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IN SEARCH OF THE “AMERICAN DREAM”
Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world immigrate to America every year in search of the “American Dream.” They are escaping poverty, social unrest, war, famine, political or religious persecution with the expectation of achieving their goal of a comfortable life in the U.S. Some arrive legally to large cities of US such as Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, while others risk their lives crossing the desert between Mexico and the U.S. or the open sea in rickety boats from Cuba or Haiti. They walk nyc sidewalk repair and la walkways. However, many who arrive here find that life in the U.S. is not the Utopia painted on T.V. or in movies. Achieving a decent standard of living in the U.S. is not as easy as most people think.
Many legal, and almost all illegal immigrants arrive with little or no education, work skills such as nyc stucco repair or the ability to speak English. Often they are forced to accept employment that pays minimum-wage or, in the case of construction, for example, a salary that is less than what is paid to legal residents. A large percentage of the immigrants’ salaries is remitted to their families “back home,” which may improve the family’s financial situation but not enough to be able to support them in the U.S. if and when the wives and children accompany the wage earner, which creates a “cycle of poverty” that erodes the “American Dream.”
Most immigrants to the U.S. fail to realize that life in America is expensive, much more so than in their country of origin. Unlike most countries, unless one lives in a major metropolitan area, public transportation in the U.S. is limited or non-existent, which means that one must purchase a car or motorcycle for transportation. Fuel, insurance, maintenance and repairs contribute to the cost of owning a vehicle. The cost of decent housing for a family of four or more is high relative to the cost in countries that most immigrants hail from. Rent, however, is only one expenditure when considering housing; others are deposits, utilities, and phone. Food, clothing, and especially medical care are more expensive as well.
The majority of immigrants cannot afford decent housing, enough food or medical insurance because their salaries are too low to support a family of two or more children. These disadvantaged families turn to government assistance in the form of welfare, food stamps and Medicaid (government-funded medical services.) The children attend sub-standard public schools in disadvantaged neighborhoods and often drop out of school at the age of sixteen to help support the family. With no education, these children of disadvantaged immigrants continue in poverty as they have no skills to advance to a higher-paying job to improve their standard of living. Soon they have families of their own to support with little means of being able to do so.
Uncontrolled immigration to the U.S. is creating a permanent underclass because those seeking the “American Dream” are most often unable to reach their goal, which creates a cycle of poverty that is difficult to escape. Perhaps, with the help of the U.S. and other industrialized nations, some day all countries will be able to make it easier for their citizens to become educated, employed and comfortable in their financial situation so that immigration on a large scale can be eliminated.
N. Wolfson
01 Sep 2006
Many legal, and almost all illegal immigrants arrive with little or no education, work skills such as nyc stucco repair or the ability to speak English. Often they are forced to accept employment that pays minimum-wage or, in the case of construction, for example, a salary that is less than what is paid to legal residents. A large percentage of the immigrants’ salaries is remitted to their families “back home,” which may improve the family’s financial situation but not enough to be able to support them in the U.S. if and when the wives and children accompany the wage earner, which creates a “cycle of poverty” that erodes the “American Dream.”
Most immigrants to the U.S. fail to realize that life in America is expensive, much more so than in their country of origin. Unlike most countries, unless one lives in a major metropolitan area, public transportation in the U.S. is limited or non-existent, which means that one must purchase a car or motorcycle for transportation. Fuel, insurance, maintenance and repairs contribute to the cost of owning a vehicle. The cost of decent housing for a family of four or more is high relative to the cost in countries that most immigrants hail from. Rent, however, is only one expenditure when considering housing; others are deposits, utilities, and phone. Food, clothing, and especially medical care are more expensive as well.
The majority of immigrants cannot afford decent housing, enough food or medical insurance because their salaries are too low to support a family of two or more children. These disadvantaged families turn to government assistance in the form of welfare, food stamps and Medicaid (government-funded medical services.) The children attend sub-standard public schools in disadvantaged neighborhoods and often drop out of school at the age of sixteen to help support the family. With no education, these children of disadvantaged immigrants continue in poverty as they have no skills to advance to a higher-paying job to improve their standard of living. Soon they have families of their own to support with little means of being able to do so.
Uncontrolled immigration to the U.S. is creating a permanent underclass because those seeking the “American Dream” are most often unable to reach their goal, which creates a cycle of poverty that is difficult to escape. Perhaps, with the help of the U.S. and other industrialized nations, some day all countries will be able to make it easier for their citizens to become educated, employed and comfortable in their financial situation so that immigration on a large scale can be eliminated.
N. Wolfson
01 Sep 2006
AN AMAZING WOMAN
THE LADY AND THE WIFE
By Alias John Donne
“Come my friend. Why are you alone? What a dilemma you are in? What are you thinking about? You look tired and sad. Come and join us. Let’s enjoy our time,” I said.
“You are my best friend and I think you understand me more than I myself do. I can not keep anything secret from you,” he replied. “I was thinking of that poor lady and her strange family,” he continued.
“Which lady do you mean?” I asked.
“Halah,” he replied.
“What happened to her?” I asked.
“Her husband died two years ago if you remember,” he said.
“Yes, and I still remember that you told me that she had five kids: one daughter and four sons,” I said. “Is there anything new that has happened to her or to her kids?” I inquired.
