A Psychoanalytic Approach to Teaching English as a Foreign Language.docx

A Psychoanalytic Approach to Teaching English as a Foreign Language.docx

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APsychoanalyticApproachtoTeachingEnglishasaForeignLanguage

APsychoanalyticApproachtoTeachingEnglishasaForeignLanguage

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byDo-SeonEur

I.PROBLEMSINCOMMUNICATIVELANGUAGETEACHINGINKOREA

CommunicativeLanguageTeaching（CLT）hasemphasizedmorepersonal,interactive,"functional"and"social"aspectsoflanguageuse"inrealsituationsandrealtime"（Littlewoodxi;1-7）.[2]WiththeadventofCLT,EFLlearnersneedtodevelopskillsin"processing"socialandsituationalfactorsbeyondfixedlinguisticforms,"selecting"acceptablelanguageforms,andfinally"using"themforcommunicatingmeaningsasefficientlyaspossible（seeReivers;Littlewood4,89）.Tothisend,EFLlearnersarealsotobeempoweredto"freely"createmeaningswiththeEnglishlanguagetheyhavelearned,whichtheywanttoconveytoothers,whiledoing"creativeplaywithpatternsofmeaning"（Carter,Investigating158-63）in"free,spontaneousinteraction"（Savignon24）.However,CLTinKoreahastodateremainedatthelevelofwhatRinvolucricalls"semi-communicative"exercisesinwhichlearnersmerelydo"rehearsalactivities"withapieceofprepackagedtextof"psychologicallycontentlessinformation""inamoodofrelativecommunicativeapathy"（195-96）.ThisisbecausemostEFLpractitionersandspecialistsinKoreahavemistakencommunicationfor"informationtransfer"suchasorderingfood,askingfordirections,takingmessages,buyingitems,describingplaces（orpeople/things）,givinginformationaboutobjects,andsoon.Here,communicatinginEnglishisfarfrom"interactiveactivitiesthatdependonvaryingtypesofrelationshipswithothers"--therelationshipswhichinvolve"morepersonalaspectsofone'sbeing,suchasfeelings"（ArnoldandBrown8-9）:

Indeed,themostfascinatingsubjectwecanlearnaboutandtalkaboutisourselves.Andwelearnaboutourselvesthroughothers.Socommunicationwhichsatisfiesthesedeep,innateneedsdevelopsfromsharingaboutourselveswhileothersactivelylistentous,showingunderstandingandacceptingusasweare.（Moskowitz178;emphasisintheoriginal）.

Stillworse,tomemorizedialoguesthatare"transparentandtransactionalanddevoidofrichness,culturalreferenceandcreativityistomisrepresentwhatspeakersactuallydo"（Carter,Investigating166）:

"Itispossibleforthestudenttoperformthesetaskswithouteverbeingexposedtoextendeddiscourseordiscussionsconductedatalevelofabstractionthatisremovedfromthelistener/reader"（Swaffaretal.2）.Sincethosedialoguesarefixedandpredictable,andfurtherbecausetheEFLlistenerisinamoodofcommunicationalapathy,thesetask-orientedcommunicativeexercisesare"dummyruns"inthat"energetic,motivatedexchangeofreal,personalinformation"nevertakesplace（Rinvolucri197）.

Indeed,developingcommunicativecompetenceinvolvesfarmorethansimplymemorizingprepackageddialoguesandlearningstringsofface-valueexpressionsandrole-playskills:

communicationinvolvesnotonlyaffectiveaspectsoftheEFLlearnerswhoneedtoexpresstheir"self"inEnglishbeforeothersbutalsothese"others"whoaretheliving"people"ofthetargetculture--"thespiritualandphysicalhumanbeings"whodo"thinkingandfeeling"likeordifferentlyfrom"me"（ArnoldandBrown20）.Thatis,itinvolves"individualpersonalitytraitsresidinginthelearner"--"thelearner-intrinsicfactors"suchasanxiety,inhibition,self-esteem,motivation,learnerstyles,etc.（ArnoldandBrown8-18）.Italsoinvolves"theadoptionofnewsocialandculturalbehaviorsandwaysofbeing,"anditthereforeincludes"learningtobeanothersocialperson"（WilliamsandBurden115）.Sincethe"others"arethetargetlanguagegroup,itentailstheinternalizationofwhatFishcalls"setsofinterpretiveassumptions"or"thenormsofsense-makingauthorizedbyaninterpretivecommunity"（Carter,Investigating112-13）whichestablish"acontextofcognitiveandaffectivebehaviors"（ideas,thoughts,feelings,beliefs,prejudices,psychology,andcustoms）inthecommunityofnativespeakersofEnglish（ArnoldandBrown21）.Themainpointisthatboth"affectivelanguagelearning"and"acculturation"--notknowledgeaboutculture--arerequiredforEFLlearnerstobeengagedwith,accepted,and"integrated"socio-culturallyandpsychologicallyintothediverseandheterogeneoustarget-languagegroup（Crandall226）.As"culturallearning"through"deeperculturalunderstanding"isencouraged（ByramandMorgan8-9）,communicationreliesonculture-orientedexchange/negotiation/sharingofmeaningasmuchason"informationtransfer."TheurgehereistohelpEFLlearnersdeveloptheirfunctional,creative,andsubjectiveaspectsofEnglishlanguage（seeMcCarthy）.

