Case II: Teacher B
Belief 4: Broadening the students’ horizons of knowing foreign cultural values
Teacher B would like to broaden the students’ horizons of knowing foreign cultural values and activities in her writing classes. She mentioned, “Language is more than just structure. It is a lot about culture.” (Interview III, July 22nd, 2009). Due to her familiarity with the culture of the target language, Teacher B regarded herself as an information source of the values and activities in an English language culture. For example, she thought plagiarism was a very important issue that Taiwanese education did not emphasize very much. She indicated,
I think that students in Taiwan tend to plagiarize easily. They think it is OK; it is fine, but it is not. Therefore, I think they must know that if they do this when they study abroad, they will get fired. (Interview II, May 19th, 2009).
By emphasizing the importance of not plagiarizing, Teacher B tended to deliver her cultural value, which was also the target language cultural value, to the students.
Also, she understood that there were cultural differences existing between native speakers and non-native speakers. However, her attitude towards her past teaching experiences showed her persistence in maintaining such belief. In the first semester she taught writing courses at the language center, she conducted peer review in class. The reason she asked students to do peer review could be traced back to her learning experiences. She recalled, “We used to frequently do peer review [in writing classes in foreign countries], and we knew what to expect. We all knew what peer review was for.” (Interview I, March 23rd, 2009). Based on her learning experiences, she also wanted her students to do peer review.
However, it turned out the students did not know what to do. She found out a cultural problem that the students were too modest to provide their opinions. “That was unlike the situations when we were in America. Because all the students were native speakers, we are quite straight-forward to each other.” (Interview I, March 23rd, 2009). Facing such a situation, instead of giving up the activity, she tried to provide more specific instructions to help the peer review process carry on. According to Teacher B, she thought that at least her students were able to communicate with one another about their ideas in the peer review activities, regardless of how much they commented on their peers’ writing. Therefore, knowing and experiencing the benefits of peer review brought by her past learning experiences in foreign countries, she still wanted to let her students experience such culture in her writing
classrooms.
In addition, because Teacher B did not have much contact with the Taiwanese
educational system and culture, she had her own interpretations towards Taiwanese students.
First, she thought the reason why students in public universities averagely had higher English proficiency was that “they receive a longer period of English training.” (Interview I, March 23rd, 2009).
Second, she perceived, “Taiwanese students think grammar is very difficult because they do not know what those grammar rules are for.” (Interview I, March 23rd, 2009). This
interpretation seemed to motivate her to put more emphasis on her grammar teaching.
Teacher B wanted to guide her students to learn grammar in a “systematic” way and to let them not fear about grammar.
These interpretations resulted from unfamiliarity with Taiwanese educational system and culture showed the cultural differences between her and her students. Such cultural
differences allowed her to deliver the target language culture to the students since they did not know the culture. Also, it affected her perceptions of students’ learning, such as what they had learned before and how to establish a link from what they had learned to what they were
supposed to learn in the writing courses.
Teacher B’s Teaching Practices in the English Writing Courses Teaching goals in her writing courses
As shown in her course syllabi, the teaching goals she set for the writing courses were: 1) to help students improve their writing abilities in academic or practical genres, 2) to help students improve their grammatical knowledge, and 3) to increase students’ other language skills and motivation to learn English.
Course structure
Because of the focus on both grammar and writing, these two elements were quite obvious in Teacher B’s writing courses. The two-hour lessons each week were divided into two parts. The students were required to have two textbooks: one was for their writing techniques, and the other was the grammar book written by Teacher B. Throughout the semester, the first hours focused on the knowledge and techniques of English writing, while the second hours were mainly grammar lessons. This arrangement echoed her beliefs about the students’ inadequate grammatical knowledge and their needs to learn English writing to achieve the teaching goals.
Interestingly, it was found that Teacher B’s two writing courses were very similar both in the syllabus structure and in learning contents. In Practical English Writing, she used a
textbook named An Introduction to Academic Writing, which was a simpler version of the same series as the textbook used in Academic Writing I. Based on her own perception, the so-called “practical writing” consisted of all kinds of different practical genres and academic writing. Consequently, the students in the two writing courses both had one hour
academic-like writing class, and one hour grammar class. The two classes were found to be nearly identical. In Practical English Writing, she then added some practical genres, such as
cover letter, resume, and autobiography. According to Teacher B, she mentioned that the most distinctive differences between the two were the assignments that she gave to the students.
(Interview I, March 23rd, 2009).
However, the two writing courses were offered to different groups of students. Her Practical English Writing was offered for undergraduates, while Academic Writing I was for graduate students. In addition, based on the original rationale of the writing courses, the goals of the two courses were supposed to be different. Practical English Writing should focus on practical writing genres which might be encountered in daily life, such as emails or resumes.
