ESL – Educational Sociolinguistics

What are the direct and indirect effects of social media on language learners?

Ali El Mahmoud

Social media has changed the world we used to know and become a new source of information. The content created on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, and YouTube, influences the opinions of billions of people around the globe on almost any topic. From dating to supporting humanitarian movements, from joining a gardening group to reading news stories, the world is at your fingertips. The education community is not detached from this new digital era, and the effects of social media can be noticed in the behavior of the new generation of learners.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/alzqpv90cue3hhu/AdobeStock_228856305.jpg?dl=0

If you are an ESL teacher, for sure you have corrected writing errors such as, i (first-person subject pronoun), u (you), coz (because), ur (your), and others. No doubt that the texting culture has altered the way students write forever. Time is of the essence. Everything should be executed rapidly, and more abbreviations and acronyms appear every day. It comes as no surprise to read expressions such as TMI (too much information) or NVM (never mind) in an essay or an assignment. Moreover, the structure of the sentence is changing. Many sentences lack clarity because they either miss important parts or they are not cohesive. The students want to write and finish fast, so they assume that the reader keeps up and understands their thoughts, but in reality, writing sentence fragments instead of complete sentences will only complicate comprehension.

Punctuation and spelling have their share too. The students rely heavily on spell checks and autocorrections generated by the software of the texting applications. Therefore, the absence of such options when using a pen and paper generates a lot of writing errors that affect comprehension. For example, when I was correcting a student paper, I discovered that fish can magically sing because she mistakenly wrote that she watched a show of sole singers.

Furthermore, learners’ attention span is highly influenced by social media. If we compare the length of video reels and posts on social media, we will notice that their length is between 15 and 60 seconds. So, in case the user likes the post, they are likely to interact with it (like, dislike or share). If they do not, they swipe up and move to the next one. I believe that swiping between topics becomes a habit. My colleagues and I notice that this behavior has been transferred to the classroom. In other words, the new generation of learners gets bored easily and cannot concentrate on the teacher (or sometimes their classmate) speaking for more than one minute. They lose attention and become bored quickly. Therefore, it is very challenging to keep them engaged all the time. Even in writing composition, it is not surprising to read that most of the sentences end with and so on or etc. The students are not patient enough to complete their thoughts and ideas. They just list one or two ideas and expect the teacher to understand the rest.

By the same token, the use of social media apps can have a positive outcome on learners. For instance, Lee (2022) found that short videos on Instagram and Tik Tok can serve as affordances (or an opportunity) for learning English even though their content was not designed for ESL purposes. The author noted that learners interact with the affordances by creating content through posting photos and videos, writing limited texts, and sharing posts and hashtags. (Read Van Lier (2004) to know more about affordances and the ecological concept).

To use social media purposely, my students and I are working on a project on Instagram. We are going to create an account of a major character in the novel that we will read. Mr. Terupt (the name of the character in the novel) will post photos, texts, and videos related to the novel’s events. Students in their turn can interact with the posts by responding to the questions, helping the character, or even sharing their opinions (like or dislike the post). I believe this activity will keep them engaged, willing to read more, and eager to share their opinions.

What about you? What do you think is the effect of social media on learners of a second language?

References

Lee, Y-J. (2022). Language learning affordances of instagram and tiktok. Innovation in

Language Learning and Teaching, 1-16, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2022.2051517

Van Lier, L. (2004). The Ecology and Semiotics of Language Learning: A Sociocultural Perspective. Boston: Kluwer Academic.

The use of the L1 in the ESL classroom

Marina Koutsis

Before I started teaching I often wondered about the benefits of using the L1 in an L2 classroom. As a speaker of 5 languages, I was curious about how language learning could be made easier by doing so. I was eager to try this in my classes, but I remained aware that maintaining a balance between L1-use and practising the target language is necessary, otherwise there can be no progress. When I studied Italian at McGill, the professor would often use French and Spanish to explain Italian grammar and concepts that were similar across these languages. This idea fits with plurilingualism, a theory which promotes comparison between languages as well as the use of and the sharing of culture in foreign language courses.

When I started teaching, I applied the same methods where students were encouraged to use the target language without being forbidden from using the L1. However, my perspective was questioned when I taught a 6-week ESL course to immigrant students. Though they were all beginners, some were stronger than others as they already had a knowledge of English. As I was a fervent believer of plurilingualism, I made it clear from the start that any language was welcomed in this class and that I was looking forward to learning more about my students’ cultures. The majority of the class consisted of South American students who would mainly interact in Spanish with each other. It was a good tactic at first as the weaker students could ask the stronger students for assistance in their Spanish L1. Just as the International Teacher Training Organization suggests in an ESL classroom, one should “use English when possible and L1 when necessary” (https://www.tefl-online.com/tefl-jobs/online-tefl-articles/l1-in-the-classroom/). As stated in the article, finding the right balance is essential, and one must resist the temptation of translating rather than learning the language.