“She has had a long tragic story since then,” with a sad voice he said.
“Oh I am sorry to hear that; can you tell me what happened to her, please?” I anxiously said.
He sadly started telling me her story from the time she married until now. She was an intelligent lady in spite of being illiterate. She was beautiful and full of love and energy. She was the ideal girl in her village.
One day while she was grazing her sheep, a man by the name of Nader came to her family and told them that he wanted to marry Halah. Without considering her opinion, they accepted. He was a wealthy, kind, handsome and good man but he was about forty three years old. He married twice; he divorced the first and the second died. He also had seven children from the second wife.
But Halah was still young; she was fifteen years old. She was, moreover, falling in love with someone else.
Her family forced her to marry Nader. His village was very far from her family’s. She could see her family only one time a year. Her stepsons and their wives hated her and wanted to get rid of her in spite of her serving and loving them. She suffered much from their hatred and bad behavior; frankly speaking, she was afraid of them. She wished that she had not been born and sometimes she wanted to leave her husband’s home but she could not; especially after she gave birth to their first two kids. She realized that it was her destiny and she had to accept it. She gave birth to the third, forth, and then the fifth child. In addition to that, she gave her husband her heart and love.
“You are my best friend and I think you understand me more than I myself do. I can not keep anything secret from you,” he replied. “I was thinking of that poor lady and her strange family,” he continued.
“Which lady do you mean?” I asked.
“Halah,” he replied.
“What happened to her?” I asked.
“Her husband died two years ago if you remember,” he said.
“Yes, and I still remember that you told me that she had five kids: one daughter and four sons,” I said. “Is there anything new that has happened to her or to her kids?” I inquired.
“She has had a long tragic story since then,” with a sad voice he said.
“Oh I am sorry to hear that; can you tell me what happened to her, please?” I anxiously said.
He sadly started telling me her story from the time she married until now. She was an intelligent lady in spite of being illiterate. She was beautiful and full of love and energy. She was the ideal girl in her village.
One day while she was grazing her sheep, a man by the name of Nader came to her family and told them that he wanted to marry Halah. Without considering her opinion, they accepted. He was a wealthy, kind, handsome and good man but he was about forty three years old. He married twice; he divorced the first and the second died. He also had seven children from the second wife.
But Halah was still young; she was fifteen years old. She was, moreover, falling in love with someone else.
Her family forced her to marry Nader. His village was very far from her family’s. She could see her family only one time a year. Her stepsons and their wives hated her and wanted to get rid of her in spite of her serving and loving them. She suffered much from their hatred and bad behavior; frankly speaking, she was afraid of them. She wished that she had not been born and sometimes she wanted to leave her husband’s home but she could not; especially after she gave birth to their first two kids. She realized that it was her destiny and she had to accept it. She gave birth to the third, forth, and then the fifth child. In addition to that, she gave her husband her heart and love.
THE WIDOW
Without any warning, Nader fell sick. He had a heart attack and he could neither speak nor move. He was sixty three years old. His sons and brothers took him to the nearest hospital in the nearest city, but he died.
He lived with his wife only twenty years. She was about thirty five years old at that time. The last ten years of their marriage were full of love and emotion. When he was taken to the hospital, she was not allowed to accompany him for unknown reasons. Before he left for the hospital, she realized that it would be the last time for her to see him. She kissed him deeply, looked at his stagnant eyes and silently cried and ran away.
He was honest to her and he tried to do everything to make her happy. Consequently, she loved him. Her kids were in their schools. She kept waiting for the news for three days. The forth day was a disaster for her in spite of her expectations.
At first, she could not believe it, but she kept silent.
“He will come back once again,” she said to herself.
But if he really died, how could I live among those brutal and wild beasts?!, she kept thinking.
She sighed and said: “Oh God, help me.”
“But he really died” somebody from behind said “and you must accept it.
Now show us what you will do… poor widow!!!.” he continued.
She kept mourning and mourning, shedding copious tears so that she became weaker and weaker, day after day. Finally, she decided to struggle. She realized that she should come back to reality and forget everything about her darling husband. She had to take care of her kids who were in dire need of her and to compensate them with love that they missed. She was everything to them and they were also everything to her after she had lost her husband. She started collecting her strength and handling her life as best she could.
He lived with his wife only twenty years. She was about thirty five years old at that time. The last ten years of their marriage were full of love and emotion. When he was taken to the hospital, she was not allowed to accompany him for unknown reasons. Before he left for the hospital, she realized that it would be the last time for her to see him. She kissed him deeply, looked at his stagnant eyes and silently cried and ran away.
He was honest to her and he tried to do everything to make her happy. Consequently, she loved him. Her kids were in their schools. She kept waiting for the news for three days. The forth day was a disaster for her in spite of her expectations.
At first, she could not believe it, but she kept silent.
“He will come back once again,” she said to herself.
But if he really died, how could I live among those brutal and wild beasts?!, she kept thinking.
She sighed and said: “Oh God, help me.”
“But he really died” somebody from behind said “and you must accept it.
Now show us what you will do… poor widow!!!.” he continued.
