The BC TEAL Journal

I'm currently the editor of the BC TEAL Journal, which is the peer-reviewed scholarly publication of the Association of British Columbia Teachers of English as an Additional Language (BC TEAL). The journal exists to promote scholarship related to the teaching and learning of English as an additional language in British Columbia, with articles explicitly reflecting the various contexts and settings of the BC TEAL Membership.

Call for Submissions to the BC TEAL Journal

The BC TEAL Journal invites the submission of original previously unpublished contributions, such as research articles or theoretical analysis, classroom practice, and opinion essays, from all sectors and experience levels represented by the BC TEAL membership.  Research type articles should be no more than 7,000 words, plus references.  Theoretical analysis, classroom practice, and opinion essays should be no more than 3,500 words, plus references.  Please refer to the Author Guidelines for more information on submitting to this journal.

Manuscripts are accepted on an ongoing basis throughout the year, with papers that have completed the review and editing process being published as they are ready. The BC TEAL Journal publishes on an ongoing basis, with articles gathered into a single issue over the course of one calendar year. For more information on the submission process, please visit http://ejournals.ok.ubc.ca/index.php/BCTJ/about/submissions.

Interested in Service Learning and English Language Teaching and Learning? New Article in the TESL Canada Journal ...

Tracy Riley and I have recently had an article published in the TESL Canada Journal on a service learning experience for English language learners.  I was Tracy's MA supervisor on this project.  If you are interested in doing an MA related to English as an additional language teaching and learning, check out the graduate programs on my campus: https://education.ok.ubc.ca/programs/grad.html.

In the meantime, here is the link  to the article followed by the English and French abstracts:

The Multicultural Café: Enhancing Authentic Interaction for Adult English Language Learners Through Service Learning

While service learning platforms hold great potential for adult learners of English as an additional language (EAL), there has been little research to date related to the impact of these programs on adult newcomers’ linguistic and social development. The Multicultural Café was a food service learning platform for adult EAL learners operated over a 7-month period at a regional college in the British Columbia interior. The café was developed to provide adult immigrant learners of EAL with an opportunity to authentically engage in using English to provide a valued service to the local community. The current study was conducted to explore the impact of the service learning experience from the perspective of the participants. Using a qualitative case study research design, data were gathered from participants (n = 10) through a questionnaire, semistructured interviews, and a focus group. Data were transcribed, coded, and collected into emerging themes. Opportunities for authentic interactions with customers and with other volunteer coworkers emerged as two of the primary outcomes of the service learning experience. Incorporating the service learning opportunity of the Multicultural Café into the participants’ English language learning experiences appeared to enhance their interactions within the college community.

Les cadres d’apprentissage par le service communautaire sont très prometteurs pour les apprenants adultes d’anglais langue additionnel (ALA); pourtant, peu de recherche a porté sur l’impact de ces programmes sur le développement linguistique et social des nouveaux arrivants d’âge adulte. Le Café Multiculturel a constitué, pendant une période de 7 mois, un milieu d’apprentissage par le service pour des apprenants adultes d’ALA dans un collège régional de l’intérieur de la Colombie-Britannique. Le café a été développé pour fournir aux immigrants adultes apprenant l’ALA l’occasion de communiquer authentiquement en anglais tout en offrant un service important à la communauté locale. La présente étude a porté sur l’impact de l’expérience d’apprentissage par le service selon la perspective des participants. Employant un plan de recherche qualitative visant une étude de cas, nous avons recueilli des données de participants (n = 10) par le biais d’un questionnaire, d’entrevues semi-structurées et d’un groupe de discussion. Les données ont été transcrites, codées et rassemblées selon des thèmes qui s’y dégageaient. Deux des résultats principaux de l’expérience de l’apprentissage par le service consistaient en les occasions d’interactions authentiques avec les clients et avec les autres collègues bénévoles. L’intégration, dans le parcours pédagogique des apprenants d’anglais, de l’expérience de l’apprentissage par le service au Café Multiculturel semble avoir mis en valeur leurs interactions au sein de la communauté du collège.

What Should Canada’s Teachers Know?