However, it wasn’t long before I noticed how heavily some students relied on their L1 and how little they practised during class discussions. In group activities, certain students would only speak Spanish whilst filling in their activity sheets. Though they had the right answer on paper, they would have trouble reading out what they had written, and their pronunciation barely improved. At the end of the course, students had to pass both an oral and a written exam. Speaking is one of the hardest parts of learning a language, as there is much more quick thinking involved as opposed to reading or writing. The students that had relied too much on their L1 did well on the written test, but for the oral exam, I noticed how little their speaking skills had improved since the first day of class.

This experience did not waver my opinion on the benefits of plurilingualism and will not make me forbid L1s in the future. It will, however, make me more mindful of the implications and perhaps even share this story with my future students to remind them of the importance of practising their target language orally.

Has anyone experienced this when teaching a second language? What were your solutions?

International Teacher Training Organization. (n.d.). Using L1 in the TEFL classroom. ITTO. https://www.tefl-online.com/tefl-jobs/online-tefl-articles/l1-in-the-classroom/

Multiplayer Gaming and ESL

Marina Koutsis

Learning English as a child was not my favourite activity as I saw it as invasive and unnecessary. I did not know anyone who was anglophone and thus could not imagine how English would become useful to me. Nevertheless, my parents and the education system compelled me to learn it. As a result, I was very resistant and put little effort into my English classes. This vision changed when I started playing World of Warcraft; a multiplayer online role-playing game in English. I initially managed to get by with my limited knowledge of English, but kept wondering if there was a French version of the game that I could play instead. I had always been aware of strong English influences around Québec which I perceived as negative and contrary to my francophone roots.

However, little by little, I started learning more words and I understood that the English language was not inherently bad. Instead, learning a new language opened up so many other possibilities for me, such as being fully immersed in media, from video games to films, in their original language and being able to communicate with other players. My resistance to English had to do with external dominating forces that threatened my first language, that is French, but it did not mean that learning a language could not be inherently good. Playing a video game enhanced my understanding of language learning and improved my skills in English. The game presented me with new vocabulary that was not only game-related but also included words that could be used in everyday life. As proposed by the International Center for Language Studies (2021), video games can complement the traditional methods used in language learning whilst promoting increased engagement and motivation in learners (https://www.icls.edu/video-games-help-people-to- learn-a-new-language/). In other words, gaming is an entertaining way of practising the challenging endeavour that is language learning, which was my experience.

The following image displays a typical game Quest. The writing is usually formal and integrates both game-related and everyday vocabulary words. Usually, quest descriptions contain important information about location. This meant that I had no choice but to read these descriptions in order to complete the tasks. These helped to enhance my understanding of and my reading skills in English. It also encouraged me to look up new words, thus broadening my vocabulary.

Video games offer unique opportunities to build knowledge and to build the confidence to interact with others, thus developing language skills in a motivating and entertaining way. Playing a video game allowed for my language learning to become a positive experience, rather than something that was forced upon me in school. Instead of remaining opposed to language learning, I now value linguistic development and am proud of understanding five languages. However, I have done so without forgetting my culture and whilst still being aware of the linguistic inequalities that persist in many communities around the world. I am glad to have had the opportunity to learn English in the most motivating and entertaining way, through a game that contributed to my love for languages and I hope that other Quebeckers have the opportunity to appreciate English as I do.

Has anyone else experienced language learning in an entertaining way?

Reference

ICLS: International Center for Language Studies. (2021). Video games help people to learn a new language. ICLS. https://www.icls.edu/video-games-help-people-to-learn-a-new-language/

Should we insist on correct grammar?

When discussing language attitudes and ideologies in class, an interesting question came up: should we correct people’s grammar? As demonstrated by Van Herk (2018), a language is in constant contact with other languages and experience the borrowing of words and expressions, changing significantly throughout its existence. Since it is normal for a language to change and to be used in different manners, should we insist on correct grammar?

