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2008/4AEMM/012

Learning Language - Research Update

Purpose: Information Submitted by: Chinese Taipei

4th APEC Education Ministerial MeetingLima, Peru

10-12 June 2008

 

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APEC Education Pre-Ministerial Seminar, Lima, Peru

Education to Achieve 21st Century Competencies and Skills for All: Respecting the Past to Move toward the Future

LeAnn EyermanMing Chuan University

Language Learning- research update

Ming Chuan UniversityChinese Taipei

Patricia A. DuffUniversity of British Columbia

Canada

Language Education21st Century Competencies and Skills:

Some Updates

APEC Education Symposium, Xi’anEducation to Achieve 21st Century Competencies and Skills for All:

Respecting the Past to Move toward the Future

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Global Context• Current Status

- Human migrationCross border cooperation- Cross-border cooperation

- Global knowledge generation and consumption- Internet and other new digital learning/

communication technologies

• Citizens needed for the 21st century global y gknowledge economy - Culturally sensitive - Multilingual- Communicatively competent

Global Context and APEC PrioritiesMonolingual Complacency

- in many English-dominant economies

Economic Trends- outsourcing of labor/services/higher education - English and Chinese education for international

business/trade, economic development

Access to Language EducationAccess to Language Education - gender equity - societal and personal benefits - risk reduction (e.g., disease, violence, social exclusion)

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EDNET Survey Results – Dec 2007Standards for Learning English and

Other Foreign Languages14 responding economies

• promotion of learning English and other foreign languages

• organization of the curriculum • setting of clear standards for both learners and

teachers

EDNET Survey Results

• Most common foreign languages taught g g g gamong APEC economies:– English– Spanish– French– Chinese– German– Japanese– Arabic

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Graddol (English Next, 2006)• an “English factor” is found in virtually every key macro

trend:

• whether it is business process outsourcing (BPO), • the rise of urban middle classes around the world, • the development of new communications technology

such as the Internet, • the global redistribution of poverty,the global redistribution of poverty, • the changing nature of news media, • or the reform of education in universities and schools.

(p. 20)

English as a Lingua Franca (ELF)• English is increasingly learned and used

for communication with other non-nativefor communication with other non native speakers of English (e.g. in Asia), not native speakers

– “Non-core” features in ELF don’t hinder i ticommunication

– Changing norms for standardized testing, curriculum

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“Get Ahead, Learn Mandarin”“China's economic rise means the world has a new second

language—and it isn't English” (June 2006)

Chinese

• Chinese L2 learners– 30 million (Graddol, 2006)

100 million (2010 estimate)

• Chinese language teaching/learning New research initiatives– New research initiatives

– Methodological innovations – Teaching materials creation

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• Chinese is 3rd most commonly spoken home language in US and Canada (after (Spanish and French, respectively)

• Foreign learners taking China's official Chinese ProficiencyChinese Proficiency Test – 1991: 2,000 – 2005: 117,660

Language Learners are Very Diverse• Different histories (and politics) of languages/education

across APEC economies

Different varieties of L2• Different varieties of L2– Standard– Local non-standard– Regional standard varieties/dialects

• Different needs and profilesp– foreign language– second language– heritage-language– lingua franca (specific purposes: business, academic…)

• Older vs. young learners

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Age & Language Learning Issues: Trends• continuing trend to introduce FLs earlier

• early FL learning is potentially valuable--ea y ea g s po e a y a uab erecommended by leaders in 22+ countries (e.g. EU)

• 75 min/wk minimum, ideally more (1 hr/day)

• development of first languages & literacies first(additive vs. subtractive bilingualism)

• well trained/proficient teachers and age-appropriate materials/methods still lacking

• new research and development on young learners in EU

Brunei Darussalam <> KChile 5 5

EDNET Survey ResultsGrade when English instruction begins

2003Average:

4

2007Average:

China 3 3Hong Kong 1 1Indonesia 7 3

Japan 7 7Korea 3 <>

Malaysia 1 1 2.9Malaysia 1 1Peru 7 7

Singapore 1 1Chinese Taipei 5 3

Thailand 1 1

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EDNET Survey Resultsweekly hours of English instruction

Economy \ Grade K/1-2 3-4 5-6 7 8-9 10 11 12/13

Brunei Darussalam

3-5 3-5 3-5 3-3.5 3-3.5 3-3.5 3-3.5 3-3.5DarussalamChile 2 3 3 4 2 2China 4 4 4 4 4 4 4Indonesia 2 2 4 4 4 4 4Japan ^ ^ ^ 3 3 ^ ^ ^Malaysia 4 4-3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5Peru 2 2 2 2

Chinese Taipei 1-2 1-2 1-2 2-3 2-3 4 4 4

Thailand 2-3 2-3 2-3 2-3 2-3 2-3 2-3 2-3

EDNET Survey Resultsweekly hours of English instruction

Economy\…….…Grade

K/1-2 3-4 5-6 7 8-9 10 11 12/13

Hong Kong, 4.5 4.5 4.5-5 5 5- 3.5 3.5 3.5China 3.5New Zealand 10 10 10 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5Singapore 8 7-6 6-8 6-8 4-5 4-5USA 0.5-1 0.5-1.5 2 2.5 2.5-5 5 5 5

English co-dominant Economies

or Foreign/Other Language in English-dominant Economies

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Issues for Language Teacher Development

1. Appropriate, effective curriculum

2. Effective, well contextualized and theoretically informed second-language (L2) pedagogy (k-adult)

3. Knowledge/skill sets needed by language teachers

Types of Curriculum

• Immersion: school subjects in English (L2)

Structural,

form-driven

Grammar-based: the syllabus is organized around a series of grammar structures; knowledge ABOUT language

• Immersion: school subjects in English (L2)• Content-based: e.g., Psych + Chinese • Theme-based: e.g., a unit on the environment;

occupations; aging; globalization; social issues• Project-based: doing a major course assignment• Task-based: within units or lessons, the core

activity is a carefully structured “task”—with components conducive to SLA: info-gap etc

Communicative,

meaning-driven components conducive to SLA: info gap, etc.

• Service Learning: using language to help speakers of that language in the community (e.g. Chinese-speaking immigrants; content focus on immigration issues)With principled, contextualized focus

on form and content

driven

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Curriculum Materials and Media• content authenticity• linguistic component• task authenticity, appropriateness• interesting motivation • appropriate difficulty/challenge level• age-appropriateness• awareness of cultural bias • audio-visual qualityaudio visual quality• varied genres, text types, activities• provides socialization into cultural practices

(e.g., in business, academia)

Trends in Best Language Teaching Practices

• comprehensible input/exposure to L2• opportunities to produce meaningful language output• contextualized grammar instruction & correction

(“focus on form”)• different learning styles• individual + cooperative/collaborative learning• engaging new media/technology and digital learning • engaging new media/technology and digital learning

tools• non-stereotypical cultural content, awareness-raising

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Technology, Multimedia, and Distance Education

ISSUES of ‘Digital Divide’, Resource Constraints

Technology• Up-to-date access to authentic materials via Internet

– careful task design– sufficient pre-task preparation

follow up– follow-up

• Multiple models of oral/written language– dictionaries– pronunciation tools (different regional varieties)– concordances – grammar-checks

• Interactivity• Interactivity – opportunities to modify texts and monitor activities– communicate with others (near and far) synchronously and asynchronously– adaptive simulations – tutorials

• Combination of autonomous and cooperative language learning/use

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EDNET Survey Results

• English as language of instruction for non-g g glanguage subjects among non-English dominant economies:– Singapore and Brunei Darussalam: all subjects,

either from grade 1 or grade 4 Malaysia: Science and Math in secondary– Malaysia: Science and Math in secondary schools

