Attention Encoding
Retrieval
Input Sensory Memory
STM LTM
From Guey’s (2000) viewpoint, the lasting time of sensory memory is between half to two seconds and the lasting time of STM is less than thirty seconds while LTM could last forever. Encoding, the process of transforming input into memory storage, could play a crucial role in determining the lasting time. On the other hand, the encoding process in LTM is mainly semantic code. As for the storage, unlike the unlimited storage capacity of LTM, STM has quite limited space, which usually contains chunks of “magic number seven, plus or minus two” (p.159). That could explain the reason why the longer the word is, the more difficult it can be learned.
In addition, when learning new information, most forgetting occurs soon after the end of the learning session (Schmitt, 2000). Thus, Schmitt further advocated the principle of “expanding rehearsal,” (p.130) which suggests that learners review new material soon after the initial meeting and then at gradually increasing intervals. By the same token, Lotto and DeGroot (1998) also emphasized the influence of the
retrieval in language learning pointing out that “fluent use of an L2 not only requires that the L2 words be known, but also that they can be accessed and retrieved rapidly from memory. If not, working memory will be continuously overloaded and L2 processing will suffer many breakdowns (p.4).” Guey (2000) also illustrated the positive correlation between the number of items in STM and the time of retrieval (p.162). This echoes the reason of Taiwanese students’ heavy learning load resulted from vocabulary learning given by Huang, T. L. (2001, p.449).
For Taiwanese high school students, as EFL learners, they might face various kinds of learning obstacles due to both the intralexical and extralexical factors.
Therefore, it might not only be the teachers’ job to help the students by adopting helpful teaching methods and strategies, but also the policy-makers and publishers’
responsibility to design suitable textbooks to reduce the learning burden and to enhance language learning.
2.4 Vocabulary and EFL Textbooks
The educational and pedagogical functions of textbooks is unquestionable. The teaching materials, particularly textbooks or coursebooks, could not only affect teachers’ instruction in class but also assist learners’ study either inside or outside of the classroom (Chen, 2000). Therefore, the section will further explore the important role of textbooks in language teaching and learning and then explain the possible criteria for textbook selection and evaluation. Specifically, the relationship between vocabulary and textbooks will be covered.
2.4.1 The Importance of Textbooks in EFL Teaching and Learning
Teaching materials are usually considered more prominent than many other elements in the curriculum and teaching-learning process. Particularly, Davison (1976) considered textbooks as the second most important factor, merely next to teachers, in
EFL classrooms. Moreover, from Young and Reigeluth’s (1988) observation, as much as 90% to 95% of classroom time was spent on the interaction with textbooks (Cited in Chang, 2002, p.35). One of the reasons accounting for why textbooks take such a decisive position could be well-manifested by van Lier’s (1996) analogy: “a handrail on steep climb” (p.208). In language classrooms, the textbook is an important and tangible object that could provide stability for students and guidance as well as support for teachers. In the same manner, Hutchinson and Torres (1994) also explained the positive viewpoints on using textbooks in both learners and teachers’
eyes.
“…learners cite ‘content’ as their main reason for wanting a published textbook.
Learners see the textbook as a ‘framework’ or ‘guide’ that helps them to organize their learning both inside and outside the classroom—during discussions in lessons, while doing activities and exercises, studying on their own, doing
homework, and preparing for tests. It enables them to learn ‘better, faster, clearer, easier, more.
Teachers see managing their lessons as their greatest need. Most of their responses center around the facilitating role of the textbook: it ‘saves time, gives direction to lessons, guides discussion, facilitates giving the homework,’ making teaching
‘easier, better organized, more convenient,’ and learning ‘easier, faster, better.’
Most of all, the textbook provides confidence and security. (p.318)”
Furthermore, Westbury (1990) reviewed eighteen studies examining the
relationship between textbooks and learners’ achievement and figured out that fifteen of them exhibited a positive relationship. The reason might result in the sense of security offered by textbooks as a tangible object for learners to preview, to review, and to prepare for tests (Chen, 2000). As for teachers, the textbooks could be “the most significant resource for their teaching and have along served not only to support instruction but also to symbolized instruction” (Huang, 1999, p.9).
In sum, since the textbooks play a prominent role in defining curriculum, they sure influence the major part of teachers’ instruction and students’ learning (Rivers,
1981, cited in Chen, 2000, p10), and therefore, are worth special attention.
