Chapter 5 Discussion
5.5 The Influence of Other Possible Contextual Factors
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least, the utilization of authentic materials and diverse sources of materials made the learning more dynamic as well as interesting; as a result, it enriched Patrick’s overall learning experience and changed his attitude toward English learning.
5.5 The Influence of Other Possible Contextual Factors
So far the study has suggested that Patrick’s change of attitude be closely related to his positive opinions toward and the acceptance of the IECT materials. That is to say, the IECT culture materials, containing a variety of cultural topics, seem to be the essential factor that transformed Patrick’s once negative attitude to English learning.
Patrick recognized them as more useful and interesting than those inflexible and monotonous ones adopted at school and cram school. However, while the learning materials may serve as a major part bringing about Patrick’s impressive change, it is also worth noticing that other contextual factors may also, to a certain extent, affect his change of attitude.
As reviewed in Chapter Two, in addition to the teaching materials, young children’s learning attitude also tend to be influenced by other situational and environmental variables, such as the immediate learning context, teachers’ teaching strategies, and the level of stress the children experience in the class (e.g., Dörnyei, 1998; Huang, 2011; Mihaljević Djigunović & Lopriore, 2011; Nikolov,1999). Bearing this in mind, the researcher would also argue that learning in IECT, which was
conducted in a private tutorial fashion, may make Patrick feel more comfortable and at ease than learning at school and cram school characterized with more classmates and more competition. Therefore, the private learning scenario may cause a beneficial
“side effect” that helped Patrick maintain a relaxed mood or keep a brighter spirit in learning—the favorable state of emotion that facilitates his overall attitudinal change.
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CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSIONS
6.1 Summary of the Research Findings
To summarize, the results showed that four months of IECT learning experience created substantial and meaningful impact on Patrick’s attitude toward English
learning. The result of Patrick’s positive change of attitude is in line with the previous studies (see Brooks, 1997; Hadley, 2001; Hammerly, 1982; Tsou, 2005) which claim that the incorporation of culture and language learning helped enhance students’
learning attitude and motivation.
Firstly, on the aspect of behavioral learning attitude, Patrick changed from a passive learner to a more active one who manifested a growing willingness to devote additional time to English learning after class. Additionally, on the aspect of affective learning attitude, Patrick’s feeling toward English learning was no longer boring or
“childish;” instead, his consistent expression of good moods throughout the IECT instruction and emergence of positive comments at the later stage indicated that he developed a real feeling of enjoyment for English learning. Finally, Patrick also revealed positive change on the aspect of the cognitive learning attitude by recognizing English learning in the IECT as useful.
As for the reasons that produced such profound change in attitude, the current study proposes five principal assumptions. The first one is that the cultural knowledge in the language class helps shift the learning focus from the language itself to the subject-like content and therefore makes learning more useful and meaningful, an idea similar to the CLIL programs (see Airey, 2009; Coyle, 2005; Coyle, 2007; Coyle et al., 2010; Dalton-Puffer & Smit, 2007; Dalton-Puffer, 2010; Gracia, 2009; Lehtse, 2012).
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Second, cultural learning to a certain degree has helped develop Patrick’s integrative motivation. The development of this type of motivation in turn improved his learning attitude by showing a desire to interact and to make friends with children with
different cultural backgrounds. Further, the current study argues that the adoption of authentic materials, presented mainly through abundant audio and visual stimulants, enriched the learning process and consequently made Patrick feel the English learning experience became more interesting and dynamic. Finally, other contextual factors such as the learning in a private tutorial setting may also influence Patrick’s change of learning attitude.
6.2 Pedagogical Implications
The following section presents some significant implications that have arisen from the preceding analysis and discussion. In doing so, the researcher hopes to provide useful and practical recommendations that will inspire and involve more researchers and professionals to incorporate culture teaching into English teaching for young EFL learners with more efficiency.
1. Wow the kids first but observe their responses at the same time
While IECT instruction was analogous to the hardware of a digital device, the diversity of the cultural contents proved themselves as powerful software. The previous chapter revealed that Patrick responded most positively and actively toward the cultural topics that he thought were new and useful to him. For instance, he was amused when learning “fish go blub” in lesson two, excited when knowing how to play various games around the world in lesson eight, and surprised when discovering that steak is actually one of the most popular food around the world in lesson nine (for
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the record, Patrick is a vegetarian).
