TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. ABSTRACT
II. THE STUDENTS
AND THE PROGRAM
1. English Education
2. Learning Styles
A. Non-active learners.
B. Cooperative learners.
C. Reflective learners.
D. Non-risk-takers.
E. Abstract analytic learners
III. INFORMATION
THE MODULE WILL PROVIDE FOR A TEACHER
IV. INFORMATION
ABOUT THE GRAMMAR BEING COVERED AND DISCOURSE
TYPES FROM BIBER
1. Discourse and discourse analysis
2. Characteristics of past time narrative
V. REFERENCES
VI.THE TEACHING
PROGRAM: A CONCEPTUAL MODEL
1. How is the grammar to be organized in a program ?
2. Suggestions for activities that meet the needs of Korean students
3. Table of contents for the activities
4. Suggested Activities
This module is designed to teach specific grammatical features of narrative discourse in composition class. It aims to teach how to compose past time narrative discourse and how to carry out the academic tasks relevant to narration. It has four main sections excluding this section (I) and reference section (V). In the section two (II), you will have specific information of the students' formal English education and learning styles. In the section three (III), you will find helpful information about how this module will benefit you. The section four (IV) has to do with theoretical backgrounds for this module where you will find how grammatical features are clustered together to construct a narrative discourse. In the section six (VI), you will see how grammatical features are organized in the target program with suggestions as to when you teach the target students.
The module is designed for a low to intermediate level EFL writing class.
Its focus will be English for academic purposes (EAP). The target population
will be a group (20 or so) of Korean students, specifically, freshmen in
the university setting. Their ages will range from eighteen to twenty.
The students will take this course as an elective or core curriculum. The
writing class for this module plans to meet for one and a half hours two
times a week for a total of eighteen weeks per semester.
1. English Education
Korean students have 12 years of compulsory education and 4 years of higher education. English education is given from the first year of junior high school, (equivalent to the seventh grade in American schools) through high school. The instruction they receive focuses exclusively on grammar and reading; writing and oral communication are not focused on at all although the government gradually has been increasing oral communication in the curriculum of elementary school. Instruction in grammar and reading is imparted through the Grammar-Translation method in which instructors emphasize the linguistic analysis of English. Teachers present the rules of English grammar deductively and have students translate English into Korean. An American teacher remarked that students are considered to have an extensive knowledge of English grammar and comprehension; however, they cannot write or speak a grammatically correct sentence. At the beginning of four years of higher education in college, English is taught for two purposes; English grammar and reading as a core curriculum and English oral communication as an elective. Even in college, writing is not focused on at all.
Regardless of their majors, during the first year, students are supposed to take a core curriculum consisting of Ethics, History, Korean, English as a second language, a third language, and introduction to their major field. Instruction of the core curriculum is carried out in Korean even in language classes, and the textbooks are also written in Korean except for a second and third language textbook. From the second year, students are supposed to take the required courses pertaining to their majors. The textbooks are written in English. Although they have had seven years of English instruction (6 years in middle and high school and 1 year in college) in English reading and grammar, this sudden dramatic change in the textbooks from Korean to English seems to be traumatic and causes them difficulties in pursuing their degrees. Furthermore, since those English textbooks contain a lot of technical terminology used in special fields, they often struggle with linguistic problems and background knowledge problems as well. Even normal writing tasks such as summarizing a text, synthesizing texts, writing a research paper, taking lecture notes, and so on are carried out in Korean although the textbooks are written in English.
In college, almost all students try to improve their oral communication skills by taking oral communication classes in the college they attend or in language institutes as extra-curriculum. The reason is that it is essential to know English in order to get a job after graduation. Since English is an international language, most companies want their employees to have fluent oral skills. One interesting fact is that oral communication ability is measured by standardized tests like TOEFL (Test of English as Foreign Language) or TOEIC (Test of English as International Communication) which emphasize grammar, reading, listening, and oral communication. The higher the students score on these tests, the more communication skills they are supposed to have. This is a well known fact among Korean students.
2. Learning Styles
Learning styles are defined as the methods employed by a learner in mastering materials (e.g., review, monitoring, practice, negotiation of meaning (Eliason, 1995). Learning styles are "cognitive, affective, and physiological traits that are relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, interact with, and respond to the learning environment" (Nelson, 1995). Researchers dealing with learning styles have investigated individual learner traits. However, some researchers address cultural learning styles; that is, members in a group share similar learning styles which are learned through the socialization processes that occur in families and friendship groups (Nelson, 1995). Although there is no empirical research on Korean students' learning styles, there are certain styles that Korean students share. These can be observed through socio-cultural values in Korea, student and teacher relationships, and students' classroom behavior. Here are some of Korean students' learning styles that can be helpful for those who teach Korean students (please note that some of these analyses are based on my subjective opinion because of lack of research).