On the other hand, Academic Writing I should focus on academic writing such as research papers or technical reports. Therefore, it was quite interesting to know why Teacher B’s two writing courses were quite similar. As Teacher B claimed,
After the first time I taught the two courses, I found that students’ language proficiency in the two courses was at the similar level. Students in Academic Writing I were not found to perform significantly better than those in Practical English Writing. (Interview II, May 19th, 2009).
Since she did not sense many differences between the two, she thought that the learning needs of the two groups of students should be the same. Furthermore, as she mentioned,
“Because their proficiency level are very similar, you may find that the ways I teach the students are almost the same.” (Interview II, May 19th, 2009).
Additionally, she provided another reason why the two courses were similar. She mentioned that they used the same grammar textbook, and the writing textbooks were in the same series. Therefore, it seemed unavoidably these two courses looked similar.
Because the two [writing] textbooks are from the same publisher, they resemble each other very much. So, you may find the content of the two overlapping. Maybe it is also OK for the [graduate] students, for they still do not learn those [grammar rules very well]. Therefore, I do not think students in Academic Writing I should be taught differently. (Interview II, May 19th, 2009).
Based on the above reasons, the two courses had the same course structure, which reflected her belief about the importance of grammar in English writing courses.
Activities and techniques
In addition to the course structure, there were various activities and techniques exploited in both of her writing courses. First, she adopted peer review activity to let students exchange ideas about their writings. In the peer review activity, students were asked to comment on their peers’ writings based on the guidelines or instructions given by Teacher B. She claimed that this activity could not only encourage students to discuss writing problems but also reduce the laboring jobs of correcting students’ grammatical mistakes. As a consequence, students had more chances to interact with others by implementing such activity.
Second, while having the students do the exercises on the textbooks, she usually
required them to do group work. Moreover, she announced that members of the fastest group finishing doing the exercise, sharing their answers with the whole class, and getting all the correct answers could get “a happy face” marked on Teacher B’s evaluation sheets. A happy face meant an extra credit given to the students. In this way, she tended to arouse students to actively participate in the activities by offering extra credits as rewards.
Third, during the group discussion time, she played music to create some sounds in the classroom to encourage the students to say something. The music she played in the discussion time was jazz or lounge music. As she stated,
When I play music [during group discussion], they may think that they can not be heard.
And then, they will speak louder. They have to be louder than the music, so they can hear one another. That is the real conversation, not just some whispering. … Another advantage is that each song has its own length. I can choose which song to play based on how long I let the students discuss. Therefore, my time control can be more precise.
(Interview I, March 23rd, 2009).
According to her, in this way, not only could she activate the interactive class atmosphere but also she could use music to manage her time in her writing classrooms.
Fourth, especially in the first hours of teaching writing techniques, Teacher B lectured in English in her writing courses most of the time. She thought that since the students were learning a language, they should use it as much as possible. Therefore, she chose to speak English to provide more listening input. Also, she encouraged her students to speak English in their group discussion. She would rather explain in English first and translate in Mandarin Chinese than directly use Chinese to speed up the teaching process. In this manner, her students’ other language skills could be simultaneously trained in her writing courses.
Fifth, she also introduced the things she encountered in her past learning experiences in foreign countries for her students. She played the spelling bee contest videos to the students and taught them the American Psychological Association (APA) style. According to Teacher B, playing the spelling bee contest videos to the students was to make them laugh and let them know that there were still some native speakers struggling for learning English, since many students did not know this contest. Hence, although the spelling bee contest videos were somewhat related to the grammar topic, nouns, it was more likely to serve as a tool to motivate her students to learn English. As for teaching the APA style, it was due to her emphasis on not plagiarizing. Therefore, she taught that it was necessary to teach them how to quote others’ words and list the references.
Sixth, Teacher B frequently required the students to make sentences based on the taught grammatical topics as exercises. When the students share their sentences with the whole class,
Teacher B typed the sentences in a blank Word file. She checked if the sentences were grammatical and even modified the sentences for the students. From this activity, she might know whether the students had learned to apply the grammar rules, and she would provide explanations for her modifications if students had any problems with them. Additionally, there were more teacher-student interactions produced in this activity.
The activities and techniques utilized by Teacher B were found to reflect her teaching beliefs. First, the peer review, group work in exercises, sentences making based on
grammatical topics, spelling bee contest videos, and music played in group discussion
showed her intentions to create more chances for students to interact with her and their peers.
Also, these practices offered more relaxing and interesting elements in her writing, which closely corresponded to her belief about creating an interesting and interactive class atmosphere.
Second, activities and techniques that Teacher B experienced in her past learning in foreign countries, including doing peer review, playing spelling bee contest videos, and teaching the APA sytle, were found to be related to the beliefs about broadening students’
horizons of knowing foreign cultural values and activities. Because the students had
relatively few experiences with these activities and techniques, Teacher B took advantage of the writing courses to introduce these to them. Moreover, echoing with her course structure design, she tended to provide as much as English input for the students to improve their all kinds of English abilities. This also reflected her belief about teaching English as a whole.