I recently had a chapter published in a publication by the Canadian Association for Teacher Education (CATE). Every two years, CATE holds a working conference for teacher educators, and this book was the result of the 2015 conference that was held in Toronto.  The book is available as a pdf, and it is free.  You can find the book here:

What Should Canada’s Teachers Know? Teacher Capacities: Knowledge, Belief, and Skills

Here is the title and abstract for my chapter:

Preparing for Linguistic Diversity: Teacher Candidate Reflections on an Elementary Education Course in Additional Language Teaching and Learning

Teacher candidates in Canada encounter a rich range of linguistic diversity in their school experiences. The goal of this qualitative study was to examine, from the point of view of elementary teacher candidates, the extent to which an additional language teaching and learning course prepared them for their encounters with students from linguistically diverse backgrounds. Data were gathered through an online open-ended questionnaire exploring teacher candidates’ perspectives on the most and least beneficial elements of the course, along with what they thought might be missing. Results point to Canadian classrooms being home to a wide diversity of English language learners. Participants also felt that instructional strategies, empathy, confidence, and transferability were some of the benefits of a course in additional language teaching and learning. However, they felt that it lacked enough time with actual students and content related to culture, socioeconomic factors, and immigration status. The findings underscore the necessity of addressing the needs of English language learners from diverse linguistic backgrounds throughout a teacher education program and the importance of having a specialized course in additional language teaching and learning.

Douglas, S. (2016). Preparing for linguistic diversity: Teacher candidate reflections on an elementary education course in additional language teaching and learning. In M. Hirschkorn & J. Mueller (Eds.), What should Canada's teachers know? Teacher capacities: Knowledge, beliefs and skills (pp. 536-568). Ottawa, ON: Canadian Association for Teacher Education. Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-36OcipMmoPbTdia2hrN1F5RjQ/view

My new article in the TESL Canada Journal's special issue on language assessment in Canada

Here is the link to my latest paper in the TESL Canada Journal, Volume 32, Special Issue 9, 2015: Language Assessment in Canada: Critical Issues and Research Agenda:

The Relationship Between Lexical Frequency Profiling Measures and Rater Judgements of Spoken and Written General English Language Proficiency on the CELPIP-General Test

Abstract

Independent confirmation that vocabulary in use unfolds across levels of performance as expected can contribute to a more complete understanding of validity in standardized English language tests. This study examined the relationship between Lexical Frequency Profiling (LFP) measures and rater judgements of test-takers’ overall levels of performance in the Speaking and Writing modules of the CELPIP-General test. In particular, the potential of measures such as lexical stretch and number of frequency bands accessed was examined. Randomized quota sampling from previously rated test-taker responses resulted in 200 speaking samples and 200 writing samples being compiled to create corpora of 211,602 running words and 70,745 running words respectively. Pearson r was used to examine the relationships between the LFP measures and rater judgements of CELPIP levels. Results point to significant correlations, with increasing CELPIP levels of performance generally accompanied by test-takers’ increasing ability to produce greater numbers of words, deploy a greater variety of words, rely less on high-frequency vocabulary, tap into mid-frequency vocabulary, and access a greater number of frequency bands. These results underline the contribution of independently obtained lexical measures toward a fuller understanding of concurrent validity in standardized English language proficiency testing.

La confirmation indépendante que le vocabulaire d’usage se répand sur plusieurs niveaux de performance tel que prévu peut contribuer à une meilleure interprétation de la validité des tests standardisés de langue anglaise. Ce e étude a examiné le rapport entre les mesures de profilage de la fréquence lexicale et les évaluations de la performance globale des élèves aux modules de parole et de rédaction du Programme canadien d’évaluation du niveau de compétence linguistique en anglais (CELPIP). Plus précisément, on a examiné le potentiel des mesures telles l’étendue lexicale et le nombre de bandes de fréquences a eintes. L’échantillon- nage par quota aléatoire de réponses d’élèves déjà évaluées a entrainé la formation de 200 échantillons de parole et 200 échantillons de rédaction représentant deux corpora, un de 211 602 mots liés et l’autre de 70 745 mots liés. On a employé le coe cient de corrélation de Pearson pour examiner les rapports entre les mesures de la fréquence lexicale et les évaluations en fonction des niveaux du CELPIP. Les résultats dévoilent des corrélations signi catives entre, d’une part, les meilleures performances au CELPIP et, d’autre part, une capacité à produire une quantité et une variété plus importantes de mots; à moins recourir aux mots les plus fréquents; à puiser dans du vocabulaire à fréquence moyenne; et à accéder à un plus grand nombre de bandes de fréquence. Ces résultats soulignent la contribution des mesures lexicales obtenues indépendamment à la compréhension de la validité concourante des évaluations standardisées des compétences linguistiques en anglais. 