A. Korean students are not active learners.
The processes of learning in Japan and the People's Republic of China have been greatly influenced by the Confucian tradition (Nelson, 1995). The same is true in Korea. Confucianism stresses the benefits of fixed hierarchical relationships in which respect is shown for age, seniority, rank, and family background. What should be of particular interest to ESL/ECL instructors is the Confucian relationship between teacher and student. This relationship is much more hierarchical than the teacher-student relationship in the United States. A teacher is an authoritative figure, so individual students will only speak up in class when called upon personally by the teacher (Hofstede, 1986). Korean classrooms are very teacher-centered. Students are required to do whatever the teacher asks. Students do not have any choice about what to study or what to read. Students always expect the teacher to initiate communication. Effectiveness of learning is related to the excellence of the teacher. Students expect teachers to have all of the answers (Hofstede, 1986).
B. Korean students are cooperative learners
In addition to specifying the proper nature of relationships, Confucianism set forth four principles as guides to proper human behavior: humanism (jen), faithfulness (i), propriety (li), and wisdom (jih). In particular, the principles of humanism, faithfulness, and propriety are operationalized in the learning-style dimensions of cooperation (Nelson, 1995). The students learn through cooperation, by working for the common good, by supporting each other, and by not elevating themselves above others. The Korean students' cooperative learning style has two significant implications for ESL/ECL teachers; cooperation means notwith in the classroom, but outside of the classroom. Traditionally, they have not been exposed to cooperative teaching styles where students get in small groups and work together. This kind of small group work and pair work that is used in ESL/EFL classes is not common in Korea. Second, the cooperative learning style implies that they cooperate outside the classroom, especially when they do homework assignments or projects. They feel that working together on homework assignments is not cheating or plagiarism. This seems to be a direct influence of Confucianism that emphasizes human harmony and humanism.
C. Korean students are reflective rather than impulsive.
Many Asian classroom teachers find participation which is typically valued in an American classroom rude and insulting; both teachers and students value reflection (perhaps accuracy) over impulsive comments (and perhaps fluency) (Reid, in press). The same is true for Korean students. They are students who want time to arrive at the correct answer and are uncomfortable when making guesses. They prefer to systematically examine options and to think about solutions before presenting them.
D. Korean students are not risk-takers
In Korean classrooms, there is a strong value that neither the teacher nor students should ever be made to lose face. The teacher is never contradicted nor publicly criticized. Chu (1993) illustrates traditional typical classroom behaviors of Korean students. For example, students do not insult the teacher's effort by saying, "I don't understand, " and will nod politely even when they do not understand and attribute the difficulty to their own lack of diligence. Students will remain silent rather than exhibit poor understanding. To put forth a mistaken answer or an unperfected skill is a personal embarrassment and an insult to the teacher and the discipline. A student will hesitate to express his/her own opinion for fear that it may sound presumptuous or run contrary to the teacher's feelings.
E. Korean students are abstract analytic learners
Students whose prior education experiences focused on memorization and grammar translations tend to have abstract analytic learning styles (Reid, in press). One unknown English teacher who had taught in Korea remarked that Korean students memorize every single word, but they cannot apply and use it in appropriate situations. Analytic students are detail-oriented people who are known for being logical and are not skilled at seeing the big picture right away (Reid, 1995). They begin with separate parts and piece them together to make a whole (Nelson, 1995). They are also likely to miss out on some useful global characteristics like getting the main idea and working with key concepts.
Link to Suggestions for Activities that meet Korean students' learning styles
This module is created to help you teach English grammar with new perspectives. I want to share with you some of the perspectives in this section. The first perspective is that grammar should be taught in context because grammatical forms do not mean anything unless they are in context (Larsen-Freeman 1991, Byrd in press). From this perspective, transformation and substitution drills do not help students to acquire meaning and the pragmatics of grammar or to use language in appropriate situations. The second perspective is that grammar does not exist in proficiency level chunks. Therefore, grammatical forms should be taught all together to students of all levels. This perspective contradicts the traditional view that particular grammatical forms should be assigned to different levels of students while other items should be reserved for the next level (Byrd, in press). Finally, the third perspective is regarding students' learning styles. Students' learning will be enhanced if the teacher knows their learning styles and develops appropriate techniques and tasks that fit into the learning styles. Since students learn in different ways and teachers often teach as they learned best, learning about learning styles helps both teachers and students (Reid, in press).
