1. Introduction – scope of the review
This article gives an overview of selected research on applied linguistics and foreign/second language teaching and learning in New Zealand, following Language Teaching's commitment to showcase local language teaching research not otherwise easily accessible to an international audience. The review covers research conducted and published in New Zealand from 2006 to 2010. As will be explained further in section 3, New Zealand researchers enjoy a high profile in the international applied linguistics community. Consequently, the restriction to locally-published research excludes a considerable body of New Zealand applied linguistics research. To compensate for this, section 3 will paint a broader picture by elucidating the main strands of research being undertaken into the teaching and learning of languages in New Zealand and the concerns which have given rise to them.
The languages covered are te reo Māori, New Zealand Sign Language, other community languages, ESOL and foreign languages. The major sources for this review have been three local peer-reviewed journals focused on applied linguistics:
New Zealand Studies in Applied Linguistics (NZSAL), published biannually by the Applied Linguistics Association of New Zealand (ALANZ). It contains research and reviews from New Zealand scholars on topics in applied linguistics and language teaching.
The TESOLANZ Journal, published annually by TESOL Aotearoa New Zealand, the local New Zealand TESOL affiliate. It focuses on research into English language teaching in New Zealand (http://tesolanz.org.nz/Site/Publications/journal.aspx).
The New Zealand Language Teacher, an annual publication of the New Zealand Association of Language Teachers (NZALT), which also prints limited proceedings from the NZALT biennial conference.
Other sources include journals, websites, conference proceedings, reports, books and book chapters that fit the selection criteria. Proceedings of the biennial Community Languages and ESOL (CLESOL) conference, including those of the 2010 conference, published in 2011, have been included.
The selected research, to be discussed in section 4, has been organised into the following categories, which reflect the nature and quantity of the research published: the teaching and learning of indigenous and community languages; the teaching and learning of foreign languages and ESOL; cognitive and affective factors in language learning; and language teacher education.
As always, there is overlap between the categories. Cross-cutting issues such as language policy and curriculum change which mould the research agenda will be dealt with in section 2 (Introduction to language use and teaching) or 3 (Overview of applied linguistics research in New Zealand).
2. Introduction to language use and teaching in New Zealand
2.1 Overview
According to data from the most recent (2006) census, English is spoken by 95.9% of the New Zealand population, while 4.1% speak the indigenous Māori language, te reo Māori. New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) is spoken by around 24,000 people, or 0.58% of the total population of just over four million people. Te reo Māori and NZSL were made official languages in 1987 and 2006 respectively. Significantly, the question used to elicit this data equates speaking a language with being able to ‘have a conversation about everyday things’ (Statistics New Zealand, no date). According to the same survey, the other most widely spoken languages in New Zealand in 2006 were Samoan (2.2%), French (1.4%), Hindi (1.2%), Yue (Cantonese) (1.2%) and Northern Chinese (Mandarin) (1.1%). Unlike the other languages, which are community languages, the prominence of French probably reflects its prevalence as a school language.
The dominance of English is explained in part by the country's ethnic composition: in 2006, 67.6% of the population were of European ethnicity, while 14.6% of New Zealanders identified as Māori, 9.2% as Asian, and Pasifika accounted for 6.9% (Statistics New Zealand, no date). Yet it is clear that there is also a massive on-going language shift to English at the expense of Māori and other languages, despite efforts to maintain and revitalise these languages.
2.2 Language policy and language maintenance
Language maintenance and revitalisation efforts for te reo Māori, Pacific and other community languages are multi-pronged. As might be expected, Māori leads, both in terms of the range of strategies used and the resources devoted to it, most visibly in broadcasting. The Māori broadcasting funding agency, Te Māngai Pāho (www.tmp.govt.nz), funds Māori Television to broadcast daily with programming in te reo and English, mainstream channels to include some te reo programming and 21 local radio stations broadcasting eight hours a day in te reo. The active use and learning of the language (which will be discussed below) are further underpinned by the development of digital resources, including a new online monolingual dictionary, Ī-papakupu, launched by the Māori Language Commission in 2008. Each year a Māori language week is held to encourage people to learn and use the language. The perceived success of these weeks has led to their use in the promotion of other languages, such as Samoan.
However, efforts to encourage language maintenance have been hampered by the lack of a national languages policy. A blueprint was provided by a report for the Ministry of Education entitled ‘Aoteareo’ (Waite Reference Waite1992), but although some of its recommendations have been enacted and numerous agencies are engaged in implementing language policy, there is still no overarching framework to give their efforts coherence. The Human Rights Commission, through its annual Diversity Forum, has tried to fill this policy vacuum by establishing a language policy network called Te Waka Reo (‘the language canoe’), and issued a language policy statement (2008) recognising the right of citizens to use their mother tongue, and the value of learning other languages.
While official language strategies exist for te reo Māori and adult ESOL, and one is in preparation for Pacific languages, the original Māori language strategy was criticised by the Waitangi Tribunal for being too bureaucratic in its thinking and not sufficiently ambitious in its targets (Waitangi Tribunal 2010). The panel charged with reviewing the Māori language strategy concluded in its 2011 report (Te Paepae Motuhake 2011) that the strategy suffered from a lack of coordination. They noted that relatively little attention or funding had been given to encouraging intergenerational transmission in the home, which should be the primary focus of future revitalisation efforts led by iwi (Māori tribes).
2.3 Te reo Māori
The attrition of te reo Māori has occurred as part of the wider process of loss which accompanied colonisation by the British and subsequent large-scale European immigration, despite the promise by the British in the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi of Māori self-determination and protection of all Māori taonga (treasures), including te reo Māori. The process of linguistic and cultural assimilation, accelerated through urban migration and intermarriage, has left many Māori bereft of both language and cultural knowledge (see, for example, Bishop & Glynn Reference Bishop and Glynn1999). Thus, according to 2006 census data, just 24% of Māori, including just over 18% of 0–9 year-olds, now speak te reo to a conversational level (Waitangi Tribunal 2010: 103). The same report – by the Waitangi Tribunal, which hears Māori rights claims – characterised the language as ‘approaching a crisis point, with older native speakers passing away and not being replaced in sufficient numbers by younger speakers’ (p. 12).
The decline in the number of fluent speakers has nevertheless been significantly slowed by Māori grassroots initiatives to revitalise the language (see section 4.1.1). These efforts have ultimately received policy and funding support from central government within a framework of ‘biculturalism’ founded on the Treaty of Waitangi. However, the loss of autonomy through state control has led Māori to question the genuineness of the government's commitment (Penetito Reference Penetito2010).
Māori-medium education is now widely available at all levels from pre-school through to tertiary. In some primary and secondary schools, Māori immersion and English-based instruction co-exist as separate streams; other schools teach all subjects except English through the medium of Māori. The Ministry of Education produced a strategy for Māori-medium literacy in 2007 and a new Māori-medium curriculum in 2008 (http://tmoa.tki.org.nz/Nga-Marautanga-o-Aotearoa/Te-Marautanga-o-Aotearoa); refer to section 4.1.1 for discussion of the research carried out in this area. Through the company Learning Media, the Ministry has produced materials for Māori-medium education as well as for five Pacific languages (www.learningmedia.co.nz/our-services/focus-areas/maori-education). Māori enrichment (e.g., songs, greetings and numbers) is included in New Zealand primary-school curricula, and Māori is offered as an additional language at New Zealand secondary and tertiary institutions (Ministry of Education 2007c), and in adult education.