Based on the findings, what best maximized Patrick’s attentiveness and
heightened his motivation were those unusual cultural practices and unique life styles distinct from his expectation and everyday experiences. In other words, it seemed that the rich excitement of learning exotic cultural aspects contributed to the enhancement of his learning interest and impelled him to learn more about it. Seen in this light, it is appropriate to suggest that in teaching culture in language class or when choosing the cultural topics for the young learners like Patrick’s age, teachers could try introducing unique and unfamiliar cultural topics, such as factual information and stories that
“wow” and excite the young minds’ curiosity for new cultures. This element of surprise excites their curiosity toward learning the language itself as well as culture.
In a similar vein, a number of researchers have also proposed the idea of introducing unique cultural aspects in the beginning of the class. For instance, Seelye (1974) suggested in his influential and comprehensive book about teaching culture, using “the exotic as springboard”— namely using the contents different from the learners’ native culture—can be effective to lure students’ interests. He wrote:
Culturally contrastive patterns can best be exploited for their motivating interest by using them as points of entry into the target culture. Once inside, the student should be helped to discover that even seemingly bizarre behavior makes perfect sense once it is seen within the context of the rest of the culture (Seeyle, 1974, p.121).
Following this flow of thought, we could see that the provision of different and generalized cultural information could be first used to evoke the students’ interests.
Afterwards, the teachers then can move on to the next stage to guide the students to explore further and deeper into issues about cultures. Just as reviewed in the second
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chapter, Seelye (1997) suggested that in teaching culture the ultimate goals include not only the enhancement of the learners’ interest toward other culture but also the enhancement of students’ awareness of how other interconnected variables, such as sex, religion, age, and social class influence and shape the formation of certain cultural practices, behaviors, and beliefs.
Although some may argue that Patrick’s individual preference may not be indicative of others, and also, based on the idea of learner-centered approach, prior to the instruction, it would be better for the teachers or instructors to conduct learners’
needs analysis to find out their preference for the topics so as to cater for most students’ needs. However, the researcher believes that Patrick’s preference over the distinct and new world knowledge does, to a great degree, illustrate the fact that most children are fun-loving and curious in nature. Additionally, in her observation and personal experience in teaching Patrick and other young learners, the researcher found that they might not have the ability to effectively express their opinions over the topics they prefer before the class especially when they are still not familiar with or say lack the prior knowledge about the topics the teacher are intended to teach. Even if they do voice their preference, researchers on young learners’ L2 attitudes and motivation have pointed out that sometimes what children say may contradict to how they really behave (see Pinter, 2011).
Seen in this regard, it is thus suggested that for language teachers who are interested in incorporating cultural learning into English to motivate young learners, providing those cultural materials that show vivid contrast between the native and the target cultures could be adopted in a preliminary stage to evoke young language learners’ interest. Meanwhile, to truly figure out what cultural topic that most interest the young learners, the teachers should use other instruments or procedures, such as
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observing in the class or collecting the young learners’ feedback on a regular and regimented basis. The children’s self-reports along with the teachers’ constant
classroom observation will later help the teachers to design the follow-up customized materials that could have a better chance to suit most students’ needs.
2. Cultivate empathetic understanding by teaching similar cultural aspects
Although based on the findings Patrick was most drawn to those unique cultural facts and unfamiliar life experience or stories, it does not mean when teachers are designing the cultural materials, they should exclude other cultural contents that are more similar to students’ life experience. Instead, the researcher suggests that those cultural topics reflecting similar life experience may be introduced later in different stages after the learners’ interest toward culture learning is evident. After all, knowing even the most remote and exotic culture may share the same and the similar cultural perspectives, practice, or lifestyles with their own native culture can help learners raise the awareness that humanity in essence is universal. As reviewed in Chapter Two, the formation of such an awareness of otherness and decentered world view can then become the stepping stone to the development and cultivation of intercultural
communicative competence (ICC)—one of the ultimate goals in language classroom.
In conclusion, teachers should keep in mind that the cultural topics that portrait identical cultural aspects ought to be introduced in later stages in that a balanced presentation of the similarities and differences among cultures is vital to foster mutual understanding and empathy. This quality and virtue will undoubtedly help minimize the potential threat of developing learners’ stereotypical assumption toward different cultures.
