O PN O TC HPROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SERIES T Issue 1
M AKI AKIN G EN GL GLIISH
U NFORGETTABLE Enhancing Acquisition in the EFL Setting Joan Saslow and Allen Ascher
These “three R’s” ensure memorablility in the EFL EFL setting: setting : ELEV EVAN AN CE REL
Adult EFL learners need English to communicate with both native nati ve and and non-nati n on-native ve speake speakers rs of English. Content of lessons and materials should reflect that rea realili ty ty..
RE-ENTRY Adult EFL learners lack exposure to repeated English input outside the classroom, so lessons and materials must serve as delivery vehicles of realworld wo rld langua language ge input . This i s key to avoiding fossilization.
REINFORCEMENT Adult EFL learners need to feel they t hey are making progres progress. s. Ensuring that students view tangible progress on a daily basis reinforces their enthusiasm for learning English.
©2005 Joan Saslow Saslow and Allen Allen Ascher Ascher
“ English?
I studied studied it for t en years years and I can’t can’t speak a w or or d! d!
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Such is the self-critical self-critical lament heard everywhere everywhere people stud y English English out side of the English-speaking English-speaking world (th e “EFL setting”). Is the setting itself itself interfering with th e learn learn er’s er’s ability to “ remember” language well enou enou gh to use it competently and confidently? If If so, why should this be? What can be done about it? And, if English is so hard to learn, why does everyone keep trying? Today’s Today’s adult learn er kno ws tha t in virtu ally any profession, profession, English is an essential skill. skill. World econo mies and cultures ar e increasingly increasingly interconnected an d interd ependent—p olitically olitically, socially socially, and technologic logically ally.. Mu ltinational companies companies consist consist of confederations confederations of offices offices in in nu merou s countr ies, ies, and English English has th us become a convenient lingua franca. In deed, according to Ricardo Schutz’s chutz’s study, study, 75% of all international international communication in wr iting, iting, 80% of all information in the world’s world’s computers, and 90% of Internet content content ar e in Engli English. sh. Mor e than ten years years ago, the Britis British h Coun cil cil reported, “English “English is the main language of books, newspapers, airports and air-traffic control, internat ional b usiness and academic conferences, conferences, science, science, technology, technology, diplomacy, diplomacy, sport, international competitions, competitions, pop music, music, and advertising.” And we know that the importance of English has only increased increased since then. As one exa mple of th e prima cy of English English in international business, in fiscal 2002 the global Japanese company Mat sushita sushita employed employed 245 ,922 people worldwide, only 28% of whom w ere Japanese. “We need Englis English-speaking h-speaking managers who can explain Mat sushita’s sushita’s corpo rat e philosoph philosoph y to overseas overseas affiliates affiliates and train employees there,” said Shigeru Mizuno of the management development team.
And it has been commonly agreed that, of the English speakers speakers in in the world to day, day, between between 60 a nd 80% are not nat ive speakers. speakers. T he British British C oun cil’ cil’s landm ark English English 2000 project predicted that over a billion people would be studying English by the year 2000. In fact, according to David Crystal in 1997, “A conservative estimate is that 1,200,000,000 to 1,500,000,000 people in the world are reasonably competent in English.” So, if English is an essential life skill for all who work, travel, or merely inhabit today’s world, how can English language educators—as a profession—accelerate, promote, and ensure ensure communicative communicative competenc competencee in EFL learners? Essentially, the question is: How can we make English unforgettable?
Quantitative factors affecting learner achievement. In light of the
inadequate vocabulary, and almost all have difficulty understanding rapid native speech.
Qualitative factors affecting learner achievement. More importantly, the success of English English instruction in the EFL setting setting is also compro mised by qualitative factors: the paucity of authentic Englis English h input and t he almost total lack of opport unity for authentic practice outside the classroom.
A hun hundred dred sev seventyentyfive hours might seem like a lot of instruction – until one realizes that there are only 168 hours in one week! So one year’s study amounts to not much more than one week’s time!
No teacher alone can possibly provide enough quantity or quality of input, input, n or construct enough opportunities for practice, to even come near to matching the impact of an authentic English-speaking environment. M aterials must, must, t herefore, herefore, be th e teacher’s teacher’s par tner in repa iring the d eficits eficits of the setting.
