Kodolányi Füzetek, 1.
Theory and Practice in Applied Linguistics
Working papers
Edited by: Sárdi Csilla
Kodolányi János University College
Székesfehérvár, 1999
CONTENTS
Kiszely Zoltán: Case Study Abstracts Compared
Sárdi Csilla: The Role of Motivation in Language 2 Learning
Ferenczy Judit: Gender Differentiation in Language Use: A Sociolinguistic Analysis
Keith Hardwick: Shakespeare and the Extraordinary Manager
Sárdi Csilla: What should a Foreign Language Syllabus Include?
Editorial Board of Kodolányi Füzetek:
Bakonyi István (series editor)
Lassú Zsuzsa
László Péter
Lukács Péter (chair)
Majorosi Anna
Sárdi Csilla
Proofreader of this issue:
Keith Hardwick
Cover design:
Rózsadombi Ágnes
ISSN 1419-5836
ISBN 963 03 6803 X
Published by Kodolányi János University College, Székesfehérvár, Hungary
One of the aims of every higher education institution is that its intellectual products have a perceptible effect on as wide an audience as possible. The publication of books and journals by our College fulfils this aim by facilitating the free flow of knowledge, ideas and opinions.
The conditions have now developed at the six-year-old Kodolányi János University College, Székesfehérvár to the level that we can launch Kodolányi Füzetek on, we hope, its long way. With this series we would like to create a publication opportunity for our instructors working for the different departments at our College. From time to time we intend to publish volumes in which papers of authors working for other institutions may also be read. These volumes will be issued when we publish papers presented at conferences, in the organisation of which our College participated. We also believe that our connections with other institutions may be enhanced by exchanging publications.
Our College, which we would much like to consider a more and more important institution of the town, the region and the whole country, now has over 3,000 students. Our half a decade long past has already resulted in several achievements. Besides our full-time Teacher Trainee, Communication, Tourism and Financial Management students, we have started correspondence courses as well. Several future language teachers, journalists and economists already speak of Kodolányi as their alma mater. Our students come from all over the country, among them being several students belonging to the ethnic Hungarian minority in the neighbouring countries.
Kodolányi Füzetek are sometimes to be published in foreign languages but mainly in Hungarian. In the first volume we present the intellectual products of our colleagues working for the Department of English Studies. The importance of the learning and teaching of foreign languages, with special emphasis on English, goes without saying. In our modern world there is an obvious need for experts who have an excellent command of English and are ready to share their pedagogic and professional knowledge of high standard with younger generations.
Our present volume includes papers that serve this purpose. We open the series with these thoughts and recommend it to our Readers' attention.
Lukács Péter and Bakonyi István
A little more than six years ago Kodolányi University College in Székesfehérvár was founded as the first higher educational institute accepted by the state as equivalent to other state colleges and universities. Our department educating English teachers has been functioning since then. Up to now our publications have helped our students and teachers with textbooks and readers. This academic year we have reached the stage when our colleagues can concentrate on research as well, and this enables us to publish articles, studies and research results by our colleagues.
This first volume of the English Department launched now contains five studies on Applied Linguistics which have been written partly by teachers having long experience in the field, and partly by young colleagues who have received their Ph.D degree recently or have been working on it.
In this issue, our main aim is to provide insights as far as the theoretical bases of applied linguistics and language teaching are concerned. Since we maintain that theories are useful as much as they can be applied to practical situations we have also made an effort to create a link between the theory and practice of language teaching.
Starting with theory, the first paper compares the abstracts of five reasearch articles on second language acquisition. It is hypothesized that the structural arrangement of the abstracts follows that of the reasearch articles and that the different structural units of the abstracts are characterized by the same linguistic elements as the different structural units of the reasearch articles. The second paper deals with the role of motivation in foreign language learning, and seeks answers to the following questions: (1) What motivates people to learn a foreign language? (2) What is the relationship between motivation and the extent to which language learning is successful? Answers are given by reviewing recent theoretical work and empirical research in the field. The third paper is concerned with the different ways males and females use language. As such, it reviews the literature regarding existing theories of gender differentiation from a sociolinguistic point of view and gives examples of differences in language use at various levels of linguistic analysis. The fourth paper explores the possibilities of linking literary studies and business English. Thus, it is more at the practical side of the spectrum, showing what advice Shakespeare, himself a businessman some 400 years ago, can give today's business people. The fifth paper investigates issues of foreign language syllabus design. It discusses the advantages and disadvantages of product-oriented and process-oriented syllabuses from a theoretical point of view. As a result, a number of criteria emerges which can be taken into account in the practice of foreign language syllabus design. Each paper is followed by a bibliography dealing with the topics in question.
The contributors wish to express their thanks to Sárdi Csilla for editing this volume, for Keith Hardwich for his valuable comments on the English language of the papers, and for Kiszely Zoltán for his help in editorial work.
We hope our efforts will interest you and we welcome constructive criticism.
Dr. Stephanides Éva
Head, Department of English Studies
Kiszely Zoltán
Introduction
Scientific or academic research findings are made known to the public in research articles (RA), which are published in journals and in books containing collections of academic papers. Swales (1990) defines the RA as
a written text . . . usually limited to a few thousand words, that reports on some investigation carried out by its author or authors. In addition, the RA will usually relate the findings within it to those of others, and may also examine issues of theory and/or methodology (93).
The investigation of RAs is a popular theme in applied linguistics today (Adams Smith 1984; Swales 1990; Bhatia 1993). However, a crucial section of RAs, the abstract, continues 'to remain a neglected field among discourse analysts' (Swales 1990, 181).
Abstracts are versions of RAs reduced to their essential key points indicating the content of the original text. In many cases abstracts can be found at the beginning or, less frequently, at the end of the text. Despite the fact that in academic context it is RAs that have a central role in the public manifestations of research results (Swales 1990), abstracts as well as the other research-process genres (theses, grant proposals, presentations etc.) have their own significance.
Several arguments for laying emphasis on the importance of the applied linguistic analysis of RA abstracts can be enumerated. It is an obvious aspiration for researchers to communicate their research findings to their intended audience, the discourse community*. To achieve this aim the abstract as being the first 'entry' to the paper besides the title must be carefully worded and the author must take into consideration the preferred abstracting conventions of the particular discourse community and the journal in which it is to be published. If the abstract does not meet the requirements, writers exclude themselves from the community where they would like to belong and their findings will not reach the intended readership. This gate-keeping function operates on another level too: conference presentations are judged by the quality of abstracts. These reasons indicate the significance of putting special emphasis on the textual analysis of abstracts and integrating the results of this analysis into academic writing instruction curricula such as the teaching of English for Academic Purposes.
This paper concerns the generic analysis of the abstracts of five case studies on the age factor in second language acquisition. In the first part of the paper reasons for the importance of the multilevel analysis of academic writing including RAs will be provided. Secondly, the macrostructural units of RAs and those of their abstracts will be examined. It will be hypothesized that the structural arrangement of the abstracts follows that of the RAs. Thirdly, literature-based empirical evidence will be presented to indicate that the different structural units of RAs expressing different rhetorical functions are realized by different linguistic devices. The second hypothesis analysed in the last section of the paper is that the different structural units of the abstracts are characterized by the same linguistic elements as the different structural units of RAs.
The Research Article and its Analysis
Texts are highly complicated constructs; therefore, they cannot be analysed only from one perspective: a multidimensional approach is to be applied, the elements of which are deeply interrelated (Grabe and Kaplan 1997). Thus Grabe and Kaplan suggest that the analysis of science writing, like that of any other writing, occurs at three levels:
The level of scientific assumption is a fairly new layer of investigating scientific prose. Their findings can be summarized in three points: science writing, opposed to common expectations, is value-laden in nature; the knowledge accumulated in the science writing is the creation of discourse communities; and science writing is persuasive although it does not appear to be so, it recognizes audience and establishes the intertextuality of ideas (Grabe and Kaplan 1997). This level is worth further study but since this paper is concerned with the generic-rhetorical investigation of science writing it does not form the basis of the analysis.
As being more traditional approaches to textual analysis the surface structure and the rhetorical levels of science writing have been widely researched (Adams Smith, 1984; Trimble, 1985; Grabe, 1987; Swales, 1990). The most significant research approaches to explore the surface level are the following: syntactic analyses, corpora research, informational structure analyses and cohesion (Grabe and Kaplan 1997).
The rhetorical level of analysis studies the way writing achieves its aims (Richards, Platt and Weber 1990). The rhetorical structure or the macrostructure of a text is its underlying structure explaining the arrangement of the text (Richards et al. 1990). According to Swales, the concept of genre, which is a group of communicative events possessing the same communicative purposes, has a crucial part in rhetorical analysis (Swales 1990) since these communicative purposes are reflected in the generic structure and the grammatical features the text contains (Nunan 1993).
As far as the analysis of RAs is concerned, there has been extensive research on several of their features such as structure, modals, authorial comments, tense, voice, aspect, personal pronouns, that-nominals and types of lexis (listed in Swales 1990). Similarly, the approach applied in this paper will be such that it will investigate the generic structure of the abstracts chosen and how the sections of this structure are differentiated from each other with different grammatical devices.
The Investigated Research Articles and Abstracts
The abstracts to be explored are those of five research articles on the age factor in second language acquisition. The abstracts proper and the full bibliographical data can be found in the Appendix. Throughout the paper the following abbreviations will be used:
The RAs have several features in common:
The Macrostructure of Research Articles
Several attempts (listed in Swales 1990) have been made to propose the macrostructure of RAs. The most common suggestion is the four-part structure: Introduction--Method--Results--Discussion (IMRD) (Swales 1990). Examining the structural organisation of the age factor RAs readers can detect the same arrangement in all the articles. Albeit the subheadings in some articles are not the same as the macrostructural terms (I, M, R or D), for instance in HH the Results section is called Analysis and Findings, this categorisation seems appropriate in the case of the five RAs discussed.
The Macrostructure of Abstracts
The abstract is independent from the RA (Van Dijk 1980) in the sense that it is the most important indicator for the reader to receive information about the content of the study itself. At the same time the abstract depends on the paper since it represents the main elements of that (Swales 1990). As Swales states,
Although further research is needed, it seems to be the case that most abstracts reflect the IMRD pattern of the RA itself, allotting a sentence or two for each section. (Swales 1990, 181)
Turning the attention to the five age factor abstracts we can see that in four articles (BONG, HH, IOUP, SLAV) the first one, two or three sentences define the topic or the purpose of the study. These sentences summarize the gist of the Introduction section of the RA. The only exception to this tendency is MUNRO which does not contain any introductory utterance about the nature of the text, but starts the abstract with the description of the method applied in the procedure of the case study. A tentative explanation for this phenomenon may be the fact that a highly unusual data gathering method was used in this study, which resulted in the unusual beginning of the abstract so that readers could immediately understand the unique nature of the research methodology. Another salient insight is that whereas a crucial and organic part of the RA Introduction is a literature review, the abstracts do not contain any reference to that presumably due to lack of space.
The Method section of RAs comprises the detailed presentation of the research methodology including information about the participants, the materials used and the procedure. This is the only section of the RAs to which at least one sentence is allotted in each abstract. This is of interest to highlight the fact that it is not the case that one sentence in an abstract is exclusively about one section of the RA. For instance the second sentence in BONG belongs to the Introduction but the relative clause "..., which included a carefully screened group of highly successful Dutch learners of English in their designs, ..." (BONG) is definitely part of the Method section. Therefore, the different sections of the RA may overlap in one sentence of the abstract.
The goal of the Results section in an RA is to present the data collected and the way it is analysed. Four abstracts (BONG, HH, MUNRO, SLA) devote one or two sentences to the Results section. The exception in this case is IOUP, which does not provide any explicit findings of the research. The sentence referring to the results starts as "The results lead the authors to reexamine the critical period hypothesis..." (IOUP). An interpretation to this puzzling remark might be that in this paper, which explores a highly successful adult second language learner who acquired the language in an untutored way, it is not the results proper but their explanation that is of interest.
The Discussion section of RAs indicates the explanation of the data and proposes paths to further investigation of the problem. Again, four abstracts (BONG, IOUP, MUNRO, SLAV) interpret the findings of research. HH does not offer any explanation in the abstract maybe because this is the shortest of the five abstracts consisting of only four sentences. None of the abstracts provide any suggestions for future research, which may be accounted for by the word limitations of the abstracting requirements of Studies in Second Language Acquisition.
Figure 1 indicates the number of sentences devoted to the macrostructural units of the abstracts.
| BONG | HH | IOUP | MUNRO | SLAV | TOTAL | ||
| Number of sentences in the abstract | 6 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 29 | |
| Number of sentences devoted to | Introduction | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| Method | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 9 | |
| Results | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | |
| Discussion | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | |
In sum, the following conclusions can be drawn from the above findings:
Linguistic Devices in the Macrostructural Units of Research Articles
It has been observed (Adam Smith 1984) that within the four RA sections (IMRD) a subdivision can be made as I and D are rhetorically much more similar than M and R, the rhetorical features of which are also identical. Swales (1990) presents a chart in which the percentage of some of these features, tenses and voice, is indicated based upon the investigation of 16 RAs on phytopathology:
| I % | M % | R % | D % | |
| Present Simple | 48.5 | 4.0 | 6.0 | 48.5 |
| Past Simple | 35.0 | 94.0 | 94.0 | 39.0 |
| Active Voice | 67.0 | 17.0 | 72.0 | 83.5 |
These figures clearly indicate that there is a contrast between I--D and M--R sections. The smallest difference between R and D is in the use of the Active Voice.
Adam Smith's findings (1984) also substantiate the I--D, M--R distribution in terms of modal auxiliaries. Having explored authorial comments in six medical RAs she found that significantly more comments, most of which are introduced by modals, can be found in I or D than in M or R.
Another important insight relating to all RA sections is that progressive forms are very rarely used (Swales 1990).
Regarding the above mentioned facts Swales (1990) drew the conclusion that there is "a differential distribution of linguistic and rhetorical features across the four standard sections of the research article" (136).