2.4.2 Textbook Selection and Evaluation
Based on the reformation of education in Taiwan since 1994, the liberation of textbooks has been implemented formally in senior high schools since 1999 and temporarily in junior high schools since 2000. From the opening of the textbook markets, after the coursebooks are well-designed by editors and publishers by private companies, the procedure of English textbooks selection in Taiwan can be divided into two parts: the licensing of the textbook by the MOE and the selection of the English textbook in each individual school (Shih, 2000). Without the centralized versions published by the National Institute for Compilation and Translation, not only the government, but also the publishers and teachers all shoulder the great
responsibility to evaluate and then select the best suitable teaching materials meeting their students’ needs.
2.4.2.1 The Obligation of Publishers and Authorities
In addition to the new policy, the use of commercial textbooks has been widespread in EFL learning for the following reasons:
(1) There are time and cost benefits to teachers and schools in the use of commercial materials.
(2) Improvement in the quality of teaching will come about through the use of instructional materials that are based on findings of current theory and research.
(3) Good teaching will then result from the use of scientifically based textbooks developed by experts. (Richards, 1998, p.128)
In fact, due to the heavy work load and the limit of resources and budgets, most teachers would adopt commercial textbooks, if a centralized set is not available, instead of making teaching materials all by themselves. Richards, Tung, and Ng’s (1992) study on the ESL teachers in Hong Kong secondary schools showed that only
28% of the teachers made a significant use of exercises and material that they prepared by themselves. Similarly, Tseng (1999) pursued a research on elementary school teachers in Taiwan and found that 75% of the teachers were not willing to create their own English teaching materials. His main reasons accounting for the lack of willingness are:
(1) The teachers had too heavy pressure on teaching so that they did not have extra energy for producing the teaching materials.
(2) Except for teaching students, the teachers almost had no time for compiling teaching materials. If they were asked to do so, they felt they were under great pressure.
(3) The commercial materials were already of great variety, and the teachers thought it was not necessary for them to produce their own materials.
(4) The teachers were afraid that self-made materials would not be as exquisite as the commercial textbooks.
(5) The teachers thought that they were not professional enough to do the job of compilation. (p.16)
In addition to the “practical factors” referring to time and cost, there are some
“ideological factors” for the popularity and prominence of commercial textbooks (Richards, 1993). First, publishers can bring new theories and approaches to teachers by setting up writing teams to compile materials based on currently approved
pedagogical models (Richards, 1993, p.4). The commercial materials could be compiled in a more systematic way and follow and sequential play, so the chance for the so-called “gaps in learning” could be reduced (Shannon, 1987). Similarly,
Hutchinson and Torres (1994) pointed out that textbooks could help, especially in times of educational change, by introducing changes gradually within a structured framework enabling teaching and learning to develop in harmony with the
introduction of new ideas.
Because of the teachers’ dependence on the commercial textbooks, the publishers and their editing experts should take it seriously the dominant role of textbooks in language teaching. Besides, the MOE should take the responsibility to examine if the textbooks meet the curriculum standards and the compilation requirements. A
textbook could be considered qualified only with the endorsement of the MOE.
2.4.2.2 The Responsibility of Teachers
Despite the expertise of the textbook writers and the censorship of the authorities, there is no perfect textbook existing but the best textbooks suiting different users (Grant, 1987). Therefore, teachers should also be responsible for textbook selection by putting their students’ individual needs into consideration. Grant (1987) further suggested to the teachers three conditions needed to be fulfilled by a so-called suitable textbook:
(1) It should suit the needs, interests, and abilities of the students.
(2) It should suit you (the teacher).
(3) It must meet the needs of official public teaching syllabuses or examination.
(p.118).
Since 1999, Taiwanese senior high school teachers have needed to figure out a procedure of textbook selection, generally by forming a textbook selection committee (Chen, C. H., 2000; Chen, C. T., 2002). Usually, the committee is mainly made up of the teachers of the subject and, in some schools, schools administrators. However, Chen (2000) stressed that “an ideal committee should even included students, parents, publishers, or experts in that subject matter, in addition to teachers” (p.15). Both Gall(1981) and Shih (2000) agreed with the formation of an ideal textbook selection while the latter further emphasized that the teachers should survey students’ needs in advance as the basis for textbook selection. In the same manner, Allwright (1978)
proposed that students’ voice should be heard on textbook selection.