In our view view,, however however, most textbooks used in the EFL setting setting don’t don’t provide adequate or repeated input; almost none recycle material enough for it to be remembered, and the amoun t of practice practice included included doesn’t doesn’t appro ach the quantity necess necessary ary to create confident competency. And textbooks tend to approa ch class classroom room learning learning as a linear process, with vocabulary and grammar taught one following the other like footsteps on a march, until the “syllabus” “syllabus” is ”covered” ”covered” with virtually no integration along the way.
fact that many learners feel shame at their lack of commu nicative ability ability,, especiall especially y their poor ability to understand and use spoken English after years of instruction, it’s it’s important for us to examine our expectations. expectations. Just Just what are reasonable expectations, given the reality of t he EFL setting? O ne simply simply can’t can’t ignore the purely quantitative element in estimating total instructiona l conta ct hours in this setting. setting. A typical academic year is between 30 and 40 weeks, with instructional times varying widely: normally from as few as three hours of instruction per week to five; more, of cour se, in intensive cour cour ses. ses. H owever, owever, calculating five hours of instruction per week for 35 weeks yields 175 hours. A hundred seventy-five hours might seem like a lot of instruction—u instruction—u ntil one realiz realizes es that t here are only 168 hours in one week! week! So one year’ year’ss study study amount s to not much more than one week’s time!
In contr ast, th e language-learning language-learning experience in an environment in which the learner is surrou surrou nded by the t arget language is more three-dimensional, with exposures and pra ctice reinforcing each other and the stud ent’s ent’s facility facility growing geometrically geometrically. It is, as Dian e Larsen-Freeman puts it, “ dynamic, dynamic, complex, and nonlinear.” nonlinear.” Multiple, varied, and repeated exposures to target language provide an inescapable echo; immediate opportunities to practice abound, and previously learned language can be continually observed observed in similar, similar, tho ugh no t identical, context s. The environment itself makes language “unforgettable.” No wonder study in an English-speaking country is such a powerful learning learning experience experience.. The dilemma, dilemma, then, facing the profession is how to overcome the quantitative and qualitative factors inherent in the EFL setting that mak e achievement achievement of comm unicative competence seem seem so elusive.
No one would expect to master a language in just a few weeks, but quantitatively that is what several years of instruction actually is. Taking that into account, the level learners reach after fou r o r five years years is really really quite good; perhaps they are what Crystal called “reasonably competent,” in spite of their selfself-critici criticism. sm. We kno w th e level level most learners reach from instruction alone: although there ar e wide differences differences among learners, mo st speak hesitantly yet functionally with grammatical errors and
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Lewis talks about the need for opportunities to observe, hypothesize, and experiment with new language. Supporting this concept is the fact that most learners who experience immersion in another language—such as occurs when traveling or living in another country— report t hat snatches snatches of observed observed or heard language remain in their memory and that they silently repeat that language to t hemselves hemselves like a refrain, furt her leading to its memorability, acquisition, and use. Therefore, when input from the environment outside the classroom is lacking, the classroo classroo m an d learning ma terials themselves themselves must serve as the vehicle for that input, bringing language back numerous times for for t he student to no tice and remember in t he same way.
The importance of models. Ma ny deliberate deliberate choices choices can be mad e in the EFL setting setting th at w ill greatly greatly increase the impact of instru instru ction. Although the classclassroo m can never fully duplicate the experience of living, living, traveling to, or studying in the English-speaking world, it can be m uch enriched. Th e following section section will examine pedagogical devices that promote memorability and greatly increase acquisition and competence. An unfortuna te aspect aspect of currently popular methodologies has been a reduction in input for observation in the classroom classroom . D escribing escribing h is experience teaching Bosnian zero beginners in the U.K., author Robert O’Neill describes the frustration of learners confronted with what he describes as “production-obsessed” methodology and its relentless insistence on elicitation. Students needed more opportunities to process language before being expected to use it pr odu ctively ctively..
Though input must form form an important par t of Engli English sh language instruction in all settings and at all levels levels—its —its inclusion in classrooms and materials is all the more crucial in the EFL setting. Input should consist of aural and written models—conversational and non-conversational—that students can observe and practice. In the last century, during the audiolingual phase of language teaching history, “dialogs” formed the core of instruction, and the mechanical repetition and substitution drills used to practice them led to their rejection as non-cognitive “behaviorism.”