This question brings up the aspect of prescriptivism vs descriptivism in language usage. Prescriptivism focuses on the correct and proper use of language, while descriptivism simply looks at how language is currently used (Wolfram & Schilling-Estes, 2016). Linguists are said to favour descriptivism, as changes in a language are a natural process. Additionally, Wolfram and Schilling-Estes (2016) state that certain forms of prescriptivism can replicate and reinforce social equalities, specifically for language users who use a non-standard form of English. This video explains the two terms in a general manner.

I completely understand how deciding that one variety of English is ‘standard’ and ‘proper’ essentially excludes all others from being correct. However, as an ESL teacher, I greatly question if accepting any form of grammar is beneficial to the learners. Students who learn a language typically want to sound fluent and as close to native-like as possible. If teachers do not insist on teaching correct grammar and do not give any corrective feedback when mistakes are made, the chances of students speaking with appropriate grammar are greatly reduced, thus impeding the students’ goals. Additionally, using incorrect grammar can lead to break-downs in communication. As an online teacher to low-level learners, I often face the reality that they can only express themselves in the present tense. This impedes expressing an appropriate message, since I cannot know if they are really speaking in the present or do not possess the grammar to speak in the past or any other tense. Grammar rules can be seen as demanding and overly-specific by others, but I appreciate how each verb tense communicates facts in different manners. For example: “I had been reading my book…” vs “ I was reading my book…’’. The first implies that in the past, while one was reading their book, something else happened. The second phrase implies that the action is in the past and done. If we do not insist on correct grammar and accept any usage, how can we know what the speaker meant?

A breakdown in communication: https://www.dropbox.com/s/291ky2d14ucqdsb/Grammar%20mistake.jpeg?dl=0

As there are many language teachers in the classroom, I would love to know your thoughts. Should we insist on the proper usage of grammar for ESL learners? How can we use prescriptivist rules without replicating social inequities? How can we deal in break-downs in communication resulting from incorrect grammar usage?

References

Calude S, Andreea.(April 12, 2016). Does grammar matter? [Video] Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wn_eBrIDUuc

Van Herk, Gerard. (2018). What is sociolinguistics? 2eChichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley- Blackwell.

Wolfram, W., & Schilling-Estes, N. (2016). American English : dialects and variation (Third, Ser. Language in society). Wiley-Blackwell.

Korean Hagwons – Studying and Capitalism

Me exploring Seoul’s historic Bukchon Hanok Village

By Daniele Iannarone

For a year from mid-2017 to mid-2018, I embarked on an adventure that would forever shape the way that I think. I moved to Seoul, South Korea, to teach English at a private language academy, called hagwon. Needless to say, I was quite excited about the experience, and overall, I had an incredible year in Korea, filled with unforgettable memories and cherished friendships.

Unfortunately, what I was not prepared for when I moved to Korea was the cultural shock when it came to education, and how these hagwon owners treated education as though it was a for-profit business venture, as opposed to an educational institution that prioritizes the needs of the students.

For context, Korean students aged 5-17 attend hagwons, private after-school academies, where they build upon the information taught in school in order to get ahead. Hagwons exist for almost every subject: English, Mandarin, science, math, music, and even gym. The average Korean student might attend anywhere from 5-10 hagwons per week.

According to J.M. Beach’s book Children Dying Inside: A Critical Analysis of Education in South Korea (2011), “insecure people all across the world feel immense pressure to gain increased amounts of education in order to hold onto middle-class social status, let alone to seek increased economic mobility. Nowhere is this pressure felt more than in South Korea” (p. 5). Essentially, South Korea was very poor following the Korean War in the 1950s, and they rebuilt thanks to hard work and education. Education was seen as the key to avoid falling back into poverty, hence the rise in popularity of hagwons (p. 15).

The situation has become so extreme that, in order to get into one of the country’s three prestigious universities, Korean students need to sit a CSAT exam that is said to be extremely difficult. Just the English section of this exam is so hard that it is said to give even highly educated English speakers a hard time. You can find some examples of questions asked in the English section of the exam HERE.

Over the years, hagwons became so popular that many saw it as a legitimate opportunity to make a significant profit (Beach, 2011, p. 17). Hagwons are quite expensive, yet many of them operate like businesses instead of education centres. According to Beach, “Business owners with suspect educational credentials seem content to hire foreign staff with equally suspect educational credentials [in a service] designed more to generate fast profit rather than quality education” (p. 18). Teachers are merely required to hold a Bachelor’s degree in any field and be from an English-speaking country to be hired.

