošnja potrošača

building

societies

građevinska društva

balance of

payments

platni bilans

interest rates kamatne stope

exchange

rates

kursna lista

Table 1. Example of a translation technique

Matching exercise purpose is twofold: to benefit teachers by providing them with a reliable

input for teaching quite abstract Financial English vocabulary and to benefit learners by

providing them with a list of new lexemes and their definitions/synonyms, or sometimes,

translations into L1. Furthermore, it is proved that we can enhance vocabulary learning by

accompanying text-based vocabulary exercises, such as, e.g. matching exercise or

crossword puzzle (Wesche & Paribakht, 2000 as cited in Nam, 2010: 133).

Figure 2. Matching exercise (new key words-definitions)

Data source: Tonya Trappe, T. and Tullis, G. New Insights into Business, LONGMAN, 2004




Figure 3. Matching exercise (new key words-translations into L1)


5. Semantic mapping

Semantic mapping is similar to the keyword method to some extent. However, the difference

is in the fact that with semantic mapping, we rely on the links between the lexemes. As can

be seen in Figure 4, a keyword (i.e. finance) is connected with other related concepts

(banks, money etc.) by using arrows on the basis of their related meaning.

Figure 4. Simple semantic map for “FINANCE”

Semantic mapping is a technique that can be used successfully with beginner, intermediate

or advanced students. New lexemes require semantic networks of related terms so that we

can understand their meaning.

Many authors describe semantic mapping as an effective learning technique. Semantic

maps can be used successfully in Business English, since many concepts that are abstract

(money, assets) can be related to a solid term (finance). Novak and Gowin (1984) based the

technique of semantic mapping on "learning how to learn" (Novak and Gowin, 1984 as cited

in Oxford and Crookall, 1990: 22). Brown-Azarowicz, Stannard, and Goldin (1986) referred

to the technique of semantic mapping, as “a concept tree, for memorizing foreign language

vocabulary” (Brown-Azarowicz, et al. 1986 as cited in Oxford and Crookall, 1990: 22).




Memorizing foreign language vocabulary through visual aids (charts, maps, pictures…) is

always a good option since learners are able to observe and find semantic similarities

between lexemes.

6. Teaching Financial English vocabulary through pictures

Pictorial vocabulary teaching is presenting “target vocabulary items […] with their equivalent

pictures and written annotations” (Nam, 2010: 130). The L1 intervention can be helpful in

learning the vocabulary of the second (foreign) language, L2. Jiang (2004) claimed that

“adult L2 learners could draw on the mature conceptual and lexical systems of their native

languages (L1s); in part becausetarget vocabulary items usually have corresponding words

in L1s” (Jiang, 2004: 416-432as cited in Nam, 2010: 130). Furthermore, we are accustomed

to the linkage between verbal and visual symbols: no-smoking signs on airplanes and stop

signs (Oxford and Crookall, 1990:17), or warning signs. As for presenting new lexemes

through pictures, “a large number of learners in our culture are primarily visual learners”

(Dunn & Dunn, 1972 as cited in Oxford and Crookall, 1990:17), and “94% of all people are at

least moderately good at using visual imagery” (Goleman, 1986as cited in Oxford and

Crookall, 1990:17).

Figure 5. True/false type of exercise with pictorial vocabulary teaching

(Data source: Sweeney, S. Test your Professional English – Finance, England: PENGUIN

English, 2007: 73)

In Financial English, though, it becomes difficult to use pictorial vocabulary teaching to

present new lexemes. Financial English vocabulary is abstract. For instance, it is difficult to

present/explain by using pictures the lexemes such as budget, interest rates, cash flow plan,

(toxic) assets, liquidity. However, Figure 5 given above is an attempt of pictorial vocabulary

teaching combined with true/false type of exercise. It leads students to the conclusion on the

meaning of interest rates (true/false): “Stable and low inflation and interest rates are an

economic ‘good thing’” (answer: true). In the second part of the task students need to circle

the correct answers: Low interest rates/high interest rates help to control inflation/small

banks; answer: “High interest rates help to control inflation”.