It has been our experience, having taught adults of all levels in bot h th e EFL and the ESL ESL settings, settings, tha t in t he ESL ESL setting— setting—where where students have an op portun ity to observe observe spoken an d wr itten English English ou tside of class—i class—itt is reasonable and beneficial beneficial to d evote most class time asking them to “produce.” In the input-rich ESL setting, students are consolidating and using language observed observed in t he environ ment. Less class class time needs needs to b e devoted to classroom presentation and observation. In the EFL setting, setting, on th e other han d, which is “input-poor,” insis insisting ting that students speak speak without enough opport unity to observe leads them to silent panic, the consequence of which is that only the most able students participate in class. class. A furth er consequence of depriving learners of opport unities unities to ob serve serve “new language” is that their language becomes fossili fossilized, zed, and their a bility to engage in discussions discussions doesn’t doesn’t grow commensura tely with the time they spend in English study.
Though th e critic criticis ism m was valid, valid, the fault lay more in the pedagogy of (what many saw as) “mindless parroting” than in the dialogs themselves. That fact notwithstanding, in the EFL setting setting on e of the mo st regrettab le conseconsequences of the reaction to audiolingualism was the reduction or even disappearance of conversation models in the “ communicative communicative,” ,” “learner-ce “learner-centered,” ntered,” a nd “ taskbased” textbooks that followed. But learners need models of the way people really speak English to make up for wha t’s t’s lacking in the environment. Such mo dels are an essential point of departure on the road to expression and should not be neglected.
Cultural factors also confound the problem of overreliance on elicitation. Students from some cultures are naturally reticent and less likely to “speak up.” But even adult learners who are not pa rticularly rticularly shy shy,, no mat ter how motivated and anxious to speak, speak, are often ashamed ashamed to reveal their lack of ability and embarrassed to speak incorrectly. incorrectly. So, pa rad oxically, oxically, some featu res of o ur “communicative” methodologies work against the very communicative goals we strive for.
A mod el, however however, is not o nly someth someth ing to observe: it is an effective effective prod uctive practice medium. H ere also recent materials have de-emphasized or ignored the crucial first first step of u sing the conversational mo del for personalization. Following a comprehensive study of the most w idely used English English course boo ks, in 19 96 Saslow reported: “ Another casualty of recent recent teaching approaches is practice: safe, safe, contr olled, limited pr actice of new language. Often this step is skipped, and students are expected to produce new language freely before they
We believe believe it it is impossible impossible to overestimate the impor tan ce of observation as a first (and ongoing) step. Michael
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are r eady—with th e inevitable inevitable results: minimal expr ession ession and lack of confidence.”
In the classroom, this conversation can be practiced numerous times, each time with a different partner, inserting inserting true and personalize personalized d information to contribute to its memorability. Moreover, an implicit corollary benefit of this conversation model is that it permits practice of can an d have to , making it it an extremely extremely effici efficient ent wa y to increase its impact on the learning pro cess. cess. Begi Beginning nning an d interm ediate students in t he EFL setting derive great value from this sort of controlled practice and it should not be denied them.
Since models maximize both exposure and practice, they contribute to making language unforgettable. However, keeping in mind t he pitfalls of audiolingual meth odo logy, logy, intensive practice and personalization of models—rather than mindless mindless substituting substituting of poorly kno wn vocabulary vocabulary into them—is what makes them valuable. Controlled personalized practice of a good model prepares the learner to later pull practical language “out of his or her pocket” and transfer it to diverse speaking situations. And for students who need to use English—today’ English—today’ss students—this practice phase must not be skipped.
Not all models, however, impart equal value. To contr ast, let’s let’s look a t an ineffectiv ineffectivee conversation mo del that doesn’t lead to memorability.
What makes an effective conversation model? Conversation models are most valuable
B: Can you help me? I’m trying to copy this memo.
when they are practical, practical, short, a nd t ransferable ransferable to oth er situation s. The following beginning-leve beginning-levell model exhibits th ese three chara cteristics: cteristics:
First, open the cover cover and put the paper on A: First, the glass. B: Like this? A: Yes. Then, choo se the num ber o f copies you you want. Next, close the cover and press the START button.
