The snag with English in Tunisia *** Abdelmalek Hadji – Senior Teacher – Dar Chabaane Secondary School
*** Reading through the literature issued by the ministry of education and training about the profile of the outgoing student after the 7 years of prep and secondary education, a statement reiterated in every page of the orientation book drew my attention. It says ‘the outgoing student is expected to have a good command of three languages (at least) in spoken, read and written forms.’’ Do factual data gathered after national exams corroborate these expectations? How do we account for the common students’ underachievement in languages? Our major concern in this paper is the substandard outcome of the outgoing students and the way to address it. The fact of the matter The following table shows briefly the time allocated to English in Tunisian schools. 7th, 8th and 9th
3hours a week the 3rd is conducted with half of the class
1st sec+ 2nd , 3rd + 4th (all streams) 2nd+3rd arts 4th Arts
3hours a week Exception: 4th techniques students: 2 hours 4hours a week 5hours a week
The 3rd hour in prep levels is a novelty hailed by teachers, parents and students as pedagogically high-yielding. All the lessons in these levels are conducted in a classroom using school books. Covering the predetermined materials specified in the syllabus is mandatory. So, right from the beginning, we feel that time is the stumbling block to the implementation of any extra work aiming at addressing the problem. However, before we embark upon the issue, some pressing question need to be asked here. I have put them in a random order: 1-How good at English are our students when they are about to leave secondary school and join university? As far as I know, our colleagues at university are not really appreciative of the types of students we are sending them. 2-For an average class of 30 pupils and having three hours a week, how much time of those 180 minutes per week (no time loss subtracted) will be allocated to each individual student? Is that time enough to monitor students’ progress? 3- Is a four-paragraph text (the common type we come across in textbooks) yielding enough linguistic and cultural loads to potentially prepare a child for the future challenging tasks in writing, speaking and listening or when confronted with the nuts and bolts of real communication? 4- Is the class reading-time really enjoyable to engage students? Are there any other activities in class that promote reading? 5- Do we equip students with skills, knowledge and resources that allow them to strike out on their own?
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6- Are the reading materials we provide in textbooks conducive to enticing learners to read for pleasure not simply to answer questions? 7-Do reading texts in text books introduce the right amount- and type- of words that teachers can revisit in subsequent lessons? 8- Have any attempts been made by decision-makers to address the catastrophic underachievement recorded every year in national exams?
In fact, the implementation of the New Education Reform was due on 2007. About two years after that date, we have come to terms that the expected results and the qualitative change stipulated in both The Education Act and The Education Reform have not yet materialized. What others have done Some countries using English as a second language and having the same snag as Tunisia felt the need to address it by initiating vast studies notwithstanding the requirements in both human and material resources. When it comes to investing in human resources, we should not be parsimonious. Countries like New Zealand, Japan, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia have reconsidered some of their policies in teaching English. They have all portrayed daringly their English language teaching system as unsatisfactory. Those who undertook the research ended up pointing accusing fingers to the lack or absence of real reading both at school and at home. They have all considered –and elaborated on- Frank Smith’s statement uttered in 1975 a catchphrase: “We do learn to read by reading” Dr Vivienne Yu, the Acting Head of the ELTD at The Hong Kong Institute of Education considers extensive reading (ER) as the key to all ills of ESL/ EFL. She set a plan where ER was implemented with a group of students who were submitted to a series of tests before, while and after the implementation of ER. The tests focused on vocabulary, structures, general comprehension. A comparative study of the grids prepared beforehand and completed as the students were progressing in reading proved the initiation of a qualitative change in the way the learners were handling language. Dr Vivienne then schematized the whole process in the following virtuous circle that I have updated and revamped for this paper. She made ‘READ’ the magic word and the master-key that English departments (ESL and EFL alike) should use to prop up students’ achievement.
