Suggestions for Researchers

From the conclusions of this study, we can learn that the local classroom context—the social, cultural, historical, curricular, pedagogical, interactional, and interpersonal context—is inseparable from learners’ participation. This finding has

significance for research. That is, research into learners’ participation should seriously consider the classroom context in which they participate. This view coincides with Springer and Collins’ study (2008), explaining the critical role of

classroom context in second language learning. They discussed how a language

classroom influences language learning by remarking that,

When adults arrive in a community where the dominant language differs from the one(s) they speak, language classes often constitute the first sustained contact with the new society. These classes may play an important role in the newcomer’s integration into the host community, and the adults who attend them arrive with a number of expectations (p. 40).

Therefore, a de-contextualized account without considering the actual classroom context cannot reflect the situated nature of participation. As Morita (2004) indicated, by closely probing the students’ visions and experiences within the classroom, a study can show “how the classroom can be an important locus where learners negotiate their roles and positions in various levels of the academic communities that surround them” (p. 577). The results of this study point to the value of research that looks closely into individual learners’ actions, intentions, performance, and perspectives, as well as the contents in which they participate.

Such an inquiry within the corresponding classroom contexts, therefore, reveals various possibilities and further interpretations rather than just viewing participants’

classroom behavior as a simple reaction.

6.2.2 Suggestions for Constructing a Theme-based Language Course

Initially, the concern of consistency in language course construction should be considered. In terms of oral activities, as reflected by several participants in this study, there is a huge gap between senior high school English courses, freshman English, and this theme-based language class. As the first questionnaire showed, only a very few students had experience or similar training in delivering English AOPs in senior high school. Among those who had done AOPs before, they had

only done so one or two times (except Mark who experienced a different learning route from his Taiwanese counterparts). Additionally, with the large number of students in their freshman English class, containing about fifty students, many students actually avoided oral practice opportunities intended by the instructor; that is, students can hide in a big-size class by being silent. However, when they become sophomores and it is compulsory to take this theme-based language class, they are required to perform two individually-based forty-to-fifty-minute oral presentations and lead whole-class discussions. Needless to say, they were not ready to undertake the oral task and their anxiety, frustration, and disorientation was expected.

Therefore, it is advised that a more detailed design to re-construct a smooth and reasonable consistency to bridge language courses at different stages should be seriously examined.

Second, as mentioned in the opening chapter of this dissertation, differing from traditionally recognized content-based courses in an ESL context, this class is defined as a theme-based language course. Under this presumption, then, how extended does the discipline knowledge of medical content have to be in a language class?

This question might be one of the biggest concerns when an institution in Taiwan is considering the possibility of constructing English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses. Many language instructors doubt the feasibility of constructing such a language course since they are not equipped with discipline-specific content knowledge. Language instructors are uncertain about how much they can contribute in such a scenario where they may confront many unexpected challenges beyond language learning. It seems that the typically recognized educational status of teachers in Taiwanese culture is very likely to be overturned in such a theme-based language class.

Through the findings of this study, however, we have recognized that first, the classroom interactional feature of such a theme-based course is not fixed as an expert versus novice relationship; rather, the exchange of expertise across multiple fields creates a dynamic, interactive, and negotiable relation among all participants who engage in the classroom, of which students appreciate much. This broader level of social/cultural relationship may help release instructors from the worry of failing to provide relevant content knowledge in such a setting.

Second, in order to avoid ‘building castles in the air,’ the course construction should critically examine practical physical conditions and actual student needs.

Taking this class as an example, on the one hand, through the instructor’s observations and previous teaching experience, she believed even though most medical majors are at least upper-intermediate learners and highly motivated ones who are capable of learning independently, the group of students still needed her facilitation through her lectures and demonstrations. However, on the other hand, based on student participants’ reflections in interviews, we came to realize that the teacher’s demonstration was not as attainable as the ones completed by fellow students.

Obviously, the discrepancy between the teachers’ viewpoints and students’ actual needs demonstrates a huge tangible gap in the class. Although the course was launched with a positive intent, and eventually received positive feedback from students, a more definitive plan and a better understanding of the learners’ practical needs may definitely enable a more consistent, smooth, and effective development of their language study. Therefore, course designers are advised to take into account students’ previous learning experiences, assumptions, and expectations, particularly since these may clash with those perceived by the teachers.

6.2.3 Suggestions for Teaching

Even though generalization is not the intention of the present study, given its

scope and nature, some useful pedagogical implications can nevertheless be derived from it. This study has implications for pedagogy in three respects. In the first place, it is without doubt that instructors should yield more opportunities for oral practice, but what we should be concerned with more is about how and in which way.

In particular, it seems likely that academic manners in delivering oral presentations are not tangible enough for teaching and learning. As Weissberg (1993) noted, students cannot pick up such knowledge automatically. However, teaching speaking etiquette (e.g., participation in Q & A discussions) or strategies of academic talks (e.g., using pictures to introduce vocabulary) is often excluded in syllabus design and formal instruction. Therefore, teachers cannot just overwhelmingly believe in the benefit of independent study and leave students alone to achieve certain goals without providing guidance, even though the students in this study are regarded as very motivated and advanced language learners.