IV. INFORMATION ABOUT THE GRAMMAR BEING COVERED AND DISCOURSE TYPES FROM BIBER
1. Discourse and Discourse Analysis
Discourse is defined as language which has been produced as the result of an act of communication (Richards, Platt, and Platt, 1992). In other words, it refers to any language made to convey specific meanings and purposes. Discourse analysis is concerned with the study of the relationship between language and the contexts in which it is used (McCarthy, p.5).
Traditionally, many researchers and scholars have attempted discourse analysis by focusing on written and spoken discourse. Some of them have attempted to analyze written and spoken discourse in terms of situational dimensions (Tannen 1982 and 1984). The situational dimensions refer to situational components like participant roles and characteristics, relations among the participants, setting, topic, purpose, social evaluation, relations of participants to the text, and channels. All of these components are considered important in the specification of the situational context of written and spoken discourse. Some others, who have attempted to analyze written and spoken discourse, have used linguistic dimensions that refer to analysis of how the choice of linguistic elements like articles, pronouns, and tenses affects the structure of the discourse (Chafe and Danielewicz 1986, Blankenship 1962, and Biber 1986). Some others have also tried to analyze written and spoken discourse in terms of functional dimensions that refer to functional parameters such as formal/informal, interactive/non-interactive, literary/colloquial, restricted/elaborated, and others (Tottie 1991, and Hu 1984).
However, each of these three dimensional analyses makes it possible to analyze only typical speaking and writing e.g., face to face conversation and expository prose (Biber, 1988). One of the central findings of Biber's study is that there is no linguistic or situational characteristic of speech and writing that is true of all spoken and written genres. They do not encompass all types of written and spoken discourse because there are so many types of written and spoken discourse. Instead, Biber assumes that there are few, if any, absolute differences between speech and writing, and there is no single parameter of linguistic variation that distinguishes among spoken and written genres (Biber, 1988). Rather than finding differences in written and spoken discourse, he attempts to find textual relations between genres regardless of whether they are written or spoken; that is, he attempts to specify both the nature and the extent of the differences and similarities between a particular genre and other genres in English.
The method he uses to find textual relation between genres is statistical analysis using computational tools. In 23 different written and spoken genres, he observes co-occurring patterns of grammatical features in each genre and finds these co-occurrent patterns exhibit similar functions. For example, passives and nominalization tend to co-occur in the scientific text, whose functions manifest an underlying abstract or informational focus; pronouns and contractions co-occur in conversation, whose functions manifest as the surface manifestation of an underlying interactive functional dimension. Furthermore, specific texts from different genres such as press reports, biographies, and academic prose can exhibit similar functions of a narrative with similar co-occurrent patterns of grammatical features although they are classified as different genres.
In this way, Biber categorizes seven discourse types. He concludes that "the linguistic features of narrative, exposition, argumentation, and description are all different, so compositions and grammatical features from different genres must be studied separately (Biber 1988, p.203)." As the conclusion, this module will explore how to teach one of the discourse types, narrative, and provide activities covering grammatical features of narrative discourse. Accordingly, the next section will introduce characteristics of grammatical features of narrative discourse.
2. Characteristics of Past Time Narrative
Narration is discourse intended to tell a story, to relate a sequence of events in a way that appeals to the imagination of the reader (Reid, 1981). There are many kinds of narratives, including jokes, novels, short stories, anecdotes, biographies, autobiographies, case studies, some newspaper reports, and more. All of them share generic linguistic features (Reid, 1981). The linguistic features in narrative involve past tense verbs, third person personal pronouns, perfect aspect verbs, public verbs, synthetic negation, and present participle clauses (Biber, 1988). The linguistic features are used to mark a discourse that typically reports events in the past. The sample texts below illustrate the characteristics of each grammatical features.
Sample text I
Young Abraham borrowed of the neighbors and read every book he could hear of in the settlement within a wide circuit. One day, he borrowed of one Crawford, Weems' "Life of Washington." Reading it with the greatest eagerness, he took it to bed with him in the loft of the cabin, and read on until his nubbin of tallow candle had burned out. Then he placed the book between the logs of the cabin, that it might be at hand as soon as there was light enough in the morning to enable him to read...
( Biography of Abraham Lincoln by Arnold Isaac, p.23)
The sample text is obviously narrative in a sense that it has all the linguistic features of a narrative. It is written throughout in the past tense to tell the story happened in the past. It uses perfect tense (e.g., had burned) to emphasize something happened before the past time. There are frequent third person personal pronouns and proper nouns, referring to story participants. It also uses present participle clauses to show strong imagery (e.g., reading it with the greatest eagerness)
Sample text II
As an axe-man he was unequaled. He grew up strong in body, healthful in mind, with no bad habits, no stain of intemperance, profanity or vice. He used neither tobacco nor intoxicating drinks, and thus living, he grew to be six feet and four inches high, and a giant in strength. In all athletic sports he had no equal. His comrades said, "he could strike the hardest blow with axe or maul, jump higher and further, run faster than any of his fellows, and there was no one, far or near, could lay him on the back...