A: Why don’t we play basketball sometime? B: Great idea. When’s good for you?
ee? A: Tomorr ow at thr ee?
B: Thanks for your help.
B: Sorry, I can’t. I have to meet my sister at the airport.
Let’s Let’s apply the same t est. est. O n th e surface it it ap pears to be practical: one often asks others for help operating something or doing something. However, upon examination we see that it is only practical insofar as it only app lies lies to t he specific specificss of operat ing a ph oto copier. copier. The only productive purpose it serves is for rote memorization, which—educators agree—primarily fosters short-term memory. It cannot easily be “transferred” (or personalized) because a completely new set set o f vocabulary items would be needed to make any changes to the request for help in the model. It can only be used to discuss working a photocopier. If we convert the model to a conversation guide, as ab ove, it is diffic difficult ult t o imagine a pair o f beginning-lev beginning-level el stud stud ents using it to a sk for h elp in opera ting, say, say, a microw ave oven or a vacuum cleaner. cleaner.
A: How about Wednesday at five? B: That sound s great. great.
The mod el above is is practical: it’ it’ss an exchan ge tha t often occurs occurs when tw o people want to get together for some sort of activity activity (not (not on ly sports!), sports!), so so students can can readily see its value. It’ It’ss short , and t herefore easy to r emember. emember. And it’s it’s tra nsferable: all parts of this conversation conversation mo del can chan ge to fit r eality; for for example, different activities can be suggested, suggested, different da ys and times can be substituted, and other excuses can be offered. As an illustration of tr ansferability, ansferability, see see the following following “conversation guide” of the same conversation model. H aving learned learned activities vocabulary earlier, earlier, students can manipulate the conversation model in their own way.
I’m t rying to _____. _____. B: Can you help m e? I’m
A: Why don’t don’t we ____ _____ _ sometime? sometime?
A: First, _____. _____.
B: Great idea. When’s good for you?
B: Like this?
A: _____?
A: Yes. Then, _____. Next, _____.
_____. B: Sorry, I can ’t. _____.
B: Thanks for your help.
_____?? A: Ho w abo ut _____ B: _____.
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The learner would need to know the names of different parts and operations for each machine machine substituted substituted for the photocopier (that you “ push” a vacuum cleaner cleaner and “choose attachments,” that you “selec “select” t” a time and “p lace lace food on a turnta ble” in a microwave, etc.) etc.) Experience and the n ecess ecessity ity of covering th e syllabus syllabus t ell us, however however, that bringing bringing rando m vocabulary in and not pra cticing cticing it is distracting and causes us to lose cont cont inuity and impact. Such conversation models are not useful or p ractical in classroo classroo ms in the EFL setsetting since they don ’t pr ovide tran sferab sferab le input or contr ibute to the memorability memorability of the original model itself. And returning to the quantitative factor, working with such a mo del wastes the scarce time students have in which to learn English. Activities must all contribute to the enrichment o f the learning experience. When examining textboo textboo ks that h ave conversation models, then, it is recommended that one examine the models to see if they can be p ersonalized ersonalized b y using known vocabulary vocabulary and structure so they contribute to memorability—and memorability—and therefore “usability”—in the world outside a classroom.
whether content is relevant or irrelevant to their real needs outside the classroom. Relevant content in a textbook is irresistible; irrelevant content is irritating and viewed viewed as a waste of time.