– Hong Kong, China: all required subjects in about one-quarter of secondary schools

Language Teachers: Knowledge/Skills Needed

Contextual knowledge: country, program, Cultural

knowledge

(Applied) Linguisticknowledge: L2 proficiency

& metalinguistic knowledge

y, p g ,curriculum, students

Excellent communication/

interaction skills, scaffolding

knowledge,experience

SLA knowledge

Other personal assessment

Teaching: Knowledge

of L2 teaching/learning theory& “best (or “good”) practices”(constructivist, discovery oriented); L2

curriculum, articulation, IT

Experience: as language learner & teacher; decision-making; beliefs

Reflexivity; Identity as teacher

attributes: empathy, vision, passion, subject

knowledge

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Teacher-Education Resources and Research for Non-European Languages: Lacking

Alice Omaggio Hadley (2001, 3rd ed.)

How Languages are Learned(Lightbown & Spada 2006 3rd ed )

about English (ESL), French, German, Spanish, Italian L2s…. But how are Asian languages (e.g. Chinese) or HLs best learned and taught?

(Lightbown & Spada, 2006, 3 ed.)

EDNET Survey Resultsclear standards for teachers

• Performance standards/assessment system 64% of responding economies

– Malaysia and Chinese Taipei have added since 2003; Japan has set target

• Enforcing the standards– Not allowed to teach unless standards are met

(pre-service) 77%– University degree in education/target language 77%– Enroll in professional development or language

course 69%– Pass exam 38%– No promotion (in-service teachers) 15%

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EDNET Survey Resultsclear standards for teachers

Professional Development for Teachers• In-service training

– Require 42 to 200 hrs/yr in Brunei; Chile; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Malaysia; Singapore

• Teacher networks • Training courses

M t i50%+ economies50%+ economies

• Mentoring • e-learning• Multi-pronged approaches

Assessment: From paper-pencil written, structure-

based testing to…

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… More interactive, task-based, 4-skill direct assessment, and portfolio-based assessment

capturing what students “CAN DO”

EDNET Survey ResultsWhen are learners assessed?

Economy \ Grade 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12/13

AustraliaBrunei DarussalamChileHong Kong, ChinaIndonesiaJapanMalaysiayNew ZealandSingaporeChinese TaipeiThailandUSA

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EDNET Survey Resultsclear standards for learners

• Assessment of learningg– locally developed tests 70%– University of Cambridge Local Examinations

Syndicate (UCLES) 30%• Brunei Darussalam• Hong Kong ChinaHong Kong, China• Malaysia • Singapore

EDNET Survey Resultsclear standards for learners

• Performance standards/assessment system (% of responding economies)

83% (2003) 93% (2007)• Primary responsibility for setting performance

standardsCentral government 79%St t /P i i l t 21%State/Provincial governments 21%

• Skills emphasized in standards’ assessment– reading, listening, speaking and writing 62%– only reading and writing 23% – some other skill combination 15%

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Conclusion: Benefits of 21st Century Language Education, Skills, Competencies

• socio-economic and political benefits: jobs, higher education levels greater participation in knowledgeeducation levels, greater participation in knowledge economy, world politics, diplomacy, security

• personal benefits: cognitive flexibility, academic achievement, metalinguistic awareness (L1, L2, L3…), opportunities for travel, study-abroad, employment

• cultural benefits: openness to other cultures, peoples, orld ie s better nderstanding of self/o n c lt re(s)worldviews, better understanding of self/own culture(s)

• epistemic benefits: access/contribution to new knowledge

• other social benefits: inclusion, participation, integration, upward/international mobility

APEC Education Pre-Ministerial Seminar, Lima, Peru

Education to Achieve 21st Century Competencies and Skills for All: Respecting the Past to Move toward the FutureRespecting the Past to Move toward the Future

Lang age Learning Research UpdateLanguage Learning Research Update