JALT Conference Proceedings - JALT2014

I can't believe that it is almost a year since I was in Japan for the JALT 2014 conference in Tsukuba.  The peer-reviewed conference proceedings have just come out, and I thought I would share the abstract and the link:

Student Perspectives on a Short-Term Study Abroad Experience

Research that uncovers Japanese undergraduate student perspectives in connection to the short-term study abroad experience can provide valuable insights for educational program developers. The current study focused on what Japanese university students visiting Canada on a short-term study abroad program felt were the ideal elements of this kind of educational experience. Data were collected from participants at four points before and during the experience. Qualitative data analysis methods were used to identify the most prominent themes. Findings pointed to meaningful intercultural encounters, rich content-focused classroom experiences, and varied extra-curricular activities as being the key elements of an effective program. However, program developers should be mindful that intercultural encounters may not occur naturally, and extra-curricular activities might not happen spontaneously. Creating an ideal short-term study abroad program involves finding ways to encourage organic intercultural encounters and providing unique and engaging activities outside of the classroom. 

本研究は、日本人短期留学生の視点から留学を捉えることが、有意義な留学プログラムを作成する重要な手がかりとなりうることを明らかにしたものである。調査は、カナダに留学した日本人大学生のグループを対称とし、短期留学において最も重要な要素は何かという点について留学前、留学中に計４回おこなった。そのデータを定性的に分析した結果、学生にとって理想的な短期留学とは、有意義な異文化体験、内容重視の授業、そして様々な授業外活動を含む留学であることが明らかになったのだが、有意義な異文化体験や授業外活動は、海外に来たというだけで自然に発生するものではなく、生徒の自主性だけに任せたプログラムでは、うまくいかないことが多い。それゆえ、理想的な短期留学プログラムの作成にあたっては、生徒が自然に異文化体験ができる方法や留学先ならではの授業外活動をどのように提供できるかという点を考慮して、プログラムを作成する必要がある。

http://jalt-publications.org/proceedings/articles/4708-student-perspectives-short-term-study-abroad-experience

TBLT and EAP

Marcia Kim and I have an article in the TESL Canada Journal on how instructors perceive and practice Task Based Language Teaching in the Canadian context.  Here is the abstract followed by the link:

TESL Canada Journal, Volume 31, Special Issue 8, 2014

Task-Based Language Teaching and English for Academic Purposes: An Investigation into Instructor Perceptions and Practice in the Canadian Context

Scott Roy Douglas, Marcia Kim

Abstract

English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programs designed to meet postsecondary English language proficiency requirements are a common pathway to higher education for students from non-English-speaking backgrounds. Grounded in a Canadian context, this study seeks to examine the prevalence of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) in EAP, common examples of EAP tasks, and the benefits and drawbacks of this approach for EAP students. EAP professionals (n = 42) were recruited from the membership of TESL Canada, and participants completed a questionnaire on their perceptions of TBLT for EAP. Of those who participated, 69% reported using TBLT in at least half of their lessons, with 86% of the par- ticipants indicating that TBLT was suitable for EAP instruction. Further qualitative analysis of the data revealed that presentations, essays, and interviews were the top three tasks employed by EAP teachers; the practicality, effectiveness, and learner-centredness of TBLT were its major benefits; and mismatched student expectations, lack of classroom time, and excessive instructor preparation were TBLT’s major drawbacks. Ambiguity regarding what constitutes TBLT was also found in the data. It appears that TBLT is used by participants across Canada and is well accepted as a teaching approach. However, some concerns associated with TBLT in EAP remain to be addressed.

Les programmes d’anglais académique visant à combler les exigences en matière de compétences linguistiques pour l’anglais au postsecondaire représentent souvent une voie vers les études postsecondaires pour les élèves allophones. Située dans un contexte canadien, cette étude porte sur la prévalence de l’enseignement des langues basé sur les tâches (ELBT) dans les cours d’anglais académique, des exemples courants de tâches dans ces cours, et les avantages et les inconvénients de cette approche pour les élèves. À partir des membres de TESL Canada, on a recruté des enseignants d’anglais académique (n = 42) et ceux-ci ont complété un questionnaire portant sur leurs perceptions de l’ELBT dans les cours d’anglais académique. Les résultats indiquent que 69% des participants emploient l’ELBT dans au moins la moitié de leurs leçons et que 86% jugent l’ELBT approprié pour l’enseignement de l’anglais académique. Une analyse quantitative plus poussée a révélé que les trois tâches les plus fréquemment employées par les enseignants d’anglais académique étaient les présentations, les rédactions et les entrevues. De plus, les participants ont indiqué qu’ils estimaient que les atouts principaux de l’ELBT étaient son aspect pratique, son efficacité et le fait qu’il est centré sur l’apprenant; comme inconvénients majeurs, ils ont noté une inadéquation des attentes de la part des étudiants, l’insuffisance des heures de cours et la formation excessive des enseignants. Les données ont également révélé une ambigüité par rapport à ce qui constitue l’ELBT. Il parait que l’ELBT est employé partout au Canada et est bien accueilli comme méthode enseignement; toutefois, il faudrait aborder certaines préoccupations quant à son emploi dans l’enseignement de l’anglais académique.

