AnAnalysisonanESLClass.docx

AnAnalysisonanESLClass.docx

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AnAnalysisonanESLClass

AnAnalysisonanESLClass

　　【Abstract】Inputisthepreconditionofinteractionandoutputwhileoutputpromotestheinputandtheinteractionoflanguage，whichcouldincreasetheeffectivenessofinputandenhancethechanceoftheabsorptionofinteraction.ByanalyzinganESLclass，thispapergivesreadersapictureofhowthesecondlanguage（SL）learnersgetinformation，absorbanddigesttheinformation，producelanguageandformtheirlanguagesystemintheirSLlearning.Atlast，itgivessuggestionsonhowtoensurelanguagelearnershaveabetterchancetogetcomprehensibleinput，assimilatelanguageduringinteractionandoutputmoreaccurateandcomprehensiblesecondlanguageinanESLclass.

　　【KeyWords】ESLclass；input；interaction；output

　　IntroductionoftheESLclass

　　Recordedby“UniversalInstituteofTechnology”，whichisalanguageinstitute，thisclassisanadultEnglishassecondlanguageclass（ESL）inthecityofMelbourne.Itisaclassatthepre-intermediatelevel，whichiscomprisedofasmallgroupofthestudents，approximately8.Thesestudentscomefromdifferentcountriesanddifferentbackgrounds，namelyPeru，Brazil，Italy，ChinaandthemajorityofKorea，anddonothavethesamefirstlanguageincommon.Havingbeenteachingthemforabout5months，theteacherMs.MoniqueSheldon-Stemm（Ms.Sheldon）focusesonhowtotalkaboutaspecialoccasionbyusingtwotenses，thepastcontinuoustenseandthesimplepasttense，totellastoryandsheusedfourstepstoachieveherteachingpurpose.

　　Inthefirststepoftheclass，Ms.Sheldongaveatopicandbrainstormedthestudents.Thestudentshad2minutestothinkaboutthewordsandphrasesthatmayberelatedtothetopic.Forthesecondstepoftheteachingprocedure，theteacheraskedthestudentstofindapartnerandtalkabouthis/herownideas，whichwouldtakeanother2minutes.Whatthestudentsneedtododuringthisperiodoftimeistounderstandwhathis/herpartnerisspeakingabouthis/herspecialoccasionandtrytohelpeachotherandimprovebylisteningcarefully.Forthethirdstep，thestudentswereaskedtothinkabouthowtomakeapropersentenceandthenwritedown2sentencesusingtheirownwordsfrombrainstormingin5minutes.Ms.Sheldondidn’tforgettoremindthestudentsoftensestheyshoulduseformakingtheirsentences.Forstep4，shesuggestedthestudentschecktheirsentencesbyreadingaloudoraskingsomeoneelsesuchastheteacherorpartnerstofindwhetherthesentencesarecorrectornot.Thecriterionwasthatifthesentenceswereunderstood，theywerecorrect.Theneachstudentsneedtotelltheirstories，“ASpecialOccasion”totheirpartners.Ms.Sheldonemphasizedtheword“tell”，whichmeanswhenthestudentstelltheirstories，itisnotreadingbuthavingaconversationwithpartnersabouttheirparticularoccasions.Thenatlast，thestudentswouldsharethestorieswiththeclass.　　Fromtheconversationintheclassbetweentheteacherandthestudents，peoplecouldfindthattheteacheralwaysspokeinasoftvoiceandhelpedthestudentstocorrectsentencesandansweredtheirquestionscarefullyandpromptly.Shewassopatientwiththestudentsthatrepeatedtheinstructionsandquestionsagainandagaininordertoavoidmisunderstandingofthestudentsandputalotofemphasisofthestudents’feedbackinordertoensurewhethertheyunderstoodtherequirements.Everystudentwasaskedtoreadthe2sentencesthattheywroteloudlyandtoldtheirstoriestotheclass，whichmeantthateachhadtheopportunitiestopracticetheirlisteningandspeaking.

　　AnalysisoftheESLclass

　　Inthisclass，toachievethepurposeoftalkingaboutaspecialoccasionofthepast，Ms.Sheldonaskedeverystudenttobrainstormwordsandphrases，talkwithpartners，writedownsentencesandfinallytellandshareastoryofaspecialoccasionwiththeclasstopracticetheuseofthepastcontinuoustenseandthesimplepasttenseaswellastheEnglishskillssuchaslistening，speaking，readingandwriting.Inthisway，everystudenthastheopportunitytopracticeandimprovetheirsecondlanguage--English.Alsointheclass，guidedlearningandquestioningstrategieswereimplemented.Ms.Sheldonalwaysrepeatedtheinstructionsorquestionsandpaidmuchattentiononthefeedbackofthestudentsbyaskingthemwhethertheyunderstandthequestionsorrequirementsandguidedthemtoanswerherquestions，whicharousedstudents’noticingoflanguagelearning.Alsosheguidedthembysaying，“whowasthere？

Whenwasit？

Whathappened？

Wasitprivate？

Ataparty？

”etc.Howeverlargenumbersofrepeatedsentencesseemlikenotverypropertoteachadults.