( Biography of Abraham Lincoln by Arnold Isaac, p.26)
In the sample text II, a lot of synthetic negators (e.g., no, neither, nor) are found, which is, according to Biber, one of characteristics of narrative discourse. The synthetic negators are used to mark rejections for unacceptable behaviors of the narrative participant. They are also combined with the past tense to report the third person's character in the past.
According to Byrd (in press), there are some other linguistic features that are common in narrative discourse. The meaningful events of a narrative text move through time from beginning to end, so that they have some relationship to one another. The beginning of a narrative always explains the situation from which the action arises and gives enough background or setting for the reader to follow and understand the action (Reid, 1981). This smooth transition in time in narration is possible because of chronological organizers, temporal prepositions, and adverbial phrases of time. Narrative discourse also contains spatial prepositions to give background information about the setting of a passage. The sample text below illustrates these characteristics of narrative discourse.
Sample text III
In 1836, Lincoln was again a candidate for the Legislature, and in this canvass he greatly distinguished himself. On one occasion there was to be a public discussion among the opposing candidates, held at the Court House at Springfield, and Lincoln, among others, was advertised to speak. This was his first appearance "on the stump" at the County Seat.
( Biography of Abraham Lincoln by Arnold Isaac, p.26 )
In this sample text, nearly every sentence has temporal and spatial
phrases. This illustrates that narrative discourse involves time and space
words and phrases to give background information of the passage.
The following table is a summary of the features discussed above. In this
table, you can also observe forms of the features that have not been discussed
in the sample texts and problems with ESL/ECL students. Functions of each
grammatical features are also summarized in the table.
Table 1
| Grammar features | Form and Problems with ESL/EFL students | Function of Biber and Others |
| Past Tense | Form: past tense of regular verbs past tense of irregular verbs Problem : spelling of irregular past tense verbs |
to describe past events to mark past time actions |
| Past perfect | Form : have/has combined with past participle
Problems : 1)spelling the past participle correctly 2)Students are often confused about when to use past perfect. |
to emphasize something that happened before the basic past time |
| Past progressive | Form : past form of "be" combined
with the -ing form of the verb
Problem: Students often make the mistake of making stative verbs progressive. |
to mark past actions with 'continuity' |
| Present participle | Form: in two related sentences, reduce one
sentence using -ing.
Reconstruction rule : the subject of an -ing clause is assumed to be identical the subject of the main clause. Problem :dangling clause; when the sentence provides no means of identifying the implied subject. |
to create vivid images |
| Adverbial of time | Form: sentence combined with temporal subordinator
such as after, before, since, until, when, whenever, while
Problems 1) fragment 2) comma splices 3) run-on sentences |
to give background of time and space |
| Prepositional phrases of time and space | Form: temporal prepositions - in, on, at, from,
to, until, by, for, around
Form : spatial prepositions - in, on, at, from, to, until Problems :1) using wrong prepositions 2) omitting prepositions 3) using superfluous prepositions. 4) recognizing when a prepositional phrase begins and when it ends |
to give background of time and space |
| 3rd person pronouns | Form : any subjective, objective, possessive,
and reflexive forms of he, she, it, they
Problems : 1)pronoun reference 2) referring back to the right noun |
to mark reference to animate, typically human referents apart from the speaker and addressee |
| Chronological organizers | Form : In a series of events : first, second,
third, fourth; first, then, next, later, much later, finally, at last.
For reference to the past: sometime before; just an hour earlier; earlier
that day;
Problems : change of chronological organizers results in change of tense |
to mark sequence or order or past actions |
| Proper nouns | Forms : names of specific people, places, religions,
languages, historical periods, days and months, organizations, and others
Problems :capitalization. |
to mark participants
to specify time and places |
| Nonrestrictive relative clause | Form : the noun phrase identified by relative
clauses with a comma. The noun clause is viewed as unique or as a member
of a class that has been independently identified by a relative clause.
Problems : Students do not know where to put the comma |
to give additional information/not essential information about participants or events |
| appositives | Forms : two or more noun phrases with a comma
between them, referring the same identity of reference. Apposition can
also be expressed by infinitives, gerunds, that-clauses, of-prepositional
phrases
Problems: Students do not know how to find appositive relation between the two noun phrases. |
to give additional information or events |
| Synthetic negation | Forms : no + Quantifier/Adjective/Noun : neither,
nor (excludes no as response) : no is part of a noun phrase and serves
as a determiner, while not is used in the verb phrase or to modify a noun
phrase.