http://www.teslcanadajournal.ca/index.php/tesl/article/view/1184

Article in the International Student Experience Journal

I've been thinking a lot in the past few years about the validity of instructor-assessed final grades in English for Academic Purposes courses and how evidence can be gathered to contribute to the validity of these types of grades.  One on-going study that I've been involved with has been looking at the relationship between instructor-assessed EAP final grades and standardized English language proficiency test scores administered at the end of an EAP course.  The first paper published out of this study is in the Autumn 2014 issue of the International Student Experience Journal (http://isejournal.weebly.com/), and the paper looks at the concurrent validity of instructor-assessed EAP final grades.  Correlational analysis was used to compare the EAP final grades with TOEFL ITP scores that were gathered at the end of the semester.  There were statistically significant moderate correlations, contributing to the idea of concurrent validity, but the was also enough of a divergence to point to meaningful differences in what the instructors were assessing and what the TOEFL ITP was assessing.

The article can be found in the current issue here:  http://isejournal.weebly.com/current-issue.html

Summary of the April 2014 BC TEAL Okanagan Meet and Greet / Lesson Swap

Last night was the BC TEAL Okanagan Meet and Greet / Lesson Swap, and it was a huge success.  It was a great opportunity for local teachers to sit around in a big circle and share some of our favourite teaching activities and learning tasks.  It was also a great opportunity to meet some more English as an Additional Language (EAL) teachers in the local area and build some face-to-face community.  Kudos to our BC TEAL regional representative, Jeanie, for putting the event together, and much thanks to BC TEAL for supporting us here in the Okanagan Valley!

Here is a summary of some of the teacher ideas that were shared last night.  If I’ve missed anyone out, please accept my apologies!  Also, if we’ve borrowed these ideas from anyone else, please accept our gratitude.  I’ve summarized about 18 activities below, but many more ideas were shared.  What I loved was the generative nature of the meeting.  As people were sharing their ideas, other ideas kept popping up, and by sharing, our ideas grew to fit all kinds of teaching situations.  Also, I tried my best to summarize everyone’s activities.  Any mistakes or omissions are my own fault J.  Anyway, as you can see, it was a very fruitful evening!

Crystal:

Password:  The class is divided into two groups, and two chairs are put in front of the room.  Then, one person from each team comes up the front and sits on the chairs with their backs to the whiteboards.  A vocabulary word is written up on the board, and then the each team has to give the person at the front clues so they can guess what word is up on the board.  Hilarity ensues!

Madjid:

Add the adjective or adverb:  Create a short story with just three or four sentences without any adjectives or adverbs.  At each noun, stop and have the class brainstorm as many adjectives as possible.  Put the choices up on the board.  Then, read the story again and stop at each verb and have the class brainstorm as many adverbs as possible.  Put the choices up on the board.  Once all the possible adjectives and adverbs have been exhausted, have groups rewrite the sentences with their choices of adjectives and adverbs added in.  Great for practicing collocations!

Eddie:

Liar Liar:  Give each student three pieces of paper on which they have to write three unique things about themselves.  Then, bring three students to the front of the class and have them put their papers in a pile.  The teacher picks out one paper and reads it aloud.  The students at the front all have to act as if what the teacher read aloud is true for them, but it will only be true for one person.  The class has to ask questions to figure out who is telling the truth.  Points can be awarded.  Great for getting the class to know each other at the beginning of a term.

Jeanie:

Vocabulary Review:  This is a really active activity for the teacher.  A topic is chose, such as body parts, and the student then have to brainstorm as many body parts as possible for the different areas of the body (head, torso, organs, etc.)  As groups guess a body part, the teacher writes that body part up on the appropriate area of the board.  As groups run out of ideas, they drop out of the game.  The last group still generating ideas wins!

Brenda:

Video Clip Idea:  I have a Headache ESL:  http://youtu.be/QJHtpAriDp0.  This catchy song can be used with students to learn some of the expressions and vocabulary that go along with having a headache.  The class can practice singing along, and then writing their own songs on the same theme. 

Participant (oops, forgot who shared this – sorry!):

Verb Tennis:  Create flashcards with the present tense on one side and the past tense on the other.  In pairs, students show the cards to each other, and they have to either shout out the present tense or the past tense.  Each correct answer gets a point. 

Jane: 

Communicating with the Instructor:  Students collaborate in groups to think of ways to communicate with their instructor, for example via email, through face book, during office hours, twitter, etc.  For this discussion, a function can be added, such as:  Tell me more about that, can you expand on this idea, etc.  Great for building awareness of register and how to write an email to a teacher. 