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3. Enrich the learning experience through rich information contents
The results indicate that the use of diversified and authentic resources presented mainly through the computer technology play a highly instrumental role in acquiring Patrick’s attention. It is therefore recommended that the language teachers should utilize assorted, genuine resources to enrich the young learners’ cultural learning experience. The components of culture, after all, are so broad and multifarious that it would be impossible for the teachers to present or to teach through single medium.
The mono-source of learning content simply cannot satisfy the learning needs and requirements of students in this digital age. By adopting divergent resources, such as music, visual arts, and illustration books combining rich sensory stimulants, the teachers would be able to boost the children’s learning motivation more effectively.
4. Develop customized learning materials
Lastly, the findings highlight that prior to the IECT instruction, the main reason causing Patrick’s relatively negative attitude to English learning was, to a great extent, influenced by the English learning environments he was exposed to, including the regular school English class and cram school class in which he found the learning materials uninspiring and unchallenging.
Patrick’s individual experience could mirror similar learning experiences of others’. As a matter of fact, most Taiwanese elementary school students, like Patrick, learn English at school mainly by using the global course books, which aim at selling globally for EFL learners. To cater to wider market, these “one size fits all” textbooks therefore have some obvious limitations: they may fail to inform the learners other culturally specific issues and may easily bore the students out by identical contents, just as reflected in Patrick’s case.
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As can be seen, in this scenario, the researcher of the current study will call for the practitioners to raise awareness to be context-sensitive as opposed to conveniently accepting the notion of “one size fits all.” That is to say, for those who are interested in incorporating culture into language class, it would be more effective not to simply adopt a wholesale cultural textbooks approach. Instead, the teachers should have their own adaptation and modification in order to construct the most suitable cultural materials that take into account some parts of learner’ native culture to address relevant, meaningful, and context-specific cultural issues that enrich students’
learning.
In sum, with the careful pedagogical arrangement and customized learning materials, the cultural learning experience may become rich and joyful for the
children. By doing so, it is hoped that it would be more likely to further build up their learning interest and openness toward the exploration of more cultures.
6.3 Limitations and Suggestions for the Future Studies
As with any other research, this current study is not without limitations. In the following section, the researcher will first discuss three main limitations of the present study and in response to the limitations, some suggestions will be provided in hope to benefit the future studies aiming at incorporating the English and cultural instruction for young learners.
First, given the constraints the researcher was working with, she was only able to keep track of the participant’s attitudinal development for four months. According to Heigham and Croker (2009), qualitative case studies usually require a longer period of time to collect data for the purpose of revealing more comprehensive development, patterns, or phenomenon of the case being studied. It thus should be noted that
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although the results of the current study indicate the participant demonstrated gradual and consistent positive attitudinal change over the course of the teaching, to what extent such an instruction will sustain and contribute to positive influence upon the participant’s learning attitude remains an unanswered question. In fact, it has been suggested in the children’s motivation and attitude literature that children’s language affective development is not static; instead, it is complicated and fluctuates over time (see Mihaljević Djigunović & Lopriore, 2012). Therefore, longitudinal investigations with more involvement of different children of the same age group may be conducted to derive a more complete and comprehensive documentation and analysis on the young participants’ gradual affective development under the integration of English and culture learning.
Secondly, the current study merely puts specific focus on investigating the participants’ attitudinal development and feedback to the instruction. It is thus recommended that future research can examine different aspects of the impacts that the integration of culture and English learning may have on young learners such as documenting their development of intercultural communicative competence under the cultural instruction. Quantitative research could also be undertaken to testify the effectiveness of the instruction, for example, looking into the relationship between the cultural curriculum and the students’ English performance.
Finally, as mentioned in Chapter Three, the researcher of the current study designed the cultural learning material based on the contents and themes derived from the Mandarin textbooks, and she argued that the design of which may have several benefits including ensuring students to have the prior knowledge of the cultural content and helping raise learners’ intercultural awareness on both the native and target cultures at a more conscious level. However, this designing framework is sui
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generis and has yet to be utilized in other research. As a consequence, it is hoped that more endeavors could be made to implement such an idea of material design into more and different learning settings to further examine its validity and effectiveness.
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