Linguistic Devices in the Macrostructural Units of the Abstracts
The issue to be investigated now is whether the distribution of the features discussed in the previous part are similar in the abstracts to the distribution of the features in the RAs. Due to the fact that the literature enumerates sufficient evidence about the distribution of these features across RAs I took it for granted that the distribution is the same in the age factor RAs. The first step of the investigation was to classify the sentences or sentence parts of the abstracts into the four structural units (IMRD). Then the grammatical features in question were counted and indicated in a chart besides their percentages (Figure 3).
| Macrostructural Unit (Number of sentences) | I (14) | M (12) | R (10) | D (15) |
| Present Simple | 9 (64%) | 3 (25%) | 2 (20%) | 10 (66%) |
| Present Perfect | 1 (7%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) |
| Past Simple | 3 (21%) | 9 (75%) | 5 (50%) | 1 (6%) |
| Modals | 1 (7%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 4 (26%) |
| Passive Voice | 1 (7%) | 4 (33%) | 4 (40%) | 1 (6%) |
| Active Voice | 13 (93%) | 8 (66%) | 6 (60%) | 14 (93%) |
| Progressive Tenses | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) |
The use of the Present Simple Tense, the Active Voice and modal auxiliaries dominate I and D, whereas the Past Simple Tense and the Passive Voice characterize M and R. Progressive tenses are not used in any abstract section. These findings are very much identical with the results in connection with RAs (Figure 2). Thus in the case of our five abstracts it can be asserted that the different sections of the abstracts performing different rhetorical functions are characterized by the same linguistic elements as the different sections of the RAs.
Conclusion
The aim of this paper has been to analyse the generic structure of five case study abstracts on the age factor in second language acquisition. Two hypotheses have been tested: the first assumed that the macrostructural organisation of the abstracts follows that of the research articles, while the second supposed that different macrostructural units of the abstracts, which perform different rhetorical functions, are characterized by the same linguistic elements as the different sections of RAs. These hypotheses have been supported by the findings.
Nevertheless, there are several limitations to this survey, thus these generalisations are to be considered only tentative. The first reason for this is that these abstracts are the representatives of only one discipline, applied linguistics in one particular journal, therefore, the same hypotheses might not be supported in other academic fields, or even in other journals. Second, the abstracts investigated were those of case studies; however, other types of papers such as literature reviews may contain abstracts and their generic structure would also be worth exploring.
References
Appendix
Abstracts:
BONG:
This paper reports on two studies that addressed the issue of ultimate attainment by late second language learners. The aim of the studies, which included a carefully screened group of highly successful Dutch learners of English in their designs, was to determine whether or not late second language learners who had achieved a nativelike performance in the pronunciation of a second language could be identified. Speech samples provided by two groups of learners, one of which consisted of highly successful learners only, and a native speaker control group were rated for accent by native speakers of English. The ratings obtained by some learners were within the range of the ratings assigned to the native speaker controls. Such results suggest that it is not impossible to achieve an authentic, nativelike pronunciation of a second language after a specified biological period of time. Examination of the learning histories of the highly successful learners lead the authors to argue that certain learner characteristics and learning contexts may work together to override the disadvantages of a late start.
HH:
This empirical study investigates the relationship between language aptitude components and second language (L2) outcomes among learners whose intensive L2 exposure began at different ages. The learners in this study are 65 11th-grade students in continuing early and late French immersion programs. Evidence is found to support the main hypothesis that in late immersion starting in adolescence there will be a positive relationship between L2 outcomes and an analytical dimension of language aptitude, whereas in early immersion beginning in grade 1 a positive relationship will hold between L2 outcomes and memory ability. A further hypothesis that early immersion students will have higher language aptitude as a result of their early L2 exposure is not supported by the findings.
IOUP:
This study concerns the ability of adults to achieve nativelike competence in second language when the acquisition context lacks formal instruction and, therefore, more closely resembles the environment for first language acquisition. The study presents the results of extensive testing of an adult who has apparently acquired native proficiency in Egyptian Arabic (EA) in an untutored setting. The goal is to determine to what extent her linguistic competence matches that of native speakers. Measures employed to assess her level of achievement are a speech production task, a grammatically judgment task, a translation task, an anaphoric interpretation task, and an accent recognition task. Results are compared to those of native speakers as well as to those of a proficient learner of EA with extensive formal instruction. The results lead the authors to reexamine the critical period hypothesis while addressing the role of talent in adult language learning. The study concludes with an evaluation of our subject's language learning history to discover what factors differentiate her from less successful naturalistic adult acquirers.
MUNRO:
Untrained native English listeners assigned foreign accent scores to sentence and narrative utterances that had been rendered unintelligible through low-pass filtering. Utterances produced by native English talkers were assigned consistently higher ratings than those produced by Mandarin-speaking learners of English, even when the listeners were unfamiliar with the content. Because these filtered speech stimuli contained very little of what could be considered segmental information, the results suggest that untrained listeners can identify foreign-accented speech on the basis of nonsegmental information alone, whether they are presented with material of known or of unknown content. Acoustical analyses of the stimuli suggested that differences in speaking rates, intonation patterns, and timing may have played a role in the listeners' assessments, although the cues to foreign-accentedness may have varied from talker to talker and from utterance from utterance. Surprisingly, no relationship was observed between the ratings of the filtered and unfiltered versions of the nonnative stimuli.
SLAV:
The present study evaluates the role of age on the rate of acquiring English as a second language in an immersion setting. Subjects were children with native languages. typologically very different from English. The children arrived in the US between the ages of 7 and 12 years and were tested on their knowledge of English grammatical morphology and syntax at different lengths of stay in the US, ranging from 6 months to 3 years. Subjects' performance was predicted by the length of their stay in the US and by gender, with females outperforming males. Age of arrival played no role in predicting subjects' rate of acquisition. Performance was very similar between two age groups examined (7-9- and 10-12-year-old arrivals) throughout the 3 years measured. The present results suggest that, on certain aspects of grammar, different-aged children acquire a second language during the first 3 years of acquisition at similar rates when their native language is very different in typology from the target language.
The full bibliographical data of the RAs analysed:
* For a proper definition of discourse community see Swales 1990, 21-32.
The Role of Motivation in Language 2 Learning
Sárdi Csilla
Introduction
For the past three decades, motivation has been a central area for empirical research and theoretical work within the context of learning a language other than one's mother tongue, in other words in the context of language 2 (L2) learning. The many studies into the area took Gardner and Lambert's (1959) theory of motivation and its role in L2 learners' attained level of proficiency as a basis for research in the 60s, 70s and 80s. According to this theory, which is rooted in social psychology, there are two types of motivation: integrative and instrumental. An integratively motivated L2 learner shows interest in learning about the culture and the people of the target language, whereas an instrumentally motivated learner has more pragmatic considerations in his/her mind regarding L2 learning, such as obtaining a job or earning more money.
During years of empirical research, Gardner and his colleagues found evidence that motivation was a forceful promoter of L2 learning, and that those who were integratively motivated were more successful than those with instrumental motivation (e.g. Spolsky 1969, Gardner & Lambert 1972). Although the findings of a considerable amount of research challenged the results of this empirical work (Lukmani 1972, Burstall 1975, Clement & Kruidenier 1983, Oller, Baca & Vigil 1977) and refined the theory (Gardner 1985), still it remained for a long time the starting point for the studies looking at motivation. It was only in the beginning of the 1990s that other approaches to the issue were seriously considered as a result of the growing need for 'a more pragmatic, education centred approach to motivational research' (Dörnyei 1994:273). This implies that relevant findings and theories within the field of educational and cognitive psychology also need to be taken into consideration when conceptualising motivation in L2 learning.
The present paper is divided into three sections. Section 1 illustrates the place of motivation in L2 learning on the basis of the findings of SLA research. It considers the definition of the concept of motivation, its classification, its role in the learner's achieved level of proficiency, and its relationship with language attitudes. Section 2 reviews the key articles of the 1990s, which, although concerned with L2 learning, take into account considerations of educational and cognitive psychology. A motivational model, which includes these theories is also outlined showing its relevance to L2 learning. In conclusion, Section 3 provides a resume of the key points emerged from our literature survey, and it also looks at the relevance these findings have for further research.
Motivation to Learn a Language 2: The Socio-Psychological Approach
The Concept of Motivation
As Gardner and Lambert (1972) define it, motivation is the factor which is responsible for the learner's overall goal or orientation for which s/he learns an L2. The Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB), developed by Gardner and his colleagues (Gardner & Smythe 1981), assesses motivation according to the following measures: the goal for which the L2 is learned, the learner's desire to learn the language, the intensity with which it is learned, and the attitudes towards learning the language. According to the AMTB there is a difference between 'motivational considerations' as opposed to 'situational considerations' (Gardner & McIntyre 1993). In other words, a language learner is considered to be motivated only if all the above attributes coincide to one another in his/her learning an L2. The term 'situational considerations' means that in certain cases one of the elements of motivation may be dominant due to external factors and these external factors might influence the learners' behaviour in the learning context. For example, in a classroom setting, learners will probably put a lot of effort into learning the language if they have a demanding teacher, without being considered to be motivated as far as Gardner and McIntyre are concerned (op. cit.). A problem with this argument is that motivation in an L2 learning situation can have an orientation towards the attributes characteristic of the classroom setting where the actual learning takes place. This setting becomes extremely important in cases when the L2 classroom provides almost the only opportunity for the L2 learners to be in a target language environment. Empirical research findings have also shown that for classroom learners an important motive is to fulfil the requirements set by some external sources e.g. the teacher (Ely 1986). (This is an issue I will return to in the next section.)
A point also needs to be made here with reference to the terms 'motivation' and 'motivational orientation'. Although Gardner differentiates between them throughout his work, the terminology of the two concepts can easily become confused. As this is a situation which might cause misunderstanding, Oxford and Shearin (1994) suggest the following definitions: 'a motivational orientation' reflects the goal of learning an L2, whereas 'motivation' reflects the impetus to arrive at this goal. From my perspective, the term 'motivation' has two components: orientation and power. 'Motivational orientation' gives the directions towards any specific goal the learner wishes to achieve by learning the L2, and thus it corresponds with Gardner's 'goal for which the language is learned'. At the same time, 'motivational power' (i.e. the dedication with which the learner applies him/herself to achieve his/her goal) corresponds to Gardner's 'intensity with which the language is learnt', and also 'the desire to achieve this goal' (Gardner 1985). I regard attitudes toward learning an L2 as a different issue from motivation.
Classification of Motivation
The considerable amount of research that has been carried out into motivation in the L2 learning context has applied Gardner and Lambert's (1972) ideas as a starting point. Drawing on the views of Mowrer (1950) of L1 acquisition of children, Gardner and Lambert suggest that there are two types of motivational orientation of learning another language: integrative and instrumental. A learner who has an interest in learning another language because s/he has "a sincere and personal interest in the people and culture represented by the other language group" (Gardner & Lambert 1972:98) is integratively orientated, whereas a learner who sees "the practical value and advantages of learning a new language" has instrumental orientation. Gardner and his colleagues carried out research into the area concentrating on the relationship between motivational orientation and achievement in language learning mainly in the French Canadian setting. On the basis of the findings of their research they suggested that motivation in general strongly correlated with achievement in language learning, and that learners who had integrative orientation had the best chances of mastering the language.
However, findings of research by others contradicted Gardner's findings and thus challenged his hypothesis. Lukmani (1972) looked at Marati-speaking high school students learning English in India and found that they were mainly instrumentally motivated to learn the language, and that their language proficiency scores correlated significantly with the instrumental motivation scores. Oller et al. (1977) carried out empirical research into Mexican-Americans learning English as a second language in the United States. Their research findings show that students who were instrumentally motivated scored highest on the proficiency test although they did not want to integrate with the Anglo-American population.
The above findings underpin the hypothesised importance of motivational factors when learning an L2. At the same time, however, the results concerning the relative importance of the two types of motivation in relation to the attained level of L2 proficiency remains ambiguous.
Clement and Kruidenier (1983) offer an explanation of the differences in the findings. They suggest that the ambiguity in the definition as well as contextual factors such as ethnicity, milieu and the target language need to be looked at when carrying out research into motivation and attitudes. The ambiguity in definition relates to the distinction between integrative and instrumental motivation. Here the problem is twofold. On the one hand, certain variables can be interpreted differently by different researchers. For example, the variable 'to have a chance to be away from home' is categorised as integrative orientation by Spolsky (1969) but as instrumental by Lukmani (1972). Similarly, the orientation 'to have friends who speak English' can be interpreted either way (Oller et al. 1977). Considering the characteristics of integrative orientation, Gardner and Lambert (1972) argue that the reasons why somebody might wish to integrate with members of the target language group can be for several reasons such as to exploit, control, manipulate them or because the person is disappointed with his/her own cultural group. Taking the above definition as a starting point it seems that almost any purpose can fall into the category of integrative orientation (Clement & Krunidenier 1983). It is very likely, however, that motivation reflects more than two orientations (i.e. instrumentality and integrativeness). In their study, one of Clement & Krunidenier's aims was to clarify the definition of the two types of orientation whilst leaving the door open to the possible occurrence of other types by factor analysing purposes for L2 learning. These purposes were found to be capable of clustering under headings other than instrumentality and integrativeness. Thus orientations such as 'general travel', 'general friendship', 'general knowledge' and 'curricular language importance' were identified.
The other issue taken up by Clement and Kruidenier (op. cit.) is the role of contextual factors in language learning. By contextual factors they mean the ethnicity of the learner, the availability of other ethnic groups in the society, and the target language. As previous studies had shown, the relationship between motivation and achievement in L2 learning can vary not only as a result of different types of motivation but also because of the different contexts in which language learning takes place. Thus the second aim of Clement and Krunidenier's research was to investigate the role of contextual factors in such situations. The findings showed that different types of motivational orientations were more dominant in certain settings than others.
Clement and Krunidenier's study draws attention to the fact that there is a considerable difference between learning an L2 in a second language learning situation as opposed to a foreign language learning situation. The two situations are distinguished along the lines that although a second language is not the native language of the learner's ethnic group it is widely used as a means of communication outside the language classroom (e.g. learning French in Canada). A foreign language, however, is learned as a school subject only, it is not used as a means of communication in the community (e.g. learning English in Hungary).
Drawing on the results of Clement and Krunidenier's research, Dörnyei (1990) looked at the types of motivational orientation learners have in a typical foreign language learning situation. On the basis of his findings he proposed a different approach to the concept of motivation. In his model, he has two dimensions referred to as subsystems. The Instrumental Motivational Subsystem consists of motives which are long-term and career-orientated and therefore homogeneous in nature. The components making up this subsystem play a significant role in this specific foreign language learning situation. Dörnyei's other dimension, the Integrative Motivation Subsystem, is far from homogeneous. Instead, it is treated as an umbrella term for only loosely related components such as 'interest in foreign language cultures', 'desire to broaden one's view', 'desire for new challenges and stimuli', and 'desire to integrate in a new community'.