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• • • •
the more they read, the more they learn the more they learn, the more they enjoy reading the more they enjoy reading, the faster they read the faster they read, the more they read
What is Extensive Reading? As stated simply by Elley & Mangubhai in 1981, extensive reading (ER) is reading a lot for pleasure at a comfortable “easy” level with the main goal to read, create fluency and enjoyment in the reading process. The student should not be reaching for a dictionary every sentence. It is a process that should take place over a sustained period. Therefore ER should not be seen as a quick fix but as something that reveals its benefits over time. The researchers in the above-mentioned countries have agreed on the following assumptions: • Only reading will improve reading. The number of books read is the best prediction of • • • • • • • • • •
several measures of reading achievement. ER improves writing ER helps with speaking and control over syntax. ER leads to reading autonomy. ER Improves listening comprehension and word recognition ability through revisiting vocabulary and structures in different books and contexts. ER offers an extensive exposure to language not usually encountered in textbooks In ER the learner will be processing words faster and seeing words in groups or chunks. This is moving from reading word- by-word to reading ideas ER builds confidence in reading because students feel reading is not that difficult. In ER the brain works very well at noticing patterns. It is only through exposure to massive amounts of input that the brain effectively works out those patterns. For mixed-ability classes, especially in reading, ER with graded readers makes it much easier to cater for the various levels in the class. ER allows more time on task, free choice of appropriate books to read, reading at one’s own pace and level
Some enthusiasts of ER go further to recommend it as a remedy for the immigrant learners -and their parents- living in an English speaking country who primarily interact within their ethnic and cultural communities in their mother tongue. They assert that: • ER can help with consolidating vocabulary, fluency, and strategies in an ongoing and
natural manner instead of responding to only immediate problems encountered. • By encouraging ER in class and at home, students spend more time learning English
and this time not depending on a teacher. • For adult learners who have young children, by increasing their own reading ability, they increase that of their children.
However, not everyone is wholeheartedly ready to implement ER.
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Dilemmas and Attitudes Despite the undeniable benefits of ER, it is still not a subject of unanimity among teachers of English and decision-makers. In fact, as far as I can remember in my teaching career- we have never had genuine ER implemented in our national English language curricula. Here are some of the attitudes denigrating ER: -Teachers are reluctant to ask students to read books because their vocabulary is low.
This vicious circle shows the rationale for not assigning ER.
- Overemphasis on the explicit teaching of reading and language skills in intensive reading (IR) produces skilled readers (stress on underlined word) but not skilled readers (stress on underlined word). In other words, students may know how to read but may not want to read. -There is a common assumption that learners can read at home, so it is unnecessary to take up classroom time with this type of activity. - ER is extra work for teachers and is actually beyond their purview. - ER is difficult to implement in a time-bound curriculum. Teachers are pressured by the administration to cover the predetermined materials specified in the syllabus. - ER evaluation cannot be substantiated in class. - Many of us (parents, administrators, and others) are still uncomfortable with the idea of teachers playing a “less” central role in the classroom.
This is related to the perception of the teacher’s role: A sage on the stage or a guide by the side... - ER requires time to give tangible results because learning vocabulary and grammar often requires multiple encounters. -ER is not directly assessed, so teachers feel that curriculum time would be better spent on subjects and activities that students are directly tested on. -Some students shy away from any activities that are not graded.