She kept mourning and mourning, shedding copious tears so that she became weaker and weaker, day after day. Finally, she decided to struggle. She realized that she should come back to reality and forget everything about her darling husband. She had to take care of her kids who were in dire need of her and to compensate them with love that they missed. She was everything to them and they were also everything to her after she had lost her husband. She started collecting her strength and handling her life as best she could.
FAMILY REUNION
One day, while Halah was sleeping, one of her stepsons came to her and asked her to secretly give him all the documents that his father had left. He threatened her with his cudgel. She gave him all the stuff he wanted. Then, she asked herself what would happen when the others came and asked about their documents. Could they believe that they were with their brother? And would their brother confess that he took all the documents. She started working hard in her kids' properties to keep the wolf away from the sheep. She was able to provide her kids with everything they wanted to complete their studies. When her stepsons recognized that she was able to handle the situation and enable her kids to finish their studies, they started a war against her and her sons. They accused them with different kinds of charges, but in vain. All people there knew the truth. The people loved Halah and her sons very much. They loved her for her determination and her help to her sons; they also loved her sons for their devotion to their studies and their good conduct. There were good people who helped Halah and her sons to achieve their goals and who stood as faithful supporters.
Finally, the widow controlled the situation and some of her sons finished their studies. Some still had to complete their studies. Some of them got married and had kids. They had their positions in society and people respected them very much. Everyone would tell their story to their kids to encourage them to do as Halah's family did.
Halah's family became one of the best and the happiest families in her area. Halah's stepsons realized their mistakes and came to her and her kids and apologized for their mistakes and asked for forgiveness. They decided to remove the rift, start a new life, put an end to the hatred and enmity, and live together as they were before the death of their father and share in the happiness of Halah and her family. “The whole family appeared as one body and this was what your father had wanted and dreamt. These were your father's last words,” said Halah to her family in the celebration of their gathering.
“ It is a good end,” I said.
“ Yes, it is,” my friend replied.
“ Then why do you look sad?” I asked.
“ I am afraid of the unknown,” he said.
“ Look at the example of Halah’s family and take it to heart,” I said.
Finally, the widow controlled the situation and some of her sons finished their studies. Some still had to complete their studies. Some of them got married and had kids. They had their positions in society and people respected them very much. Everyone would tell their story to their kids to encourage them to do as Halah's family did.
Halah's family became one of the best and the happiest families in her area. Halah's stepsons realized their mistakes and came to her and her kids and apologized for their mistakes and asked for forgiveness. They decided to remove the rift, start a new life, put an end to the hatred and enmity, and live together as they were before the death of their father and share in the happiness of Halah and her family. “The whole family appeared as one body and this was what your father had wanted and dreamt. These were your father's last words,” said Halah to her family in the celebration of their gathering.
“ It is a good end,” I said.
“ Yes, it is,” my friend replied.
“ Then why do you look sad?” I asked.
“ I am afraid of the unknown,” he said.
“ Look at the example of Halah’s family and take it to heart,” I said.
Assessment of Form, Meaning, and Use of Low-Frequency Language Items in a Role-Play Context.
Introduction
Bachman and Cohen (1998) mention that language testing and second language acquisition research have “…largely been viewed as distinct areas of inquiry in applied linguistics. Since the late 1980s, however, we have seen an increasing number of studies in which these two subfields of applied linguistics come together, both in terms of substantive issues being investigated and the methodological approaches used” (p. 1). Bachman (1998) mentions that second language acquisition research takes a longitudinal view of how language proficiency develops while language testing arrives at a static description of language proficiency at a given stage of development. So although the title of this article stresses assessment, both assessment and acquisition will be considered. One area of language assessment that is problematic for language teachers and learners is that of speaking.
Productive language competence, in general, and of low frequency language items, in particular, poses a problem for language learners. Although learners may need broad and specific productive competence for speaking tests, job interviews, and in educational endeavors; they may not have had many opportunities in authentic or near-authentic contexts to practice productive language. This may be especially true for low frequency language items. In addition, they may not know at what level their production is comprehensible to the widest audience of interlocutors. Role-plays may provide a partial answer to this dilemma. The lead-up to the role-plays and the feedback that follows them may enhance language acquisition. The role-plays themselves can be used as a context for assessment. Finally, role-plays can be used to practice low frequency language items. Consequently, an attempt was made to assess productive performance of low frequency language items of upper-intermediate and advanced learners of English in Romania from 2002 to 2003 using role-plays as a context for this assessment. The following will be discussed in this paper: 1) background information on role-plays and speaking assessment, 2) a discussion of the goals that were targeted and the procedure that was used for some upper-intermediate and advanced English classes in Romania from the years 2002 to 2003 to assess form, meaning, and use of low frequency language items in a role-play context, 3) an explanation of the assessment criteria for the aforementioned role-plays, and finally 4) a summary of the backwash from the instruction and role-play process for the English classes in Romania. In the end, a conclusion will be drawn.
Background Information On Role-Plays And Speaking Assessment
Role-plays have been used in many language classrooms to encourage learners to speak the target language. In some cases, they have also been used as a context for assessment.
