| VOLUME 35, No. 4 - July/August 2002 |
Negotiation Moves and Recasts in Relation to Error Types and Learner Repair in the Foreign Language Classroom
Frank A. Morris, University of Miami
Abstract: This study assessed the provision and use of Implicit Negative Feedback in the interactional context of adult beginning learners of Spanish working in dyads (NNS–NNS) in the foreign language (L2) classroom. The relationships among error types, feedback types, and immediate learner repair were also examined. A total of 42 beginning FL learners of Spanish enrolled in two different sections of Beginning Spanish participated in the study. During regular class time, learners formed pairs and worked on the same jigsaw task. The collaborative work of all pairs was tape-recorded, transcribed, and later coded for types of error (syntactic/lexical), types of NF (explicit/recasts/negotiation moves), and repair. Findings indicated that learners did not provide explicit negative feedback. Learners did provide and did use INF (recasts and negotiation moves) when working in NNS–NNS dyads. In addition, lexical errors favored the negotiation of form; syntactic errors invited recasts, but differential effects were found in terms of learner repair. Negotiation moves proved more effective in immediately repairing errors than did recasts. (pgs 395-404)
On Foreign Ground: One Attempt at Attracting Non-French Majors to a French Studies Course
Jean M. Fallon, Hollins University
Abstract: This article presents a description of “Americans in Paris,” a class in English that was developed to attract nonlanguage majors to French Studies classes. The class focuses on American writers who lived and worked in Paris between 1890 and 1955 as part of a literary and cultural exchange between French and American societies. Learning about French writers and the dynamic, international community of writers and artists who came to Paris in the early twentieth century, students come to understand the literary and cultural heritages that were passed between France and America. The course’s content showcases input that French professors can bring to this cross-disciplinary subject by examining American works through a French cultural viewpoint and highlighting French literary and artistic traditions. (pgs 405-413)
An ESOL Methods Course in a Latino Neighborhood
Thomas C. Cooper, The University of Georgia
Abstract: This article describes a model for situating an ESOL methods course in a Spanishspeaking community. The methods course had two specific goals: (1) to organize ESOL classes for children and adults in a Latino neighborhood that serve as a practicum for university students working for an ESOL teaching endorsement and (2) to include a service-learning project in the methods course so that the university students can become acquainted with the milieu of the children growing up in a Latino community. While it is not a difficult task to place an ESOL methods course in an ethnic neighborhood, the amount of planning and organization required exceeds to some degree the preparation necessary for a traditional university course held on campus. The rewards, however, far outweigh the extra effort, because the university students benefit from gaining actual ESOL teaching experience as they learn about an ethnic neighborhood, and the community residents benefit from the collaboration between the university and their neighborhood. (pgs 414-426)
The Tek.Xam as a Framework for Preservice Foreign Language Teacher Technology Training
Edwina Spodark, Hollins University
Abstract: At the undergraduate level, preservice training for future foreign language teachers usually consists of a one-semester course taken before student teaching. Given the enormous quantity of material a student must cover in the preservice course, we must ask: What educational technology components should be incorporated into that limited time? What criteria should we use to organize the lessons on technology so that students can apply them immediately in real-world classroom situations? This article offers the Tek.Xam, a national standard in technical literacy developed by the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges, as the framework for six technology modules that are integrated into a representative undergraduate foreign language methodology class. (pgs 427-436)
Bridging the Gap: Discourse in Text-Based Foreign Language Classrooms
Miguel Mantero, The University of Alabama
Abstract: This study investigated text-centered talk in an “Introduction to Hispanic Literature” university level classroom. The study was framed within sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1978; Wertsch, 1986, 1991) and attempted to establish the nature of classroom talk in the college-level foreign language “bridge course.” The study also aimed to clarify the relationship between cognitive processes and language acquisition in a foreign language course. Student-initiated talk or opportunities for discourse were observed in relation to those opportunities recognized or provided by the instructor. The data was analyzed according to the level of talk (utterance, dialogue, discourse) and the level of cognition of the students’ responses. This analysis characterized text-centered talk in the university-level foreign language classroom as mainly teacher-centered, studentsupported dialogue that did not take advantage of the majority of opportunities for extending classroom talk into the discourse level. Representative samples of the collected data are provided to support the findings of the study. (pgs 437-456)
Second Language Teacher Education: A Review of the Literature
Gloria Vélez-Rendón, Purdue University Calumet
Abstract: During the past decade, an increasing number of publications have critically examined traditional views of second language teacher education and research and have called for a reconceptualization of the field (Freeman & Johnson, 1998; Freeman & Richards, 1996; Richards & Nunan, 1990; Schulz, 2000). The field has also recognized the need to establish standards for the content of language teacher education and outline its knowledge base so that new research avenues and effective teacher education models can be developed (Guntermann, 1993). This article attempts to delineate the “state of the art” of second language teacher education through a review of recent research and presents an overview of current perspectives on the field’s knowledge base. The article concludes with a proposal for a reflective approach to the preparation of second language teachers that draws from the literature review. (pgs 457-467)