Let’s Let’s start b y examining how adu lt EFL learners learners ma y use English. English. As mentioned ear lier lier, th e odds t hat they will use English to communicate with non-native speakers of English English are a s high, if not higher, higher, as th e odds that they will use it with native speakers. They may u se it it w hile traveling, Adults can see working, or studying in an English-speakimmediately whether ing or n on-English on-English speaking coun try. And they may use it to communicate with content is relevant or native speakers and non-native speakers irrelevant to their who are visiting their own countries. Some practical contexts that come to real needs outside mind in those settings are: ordering the classroom. and paying in restaurants, renting cars, Relevant content in a checking into and out of hotels, finding a doctor in a foreign foreign country, country, helping helping textbookk is irresistible; textboo ir resistible; someone find a dentist who speaks irrelevant content is English English in one’s one’s own coun try, complaining when something goes wrong, meeting and irritating and viewed greeting people whose cultures ar e differdifferas a waste of time. ent from one’s one’s own, a pologizing, asking for infor mation , describing one’s one’s own culture culture an d t raditions, etc. etc. In the not-so-distant not-so-distant past, the orientation of textbo oks and lessons was entirely to prepare students to communicate with native speakers of English and to be familiar with the culture of what Kachru calls the “inner circle.” The content of materials teaching “American English” was heavily infused with information about the culture of the United States, and the content of materials teaching “British English” provided similar information about the culture of the United Kingdom. The assumption that anyone learning English should be prepared to function in an English-speaking country or culture was unquestioned.
Relevant content for adult students. Adult learners around the world have certain characteristics that should guide us to effective decisions about content and pedagogy. pedagogy. M eeting these needs needs can m ake English “irresistible” to adults.
Adult learners: • choose to enroll and pay money for it (unlike adolescents or children, who are enrolled by others). • have a real need for English, and therefore demand practical content. • have limited time, either because they ha ve a job or must learn English FOR a job.
But t oda y’s y’s adult student is preparing to use English English for international communication in a variety of situations— whether in foreign countries or at home—in which he or she may encounter unfamiliar cultural norms from a variety of cultures. The content of material and lessons must now reflect that. The center of most students’ Englishspeaking wor lds is no lon ger the United States or Britain.
• don’t want to be infantilized by the classroom experience; they are adults and don’t want to be embarrassed by their mistakes. • need to observe results. All topics, themes, models, and content presented should have obvious p ractical use. Adults can see immediately
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activities that follow should contribute obviously to the achievement achievement o f the goal. As an exam ple:
Cultural fluency. While it’s it’s not t he role of th e text-
book, the teacher, or the lesson to teach students detailed cultural cultural information a bout people they they may or might not Supposing a communication goal of, “Learn to order encounter in their lives out side of class class or out side of their and p ay for a meal in a restaurant,” the following following is a country of origin, it is helpful to prepare students to cope sequence of presentations and activities that could make with anticipated differences. “Cultural fluency”—making up tha t class sessi session: on: students aware that certain traditions are likely to be different from their own—enables them to 1 . Vocabulary presentation: Foods. communicate appropriately and to avoid contextualized d 2 . Vocabulary practice: A contextualize In our experience, embarrassment. embarrassment. For example, example, a student contr olled pr actice exercise exercise follows so when newly learned traveling for business or pleasure may that students understand and can use that need need to t ake a taxi but be unsure about language is not used vocabulary in a specific, specific, limited context. whether the driver will expect a tip and if 3 . Conversation models and controlled and elicited repeatedly so how mu ch. Students Students can learn learn h ow to practice: Or dering from a menu, making ask a hotel concierge, “Is it customary to it is i s quickly quickly forgotten; food choices, choices, exp ressing ressing p references references tip the taxi driver?”—or answer such a or at best it becomes in food. question fro m a visitor. visitor. Or if business business 4 . Additional social language: Comavailable to the learner travelers attend a company meeting outmunicating with a waiter or waitress (for side of their home country, they should only receptively. example: “ We’ We’re read y to ord er,” er,” “ We’ We’ll feel feel able to say, say, “ Are most peop le in in th e Unfortunately, many take the check, please,” “Do you accept office on a first-name basis?” or “Excuse credit cards?”). me. I don’t don’t kn ow th e custom custom h ere. ere. H ow textbooks fail students would you like to be addressed?” or in this regard. “ Please Please call me Kim.” T hey should also feel prepared to answer such questions from a visitor to their country. This kind of language content is “irresistible” to adults because they all know the po tential embarrassment embarrassment that ensues ensues with feeling awkward or, even worse, with doing something that would be offensive to people of another culture. Wh en irresistible language content is included included in a course or textbook , students students are motivated, motivated, pay attenattention, a nd r e-enro e-enro ll: all all conducive to language mastery.