　　Inaddition，inthisESLclass，theteacherstressedonthecooperationandmutualsupportamongthestudents，whichcreatedagoodlanguageenvironmentforSLlearnerstolearn，practiceanddeveloptheirsecondlanguagelearning.Besides，elementsoflanguagesuchaswords，sentencestructure，grammar，oralexpressionandessaywritingweretaughtfromstepbystep.Allofthemweretaughtinawayfromaneasyleveltoadifficultlevel.Asfarasweareknown，anessayiscomprisedofsentenceswhilesentencesarecomposedofwords.Theinformationoftheessayshouldbedeliveredbyoralexpressionlikepresentationorspeech.Readingthesentencesortheessayloudly，theinformationcontainedcouldbemeaningfulandunderstoodbyothers.Thusthefunctionoflanguage―transferringmeaningwillberealized.　　1.Input

　　Inputreferstolanguagethatisavailabletothelearnerthroughanymedium（listening，reading，orgesturalinthecaseofsignlanguage）.AlltheoriesofSLlearningrecognizethesignificantofinputasabasiccomponentinacquisitionprocess（Gass，Susan&Mackey，Alison2006）.Thecomprehensiveinputhypothesisclaimsthattheacquirershouldunderstandinputlanguagethatcontainsstructureabitbeyondhisorhercurrentlevelofcompetence.Krashendefinedthelearner’scurrentstageofstudyinglanguageas“i”.Thenextstageofdevelopinglanguageis“i+1”（citedfromLiChao2013）.Thatistosaythelanguagethatthelearnerslearnedshouldbealittlebitbeyondtheirpresentcompetence.Ifthelanguageiseithertoodifficultortooeasy，learnerscouldnotgetcomprehensibleinput.Becauseiftheinputlanguageormaterialistoodifficult，learnerscouldnotunderstandsothattheteachingprocedurecannotbekeptgoing，butiftheinputlanguageormaterialistooeasy，learnerscouldfeelthatthereisnochallengesothatloseinterestsandtheSLleaningcouldnotreceiveapleasantresult.

　　Intheclass，Ms.Sheldonaskedthestudentstousethepastcontinuoustenseandthesimplepasttense.Thestudentsabsolutelyhadlearnedthetwotensesbeforebuttheyneededtousetwotensestogetherintheirtasks.Itisakindof“i+1”inputbecausetheymightknowhowtousethemseparatelybutwhenmixedthem，theymightbeconfused.Whatismore，inthethirdsteptherewasastudentaskedwhetheritisonesentenceifthereiscommainthesentence.Theteacheransweredthattherecouldbemanycommasinonesentencebecauseinonesentencemanythingscouldhappenandthecommacouldgivethesentencedetails.Shealsotoldthestudentsthatasentencebeginswiththecapitalletterandendswithafullstopwithasentenceasanexample.ShegavethestudentseffectiveansweraccordingtotheircurrentlanguageabilitytohelpstudentstoacquirebetterunderstandingandcomprehensibleknowledgeduringSLlearning.

　　2.Interaction

　　Interactionisbelievedtobehelpfulinexchangesbetween/amonglearnersorbetween/amonglearnersandnativespeakers（orfluentspeakers）ofthelanguagebeinglearnedwherelanguageisnegotiated，orfeedbackisprovided.Feedbackisanimportantfeatureofinteractionandcanbeviewedonacontinuumbetweenexplicitandimplicit.Theinteractionhypothesisisprimarilyconcernedwithreactivefeedback―thatis，feedbackthatoccursasareactiontosomelinguisticproblem.Itcancomefrommanyindividuals，includingnotonlyteachers，butalsootherlearnersornativespeakersofalanguage（Gass，Susan&Mackey，Alison2006）.Intheclass，Ms.SheldonisanativespeakerwhilethestudentsareSLlearners.DuringtheconversationbetweenMs.Sheldonandthestudents，peoplecanfindthattheteacher’slanguageinfluencedthestudents’andsomestudentsweretryingtocorrecttheirownlanguage.Alsointheteachingprocedure，theteacheralwaysfocusedonstudents’feedbackandrepeatedtherequirementsoraskedthequestionsagainandagaintoensurewhetherthestudentsunderstoodhertohelptheseSLlearnerstogetusedtoandimprovetheirSLlearning.Forexample，whensheaskedthestudentswhattheycoulddotohelpeachotherwhentheyweretalkingabouttheirideaswiththeirpartners，nooneansweredhersoshesaidthatshewasaskingaquestionandrepeateditagaintomakeherintentclearandunderstoodbythestudents.Inthisway，thestudentspaidmoreattentiontotheteacheraswellastheirSL.　　Theinteractionprovidesaforumforfeedback，whichservestoalertlearnerstoproblemsprovidingthenwithopportunitiestofocustheirattentiononlanguage.Thatis，interactionmayprimelearnersto“search”formoreinformation，tobemoresensitivetofutureinput（e.g.，usesofaword，structure，pronunciation，spelling），ortobemoreawareoftheirhypothesesaboutlanguage（Gass，Susan&Mackey，Alison2006）.Intheclass，Ms.Sheldonandthestudentsdiscussedhowandwhybodylanguagehelpstheirexpression.Inourdailylifewecanalsorealizedthatpeoplealwaysusebodylanguagewhentheycannotexpressthemselvesclearly，especiallyamongthepeoplewhodonotspeakthesamefirstlanguage.Bydiscussingthis，studentscouldfocusontheirlanguageandgettheopportunitiestosearchmoreinformation