Problems :1) confusing not and no 2) subject-verb agreement of neither/ nor |
to mark denials and rejections in the reported reasoning processes of narrative participants |
Arnold, I. (1994). The Life of Abraham Lincoln. Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Company.
Anselmo, T., Bernstein, L., and Schoen, C. (1986). Thinking and Writing in College. Canada : Little, Brown and Company
Biber, D. (1986). An Initial Typology of English Text Types. In Corpus Linguistics II. Amsterdam: Rodopi.
Biber, D. (1988). Variation Across Speech and Writing. Great Britain : Cambridge Univ. Press
Brown, H.(1994). Teaching by Principle. An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy.
NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Byrd, P. (1989). Improving the Grammar of Written English: The Handbook. Boston : Heinle and Heinle.
Byrd, P. (1992). Applied English grammar. Boston : Heinle and Heinle.
Byrd, P. (In press). It's All the Same Grammar: Proficiency Levels and Grammar
Blankenship, J.(1962). A linguistic Analysis of Oral and Written style. Quarterly Journal of Speech. 48 : 419-22.
Celce-Murcia, M., and Larsen-Freeman, D. (1983). The Grammar Book: An ESL/EFL Teacher's Course. Rowley, MA : Newbury House.
Chafe, W., Danielewicz, J. (1989). Properties of Spoken and Written Language. In Comprehending and Oral and Written Language. NY : Academic Press
Chu, H. (1993). The Korean Americans. Multiethnic reminder. ED 371-106.
Eliason, P. (1995). Difficulties with Cross-Cultural Learning - Styles Assessment. In Learning Styles in the ESL/EFL Classroom. Boston : Heinle and Heinle
Encyclopedia of World Biography. vo.. 14. Ed. Eggenberger, D. (1987). USA: Jack Heraty and Associates, Inc.
Hedge, T. (1988). Resource Books for Teachers. Hong Kong: Oxford Univ. Press.
Hofstede, G. (1986). Cultural Differences in Teaching and Learning. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, vol. 10, p.301-320. Pergamon Journals, Ltd.
Hu, Z. L. (1984). Differences in Mode. Journal of Pragmatics. v.8: 595-606.
McCarthy, M. (1991). Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers. Great Britain : Cambridge Univ. Press
Nelson, G (1995). Cultural Differences in Learning Styles. In Learning Styles in the ESL/EFL Classroom.
Boston : Heinle and Heinle
Reid, J. (1981). Structural Features used in Narrative and Expository Writing. Dissertation.
Reid, J. (1995). Learning Styles in the ESL/EFL Classroom. Boston : Heinle and Heinle
Reid, J. (In press). Learning Styles and Grammar Teaching in the Composition Classroom.
Scull, S. (1987). Critical Reading and Writing for Advanced ESL Students. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Totti, G. (1991). Negation in English Speech and Writing : A study in variation. NY: Academic Press, Inc.
Richards, Jack., Platt, J., and Platt, H. (1992). Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied linguistics.England : Clays Ltd.
Tannen, D. (1982). The Myth of Orality and Literacy. In Linguistics and Literacy. NY : Plenum Press
Tannen, D. (1984). Spoken and Written Narrative in English and Greek. In Coherence in spoken and written discourse. New Jersey:ABLEX corp.
Ur, P. (1988). Grammar Practice Activities: A Practical Guide for Teachers. Great Britain: Cambridge Univ. Press.
1. How is grammar to be organized in a program ?
As mentioned in the background section, English education in Korea is highly focused on grammar and reading until high school and on grammar, reading, and listening, and oral communication in college. Considering this tradition of English education and relatively less urgent needs of writing for Korean students, the module will take a whole language approach in which one deals with writing and grammar along with reading and oral communication (Brown, 1994). It is expected that familiarity with writing will reinforce language acquisition in other areas. Accordingly, grammar will be taught in writing class with various content areas for reading and many activities including speaking and listening. This module includes many activities in which students are involved in communication with the teacher or each other. In some other activities, students are required to carry out the task based on their reading comprehension. Since the class is based on a whole language approach, the problems caused by dramatic language change from Korean to English during their second year will be reduced. In addition, if the students are exposed to many different content areas, their background knowledge will also increase.