Relationship between Motivation and Achievement in L2 Learning
Besides the definition of motivation and the classification of motivational factors, another important issue relates to the relationship between motivation and achievement in L2 learning. The two key issues here are the following: (1) How does motivation influence L2 learning? (2) What is the direction of this influence between motivation and achievement in L2 learning? Dulay, Burt & Krashen (1982) offer an answer for the first question. According to them each learner has a so called 'socioaffective filter' which determines how much language input can really get through to the learner. This filter has a strong connection with the learner's motives for learning the language, and as soon as the aims are achieved or the motives cease the filter prevents further language input from being acquired by the learner. This may result in fossilisation, a term introduced by Selinker (1972). By fossilisation is meant that instead of mastering the target language, the learner remains at an interlanguage stage probably due to lack of interest in making further effort to achieve a higher level of language proficiency.
As far as the direction of influence between motivation and achievement in L2 learning is concerned, Gardner and Lambert (1972) suggest that motivation is the independent variable and achievement is the dependent one in L2 acquisition. Burnstall (1975) and MacNamara (1973), however, argue that it is the success experienced in the process of language learning which affects motivation at a later stage. As Dörnyei's research (1990) has shown, in the learner's overall disposition towards L2 learning, need for achievement and past language learning experiences also have an influential role.
All in all, it appears very likely that motivation is an important initial factor, which, at the same time is important throughout the whole language learning process fostering persistence in learning the L2 (Ramage 1990), and also, that it can be strengthened by success. Thus the relationship between motivation and achievement appears to be interdependent rather than unidirectional.
Language Attitudes
In psychology, an attitude is defined
both as an orientation toward or away from some object, concept or situation and a readiness to respond in a predetermined manner to these related objects, concepts and situations and a readiness to respond in a predetermined manner to these or related objects, concepts or situations. Both orientation and readiness to respond have emotional, motivational and intellectual aspects, and they may in part be unconscious (Hilgard et al. 1975:523).
In an L2 learning context, attitudes relate to all the attitudinal variables that might be present in a language learning context. They are different from motivation in that motivation varies from individual to individual while attitudes are formed by external, social factors such as age, sex, social class and ethnic identity. These factors are responsible for the shaping of learners' attitudes towards areas related to L2 learning. Stern (1983) classifies attitudes into three types: attitudes towards the community and the people who speak the L2, attitudes learning the languages concerned, and attitudes towards language learning and languages in general. Ellis (1985) claims that L2 learners possess sets of beliefs about such factors as the target language culture, their own culture, and in the case of classroom learning of their teacher and the learning task they are given. Taking these and other factors into consideration, areas which language attitudes are related to can be summarised the following way: the target language, the target language speakers, the target language culture, the social value of learning the target language, the particular uses of the target language, the learners themselves as members of their own culture (Ellis 1994), and the learning situation (Gardner & McIntyre 1993).
There are learning contexts, though, where learners may not have sufficient experience of factors such as the target language culture or the speakers of the target language. In these cases attitudes will relate more directly to the classroom learning situation. In a study of foreign language learners in Great Britain, Burstall et al. (1974) found no clear connection between learners' initial attitudes and their eventual proficiency. Their success in language learning, however, helped to develop positive attitudes during the language course which, in turn, encouraged more success. Conversely, the experience of failure developed negative attitudes and hindered further success. Research into language attitudes of seven year olds learning English in Zagreb (Vilke 1988) also found that children had not developed attitudes towards the native speakers of English and their culture.
Another important aspect to the issue is concerned specifically with learning English. As Littlewood (1984) observes, if English is learned as an international language the learners are not likely to develop strong attitudes towards native speaking English communities. It must be mentioned, however, that it is quite possible for such learners to form attitudes towards the culture as it has become increasingly global.
Despite the fact that, in several contexts, learners do not have the opportunity to develop attitudes towards the speakers and culture of the target language, these are the factors which have been researched most within the area of L2 learning. A number of methods have been devised to measure attitudes. The most frequently used ones are the attitude scales in questionnaires. An example of this method is when learners are presented with positive and negative adjectives (e.g. friendly-unfriendly) and asked to rate native speakers of the L2 and speakers of their own native language accordingly usually on a scale of one to five (e.g. Spolsky, 1969; Lukmani, 1972). There are some problems with the validity and reliability of the method, however. Oller et al. (1977) points out that there may be a tendency in the learners to appear as flattering as possible and give answers which they consider desirable or which they think please the researcher. Another danger here is that there may be adjectives referring to personal traits which are considered positive in one culture and negative in another one. This becomes an important issue especially when the researcher's nationality is different from the participants'.
Although attitudes are discussed separately from motivation in the present paper, studies have linked them together during the 30 years of SLA research into the area. According to Gardner (1985), there is a linear relationship between attitudes, motivation and L2 proficiency where attitudes play a supporting role as far as the learners' overall motivation is concerned, and thus the relationship between attitudes and the learners' attained level of proficiency is an indirect one. Research challenging Gardner's explanation was carried out by Oller et al. (1977). They found that positive attitudes towards speakers of the target language did not correlate with successful L2 learning when Mexican-Americans did poorly on an English close test despite the fact that they rated Anglo-Americans highly on positive personal traits. Taking these results into consideration it seems reasonable to suggest that attitudes and motivation in the context of L2 learning should be looked at separately, and that a possible relationship between attitudes and L2 proficiency should be separated from that between motivation and L2 proficiency.
Broadening the Scope: Other Relevant Theories of Motivation
Motivation Theories in Educational Psychology
A well-known classification of motivation in theories of educational psychology is the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. According to this distinction a learner whose motives are rooted in obtaining some external reward (e.g. getting good marks, avoiding punishment) is extrinsically motivated, whereas the one whose reward is internal (e.g. fulfilling one's interest) is intrinsically motivated. Deci and Ryan (1985) argue that intrinsic motivation becomes very important in educational settings because learning is most likely to bear fruit when the environment provides opportunities for the learners to satisfy their natural curiosity. Another reason why it is an important determining factor in situations where formal instruction takes place is that extrinsic motivation is generally regarded to be a factor which negatively influences intrinsic motivation. Furthermore, Brown (cited in Dörnyei 1994) claims that traditional school settings appear to foster extrinsic motivation due to the domination by the teacher, tests, marking and encouragement of competitiveness, which characterise these settings and which, at the same time, hinder the learner from taking an active and collaborative part in the process of learning.
From the argument above one might draw the conclusion that there is an antagonistic relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Recent research, however, has provided evidence that there are circumstances, especially when extrinsic rewards are self-determined and internalised, under which the two types can co-occur or extrinsic can lead to intrinsic motivation. Deci & Ryan (1985) introduced self-determination theory where extrinsic motivation may be further divided into four subcategories depending on whether the form of extrinsic motivation is controlled by external factors or is self-determined. The four subcategories are external, introjected, identified and integrated regulations.
External regulations are very much at the controlled end and refer to such reasons for learner's action as praise from teachers or parents, that is reasons which have an entirely external source. Introjected regulations also come from an external initiator but are accepted as rules or norms by the learner. Identified regulations are even closer to self-determination in that they are not only accepted as rules but are seen as useful for individual purposes by the learners. Integrated regulations is the most self-dependent form of extrinsic motivation. Although these regulations are initiated by some external factors like in the case of the other three extrinsic motivation types, they have entirely become part of the individual's internal value system. Dörnyei (1994) suggests that motives under the traditional heading instrumental orientation in the SLA literature usually belong to either one of the last two categories, identified regulations or integrated regulations, depending on how important the set goals are for the learners themselves.
In the light of Deci & Ryan's theory it can be said that one of the reasons why it becomes essential for teachers to devote time in the classroom for goal-setting in a co-operative way is to foster the internalisation of external regulations and also to cater for the learners' intrinsic motives. Oxford and Shearin (1994) claim that teachers are often unaware of their learners' reasons for learning an L2 and instead of finding it out they make assumptions. For example, in a school setting in a foreign language learning situation it is easy to jump to the conclusion that students learn a foreign language only in order to fulfil a requirement. While this might well be one of their reasons, the fact that learners choose one particular language suggests that there are other, possibly intrinsic motives underlying their language choice. Oxford & Shearin (op.cit.) also argue that there are cases when students starting to learn an L2 to fulfil requirements 'get hooked and experience a shift in their primary motivation' (p.16). Components of a classroom setting (e.g. goals of teaching, course content, methodology applied by the teacher) play a crucial role in this motivation shift.
Another contribution to motivation theories within educational psychology is Ames' model (1992), which concentrates on classroom learning situations in general. The model is concerned with the relationship between motivation and goal setting looking at the differences in the learners' performance depending on the characteristics of the actual goal. Thus, a distinction is made between mastery performance and relative performance. In the first case students are heading for some clear goals or objectives to achieve and they are assessed against these criteria during their studies. In the case of the latter, however, students' performance is assessed against that of their peers. The authors argue that mastery as a goal is much more motivating than outperforming one's peers in that it encourages the development of skills, the appreciation of the learning process and the belief that it is the effort put into this process which leads to goal achievement. The danger of relative performance is that it provides an opportunity for the learners to experience failure as a result of underestimating their own performance when comparing it with that of others. As a result, relative performance is likely to hinder the development of effective learning strategies and also the formation of realistic but challenging goals of learning.
Motivation Theories in Cognitive Psychology
Ames' model (op. cit.) has connections with cognitive theories as well. These are the following: attribution theory, learned helplessness and self-efficacy theory (reviewed in Weiner 1990). Attribution theory is concerned with the question of how success or failure attributed to past learning experience influences expected success in the achievement of tasks and goals in present or future learning situations. The theory suggests that a learner who regards his/her own abilities low as a result of negative memory of past comparisons with other learners' performances has smaller expectations in terms of possible success in the future than those who attribute their past failures to lack of effort put in the learning in general or in a task in particular. Motivational research carried out among Hungarian EFL learners (Dörnyei 1990) revealed that the experience of L2 learning failure was a common phenomenon of learners with previous foreign language learning background.
The second theory is concerned with learned helplessness, a state of mind which is much easier to achieve than to abolish once established. The term refers to situations where although the learners wish to succeed in the learning process they have reached a state of mind in which pessimism and helplessness begin to dominate their attitudes towards achieving their goal. Within the framework of a cognitive approach to motivation, the term self-efficacy is introduced as well. This terms refers to the issue of whether the learner has a positive opinion about his/her own capability of performing a certain task. Developing self-efficacy is extremely important because once established, failures will not have as strong influence on the learner as before. There are several ways of establishing self-efficacy. Experience of success can play an important role as well as the observation of how the individual performs a task compared to others. Obviously, the teacher also has an important role here by using persuasion, reinforcement and by providing the learners with tasks which are challenging but achievable and meaningful.
A Possible Motivational Model of L2 Learning
Looking at the theories related to motivation in educational and cognitive psychology, Dörnyei (1994) suggests that motivation in L2 is 'an eclectic, multifaceted construct' (p. 279). He argues that the large number of relevant motivation types make it necessary to introduce three levels of motivation when considering the valid and relevant 'components of foreign language learning motivation' (p.280). Although Dörnyei excludes second language learning situations from his model, the different levels of motivation seem to be equally valid in such situations as well allowing differences in the importance of certain components. Therefore I would suggest that the summarised L2 learning motivational model below contains motivational components characteristic of classroom language learning both in foreign and second language learning situations.
The three levels of motivation involved in the model are: (1) language level, (2) learner level and (3) learning situation level. The language level is the least specific in the motivational construct. It corresponds with the Gardnerian types of motivation in that it refers to the orientation and power of motivation relating to the aspects of the L2 itself. It can be described by the two broad subsystems of instrumental and integrative orientations. This level is supposed to explain why and for what purposes a learner chooses a given language. The integrative motivational subsystem takes into account the learner's affective predisposition about the culture the given L2 reflects, the people who speak it as well as interest in learning languages and in getting to know other peoples in general. The components of the instrumental motivational subsystem are extrinsic motives which have been internalised by the learner, and which relate to the learner's future career expectations.
The second level of the motivational construct is the learner level referring to personality traits built up of the affective and cognitive aspects characteristic of the L2 learner. There are two components of this level: need for achievement and self-confidence. Need for achievement is a personality trait which is present in every aspect of the individual's life and therefore it is involved in language learning as well (Oxford & Shearin 1994). The second component of this level is self-confidence, which refers to the learner's belief in his/her ability to accomplish a given task. This component is further divided into four subsections: language use anxiety, perceived L2 competence, attributions about past experiences, and self-efficacy. Dörnyei partly adapts the conceptualisation of Clement et al. (1983) of the notion and further divides it into subsections. He takes the two categories used in Clement et. al. (op. cit.), language use anxiety and perceived L2 competence, as subsections within the category of self-confidence. Besides these two categories, however, there are two other ones introduced by Dörnyei. One of them refers to attributions about failures and successes experienced by the learner when having learned an L2 in the past, and the other one is self-efficacy. The latter term is defined as 'an individual's judgement of his or her ability to perform a specific action' (Dörnyei op. cit.:277). Although in the model self-efficacy is regarded as a constituent of self-confidence arguing that self -confidence is a more general term, it is not clear, from the explanation provided in the article, where the difference lies between the two terms.
The third level of the model, the learning situation level, is concerned with three areas: course-specific motivational components, teacher-specific motivational components and group-specific motivational components. Concerning this level, a framework is provided by Crookes and Schmidt (1991) based on Keller's work. Keller (1983) introduces a motivational system relating to the area of instructional design in the broader context of education and identifies four major aspects of motivation: (1) interest, which refers to whether the learner's interest is aroused and whether this interest is maintained efficiently over time, (2) relevance, which refers to whether the instruction the learner receives satisfies his/her personal needs or helps to achieve personal goals, (3) expectancy, which refers to the learner's perceived likelihood of success as being under his/her control, and (4) satisfaction, which refers to the learner's intrinsic motivation and his/her reactions to extrinsic rewards. These aspects are applied to the more specific L2 learning situation in Dörnyei's model as course specific motivational components, relating specifically to the syllabus, the materials used during formal instruction, the teaching method and the learning tasks.