Assessments
One of the special assessments found in Teacher B’s writing classrooms was the
midterm exam. The midterm exam of Teacher B’s two writing courses was a grammar test on the grammatical topics she had taught to the students. According to Teacher B, “Regarding the assessment of students’ writing, I think there is no need to give them tests to evaluate a
technical skill [like writing]. I can examine that by giving them [writing] assignments. … Therefore, in the midterm, I do not test them on writing styles or techniques.” (Interview II, May 19th, 2009). Teacher B mentioned that writing could not be tested by asking students to accomplish a writing task within a short period of time. Since she thought that writing could not be tested in a short period of time, she could have cancelled the midterm exam. However, she still tended to stress the importance of English grammar. As a result, she decided to give her students a grammar-only midterm exam. Hence, the grammar-only midterm exam was also found to reflect her belief about the importance of grammar in English writing.
Components Interplaying within Teacher B’s Activity System
In this section, I point out the other components in Teacher B’s activity system in addition to her beliefs, teaching practices, and teaching goals. Focusing on her teaching beliefs and teaching practices, I subsequently discuss several interactive relations among the six components in the activity system. Specifically, the influences of the mediational means and contextual components (rules, community, and division of labor) are to be discussed.
Agency, mediational means, and objects
The mediational means that Teacher B utilized in the writing courses consisted of different teaching materials, tasks, and target language culture related values and activities.
As for teaching materials, she used textbooks (both writing and grammar), worksheets, PowerPoint slides, grammar video clips on the grammar website she constructed to conduct her writing courses. Moreover, she applied various tasks, including peer review activity, in-class group writing, group discussion, and sentence making. In addition to materials and tasks, she exploited extra cultural input, such as the spelling bee contest videos and the APA style, music, and language (L1 and L2).
As for the relations among the agency, the mediational means and the objects, Teacher
B’s mediational means mainly served as tools for putting her beliefs (agency) into practices to achieve the goals (objects) she set. By using various activities and teaching materials, Teacher B’s beliefs were able to be transformed into real practices. Two of the most special
mediational means used in her classroom was the APA style and the spelling bee videos.
Teacher B introduced the APA style due to her concern about plagiarism, since plagiarism was totally unacceptable in the target language cultural value. While inquired about the reasons for teaching the APA style, she indicated,
I think there seems to be a tendency that Taiwanese students easily plagiarize [others’
writings]. They think it is OK, it is fine. But it is not. Therefore, I think I have the
responsibility to let them know they will be fired if they do this in foreign countries. … Because they have to write TOEFL essays, I required them to at least use quotations and paraphrase as a small practice [based on the APA style]. ... You know, I might as well take advantage of this opportunity to let them know this idea. However, whether they are capable of using it is not the primary concern.” (Interview II, May 19th, 2009).
Hence, Teacher B tended to teach the APA style to the students in order to raise the students’ awareness of plagiarism. According to her, she thought she might not be able to fully introduce the APA style in limited period of class time. Therefore, the APA style introduction seemed more about delivering a cultural value to the students.
Moreover, from the class observations, it was found that Teacher B played the spelling bee contest videos to the students. When Teacher B’s grammar lessons moved to the topic of nouns, she played the video clips to the students. She explained,
As for [playing] spelling bee [videos], in such way, students may know actually American students sometimes they might find plural forms are difficult. … American students might think the plural form of moose is mooses, and the [Taiwanese] students might think it is very funny. Therefore, they do not think American students are all good.
The only advantage American students have is they speak the language. (Interview II, May 19th, 2009).
Based on the grammar topics she taught, Teacher B tended to introduce more interesting elements to her students to keep them motivated. The funny videos made the students relax and these videos also deliver a message that the students were not inferior to American students. She also claimed, “I think it is quite hard for them to experience this, unless they go there. Because I am a half American, you know, I know their culture quite well. Therefore, I will try to bring it into my courses if I can.” (Interview II, May 19th, 2009). Based on the above evidence observed in the study, it was clear that Teacher B used such mediational means to realize her beliefs about broadening students’ horizons of knowing foreign cultural values and activities and creating an interesting class atmosphere.
Additionally, it was found that the selection of the mediational means contradicted with Teacher B’s goals (objects) for her students in Practical English Writing. The textbook she chose for the students in Practical English Writing was an academic-oriented writing
textbook. Such a textbook did not closely match the teaching objectives of Practical English Writing, since students were supposed to learn practical genres, such as emails or resumes.
However, the content of the textbook did not cover these genres. Although Teacher B indicated that she supplemented extra materials to introduce genres, including cover letters, resumes, and autobiography, she spent most of the time teaching the textbook in the first hours. Therefore, based on class observations, the students were found to have more academic writing training than practical training.
Since the textbook was based on academic writing, there might be a doubt for why she chose it as the textbook to teach practical writing techniques. She explained,
Actually, I once thought to replace the blue book (the writing textbook used in Practical
Actually, I once thought to replace the blue book (the writing textbook used in Practical