Angela:

Vocabulary Envelope Filler:  Keep a big envelope of vocabulary words connected to the current topic in the classroom on the wall.  If there are five minutes left at the end of a class, students can grab words from the envelop to write sentences, make skits, do frayer models, fit the word into conversation, etc.  It’s a great filler, and a good way of incorporating recycling of vocabulary into day to day teaching.

Participant (oops, forgot who shared this – sorry!):

Muddiest point:  If there are five minutes left at the end of class, this makes a great closer.  Students work together in groups to decide on what the hardest, most confusing part of the day’s less was.  They then share the muddiest point of the day’s lesson with the class, and students try to clarify for each other.  The teacher facilitates the discussion, but doesn’t clarify. 

Desiree:

Getting to Know You:  Students are given cards with a topic on one side and numbers on the other side.  Students then have to find their classmates with the same numbers on the backs of their cards, and discuss the talking points on the front of the cards.  This is a great way to mix the class up, and break the ice with people they don’t normally sit with.

Laura: 

Blindfolded Drawing:  Divide the class into groups.  The groups all come up to the board, and one person from each group is then blindfolded.  The groups are given something to draw (for example, draw a house, or draw the teacher), and then the groups have to give directions to their blindfolded members to draw the topic on the board as best they can.  After a certain time limit, there is a big reveal and the class votes on the best picture.  Laura said she found this activity on Dave’s ESL Café. 

Heather:

Fruit Basket:  The teacher sets up a circle of chairs with enough chairs for each student except for one.  That one student has to stand in the middle of the circle.  Beforehand, the teacher has prepared a basket with statement strips.  These sentences can say things like “everyone wearing green socks”.  When the class hears that, everyone wearing green socks has to get up and change chairs.  Eventually, there will be a new person in the middle, and that person will read out the statement strips.  A variation of this game is called “just like me.”  In this variation, the person in the middle has to say something about her or himself and people who have the same thing in common have to get up and change chairs.  Lots of scrambling and lots of fun. 

Rob:

Roll the Dice:  This can be a great review activity.  There is a large game board up at the front of the class.  This could be a simple one drawn up on the board with a start, a finish, and squares in between.  Students are divided up into groups, and they are each given a mini-white board.  The teacher reads out a question, and the groups answer the question using the mini-white boards.  If a group gets the answer correct, they can roll a dice and then move that many spots on the game board.  The first group to get to the end of the game board wins. 

Karen:

Wise Sayings:  In this activity, the teacher shares a proverb or a wise saying with the students, such as “A teacher can open a door, but students have to decide to walk through.”  Then students come up with their own wise sayings and write them down along with their names on a piece of paper.  Once everyone has a wise saying, they can share their wise sayings with each other, explaining what they mean and why they chose them.  The teacher can collect these wise sayings.  Later, the teacher can bring out the wise sayings and quiz the class on who said what.

Participant (oops – I forgot who shared this.  Sorry!):

Draw Me:  Students take time to interview each other, but instead of writing down the answers to their interview questions, students draw each other as best they can.  When the interviews are over, the teacher gathers up the portraits and puts them up in the room like an art gallery.  Students can guess who is who in each of the pictures.

Eric:

Radio Plays:  The students can break into groups to write and record a radio play such as Casablanca or about Super Heroes.  The radio plays should have both narration and dialogue. 

Donna:

Making a natural product:  Students gather the ingredients and follow a recipe to make an all natural herbal ointment, such as a tick repellent.  This gets students working together to create something in English.  It’s a good example of Task-based language teaching.  This is great for students who are camping or hiking. 

Eddie (an extra one):

No No No Yes:  Poker chips are distributed to all of the students (for example each student receives six poker chips).  Students then mingle in the classroom having conversations with each other.  However, they are not allowed to say the words “no” or “yes” or any variations of those words.  For example, “yeah” and “nah” are not allowed.  If a conversational partner says “yes” or “no” they have to give a poker chip away to the person they are speaking to.  The person with the most poker chips at the end wins.  

BC TEAL Okanagan Meet and Greet / Lesson Swap: My Vocabulary Activity to Share

Tonight is the BC TEAL Okanagan Meet and Greet / Lesson Swap.  The event is taking place at the Kelowna Public Library in the South Meeting Room at 6:30 pm (Wednesday April 23, 2014). 

I thought I would post the vocabulary activity that I’m going to share with the group.  Here it is:

Two Minute Vocabulary Memorization Activity

Reference: 

I first encountered a version of this activity in one of Dr. David Watt’s graduate level TESL classes at the University of Calgary when I was doing my master’s degree.  I liked it so much, I’ve been doing it ever since!