Four different discourse types will be covered during the course in this order : involved, narrative, informational, and persuasive discourse. Since narration is the closest to oral communication, it will be taught immediately after involved discourse (Scull, 1987). It is the narrative discourse alone that will be discussed in this paper. Each four weeks of the eighteen week semester will be spent on one discourse type. A specific content will also be introduced along with each discourse type. As regards contents of informational and persuasive discourse types, sociology and psychology will be appropriate for Korean students because they are the most common subjects that students choose as core curriculums in college. For the content of involved discourse type, students' writing samples on topics of their personal feelings, personal letters, interviews for future employment, and other similar topics rather than academic content will be appropriate because speaking about personal topics is easier for the students in improving fluency. For the narrative discourse, history and biography are good choices (sample texts in the module are from biographies of Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Arnold Douglas, and Kim Dae Jung, famous Korean politician; small modification has been made to meet teaching goal).
During week 5 to week 8, activities that lend themselves to a narrative
discourse will be introduced in the order below (refer to week by week
schedule of Table 2): In week 5, activities in which students analyze all
the grammar clusters of narrative will be presented, as well as activities
in which students work with verb clusters (excluding present participle
due to lack of class time) will be also introduced. During week 6, activities
in which students work with verbs, present participles and temporal and
spatial clusters (e.g., adverbial of time, prepositional phrases of time
and space, and chronological organizers) will be presented. During week
7, activities in which students handle noun clusters (e.g., third person
pronouns, proper nouns) and noun related clusters (e.g., nonrestrictive
relative clause, appositives, and synthetic negation) will be introduced.
In week 8, activities that pull together all clusters of narrative discourse
will be presented. The table below is a week by week illustration of the
schedule for narrative discourse.
Table 2:
Week by Week schedule for narrative discourse |
|
| Week 5 | Analyzing writing : all grammar clusters of past time narrative
Focusing on simple past, past perfect, past progressive |
| Week 6 | Focusing on present participle
Focusing on adverbial clauses of time, prepositional phrases of time and space, chronological organizers. |
| Week 7 | Focusing on 3rd person pronouns, proper nouns, nonrestrictive relative clauses, appositives |
| Week 8 | Focusing on all grammar clusters of past time narrative |
2. Suggestions for activities that meet the needs of Korean students
Korean students' learning styles have been characterized as non-active,
reflective, cooperative, abstract- analytic. Below are suggestions for
teaching Korean students with consideration for their learning styles.
As regards Korean students' traits of non-activeness and low risk-taking,
the teacher should elicit students' speech by making explicit that the
teacher and students have an equal relationship rather than a hierarchical
relationship in the classroom, and that any kinds of responses or remarks
to his/her instruction are equally valued in the classroom. The teacher
also can explain to students that poor understanding is not because of
lack of diligence but because of lack of enough interaction between the
teacher and the students. The teacher also can encourage students' negotiation
of meaning by giving frequent compliments to students' successful completion
of a task. In this way, students may become more active and ready to initiate
talk and may express their opinion more frequently.
In regards to Korean students' cooperative learning style, it was emphasized above that cooperation does not mean that they are used to group work in the classroom; rather it means that they work together outside of the classroom on their homework assignments, Nelson (1995) suggests that teachers might consider decreasing the amount of small group work in the classroom. Rather than grouping them from the first day of the class, it would be better if the teacher gradually increases small group work until they get used to it. The teacher must be specific in communicating when individual efforts are expected as opposed to the commonly used group effort outside of class. Students can be placed in groups and given a different topic and told that they must work together within their own group. However, this is possible only after they are exposed to some amount of group work in the classroom and learn how to carry out a task in groups.
For the reflective learning style, the teacher can structure classroom activities to give reflective learners more time to think about their responses. For example, in reading classes, instead of moving from the reading of a text to the discussion of a text, the teacher can first ask students to write down answers to questions. In oral communication, the teacher can give some time during which students can think of how they want to respond rather than expecting the students to answer right away.
For the abstract analytical students, the teacher can develop tasks that require students to analyze parts rather than beginning with the whole. For example, if the objective of the class is for students to recognize the pattern of a specific discourse type, it would be better for Korean students to be engaged in activities in which they analyze each grammatical feature and later learn to recognize the discourse type rather than engaged in activities comparing two different types of discourse
In summary, the module will consider some aspects regarding the Korean
students' learning styles in selecting activities. First of all, activities
will be designed in a way that students are gradually exposed to small
group work. Activities during week 8 will then be done in groups. Secondly,
the teacher will give some reflection time to students before they present
their ideas. Thirdly, students will also be engaged in some grammar analysis
activities - not memorization activities. Finally, regarding the teacher
/ student relationship, the teacher will play the role of a friend, facilitator
rather than an authoritative figure, so that students feel comfortable
in expressing their ideas or opinions.