2.4 Teaching and learning of New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL)
NZSL has increased its profile through a successful campaign to make it an official language (McKee Reference McKee2006). It is used as a medium of instruction in some Deaf education settings, and taught as a second language in community education programmes in all major and some provincial centres, and at two universities. The Ministry of Education has produced curriculum resources for the teaching of NZSL, and children in some primary schools learn basic items. The learning and teaching of the language have been facilitated by the publication of A dictionary of New Zealand Sign Language (Kennedy Reference Kennedy1997) and The online dictionary of New Zealand Sign Language (McKee Reference McKee2011). One tertiary programme offers training in the teaching of NZSL as a second language.
2.5 Other community languages
As for te reo Māori, rapid intergenerational loss has occurred with most community languages. The rate of attrition has been highest in some Pacific communities (e.g. Cook Island Māori and Niuean) and European communities such as the Dutch and Croatians, while the rate of retention is highest within the Korean, Cambodian and Greek communities (Ministry of Social Development 2010). Educational provision has focused more on helping members of refugee and migrant communities to cope in the English-medium education system than on preserving their languages, though some funding is provided, for example, for migrant communities to broadcast radio programmes in their languages. Bishop & Glynn (Reference Bishop and Glynn1999) argue that the predominantly monolingual environment which has undermined the viability of te reo Māori by failing to understand or value linguistic diversity has also made it difficult for minority migrant communities to maintain their languages. De Bres (Reference de Bres2008) explores the attitudes of the non-Māori majority to the Māori language and how they have been and could further be positively influenced, a theme deserving more general exploration in relation to the use of languages other than English.
Nevertheless, due to large-scale Pacific and Asian migration, many New Zealand cities have a distinctly multicultural make-up, as reflected in these statistics for the ethnic composition of the school population in Auckland, the largest city: New Zealand European 43%, Pasifika 20%, Asians 18% and Māori 15% (Comet 2011). Historically, New Zealand has had economic and development ties with the Pacific region, which has stimulated immigration, notably from Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Niue and the Cook Islands. More recently large-scale immigration has come particularly from East and South Asia, but also South Africa. In addition to immigrants, communities of refugees, coming now mainly from Africa, are found in the larger cities. This presence, in combination with significant numbers of international students, has led to a thriving TESOL sector. Some tertiary institutions and schools also include instruction in Pacific Island languages (usually Samoan and Tongan). However, progress in introducing bilingual units for the most common Pacific languages has been slow (May & Hill Reference May and Hill2005) and, even now, only ‘approximately 2000 students receive some of their learning in their heritage language’ (Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs 2012).
2.6 Foreign languages
Until recently, the teaching of foreign languages in schools was largely confined to the secondary system, and was not compulsory: a further reflection of the failure to fully value the learning of additional languages. French, German and Spanish are the principal European languages taught and Japanese the principal Asian language. As part of the new curriculum which came into effect in 2010, languages have become an eighth ‘learning area’ alongside, for example, mathematics, science and language (either English or te reo), and schools are required to offer the teaching of additional languages in Years 7 to 10 (TKI 2008), although these remain non-compulsory.
As regards the teaching of Asian languages, while Japanese is widely offered in secondary schools, Chinese learning programmes have been slow to develop, though momentum now appears to be building. While a wider range of Asian and European languages are taught in tertiary and adult education, funding pressures threaten the viability of some programmes.
2.7 ESOL
In New Zealand the teaching of ESOL has its origins in the assistance offered to migrants and refugees and the teaching of English for educational purposes (Lewis Reference Lewis2004; National Association of ESOL Home Tutor Schemes 2006). While New Zealand has attracted immigrants from non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB) throughout its history, until recently little assistance was provided with English language learning (Lewis Reference Lewis2004). Provision began in the 1960s with an influx of NESB immigrants, principally from the Pacific, assisted through ESOL night classes and adult literacy classes. These learners frequently had little or no previous formal learning of English, and there was a huge need for teachers to train in ESOL teaching. The teaching was further hampered by the lack of an ESOL curriculum. While an Adult ESOL Strategy was finally launched in 2003 (Ministry of Education 2003), the sector continues to suffer from fragmentation and uncertainty about funding.
During the 1970s, thousands of refugees from Indochina, Chile and elsewhere were assisted with English at an Auckland reception centre and through ESOL Home Tutor Schemes (now English Language Partners) which sprang up around the country. These schemes have contributed hugely to the integration of immigrants and refugees into New Zealand life, and many volunteers have gone on to train as professional ESOL teachers.
The teaching of ESOL for educational purposes has developed in response to the needs of the children of migrants and refugees within New Zealand schools and tertiary institutions, compounded by the demand for international education. The first international students came to New Zealand in the 1950s on scholarships provided as official development assistance through schemes such as the Colombo Plan, and systematic efforts to train English-language teachers from Pacific Island nations (Tarling Reference Tarling2004).
Since the 1980s, New Zealand has benefited from burgeoning private demand for international education. Most tertiary institutions in New Zealand offer pre-academic and undergraduate level ESOL teaching and support, and numerous private language schools are in operation. There is a strong focus on preparation for international language tests for admission to tertiary study. New Zealand schools recruit international students widely, including study-abroad students and those who wish to progress to university. The majority of these learners come from Asia. As domestic student numbers and demand for ESOL teachers worldwide have grown, teacher education, with certificate, diploma and degree courses in TESOL and Applied Linguistics, has expanded accordingly (e.g. http://tesolanz.org.nz/Site/Publications/directory.aspx).
3. Overview of applied linguistics research in New Zealand
3.1 New Zealand language learning researchers
The relatively modest funding available in New Zealand for applied linguistics research dictates that most of it is carried out as part of the personal research programmes of individual lecturers and teachers or in the form of commissioned research for agencies such as the Ministry of Education. There is strong pressure on university staff to maximise their research ranking and that of their university, as part of a centrally-controlled process known as Performance-Based Research Funding. Tertiary ESOL is consequently the most heavily researched sector (Erlam Reference Erlam2010), though a culture of research extends throughout educational providers of all types and levels, as is evident at the biennial national Community Languages and ESOL (CLESOL) conference. Many classroom teachers have research experience through projects conducted during postgraduate studies. Much of their research is orientated towards innovations in their own teaching, with professional benefits as described by Jeurissen & Kitchen (Reference Jeurissen and Kitchen2007). Research by tertiary teachers of foreign languages typically focuses on literature rather than language pedagogy.
Frequently, however, the conference presentation is the endpoint of the dissemination for teacher research. This may be why Erlam (Reference Erlam2010) found that around 90% of the published research was carried out by staff in tertiary institutions, while classroom-based studies accounted for just 5%. As already indicated, when research reported in presentations and in publications specialising in small-scale classroom studies such as Many Voices (http://esolonline.tki.org.nz/ESOL-Online/News/Many-Voices) is taken into account, the picture looks rather different. However, as McNaughton states, educational research in schools should ideally involve ‘a research and development model that requires on-going collaboration between teachers and researchers’ (in Boyd Reference Boyd2007: 3) and should thus be rigorous enough to have credibility with both the education and wider scientific communities. Read (Reference Read2007) advocates a similar partnership: collaboration between researchers in second language acquisition (SLA) and language testing who can benefit by sharing the skills of their respective disciplines.
In addition to individual research programmes and informal networks, a small number of dedicated institutes contribute to research into language learning and teaching. The imperative on academic staff to maximise their research output has placed a premium on international publication, although New Zealand language teachers and researchers have always seen themselves as part of an international community of practice and research. It is important not to undervalue the contribution of academic leaders to research activity within the country and the wider international scene. Internationally outstanding scholars such as Paul Nation and Rod Ellis have had a profound effect on their respective departments, colleagues and students in the areas of Vocabulary and SLA. Key projects of linguistic and educational research such as the Language in the Workplace research programme led by Janet Holmes (www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/lwp/) and the Kotahitanga programme led by Russell Bishop (http://tekotahitanga.tki.org.nz/) have fed into thinking about English for Specific Purposes and improving the educational performance of Māori and other cultural minorities respectively. Cynthia White has developed a body of work on the use of new technologies in language learning and teaching.