In addition to the formation of the selection committee, the process of the selection could be a quite complex process than it appears to be. Chen (2000)
indicated that it was rather common to observe that the textbooks selection committee had not been offered adequate directions and sufficient time to examine textbooks properly. What is more, after reviewing some former studies, Tulley and Farr (1990) discovered that the decisions were based more on general or global impressions that upon the specific merits and demerits of the textbooks. They also described that the prevalent means used for judging the textbooks are “browsing through” or “flip test”
(i.e., textbook reviewers only flip through the textbooks without carefully examining them). They strongly opposed the mechanism of textbook selection by arguing that:
“Many school districts use all-teacher vote in selecting textbooks. While such a procedure, on the surface, seemed to be a good democratic practice…the procedure is actually flawed. Most teachers who vote have not adequately reviewed the books, they are not sure of the criteria to be used, and they have no training in examining textbooks…Selecting textbooks should not be a popularity poll; it is a professional activity that demands time and effort” (pp. 172-173).
If textbooks do play a dominant role as curriculum determinants in teaching, and if teachers are too over-loaded with teaching to compile their own teaching materials, it would be irresponsible for them to choose their coursebooks simply through the process like popularity poll.
2.4.2.3 Evaluation Principles
The selection of textbooks is indeed a much more complex and challenging task than it seems. It would reduce the pressure on the shoulders of the textbooks writers, supervisors, and users by adhering to some evaluation principles suggested by experts.
According to the overall evaluation principles suggested by Williams (1993), a good ESL textbook should:
(1) give introductory guidance on the presentation of language items and skills (GENERAL),
(2) suggest aids for the teaching of pronunciation: e.g. phonetic system (SPEECH), (3) offer meaningful situations and a variety of techniques for teaching structural
unites (GRAMMAR),
(4) distinguish the different purposes and skills involved in the teaching of vocabulary (VOCABULARY),
(5) provide guidance on the initial presentation of passages for reading comprehension (READING),
(6) demonstrate the various devices for controlling and guiding content and expression in composition exercises (WRITING), and
(7) contain appropriate pictures, diagrams, tables, etc. (TECHNICAL) (p.253).
Furthermore, textbook evaluation should not be a decision-making point but a long-term process which contains several stages. Both Grant (1987) and
Cunningsworth (1995) divided the process into three stages. The former classified it as “the initial evaluation, the detailed evaluation, and the in-use evaluation”, while the latter sorted it into “the pre-use evaluation, the in-use evaluation, and the post-use evaluation.” In spite of the difference in naming, the implications are similar. The first stage is considered the most difficult because “there is no actual experience of using the book to draw on” (Cunningsworth, 1995, p.14). The second step is applied when a newly introduced textbook is monitored to see if it should be considered for
replacement. The last phase can be helpful in deciding whether the same textbook should be used again on future occasion by providing “retrospective assessment of a coursebook’s performance and can be useful for identifying strengths and weaknesses which emerge over a period of continuous use” (Cunningsworth, 1995, p.14).
As for textbook selection, it should also be a process composed of several stages.
Based on the checklist proposed by Shih (2000) about the material selection process in the elementary schools in Taipei City, Taipei County, and Tainan City, the process can be divided into three stages. The first one is to examine carefully the sample textbooks. The investigation could be done by inviting the publishers to give an introduction of their textbooks. The second stage is the preliminary selection while the last phase is the final decision. She also suggested three detailed steps in choosing an English teaching material.
(1) The English teachers in each school should form a group in order to discuss things about their teaching materials or learn something about textbook selection from other schools.
(2) The English teachers can ask the school or the educational authorities to have a display on a variety of teaching materials. At the same time, the publishers should be invited to the spot to do a teaching demonstration so that the teachers can better understand how to use the materials.
(3) The bureau of education should provide the information about material evaluation to the English teachers as a reference when selecting a teaching material (Cited in Chen, 2002, p. 20)
In reality, different schools may have respective processes on textbook selection.
Since the textbooks market is open in Taiwan, it should be beneficial to systemize the process.