Role-Plays
Nunan (1999) mentions that role-plays promote creative language use. He also states that role-plays and simulations have a rich array of language functions and help promote negotiation of meaning. He quotes Long (1985) as stating that modified interaction leads to comprehensible input, which promotes language acquisition. Modified interaction, according to Nunan, “…refers to those instances during an interaction when the speaker alters the form in which his or her language is encoded in order to make it more comprehensible (1999, p. 52).” He also writes that closed task (a task with only one or a limited number of correct answers) interaction produced more modified interaction than open tasks (a task in which there is no single correct answer) for lower intermediate and intermediate students. This raises the question of whether a closed task role-play would result in more modified interaction. If it did, this would lead to more comprehensible input and, subsequently, language acquisition.
Thompkins (1998, paragraph 1) maintains, “Role playing/simulation is an extremely valuable method for L2 learning. It encourages thinking and creativity, lets students develop and practice new language and behavioral skills in a relatively nonthreatening setting, and can create the motivation and involvement necessary for learning to occur.” On the other hand Al-Arishi (1994) states that there are some possible componential artificialities of role-playing which may move it away from the center stage of Communicative Language Teaching.
Although role-playing does have its limitations, Makita (1995, paragraph 2) states “Dramatic/role-playing activity is a valuable classroom technique that encourages students to participate actively in the process of learning. In other words, second language students can experience the target language in context to learn how to interpret and exchange meanings for real communication.”
Kaplan (1997) “argues against role-plays that focus solely on prescriptive themes emphasizing specific fields of vocabulary, as they do not capture the spontaneous, real-life flow of conversation” (cited in Thompkins 1998). Making the role-play too restrictive may reduce the authenticity of speech. Makita (1995) uses both specified elements in role-play and cued dialogues. Ladousse (1987, p. 17) states that “Useful structures can be presented before the role play starts, or can be fed in afterwards as remedial work.”
In addition to promoting language use, role-plays have been used as a context for the assessment of productive acquisition in certain speaking tests. They tend to be used as one of the elements of an oral interview.
Speaking Assessment
Most of the literature concerning role-plays focuses on the advantages of using role-play to promote creative language use. Not much literature focuses on using role-plays as an assessment tool. Bailey (1998), however, has a chapter called, “Eliciting Speech Samples In Role Plays” in her book Learning About Language Assessment.
Bailey (1998) mentions some of the pitfalls of role-plays. She cites van Lier (1989) who states that acting and ad-libbing are necessary in a role-play, but not indicative of one’s ability to communicate. However, she also states that, whereas some don’t like role-plays, she likes them as a language teacher, tester, and learner. In addition, she mentions that two intersecting continua of experience and plausibility that have to be taken into consideration when developing role-plays. These result in four possibilities: 1) plausible and matches experience, 2) plausible and doesn’t match experience, 3) implausible and matches experience, and 4) implausible and doesn’t match experience. So the role-play writer is encouraged to construct role-plays that fall into the first two categories. She also points out the importance of power relations in role-play discourse (i.e. speaking with a peer or subordinate verses speaking with a superior). Moreover, she discusses the importance of calculating intra and interrater reliability.
Another book that would indirectly address role-plays as an assessment tool is that of Marysia Johnson, The Art of Non Conversation: A Reexamination of the Validity of the Oral Proficiency Interview. It investigates whether the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI), of which role-plays are a part, can be considered a conversation. Johnson’s answer is an emphatic no! She mentions that it is basically a survey research interview sandwiched between two sociolinguistic interviews. She gives an alternative called Practical Oral Language Ability (POLA) tests. Concerning the format of an interactive oral event within a POLA, she states, “The format of each interactive oral event should resemble as closely as possible its real-life format. Depending on the available resources and local institutional and social needs, however, the format of some of the selected interactive oral practices may be adjusted. For example, it may not be feasible to ask the ITA to give a lecture in front of a real-life audience, so the tester may be asked to play the role of an audience (Johnson, 2001, p. 200, Italics added).”
Obviously there is criticism towards oral interviews of which role-plays tend to be a part. But Johnson herself acknowledges, “It is estimated that several thousand OPIs are administered each year. Professional careers, future job assignments, pay increases, and entrance to or exit from college language programs frequently depend on the rating obtained in an OPI” (Johnson, 2001, p. 2). So what are we to do as language teachers? Don’t many of the learners have the following goals: to be successful in their careers, to have pay increases, and to be successful in college language programs? If the oral interview is a gate that leads to the fulfillment of these goals, shouldn’t we as teachers help them pass through this gate, at least until the gate changes? Can’t we help them pass through this gate and facilitate language acquisition at the same time?
Henning (1987) mentions that it has been said that some tests, such as interviews, may be thought of to measure language proficiency more directly, whereas other tests, such as multiple-choice recognition tests may indirectly evaluate true language performance. He went on to assert that regardless of the veracity of a statement such as the previous one, language tests might lie “…somewhere on a continuum between natural-situational to unnatural-contrived” (Henning, 1987, p. 5).
The authors cited in the previous section tend to emphasize the benefit of role-plays in terms of creative language use and L2 learning. In addition to creative language use and L2 learning, role-plays may offer a context for language assessment. Later, we shall look at the assessment criteria and results.
In the next section we will explore the goals for instruction and the procedure for role-plays that was used for some 12-week upper-intermediate/advanced English classes in Romania from the years 2002-2003.
Goals For Instruction And Procedure For Role-Plays That Was Used.
