Research Paper on "Teaching ESL the Cultural Shortcomings in Traditionalist"

Research Paper 12 pages (3406 words) Sources: 6

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Teaching ESL

The Cultural Shortcomings in Traditionalist ESL Education

In an era where so many students are struggling to remain afloat academically, where standardized testing dominates the national evaluation strategy and where the costs of a college education grow ever higher, the pressure upon the individual student to succeed has never been greater. This is exponentially so for the English as a Second Language (ESL) student, who in addition to facing all of these challenges, will typically also have a great deal of work ahead of him simply to make inroads into the use of the English language. Thus for the ESL teacher, instruction is not only problematic insofar as the inherent difficulties relating to the induction of a new language is concerned. There is yet the even greater matter of helping the ESL student prepare for the steps which traditionally succeed elementary and primary education. The discussion, literature review and research proposal hereafter will consider the evolving nature of this problem and will, within this scope, address the array of practical, theoretical and pedagogical problems that underlie this overarching issue.

Statement of the Problem:

Institutions of higher learning are contending with a serious crisis in their own student bodies. It is with great difficulty today that many individuals that are a part of the great influx of immigrant students are making the transition into universities. Due to the substantial linguistic deficiencies suffered by many such students, they tend to lack many of the basic skills in speaking, composing and comprehending that are required to attend to the more complex challenges of secondary and university level education. A divide exists today between traditionalists and modernists on how best to contend with the basic challenges of ESL education so that students are prepared upon their exit from elementary and primary education to contend with the more rigorous challenges of secondary or college education.

Review of the Literature:

The Statement of Problem section above identifies a critical area of need in the profession of ESL. Where the instruction of second languages in general is concerned, there is a big gap between what is achieved in primary education and what is expected in secondary or college education as well as what is expected in the job market and the professional sphere in general. The result, the literature review here below demonstrates, is a continuous call for improvements both in terms of pedagogy at the formative levels and in terms of support for the transition to subsequent levels of education. Indeed, the text by Burdett (1967) offers a basic reflection on this idea, producing a number of recommendations on how to bridge the gap spoken of here above. According to Burdett, there is a need to improve recognition of the challenges unique to ESL students and to find ways of assisting in the transition to subsequent levels in the educational system. On this point, Burdett suggests that "if a more effective dialog were to exist between the college entrance examination board (CEEB) and secondary and college teachers, much could be accomplished in helping the testing service keep its measurement processes more realistically attuned to the trend in modern language currculums of developing all for language skills, furthermore, CEEB could have a great impact nationally on improving language teaching practices by outlining pedagogical theory and philosophy underlying its testing techniques." (Burdett, p. 39)

This recommendation is complimented by a number of additional recommendations which all point to the need for refinement in the approach taken to preparing ESL students for the educational and occupational challenges ahead. Many of these related to the modernist position that there is a need for the adoption of newer and more relevant texts, the development of more perceptive teaching materials, ways of taking the classroom outside of traditional laboratory parameters and modes for the assimilation of improving teaching technologies. Most important among the recommendations in Burdett's text though would appear to be the far-reaching assertion for greater boldness in the dialogue designed to improve the field. Burdett describes a certain timidity that more than anything threatens to damage the profession through stagnation and negligence. Accordingly, Burdett reports that "because foreign language teachers have not succeeded in criticizing openly the ills of the profession, a number of critical problems remains unsolved." (Burdett, p. 39)

A reflection on the text by Howatt & Widdowson (2004) helps to reinforce some understanding of this trepidation. The text provides an exhaustive and varied history on global instruction on the English language. In doing so, it helps the elucidate some of the reasons for the difficulty in changing approaches in ESL instruction. Namely, the history reflects on a wide variance of opinions all effecting the same notion that linguistic education has the power to be employed both as a cultural weapon and as an instrument for social advancement. Political, economic and ideological implications all emanate from ways of using language. To this end, Howatt & Widdowson assert that traditionalist views on language education have attributed an importance to the "role of 'correct grammar' in a socially responsible system of education." (Howatt & Widdowson, p. 123) This implied a certain sociological imperialism where the use of the English language is concerned, such that its incorrect usage could be used as a marker of socio-economic and cultural status. This inherently created a considerable sociological obstacle to be overcome by those working with the scope of the English-based education system for advancement while simultaneously attempting to grasp the language.

According to Howatt & Widdowson, modernists have attempting to respond to the imperialist and ethnocentric implications of this orientation by recasting the philosophical implications of 'bad grammar.' Precluding any discussions on the quality of grammar where ESL students are concerned, the text notes that "present-day egalitarianism encourages the notion that the standard language is merely one of a number of more or less 'equal' dialects -- different but 'no better' than other varieties." Howatt & Widdowson, p. 123)

This is a view which, the text by Howatt & Widdowson appears to lament, widely permeates the field of thought today. Indeed, there is a particular value in finding ways to bring more egalitarian philosophies into play where ESL education is concerned. There is a pointed prejudice in creating and purporting an educational system which is so inherently stacked against newcomers without making accommodations for their specialized and effectively stewarded assistance. Establishing a more sensitive mode of encouraging the adoption of grammatically acceptable but also culturally relevant uses of language is of critical importance in helping to reduce the opportunity gaps for ESL students. However, in playing the modernist egalitarianism off of the more traditionalist formality in linguistic education, Howatt & Widdowson find that there is greater credibility to the arguments made in favor of the latter. Accordingly, Howatt & Widdowson find of the traditionalist perspective that "not only does this attitude have a harder cutting edge than the modern desire for a co-operative condominium of dialects, it is also more realist in its assessment of the workings of power." (Howatt & Widdowson, p. 123)

Quite indeed, it seems a greater deprivation to ESL students to be coddled by the educational system and to be made as exceptions to language-usage principles in the interests of political correctness when the ultimate consequence will be a significantly diminished ability to compete in the American economy upon the point of exiting this educational system. This underscores a core imperative of the literature review and consequently proposed research, which makes as its primary concern an emphasis on improving the level of preparation used to ready ESL students for continued advancement in the educational and professional systems that are the primary determinants of long-term socioeconomic status.

On this point the text by Wardhaugh (1967) identifies one of the early challenges facing educators in the field, who in the 1960s struggled with competing ideas on how best to bridge the gap between practical and conceptual use of basic rule drilling. According to Wardhaugh, educational practitioners have debated the merits of language both as a system of habits and as a linguistic enterprise with more nuanced applicative elements at play. According to Wardhaugh, it has become increasingly evident that there is a distinct value in actually integrating the two approaches, suggesting that this problem of conceptual orientation is actually best resolved through balance rather than pedagogical dispute. Wardhaugh indicates that "a language is more than a system of habits, for a native speaker has abilities beyond those which can be accounted for under most existing definitions of habit, for example abilities to make judgments about such matters as grammaticality, foreign accent, deviancy, synonymy and paraphrase. This is not to say that habit formation drill has outlived its usefulness. Such drill can indeed teach control of the necessary surface skills, and the development of such abilities requires more than the use of existing stimulus-response or reinforcement drills in the classroom." (Wardhaugh, p. 21)

However, Wardhaugh warns that it has long been a habit in this field to assert the instruction… READ MORE

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