3.2 Research themes
The major themes in New Zealand applied linguistics research have arisen naturally from the exigencies of language teaching and learning outlined above, but whole areas of research have flourished under the influence of international trends and of particular scholars or institutes. Recurrent themes in the research reported at recent conferences in applied linguistics, community languages and ESOL can be grouped into four main clusters: SLA (including the role of affective factors, culture and identity); curriculum (including course design, testing and assessment); language teaching methodology (including the use of technology); and teacher education and cognition. There are noticeable focal points within each of these clusters. Within language acquisition, for example, there has been a strong emphasis on implicit and explicit learning (Ellis et al. Reference Ellis, Loewen, Elder, Philp, Reinders and Erlam2009), sociocultural theory, the roles of motivation and emotion in language acquisition, intercultural learning and cultural identity. The latter topics have tended to be presented through case studies and narratives, with a relative lack of quantitative research.
The prevailing model of language teaching in New Zealand could best be described as eclectic, albeit with a strong continuing influence from communicative language teaching, frequently combined with content-based (thematic) course design. While published materials are used, the drive for authenticity and relevance to New Zealand leads many teachers and institutions to produce their own. Though the importance of form-focused instruction has been acknowledged by the language teaching profession, and is evident in two influential prescriptions for course design (Ellis's Reference Ellis2005 principles and Nation's four strands, Reference Nation2007), earlier input-based acquisition models, which downplayed the value of systematically learning grammar, still hold sway. This is reflected in the composition of the conference papers, where focus on grammatical form is almost entirely subsumed under writing, while studies of vocabulary acquisition are much more strongly represented.
Of the four skills, reading and writing have received the major share of research attention. Much of the recent focus in published writing research has been on student transitions from English for Academic Purposes to tertiary study. In speaking, pragmatics has been an important sub-theme, especially in relation to workplace communication. The role of technology such as movies and computer-mediated communication in providing stimulus for speaking and writing has provided teachers with rich opportunities to share innovations.
In the teaching of school languages, the largest development is the introduction of the new school curriculum (Ministry of Education 2007a), which elevates language learning to one of eight principal learning areas and requires schools to offer teaching of an additional language from Year 7 onwards. Because the language knowledge of primary-school teachers is variable and language specialists are scarce, schools have had to be innovative in how they provide language teaching. Teachers are in some cases learning the languages they are teaching alongside their students. The Ministry of Education has produced materials for a number of languages which can be used by teachers with little or no prior knowledge of the language (http://learning-languages.tki.org.nz/Learning-Languages-in-the-NZ-Curriculum/Learning-Language-Series). Efforts to upgrade the language proficiency and pedagogy of teachers at this year level are discussed in section 4.4. If the adoption of additional languages as a new area of teaching and learning in the primary-school curriculum is to enhance the teaching and learning of languages in the school system as a whole, it is important that what has been devised as a transitional measure does not become entrenched through lack of resources or ambition.
4. Research into language teaching and learning in New Zealand
In this section we review in detail the research selected from the period under discussion, beginning with indigenous and community languages.
4.1 The teaching and learning of indigenous and community languages
4.1.1 Te reo Māori
Evaluation of revitalisation efforts
As explained in section 2, the report by the Waitangi Tribunal (2010) surveys revitalisation efforts in te reo Māori in recent decades. It highlights the grassroots revival of Māori language learning in the 1980s and 1990s that occurred at all age levels but most strikingly in pre-school education through the creation of language nests (kohanga reo). By 1993, at the height of their enrolments, kohanga reo provided immersion teaching of te reo to 49.2% of the Māori children who were in pre-school education, though a sharp drop in recent years is reported (Waitangi Tribunal 2010). A recovery in the numbers of speakers of the Māori language is posited in a relatively upbeat 2008 report on the health of the language by the Ministry of Māori Affairs (Te Puni Kokiri 2007). Bauer (Reference Bauer2008), however, questions the reliability of data on which claims of the revival are based. Her own analysis suggests a decline whose reversal will only be possible if communities are created in which a large majority of residents use te reo as their primary means of communication.
Māori-medium education
With regard to learning and teaching te reo, it is Māori-medium education, especially in kohanga reo and kura kaupapa Māori (primary schools), which is central to research. The kohanga and kura are ground-breaking efforts of Māori to provide an education for the next generation that is anchored in Māori culture and thought. The consideration of culture is also vital for the success of Māori students who study in the mainstream. Their educational performance is wide-ranging, with some excelling but many under-achieving. Bishop (Reference Bishop, Denzin, Lincoln and Smith2008) describes how this educational under-achievement can be reversed. Significant factors are a turn-around in teacher expectations and a culturally responsive approach that shares features of successful kura kaupapa (see Tākao et al. Reference Tākao, Grennell, McKegg and Wehipeihana2010, below).
During the period under consideration, Māori-medium education has been in a phase of development and consolidation, so published research has dealt with curriculum development, pedagogy, teacher development and evaluation. A fundamental issue arises regarding the research approach to be adopted, with many researchers (e.g. Smith Reference Smith2011) advocating a critical indigenous approach in keeping with Māori values and in tune with the philosophy behind the education it examines (a kaupapa Māori approach). However, as Irwin (Reference Irwin2011) points out, most research into Māori-medium education has been funded by the Ministry of Education and is therefore subject to a tension between the desire for concrete results on the effectiveness of Māori-medium education and a more qualitative ethnographic approach. The research referred to below used a range of methodologies within the spectrum from conventional educational evaluation to kaupapa Māori research.
There is also the question of what form of the language should be taught, since te reo Māori comprises distinct local dialects. This is further complicated by diachronic change. The project Māori and New Zealand English (MAONZE) has investigated language change over three generations of speakers of te reo. Keegan et al. (Reference Keegan, King, Maclagan, Watson and Harlow2007) and King et al. (Reference King, Maclagan, Harlow, Keegan and Watson2010) report on the methodology used and provide evidence that some pronunciation distinctions have reduced over time, raising the question of which version teachers should base their teaching on.
Pohatu (Reference Pohatu2006) examines the impact of teaching Māori language and culture in pre-school kohanga reo. Pohatu, who adopted a kaupapa Māori approach in researching one particular kohanga chosen as a Centre of Innovation, balances appreciation of the cultural and language growth that took place with the insight that the language proficiency of the helpers was not always sufficient to support the language learning, English or Māori, of the children. The shortage of proficient teachers has consistently been identified as the major obstacle to language revitalisation (see, for example, Waitangi Tribunal 2010).
Tocker (Reference Tocker2007) investigated the claim that kura kaupapa ‘provided a beneficial learning environment’ by interviewing twelve early graduates. She observed that they had achieved the ability both to live successfully in the Māori world and to participate actively in the wider world. Importantly, she concluded that:
They demonstrate how kura kaupapa Māori education has the potential to remedy the crisis facing Māori in mainstream education . . . and how kura contribute to the survival and maintenance of the Māori language (p. 74).
Other studies looked at the quality and impact of kura kaupapa Māori (e.g. Education Review Office 2007). Tākao et al. (Reference Tākao, Grennell, McKegg and Wehipeihana2010) conducted a study of five selected kura with the aim of establishing the attributes of successful kura following an appreciative inquiry approach, based around Te Aho Matua, the framework all kura kaupapa must follow (Department of Internal Affairs 2008). They found successful kura adhered steadfastly to their founding principles; nurtured their children spiritually and culturally; were based on collective, evolutionary leadership and the full involvement of wider families; provided a space reflecting the Māori world and its customs; helped build students' sense of tribal and family identity; had a ‘fervent’ commitment to the revitalisation and intergenerational transmission of the language (Tākao et al. Reference Tākao, Grennell, McKegg and Wehipeihana2010: 18); valued full bilingual competence in te reo and English, and had the highest aspirations for their students.