From 2002 to 2003, 12-week upper-intermediate/advanced English listening and speaking classes were taught by Romanian English instructors to Romanian students. The data for this paper was taken specifically from those classes that were taught by Romanian English Instructors Bianca Morar and Otilia Oprean. The learners needed a high proficiency level of English skills, and role-plays were one of the things that was used to help them achieve that goal.
Goals
One of the major goals of the upper intermediate/advanced English classes in Romania was to facilitate language acquisition at level 3 of the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) skill level descriptors. A complete list of ILR skill level descriptors for speaking can be found at: http://www.utm.edu/~globeg/ilrspeak.html. According to the ILR Language Skill Level Descriptions for Speaking at Level 3 (General Professional Proficiency), “…The individual can effectively combine structure and vocabulary to convey his/her meaning accurately…” “…Although cultural references, proverbs, and the implications of nuances and idiom may not be fully understood, the individual can easily repair the conversation…(As quoted in The University of Tennessee at Martin Website Retrieved 2003/2004).” The speaker needs to be able to combine structure and vocabulary to convey meaning. In addition, the ability to repair a conversation that may involve cultural references, proverbs, and idioms is indicative of level 3 ILR speaking. The problem is “How do you prepare someone for this type of speech event?” Could role-plays be used as a context for practice, assessment, and acquisition (in the form of backwash from the role-plays) of level 3 ILR speaking? The next section addresses the procedure that was used with the hope that this goal would be achieved.
Procedure
The following procedure was followed for the 12-week advanced Romanian English classes:
· A list of low frequency terms was produced by Romanian English Instructors.
· The form, meaning, and use of these terms were taught by the Romanian English Instructors to Romanian English students.
· Roles in the Role-Plays were assigned and played and feedback was given to the learners.
· Midterm and Final Role-plays were developed wherein the low frequency language items could be used.
· A performance evaluation to assess the students’ use of the terms was made and used.
List Of Low Frequency Terms
A list of low-frequency terms was generated from a curriculum that used the American Language Course Books 31-34 written by the Defense Language Institute and Consider the Issues: Advanced Listening and Critical Thinking Skills by Carol Numrich. A complete list of terms used can be found in Appendix A. Four of the terms are as follows:
to rack one’s brain; to be one’s bag; to bite the bullet; to shoot from the hip
Next, let’s consider how these terms were taught by the Romanian English teachers.
The Form, Meaning, and Use of Terms Were Taught
By Romanian English Instructors
Throughout the 12-week upper-intermediate/advanced English courses taught in 2002 and 2003, the meanings of low frequency items were taught by the Romanian English Instructors in the context in which they were found. The instructors had the students participate in activities such as: guessing the meaning from the context, matching, gap filling, rephrasing, and short role-plays that involved the low frequency items. The intent was to make the productive use of these terms understandable to the widest audience of interlocutors These initial role-plays were not assessed using a performance evaluation. The students practiced the form, meaning, and use of low frequency language items that were part of the word list generated by Romanian English language instructors. Later on in the 12-week upper-intermediate/advanced English courses, the students were given midterm and final role-plays that were assessed using a performance evaluation.
Role-Play Process
The role-play process involved assigning roles to the student, teacher, and assessor. After all the students completed the midterm role-plays, feedback was given.
Student Role
In the middle of the courses taught in the years 2002 and 2003, the students were assessed using 10 situations and four terms for each situation. A student was verbally presented with a situation and could choose one of four terms to use in a conversation. The other students that were not being tested worked on writing assignments in the language laboratory. The student being tested had a student sheet that listed the terms, but not the situations. The student sheet only had four words or phrases on it for each situation. Only one of the terms would naturally fit the situation. If the student didn’t understand the situation that was read by the teacher, s/he would read it again.
Teacher Role
The teachers had a teacher sheet that had the four terms on it and s/he would read them as an example for pronunciation purposes. In addition, the teacher sheet had 10 “situations” which provided the context for the role-plays. The teacher sheet also had a suggested dialogue that the teacher could follow or deviate from depending on how the student responded. The teacher would read the four low frequency items, the situation, and then interact with the student in a role-play. If the student did not understand the situation, the teacher would read it again. During the role-play the teacher would record the utterance wherein the student used the target or non-target term.
Assessor Role
The assessor (either me, or later on, another Romanian teacher) and the teacher would record the utterance wherein the student used the target or non-target term. After the student role-played with the teacher in the 10 situations, each one having four different terms, the student was then finished with the midterm role-play test. The teacher and assessor would then tally their scores separately, and then compare their results. The teacher and assessor would negotiate a score that they felt best reflected the student’s performance.
Feedback
After all the students were tested, the students were given feedback on how they used the terms and how they could be used to be understood by the largest number of interlocutors. This feedback was given to the whole group of students at the same time. During the feedback time, the students (one at a time) were asked to role-play with the teacher, the exact same situations that had been tested. This time the students could see the teacher sheet that had the situations, as it was copied onto a transparency and projected onto a whiteboard. The students (who were not role-playing) were also asked to assess their classmate who was role-playing with the teacher. This process promoted comprehensible input wherein acquisition could take place. The students also better understood how they were being assessed.
Now, let’s consider the midterm and final role-plays themselves.
Midterm And Final Exam Role-Plays
The difference between the midterm and final role-plays was that feedback was not given for the final role-plays as they would be used to assess future classes.