Rationale: 

The following activity is designed to raise lexical awareness for new terms, provide formative information for the teacher on what vocabulary students are familiar with, explore varying memorization techniques employed by learners, help students have a meta-awareness of their own memorization styles, prime students for future encounters with the target vocabulary, and activate background knowledge for the day’s lesson. 

Steps:

1.      Create a PowerPoint slide with 12 to 24 key vocabulary words that fit with the day’s lesson.  See sample below. 

2.      Prepare the students by informing them that they are going to see a PowerPoint slide with key words for the day’s lesson.  Tell the students the topic of the day.  Do not tell students how many words are on the slide.  Tell them that they will have two minutes to memorize as many words as possible.  However, they are not allowed to write anything down or speak out loud.  They can only use their brain power to memorize as many words as possible in two minutes.  Tell students to be prepared to write down as many words as they can remember once the two minutes are over.

3.      Once students are silent and they know not to write anything down (there should be no pencils or pens in students’ hands), show the PowerPoint slide with the key vocabulary words for two minutes.

4.      Take down the slide after two minutes.  Working alone, have students write down as many words as they remember in two more minutes. 

5.      Once students seem to have written down all of the words they can possibly remember on their own, ask the students how many words they remembered.

6.      Now, have students work with a partner to expand their list of remembered words.  If a student’s partner has a word that they don’t have, they should add that word to their list.  Give students about another two minutes.  Ask students how many words they now have on their lists after working in pairs. 

7.      Once the pairs of students seem to have written down all of the words they possibly could remember together, ask them to create groups of four with another pair of students.  Groups of four should try to expand their lists of words.  If the other pair of students has a word that they do not have, they should add that word to their lists.  Give students about another two minutes.  Ask students how many words they have on their lists now after working in groups of four.  Find out if any of the groups were able to write down all of the words that were shown in the PowerPoint slide. 

Extensions:

1.      Ask students to share how they memorized the words from the PowerPoint slide.  Make a list on the board of the different memorization styles.  Ask the class which they think would be most effective or least effective and why.  Ask the class what conclusions can be drawn from the different memorization techniques employed by different students. 

2.      Remind students that all of the words on the PowerPoint slide are connected with the day’s lesson.  Ask students to predict the content of the day’s lesson.  Ask students what the topic of the day will be. 

3.      Discuss unknown words with the students.  Have students choose five words from the list to be explained by you, or have students work in groups to see if they can collectively define unknown words.  Put a time limit on this activity. 

Example:

Here are some sample slides I have created for this activity.  I used these slides with my EDUC 459: ESL in Secondary Education course.  Although most of my students were teacher education students from English speaking backgrounds, it was still a great warmer for the day’s seminar. 

Click Here for the Sample Slides

Advice for choosing the best definition when encountering unknown words in a reading passage.

Oxford University Press has just posted a short video of me answering a question about helping students understand words in a reading passage:

http://oupeltglobalblog.com/2014/04/17/qskills-how-can-i-help-my-students-understand-words-in-a-reading-passage/

Here is the video:



Here is an approximate transcript of the video:

Hello viewers.  My name is Scott Roy Douglas, from the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan Campus, and I’m the co-author of Q: Skills for Success Reading and Writing 5.  Li-Lan Huang on Facebook asks:

My students sometimes get stuck in a reading passage because they don’t know which meaning of a word to choose. How can I help them?

This is a really great question, and I’ve seen it myself where students suddenly stop in the middle of a reading because they have encountered an unknown word.  Often, my students’ first instinct is to reach for their dictionaries, but even then, when a word has multiple meanings, it can cause more confusion.  In the meantime, students have lost track of what they were reading and where they were in the reading passage, and they have forgotten what they have already read.  As you can see, this is a recipe for reading disaster.  Generally, I recommend my students do the following when they encounter an unknown word while they are reading. 

First, students should ask themselves if the word is vital for understanding the passage.  If not, they should just skip the word and keep reading so as to not lose track of the general idea.  However, if the word is vital for understanding the passage, they should then ask themselves if they can understand the meaning from context.  By reading a little further ahead or by looking back just a bit, can they work out what the author is trying to say?  If the answer is yes, they can mark the new vocabulary word for later reference, and they should just keep going.  They can go back and confirm their guesses after they have read the entire passage.  However, if they can’t understand the meaning from context, they should still keep going after underlining or highlighting the word.  The important thing is to get an overall understanding of the general idea of the reading passage.  Once students have completed reading the entire passage, they can then look up the unknown word in the dictionary.  This will help them decide which definition is best if there is more than one definition for that word.  You see, they can workout which definition fits best with the general idea of the reading passage as well as the immediate context before and after the unknown word. 

I think by pushing through to the end, and looking up a word after finishing the whole text in order to have a general idea of what the author is trying to communicate will help students decide which definition is the best definition for a word when there is more than one definition.