A number of studies focus on literacy in te reo. McNaughton (Reference McNaughton2006) focuses on the relationship between literacy practices and language development in the first year of Māori-medium education, and Hohepa (Reference Hohepa2006) on the role of reading in language development. Berryman & Woller (Reference Berryman and Woller2007) explored the use of taped readers to raise the performance of beginning readers. They were seeking ways for parents who were not very proficient in the language to support their children in learning to read it. They found a rapid improvement in the children's reading levels. Lowman et al. (Reference Lowman, Fitzgerald, Rapira and Clark2007) undertook an action research study in which reading in te reo was preceded by discussion in English of the topic and organisation of texts. While L2 reading improved significantly, the children found it more difficult to switch back into Māori as a classroom medium. Oral proficiency is the focus of Berryman et al.'s (Reference Berryman, Togo, Woller and Glynn2007) report on the development and trialling of three assessment tools for five-year-old children entering Māori-medium education. They assert the need to resist the temptation simply to translate methods of testing used for English into Māori, and instead to develop culturally appropriate instruments and procedures which distinguish well between different levels of proficiency.
4.1.2 New Zealand Sign Language
Although great efforts have been invested in the description and teaching of New Zealand Sign Language during the period under investigation, little research has occurred into learning and pedagogy in New Zealand. An exception is Pivac (Reference Pivac2009), which examined how learners of NZSL doing an interpreting course could take up opportunities to acquire the language independently outside the classroom, improving all aspects of competency by participating in communities of practice (Lave & Wenger Reference Lave and Wenger1991).
According to Roach (Reference Roach, Burns and Burton2008), on account of the failure to meet their special learning needs, there is a relatively high incidence of educational under-achievement within the deaf community. Roach reports on the development of a course using ESOL techniques to teach literacy skills to deaf adults via NZSL, and introduces nine guiding maxims that he derived from his journey through ‘uncharted territory’: visual clarity, social relevance, variety, negotiation, cultural sensitivity, flexibility, inclusiveness, improvisation and support.
4.1.3 Other community languages
Research and policymaking on community languages have largely run parallel to research into ESOL and the teaching of te reo. Similar to Māori, most students from migrant communities are educated in the mainstream. For some time now the Ministry of Education has funded research to improve the educational experience and outcomes of Pasifika students in the New Zealand education system. This accumulated research has led to the production of a revised Pacific Education Plan (Ministry of Education 2006) and resources for teachers to support bilingual learning (Language Enhancing the Achievement of Pasifika – LEAP).
The intimate link between language and culture and the impact of language shift on identity is evident across very diverse minority migrant communities, some going back 150 years or more, while others are less than a decade old. Investigations of language shift include Al-Sahafi & Barkhuizen (Reference Al-Sahafi and Barkhuizen2006), whose focus is the Arabic-speaking community in Auckland, and Vaccarino & Walker (Reference Vaccarino and Walker2006), who report on efforts to maintain minority languages such as German through a ‘family biliteracy learning’ project. Crezee's (Reference Crezee2010) study of a much earlier group of Dutch immigrants investigated language shift in the opposite direction – reversion to the first language (L1) and corresponding L2 attrition – which had taken place in old age. She found that those who had formal instruction (using the Grammar Translation method) prior to emigrating had a lower degree of L2 loss. She makes a case for more structured teaching of ESOL to migrants and refugees, though this may be only one among other factors differentiating early educational experiences.
Barkhuizen (Reference Barkhuizen2010) uses the metaphors of ‘shedding skins’ and ‘floating identities’ in recounting the experiences of Afrikaans-speaking South African migrants in New Zealand, but also provides sustained examples of plurilingualism (Canagarajah Reference Canagarajah2009) to illustrate the fluidity and flexibility of language use within multilingual communities. Tualaulelei (Reference Tualaulelei2008) analysed instances of code-switching in a corpus of Samoan-language broadcasts by an Auckland-based radio station, and concluded that the numerous instances of code-mixing were mostly integrated lexical insertions, and the data did not indicate ‘significant signs of language shift’ (Reference Tualaulelei2008: 53).
Anae (Reference Anae2009) takes a relatively benign view of language shift among New Zealand-born Samoans, pointing out that language is ‘not the sole identifier’ of culture and that language shifts are the inevitable consequence of the dynamic environment in which language users grow up, even if this has to be balanced against the cultural, psychological and spiritual benefits of L1 fluency. For all the merits of this view, it is not clear that the balance it advocates has been achieved with respect to how students from bilingual backgrounds are catered for within mainstream education in New Zealand. The number of Pacific students involved in bilingual education is still small, suggesting that an important opportunity to act on research findings about its benefits is being missed.
4.2 The teaching and learning of foreign languages and ESOL
4.2.1 Reading and writing
Literacy requirements of university study
As discussed above, New Zealand is a destination for international students from primary to tertiary levels. In particular, numerous international students apply to New Zealand universities each year, many of whom initially participate in ESOL classes. There is strong research interest in their transition to mainstream university study, and because English literacy is fundamental to university success, much of this research focuses on reading and writing at the university level.
A number of studies draw the conclusion, based on early struggles, that preparatory courses should be more closely attuned to specific university demands. For example, Behrend (Reference Behrend2011), comparing the note-taking ability of domestic and ESOL students in a single university lecture, found that weak skills may limit ESOL students' ability to capture the main points of lectures, threatening their overall academic performance. Skyrme (Reference Skyrme2010), drawing on longitudinal research, discusses the reading challenges ESOL students face when beginning university study. Large amounts of time expended with poor comprehension results limited students' learning opportunities and contributed to feelings of extreme stress during the first semester, although over the course of their undergraduate study students developed coping strategies.
This interest in appropriate preparation underpins other studies on the transition to undergraduate study, which have focused on the differences in language demands between university courses and English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses. Kirkness et al. (Reference Kirkness, Roser, Pawson, Wise and Neill2008) compared the vocabulary loads of reading materials, finding differences which may be related to EAP teachers' reported concern for appropriateness of vocabulary level in text selection. Other studies focused on writing, considering the adequacy of tasks in popular academic ESOL textbooks (Fester Reference Fester2006; White Reference White2011) or pre-academic EAP courses (Wette & Lessels Reference Wette and Lessels2010) as preparation for assessment tasks in New Zealand university courses. The findings suggest that the textbooks focus on a narrow subset of academic writing exercises taught separately, which does not reflect the hybrid nature of university writing assignments (White Reference White2011) or the complexity of written texts as recognised in research on discourse-based approaches to academic writing (Fester Reference Fester2006). Wette & Lessels compared writing tasks in a pre-university course and business and economics mainstream courses, surveying and interviewing students with experience of both. The study revealed greater challenges in terms of integrating and developing content, and less attention to linguistic factors, in university courses. Nevertheless, students found that learning done in the EAP course in developing skills, especially the skills of incorporating ideas from sources, had been very valuable. In view of these studies, a useful future direction for research would be an investigation of whether greater familiarity with the presence of ESOL university students and awareness of the research have led to changes in preparatory classes.
Two studies investigated literacy demands on postgraduate students writing theses, examining the linguistic, discourse and rhetorical nature of different sections, along with pedagogical measures to help ESOL students meet the demands they faced. Bitchener & Banda (Reference Bitchener and Banda2007) investigated the knowledge of literature review sections of 37 postgraduate students, both native speaker and ESOL, finding that their limited explicit knowledge of the full range of functions of a literature review suggests the need for preliminary instruction. Turner & Bitchener (Reference Turner and Bitchener2006) measured the effects of one such short programme for 13 ESOL students, showing that a seminar focused on literature review writing led to improvement in the organisation of information and appropriateness of argumentation.