Teacher-specific motivational components consist of the affiliative drive, the teacher's authority type and the direct socialisation of student motivation. The affiliative drive refers to the learner's intention to do well in class in order to please the teacher. It is more than likely that this drive functions in different ways in the case of different age groups, and also, that the teacher's role is considerable in activating the drive. The authority type refers to whether the teacher's relationship with the students is a supporting or controlling one. The last component of the teacher specific motivation is the socialisation of student motivation which concerns how actively the teacher promotes the students' motivation and involves the modelling of attitudes and orientations toward learning for the students, the way the learning tasks are presented and the way feedback is given.
The third motivational component of the learning situation level is group-specific and consists of four aspects: (1) goal-orientedness, referring to the extent to which a given group harmonises in achieving its goal, (2) norm and reward system, which refers to the extent to which extrinsic regulations are accepted as norms by the group, (3) group cohesion and (4) classroom goal structures.
Clearly, the motivational model outlined in the above paragraphs can serve as a starting point for further investigation into the motivation of L2 learners. Also, it has implications as far as the practice of classroom L2 teaching is concerned.
Conclusion
As this is by no means an exhaustive literature review on the research conducted on motivation in L2 learning and on the conceptualisation of theories of motivation in SLA and in related fields, I will conclude with the key points emerging from the literature and indicating the possible directions for further research and conceptualisation:
(1) Although a large amount of work has been done on motivation in L2 learning, studies in this area have concentrated almost exclusively on the social context of language learning. This by no means implies that socio-psychological considerations are not important, but concentrating exclusively on them may limit our understanding of the role of motivation in L2 learning situations for the following reasons:
(2) The methodology applied in finding out about L2 motivational aspects has been concerned with a narrow set of techniques only, namely with scale and test constructions and statistical interpretations which have a number of problems such as taking self-report questionnaires as the basis for data collection and analysis, which challenges the validity of the research findings.
(3) There is a failure to distinguish between social attitudes and motivation which has resulted in not measuring motivation per se and has therefore produced results which are mixed and difficult to interpret.
(4) The recent attempts in the L2 learning literature to start to expand the existing L2 learning motivation theory (Crookes & Schmidt 1991, Dörnyei 1994) offer models based on principles coming from different fields of psychology. This is the first step towards a more general theory of motivation, which does not exclude any particular L2 learning contexts or groups.
(5) Possible directions for further research and theorising within motivation in L2 learning include the following:
In the future, priority should be given to approaches which concentrate more on connections between motivation and language learning processes and language pedagogy.
More work is needed on general theories of motivation taking into account teachers' experience and observation on what is regarded crucial for students to succeed in L2 learning.
Empirical research should be carried out into the area stimulated by proposals such as the two mentioned in (4) because the integrative-instrumental dichotomy has dominated research into the area up till now. Also, since the idea that the scope of motivation in L2 learning needs to be broadened is relatively new, these theories have not been tested empirically.
References
Gender Differentiation in Language Use:
A Sociolinguistic Analysis
Ferenczy Judit
Introduction
This paper undertakes a brief survey of the linguistic literature written on the topic of gender as a variable in language use. The structure of the paper is conceived in a way that follows from the content and framework of the research reviewed, identifying trends, based on Freed (1995) on the one hand and personal viewpoints on the other. After characterising the different orientations revealed in the literature, the paper will be concluded with considerations regarding the present state of affairs as well as the possible directions in the gender literature.
There are some questions that need clarification before engaging in the actual study. The first is that language itself is a very complex phenomenon, having many functions at the same time: the function of sharing information, self-expression, creating and maintaining relationship etc., to mention just a few. All these functions can be expressed in a global formulation: the role of language as a means of communication. This is what places us in an unavoidably interdisciplinary position when dealing with language: we cannot possibly ignore the interference of linguistic research with sociology, psychology, anthropology etc., to enumerate just the basic fields. For methodological reasons, however, in this paper we shall restrict ourselves, within the possible limits, to mainly, but not purely, linguistic considerations.
Not only is the research on gender compelled to rely on concepts from various disciplines, but also to deal with different cultures and languages, unless it wants to lose its potentially universalist explanatory power. Although this paper is going to focus on research conducted in English-speaking communities, it is unavoidable - and, in my view, fruitful - to mention a few striking examples from languages other than English.
The next point that needs explanation is the choice of terminology. The dilemma we had to face was whether we should use the item gender or sex throughout our discussion. A case for the use of the word sex was the avoidance of misunderstanding occurring as an entailment of the two meanings the word gender has: first, the biological distinction between males and females, and second, the grammatical distinction of nominal elements between masculine, feminine and neuter. But then the word sex, on its part, is also loaded with two meanings: first, the above-mentioned biological distinction, and second, sexual intercourse. Since the linguist is always faced with the paradox of having to speak (or write) about language and in language at the same time, and since the above-mentioned connotation of the word sex is stronger than that of the word gender, our choice fell on the second item. This was then reinforced by the terminology used by linguists (Milord 1987, Freed 1995 etc.) who view gender as being a cultural, and sex as being a biological category.
The Quantitative Attitude
Rather than following a strict chronological order, this paper proposes to proceed on a route of ideas. It is the nature of ideas not to be born out of nothing, and not to die with any traces left: new thoughts spring into existence while old ones are still prevailing. For the sake of analysis, the chapters will concentrate on different orientations with the reservation that in reality these orientations exist in parallel, often in the works of the same author, or even within one and the same study. As regards the appearance in time of the trends, the dates of the literature cited will speak for themselves.
Phonological Aspects
It is not surprising that gender-based considerations first appear in the quantitative sociolinguistical studies of the early seventies, especially in those of Trudgill (1972, 1974). Following from the fact that our first encounter with a language - be it our mother tongue or some foreign language - takes place on the phonetic level, it was on the level of sounds that the first differences between male and female speech were observed.
Trudgill (1974) gives some relevant examples from English-speaking territories: in London English, men are more likely than women to use glottal stops in words like butter, but etc., while women tend to pronounce the t /t/ sound as follows from RP, which represents the norm. The same sort of pattern emerges in Norwich with the ng cluster /η/ (walking or walkin'). From a study concluded in the Transvaal, South Africa among English-speaking high-school pupils of the same age, in the same town, Trudgill cites that boys are more likely than girls to use non-standard local pronunciations.
From this followed a general conclusion which, on its turn, dominated the research on gender for the next two decades, becoming an axiom: women show a tendency to approach the way of speaking they regard as 'nice'or 'correct'. This view is expressed in Trudgill 1972, 1974, and taken over by, among others, Downes 1984 and Milroy 1987. They all state in concord that the typical pattern is one in which female speakers approximate more closely to prestige forms and standardised varieties.
Thus, there is consensus among linguists in what concerns the representation of data which reflect the facts. But researchers do not fully agree on the interpretation of the data. On the one hand, they all feel these facts have to do with social reality: Trudgill (1974:93) speaks about the fact that women in the British society are, generally speaking, more status-conscious than men, but he stops speculating at this point. Downes (1984:178) goes further, saying that linguistic 'status-consciousness' is seen as a reflex of subordination in social life. He elaborates this thought by explaining that social status in stratified societies is achieved in relation to the social role a person has in public institutions: to a person's job or wealth. Dressing, residence, lifestyle and the rest all follow from that, and since women as a group are relatively excluded from this direct representation of their status, the only means to express status is language.
This certainly seems a plausible explanation, but Milroy (1987:102) criticises it, saying that the stratificational analysis classifies women in a somewhat arbitrary manner, sometimes assigning to women the class of their husbands or fathers and sometimes determining their class by their own occupations. Therefore, we cannot take seriously the various interpretations of linguistic sex-marking based upon the notion of 'prestige'.
As it follows from the above ideas, it is extremely difficult to define what social stratum a person belongs to, or rather, how social strata and gender as speaker variables are intermingled. As Milroy puts it: ... it is perhaps more reasonable to explain class differences in terms of sex, than sex differences in terms of class(Milroy 1987:102).
It is all the more difficult to follow the interaction of these two variables because even the term 'prestige' is not unified in meaning. Trudgill (1974) proposes a distinction between overt prestige and covert prestige. Overt prestige would refer to the position of a real higher-status social class and its linguistic habits, while covert prestige would involve the statusfulness of a not necessarily higher social class which represents moral values that members of that class can solidarise with. Trudgill gives a Norwich example, where working-class speech is associated with the 'toughness' traditionally supposed to be characteristic of working-class life, toughness which is quite widely considered a desirable masculine characteristic. It is now obvious why this sort of covert prestige exerts a more powerful influence on men, who, by holding to the norms of this class, express their solidarity and consider it snobbish that women let themselves be influenced by normal or overt prestige (Trudgill 1974:94-98).
Another, again social, explanation for why women approximate more closely to linguistic norms comes from Trudgill (1974:94), who postulates that women speak more 'correctly' because more correct social, and thus linguistic, behaviour is expected of women. Trudgill summarises this in a very expressive way: geographical, ethnic group, and social-class varieties are, at least partly, the result of social distance, while sex varieties are the result of social difference (Trudgill 1974:95).
Remaining still on the phonetic level, Montgomery (1986) draws our attention to some examples of hypercorrection, which involves the phenomenon of a person using a linguistic form intended to be 'very correct', by the generalisation of some grammatical rule to instances where it need not be applied, ending up with uttering incorrect forms. Hypercorrection turns out to be particularly noticeable among women of the lower middle class. Montgomery proposes a variety of explanations for this phenomenon: the enactment of that 'niceness' in speech that society expect of women; a more widespread linguistic insecurity in this social group, the members of which are poised uneasily half-way up the social hierarchy; or a heightened awareness on the part of women as a subordinate group to the socially sensitive nuances of pronunciation (Montgomery 1986:66). But, again, the linguist faces the difficulty we have already mentioned: no explanation as yet seems to account fully for both the class and gender sides of the question simultaneously.
Morphological and Syntactic Aspects
In an attempt to widen the picture of gender differences in language use, Trudgill (1974) turned to an American Indian language, Koasati, in which he noticed sex differences in the phonological shapes of particular verb forms: males and females used, and indeed were supposed to use, different suffixes added to the same verb root in Koasati, where this usage seems to be controlled by strict morphological rules. Trudgill also noticed an age factor influencing this usage: it was only the older women who preserved the distinct forms, younger women and girls used the male forms.
These facts led the linguist to the conclusion that he was witnessing a linguistic change in process: in Koasati some, at least, of the female forms appeared to be historically older than the male forms. In other words, it seemed that linguistic changes had taken place in the male variety, which had not been followed through (or were just only beginning to be followed) in the women's speech (Trudgill 1974:89-90). In this language, thus, women's speech is more conservative than that of men.
But, as we shall see, this is not always the case. Later in his book, Trudgill presents a case from North Carolina and another from southern Norway, where women appear to be in the vanguard of the change from an older form to a newer one. The apparent contradiction can be solved if we have a closer look at the direction of the change, and here we are back to our initial distinction between the different kinds of prestige: the rare examples of men being innovators only apply to linguistic changes which are operating in the direction away from the prestige standard. In those cases where there is some kind of higher-status variety or norm, changes in the direction of this norm appear to be led more frequently by women (Trudgill 1974:99).
As for syntactic phenomena, this norm-directedness of women is detectable in a Detroit example mentioned by Trudgill, where women use fewer instances of non-standard multiple negation than men (Trudgill 1974:91). This fits into the general framework that women are far more sensitive to the stigmatised nature of certain grammatical features than men.
Starting from the data but engaging into different yet convergent interpretations of the data, we have reached a conclusion concerning women's norm-orientedness, a statement that is far from being merely quantitative. This chapter still bears the above title because it reflects the orientation of the linguists in this period: the conclusion was reached by an observation based on a large bulk of empirical data. Also, this period of gender research can be charaterised by a lack of a strong and well-defined theoretical basis and by generalisations growing out of statistical findings. At this point, however, a need for a theoretical framework arose, which leads us to the next chapter of our study.
The Qualitative Attitude
The qualitative orientation of the research to follow does not mean, of course, that it lacks a set of empirical data, just that linguists did not find it satisfying enough to restrict themselves to data-collection only, but they made an attempt to provide a theoretical background and explanation for the data.
An example for this endeavour is represented by the work of Hawkins (1973), who examined the influence of gender on the hesitation phenomena of seven-year-old children. The linguist measured the length and location of pauses in the speech of children who came from different social classes (middle- or working). If he accepted the view that hesitations are linked with verbal planning, and fluent speech is interpreted to mean 'poorer' quality, because less time is devoted to planning, he expected working-class children, who used a more 'restricted' code, to be more fluent than middle-class offsprings, who are more concerned with the quality of their speech. Going further, if working-class girls, by virtue of their more comprehensive family role, use a more 'elaborated' code than boys, then working-class boys should be the most fluent of all.
But it turned out that this is not the case: working-class girls were clearly more fluent than any of the other groups. This led Hawkins to conclude that fluency indicates more experience and, hence, greater confidence in language use on the part of the speaker, and, perhaps, even better quality. This greater confidence of working-class girls, he suggests, is to be explained by the structure of the family in this social class: girls have complex roles, controlling and 'mothering' their younger brothers and sisters, and mediating between them and their parents (Hawkins 1973:243).
This explanation offers a route of generalisation that, later on, can lead to a whole theory of women's place in society, possibly on the following lines: women, in general, are more often required to exert forms of control based exclusively on linguistically elaborated meanings, and not on physical coercion, which is, decreasingly nowadays, the privilege of men. This is why women have to use language more 'skilfully' than men.
The Deficit Theory
The first account of gender differences that was based on a strong theoretical background and moral convictions - perhaps too much loaded with ethical and emotional content - was that of Robin Lakoff (1973) in the form of an article, which was later elaborated in a whole book with the same title. She spotted some linguistic imbalances, which, in her view, bring into sharper focus real-world imbalances and inequities. Through this she put herself in a position from which she was able to express a conviction, according to which women in the Western-type - and perhaps even more in an Eastern-type - society are at a social disadvantage as compared to men. That is, women suffer from a social deficiency, and this is why the theory expressed by Lakoff was later acknowledged as the 'deficit theory'.