Midterm Role-Plays
Midterm role-plays were used as a context to assess the students’ use of the low frequency terms. These were initially developed by me, and later, for a subsequent class in the year 2004, by Romanian English instructor, Bianca Morar. The following is an example of a midterm role-play. The first part is the student sheet and the second part is the teacher sheet. Only situation #5 is shown. For the complete test, there were a total of 10 situations with four different terms for each situation.
VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSION USAGE TEST 7 STUDENT SHEET
DIRECTIONS: You will hear a situation and be given four vocabulary words. You need to use one of the words in the conversation. You do not need to use the word at the beginning of the conversation unless the context is appropriate.
Situation # 5:
Vocabulary: to rack one’s brain; to be one’s bag; to bite the bullet; to shoot from the hip
Note- The teacher reads the four terms and then the situation in the teacher sheet. He or she repeats it one time if the student doesn’t understand. The suggested teacher dialogue is optional. It may or may not be used depending on how the conversation develops. The teacher is trying to engage the student in a natural conversation.
VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSION USAGE TEST 7 TEACHER SHEET
Vocabulary: to rack one’s brain; to be one’s bag; to bite the bullet; to shoot from the hip
Situation # 5: Your friend wants you to water his plants while he goes on a vacation. You tell him that you really don’t want to do it as you don’t have much experience with plants. You have tried to take care of plants in the past and they have died. Either you or your friend starts the conversation and either you or your friend ends the conversation. I am the friend who wants you to water my plants while I go on vacation.
Teacher: Hey, what’s up?
Student: _______________________________________________________________________________
Teacher: I was wondering if you could take care of my plants.
Student: _______________________________________________________________________________
Teacher: All you would have to do is water them every other day.
Student: _______________________________________________________________________________
Teacher: Well, if you really don’t think you can do it I guess I’ll get someone else.
Student: _______________________________________________________________________________
The teacher did not need to follow the dialogue verbatim as it was written, but could use it as a base.
Final Exam Role-Plays
Towards the end of the course the students participated in a final exam role-play to see if they could use the terms productively. The final role-play was used for assessment purposes. Role-plays were developed that were similar to the midterm tests. The difference between the midterm and final role-plays was that the midterm was only for practice and a grade was not recorded in their records. In addition, they were not given feedback for the final exam role-plays as the same tests would be used for future classes. Other than that, the format for the role-plays and assessment was the same.
The following was part of the final exam. First is the student sheet, and then the teacher sheet. Note that only situation #1 is on this portion of the student sheet. The complete test had 10 situations with four different words for each situation.
VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSION USAGE TEST FORM C STUDENT SHEET
DIRECTIONS: You will hear a situation and be given four vocabulary words. You need to use one of the words in the conversation. You do not need to use the word at the beginning of the conversation unless the context is appropriate. It is an open conversation. You can begin and/or end the conversation and the instructor can begin and/or end the conversation.
Situation # 1:
Vocabulary: to go by the book; to be one’s bag; to get to the bottom; to shoot from the hip.
VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSION USAGE TEST FORM C TEACHER SHEET
Vocabulary: to go by the book; to be one’s bag; to get to the bottom; to shoot from the hip.
Situation # 1: You are put in charge of taking care of the supplies for your unit. You are not really happy about this as you don’t enjoy being responsible for the supplies. You talk with a peer about your new job. Either you or your friend starts the conversation and either you or your friend ends the conversation.
Teacher: Hey, what’s up?
Student: _______________________________________________________________________________
Teacher: So how do you like being in charge of the supplies?
Student: _______________________________________________________________________________
Teacher: Maybe it is better than some of the other jobs.
Student: _______________________________________________________________________________
Teacher: Well, I need to get going. I’ll talk to you later.
Student: _______________________________________________________________________________
The teacher read the words and then the situation. He or she repeated the situation one time if the student didn’t understand. The dialogue is a suggested dialogue that may or may not be used. The emphasis is on a near-natural conversation, not prescription. Now, let’s look at the performance evaluation.
Performance Evaluation
A performance evaluation was used to evaluate the students’ use the terms. One of the four terms was considered the “target term” What this meant was that the context lent itself to using that term more than the three other terms. The other terms were considered “non-target” terms. The performance evaluation will be discussed in more detail in the assessment section.
NAME___________________________
DATE___________________________
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION FOR VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSION USAGE TEST
NOTE: A LIST OF FOUR WORDS/IDIOMS WILL BE GIVEN TO THE STUDENT. AFTERWORDS, A SITUATION WILL BE EXPLAINED TO THE STUDENT. THEN, THE TEACHER WILL BEGIN A CONVERSATION WITH THE STUDENT. THE CONVERSATION WILL LEND ITSELF TO USING ONE OF THE WORDS/IDIOMS. THIS WORD/IDIOM IS CONSIDERD THE TARGET WORD/IDIOM. THE OTHER THREE WORDS/IDIOMS ARE THE NON-TARGET WORDS/IDIOMS.
10 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom Correctly (Including Pronunciation) With No Errors In The Utterance Which Contains The Target Word/Idiom.
09 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom Correctly (Including Pronunciation) With Some Errors In The Utterance Which Contains The Target Word/Idiom.