How to implement ER? Our primary school teachers as proponents of ER… I had the chance to attend few times an ER session in the primary school with 3 different levels and was gratified with a well-grounded class-work that suited the action to the word. So we will not go far away to look for an ER model. I also felt the great work they were doing when I was checking on my kids’ homework for years. When
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observing the ER classes, I sensed what teachers in the primary school actually were doing. Our Tunisian primary schools are doing excellent job in that field. I have noticed that teachers in the primary school are keen on building a reading community in school right from the first month of the school year. Young students get in the habit of providing at least two class readers a year for the class book box. A class of thirty pupils would collect 60 readers in their book box. The books are of course graded and made easy for the purpose. The linguistic load is alleviated; pictures and illustrations are added so that they match the cognitive requirements of the kids. The book box is at the reach of pupils and reading, sharing, swapping, telling, summarizing etc. are common activities in ER sessions. The more advanced pupils are asked to summarize the full book, enact it in front of their classmates, select the best passage and expand it, work on description, on register… All the models of reading (as they came in Aebersold, J. & Field, M. L. 1997) are explored including ‘Bottom-up processing’ (decoding) and ‘Top-down processing’ and the ‘Interactive approach’. In the first model, the kid builds meaning from the smallest units of meaning to achieve comprehension (letters letter clusters words phrases sentences longer text meaning = comprehension). In the second, the reader generates meaning by employing background knowledge, expectations, assumptions, and questions, and reads to confirm these expectations. (Pre-reading activities (i.e. activating schema, previewing, and predicting) + background knowledge (cultural, linguistic, syntactic, and historical) = comprehension)
In the third, the reader uses both bottom-up and top-down strategies simultaneously or alternately to comprehend the text. (Reader uses top-down strategies until he/she encounters an unfamiliar word, then employs decoding skills to achieve comprehension: Knowledge base + bottom-up strategies + top-down strategies = comprehension)
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One of the tasks I appreciated most was the adaptation phase. The teacher asked students which of the characters they sided with and which role they would like to take if asked to role play the scenes. The rationale behind choosing roles ranged from feelings of empathy to revenge and the students defended vehemently their attitudes. To my mind, the following list of kids’ responses surpasses the classroom walls and the imaginary tale they were reading to embrace real noble human feelings and decent behavior: (I want to defend him /He needs help/We should not allow this/ God forbids it/ I want to teach him Karate to defend himself/I don’t want to be weak like him/If I were the boy, I would call the police/Why doesn’t he ask for help?/Old people can advise him …)
Revisiting these responses again, the following thoughts sprang to my mind: Isn’t it rewarding enough to see little children sort out the sheep from the goats in complex situations? Isn’t it rewarding enough to see little children project the story scenes into the real world and take a rational standpoint when needed? Isn’t it rewarding enough to see little kids adopt proportional reactions in different situations? Aren’t stories life-enriching for kids? Isn’t pondering over the events of a story a problem-solving situation? Aren’t mazes and intricate situations in anecdotes and fairy tales good brain-teasers for the little kids?
By systematically assigning ER at home and in class, primary school teachers entice kids into reading and ingrain in them a reading habit that might stay for life. Aware of the reading-writing link, our primary school colleagues assign a loud-reading session per week for beginners. The teacher makes it a point to read once or twice the story for the kids in class and asks them to relate it in their own way using the maximum of the expressions, structures, words they have heard. As unsophisticated as it looks, this approach has proved to be fruitful in lengthening the concentration span of school children. Also the incidental knowledge ensuing loud reading leverages lexis, structures, intonation, speech acts… In the oral stage, where ‘’narrating’ techniques and general comprehension are targeted, the teachers use all their linguistic and paralinguistic skills. To convey the message, teachers use all their assets: They role-play, modify pitch, raise and lower intonation, change physical posture… A wealth of skills in one ago that is incidentally perceived by students. When the assignment is taken home, the production phase is done with the help of adults. Involving parents and adults in ER is profitable for kids. They will feel that reading is an individual activity that can have a family pay off when parents share with them the feeling of discovery. I remember my children telling me the nice stories they heard at school where they were expected to reinvest the narrative techniques, the register, the style and plot. Our role here -as adults - was just to scribble exactly the words they uttered because the teacher wanted that. Sometimes the kids insisted that a specific word be used respecting the accuracy of their mind lexicon.