R. Lakoff realised that ours is a basically patriarchal type of society, in which the favoured group is that of males. It is the linguistic and non-linguistic behaviour of the group that holds the power which is taken over by the other group and not the other way round. She draws some examples from the lexis and syntax of English, in which the linguistic imbalances can be traced. The lexical examples consist of certain colour-words that are - or should - only be used by women, and expletives and swear-words that are preferably not applied by women or else they risk to lose their feminine image. In syntax it is the use of tag-questions that Lakoff finds important to mention: in her opinion, there are more of them in women's speech than in men's. This she explains by the stereotypical image a woman is compelled to take, which bears a certain degree of insecurity intended not to challenge the authority of their male interlocutors.
In sum, Lakoff does not think a woman really has a choice in this society: if she refuses to talk like a lady, she is criticised as unfeminine; if she does apply the ladylike style, she is considered unable to express herself, or even think, clearly and to take part in serious discussion. As she puts it: These two choices which a woman has - to be less than a human or less than a person - are highly painful (Lakoff 1973:48).
Lakoff was heavily criticised for her views and methods. Dubois and Crouch (1975), for example, investigate Lakoff's dual claim that women use tag questions in more conversational situations than men do, and that such questions signify an avoidance of commitment, causing the speaker to give the impression of not being really sure of him(or her)self. They also accuse Lakoff of some errors of fact and reasoning, of using fabricated examples and of disregarding the work of others. They have found genuine social contexts, where men used more tag questions, and they also attack Lakoff for disregarding the two terminal contours in the intonation of such questions (Dubois et al. 1975:289-291).
The problem of tag questions is also taken up by Edelsky (1979), saying that Lakoff's otherwise exceedingly keen intuitions were not validated by the evidence of a study carried on by Edelsky. Women in her experiment did not use more tag questions than men, but in the course of attributing certain intonation patterns to sexes more people attributed them to women rather than men. Edelsky also argues that a particular perceived intonation does not necessarily have just one set of meanings. She proposes a reversed line of argumentation for the correspondences between the language use and social status of women: It is not necessarily true, then, that female speakers' use of language always reflects and perpetuates their lesser status, but that their lesser status is reflected in listeners' attitudes toward female speakers (Edelsky 1979:31).
A revolutionary proposal is introduced by Crosby and Nyquist (1977) in gender research: instead of Lakoff's claims that men's language is assertive and direct, while women's language is immature, hyperformal or hyperpolite and non-assertive, they employ the terms: female and male register. These registers, they argue, can be used both by men and women.
Although most of Lakoff's views have become outdated by now, we cannot overemphasise their importance. Her efforts gave rise to an abundance of critical works and ideas, which have proliferated ever since.
The Dominance Theory
We must not ignore the fact that the interest in gender differentiation did not only rise in linguistics: it was 'in the air' of the late seventies and the eighties. The role and status discussions acquired the characteristics of an ideology. A movement like feminism is very likely to appear in a society which has a sexist character, and some of the feminist ideas were carried over to linguistics, too. There seemed to be an ideological opposition between male and female ways, and reactions to this were formulated in many - including linguistic - works. Poynton (1989) for example views this ideology as a legitimating mechanism for a particular kind of social organisation in which women and men do not participate on equal terms. As a linguistic projection Poynton identifies a discrepancy between codes represented by men and women, naming the male one controlling and the female one responding code. Linguists sympathising with feminist ideas draw the readers' attention to the fact that language is a key ingredient in the construction of meaning and reality. Creedon (1989) points out that language does not only reflect, but also create reality, and even the good-willed language user will become biased by simply using an androcentric language. All these gave rise to the so-called dominance theory in gender research.
The main idea of this theory is - as suggested by its name - that the social, and thus, verbal reality is dominated by males. Montgomery (1986) illustrates this by citing a study concluded by Stanley in 1977, based primarily on American English. Stanley found that there were more words for men in the lexicon than there were for women. Despite this kind of imbalance, however, there were much more words for a woman in her sexual aspect than there were for a sexually active man. Moreover, not only are there fewer of the latter in total, but proportionally less of them are pejorative, and some, indeed, are actually honorific. He also points at an interesting process of semantic change: pairs like 'master' and 'mistress' could once be used equivalently to refer to the male and female heads of a household. In current use, however, the male term retains some of its status characteristics, but the female term is becoming increasingly open to pejorative usage (Montgomery 1986:176-178).
Besides the imbalances in vocabulary, other instances of male dominance, this time in speech, were detected by Talbot (1992). She examined a group of people - family friends - whom one would probably think of as equals, and experienced asymmetries in speaking rights and interruptions between the two sexes, even in informal situations.
This is not only true for English-speaking societies; Georgakopoulou (1995) obtained similar results in a Greek setting. Observing habits in storytelling, she found that when a man and a woman have both witnessed the same events, in almost all instances the story is told by the man. It is not surprising, of course, to reach such findings of verbal androcentrism in a society which is commonly known as being patriarchal.
The period when the dominance theory was prevailing coincides with the first campaign against sexist language. It is interesting to see that in the seventies the most vehement gender researcher mentioned above, Lakoff, had no objections to generic masculine and masculine used to refer to nouns not marked for gender. She thinks that the language user does not choose among pronouns consciously, and that this usage is so common and thoroughly mixed throughout the language, that the speaker is not even aware of them (Lakoff 1973:75). Later on, it became a common usage to avoid or replace these pronouns. This process was reinforced by studies examining the actual usage of these constructions. Meseguer (1991), for instance, traced some common mistakes in the media language, which are all the more dangerous, he says, because they are not even recognised as being mistakes. One mistake of this type is the so-called semantic jump, in which the writer uses a masculine term in the generic sense and, later on in the same context, he (never a she!) repeats the use of the same term, but now in the specific sense, thus inaccurately suggesting that the two are identical.
Another study on the topic of generic expressions was conducted by Kosroshahi (1989), who asked her subjects to draw mental images while reading generic pronouns. She found that generic he tends to suggest a male referent in the mind of the reader, differing only in the case of 'reformed-language' women, who were consciously making efforts in their everyday lives to adopt pronominal neutralisation. The study suggests therefore that words that can have generic or specific meanings depending on the context, do seem to have the potential to bias people even when their unmarked, generic sense is intended. These linguists covertly accept the cognitivist view that language has the power to affect thought.
The Difference Theory
For a scientist with democratic feelings the dominance theory seemed too strong and, therefore, not acceptable. This is how the difference theory came into being, a more tolerant view doing justice to men who had to suffer from the male-bashing of the period, and to women who did not feel inferior.
The 'Impartial' Difference Theory
The difference theory started off with the work of Maltz and Borker (1982), the main idea being that the gender-based inequities are not entailments of power and status, but of differences in what the two sexes do with language. Inspired by the anthropological studies of the period, the authors expressed their view, according to which the two sexes in fact form two different sociolinguistic subcultures. They have learned to do different things with words, therefore, when they engage in cross-gender conversation, cultural miscommunication results. The reasons for this divergence in the so-called sociolinguistic subcultures are to be looked for in the way individuals acquire the rules for friendly interaction. In the authors' view these rules were learned not from adults but from peers, during precisely that time period, approximately age 5 to 15, when boys and girls interact socially primarily with members of their own sex (Maltz et al. 1982:199-203). Their intuition was supported by data obtained by observing groups of children of the above-mentioned age, reaching the simplified conclusion that words were means of connection among girls, but weapons among boys. This verbal behaviour, then, is preserved throughout adulthood, which leads to cross-gender miscommunication.
Tannen (1982) sees the cause of frequent failures in male-female discourse in the different conversational strategies people use. Intermingling cross-gender analysis with a cross-ethnic viewpoint in an observation of Greek-American English-American married couples, she finds that conversational style is more resistant to change than more apparent marks of ethnicity such as retention of the parents' language. In a later, pioneering book of hers, she goes on saying that conversational style is just as resistant on gender-specific grounds as it is on ethnic terms. She introduces terms like genderlect, rapport-talk and report-talk, message level and metamessage level of talk, and she gives a detailed description of gender-differences in the use of, for instance, minimal responses, overlaps and interruptions etc.(for details see Tannen 1990).
In a review written about Tannen's 1990 book, Murray (1992) accused Tannen of not being able to free herself from the world view of her genderlect, and expressed his unsatisfied wish for more male perspectives. Otherwise the book had a very positive reception both on the professional and the lay side.
This trend of the difference theory which I named 'impartial' after its expressed fair-mindedness produced the highest number of accurate and thorough studies by different scholars, all focusing on the differences that can be detected in the language use of the two sexes. A lot of prejudices were cleared up, from a new, more open-minded perspective, and also, the biggest quantity of facts were revealed about the two sexes ranging from a general to the most specific contexts.
Kipers (1987), for instance, tested the truthfulness of the long established folk wisdom that women talk about more trivial topics than men do, and found that males and females in her experiment were in agreement on the majority of the topics as to relative importance or triviality. Rundquist (1992) checked on the validity of a popular belief that women's speech is more indirect than men's speech, and reached the conclusion that in the situations examined (family discussions) the men initiate flouting of Gricean maxims much more often than women do. A great number of studies were written on the topic of gender-based differences in compliment behaviour, finding that there is a fundamental difference in the perception of compliments by women and men: for women compliments are positively affective speech acts increasing solidarity, while for men they are face threatening acts implying envy (see Herbert 1990, Johnson and Roen 1992).
The assumption that women are more prone to use standard forms of speech was also called into question. Risch (1987) and De Klerk (1992) conducted similar experiments in totally different settings, and obtained corresponding data suggesting that females are also familiar with, and use, a wide range of highly taboo/slang items themselves, and are not necessarily conservative in their language use. Risch (1987) suggests that the standard/non-standard distinction be applied to the contrast between public versus private discourse than to that of the speech patterns of women versus the language use of men.
In the light of the above account it can be stated that this period and this trend proved to be the most fruitful and accurate of all in gender research up to the present moment.
The 'Celebrating Difference' Theory
Not all of the products of the difference theory were so tolerant in nature as the ones mentioned above. There appeared a number of works which introduced an ethical judgement in their evaluation. The most prominent example comes from Holmes (1993), who examined the conversational styles and politeness strategies in the speech of New Zealand women, and reached the conclusion that women are ideal conversational partners. They are helpful to their interlocutors or audience, they act as responsive and supportive listeners, and provide encouraging feedback. That she summarises in the statement that women are other-oriented, which is not true for men.
Other works of this type are Winter (1993) and Johnstone et al. (1992), both dealing with interviews. In political interviews in an Australian context Winter found that the turn-taking management in interviews led by men demonstrated a competitive situation, while female interviewers maintain the questioning style and thus cooperate with the interviewee in their mutual understanding of the context. Johnstone et al. dealt with opinion-poll interviews, and maintained that, contrary to male interviewers, females tailor their discourse to fit the occasion and the gender of their respondents. They make differential use of politeness strategies to ease the temporary powerlessness of the interviewee.
We do not consider it scientific to include morals in research, but in lack of contradictory data we are not in the position to query the truthfulness of these findings.
The Convergence Attitude
Although both the dominance and the difference theory brought about basic changes concerning the problem of gender differences, it soon turned out that neither of the two theories mentioned above managed to show a full picture of what is going on in real life. If the dominance theory was criticised by representatives of the difference theory, this, in turn, was further criticised by scholars expecting a broader view.
Theoretical Considerations
The heaviest critique on the difference theory was expressed by Uchida (1992) on two lines: first, the notion of men and women belonging to different 'cultures' is too simplistic to account for everything that occurs in mixed-sex conversation. Second, the dichotomisation of 'power' and 'culture' as two separate, independent concepts is inappropriate, because social interaction always occurs in the context of a patriarchal society. Uchida says that although the intention to dominate might not exist, the fact of dominance still does. Instead of a cross-cultural view, Uchida proposes an intercultural one, which is dynamic, consisting of adapting, negotiating and creating new meanings, in which you can take the other's perspective and modify the rules accordingly. Uchida also suggests that the notions 'gender', 'power' and 'subculture' should be intertwined, and difference and dominance should simultaneously compose the social construct of gender in order to get a holistic, multidimensional view of the problem.
At the end of the eighties Freed (1995) has also recognised a need to reconsider the two models in relation to one another, because neither the dominance nor the difference approach alone provides an adequate explanation of the real-life facts. As for the nineties, Freed observes three main trends in the gender research: (1) a move toward multicultural comparisons; (2) a realisation that the specific cultural and situational context of a communicative act must always be considered, and (3) a growing understanding that the category of gender itself needs to be re-evaluated. Gender, in her view, is a societal construct that interacts with language as well as with numerous other social, psychological, and political factors.
Methodological Considerations
A few methodological needs have also been formulated in order to keep pace with the on-moving theoretical changes. In concordance with Freed (1995), Tannen (1996) also states that gender-related patterns dovetail with all the other dynamics of language behaviour: ethnic, class, regional and age differences, sexual orientation, professional training and individual personality all affect speaking styles, and thus, must be taken into consideration. She also calls the attention to what should be kept in mind when observing language in interaction: the context of a linguistic strategy, the conversational styles of the participants, and the interaction of those styles.
The same idea of an interaction is emphasised in Kramarae (1991), saying that the gender-differences observed make more sense when they are connected to interaction rather than tied, as almost biological appendages, to men and women.
Conclusions
The gender research concluded in the last twenty-five years has moved from a quantitative to a qualitative attitude, as it has reached a better understanding of the linguistic and social facts. Gender-differentiation in speech was first observed and analysed in phonological, morphological and syntactic aspects, lacking a well-defined theory, and only based on the assumption that differences in speech are mere reflections of differences in social status.
The next, qualitative stage of gender research mainly focused on lexical and discourse analytical aspects, and built up different theories to account for gender-related differences. The deficit theory viewed women as powerless members of the American society compelled to use ineffective and insecure language in a patriarchal society. The dominance theory expressed that in Western societies all other language varieties are dominated by middle- and upper-class white heterosexual male speech, and backed this statement up with a great amount of valid data. The difference framework - having a more and a less tolerant trend - introduced the view that the two sexes represent two subcultures, hence the differences and misunderstandings between them.
Approaching the present state of affairs, researchers realised that neither model alone is capable of accounting for all that is happening in real life, and that there is a need for a more interactional, intercultural view and a more precise methodology in research.