08 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom With Some Errors In The Usage (Including Pronunciation) And/Or Utterance But The Conversation Is Comprehensible Including The Meaning Conveyed With The Use Of The Target Word.
07 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom Comprehensibly, But It Was Not Natural To The Conversation. The Student Had To Create The Context In Order To Use The Word/Idiom.
07 Points: Does Not Use Target Word/Idiom But Uses Non-Target Word/Idiom Correctly (Including Pronunciation) With No Errors In The Utterance Which Contains The Non-Target Word/Idiom. Note: The Student Had To Create The Context In Order To Use The Word/Idiom. It Was Not Natural To The Conversation.
06 Points: Does Not Use Target Word/Idiom But Uses Non-Target Word/Idiom Correctly (Including Pronunciation) With Some Errors In The Utterance Which Contains The Non-Target Word/Idiom.
05 Points: Does Not Use Target Word/Idiom But Uses Non-Target Word/Idiom With Some Errors In The Usage (Including Pronunciation) And/Or Utterance But The Conversation Is Comprehensible Including The Meaning Conveyed With The Use Of The Non-Target Word.
04 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom Incomprehensibly.
03 Points: Uses Non-Target Word/Idiom Incomprehensibly.
02 Points: Doesn’t Use Any Of The Words Either Target Or Non-Target, But Conversation Is Comprehensible.
01 Point: Doesn’t Use Any Of The Words Either Target Or Non-Target And Conversation Is Incomprehensible.
00 Points: Doesn’t Say Anything.
DIRECTIONS: WRITE UTTERANCE WITH TARGET/NON-TARGET WORD/IDIOM AND RATE IT.
SITUATION # 1________________________________________________________________________
SITUATION # 2________________________________________________________________________
SITUATION # 3________________________________________________________________________
SITUATION # 4________________________________________________________________________
SITUATION # 5________________________________________________________________________
SITUATION # 6________________________________________________________________________
SITUATION # 7________________________________________________________________________
SITUATION # 8________________________________________________________________________
SITUATION # 9________________________________________________________________________
SITUATION # 10_______________________________________________________________________
Total _______________
The assessment criteria and results shall be considered next.
Bachman and Cohen (1998) mention that language testing and second language acquisition research have “…largely been viewed as distinct areas of inquiry in applied linguistics. Since the late 1980s, however, we have seen an increasing number of studies in which these two subfields of applied linguistics come together, both in terms of substantive issues being investigated and the methodological approaches used” (p. 1). Bachman (1998) mentions that second language acquisition research takes a longitudinal view of how language proficiency develops while language testing arrives at a static description of language proficiency at a given stage of development. So although the title of this article stresses assessment, both assessment and acquisition will be considered. One area of language assessment that is problematic for language teachers and learners is that of speaking.
Productive language competence, in general, and of low frequency language items, in particular, poses a problem for language learners. Although learners may need broad and specific productive competence for speaking tests, job interviews, and in educational endeavors; they may not have had many opportunities in authentic or near-authentic contexts to practice productive language. This may be especially true for low frequency language items. In addition, they may not know at what level their production is comprehensible to the widest audience of interlocutors. Role-plays may provide a partial answer to this dilemma. The lead-up to the role-plays and the feedback that follows them may enhance language acquisition. The role-plays themselves can be used as a context for assessment. Finally, role-plays can be used to practice low frequency language items. Consequently, an attempt was made to assess productive performance of low frequency language items of upper-intermediate and advanced learners of English in Romania from 2002 to 2003 using role-plays as a context for this assessment. The following will be discussed in this paper: 1) background information on role-plays and speaking assessment, 2) a discussion of the goals that were targeted and the procedure that was used for some upper-intermediate and advanced English classes in Romania from the years 2002 to 2003 to assess form, meaning, and use of low frequency language items in a role-play context, 3) an explanation of the assessment criteria for the aforementioned role-plays, and finally 4) a summary of the backwash from the instruction and role-play process for the English classes in Romania. In the end, a conclusion will be drawn.
Background Information On Role-Plays And Speaking Assessment
Role-plays have been used in many language classrooms to encourage learners to speak the target language. In some cases, they have also been used as a context for assessment.
Role-Plays
Nunan (1999) mentions that role-plays promote creative language use. He also states that role-plays and simulations have a rich array of language functions and help promote negotiation of meaning. He quotes Long (1985) as stating that modified interaction leads to comprehensible input, which promotes language acquisition. Modified interaction, according to Nunan, “…refers to those instances during an interaction when the speaker alters the form in which his or her language is encoded in order to make it more comprehensible (1999, p. 52).” He also writes that closed task (a task with only one or a limited number of correct answers) interaction produced more modified interaction than open tasks (a task in which there is no single correct answer) for lower intermediate and intermediate students. This raises the question of whether a closed task role-play would result in more modified interaction. If it did, this would lead to more comprehensible input and, subsequently, language acquisition.
Thompkins (1998, paragraph 1) maintains, “Role playing/simulation is an extremely valuable method for L2 learning. It encourages thinking and creativity, lets students develop and practice new language and behavioral skills in a relatively nonthreatening setting, and can create the motivation and involvement necessary for learning to occur.” On the other hand Al-Arishi (1994) states that there are some possible componential artificialities of role-playing which may move it away from the center stage of Communicative Language Teaching.
