___________________________________________________________________________ 2008/4AEMM/012 Learning Language - Research Update Purpose: Information Submitted by: Chinese Taipei 4 th APEC Education Ministerial Meeting Lima, Peru 10-12 June 2008
___________________________________________________________________________
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