We must also say a few words about the existence of an 'applied sociolinguistics' branch in research, which comprises quite a high number of various studies in how the findings of gender research can be applied to different areas of activities related to language. The first and most important is the applicability of gender-research results in language teaching, especially, but not exclusively, English as a second language (ESL) (Markham 1988, Papatzikou Cochran 1996, Losey 1995, Siegal 1996). But there have been experiments conducted in other fields too, including language and communication training (Cameron 1994), and even research on the gender-related practice of research itself (Willett 1996)!
As for the probable development gender research will experience, I think this will lead in the direction of specialisation, of turning to minute, specific issues instead of a vast theoretical background. The probability of my expectations, of course, will be tested by the time to come.
References
Shakespeare and the Extraordinary Manager
Keith Hardwick
Introduction
The aim of this article is to show possibilities of linking two, normally separate aspects of English teaching: literature and business English. As Shakespeare was not only a playwright and poet but also an actor and shareholder in a flourishing theatre company, it is perhaps not too fanciful to discover a hidden management handbook in his plays. Be that as it may, hopefully this unusual juxtaposition of ideas will help to clarify the difficult concepts behind Extraordinary Management.
Shakespeare offers us many insights on how to manage the new challenges of the post smoke-stack era. "The age of the thinking worker" (Blackburn et al. 1995) has arrived and this will change the function of management. Fewer workers will be needed to make organisations (both commercial and non-profit-making) more productive and effective. However, these workers will be required to make a more complex contribution than their predecessors, more commonly unthinking "hands" in the organisation's rigid hierarchy.
Operating environments are also becoming more volatile. Customers have an ever-increasing global choice. Traditional distribution channels are being overtaken by Internet shopping and colleges by ever-more sophisticated distance learning based techniques. Through computers the smallest organisation is able to become a world-wide player.
In this ever-changing, fast-moving world there are few signposts to success. However, an awareness of a few basic truths revealed by Shakespeare will turn today's Ordinary Manager into tomorrow's Extraordinary Manager.
The aim of Extraordinary Management is to produce a posture and a position for a particular organisation that will yield acceptable performance at some long term future point (Stacey, 1996). Whereas Ordinary Management is applicable and must be used in situations of certainty and agreement, that is, normally in the present or immediate future, it is inapplicable to use in situations which move away from certainty and agreement. If we try to use our Ordinary Management skills of Mission Statements, Corporate 5-year Plans, Visions and the like, we will be guilty of dangerous self-delusion.
How can We Plan for the Unknowable Future?
Let us digress to consider how we in the West view time. The English language, for example, has at least six Past Tenses, two Present Tenses but only one Future Tense. We are very well-equipped, therefore, for hindsight, to discuss every nuance of our past actions. We can also adequately discuss our present actions. However, the single Future Tense reflects our inadequacy to foresee and plan for the unknowable future. Yet, we in the West turn our backs on the past and boldly, but blindly, go where no man has gone before! However, the Tori Indians of the Amazon Basin view the link between past and future differently. The Toris turn their faces to the past and, using their past experience to guide them, walk backwards into the future. This is logical incrementalism and a common practice in today's Ordinary Management when trying to make a strategic plan for an organisation (Johnson 1987).
But what does Shakespeare say in "Macbeth", Act V, Scene 5:
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death.
Shakespeare points out that the slow but sure strategy which logical incrementation implies will lead to the death of our company or organisation. Logical incrementalism does not allow for strategic drift (Johnson 1987) caused by changes in the operating environment, changes such as new technology, products, competitors. Additionally, we use the feedback of our tentative steps into the future (negative feedback) to dampen any change in the paradigm which the organisation has of itself, that is of the set of preconceptions we bring from our past to each new situation we have to deal with (Stacey 1996). Thus, we will take our company inevitably to its dusty death and we become Shakespeare's fools.
Shakespeare's second useful observation examines further the question of the organisation's paradigm and the inherent paradox it contains. Consider, for example, the externalisation of IBM's paradigm in its "company man": blue suit, blue tie, white shirt, black shoes. Consider the projection of the company's paradigm evident in the common interview phrase, "Well, Miss Smith, your face fits. Welcome to the team". But we would do well to heed Macbeth's words,
Nothing is but what is not.
Here, Shakespeare highlights the paradox in what we perceive as "is". It is all too easy to look back at an organisation's history and make a static analysis of its situation at a given point in time. And from a series of such static amylases, up to and including the present, to produce a paradigm of our successful present and to project today's successful posture to some future point. But this is yet a further logical incrementalism which we have already seen as being inappropriate for situations far from certainty and agreement. It is based on simple, single-loop learning (Argyris 1990), a feedback system which by its nature dampens any change in the mental model in the eye of the beholder. Thus, such a company will seek to produce clones of itself.
But there is a paradox in Macbeth's words. "Is" is now, of the moment. It very soon passes and becomes its latent "will be". You cannot stop time; there has been a change. The Extraordinary Manager will recognise this change and, rather than automatically try to dampen the change in order to conform to the organisation's paradigm, will question this mental model and, if is outmoded, will change it before choosing a new course of action. This is an example of complex double-loop learning, which is a mixture of negative (stabilising) and positive (destabilising) feedback. The manager's task now becomes one of containing the natural anxiety among his workforce which change brings in its train.
Having looked at the past and the present, we now come to the question of how the Extraordinary Manager is to handle the future. Shakespeare again provides the key. When Othello, in Act III, Scene three, speaking of his wife, Desdemona, says,
he is talking about a state far from certainty and agreement, a state close to chaos and disintegration. One may note in passing that Othello has reached his present disturbed mental state by a series of positive feedback loops, Iago's insinuations, which have turned his love into jealousy and mistrust. The question arises, however, when is "when"? When is it that Othello moves from a state of love to a state of chaos? And where is the border between these two states? How can Othello stay on the right side of "this bounded instability"? (Stacey 1996). The answer is, of course, to re-create his love for Desdemona, not into the former pattern which has brought him to the edge of chaos, but to a new pattern which will allow their love to flourish in the new environment. If we substitute "the company" for "Othello" we will see that this analogy has interesting applications for the Extraordinary Manager, emphasising his need for and the desirability of change.When I love thee not
Chaos is come again,
But do we have any evidence that a new "love", a new successful direction will emerge from this area of bounded instability? What is to stop Othello from passing into chaos and disintegration, as happens in the play, with his murder of Desdemona and his own suicide?
There is an interesting parallel taken from the world of physics (Stacey 1996). When energy is pumped into a particular gas the molecules become more and more excited. They move randomly in a state of instability. As further energy is pumped into this system, it reaches a critical point. The molecules spontaneously organise themselves to all point in the same direction. The result is a laser beam casting its light for miles. Thus, out of instability through a self-organising creative process comes a new pattern of behaviour.
Conclusion
What may we conclude from our examination of Shakespeare's insights applied to management? Firstly, that static analyses have very limited value in planning future strategy. They are only applicable to situations close to certainty and agreement. Secondly, that the environment in which organisations operate is dynamic and ever changing. Thirdly, that creativity comes at the border of chaos through a process of self-organisation. Alas, there is no way of predicting the direction this new self-organisation will take, but it is the task of the Extraordinary Manager to provoke this change, to innovate or die.
References
What should a Foreign Language Syllabus Include?
Sárdi Csilla
Introduction
This study is primarily interested in syllabus design for foreign language (FL) courses. As such, it defines what is meant by syllabus, and issues regarding methodology are also considered as well. This is because I maintain that it is essential to understand the relationship between syllabus and methodology in terms of their role within the framework of course design if our aim is to design a syllabus that works. I will give an answer to the question in the title mainly by reviewing product-oriented and process-oriented syllabuses. I will argue that both syllabus groups have their advantages and disadvantages, and that what is needed is a balanced view whereby it becomes possible to design the syllabus and methodological framework of an EFL course in a consistent way. I will conclude with a question which follows from the balanced view offered in the paper: What should be the unit of analysis within the syllabus?
Constituents of Course Design
There are normally four issues in course design. These are content (i.e. what?), methodology (i.e. how?), materials (i.e. what with?), and evaluation (i.e. how well?). By evaluation two different procedures are meant. One of them aims to assess learners' achievement of course objectives, and the other one targets the evaluation of the course itself (Hutchinson & Waters 1987). Of these four issues, content and methodology are of primary importance because related decisions will influence materials development and evaluation as well.
The process of the design of the syllabus, methodology, materials and evaluation is informed and influenced by factors such as theoretical and empirical research findings, needs analysis results as well as information on the wider context of teaching and learning (Dubin & Olshtain 1986, Hutchinson & Waters 1987, Nunan 1988, Yalden 1987).
Indeed, courses can be characterised by examining how the above factors play a role in the design of a given course (if at all). Hutchinson and Waters (1987:65-76), focusing on English for specific purposes (ESP), distinguish between language-centred, skills-centred and learning-centred courses. The characteristic feature of a language-centred course is that its syllabus is informed by theoretical views of language and linguistic description. It may also apply needs analysis with the limited aim of identifying the linguistic features of the target situation. As a contrast, the characteristic feature of a learning-centred course is that theories and research findings on language learning development are of primary importance in the design of its syllabus, and results of needs analysis in terms of target needs (i.e. topics, skills) as well as learning preferences are taken into account. Thus, a learning-centred approach takes more variables present in language teaching and learning into consideration than a skills-centred one which does not focus of issues of language learning development.
At this point, we will turn our attention to the syllabus of a FL course and discuss the following basic questions:
The Role of a Syllabus and Methodology
What is a Syllabus?
Widdowson (1990) maintains that a syllabus is an idealised schematic construct which serves as reference for teaching (p.127). The syllabus has several functions (based on Breen 1987a). Firstly, it provides information for the learning groups as well as for the wider educational and social context as to what is to be achieved through teaching and learning. Since language is a complex system including a vast number of elements the syllabus offers a way of managing this vastness by arranging the elements into categories that are familiar to the teacher. These categories will depend upon the target language knowledge and capabilities the syllabus focuses on, guided by theoretical assumptions regarding the nature of language. For example, the objectives can be set in terms of different formal (e.g. phonological, morphological, lexical etc.) features of the target language, or priority can be given to the communicative functions of language by defining the objectives in terms of situations where the learners can make use of their target language competence.
Secondly, the syllabus also marks the route by which the objectives can be achieved, suggesting an order in which the actual content of the course is to be covered. The order will reflect assumptions about the path L2 development takes. Two widely applied ways of sequencing the selected syllabus items are step-by-step and cyclical sequencing. Thirdly, the syllabus has a retrospective function as well in that it serves as a basis for evaluating what the learners have achieved during the course. Fourthly, it also makes it possible to evaluate and adapt the syllabus itself.
What is Methodology?
While the syllabus defines what to teach and learn, methodology describes how to teach the selected syllabus items. Brumfit (1984) argues that '...the role of methodology is to describe and explore the range of possible options available to teachers in as principled a way as possible' (p. 22). In other words, methodology has the role of mediator between theory and practice since it provides the link between theories of learning and teaching on the one hand and classroom techniques and strategies on the other.
The notion of one single method has long been rejected. This is because each teaching situation is unique, due to the large number of variables that play a role in them. It also means that, once applied to a real classroom situation, methodology cannot be precisely measured or controlled (Brumfit op. cit.). As a consequence, it cannot be claimed that successful learning occurs as a result of the application of one kind of method only. Since there is no such thing as one perfect methodology, any general approach to it cannot be complete in itself, it has to be applied to specific situations which in turn will validate them (Bowers & Widdowson 1986). Yalden (1987) in her book on course design also rejects the application of one single method. She introduces the notion of framework within which '...a choice of appropriate classroom techniques and tasks that exploit relevant language samples are decided on' (p. 80). It is then the teacher's and the learners' task to discuss which activities to use during a given language class. The methodological framework is developed in accordance with the type of the syllabus, and classroom techniques relate closely to the objectives of work units. For example, if a work unit focuses on structural features of the target language, techniques will correspond to this aim and will differ clearly from techniques used to develop the ability to use communicative functions. Using frameworks means that teachers are provided with maximum flexibility when planning and implementing courses.
This leads us to the point that methodology cannot be understood fully without taking into consideration that it forms part of a greater entity, course design, and that it has its role in relation to the other constituents, syllabus design being one of them (Richards 1984, Stern 1983). This issue relates to the third question that is listed above: What is the relationship between syllabus and methodology?
Relationship between Syllabus and Methodology
If we accept that the syllabus in itself is an abstract entity (Widdowson 1990) it follows that it is the role of methodology to suggest appropriate ways of realising the syllabus during classroom teaching. Thus, methodology does not only mediate between learning theories and classroom techniques but between syllabus content and implementation as well. This indicates that it has a central role within course design. However, a shift of emphasis from method to syllabus design has become widely accepted recently. This is a result of the advent of more complex theories of language learning. Their influence replaced the translation method and led for example to audiolingualism and communicative language teaching on the one hand, and the recognition of learner needs and wants on the other. Yalden (1987) maintains that
the syllabus is an instrument by which the teacher, with the help of the syllabus designer, can achieve a certain coincidence between the needs and aims of the learner, and the activities that will take place in the classroom. (p. 86)
At this point, however, the question arises whether it is inevitable that changes in the syllabus will affect methodology as well. This is not necessarily the case as Widdowson (1990) points out. He stresses that changes in the syllabus will have an effect on actual classroom teaching only
if [such changes] inspire the teacher to introduce methodological innovations in the planning and execution of activities in the classroom which are consistent in some way with the conception of content and the principle of ordering proposed in the new syllabus. (p. 129).
In other words, it is not inevitable that changes in the development of the syllabus result in changes in methodology at the level of classroom teaching.
On a more abstract level, it is common to think of syllabus and methodology separately, the syllabus being informed by theories of language, and methodology being based on what is known about (second language) learning (Long 1985). In reality, however, the relationship is not so straightforward. Learning issues appear to play an important role in syllabus design. In the case of process-oriented syllabuses, decisions concerning the focus of the syllabus are influenced by assumptions relating to language learning. As for the unit of analysis, the decision will be influenced by assumptions on the nature of language learning in the case of any syllabus type. For example, choosing structural elements as the unit of analysis will partly be based on the assumption that learners learn a language by synthesising its structural elements whereas having communication tasks as the constituents of the syllabus will be underlain by the assumption that learners acquire a target language best if they are provided with meaningful chunks of it. Similarly, theories of learning can carry implications concerning the sequencing of syllabus items as well. One example is Pienemann's suggestion (1985) that syllabus items, structures that is, should be sequenced following an established natural order for their acquisition.