3. Table of Contents for the Activities
Table 3:
| Activity No. | Activity Type | Grammar Focus | Learning Styles based on Reid(in press) |
Activity Source |
Activity # 1 |
Analyzing writing of narrative discourse |
All clusters |
Individual, visual, field independent, abstract analytic, reflective |
|
Activity # 2 |
Crossword puzzle |
Irregular verb forms |
Group, visual, abstract analytic, reflective |
Byrd (1992) |
Activity # 3 |
Discussion |
Irregular verb forms |
Group, auditory, concrete |
Byrd (1989) |
Activity # 4 |
Grammar identification |
Past perfect |
Individual, auditory, abstract analytic, text visual |
Byrd (1992) |
Activity # 5 |
Sentence creation |
Past perfect, simplep past |
Individual, auditory, concrete, reflective, group |
Byrd (1992) |
Activity # 6 |
Sentence creation w/ given information |
Past progressive, simple past |
Individual, field independent, text visual, abstract analytic |
|
Activity # 7 |
Creating a time table and writing a text based on the table |
Past perfect, simple past, adverbial of time, temporal prepositional, chronological organizers |
Group, concrete, reflective, picture visual |
Ur (1988) |
Activity # 8 |
Sentence creation by speaking after listening to a story |
Simple past, irregular forms, |
Auditory, individual, reflective, field independent |
Ur (1988) |
Activity # 9 |
Sentence creation by speaking |
Simple past, temporal prepositions |
Auditory, group, reflective, field dependent |
Ur (1988) |
Activity # 10 |
Sentence extension w/ given structures |
Present participle and Simple past |
Textual visual, individual, abstract analytic, group |
Byrd (1989) |
Activity # 11 |
Sentence combining |
Present participle, and Simple past |
Textual visual, abstract analytic, reflective, individual |
Byrd (1989) |
Activity # 12 |
Grammar identification using underlining and discussing |
Simple past, perfect, past progressive, present participle |
Auditory, group, text visual, tactile, concrete |
Reid (in press) |
Activity # 13 |
Error correction |
Adverbial clauses of time and Simple tense |
Individual, reflective, abstract analytic, auditory, visual |
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Activity # 14 |
Sentence creation and sentence combining |
Adverbial clauses of time and simple past |
Individual, field independent, reflective |
Byrd (1989) |
Activity # 15 |
Brainstorming and making a list |
Prepositional phrases of time |
Group, reflective, concrete, auditory, picture visual |
Byrd (1992) |
Activity # 16 |
Fill-in-the-blank and answering questions |
Prepositional phrases of time and space |
Individual, abstract analytic, textual visual, auditory, group |
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Activity # 17 |
Writing a text based on reading notes |
Chronological organizers and simple past |
Individual, vidual, reflective |
Anselmo, Schoen, Bernstein (1986) |
Activity # 18 |
Drawing lines to referents |
Personal pronouns including 3rd person pronouns |
Individual, visual, abstract analytic, reflective |
Byrd (1992) |
Activity # 19 |
Brainstorming and answering questions |
Proper nouns |
Individual, reflective, group, auditory, concrete |
Byrd (1989) |
Activity # 20 |
Sentence creation |
Proper nouns, nonrestrictive relative clauses, and simple tense |
Individual, field independent, reflective, auditory, group |
Byrd (1989) |
Activity # 21 |
Sentence extension |
Appositives and nonrestrictive relative clauses |
Individual, concrete, textual visual, reflective |
Byrd (1989) |
Activity # 22 |
Grammar identification and discussing |
Synthetic negation |
Auditory, abstract analytic, reflective, individual |
Byrd (1992) |
Activity # 23 |
Error analysis |
Synthetic negation |
Individual, abstract analytic, text visual |
Celce-Murcia, Larsen-Freeman (1983) |
Activity # 24 |
Jigsaw story writing |
All clusters |
Group, picture visual, reflective, auditory |
Hedge (1988) |
Activity # 25 |
Writing a narrative in group (Homework) |
All clusters |
Group, reflective, auditory, concrete |
Hedge (1988) |
Activity # 26 |
Writing a narrative in group (in class) |
All clusters |
Group, field dependent, concrete, reflective |
Ur (1988) |
Activity # 27 |
Writing a biography (individual work) |
All clusters |
Individual, field independent, reflective, group |
4. Suggested Activities
Activity 1: Analyzing writing of narrative discourse
Handout # 1 Direction: 1) Read the following narrative discourse and look for the following linguistic features of narrative discourse. Kim Dae Jung, a famous Korean politician, was born on Dec. 3, 1925, on an island off the southwestern coast of Korea. His father was a farmer on the island, but his family moved to Mokpo, the second largest city in the South Cholla province, where he helped run his family's small inn. From 1949 to 1953 he successfully managed a marine shipping firm, publishing the daily newspaper The Mokpo Ilbo. When the Korean War broke out on June 25, 1950, and the Communist North Korean take-over of the city, Kim was imprisoned by the Communist. Later he and his brother narrowly escaped a massacre by the retreating North Koreans. Being a Catholic and married to Lee Hee Ho, former executive secretary of the National Young Women's Christian Association of Korea, he had three sons. He entered politics in 1954 and was elected to the unicameral National Assembly in 1961. He was re-elected in 1963, 1967, and 1971. He had served as spokesperson and chairperson of the policy committee of the Minjug Party until 1967. As legislator he served on a number of committees dealing with the economy and with defense.
