Interaction of Learner Level and Activity Type in Materials Design

Presented by Kyung-Hee Bae and Elena Poltavtchenko

University of Houston (TX) Writing Center

Abstract:

Recently, the use of corpus data has drawn a lot of attention from ESL professionals as one way to develop more learner-oriented and also more authentic lesson materials. However, few ESL websites do actually include corpora-based activities, and even when they do, such activities may not be appropriate for every context. This presentation will use two websites to illustrate this issue. The websites were developed to target ESL learners at two different levels: intermediate and advanced. While activities in both units include self-directed and interactive tasks using software such as HotPotato, they focus on different approaches. In the lower-level unit, the Internet activities resemble more of the traditional 3Ps (presentation, practice, and production) approach in that the activities usually start with lessons and drill exercises, whereas in the higher-level unit, many activities include the corpus-based activities before any lesson that will ask students to notice and thus raise their awareness of the appropriate use of the targeted linguistic feature.

In comparing the activities developed for different contexts, the presentation will also discuss the rationale and issues related to using corpus data to develop scaffolding activities that will eventually promote greater learner autonomy.

Issue: Use of corpus-based, authentic materials in materials design

Questions:

            Is it appropriate for learners at every level?

            Is it appropriate for every structure / language aspect?

Examples: Cohesive devices versus Modals

1.      Low Intermediate Level / Developmental English Learners – Cohesive Devices (www.geocities.com/cohesion_unit/unit)

Ø      Characteristics of target structure:

§         Found more in academic prose than in conversation (Biber, Johansson, Leech, Conrad, & Finegan, 1999)

§         Includes a vast number of words – the concept of verb tense switching produces an endless list of possibilities

§         Signals reference to a preceding antecedent which may not occur in proximity within text (all pronoun references)

-        Thus finding examples in corpus data is often very difficult and time consuming

Ø      Materials type: 3 P’s (presentation, practice, production)

Ø      Characteristics of pedagogy: less learner creation of knowledge, emphasis on developing control

2.      Intermediate-Advanced Level / Freshman Composition Learners – Modals (http://www.geocities.com/e7336kh/final-project)

Ø      Characteristics of target structure:

§         Frequently occur both in conversation and academic prose (Biber et al. 1999)

§         Includes limited number of words

§         Often signals politeness of the speaker/writer

-        Thus finding examples in corpus data is relatively effortless

Ø      Materials type: Focused-noticing (analyze input, generate hypotheses, confirm hypotheses)

Ø      Characteristics of pedagogy: more learner autonomy, emphasis on complexification of  knowledge base

Reference:

Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finegan, E. (1999). Longman grammar of spoken and written English. New York: Longman