Literacy in and outside the language classroom
While much L2 literacy research in New Zealand is focused on university success, there are studies of reading and writing in other settings. For writing, Crowley (Reference Crowley2010) examined the effect of a pen-pal exchange with other learners at a similar level on the writing ability of Year 7 L2 French students. As participants engaged in writing to their pen pal, they increased the quantity and complexity of their writing output, indicating they were engaged in communicating meaning and attempting more complicated constructions to do so.
A number of studies have investigated the effects of extensive reading on language learning. Two of these take a single case study using a diary over a three-month period in conditions that gave the subject freedom to read for pleasure, to self-select texts and to stop as interest ceased, in order to investigate affective factors and reading behaviour. Tabata-Sandom & Macalister (Reference Tabata-Sandom and Macalister2009) found that the New Zealand learner of Japanese in their study became more strategic and confident as a reader and began to transfer language learned in reading to production. Claridge's (Reference Claridge2006) study used herself as subject, and reported that the most important factor motivating her to continue reading in Russian was interest in the story itself. In a later study, Claridge (Reference Claridge2009) turned her focus to how teachers select graded readers for extensive reading as a class. The main criteria were the elements of the books that made teaching easier, rather than suitability for extensive reading. Research on this aspect of language learning continues (de Burgh-Hirabe & Feryok Reference de Burgh-Hirabe and Feryok2012).
Turning now to more intensive interventions, Macalister's (Reference Macalister2008) study was a quantitative investigation of speed reading in EAP tertiary classes, determining that while practice led to greater reading speed, the relationship between speed and other aspects of reading fluency remained unclear. Nesbitt (Reference Nesbitt2009) investigated the particular challenges presented for New Zealand university students beginning the study of Japanese by reading in a non-alphabetic system. She found rote memorisation of kanji using a range of methods including computer- and paper-based tools raised their confidence in their reading.
The participants in Field & Sellars’ (Reference Field and Sellars2008) study were, in contrast, largely pre-literate former refugees acquiring literacy skills in English in community classes. The authors examine prior literacy experiences in their L1 communities reported by these learners, and indicate how these and other factors differentiate the classes from those in more formal institutions, noting, in particular, the value of bilingual tutors, who are able to mediate language and culture within such settings. It must be said that this study, though small-scale, is one of very few (though see Roberts & Macaskill Reference Roberts and Macaskill2006, below) examining the community sector of ESOL provision, which remains largely beyond the focus of university-based researchers, a situation belying its importance as a provider of language support in New Zealand.
4.2.2 Listening and speaking
Aural/oral skills
For the period covered by this review, about half as many studies were published on learning to listen and speak as on reading and writing. This is most likely due to the focus on academic language learning in the language teaching community resulting from the large number of international students in schools and universities. However, a body of interesting research on the acquisition of these skills complements that on the acquisition of literacy.
The first two studies take a holistic view of students' oral skills. Ryan & Barnard (Reference Ryan and Barnard2009) examined comprehension in interactions between ESOL undergraduate learners and native-speaker teachers, and used stimulated recall to elicit teachers' reflections on the occurrence and avoidance of miscommunications. Strategies such as considering context and tolerance of ambiguity sometimes avoided miscommunication where it may have been expected, but apparently quite minor pronunciation slips could lead to communication breakdown. They recommend that teachers conduct similar analysis to better understand how communication emerges in classroom interaction. Romova & Neville-Barton (Reference Romova and Neville-Barton2007) take a wider perspective, following four students through three years of tertiary study, measuring changes in speech production. Increases in confidence led to gains in production, vocabulary and syntactic complexity, but not grammatical accuracy. They suggest research among a larger population could inform how L2 speech development might be augmented through classroom instruction.
While most research on aural/oral skills development during the time of this review does look at classroom practices, it is often quite small-scale. One example, King & East's (Reference King and East2008) study, used a classroom-based trial of computer software to scaffold the comprehension of authentic listening texts by offering versions at both slowed down and normal speed in language learning classrooms. The students in their classes appeared to find the intervention helpful.
Another area of focus is the teaching of pronunciation. In Smith & Beckmann's (Reference Smith and Beckmann2010) action research study, learners participated in a one-semester pronunciation awareness programme, comparing recordings of their own production with models from competent speakers. Learners reported feeling they were able to monitor their own and others’ pronunciation better at the end of the course, and that the intervention had given them strategies to use in future. Their progress was not measured objectively, however.
In addition to classroom interventions, there is an interest in how language use beyond the classroom builds oral communicative ability. For example, Tanaka (Reference Tanaka2007) used qualitative methods to investigate language contact beyond the classroom for Japanese ESOL students in a study abroad programme in New Zealand. The findings indicated that the learners, even those in homestays, had few opportunities to use English in the community, with lower proficiency learners particularly at a disadvantage.
Community placement for advanced ESOL students to increase engagement is a component in one degree course reported on in two studies. Andrew & Kearney (Reference Andrew and Kearney2007) use a community-of-practice perspective to analyse journals kept by some of these students, showing the development of elaborated understanding of the New Zealand community and its ways of communicating. The internship was a prized means of connecting classroom learning with practice-enhancing awareness of intercultural communication. Andrew (Reference Andrew2011) takes a language socialisation perspective to investigate the learning of four students who extended their initial 10-hour placement in a rest home for the elderly. He identified first-hand learning in areas such as the socio-pragmatic regulation of spoken language responsive to audience, conscious application of classroom learning, noticing of sociolinguistic phenomena, cultural learning, and ontological insights into self. These researchers assert that the community remains an under-used resource for learners.
Pragmatics
One arena where appropriate language use is critical for migrants is the workplace, and the investigation of skilled migrants and employment is one theme of the research carried out over this period. Hunter, Patrizio & Yatri (Reference Hunter, Patrizio and Yatri2006) and Wette & Basturkmen (Reference Wette and Basturkmen2006) provide insights into the perspectives of those not involved in the language teaching world. In an interview study, Hunter et al. compared the perceptions of workplace communication needs held by tertiary qualified migrant ESOL employees and employers experienced in employing them. One key finding was that while migrants tended to focus on their identity as professionals, generally expressing confidence in their language skills, it was on their identity as language learners that employers tended to focus, referring to barriers which frequently arose from lack of knowledge of the pragmatics of the workplace rather than purely linguistic shortcomings. Wette & Basturkmen's findings, in an investigation of feedback from medical educators on role-plays by overseas trained doctors on a ‘professional resocialisation’ course, were consistent with this. They noted a strong focus on communicative aspects of patient-centred care and general communication skills, rather than linguistic errors, despite the frequent occurrence of these in the videoed sessions. The researchers argue for the value of on-going English language classes with explicit instruction in linguistic and pragmatic skills to help these migrant doctors prepare for work in New Zealand.
The question of how such instruction in pragmatic proficiency might be provided has been addressed by Riddiford (Reference Riddiford2007), who drew on authentic input from the ‘Language in the Workplace’ corpus mentioned above to help skilled migrants participate in workplace interaction that occurred during internships forming part of their course. Using requests as a focus, the instruction took the form of meta-discussion of the authentic data followed by recorded role-play practice and feedback. Discourse completion tasks, interviews and the recorded role-plays indicated notable increases in pragmatic awareness and competence achieved through the explicit instruction. Others have also investigated effective ways of teaching pragmatics. Denny (Reference Denny2008: 47) argues for semi-scripted materials as offering features of natural speech in a controlled context and her (Reference Denny2010) study used these in action research into the teaching of socio-pragmatic norms of casual conversation to L2 speakers. Testing indicated a moderate improvement in pragmatic skills.
