The Common Sense Approach: Liberate Your ESL Students, Lead Them Out Of The Classroom
Steve Schackne
University of Macau
Introduction
It has often been posited that the premise of current university education is impractical--you bus
(or fly) hundreds (or thousands) of young people miles (sometimes hundreds or thousands of miles)
from their homes, lodge them in often cramped, expensive accommodations, so they can commute
to a nearby classroom and listen to a professor (nowadays, most often a graduate student) expound
on material that is found in textbooks lying open on their desks. Even more impractical if you consider
recent advances in technology which have made teleconferencing and distance learning not only available,
but popular, all over the world.
Stephen Krashen, the applied linguist, has weighed in with a counter argument of sorts, claiming
that classrooms can be excellent environments for language acquisition when "natural" principles of language
learning are followed. This observation formed the basis of Krashen and Terrell's natural approach to language
learning.
One, of course, can learn much in a university environment, and a student's second language
proficiency can certainly be improved with a competent teacher using effective methodology within
the confines of a classroom. But, the whole idea of the student-teacher relationship as the linchpin of
a tertiary education should be re-thought, and there is no better place to start than in the second
language classroom.
The Problem
Every day we see teachers march from classroom to classroom teaching large groups of
students English as a foreign (second) language. And what are they teaching them? Certainly,
fluent speakers are good models of the language, and grammar rules and metalanguage can
be taught in this environment. However, while Krashen stated that the second language classroom
could be a fertile ground for language acquisition, it is far from a natural or ideal one. Much language
is spontaneous, unstructured, unplanned, and most proficient practitioners acquire language through
independent, creative encounters, where they often experiment and play with the language, learning
on their own through trial and error. This is often the way children learn both native and second
languages, and why many learners who are simply immersed in the L2 environment do better than
those in the formal classroom.
A Proposed Solution
Developing independent learning skills and strategies should be the long-range goal of the
esl teacher. It more closely resembles true learning in nature--while instinct always plays a
part in both animal and human behavior, animals as well as humans pass their skills, learned
through experience, from generation to generation with the end goal of the young eventually
confronting life and surviving on their own so as to propagate the species. In contemporary
global society, young people will have to be life long learners in order to survive and prosper,
and teachers, like parents, must prepare them for this challenge.
With this in mind, let's look at a hypothetical, four-year language program, which
imitates learning in nature by moving from highly structured and protective to independent and
self-motivated.
A Sample Syllabus (Simplified)
I. Year 1 (4 hours per week)
A. Semester 1
1.sentence level grammar
2.listening comprehension (emphasizing Q&A exercises)
-- L1 can be used 50% of the time in homogeneous classes--
B. Semester 2
1. intermediate grammar
a) discourse level elements (narration, description)
b) verb tense and aspect
c) discourse markers e.g., listing signals
2.graded readers (500-800 head word level)
a) extensive reading, vocab building, type 1 skills
--L1 can be used 25% of the time--
II. Year 2 (2 hours per week)
A. Semester 1
1. writing—beginning rhetorical styles—paragraph level
a) narration, process, description
b) topic sentence, support, coherence, unity
2. reinforce first year grammar
3. reading 1000-1500 head word level—introduce type 2 skills
4. introduce role plays, presentations
a) grammar, pronunciation
--100% L2--
B. Semester 2
1. writing—intermediate rhetorical styles—paragraph level
a) cause/effect, comparison/contrast, definition, classification
2. intermediate-advanced grammar
a) complex, compound-complex sentences
b) advanced verb work; e.g., past perfect tense
c) grammar associated with intermediate rhetorical styles
3. extensive reading 2000 head word-native level—type 1,2 skills
4. presentations
a) focus on grammar, pronunciation, content, logic, organization, style, delivery, poise, tone, modulation
III. Year 3 (1-1.5 hours per week)
A. Semester 1
1. introduce essay writing
a) introductions, conclusions, prewriting strategies
2. grammar—moves to tutorial stage
a) students referred to library, writing center, online tutorials
3. oral work—moves into discussion and debate
a) intermediate rhetorical areas + argumentation
B. Semester 2
1.introduce different types of essays
a) two assigned essays—from pre to postwriting
2.introduce self-access resources and environments
a) conversation groups, writers' workshops, online distance learning rooms and resources, online resources catering to student interests
IV.Year 4 (no official class time)
Student continues to move away from a strict student-teacher relationship and more in the direction of a
mentor or quasi-peer relationship. Guidance is on an as-needed basis; topics could include projects or work
the student is doing in other classes, post graduate plans (graduate applications, resumes, job interviews),
research, information gathering and evaluation based on student's plans and/or interests.
Syllabus Summary
Year 1 entails the highest level of student-teacher contact—students are new to the university and
need to adjust. Course content is also structured, featuring sentence level grammar and simple question
and answer paradigms. L1 can be used to smooth student's transition to this learning environment, but
is reduced in the second semester; discourse level grammar and reading are introduced.
Year 2 moves into paragraph writing, while reinforcing year 1 grammar skills. More advanced
reading is introduced stressing type 2 skills (inference, identifying discourse markers, determining writer’s
opinion and attitude). Role plays and presentations are used to focus on style, usage, appropriacy.
Year 3 introduces essay writing. Grammar work moves into semi-independent (tutorial) stage.
Independence is further reinforced through the introduction of self-access resources. Oral work
progresses to intermediate-advanced organizational styles, utilizing discussion and debate more than
presentation and role play. Independent learning resources, such as search engines, databases, voice
platforms continue to be introduced throughout the second semester.
Year 4 has no scheduled class time. Student consults teacher on an as-needed basis,
through a variety of channels (email, phone, conference). Topics revolve around real-life
issues such as student's academic life, and personal life issues, such as post graduate plans.
Student independently uses teacher as a resource outside of a classroom.
Conclusion
This 4-year plan mimics nature—puppies, kittens, and bear cubs, as well as children, are cosseted by parental
figures early in life, gradually gaining confidence as they absorb lessons from their older influential family,
tribal, or community members, finally moving out into the world as independent adults. The function of the
teacher, in addition to being a surrogate parent, follows a natural progression based on Jeremy Harmer's
definition of a language teacher's role. Harmer states that there are eight roles of a language teacher—
controller, assessor, participant, prompter, resource, organizer, tutor, and investigator. Based on our
4-year model, a teacher moves from a more structured figure, such as a controller and an organizer,
to a much more unconstrained role, such as a resource and a tutor. This approach not only maps well
on nature, history's best teacher, but it liberates both student and teacher—the student acquires language
within the context of developing as a human being, and the esl teacher can shed the image of drudgery and
low status, often associated with the job, to hopefully make a more meaningful difference in the lives of students.
Further Reading
Harmer, Jeremy. The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman, 1991-2000.
Krashen, S and Terrell, T. The Natural Approach, Pergamon Press, 1982.
Schackne, Steve. "Language Teaching Research-In the Literature, but Not Always in the Classroom," in Journal of Language and Linguistics, 2002.
Schackne, Steve. “The Common Sense Approach: How One Teacher Organized A Speaking
Course For 200 Chinese Graduate Students,” in DevelopingTeachers.Com, 2005.
TEFL Asia Magazine