To summarise, syllabus design and methodology cannot be treated as separate issues. They both aim to facilitate the acquisition process that takes place in the classroom, and they are both intrinsic parts of a greater entity, course design. Although the syllabus is concerned with what to teach (language), learning issues are also indispensable in its design. Similarly, although methodology focuses on how to teach the syllabus items, assumptions that inform it must be consistent with those informing the accompanying syllabus. Since they are interrelated, changes in one cannot go unnoticed in the other if they target more effective language acquisition. This interdependent relationship must be informed by the approach to the design of the target language course itself.
Product vs. Process
We have said that although a syllabus is concerned with the question of what to teach and learn, assumptions about the nature of language learning are also intrinsically present in content specification. Yet it is common to divide syllabuses into two groups, which are distinguished along the lines that they reflect different orientations to language, learning and teaching depending on their underlain value systems. Breen (1987) and Long & Crookes (1992) call the two syllabus groups product-oriented and process-oriented, whereas White (1988) refers to them as interventionalist (Type A) and non-interventionalist (Type B). The aim of the present section is to look at the justifications for the two syllabus groups from a theoretical point of view in order to be able to determine the characteristic features of a syllabus that has a sound theoretical underpinning as far as the promotion of classroom second language development is concerned. Although there seems to be a contradiction between product-oriented and process-oriented syllabuses, I would argue that it is possible, and indeed necessary to take into account and bring together parts of their justification within the framework of course design. The major difference between the two syllabus groups is that
part of [the] rationale [of process-oriented syllabuses] derives from what is known about human learning in general and/or second language learning in particular rather than, as is the case with [product oriented syllabuses], primarily from an analysis of language and language use. (Long & Crookes 1992:27)
Thus, product-oriented syllabuses focus on content (i.e. the targeted end-product of courses) defined in terms of linguistic elements (e.g. structures, functions, situations, topics and skills). Also, the content and objectives are determined and pre-selected and as such they are external to the learner while the role of decision maker belongs to the teacher. The subject matter covered is of primary importance, and success in learning is determined with reference to the extent to which learners develop knowledge about this pre-determined subject matter. Process-oriented syllabuses, however, are internal to the learner. They are also experiential, emphasising the 'natural growth' of language (White 1988:45). Their aim is 'to immerse the learners in real-life communication without any artificial pre-selection or arrangements of items' (Allen 1984:65).
Prabhu (1987:24) also notes the difference between what he calls an 'illuminative construct' and an 'operational construct'. The former specifies what issues to address during a language course as far as the subject matter is concerned, whereas the latter is rather a specification of what can be done in the classroom as opposed to what should be learnt. In this sense, the syllabus provides guidelines in terms of the teaching activities and the construction of teaching materials without reference to what content to focus on when applying these activities and materials. Ellis (1984) and Krashen & Terrell (1983) suggest that language syllabuses giving priority to content contribute to the learners' analytical knowledge, in other words they are concerned with what is to be known about the hierarchic structure of language. It is further suggested that such knowledge is not available for the kind of discourse that occurs in real-life situations when the participants have no time to plan in advance what they want to say. Giving primary attention to processes, however, facilitates the assimilation and use of knowledge which is not analytic in nature, and which will then be readily available for real-life discourse.
Structural, functional, notional, situational, topic, lexical and skills syllabuses belong to the product-oriented group whereas process, procedural and task-based syllabuses are referred to as process-oriented. The procedural syllabus is mainly associated with Prabhu's Bangalore project which took place between 1979 and 1984 in India (Prabhu 1987). Also, bilingual programmes in Canada giving a primary attention to themes (i.e. meaning) were developed on similar grounds (Ullman 1981). The process syllabus was developed by Breen (1984), Candlin (1984, 1987) and Candlin & Murphy (1987), and the task-based syllabus has been advocated by Crookes and Long (1987a, 1987b), Long (1985) and Long and Crookes (1992). All three syllabus types operate with tasks that are problem-solving in nature, and thus concentrate on meaning rather than form. Individual differences between syllabus types will not be discussed here since syllabuses belonging to the same group have been criticised on similar grounds (see for example Breen 1987a, 1987b, Lewis 1993, Long and Crookes 1992, Prabhu 1984 Widdowson 1990).
Focus on Product: The Primacy of Content
Recent contributions to course design seem to favour the view that focus on the learning process is more important than focus on the actual language which the course aims to teach (Breen 1984, Candlin 1984, Krashen 1982, Long 1985, Long & Crookes 1992, Prabhu 1987, 1990). Focus on product is rejected on several grounds. One problem is that such syllabuses analyse language into its discrete elements assuming that the learners will be able to re-synthesise these elements later when language is put to use (Wilkins 1976). Wilkins stresses that this assumption 'is largely superfluous' (op. cit.:13), and points out that 'learners are capable of analysing uncontrolled samples of language by recognising regularities in the input and arriving at rules that govern performance' (op. cit.:14). Process-oriented syllabuses are partly based on this view, and 'rely on the learners' assumed ability to perceive regularities in the input and to induce rules' (Long & Crookes 1992:29).
In fact, the criticism of product-oriented syllabuses on the grounds that they are arithmetic in nature (i.e. they assume that the sum of the parts equals the whole) is in line with an old debate, which relates to the method of analysis which scientific investigations apply (for a summary see Rose 1992). Assuming that independent parts of language can be re-synthesised when needed implies that the sum of the parts of language must equal the whole. However, this could be true only if the elements carried the characteristic features of the whole as Vygotsky (1986) points out. In his attempt to find a method of analysis for the better understanding of 'complex psychologic wholes' such as language and thought, he explains this point by using an analogy between psychology and chemistry in terms of the method of analysis these disciplines use (Vygotsky op. cit.:4).
[A frequently applied method in psychology] analyses complex psychological wholes into elements. It may be compared to the chemical analysis of water into hydrogen and oxygen, neither of which possesses the properties of the whole and each of which possesses properties not present in the whole. The student applying this method in looking for the explanation of some property of water - why it extinguishes fire for example - will find to his surprise that hydrogen burns and oxygen sustains fire. These discoveries will not help him much in solving the problem... In the course of analysis, ... nothing is left to the investigator but to search out the mechanical interaction of the two elements in the hope of reconstructing, in a purely speculative way, the lost properties of the whole. (ibid.)
This method of analysis is common not only in psychology and chemistry but in other disciplines as well, one of them being linguistics. It appears that synthetic syllabuses apply the results of linguistic analyses that divide the whole of language into its elements (e.g. structures, vocabulary items, communicative functions).
Yet another problem inherent in the focusing on discrete elements is that such elements characterise language in its inactive state as the end-product of the active use of language. 'Regarding an utterance in a state of completion ... is to see it as an object, assimilating it into a synchronic (hence static) system of objects' (McNeill 1986:258). At the same time, 'watching the utterance while it is emerging is to see it as an action and to treat it as an aspect of individual psychology' (ibid.). It must be stressed that the point is not that static perspectives of language are wrong. For the purposes of linguistic description, for example, such a view of language is perfectly valid. The point is that it appears misleading to present language in its inactive state for teaching purposes if the very purpose of instruction is its activation.
The problem of characterising how something works by describing its structure is addressed in philosophy as well. Being concerned with an explanatory principle for thinking, Spinoza insisted that thinking could not be explained by describing the structure of the human brain any more than walking could be explained by giving the description of the human leg. Thinking is the function of its organ, the brain, and 'the fullest description of the structure of an organ, i.e., a description of its inactive state, however, has no right to present itself as a description, however approximate, of the function that the organ performs, as a description of the real thing that it does' (emphasis added) (cited in Lantolf & Appel 1994:4). In terms of language, the function of the whole (i.e. communication) cannot be fully understood by giving priority to the analysis of its end-product, the language object.
The above arguments strongly question the validity of using discrete linguistic elements as the unit of the syllabus. At this point, then, the question is how to design a syllabus so that its unit represents the characteristic features of language as a whole when in use.
Their synthetic nature is not the only problem with product-oriented syllabuses. They are also criticised on the grounds that they 'look on language acquisition as a planned process of input assimilation. They ... rely on the validity of the equation: what is taught = what is (or ought to be) learnt' (Prabhu 1984: 273). In other words, target-like mastery is expected as soon as a new item is introduced. SLA research, however, does not support this assumption (Ellis 1985, 1994, Larsen-Freeman & Long 1991, Pienemann 1985). SLA research findings suggest that the learners take an active part in learning, and that language development is constrained by internal processes. Thus, it is simplistic to assume that learners acquire the very language items to which they are exposed when they are exposed to them and in the order that these items are presented in the syllabus. As far as morpho-syntax is concerned, for example, morpho-syntactic items are in a symbiotic relationship with one another (for a summary see Larsen-Freeman & Long 1991:88-96). Thus, to be able to produce interrogative sentences properly in English pre-supposes that the learners also know about word order, auxiliaries, how to indicate number, person and time etc. This implies that development in one area depends on development in other areas as well.
Another point relating to immediate target like mastery is that the development cannot be expected to be unidirectional either. As is shown in Huebner (1983), Kellerman (1985) and Sato (1990), language acquisition often involves temporary backsliding which results in U-shaped or zigzag developmental shapes.
Also, evidence exists that learning goes through fixed developmental stages, and the term 'interlanguage' has been introduced (Reinecke 1935/1969/1988 noted in Larsen-Freeman & Long 1991:74) to indicate this process. On the one hand, it refers to the production of non-target like forms, and on the other hand it can also mean non-target like use of forms. Such developmental processes appear to be a characteristic feature of naturalistic as well as classroom learning both in terms of morpho-syntax (Huebner 1983, Pienemann 1985, 1987, Sato 1990), and morphology (Lightbrown 1983, Pica 1983, Young 1988).
Research into the acquisition of lexical items suggests that normal developmental processes operate here too (Laufer 1990). It runs counter to the belief that immediate target like mastery is a realistic expectation in the case of lexical items which provides part of the justification for the use of the lexical syllabus (Willis 1990). It has been pointed out that vocabulary and collocation errors are frequently made by advanced learners as well, and that such errors occur even after the advanced learners no longer have real problems with grammar any more (Patkowski 1990). It has also been emphasised that although learners may learn lexical forms relatively quickly it takes time to develop an understanding of how to use them in different situations (Gass 1988).
These research findings imply that there are fixed developmental stages that language acquisition goes through, and that these stages cannot be avoided or changed through instruction (Ellis 1994, Pienemann 1989). Two suggestions follow from the above assumption. One is to design the syllabus so that it follows the natural order of language acquisition. This is what Corder had in mind when he pointed out:
Efficient language teaching must work with, rather than against, natural processes, facilitate and expedite rather than impede learning... The study of interlanguage is the study of the natural processes of language learning. What has been discovered so far suggests that the nearer we can approximate language teaching to learning of a second language in an informal setting the more successful we shall be. (1981:77)
The other suggestion is that content specification (i.e. aims and expected outcomes) should be avoided altogether since it is the learners' natural growth of language that determines the acquisition sequence (a justification for process-oriented syllabuses, see Long & Crookes 1992:29). While both suggestions seem logical at first sight there appear to be problems with both of them.
Natural Order
Designing a syllabus that follows the natural order of language learning development raises three issues. One of them is that, to date, SLA research has mainly investigated the internalisation order of morpho-syntactic rules (see Ellis 1994). Thus, it is not clear whether and how to take into account the natural acquisition order of vocabulary items and language functions when building up such a syllabus.
The second problem is that despite the large amount of research having been carried out into second language acquisition and the natural emergence of interlanguage (synthesised in Ellis 1985, 1994), a definitive linear succession of items, on the basis of which syllabus content could be ordered, has not emerged. Furthermore, even if it was possible to determine an acquisitional order, it is not clear what would happen to interlanguage forms which are not target language-like in nature, but form part of the developmental process. Pienemann (1985) points out that, in theory, such forms should also be part of the syllabus, on the grounds that they correspond to the built-in syllabus of the learner. From a theoretical point of view, however, we may ask whether it really promotes language development to draw the learners' attention to deviant forms of the target language. It is possible, for example, that fossilisation is more likely to occur when non-target like forms are introduced as well.
The third problem relating to a syllabus based on the natural order of acquisition of different items is that, similar to the product-oriented syllabus, it presupposes that the acquisition process is linear, the only difference being the order of acquisition of different items. This is partly due to the fact that SLA research has mainly been concerned with the internalisation of grammar (Ellis 1985). The point is, however, that the proficiency in language use does not depend on the acquisition of grammar rules alone (as was shown in the previous paragraphs). Thus, any utterance consists of lexical elements which are linked together with the help of syntactic rules. Furthermore, utterances serve communicative functions which can take on different illocutionary meanings depending on the situation.
This cohesion of elements has led some applied linguists to the logical assumption that their acquisition probably does not take place in a linear fashion at all (Long 1985, Larsen-Freeman & Long 1991, Widdowson 1990). It is suggested that instead of acquiring discrete linguistic items one at a time, learners develop target language abilities as part of complex mapping whereby lexical and contextual features are linked to morpho-syntactic elements. Widdowson further argues that it indicates
an emergence of certain salient features of language resembling general principles, rather than the precise formation of rules, which follow a development sequence of an implicational kind with one feature following dependently on the previous appearance of another. But at no regular intervals. This is because in between these appearances, other features may intervene in no fixed order playing out a supporting role. (op. cit.:140-1)
There are recent approaches to course design that acknowledge the fact that SLA includes the parallel development of several aspects of the target language. These approaches suggest the introduction of a multiple syllabus (e.g. Nunan 1988). As Swan points out 'the real issue is not which syllabus to put first. It is how to integrate eight or so syllabuses (functional, notional, situational, topic, phonological, lexical, structural, skills) into a sensible teaching programme' (1985:87). Allen (1984) takes a similar stand point when he advocates a variable focus within target language courses. While such multiple syllabus models offer parallel focus on different aspects of language, they do not seem to suggest a systematic solution to the question of how to provide an opportunity for complex mapping processes to take place.