Alternatively, teachers can present new vocabulary in Financial English, by using the

keyword method. Teachers can use PowerPoint presentation to provide students with a

review of the key vocabulary, as in Figure 6 (data source: Tonya Trappe, T. and Tullis, G.

New Insights into Business, LONGMAN, 2004). This is a good way to present abstract




vocabulary. In Figure 6, Stock market (or, stock exchange) is a key lexeme surrounded by

related lexemes.

Figure 6. The key vocabulary review by using PowerPoint presentation


7. Teaching Financial English

through specialized journals

Another interesting and quite novel aspect

of teaching Financial English vocabulary is

through specialized journals (The

Economist, The Financial Times, etc.) that

offer current and relevant terminology.

Content-based teaching is an important

part of languages for specific purposes.

With this technique, “language becomes a

vehicle to convey the goals of content”

(Stan, 2013: 102).

Financial English vocabulary is unique,

since it contains the lexemes which are

found in determined contexts (economic,

financial, social…). Thus, it becomes

important to provide students with an input

which contains up-to-date, relevant data on

financial, economic, or social development.

An article written by Michael White, entitled

“Turbulence and turmoil in the market or

the language of a financial crisis” illustrates

the usage of finance-related lexemes

(‘turbulence,’ ‘turmoil’) by many examples

from the eminent newspapers (The Times,

The Financial Times, September 1992).

For instance, “Foreign exchange markets

were heading for turmoil this morning after

the shock announcement of the

devaluation of the lira...,” as well as: “[…]

but if post-war history is any guide the

likely outcome is months of turbulence,

followed by capitulation to political and

market pressure” (White 2004: 73).

‘Turmoil’ is usually related to chaos and

disorder. ‘Turbulence’ is associated with

“weather phenomena, especially related to

problems in air travel or extreme

meteorological phenomena such as

hurricanes or tornados” (Ibid. p. 74).

Further exploration of these finance-related

lexemes leads us to the fact that both

ʻturbulenceʼ and ʻturmoilʼ can refer to the

currency crisis: “... the plan will protect the

pound from any market turbulence [...]” and

“in the third successive day of currency

turmoil [...]” (White 2004: 75). Still, there

are some differences between ʻturbulenceʼ

and ʻturmoilʼ. The former refers to the fluid

dynamics, natural phenomena and weather

phenomena, while the latter refers to the

‘social upheaval’ (Ibid.). The following

sentence puts ‘turmoil’ into an appropriate

context of the currency crisis:




“Given the turmoil in the currency markets,

Mr. Helmut Kohl's meeting with Mr.

Mitterand ... looks like a case of

rearranging the deck chairs on the

Titanic”(White 2004: 78).

In addition to this, it is interesting to

observe the dynamics of lexemes, since

they always appear in different contexts.

Sometimes, teachers can even make

reference to the famous books or novels so

as to connect the “old” and “new” views.

For instance, in Shakespeare’s times,

‘turmoil’ was used in The Two Gentlemen

of Verona (II, vii) as follows: “And there I'll

rest, as after much turmoil,” where ‘turmoil’

had its usual uncountable form and

meaning – chaos, disorder.

By using specialized journals technique

teachers can widen the scope of contexts

in which a certain phrase or term can be

used. Also, students will get a relevant and

appropriate input. Successful output will be

in the form of well-developed written

communication skills, since “extensive

reading can improve not only learners’

reading comprehension but also learners’

writing skills […] and can also enhance

learners’ autonomy, independence, and

reading interest” (Stan, 2013: 102).

Research conducted by Vanda Stan, PhD,

the University “Vasile Goldis” showed that,

after the provided input in the form of

content-based teaching, “77% students

claimed they would continue reading to

keep up with the changing world outside

their country’s borders, 68% students

considered that reading business articles in

English was no longer hard to them” (Ibid:

103-104).

8. Conclusion

This article attempted to present different

techniques for teaching and learning

Financial English vocabulary. Techniques

for vocabulary learning and instruction

were classified into three groups (explicit,

independent and incidental vocabulary

learning). These techniques are applicable

to many foreign language learning

situations. The choice and usage of an

adequate teaching/learning technique

should be wisely crafted and well-planned.