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Activity 2 : Crossword puzzle
Activity 3 : Discussion
Activity 4: Grammar identification
Handout # 2 1st 2nd 2) He had already become the idol of his party since he was elected to the Senate in 1847. 3) He had been constantly rising in influence and power. He was especially the favorite of the young democracy, which looked upon him as a certain candidate for the presidency. 4) His mind had become well stored with practical knowledge, and he was well informed in regard to the history and politics of the country. 5) He did not forget anything that he had ever read or seen or heard. ( From Biography of Abraham Lincoln by Arnold Isaac, p.109 : Text modification made) |
Activity 5: Sentence creation
Activity 6: Sentence creation with given information
*** This is just a sample table; dates are correct. Handout # 3 Time Table 1852 : Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin 1852 : Perry's reopening Japan 1858 : Lincoln - Douglas debates 1859 : Charles Darwin's Origin of Species 1860 : Abraham Lincoln elected president 1861 : Civil War breaks out 1861-1890 : Indian wars in the west 1863 : Battle of Gettysburg 1865 : Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse 1865 : Assassination of President Lincoln 1867 : United States purchase Alaska 1877 : Telephone invented by Alexander Graham |
Activity 7 Creating a table and writing a text based on the table
Handout # 4 1) Living in his father's cabin and seeking for employment, he was engaged by one Denton Offutt to aid in taking a flat-boat loaded with provisions to New Orleans. 2) In April, 1831, reaching New Salem on the Sangamon, the boat lodged on the dam which had been erected across the stream. 3) The owner had given up all hope of being able to get the craft over the dam. However, Lincoln, by ingenuity of invention, devised a means for the extrication of the boat. 4) Later, the boat sailed on safely to the Illinois, passing the Mississippi to New Orleans. ( Biography of Abraham Lincoln by Arnold Isaac, p.30) |
Activity 11 Sentence combining
Activity 13 : Error correction
After discussion, ask students to examine their previous writing (written on chronological table during week 5) and to find fragments, comma splices, and run-on sentences. Then ask them to correct the mistakes, if any.
Activity 14 : Sentence creation and sentence combining
Activity 15 : Brainstorming and making a list
Activity 16 : Fill-in-the-blank and answering questions
Lincoln becomes president:
- Douglas re-elected to the senate
- Lincoln assessed for expenses of the canvass
- Visit to Kansas
- Speaks at Columbus and Cincinnati
- In the New England States
- etc
- Nominated for president
Activity 18 : Drawing lines to referents
Handout # 5 In the spring of 1832, Offutt having failed, Lincoln was again out of employment. During the spring and summer, great excitement and alarm prevailed in Northern Illinois because of the Black Hawk war. It had been the hunting-ground and home of the Sac tribe of Indians of which Black Hawk was the chief. They had been living on their reservation, west of Mississippi for several years, but this brave warrior and skillful leader, uniting several tribes under his leadership, determined to return to their old home, and re-occupy the old hunting-grounds. ( Biography of Abraham Lincoln by Arnold Isaac, p.33) |
Activity 19 : Brainstorming and answering questions
How do you decide which words are major words in a title of a book or work of art? Look at these titles to decide which words are not capitalized.
Places In The Sun
The Book Of Great Desserts
The Psychology Of Mathematics For Instruction
The Poetry And Prose Of John Milton
For Whom The Bell Tolls
A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man
Activity 20 : Sentence creation
Activity 20 : Sentence extension
Activity 22 : Grammar identification and discussing
Activity 23 : Error Analysis
Activity 24 : Jigsaw story writing
Activity 25 : Writing a narrative in group (Homework assignment)
Activity 26 : Writing a narrative in group (in class)
Activity 27 : Writing a biography (individual work)
Joo, Young Seon
Pusan City, Youngdo-Gu, Sinsun-Dong,
101, 2/3.
Hwang, Byung Jo
Tel ) 011-82-51-413-4436
Tel ) 011-82-558-681-5558