Thanks so much for watching this video.  Have fun with your students!

It was a lot of fun putting this little video together.  Thanks to OUP for asking me to contribute!

2014 BC TEAL Interior Regional Conference at Selkirk College

The BC TEAL website has just posted some information about the upcoming BC TEAL Interior Conference that is going to be held at Selkirk College in Nelson, BC on October 4, 2014.  I'm going to be the keynote speaker, and I'm really looking forward to it.

Here is the title and abstract for my talk:

Interior Design: Leveraging Content to Support Academic English Language Acquisition

Core academic content can be a powerful motivator for language acquisition.  By grounding grammar, vocabulary, learning strategies, functions, and other language skills in meaningful content, the conditions are set for purposeful learning.  The key is employing instructional strategies that provide the comprehensible input necessary for academic English language acquisition to take place.  However, in mixed classrooms of students with varying levels of English language proficiency, the instructional strategies scaffolding comprehensible input for English language learners have to be utilized without detracting from the learning experiences of their more advanced peers.

First focusing on English for Academic Purposes (EAP) classrooms, this presentation will review the principles behind Content-Based Instruction and the language through content approach.  From this discussion, specific instructional strategies will be suggested for building core academic knowledge while also fostering the development of academic English language proficiency.  Next, the potential of adopting EAP instructional practices across academic disciplines will be explored to understand how core discipline instructors can provide comprehensible instruction without jeopardizing essential academic outcomes.  The potential for instructional cross-fertilization is proposed with meaningful academic content being adopted in English as an Additional Language programs and instructional strategies for language development flowing towards the content disciplines.

Key an eye on this webpage for more details:

http://www.bcteal.org/conferences/2014-interior-regional-conference

TESL Ontario Keynote Presentation

Oxford University Press has just posted my TESL Ontario Keynote Presentation from October 2013.  Here is the title and abstract for my talk:

Pathways to Production: Exploring Lexical Thresholds in Speaking and Writing

Taking vocabulary as an underlying variable to general English language proficiency, this talk focuses attention on understanding the lexical thresholds that learners of English as an Additional Language (EAL) cross on the pathway to increasing levels of precision and fluency in the productive skills of speaking and writing. An understanding of these lexical thresholds can provide the basis for lexically informed targets, assessments, and educational experiences in an overall EAL curriculum. The talk will conclude with an exploration of the implications of this approach to vocabulary teaching and learning for educators and learners in various English language learning contexts.

. . . and here is the video:

After the First 2,000: A Response to Horst’s “Mainstreaming Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition”

The Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics has just published my response article to Marlise Horst's invited article "Mainstreaming Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition".  I really enjoyed having the opportunity to read and respond to Horst's thoughtful argument for frequency based vocabulary teaching and learning.  Here's the abstract of my paper along with a link (click on the title):

After the First 2,000: A Response to Horst’s “Mainstreaming Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition”

Scott Roy Douglas

Abstract

This paper is a response to Horst’s (2013) proposal that language teaching should incorporate opportunities for English language learners to acquire the 2,000 most frequent word families in English. She does this by setting out the vital role vocabulary plays in English language proficiency, outlining how knowing high frequency vocabulary unlocks English language proficiency, and establishing why vocabulary learning opportunities need to be part of classroom instruction. Horst’s argument creates a convincing lexical goal for English language learners because it is these first 2,000 word families that will create the foundation for the future vocabulary growth necessary to engage independently in increasingly complex language tasks.  However, knowledge of the most frequent 2,000 word families in English is only the first threshold to eventually becoming a proficient user of English. Once the first 2,000 word families are part of an English language learner’s vocabulary, there remain further lexical thresholds to cross on the way to increasing levels of English language proficiency. 

So Proud of the English Foundation Program

Here is another little video about the English Foundation Program at the University of British Columbia's Okanagan campus:

New English Foundation Program Video by UBCOTV

I have a new article in the Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics

I just has a peek at the Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, and my latest article has been published! The web address for this journal is:  http://journals.hil.unb.ca/index.php/CJAL.

Here is the abstract for my article:

The Lexical Breadth of Undergraduate Novice Level Writing Competency

Scott Roy Douglas

Abstract

This study builds on previous work exploring reading and listening lexical thresholds (Nation, 2006; Laufer & Ravenhorst-Kalovski, 2010; Schmitt, Jiang, & Grabe, 2011) in order to investigate productive vocabulary targets that mark successful entry-level undergraduate writing. Papers that passed the Effective Writing Test (EWT) were chosen to create a corpus of novice university level writing (N = 120). Vocabulary profiles were generated, with results indicating the General Service List (GSL) and the Academic Word List (AWL) cover an average of 94% of a typical paper.  Further analysis pointed to 3,000 word families and 5,000 word families covering 95% and 98% respectively of each paper.  Low frequency lexical choices from beyond the 8,000 word family boundary accounted for only 0.6% coverage.  These results support the frequency principle of vocabulary learning (Coxhead, 2006), and provide lexical targets for English for Academic Purposes (EAP) curriculum development and materials design.