Focus on Process: The Primacy of Methodology
Process-oriented syllabuses operate with linguistically uncontrolled language samples (i.e. whole chunks of language) within the framework of tasks. Thus, they are concerned with methodological issues rather than the determination of content. They are supported by arguments based mainly on SLA research: (1) Engaging learners in problem-solving tasks provides them with the opportunity to act upon comprehensible input (Long 1985). This also indicates that while the usefulness of comprehensible input (Krashen 1985) is acknowledged it is also maintained that it is not sufficient for language acquisition to take place: interaction is needed as well (Prabhu 1987). (2) Drawing a parallel between L1 and L2 acquisition, Krashen (1982) claims that L2 learners go through a 'silent period' at the beginning of any kind of language acquisition. Following this claim, process-oriented syllabuses are underpinned by the assumption that L2 learners need many opportunities of exposure to comprehensible input before production is expected, and that demanding immediate mastery of items is unrealistic. (3) It is acknowledged that any end-product of learning is realised by underlying complex processes of the mind (Bialystok & Sharwood Smith 1985, Breen & Candlin 1980, Widdowson 1978, 1990). It is maintained that an important role of language pedagogy is to focus on these processes as well as (4) on processes of the learners' actual participation in discourse (Widdowson 1981).
It was mentioned earlier in this paper that process-oriented syllabuses reject content specification on the grounds that it is interventionalist, and does not facilitate the learners' natural language developmental sequences. However, two points need to be made here. One of them relates to the large proportion of research that has been carried out into the effects of instruction on SLA acquisition. While it has been demonstrated that accuracy orders and developmental sequences of linguistic items cannot be influenced by instruction, a focus on form appears to be beneficial in other ways. Larsen-Freeman and Long (1991:309-321) list three areas, namely, acquisition processes, rate of acquisition, and the level of ultimate target language attainment, in which formal instruction plays a beneficial role. Of these areas, it is the rate of acquisition of linguistic structures where the usefulness of instruction is the most evident (Eckman et al. 1988, Pienemann 1984, Zobl 1986). On the basis of these research findings, it seems logical to suggest that the language object should receive some focused attention during the implementation of target language courses (see Long 1988 for a detailed discussion). At the same time, it is also important to state that focus on form should not be regarded as the starting point and the only important aim of instruction. On a more general level, the above findings also imply that it is doubtful that intervention is necessarily harmful to language learning processes and that natural learning is necessarily more effective than constrained (i.e. instructed) learning (a justification for process-oriented syllabuses) (see also approaches to learning within developmental psychology below).
The second point relating to the natural growth of language is that the existence of natural developmental sequences has been observed in terms of discrete elements of language. Thus, it is logical to claim that the timing of acquisition of such elements cannot be determined by the syllabus designer and the teacher. This is exactly one of the reasons why using discrete elements of language as the syllabus unit was rejected above. But rejecting linguistic items as the focus of the syllabus does not need to mean that content in terms of what the course aims to achieve must be left undetermined altogether. While it is inevitable that existing information on the nature of language learning needs to be taken into account when designing a target language course in order to be able to facilitate these processes as much as possible, I would argue that it is by no means sufficient. Besides deciding on how the proficiency of language use can be developed best, it is also important to determine what uses of language the course aims to develop.
On a theoretical level, three arguments support the view that there is a need to specify content in some form. One of the arguments relates to recent views on the nature of language. It has been repeatedly demonstrated that, in order to describe its characteristics, language needs to be observed when in use (Canale & Swain 1980, Halliday 1973, 1978, Hymes 1972, Levinson 1983, Leech 1983, Widdowson 1978). It has also been pointed out that language use is situation-dependent in nature (Finegan & Besnier 1989, Holmes 1993, Wardhaugh 1986). This means that different domains of use are characterised by different conventions, and that these conventions are realised by particular choices of pronunciation, lexis, grammar, functions etc. depending on the situation in which they appear. Also, it is maintained that the participants' intentions will play an important role in the textual choice for the realisation of thoughts (Halliday 1975, Leont'ev 1981). For these reasons, it is essential that the purposes for which the language is needed and the domains in which it is needed are taken into account when a target language course is designed. As far as process-oriented syllabuses are concerned, however, it is not clear just how they ensure that domains and situations where the target language is needed, together with the knowledge and capabilities necessary for acting successfully in such situations, are catered for. It must be noted here that Long (1985), describing the task syllabus, suggests that tasks should be specified on the basis of some needs identification in terms of target tasks.
The second argument relates to views on the nature of second language learning. It was mentioned earlier in this section that there is empirical evidence supporting the assumption that neither natural nor instructed language learning development proceeds in a linear fashion. It was further suggested that all features of language are present during exposure to and interaction with language samples, and that these features intervene playing a supporting role in the acquisition process. Furthermore, SLA research findings suggest that learners who are able to use certain grammatical, lexical features or communicative functions in a particular context may not be able to generalise these salient features to other contexts as well. Bialystok (1982) suggests that a learner may be capable of applying certain rules within a limited range of application without extending the application to other contexts as well. (See also Selinker & Douglas 1985, and Trimble 1985 relating the above view to the field of ESP). It is also maintained by Bialystok (1982) and elsewhere (e.g. Johnson, 1996, Lewis 1993, Littlewood 1992) that chunks of language can be available for use without being fully analysed, by the learner, into their constituents, and that the availability of such chunks is context-dependent (Tarone 1988). Indeed, it appears to be the case even with L1 speakers who may not be able to produce appropriate utterances in situations (e.g. legal, medical or political) they are not utterly familiar with (Holmes 1993).
The third argument relates to the nature of learning in general. Within the field of developmental psychology, it is maintained that cognitive development depends on the presence of constraints provided by the environment (Piaget 1955, Vygotsky 1981). This is the reason why Piaget calls his theory 'interventionalist' (see Ault 1977). Identifying a number of stages in the child's cognitive development, he maintains that the child proceeds from one stage to the next as a result of its interaction with the environment. Piaget uses two terms to describe these processes: assimilation and adaptation. By these terms he refers to the assimilation of new forms and experiences the child builds into his constantly changing picture of the surrounding world on the one hand, and the adaptation of these forms and experiences which in turn alter its concept of the world and enable it to proceed from one developmental stage to the next on the other hand. Although Vygotsky (1981:150) rejects the view that child development is exclusively a slow and gradual accumulation process and argues that abrupt occurrences are also part of cognitive change, he also emphasises the importance of the environment with special respect to the sociocultural context in which the cognitive development takes place. He stresses that maintaining control over complex mental processes means that the individual is capable of acting wilfully and that these processes originate outside the individual. On the basis of these arguments, it can be claimed that 'intervention' or the presence of some kind of constraint is a necessary condition for learning to take place.
The above issues are relevant in terms of target language syllabus design because they imply that it is crucial to determine what the instruction aims to achieve. Also, it is essential that both course designers and teachers are aware of the contexts in which language use will take place as well as the purposes for which language will be used. This, obviously, does not imply that the target language course should not aim to develop the ability in the learners to use the language as widely as possible. Rather, it means that it is important to give priority to language uses that are more likely to be needed by the learners than to the ones that are not. As was pointed out above, it is not clear how process-oriented syllabuses aim to cater for such needs.
Conclusion: A Balanced View
To summarise, despite individual differences, process-oriented syllabuses can be viewed as a reaction against the weaknesses of product-orientedness. As a result, unlike product-oriented syllabuses, they are not designed in a 'psycholinguistic vacuum' (Long 1985:79) but take findings of SLA research into account. This attempt appears to be highly useful in terms of course design. At the same time, however, the validity of some views in relation to process-oriented syllabuses can be questioned. For example, they consciously cross the line between syllabus and methodology (Breen 1987b:160), and give primary attention to process. This approach challenges the importance of content and assumes that engaging in (any) tasks will develop in the learner the capability of applying the processes needed for the completion of such tasks in different contexts later (Breen op. cit.). This assumption, however, appears to be doubtful according to SLA research findings.
As far as product-oriented syllabuses are concerned, their advantage is that they give a definition of what the target language course aims to achieve. This attempt, especially if it is based on some sorts of needs identification, is highly advisable. The disadvantage of product-oriented syllabuses is that they identify their unit of analysis in terms of language items. We have seen, however, that breaking down language into its elements does not represent language as a whole. Therefore, product oriented syllabuses do not provide a realistic model of language as it appears when in use.
It is important to stress, that providing an opportunity for content specification does not need to mean that processes are overlooked. Within a target language course, the syllabus can (and indeed, should) be designed in line with methodological considerations. In other words, it is possible to design the syllabus so that it is in line with up-to-date information concerning the nature of language learning. At the same time, it must be seen that the syllabus is not the only instrument that can ensure that learning processes are catered for. Within the framework of course design, a methodological framework needs to operate that provides guidelines, in concert with our knowledge on language learning processes, in terms of what should be done in the classroom. As was pointed out earlier, the syllabus is nothing more than a 'schematic' abstract entity (Widdowson 1990:127), and its role is by no means to determine the methodology and the classroom activities of the course. It cannot be stressed enough, however, that content specification should be done so that it lends itself to the application of methodology that facilitates learning processes.
At this point, then, the issue is not whether to design a syllabus in which content is included, but rather how to present content so that it best promotes language acquisition. In other words, the question is what the unit of the syllabus should be.
References
Esettanulmány összefoglalók elemzése (Kiszely Zoltán)
A dolgozat célja öt a kor nyelvelsajátításban betöltött szerepéről szóló empirikus esettanulmány összefoglalójának műfaji szerkezet alapján történő összehasonlítása. Ennek során két hipotézist vizsgál a szerző: az első szerint az összefoglalók szerkezeti felépítése hasonló az esettanulmányok szerkezeti felépítéséhez, míg a második szerint az összefoglalók különböző szerkezeti egységeit ugyanazon nyelvi elemek túlsúlya jellemzi, mint az esettanulmányok különböző szerkezeti egységeit. Az öt összefoglaló elemzése mindkét feltevést igazolja.
A motiváció szerepe az idegennyelv-tanulásban (Sárdi Csilla)
A dolgozat felvázolja azokat a kulcskérdéseket és lehetséges válaszokat, amelyek az idegennyelv-tanulásban szerepet játszó motivációra vonatkoznak. Az írás első része szorosan az idegennyelv elsajátításával (second language acquisition) foglalkozó elméleti álláspontokat és kutatási eredményeket tekinti át. A második részben a neveléspszichológián és a kognitív pszichológián belül kialakított álláspontok kerülnek előtérbe, mivel e tudományterületek motivációra vonatkozó elméletei és kutatási eredményeit jól fel lehet használni az idegennyelv-tanulás vonatkozásában is. A dolgozat befejező része olyan lehetséges kutatási irányokat vázol fel, amelyek a fent említett tudományterületek eddig elért eredményeiből következnek.
Nemi különbségek a nyelvhasználatban (Ferenczy Judit)
A dolgozat az elmúlt huszonöt év angolszász szakirodalmát tekinti át a nyelvhasználat nemi különbségeinek témájában. A kutatások első, úgynevezett 'mennyiségi' fázisa hangtani, alaktani és mondattani szempontú volt, és alig lépett túl a nyelvi adatok rögzítésén. A későbbi 'minőségi' hozzáállás inkább lexikai és diskurzus-beállítottságú volt, és többféle elméletet is eredményezett: a 'hiányosság elméletet', amely szerint a nők patriarchális társadalmainkban bizonytalan nyelvhasználatra kényszerülnek, a 'dominancia elméletet', amelynek megfelelően a nyugati társadalmak nyelvi valóságát a középosztálybeli fehérbőrű férfiak uralják, valamint a 'különbség elméletet', amely a nyelvi viselkedésmódokban fellelhető nemek közti eltéréseket a különböző szubkultúrákba való tartozásnak tulajdonítja. A nyelvtudomány mai álláspontja szerint egyik modell sem alkalmas önmagában a valóság teljes leírására.
Shakespeare és a modern üzletember (Keith Hardwick)
A dolgozat összeköti az angol nyelvtanítás két, egymástól meglehetősen távol eső aspektusát: az üzleti angolt és az angol irodalmat. Teszi ezt azért, hogy megmutassa, hogyan nyújt Shakespeare útmutatást abban, hogy a XX. század végi üzleti vállalkozások meg tudjanak felelni a kor kihívásainak. Az írás arra hívja fel figyelmünket, hogy téves az a korunkra oly jellemző felfogás, miszerint a jelenkor üzletemberének nincs mit tanulnia régen élt sorstársaitól. Machbeth és Othello az a két Shakespeare mű, amelynek szövegrészletei az érvek alátámasztására szolgálnak.
Ami egy idegennyelvi tanmenetből nem hiányozhat (Sárdi Csilla)
A tanulmány azt a sokak által felvetett, és sokféleképpen megválaszolt kérdést vizsgálja meg közelebbről, hogy milyen szerepet játszik a tanmenet a nyelvtanulás-nyelvtanítás folyamatában. A vizsgálódás során kiderül, hogy a kérdésre csak úgy adható érdemi válasz, ha a tanmenetet nem önmagában, hanem a nyelvi kurzus során alkalmazott módszertani kerethez viszonyítva vizsgáljuk. Először definiáljuk, mit értünk tanmeneten és módszertani kereten, majd megtárgyaljuk ezek egymáshoz való viszonyát és szerepüket a kurzustervezés egészén belül. Áttekintjük az 'eredménycentrikus' és a 'folyamatcentrikus' tanmeneteket, és megállapítjuk, hogy mindkét csoportnak vannak előnyös és hátrányos tulajdonságai. A dolgozat egy logikus javaslattal zárul: a tanmenetek tervezése során érdemes arra törekedni, hogy a két kategória szintézisével mindkettő előnyös tulajdonságait fel tudjuk használni, míg a hátrányos tulajdonságokat figyelmen kívül hagyjuk.
Ferenczy Judit teaches Linguistics for teacher trainees, and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) for students who do not major in English at Kodolányi University College. Currently she is undertaking a Ph.D course in Linguistics at ELTE, Budapest. Her specific interest area is cognitive approaches to language use.
Keith Hardwick works for the Department of English in Kodolányi University College. He is involved both in pre-service EFL teacher education and service English courses, teaching British Drama and Business English.
Kiszely Zoltán teaches Academic Reading and Writing Skills as well as EFL for teacher trainees and for practising teachers who attend postgradual training courses offered by Kodolányi University College. He is also a Ph.D student in Applied Linguistics at JPTE, Pécs. He is interested in Language 2 Writing.
Sárdi Csilla is involved in teaching Methodology and EFL in the pre-service EFL teacher training programme of Kodolányi University College. She has recently defended her Ph.D thesis at the University of Portsmouth UK. Her topic is needs based course design.