AlthoughEFLlearnersinKoreaaresilentandinactiveintermsofEnglishuse,theydonorwanttofeellike,astheysay,"animitation,acopy,astuffedfigure,orapuppetwithatalkingmouth."Theirsenseofbeingmanipulatedmerelyasobjectsofteachinghasoftenleftthempsychologicallyself-defeatingandself-alienated,whichresultsintheirpoorself-imageasEnglishusers.Giventhatourself-esteemisderived,inpart,fromourinnerexperiencewiththeself-image,andthata"can-do-spirit"isfosteredinanenvironmentthatpromotesself-esteem（Andres,88）,suchaCLTsituationthatignoresthelearner'sdesiretobesignificantandworthyhasbeenverydestructivetotheformationoftheirconfidenceinEnglishuse,oneofmostessentialfactorsinenhancingcommunicationinEFLcontexts.Infact,communicativepractices,particularlyincurrentcontexts,haveoftenledtoperformanceblocksbecausetheyareseverelylimitedbythelearner'sanxieties,indifference,passivity,dullness,fear,hostility,withdrawal,andevenhatredofEnglishcommunicationitself.Nodoubt,these"learner-intrinsicfactors"havecometobetherootcauseofproblems（poorandworseperformance）inCLTinKorea.Moreover,currentCLTtask-orientedactivitieshavegivenamoreempoweringroletothe（native）teachersofEnglishinKoreainmakingdecisionsconcerningclassroomactivities,typesofinteractionbetweenlearners,andthecontentsandlinguisticknowledge（orskills）.Theyhaveservedtoreinforcetheteacherinthepositionofthe"Authority"（theSymbolicOther）whilehe/sheisalreadyoccupyingthepaternalisticpositioninthecontextofsocialrelationsinKoreaofConfuciantraditionbecausehe/sheisateacher（andnativespeaker）.

Underthisenvironment,EFLlearners,whotendtosay,"IamnotgoodatEnglishspeaking,"areapttobedefensive,self-reserved,self-restrained,andeven"autistic"ratherthantotakeasmany"risks"fortheirlearningastheycan"withoutfeelingembarrassed"（Dufeu90）.Learningblocks（thelearner'sanxieties,lackofconfidence,indifference,passivity,dullness,fear,tension,withdrawal,andevenhatredofcommunicationitself）revealtheirdefensemechanismsatworkwheretheroleoftheTeacheristotellthemtoimitateandmemorize,identifytheirerrorsandfailures,andprovideafinal"authoritative"judgmentupontheir"strings-of-wordsexercises"conductedinan"artificial"orsimulation-likeenvironment（Rinvolucri193-96）.LikeaSlave,theyarepsychologicallyforcedtogiveuptheirownideasandmeaningsinfrontoftheteacher,theMasterofEnglish,asif"Englishdoestalk,andmeaningsresideinEnglish."WhatisatissueisthatthisSlave-Masterrelationnotonlydepriveslearnersofasenseofself-valuebutevenrepresses"secondlanguagelearnerautonomy,""acapacitytotakecontrolofone'sownlearningintheserviceofone'sperceivedneedsandaspiration"（Aoki143-44）,whileencouragingtheircapitulationtotheTeacher's（theOther's）desire.Concerningtheteacher-learnerrelationship,Aokirevealsapsychoanalyticperspective:

"Teacherswouldhavetobepreparedtobeusedbylearnersasaresource....Tobeausefulbutnotinterferingresourcerequiresteacherstoalways'be'withthestudents"（151-52）.Theemphasisontheteacherasafacilitatorandlearnerautonomyhasmuchcommonwiththe"psychoanalyticpedagogy"asarticulatedbyBracher.Underhillalsowritesthat"WhattheFacilitatorsavesoncontrollingisspentonfosteringcommunication,curiosity,insightandrelationshipinthegroup"（140）.Giventhatcommunicativelanguageacquisitiontakesplace"insidethelearner"（Littlewood17）andininnumerablesocialandculturalcontexts,successinCLTwillrelymoreon"inter-personalunderstanding"andinvolvementratherthanontask-orientedlanguageskills（"linguisticsuccess"）whicharepassedfromtheMaster-Teachertotheslave-learner（ByramandMorgan7）.

II.PROBLEMSOFENGLISHREADINGINKOREA

WhenconsideredfromtherealitythatEFLlearnersinKoreacanexperiencemostvariousmeaningsandformsofEnglishlanguagethroughEnglishreadings,thesuccessfallsbackmoreuponwhetherreadingprogramsfitandappealtoCLT.Itthusbecomescrucialtocreateanewreadingprograminwhichlearner-autonomyandtheteacherasfacilitatorareencouragedsothatfree,meaningful,valuable,energetic,andmotivatedcommunicationcantakeplace.Unfortunately,mostpractitionersinKoreastilldotheirjobthewayithasbeentraditionallydone:

not"[interactive]readingforcontent"but"readingpractice"--thegrammar-translation-comprehensioncheck-upsandskills/strategies-basedexerciseswithtextsloadedwithexplicitlystateddetailstowhichlearnershavenopersonalrelationship（Swaffaretal.54）.Asaresult,ahugediscrepancyexistsbetweencurrentreadingandCLTprogramsinKorea.InEnglishreadingclasses,werewardEFLlearners'formalcompetencetocontrol