Résumé

Cette étude s'appuie sur des travaux antérieurs qui explorent les niveaux lexicaux pour la lecture et l’écoute (Laufer et Ravenhorst-Kalovski, 2010; Nation, 2006; Schmitt, Jiang et Grabe, 2011). Elle a pour but d'étudier les niveaux de production lexicale qui marquent l'écriture à l'entrée à l'université anglophone. Pour créer un corpus d'écriture de niveau universitaire novice, 120 articles qui ont passé le Effective Writing Test (EWT) ont été choisis. Des profils  de vocabulaire ont été générés et les résultats signalent que la General Service List (GSL) et la Academic Word List (AWL) couvrent une moyenne de 94% d'un document typique. En plus, 3 000 familles de mots et 5 000 familles de mots couvrent 95% et 98% respectivement de chaque article. Les choix de basses fréquences lexicales au-delà de la limite de 8 000 mots ne représentaient que 0,6% de la couverture. Ces résultats appuient le principe fréquence de l'apprentissage du vocabulaire (Coxhead, 2006) et fournissent des niveaux lexicaux pour les programmes d’anglais à des fins académiques.

Keywords

Vocabulary; Composition; Undergraduate Studies; English for Academic Purposes; English (Second Language)

You can go directly to the article here:

http://journals.hil.unb.ca/index.php/CJAL/article/view/21176

TESL Ontario Plenary Speaker

I've just come back from the TESL Ontario conference, and my head is swimming with new and exciting ideas.  Here is one that I introduced at the conference:

I'm working on a paper right now to explain this additional language acquisition formula, but I wanted to put it on my blog to peak people's curiosity.  This formula is tweaked for vocabulary acquisition, but it is the same as my one for additional language acquisition.  Here is the breakdown:

f = focus on form

s = strategies

i+1 = comprehensible input

2 = interaction

m = motivation

i = identity

t = teacher effects

VA = vocabulary acquisition

If you would like to cite this for a paper, please use:

Douglas, S. (October 2013). Pathways to Production: Exploring Lexical Thresholds in Speaking and Writing. Teachers of English as a Second Language Association of Ontario Annual Conference, Toronto, Ontario. Keynote Address.

Academic Inquiry: Writing for Post-secondary Success

I'm happy to say that my new book has just been published by Oxford University Press Canada:

http://www.oupcanada.com/catalog/9780199004553.html

Thanks to all of the hard working folks at OUP Canada who made this happen!

The English Foundation Program at UBC's Okanagan Campus

Here is a new video about the English Foundation Program at UBC's Okanagan campus.  I've very proud of how well the students have been doing in the first year of this program.  They are a real credit to the university!

Thoughts on Thematic teaching in English for Academic Purposes

Language Through Content

At a macro-design level, one way to organize an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) curriculum is through thematic language through content organization. In this curriculum design structure, the conditions for language acquisition are created in the context of complex meaningful content from various disciplines across the undergraduate curriculum. This promotes the teaching of language and content together to provide a framework for language, concepts, and learning strategies. Thus, an EAP course can use the content of the various disciplines at a research intensive university to improve students’ general knowledge while at the same time fostering an increase in English language proficiency. This approach makes content a vehicle for reading, writing, listening and speaking skills while at the same time integrating grammar and vocabulary development. From this, a powerful framework for learning is created to contextualize the academic objectives of the EAP courses.


The Spiked English Language Proficiency Model

As students work through a thematic unit of inquiry, their English language proficiency in relation to the content studied spikes so that they become competent users of English within the thematic area under study. While a student’s general English language proficiency might be that of a high intermediate student, within a completed thematic unit of inquiry, the same student may function as an advanced user of English. As students work through the various thematic units of inquiry, spiked thematic proficiency multiples through a variety of academic disciplines creating an ever expanding linguistic framework upon which to map new knowledge and language (see Figure 1).

Figure 1
The Spiked English Language Proficiency Model

New BC TEAL News Article: A Short Rational for Credit Bearing English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Courses

I've just had an article published in BC TEAL News:  https://www.bcteal.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/BCTealSpring2012draft9-copy.pdf.

In the article, I'm basically looking at some of the reasons why English for Academic Purposes courses should bear credit that counts towards a degree.  Have a read of the article and let me know what you think . . .