Returning to the theme of preparation for university study, U & Strauss (2006) argue for the importance of addressing in EAP classes pragmatic matters arising from high-stakes group assessments. A first study used interviews to elicit information from mainstream lecturers and ESOL students on the challenges of university study, and led to a follow-up investigation involving lecturers and focus groups of ESOL and domestic students, to discuss their experiences of the group assessment issue. They assert the desirability of raising awareness among ESOL and domestic students, and their lecturers, of how such issues can impinge on the sense of equity and engagement in these events.
4.2.3 Assessment
Assessment runs parallel with the formal teaching and learning it measures, and is correspondingly comprehensive in scope. It is especially significant in schools and at the threshold between the school and tertiary systems, where a particular issue was whether national measures of university eligibility designed for native speakers of English were appropriate for the assessment of non-native speakers. This issue has been a theme of research at all levels of education over the period, and on-going developments in this area by educational authorities (e.g. the development of a New Zealand Certificate in English Language, www.nzqa.govt.nz/assets/About-us/Consultations-and-reviews/ESOL/ESOL-Nov-2011/NZ-Cert-Level-1-version-2-8-Sept1.pdf) suggest this has had some effect.
Beginning at primary-school level, Haworth (Reference Haworth2007) argues that the lack of a coherent curriculum for young ESOL students makes it difficult to devise appropriate assessment practices, and that using instruments designed for native-speaker children provides inaccurate measures. She favours holistic assessment procedures reflecting students' bilingual status and the contexts in which they operate, as well as more pre-service training in ESOL for primary teachers. Her findings align with those of Booth (Reference Booth2007), who interviewed specialist ESOL and classroom teachers of young learners about assessment. They identified a number of challenges in assessing and interpreting the levels of ESOL students, in particular difficulties for mainstream teachers trying to assess them along with the wider class, when their English level was very much lower.
Studies of assessment in secondary schools have dealt in particular with the placement of ESOL students in mainstream classes. Bedford & Kitchen's (Reference Bedford and Kitchen2006) small-scale study using questionnaires and interviews to investigate placement policies, the perceptions of ESOL Heads of Department and the response of their students found that ESOL teachers frequently acted as gatekeepers in secondary-school placement, exercising a power both parties seemed to feel was appropriate in view of the complexity of the situation, though there was no research evidence used to support their decisions. Todd & Gu (Reference Todd and Gu2007) contribute to one aspect of the issue, assessing reading levels for placement purposes, through the trial of rational cloze tests. These proved successful in assessing reading levels in relation to a set of measures mandated by the Ministry of Education, which in current form are the English Language Learning Progressions (http://esolonline.tki.org.nz/ESOL-Online/Student-needs/The-English-Language-Learning-Progressions).
A related challenge, not yet met by New Zealand, is to achieve standardisation in the proficiency assessment of learners completing EAP and Foundation Studies programmes as preparation for university study. The common standard of tertiary admission continues to be international tests like IELTS, and this fact is implicated in concerns about the adequacy of preparation mentioned above (e.g. Skyrme Reference Skyrme2010). However, some universities do accept successful completion of preparatory courses within their own institution, and Turner et al. (Reference Turner, Cartner, Jenner and Mann2008) compared the skills, knowledge and competencies demanded by the IELTS test and one such course. Using document retrieval and content analysis, they identified key differences such as assessments integrated across skill areas, more academically focused listening and speaking tasks, the inclusion of group assessments, and the use of digital technologies in the university's preparatory course assessment. Read & Hirsh (Reference Read and Hirsh2007) conducted a feasibility study of the cross-moderation of assessment tasks between such foundation programmes in four different institutions as a first step towards standardisation. While the process of discussing the draft moderation framework and the assessment tasks they used proved valuable to the participants, the absence of standardised course objectives and practices made the application of moderation difficult.
The issue of construct validity and reliability implied in concern for moderation is the focus of two studies at tertiary level during the period, both comparing a simpler and a more detailed rating scale in assessing student writing. Knoch (Reference Knoch2008), in a large-scale study on a diagnostic writing test for both native-speaker and ESOL students conducted upon entry to one New Zealand university, and East & Young (Reference East and Young2007) in a smaller study of writing included in a course for intermediate-level ESOL students, both found rater preference and higher inter-rater reliability for the more detailed scale, based in the former case on extensive analysis of 601 existing scripts to describe measures of accuracy, fluency and complexity.
4.2.4 Vocabulary
New Zealand researchers have been closely associated with investigations into vocabulary acquisition and the selection of vocabulary to be learned. Studies over the period built on this in various ways. Webb & Nation (Reference Webb and Nation2008) introduce tools to evaluate the vocabulary load of a given text by identifying the range of vocabulary required to read it (www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/resources/). Using these tools, Coxhead, Stevens & Tinkle (Reference Coxhead, Stevens and Tinkle2010) investigated whether vocabulary requirements might make secondary-school science textbooks difficult to read, especially for ESOL learners. They found that between 11,000 and 15,000 words, plus a list of proper nouns, needed to be known to reach an optimum coverage of 98% of the lexis in each textbook. This study has contributed to on-going research to develop a corpus of vocabulary in secondary texts, and has led to interest from textbook publishers.
Other tertiary-based studies used Coxhead's (Reference Coxhead1998) Academic Word List (AWL) as the source of items in investigating techniques of vocabulary teaching. For example, File (Reference File2008) used an action research approach in which students filled in template cards for individual items, including elements such as visual representations, collocations and family words, and then used them interactively. Classroom observation indicated that these items were consistent with the principles of vocabulary acquisition based on research literature. Cartner's (Reference Cartner2009) study investigated student response to the incorporation and development of blended learning elements to support AWL acquisition, and found enthusiastic uptake and appreciation of flexibility and opportunities for multiple exposure. Morimoto (Reference Morimoto2006) carried out a quantitative study of the relationship between depth of knowledge of AWL items, vocabulary learning strategies and degree of extraversion, but found no significant differences between introverts and extroverts.
Two studies investigate techniques used at younger ages. Beaumont & Erlam (Reference Beaumont and Erlam2010) looked at the effect of teaching Greek and Latin word parts to 11- to 13-year-old Pacific Island students, finding an increase in word recognition and evidence of student engagement with the process, but not in reading comprehension as measured in the post-test. Salas's small-scale study (Reference Salas2006) reached a tentative conclusion that conscious audiation (inner hearing) of words set to a melody helped secondary-school ESOL students learn new vocabulary faster.
4.2.5 Grammar
As mentioned above, less research was published on pedagogical grammar between 2006 and 2010 than on vocabulary acquisition. Appropriately, two of these studies examined attitudes to teaching grammar. As a result of their survey, Barnard & Scampton (Reference Barnard and Scampton2008) found EAP teachers favoured the teaching of grammar in context over de-contextualised learning of structures, but also generally showed preference for a systematic treatment. Arbury's (Reference Arbury2010) survey and interviews asked international and New Zealand-based professional coursebook writers about the principles they took into account when designing grammar activities. She found that SLA principles were reflected but tended to be balanced against other factors such as affect and practicality.
Other studies have examined classroom practice. Batstone (Reference Batstone2007) examines how the effectiveness of one focus-on-form episode depends on learner familiarity with the schema underlying the classroom discourse, specifically when teachers mirror learners' incorrect utterances to elicit correction by the student. Alleaume & Erlam (Reference Alleaume and Erlam2006: 35) undertook a classroom intervention to examine the effects of either the processing of input or the production of output on the learning of possessive adjectives in university-level French classes, and found them equally effective.