The first suggestion is to facilitate students to better prepare their presentation.

All students’ reflections indicated that scaffolding from the instructor, for example previewing their handouts or PPT slides and clarification of meaning in presentations, indeed encouraged them to be more willing to participate in discussions, for both presenters and audience members. By using such strategies as explicit guidance or scaffolding, presenters as well as audience comprehension in discussions will in turn help learners’ engagement in oral activities. Within the LPP framework (see Chapter 2), these strategies increase transparency—“a way of organizing activities that makes their meaning visible” (Lave & Wenger, 1991, p. 105). Strategies may include explicit instruction of the recognized academic speaking manners which are unfamiliar to EFL students.

In this case, data show that students depended heavily on the instructor’s conferencing to help them prepare an oral presentation task. In brief, it is important

for EFL teachers in Taiwan to incorporate teacher-student one-on-one conferencing with other classroom activities in oral instruction, providing scaffolding for their students whenever possible during the process of their oral performance. And so conferencing should be used as an integral part of EFL oral classrooms. It is expected the findings in this study will help English language teachers in Taiwan provide an efficient EFL oral pedagogy which directly supports students in their learning—especially when the course is concerning oral academic presentations.

Yet, given that conducting oral conferencing may consume considerable amounts of time and require good interaction skills (see similar argument in writing instruction, Hyland, 2003), we shall incorporate some characteristics in the present study to construct an effective conferencing. First, quick email replies may require only a few minutes, but it significantly sets students’ minds at ease. Second, with strong awareness of learners’ development, a teacher can provide short, quick, but effective feedback or suggestions to learners. Finally, an effective conferencing does not always require large amounts of time. An experienced, perceptive teacher can provide great help in just a few minutes by making the right suggestions or asking the right questions. Also, effective conferencing takes close observation and careful listening, which can increase a teacher’s access to students.

The second method to approach academic interactional features of delivering oral presentations and class discussions is to video record students’ performance, invite them to watch it, and have a subsequent discussion. Following this format would allow the instructor sufficient time to provide instruction without worrying about interrupting presentations. Also, learners would be given more opportunities to check their comprehension and be more aware of certain communication features, such as turn-taking, interjecting at the right moment to interrupt or continue a topic, using body language appropriately, or employing strategies to create an active

discussion atmosphere. If possible, the instructor can provide authentic presentations done by English native speakers in academic communities to demonstrate what the form should be like, in which step-by-step tangible guidance should not be taken for granted by thinking that students can learn academic etiquette simultaneously. Based on the reflections provided by the student participants, appreciation of the step-by-step instruction which helped them visualize the expected performance was reported, which also offered them easier entry into the academic community. The participants’ reflections also indicated that for students in the medical field, context-specific English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses seem to be particularly desirable and useful.

If video recording students’ performance is not feasible in the classroom, writing self-reflection forms continuously is alternative. Through on-going reflections, learners record what and how they experienced the oral event so that they will not simply forget. Rather, by recalling and writing it down, learners will become more aware of their actions and incorporate this learning into their next oral performance. However, again, a well-planned guideline of questions in a self-report form should be offered. Exploring thoughts, feelings, and experiences without any guidance would run the risk of leading students nowhere and reflecting on trivial matters.

The third feasible suggestion is to encourage students to investigate authentic language use of a target community. We should recognize the teacher’s weaknesses (but she has her advantages though) and make use of supplementary materials (e.g., DVDs produced by native speakers) to introduce the target form which help students to observe and emulate. Take the students in this study as an example. Teachers can design some guidance/indexes for learners to investigate genre-specific patterns in medical presentations, so student awareness of authentic language use can be trained.

For example, what are the actual strategies that doctors-in-practice employ in their presentations? What are the procedures they follow to finish a medical presentation?

What visual aids do they use in presentations? What characteristics do audiences recognize as being part of good oral presentations? Such awareness and observation ability should be incorporated into university classrooms so that students can be independent observers and learners in their future careers.

Finally, as reported by several participants, questions brought up by presenters definitely influenced the classroom discussion atmosphere. However, the tactics to design questions were not discussed in Ann’s lectures or the textbook. In some cases, the problem was not because students were poor questioners, but because of their lack of strong foundations (e.g., their content knowledge and/or life experiences) upon which to build better questions to create an engaging environment for discussions.

Therefore, before the formal presentation, presenters should be ready to ask better questions by working with teachers to, for example, awaken and/or build robust prior knowledge before developing questions. Since discussion questions dominate the Q

& A session, creating debatable and engaging questions should be critically considered and carefully designed. Discussion questions should avoid closed-ended questions which are easy to code and quick to answer (e.g., yes/no questions); instead, more open-ended questions should be taken into account (e.g., opinion questions which involve different views and take more cognitive demand to activate prior knowledge). Since students cannot pick up these strategies automatically, as shown in the data, guidance and analysis of discussion questions by the instructor before the formal presentation is therefore essential for students, and provides a secure base to enhance confidence. On the other hand, how to handle questions is another must-learn strategy for presenters. On several occasions of my observations, students were ill-prepared when they encountered unexpected reflections from the

audience. Most of time, the instructor ‘rescued’ the presenters, but in a real presentation event, presenters are not always lucky to have a backup person. To conclude, how to ask questions and how to deal with questions are essential, but often neglected abilities for the presenter to learn.