Seeing one’ o ne’ss own o wn pr progress. ogress. Another
essential essential factor in creating irresistible irresistible instruction is enabling students to see their own progress. Students who see concrete success success are enth usiastic about studying English, English, and not hing mot ivates like like success success.. In a r ecent ecent stu dy by the N ational Center for t he Study Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL), two of the three supports to learner persistence demonstrated in adult learners were establishment of a goal by the student and progress progress toward reaching a goal.
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Listening comprehension: Students hear a series of conversations between people eating eating in a r estauran estauran t an d pr edict edict wha t th ey will will say next, using the social language from the list above.
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commuFree Free practice: p ractice: Groups o f students practice the communication nication goal: “or der and pay for a m eal.” eal.” They role-play role-play diners and servers at tables, using real menus and their own personalized responses. They apply the new vocabulary, the conversation models, and the additional social language they learned in th e lesson. lesson. In this way, students leave class class knowing t hey have achieved achieved t he goal an d seeing that they can do something they couldn’t do before they came to class. This confirmation of pro gress develdevelops enthusiasm and contributes to the irresistibility of language instruction.
Integration and multiplication. In our
experiexperience, when newly learn learn ed language is not used an d elicited elicited repeatedly, repeatedly, it is quickly forgott en, or at best it becomes available to the learn er o nly receptively receptively.. Unfortunately, many textbooks fail students in this regard. As writers trying to construct an ideal offering for the student learning in the EFL setting—and in an attempt to make English unforgettable—we have taken the position position th at th ere cannot cannot be too m any exposures to
To provide students with with that support, students should should have an opportunity in each class session to understand the goal and observe their achievement of the goal. Goals must be stated, and all presentations, exercises, and
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target language. Integration and multiplication of new language is crucial if instru instru ction in the EFL setting is to attempt to ap proach the quant ity and quality quality of input input in the English-speaking English-speaking environm ent.
Summary Although the challenge to learn a language in the EFL setting is formidable, with quantitative and qualitative factors comp oun ding th e difficulty difficulty,, we believe believe creating an environment environment within th e class class that at tempts to d uplicate uplicate quantitative features of the native language setting is the most appropriate instructional design for lessons and materials. Materials need to provide a high quantity of intensive, authentic, yet comprehensible input for learners to observe before they make it their own. New language needs to be deliberately and systemat systemat ically ically recycled recycled to ensure ensure maximum exposure. And And n umerous oppo rtunities to pr actice actice must be provided provided to make up for the lack of such opportunities outside of class.
The challenge, then, is how to present learners with an adequate number of classroom exposures (“exposures” here includes both observation and practice) to new language so they will remember it. One traditional means of multiplying expo expo sures is is to have students incessantly incessantly repeat the new language language in order to “m emorize” emorize” it. Unfortunately, as we know, this memorizing tends to be short-term. Repetition is also boring and de-motivating. Let’s look at two simple qualitative and quantitative approaches that increase classroom exposures to new vocabulary.
Finally, Finally, recognizing the un ique needs of t he ad ult learner, learner, content should be carefully chosen for its practicality and relevance to how the adult learner may use it in the real world. Da ily ily oppor tunities should should b e constructed constructed t o allow learners to observe their own progress.
A qualitative qualitative way to maximize exposure exposure without b eing eing repetitive is is by constructing cont ext shifts in which th e same new vocabulary or grammar appears naturally. Clothing vocabulary, for example, taught in an early unit in a t extbook can b e re-entere re-entered d later in a un it on shopping—and a nywhere else else possible. possible. Language used used to express express regrets regrets about pu rchases rchases in an early unit can be re-entered in a unit later on machines. Changing the context or top ic refreshes refreshes the learn learn er’s er’s interest and “ recycles recycles”” language in an effici efficient ent way. way.
Irresistible and motivating content provides something learners learners not on ly can can ta lk about, but t hat t hey will will want to talk about. Thoughtful recycling will ensure memorability—and subsequently experimentation—both enhancing and maximizing learner achievement.