Briefly speaking, if textbooks are described and organized well enough, they are able to promote students’ learning and facilitate teachers’ instruction. Besides, by means of selection and evaluation, the weaknesses of a certain textbook can be revealed, which offers guidance for teachers foresee the instructional deficiencies in the textbooks and seek feasible supplementary materials or teaching techniques to overcome the demerits (Young & Reigeluth, 1988). As Chang (2002) put it, “a
textbook is merely a tool. Whether it is a ready tool or not, only a resourceful teacher makes the most use of it (p.37).”
2.4.3 Vocabulary in Textbooks
It has been emphasized that students’ voice and needs are so significant that they should be put into consideration during the process of textbook evaluation and
selection. According to Huang’s (1997) research, the results showed that many
Taiwanese students face difficulties in reading English textbooks and these difficulties might result from inadequate vocabulary knowledge. Thus, it is also the teachers’ duty to understand why and what the vocabulary is selected in the textbooks (Chang, 2002).
2.4.3.1 Vocabulary in Language Teaching Syllabi
In addition to the discussion on the neglect of vocabulary in previous sections, McCarthy (1984) also demonstrated that textbooks, or coursebooks, suffered from the dominance of syntax and notion/functions, at the expense of lexical development (Cited in Schmitt & McCarthy, 1997, p.261). Towards the second half of the 1980s, syllabus theorist began to direct attention to lexis, as Dubin and Olshtain (1986) described:
“Lexis has failed to receive enough attention either in older grammatical syllabuses, or in more recent communicative approaches. In fact, lay people believe that ‘knowing a language’ consists of knowing words, while modern linguistic theories have placed little emphasis on vocabulary, focusing more on structures, functions, notions and communication strategies. However, it may be the case the possessing a good vocabulary stock is what enables many learners to use their knowledge of the language effectively and in ways which fit their specific needs” (pp. 111-112).
One reason for the increase in interest in lexis in EFL can be put down to the influence of modern technology (O’Dell, 1997). The development of huge computer
corpora of language data allows linguist to make “a far more detailed, extensive and objective study of how language is actually used than was ever the case previously”
(p. 261). For syllabus designers, these large corpora have provided two tools: better word frequency lists and broader data for concordancers. The former allows more confident decisions on which frequency vocabulary to include and the latter provides an easy overview of how any word is “used” in practice, sometimes in ways different from our intuitions. O’Dell (1997) further explained that an increasing tendency to give pride of place in EFL syllabuses to lexis, rather than grammar notions or function, was due to the clear wish of language planners and teachers to share such information with their learners.
2.4.3.2 The Criteria for Lexical Selection in Textbooks
Lewis (1993) advocated that lexis should play a much more prominent role in planning any syllabus. For many teachers, the coursebook itself determines the syllabus (O’Dell, 1997). Therefore, based on the discussion in previous sections, the teachers’ best, if not the only, control over vocabulary to teach is through the textbook selection with a clear understanding of how vocabulary in textbooks is designed (Chang, 2002).
The well-known “I+1 Comprehensible Input Hypothesis” by Krashen (1982) pinpoints that ideal EFL reading materials should be comprehensive and a little beyond readers’ current level of competence. Applying this to lexical selection in textbooks, vocabulary should match students’ ability and learning experiences with reasonable amount, order, and repetitions.
For the issue of the amount of new words in a text, Freebody and Anderson (1983) proposed that the maximum was 15% of the words. In addition, an acceptable textbook should be presented in a context facilitating guessability. From
Cunningsworth’s (1995) point of view, corresponding to Nation’s (2001)
“probabilistic threshold,” the number of new words in a text should be less than 5%
of the total so that students could have a reasonable learning load and sufficient familiar words for the comprehension of new words.
However, the learning of a large amount of words was not the center of lexical syllabus. From the viewpoint of the vocabulary introduction order, Gower et al. (1995) interpreted lexical syllabus: the easy words before the difficult, the concrete before the abstract, the most frequent before the uncommon, and the most generative before those in a more restricted use (p.145). Thus, lexical syllabus should focus on full and extended use of old words (Chang, 2002).
As for repetitions, Nation (1990) promoted the importance of “the density index of textbooks” in readability. In accordance with his definition, “the density index of a passage or a lesson or a book is the proportion of different words to the total number
As for repetitions, Nation (1990) promoted the importance of “the density index of textbooks” in readability. In accordance with his definition, “the density index of a passage or a lesson or a book is the proportion of different words to the total number