In this dissertation, many of the challenges and voices connected with academic oral discourse socialization were shared and outlined, although examined here for medical students specifically, they might also apply to students from other disciplines as well as to some course designers and instructors who are involved in theme-based teaching in their own classrooms. It is also hoped that these recommendations can be kept in mind by those who strive to find ways to improve our pedagogy in teaching oral academic discourse and to contribute positively to the English study experiences of their students.

In terms of language use, the instructor plays her role as an expert, by giving comments or suggestions to help students deliver their presentations effectively.

However, when it comes to the content of an assigned reading, the presenter usually is the person who knows the content best; at this moment, the instructor becomes a novice in medical field so she can hardly provide responses to the presentation. As moving forward to the Q & A session, peers need to step out of their normal role, shifting from the role as an audience to be an active contributor to share their thoughts and ideas; they may not be experts, but they are major vocal contributors in this session while sometimes they are also knowledgeable in engaging discussions. Such a contribution also represents the social and collaborative nature of an oral presentation task in the situated classroom. Therefore, this interaction process demonstrates the fact that the interaction among the instructor, presenters, and student audience was not deterministic, but changing and transforming dependent upon different moments and discussed content.

6.3 Limitations and Directions for Future Research 6.3.1 Limitations

Most likely, all participant students had to negotiate their entrance to the new academic community through engaging in oral presentation tasks. However, one perspective that could be argued is that representation in this study comprised just one slice of the complex existing phenomena, where additional interpretations could be derived from and thereby enhance the results.

In the L2 socialization framework, one still remaining problem is how to document and evaluate the outcomes of L2 disciplinary socialization and not just experiences or processes of socialization. The difficulty here lies in determining what counts as a related outcome or as evidence of socialization (Morita & Kobayashi, 2008). It is true that relevant outcomes are unique to each individual, according to every learner’s personal goals or the pedagogical goals set by the institution. In the present study, the outcomes of socialization are not quantified with specific linguistic gains; instead, all intended and unintended results were analyzed and triangulated to depict participants’ interactions within the situated context, especially the viewpoints from student participants. By closely examining the multiple personal networks of social activities surrounding the learning context both on campus and in class, it is helpful to provide concrete explanations of the students’ socialization process.

However, in terms of their socialization outcomes, this lies beyond the scope of the present study. From the results of the investigation of learners’ background, all participants showed their strong ambitions and urgent needs to improve oral competence at the beginning of the term. At the end of the semester, they also voiced satisfactory remarks in their overall development of knowing how to deliver oral presentations and be involved in discussions. But this study did not examine was how far they have come in cognitive, linguistic, and sociocultural aspects. This

perspective, therefore, merits further consideration in future studies of L2 socialization theory.

As for data collection methods, two retrospections are made. Firstly, the instructor’s role as a language facilitator in conferencing has been discussed, but her mentoring practice (i.e., her consulting work with students) should be allotted more consideration, given the rewarding feedback from the focal students. Accordingly, more opportunities or reflections for Ann to discuss issues from her perspective when she was situated in the classroom should have been performed. Prior to the commencement of this study, more consideration of the data collection techniques and increased sensitivity of mismatched viewpoints from participants may have been needed, which in turn, could have provided even further refinements of the study.

The second retrospection is related to recording employed strategies across different time phases. Originally, the various strategies employed by participants were not planned for inclusion when designing this study. However, when I was observing, I found participants actually used different strategies to make their presentations or discussions more effective. But unfortunately, when the realization came, it was impossible to go back to the scene and record the appropriate timing when they were using certain strategies. Therefore, in this study, it could not be concluded whether they used different strategies when they became more seasoned presenters in their second oral presentations or when they gained more awareness of the various kinds of strategies at their disposal.

6.3.2 Directions for Future Research

It was beyond the scope of this study to explore in greater detail the following relevant issues.

First, this study focused on oral academic discourse socialization with less attention paid to written academic discourse socialization or the connections between

these two notions. Future investigations could also examine how students’

opportunities for and engagement in other forms of oral production (e.g., informal conversation, conversation practice with peers and their instructors) may impact their academic oral socialization and vice versa.

Second, it would also be valuable to examine the same learners’ participation in multiple contexts. For example, a text analysis can be implemented to compare and contrast how presenters prepare and perform Chinese and English oral presentations, respectively. They may represent various results in cognitive, affective, linguistic, or pragmatic perspectives.

Third, future studies may go further to investigate how the EFL student

Third, future studies may go further to investigate how the EFL student