A quantitative way to m aximize aximize exposure is is by changing changing the “vehicle “vehicle”” that exhibits or “carries” the language. language. Using vocabulary as an example of a quantitative approa ch to m ultiplic ultiplication ation an d integration, as materials writers, we consider the following amount of integration in the list below to be a bare minimum. Both within the textbook unit where it is presented, as well as in subsequent units, vocabulary should be embedded and recycled in: • reading selections selections and realia • listening listening compr ehension tap e scripts scripts • example sentences in grammar charts • gramma r exercises exercises • conversation models and opportunities to practice them • video scripts • songs Instructors should expect that their materials provide these multiple exposures an d int ensive, ensive, systematic systematic recycling—anything less leads to “forgetability.”
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ABOU OUT T
THE TH E AUT UTHO HOR RS
Joan Saslow Joan Saslow is co-author, with Allen Ascher, of Top Notch: English for Today’s World . She wa was s Series Series Dir Director ector of True Colors: An EFL Course for Real Communication and of True Voices, an EFL Video Course . She is the author author of Ready to Go: Language, Lifeskills, and Civics ; Workplace Plus: Living and Working in English ; Lit era eracy cy Plus ; and of of English in Context: Reading Comprehension for Science and Technology . Ms. Saslow has taught in Chile and the United States in a variety of programs. She taught English at the Binational Centers of Valparaíso and Viña del Mar, Chile, and French and English at the Catholic University of Valparaíso. In the United States, Ms. Saslow taught English as a Foreign Language Langua ge to Japanese Japanese university student students s at Marymo M arymount unt College and to international students in Westchester Community College’s intensive English program. She also taught workplace English at a General Motors auto assembly plant. Ms. Saslow Saslow’s ’s special special i nteres nterestt i s in di stinguishing the needs of the EFL and the ESL learner and creating materials appropriate for each. She has an M.A. in French from the University of Wisconsin.
Other topics forthcoming in the
T O PN O T C HPROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SERIES: Developing Cultural Cultural Fluency Beyond Model Conversations: Enabling Real Discussions A Learner-Supportive earner-Supportive Grammar Grammar
Allen Ascher Allen Ascher, formerly Director of the International English Institute at Hunter College in New York, has been a teacher, teacher-trainer, author, and publi she sher. r. He has has taught taught i n language language and teacher-training programs in both China and the Unit ed States. States. Mr. As Ascher cher speciali speciali ze zed d in in teaching listening and speaking speaking to t o students at at the Beijing Beij ing Second Foreign Language Institute, to hotel workers at a major international hotel in China, and to Japanese students from Chubu University studying English at Ohio Universit Univers it y in the United Uni ted States. States. Mr. As Ascher cher taught taught students of all language backgrounds and abilities at the City University of New York, and he trained teachers in the TESO TE SOL L Certif icat icate e Program Program at the New N ew School. School. Mr. Ascher has an M.A. in Applied Linguistics from Ohio University. Mr. Ascher is i s co-author, wit h Joan Saslow, Saslow, of Top Notch . He is author of Think About Edit ing: A Grammar Grammar Editi ng Guide Guide for ESL Writers . As a publ publisher, isher, Mr. Ascher Ascher played a key role in the creation of some of the most widely used materials for adults, including True Colors , NorthStar , Focus on Grammar , Global Links , and Ready to Go .
REFE EFEREN REN CES British Council: English 2000. In David Graddol. The Future of English? The British Council. 1997. John P. Comings, Andrea Parrella, and Lisa Soricone: “Helping adults persist: persist: four support s.” N CSALL. CSALL. 1999. David Crystal: English English as a Global Language. Cambridge. 1997. B.B. Kachru: “Standards, codification and sociolinguistic realism: the English English language in the outer circle.” circle.” In R . Quick and H.G. Widdowson (eds) English in the World . Cambridge. Cambridge. 1985. Michael Lewis: The Lexical Approach. Language Teaching Publications. Publications. 1993 . Joan Saslow: “Real language: the vitamin for t he student studying English English outside the EnglishEnglish-speaking speaking world.” Longman. 19 96. Ricardo Schutz: O Ingles como lingua internacional. sk.com.br/skingl. ingl. 200 3. Sower, Sower, C. (1997). “An a ttitude of inquiry: An An interview interview with Diane Larsen-Freeman.” The Language Teacher , 21 (7), 27-28, 37. Shinichi Yanagawa: “English, the lingua franca of business.” Daily Yomiuri O n-line n-line . August August 10, 2003.
ISBN 0-13-2385210-X