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To expect little children to be aware of -and watch- the requirements of accuracy (in register, style and even plot) when writing a summary was too demanding. But their fresh memory never let them down. Whether the kids were conscious of it or did it unknowingly, the attainment in that short time was such that the kids became autonomous readers very quickly. This brief account of how well our primary school teachers are implementing ER answers the question skeptical teachers may ask about the age and the ability level at which ER should be done. Nevertheless, we have to assert that the freedom the primary school teachers enjoy in assigning similar ER tasks (in French and Arabic) affords them the leverage to get things done through the involvement of parents and adults. As EFL teachers, we don’t have that luxury as English is not a common family background like Arabic and French. Still, the successful implementation of ER in the Tunisian primary schools is praiseworthy and deserves to be reproduced in prep and secondary levels with English language. ICT makes ER fun With the wealth of resources brought about by the WIKI tendency, PROJECT GUTENBERG , ENGLISHTIPS.ORG, FRAMASOFT, OPEN SOURCE…implementing ER in class is not too demanding anymore. There are thousands of e-books, audiobooks, CDs, DVDs that can be used free of charge. Downloadable teacher resources and interactive exercises are at the teachers and learners fingertips. With the computer-literate and Internet-savvy teachers we have today, combining ER with ICT will make reading fun. Integrating ICT in ER will give it a multimedia tinge. Thus, a graded reader can be used at the same time as text and as audio-book. Text-tospeech programs that come as default speech engine with computers allow users to convert any written material to an audio file. By opening two windows at the same time, the kids can read and listen simultaneously. Modern technology has made shadow-reading a new fashion, an approach greatly appreciated by students -especially those having a word-recognition problem. Modern high tech devices like iPod, Mp3, Mp4 and the latest breakthrough KINDLE are fitted with plug-ins that make the reading of any type of media possible. What more?! Let’s combine ICT and ER and see how good things will be. Lingering is not in our benefit because the future of a whole generation is at stake. Where to Get Graded Readers? There are many publishers who work on graded readers. Oxford University Press, Longman, MacMillan Heinemann, Cambridge University Press, Penguin…These publishers all sell internationally. For us, some of the-above-mentioned famous names work with Arabic publishers in Lebanon to produce graded readers for Arabic learners of English. A few of them use the book vocabulary load as a criterion, others use
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color code like the following to label their books as elementary, intermediate or advanced or from easy to challenging.
What next? -
Take a proactive attitude and make a prompt decision to integrate ER as a basic component of the English curriculum. Instill a reading culture in the young generation and hope for the best. Make the most of ER quality time in class and at home to turn kids into inveterate readers. Substitute the culture of knowledge for the prevailing culture of failure. Instigate pupils to believe that attainment at school is a prelude for success in life. Develop well-made not well-filled brains with high-quality teaching.
Conclusion Let’s just reiterate and put into practice what has been preached in the Education Act and New Education Reform without any delay or hesitation: - Schools represent a repository for our educational memory and the locus of its revival and dissemination among our young people. (Education Act- p6) - The aim of school teaching is to develop pupils’ gifts and skills, increase their capacity for self-education and prepare them for access to an educated community. (Education Act- Article9) - The future of schools will be one of the most important fields of competition between nations that are striving to take the lead in a world without frontiers full of economic and cultural challenges linked to globalization.
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- Mastering a language is not dependent on how much time is devoted to learning it, but on the development of the ways, means and methods used to teach it, as well as on the preparation and teaching skills of teachers. (New Education Reform - page 62) - There is no future for those who shun innovation and prefer to adopt a status quo posture. References The following have been used to write this paper: - Why Don’t More Teachers Use Extensive Reading? (Excerpted and adapted from Renandya & Jacobs, 2002) - Beyond raw frequency: Incidental vocabulary acquisition in extensive reading Pohang University of Science and Technology Korea) -An Extensive Reading Program for Your ESL Classroom Mary Clarity - Victoria University of Wellington (Wellington, New Zealand) ESL Strategies (Presentation by Heidi Hyte - Brigham Young University Combining ER to CALL (John Paul Loucky- Senan Women’s University) What is Extensive Reading? Rob Waring's Websites: http://www.robwaring.org Interview on Extensive Reading An interview with George Jacobs and Willy Renandya. Literacy Across Cultures, 3(2), 25-30. Barfield, A. (2000). The promise and practice of extensive reading: Further Reading Anderson, R. C. (1996). Research foundations to support wide reading. Newark, DE: International Reading Association. Davis, C. (1995). ER: An expensive extravagance? ELT Journal, 49, 329-336. Day, R., & Bamford, J. (1998). Extensive reading in the second language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Eskey, D. (1986). Theoretical foundation. In Teaching second language reading for academic purposes (pp. 3-23). Jacobs, G. M., Renandya, W. A., & Bamford, D. (2003). Annotated bibliography of works on extensive reading in a second language. http://www.extensivereading.org Krashen, S. (1993). The power of reading: Insights from the research. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited. Renandya, W. A., & Jacobs, G. M. (2002). Extensive reading: Why aren't we all doing it? In J. C. Richards & W. A. Renandya (Eds.), Methodology in language teaching: An anthology of current practice (pp. 295-302). New York: Cambridge University Press.
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