As Beach (2011) writes, it is not uncommon for teachers to be treated as figureheads and to conduct classes like robots, merely repeating words and sticking to a strict curriculum planned out by the hagwon, such as was the case for him with his employer, KEPA (p. 25). This type of educational model, he explains, “limits English expression and critical thinking” (p. 22). This model reflects poorly on mental health, with high rates of anxiety, depression, and even suicide (p. 38).

The Korean hagwon system, therefore, ties in perfectly to the idea presented by Kingsley Bolton in his article “World Englishes and Second Language Acquisition” (2018), in which he explains that a common issue with the model of English being a sort of lingua franca for the world can serve as somewhat of a disservice to the practice of language teaching, and instead perpetuate capitalist ideologies (p. 8). He writes that “‘global English’ was a ‘capitalist neo-imperial language that serves the interests of the corporate world and the governments that it influences’” (Bolton, p. 8).

Which brings me to discuss my experience in Korea. While my personal life was very enjoyable, my hagwon, which was small and privately owned, certainly prioritized profits over the well-being of students. Teachers were instructed to give large amounts of homework, and we even inflated grades to make it appear to parents that their children were improving. Management frequently tried to take advantage of staff by trying to force us to work on our days off and finding ways to cut our pay. While I would consider myself as having been moderately qualified for the position, and certainly passionate about teaching, some of my colleagues were certainly not competent enough to teach adequately. Students were studying for hours per day, and the older, CSAT-aged students were incredibly sleep-deprived. It was clear that mental health was never a priority; not for management, nor for parents. Parents paid steep prices for their children’s education, yet management would often pack classrooms and operate on a low budget, increasing personal profits.

While, generally, class materials were provided to teachers by management, we were free to apply our own teaching style in the classroom, which was a relief and allowed me to get the students to interact more instead of operating like robots. With this said, ultimately, the main factor that led me not to renew my contract at the end of the year was seeing the mental health of the students suffering. I could not live with myself knowing I was a pawn in this torturous “educational” machine.

References:

Beach, J. M. (2011). Children Dying Inside: A Critical Analysis of Education in South Korea. Retrieved October 31, 2020, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/216830514_Children_Dying_Inside_A_Critical_Analysis_of_Education_in_South_Korea

Bolton, K. (2018). World Englishes and Second Language Acquisition. World Englishes, 37, 5–18. https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/weng.12299

Park, S. (2018, November 17). Check your English ability with ‘notorious’ Korean college entrance exam. The Korea Times. https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2018/11/177_258803.html#:~:text=The%20English%20test%20of%20Korea’s,put%20on%20test%20takers’%20desks.

So, is my oral English good or bad?

Dongqi/Katie Z.

Last Christmas, my mom flew to Montreal from China to visit me. Since it was her first time in Canada, I decided to take her on a tour of the nearby cities. While on our way to Toronto, I made an acquaintance with a Caucasian man, a native English speaking Canadian who was extremely fond of the Chinese culture, so we chatted for a while. Before he left, he kindly complimented me for “speaking good English”, which made me feel super honoured. As soon as he left, my mom, who barely understood English, asked me what was going on. After explaining everything to her, my mom said to me in Chinese, “Oh I see. But why don’t you speak like him, a native speaker? Like, you don’t roll your tongue as much as he does. You know what I mean by ‘roll your tongue’ right? It seems that your oral English is still not good enough, huh?”

People vector created by freepik – www.freepik.com

All of a sudden, I felt mixed emotions. For one thing, I was surprised in that my mom, whose English doesn’t even reach beginner-level, could tell that I pronounced the rhotic sounds less overtly and preferred a rather flat tone while speaking English. In addition, I felt upset that my mom questioned me by saying that “your English is not good enough”, simply because she detected that I spoke differently from a native speaker. Ironically, a few minutes ago my oral English was just praised by this native speaker. Besides, she seemed to take for granted that I would be able to talk exactly the same as the locals do, in other words, “speaking good English”, after receiving English education here in Canada.

My mother was not the only one that had this “native speaker” stereotype. In Amin (1999)’s work, two presumptions were drawn from the students (participants): native English speaker equals white people and only native speakers speak “real,” “proper,” “Canadian” English (p.94). It’s interesting to notice that, although my mom knew little about English, her limited knowledge of English was still associated with “being native-like”, or “being white people-like”. This, in fact, also made me realize that how far-reaching the ideology of “Native Speakerism” (Holliday, 2006) is, to which I believed that globalization has contributed a lot. However, what my mom didn’t know was that “native speaker” itself is a controversial term that bears as many critiques as supports. Furthermore, there are myriad English varieties existing around the world. In this perspective, every English speaker, either native or nonnative, is able to speak good English in their own way, while he or she is not necessarily considered to be so-called “native-like”. Anyhow, speaking native-like or not without question is not the only standard to measure one’s oral English proficiency by.