In a corpus-based study straddling vocabulary and grammar, Vine (Reference Vine2009) revealed the complexity of two high-frequency multifunctional words, as and so, and argues for the importance of teachers taking such knowledge into account in deciding how to treat multifunctional items pedagogically.
4.2.6 Technology
Domestic conferences have been invaluable in disseminating applications of new technologies. At the 2010 CLESOL conference, topics included paperless classrooms, electronic lesson-plans and pre-arrival learning systems, ‘vodcasts’, computer-assessed speaking tests, social networking sites suited to language learning, the use of YouTube to teach speaking and the use of software for designing computer-based language tasks.
ICT is increasingly popular as a medium of course delivery. Fletcher, Nicholas & Davis (Reference Fletcher, Nicholas and Davis2011) use a case study of a polytechnic to examine the use of e-learning to teach adult literacy, including ESOL. They found it could be highly motivating when adjusted to students' technological skill levels and their workplace needs, but professional development for teachers was vital. Walker & vom Brocke (Reference Walker and vom Brocke2008) use data from student interactions to indicate how computer-mediated small-group international communication between students learning each other's first language can result in enhanced intercultural and content-based learning. Hunter & Coxhead (Reference Hunter and Coxhead2007) report on data from recordings of first-year university mainstream courses to highlight the range of technologies students will be exposed to, and call for more research into how L2 learners best learn from and with such technology.
Two studies looked at how the use of film can enhance teaching. Andrew (Reference Andrew2006) used a grounded methodology to analyse student presentations in a film studies course as a vehicle for teaching advanced speaking, highlighting evidence of learning about the sociocultural dimension of language use and students' self-concept. Chai & Erlam (Reference Chai and Erlam2008) found that using captions while watching a video improved upper-intermediate adult L2 students' learning of unknown vocabulary.
4.2.7 Independent learning
Research into independent learning included two wide-ranging investigations of the use of self-access centres (SACs). Lázaro & Reinders (Reference Lázaro and Reinders2007) conducted a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis based on on-site interviews with managers, finding that while the strengths and opportunities predominated, SACs need to make greater use of technology, to be providers of relevant resources rather than repositories of materials, and to be closely integrated with the courses they supported. This last finding was reinforced by Dofs & Hobbs’ (Reference Dofs and Hobbs2011) extensive study. Their report includes a set of guidelines for best practice focusing on eight key areas. Dofs (Reference Dofs2008) reports that a tangible improvement in the learners' awareness and use of strategy was achieved as a result of instruction for their teachers on providing training in language-learning strategies.
4.2.8 Course design
While much of the research reported elsewhere also has implications for course design, two studies make it a specific focus. Roberts & Macaskill (Reference Roberts and Macaskill2006) describe research to develop a curriculum for an existing adult ESOL literacy programme from the grassroots up by surveying current learners and teachers, noting that their conceptions of need did not always coincide. At the evaluation end of the process, Cooke & Hardman (Reference Cooke and Hardman2007) interviewed Chinese tertiary students after completion of a course whose aims included enhancing their ability to critically analyse the media. Although this aim was largely not met, due to the students' limited interest in the media, the authors make a case for the importance of elements of media critique for learners who will be members of the New Zealand community.
4.3 Cognitive and affective factors in language learning
The period under review coincides with intense interest in the social and personal aspects of language learning, and the interaction between language learning and identity. In many other countries the learning of an additional language is mandatory, but in New Zealand it is largely optional. Consequently, individual motivation plays a decisive role in whether students take up language learning, and in whether they continue it.
Bracefield (Reference Bracefield2009), Loewen, Ellis & Hacker (Reference Loewen, Ellis and Hacker2006) and Scott & Butler (Reference Scott and Butler2008) explore aspects of motivation and its impact on learning. Bracefield looks at how ‘gifted and talented’ secondary-school students of Japanese can be identified and motivated to continue their studies to senior levels. Thirteen such students were interviewed by their teachers using a standard set of questions; the responses attributed their success to a combination of their own self-motivated learning and effective teaching. The author concluded that messages affirming their potential to improve were most effective in motivating these students. Loewen et al. conducted a large-scale study of Year 9 secondary students, and found prior experience of language learning had a positive effect on motivation. They saw this as an endorsement of the curriculum initiative to give school students an ‘early start’ in language learning. Scott & Butler took the ten motivational strategies advocated by Dörnyei & Csizer (Reference Dörnyei and Csizer1998) as a starting point and used questionnaires to examine the perceptions of beginning (Year 7 and 8) students of foreign languages for signs of their influence following teacher professional development. They concluded that the more autonomy the students were given by their teachers, the more motivated they were.
Motivation is an important factor in learner success and failure. Griffiths (Reference Griffiths2008) used interview data to compare the strategies adopted by two highly motivated and successful students learning English in an English-speaking country for the first time. She found that while the strategies employed by each learner were quite different, they each used a similarly wide range of strategies that were well adapted to the new learning situation in which they found themselves. Luxton (Reference Luxton2008) examines determinants of success and failure in a different context and sees evidence that teacher development and systematic collaboration between mainstream teachers and ESOL specialists are bearing fruit in student achievement. McLauchlan (Reference McLauchlan2006) puts the spotlight on why some secondary-school learners discontinue their language studies, finding that it most often relates to the difficulty of vocabulary learning.
Beginning tertiary study is a major point in any student's educational career. This experience and the accompanying issues are intensified when the study takes place in a second language and in a foreign country. Skyrme (Reference Skyrme2008) examined how identity is shaped through the experience of university study. Cox & Heath (Reference Cox and Heath2006), Henley (Reference Henley2008), Shackleford & Riley (Reference Shackleford and Riley2011) and Wright (Reference Wright2006) give insights into how learners can be supported in the face of stress, anxiety or a lack of confidence. As Cox & Heath note, tutorials originally intended to give support in content and language matters can provide crucial support for self-confidence, motivation and autonomy. Henley reports on the success of an initiative to support Māori and Pasifika students in their first year of university by providing ‘a culturally welcoming alternative’ to help them cope in the mainstream. Shackleford & Riley report on designing autonomous tasks for Japanese students to carry out before participating in a study abroad programme in New Zealand, with the aim of simultaneously reducing their levels of anxiety and increasing their knowledge of language learning strategies. Wright reports on action research undertaken to help students overcome barriers to speaking English outside the classroom by providing scaffolding and sharing their experiences. Overall, this research underlines the importance of catering holistically for learners, especially those who are making a transition into an unfamiliar learning environment.
4.4 Language teacher education
Research into language teacher education reflects the diversity of the situations in which teachers find themselves teaching language, and the opportunities they receive for training. For example, the new requirement that learning of additional languages be offered in the final two years of primary school has created demand for pre-service training in language teaching for new teachers. Daly & Spiller (Reference Daly and Spiller2008) examine the use of reflective journals in the design of a new Initial Teacher Education course for beginning primary-school teachers of additional languages. Villers, Tolosa & East (Reference Villers, Tolosa and East2010) and Smith (Reference Smith2006) investigate the adoption of blended approaches in this early language teaching, with Villers et al. examining how one school used blended learning to turn the challenge of providing language learning options into a highly flexible learning opportunity for its school community, while Smith's case study stresses the importance of modelling new technologies for future teachers.
Simultaneously, professional development has been made available to existing teachers who wish to improve their proficiency in, and teaching of, additional languages at this level. A major programme of this type, the Teacher Professional Development Languages (TPDL) programme, is now offered annually to teachers of a range of languages. Insley & Thomson (Reference Insley and Thomson2008) describe the programme, in which teachers take courses to improve their proficiency in the language they are teaching, study principles of SLA and are then observed in their classroom practice. The authors describe the improvement they observed as trainers in the quantity and quality of the target language use of students taught by participating teachers. Robertson (Reference Robertson2008) reveals the variability of schools’ preparedness for meeting the new curriculum requirements, and recommends more systematic planning for the teaching of additional languages, including professional development and use of language advisors, to ensure the sustainability of staffing.