We relied on theory and practical examples

in our presentation of teaching/learning

techniques. Our focus in this article was

primarily Financial English at intermediate

level. Further research should be

undertaken to observe the relation

between the choice of vocabulary

techniques and learning and teaching

styles.




References:

Cambridge University Press – Professional English Online. (n.d.). Cambridge: University

Press. http://peo.cambridge.org/ (15.06.2014).

Connolly, K. (2010). “Case study: Florida father battles to save his home”, 15.10.2010.

BBC News. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11528878(14.07.2014).

General Secretariat of the Council. (2012). Financial crisis: Key Terms in 23 languages.

Brussels.

Hashimoto,M. (1994). English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and the Teaching of Financial

English. KANAGAWA University Repository.

Longman Business English Dictionary.(2000). Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.

Nam, J. (2010). “Linking Research and Practice: Effective Strategies for Teaching

Vocabulary in the ESL Classroom”. TESL Canada Journal 28 (1).

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Press.

Oxford, R.and Crookall, D. (1990). “Vocabulary Learning: A Critical Analysis of Techniques”.

TESL Canada Journal 2 (7), pp. 9-30.

Shakespeare, W. (1609). The Sonnets. In: R. Proudfoot, A. Thompson, D. S.Kastaneds.

1998. Arden Shakespeare Complete Works. London, A & C Black: 17-49.

Shakespeare, W. (1594). The Two Gentlemen of Verona In: W. Carroll ed. 3rd edition, 2004.

Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare. Bloomsbury Publishing: London.

Stan, V. (2013). “ESP Rules! Teaching Financial /Business English Using Specialized

Journals”. International Journal of Business and Social Science 4 (10).

Stanford University Newsletter on Teaching. (1994). “Teaching with Case Studies”. Speaking

of teaching 5 (2) pp. 1-4.

Sweeney, S. (2007). Test your Professional English – Finance. England: PENGUIN English.

Tonya Trappe, T. and Tullis, G. (2004). New Insights into Business. LONGMAN.

Trong Tuan, L.(2011). “An Empirical Research on Self-learning Vocabulary”. Theory and

Practice in Language Studies 1 (12), pp. 1688-1695.

White, M. (2004). “Turbulence and turmoil in the market or the language of a financial crisis”.

Ibérica 7: 71-86.

*****

Nina Kisin was born in 1988 in Trebinje, Bosnia and Herzegovina. She graduated from the Faculty of

Philosophy (the University of Novi Sad) in June 2011, with a degree in English Language and

http://peo.cambridge.org/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/NEWS/WORLD-US-CANADA-11528878




Literature, BA. She defended her master's thesis in the field of linguistics in September 2012(the

Faculty of Philosophy, the University of Novi Sad). In October, 2012 she enrolled in a PhD program at

the Faculty of Philosophy (the University of Novi Sad) with a focus on Teaching Methodology.

Currently, she is successfully finishing the third, final year of her PhD studies. Contact email:

[email protected]



Ethical considerations ELTA Journal reviewing process follows the guidelines of the double peer review and neither the reviewer nor the submission authors are informed of the other. ELTA Journal reviewers have been recruited according to their field of academic specialization, academic credibility, their degree level (Ph.D.) and /or the track record of their engagement in the ELT or other educational fields. ELTA Journal reviewers in the current issue have been:

• Tatjana Glušac, Ph.D., Assistant professor, Faculty of Law and Business Studies Dr Lazar Vrkatić, Union University Belgrade; Serbia;

• Bojana Nikić Vujić, MA., The School of Pharmacy and Physiotherapy, Belgrade, Serbia;

• Slobodanka Kitić, Ph.D., Associate professor, Mediterranean

University, Podgorica, Montenegro;

• Vladimir Široki, MA. Freelance consultant in English Language & Literature, Novi Sad, Serbia;

• Ana Sentov, MA. Lecturer; Faculty of Law and Business Studies

Dr Lazar Vrkatić, Union University Belgrade; Serbia;