But then, I started to reflect on myself: why would I feel super honoured that my oral English was complimented by a Canadian? Was it because I regarded his English as the “standard” in my subconsciousness? In other words, did his compliment mean an authoritative recognition of my oral English? If so, I am also in support of the “Native Speakerism” (Holliday, 2006) deep down. Then why would I have the superiority to judge my mother? Interesting huh?

Questions for further discussion:

Have you ever noticed any “Native Speakerism” in your life? What’s your opinion on it?

As a language teacher, how would you deal with “Native Speakerism”?

References:

Amin, N. (1999). Minority Women Teachers of ESL: Negotiating White English. In G. Braine, Non-native Educators in English Language Teaching (p93–104). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Holliday, A. (2006). Native-speakerism. ELT Journal, 60, 385–387. doi:10.1093/elt/ccl030

ELF: how to best implement it?

Hector Alvarez

I’m currently reading a book called Teaching English as a Lingua Franca: The journey from EFL to ELF by Marek Kiczkowiak and Robert J. Lowe, which provides practical activities to develop effective ELF classes. However, first of all, what is ELF? ELF stands for English as a Lingua Franca, first defined by Alan Firth (1996) as “a ‘contact language’ between persons who share neither a common native tongue nor a common (national) culture, and for whom English is the chosen foreign language of communication” (p. 240). However, the focus of ELF in recent years has become more encompassing, including now both native and non-native speakers of English.

ELF is not a variety of English, but a phenomenon that emerges from the interaction between different English users that accommodate and adapt their speech to their interlocutors. For example, a British speaker who usually use the expression “to take the mickey out of you” would, instead, opt to say “criticize you”, as the former, although common within the British English speech context, is not common among other varieties of English. Hence, in an international context, among users of different English varieties, it’s safest to choose the type of language that steers clear from what would be considered slang from a particular English variety.

Am I good enough to compete in the local ESL market (in the eyes of recruiters)?

Hector Alvarez

I’m a fresh-off -the-plane newcomer here in Canada, originally from Argentina. I’ve been here for five months, and I’ve been looking around for job opportunities on the side just to gather some English Language Teaching (ELT) experience Canada.

The question is not whether I, myself, believe I’m good enough to teach English within this ESL (as opposed to EFL) context, but whether local recruiters believe so. At the end of the day, they have the final word on whether I get hired or not.

Is Translanguaging an Ideal Method to Use in an ESL or FSL classroom?

Posted by Cheryl Lingjuan Yan （Post #3)

Translanguaging has had a forceful impact on the field of Applied Linguistics. It also has contributed greatly to our understandings of language, bilingualism and education (Garcia & Wei, 2013). Translanguaging is such a powerful method of language teaching, that it has been applied widely into a great number of ESL or FSL classrooms by language teachers. It reminds me of how a second language classroom is like in China. Learning English is mandatory in the Chinese Education system starting from the 3rd grade in elementary school through college. As a Chinese student, I acquired English as a second language since 9 years old. I remember when I was learning English, teachers did the code-switching all the time. Of course he/she would speak English in class in order to make us get more English exposure, but the good part is he/she would switch back to Mandarin as long as we had something hard to understand. English, to many L2 learners in China, represents a better future, more job opportunities and higher living standard. Therefore, people in China really have a strong motivation in learning it. Doubtlessly, it is not only in China, thanks to English’s dominant stance in in almost all facets in our society, such as politics, economy, education, etc. L2 English users continue and will continue to grow, far exceeding the the number of native English speakers.

Continue reading “Is Translanguaging an Ideal Method to Use in an ESL or FSL classroom?”

No French in English class!

Miss Education says:

As an undergrad studying to become an ESL teacher, I was constantly told that there was no room for French in English class (except if there was a severe problem that needed to be addressed). Five years after finishing my bachelor’s degree, I have had the opportunity to work with other ESL teachers and discuss about this issue. Some teachers did not use French at all, while others found it difficult not to speak it during their teaching. Clearly, ESL specialist go about this in different ways. What we largely have in common, though, is that we believe there should be very minimal to no use of the students’ L1 in the L2 classroom. This suggests that ESL teachers believe that the best way to learn an L2 is to be fully soaking in a tub of the second language in question.

Continue reading “No French in English class!”