Meanwhile the growing ESOL school population has created a need to support mainstream teachers in catering for these students in mainstream classrooms. Harvey, Stacey & Richards (Reference Harvey, Stacey and Richards2007) provide the final report of a study based on interviews and observations of the practice of paraprofessionals (teacher aides) supporting initial reading programmes. They found a wide range of practices, and Richards, Harvey & Stacey (Reference Richards, Harvey and Stacey2009) draw on this research to recommend professional development for paraprofessionals, particularly for asking appropriate questions. Feryok & Barkhuizen (Reference Feryok and Barkhuizen2008) report on the evaluation of a professional development programme for subject teachers in secondary schools who find themselves teaching ESOL students. The programme focused on teacher cognition and on providing methods and techniques they could use to cater for these students in the mainstream.
A further growth area in teacher education is the provision of tailor-made courses for visiting overseas teachers of English. The short duration of such courses puts a high premium on the provision of content relevant to the participants. Conway & Richards (Reference Conway and Richards2007) describe the design of one course from needs assessment to post-course reflection by the participants, and discuss how such a course can be made more relevant to the needs of the participants. While not focused on formal teacher education, Okamura & Miller's (Reference Okamura and Miller2009) survey of 52 native-speaker teachers of Japanese with experience of teaching in New Zealand secondary schools highlights making use of external support and balancing their own cultural values with local ones as elements in successful adaptation to the culture shock brought on by factors such as having much greater latitude to choose what and how they taught.
Murphy, McKinley & Bright (Reference Murphy, McKinley and Bright2008) surveyed twelve providers of Initial Teacher Education for Māori-medium teachers to identify the issues they faced in delivering their programmes. Their main concerns were assisting their students to meet the necessary levels of Māori language proficiency (since the majority of these are L2 speakers) and ensuring a sufficient knowledge of the curriculum and the specific language required to teach it. It was notable that seven of the twelve institutions surveyed taught 80–100% of their teacher education courses in te reo. The authors recommended that students and staff receive opportunities for development in knowledge of SLA and the curriculum, as well as in te reo itself.
Intercultural learning (IcLL) is implicit in language learning and has been highlighted in a number of the studies discussed thus far. It has also been the subject of recent research related to teacher education. Richards et al. (Reference Richards, Conway, Roskvist and Harvey2010) were involved in a comprehensive evaluation of TPDL carried out for the Ministry of Education. Under the new curriculum, language teachers are supposed to adopt an intercultural approach in which language learning serves as a vehicle for the development of intercultural competence (Byram Reference Byram1997). In a case study of teachers participating in the TPDL, Richards et al. found their subjects were ‘limited in their understanding and demonstration of IcLL in the classroom’ (p. 1), and recommended that six principles of IcLL be incorporated in the Generic Framework for Teaching and Learning Languages in English-Medium Schools (Ministry of Education 2007b) and that teachers be given more assistance in putting them into practice. Newton (Reference Newton2009) recommends focusing particularly on three of the principles, namely, providing genuine social interaction, developing an exploratory approach to culture and culture-in-language, and fostering explicit comparisons and connections between languages and cultures.
5. Final remarks and future directions
New Zealand has an increasingly complex linguistic environment, characterised by rapid language shifts and a frequently utilitarian view of language learning. Whether for the revitalisation of te reo Māori, the maintenance of community languages or to meet other language needs of the population, the policy response, while often innovative and evidence-based, has at critical points been tardy and poorly coordinated. The autonomy of educational providers, in other respects a good thing, makes it harder to ensure consistency of opportunity for language learners.
Research into language learning and teaching in New Zealand is dynamic and multi-faceted. The agenda is shaped by international concerns, which New Zealand researchers have addressed both in international fora and domestically. It also responds to ‘local’ issues such as language maintenance, bilingual literacy and the introduction of a new school curriculum. Finally, there is research driven by teacher inquiry. In one sense, this is the most important form, since effective learning in individual classrooms is the ultimate guarantor of educational quality.
Nevertheless, there are wider questions to be addressed, especially when so many teachers and institutions design their own courses and produce their own materials. These questions include how the acquisition of the language system can best be assured in content or task-based courses, and what exactly our students are learning, in comparison with courses of other types and in other places. The ethnographic research that has helped us to better understand the experience of language learning needs to be supplemented by more quantitative research that tests hypotheses and allows direct comparisons. A stronger partnership between teachers and applied linguists should produce research that is context-sensitive but has broader validity, and will inform the bold policy moves which would enable our cultural and linguistic heritages to be retained and foster excellence in language teaching and learning.
Future policy and research should be guided by the following principles. First, we need to do more with what we know already. New Zealand must raise the profile and cachet of language learning, based on a more widespread appreciation of its extrinsic and intrinsic value. The country must make the learning of languages more central to both primary and secondary education, provide more pre- and in-service professional development for teachers and achieve more consistency between schools. At the same time it is essential to improve support within the mainstream for students whose educational and professional achievement are limited by cultural and language barriers. Language teachers and institutions have an invaluable role as advocates for language learning and as ambassadors for inter-cultural learning.
Secondly, we need more collaboration in conducting and disseminating research across educational sectors. This should include more inter-sectoral collaboration and publication, and longer-term programmes that follow up on pilot studies and focus on under-researched sectors like adult and early-childhood language education. There also needs to be greater collaboration and convergence between institutions offering similar types of courses (e.g. tertiary preparation courses), and research-based syllabus development to support this. The capacity of the education system to learn from successful research and pilot programmes also needs to be addressed.
Thirdly, we must be more willing to evaluate what we do, and learn how we could do it better. While much current research focuses on whether a particular intervention resulted in a demonstrable improvement, too little compares the value of one intervention or programme against another. New Zealand researchers must triangulate with both the Anglo-Saxon and non-Anglo-Saxon worlds. In the latter, students frequently learn additional languages such as English for longer, and learn a range of subjects through the medium of those languages. While this is currently an unreachable aspiration for most New Zealand school students, it is precisely the goal of Māori-medium education.
Content, task and skills-based courses, all very common in New Zealand, often lack explicit lexical and structural syllabuses. Assessment of student gains, usually skills-based, is frequently unable to pinpoint improvement in lexical and structural control. In light of the high lexical and structural burden faced by students at all levels of education, it would be useful to put these abilities in the foreground of assessment, instead of dealing with them merely as components of productive skills.
Finally, we must continue to encourage innovative research by practitioners. It is evident that the internet and new technologies are changing the meaning of ‘materials’ and the nature of language skills. The global availability of online resources is also transforming what it means to offer a language course or programme. While this increases the scope for autonomous learning, it also adds to the range of roles teachers need to fulfil, and puts a premium on research that can assist them in the decisions they have to make.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge the valuable assistance of Dr Brian King with research. They also wish to thank Dr Graeme Porte and Professor Cynthia White, other colleagues and the anonymous reviewers for their perceptive and constructive comments.
Alastair Ker is a senior language teacher in the English Language Institute of the School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. His teaching is in the area of English for Specific Purposes, and his main research interests are pedagogic grammar and corpus linguistics.
Rebecca Adams is an Honorary Research Fellow of the University of Auckland. Her work provides an interactionist account of peer communication in second language learning. Her recent research has appeared in TESOL Quarterly, Language Learning and The Modern Language Journal.
Gillian Skyrme is a lecturer in the School of Linguistics and International Languages at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand. She is co-editor of New Zealand Studies in Applied Linguistics, the journal of the Applied Linguistics Association of New Zealand.