Although role-playing does have its limitations, Makita (1995, paragraph 2) states “Dramatic/role-playing activity is a valuable classroom technique that encourages students to participate actively in the process of learning. In other words, second language students can experience the target language in context to learn how to interpret and exchange meanings for real communication.”
Kaplan (1997) “argues against role-plays that focus solely on prescriptive themes emphasizing specific fields of vocabulary, as they do not capture the spontaneous, real-life flow of conversation” (cited in Thompkins 1998). Making the role-play too restrictive may reduce the authenticity of speech. Makita (1995) uses both specified elements in role-play and cued dialogues. Ladousse (1987, p. 17) states that “Useful structures can be presented before the role play starts, or can be fed in afterwards as remedial work.”
In addition to promoting language use, role-plays have been used as a context for the assessment of productive acquisition in certain speaking tests. They tend to be used as one of the elements of an oral interview.
Speaking Assessment
Most of the literature concerning role-plays focuses on the advantages of using role-play to promote creative language use. Not much literature focuses on using role-plays as an assessment tool. Bailey (1998), however, has a chapter called, “Eliciting Speech Samples In Role Plays” in her book Learning About Language Assessment.
Bailey (1998) mentions some of the pitfalls of role-plays. She cites van Lier (1989) who states that acting and ad-libbing are necessary in a role-play, but not indicative of one’s ability to communicate. However, she also states that, whereas some don’t like role-plays, she likes them as a language teacher, tester, and learner. In addition, she mentions that two intersecting continua of experience and plausibility that have to be taken into consideration when developing role-plays. These result in four possibilities: 1) plausible and matches experience, 2) plausible and doesn’t match experience, 3) implausible and matches experience, and 4) implausible and doesn’t match experience. So the role-play writer is encouraged to construct role-plays that fall into the first two categories. She also points out the importance of power relations in role-play discourse (i.e. speaking with a peer or subordinate verses speaking with a superior). Moreover, she discusses the importance of calculating intra and interrater reliability.
Another book that would indirectly address role-plays as an assessment tool is that of Marysia Johnson, The Art of Non Conversation: A Reexamination of the Validity of the Oral Proficiency Interview. It investigates whether the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI), of which role-plays are a part, can be considered a conversation. Johnson’s answer is an emphatic no! She mentions that it is basically a survey research interview sandwiched between two sociolinguistic interviews. She gives an alternative called Practical Oral Language Ability (POLA) tests. Concerning the format of an interactive oral event within a POLA, she states, “The format of each interactive oral event should resemble as closely as possible its real-life format. Depending on the available resources and local institutional and social needs, however, the format of some of the selected interactive oral practices may be adjusted. For example, it may not be feasible to ask the ITA to give a lecture in front of a real-life audience, so the tester may be asked to play the role of an audience (Johnson, 2001, p. 200, Italics added).”
Obviously there is criticism towards oral interviews of which role-plays tend to be a part. But Johnson herself acknowledges, “It is estimated that several thousand OPIs are administered each year. Professional careers, future job assignments, pay increases, and entrance to or exit from college language programs frequently depend on the rating obtained in an OPI” (Johnson, 2001, p. 2). So what are we to do as language teachers? Don’t many of the learners have the following goals: to be successful in their careers, to have pay increases, and to be successful in college language programs? If the oral interview is a gate that leads to the fulfillment of these goals, shouldn’t we as teachers help them pass through this gate, at least until the gate changes? Can’t we help them pass through this gate and facilitate language acquisition at the same time?
Henning (1987) mentions that it has been said that some tests, such as interviews, may be thought of to measure language proficiency more directly, whereas other tests, such as multiple-choice recognition tests may indirectly evaluate true language performance. He went on to assert that regardless of the veracity of a statement such as the previous one, language tests might lie “…somewhere on a continuum between natural-situational to unnatural-contrived” (Henning, 1987, p. 5).
The authors cited in the previous section tend to emphasize the benefit of role-plays in terms of creative language use and L2 learning. In addition to creative language use and L2 learning, role-plays may offer a context for language assessment. Later, we shall look at the assessment criteria and results.
In the next section we will explore the goals for instruction and the procedure for role-plays that was used for some 12-week upper-intermediate/advanced English classes in Romania from the years 2002-2003.
Goals For Instruction And Procedure For Role-Plays That Was Used.
From 2002 to 2003, 12-week upper-intermediate/advanced English listening and speaking classes were taught by Romanian English instructors to Romanian students. The data for this paper was taken specifically from those classes that were taught by Romanian English Instructors Bianca Morar and Otilia Oprean. The learners needed a high proficiency level of English skills, and role-plays were one of the things that was used to help them achieve that goal.
Goals
One of the major goals of the upper intermediate/advanced English classes in Romania was to facilitate language acquisition at level 3 of the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) skill level descriptors. A complete list of ILR skill level descriptors for speaking can be found at: http://www.utm.edu/~globeg/ilrspeak.html. According to the ILR Language Skill Level Descriptions for Speaking at Level 3 (General Professional Proficiency), “…The individual can effectively combine structure and vocabulary to convey his/her meaning accurately…” “…Although cultural references, proverbs, and the implications of nuances and idiom may not be fully understood, the individual can easily repair the conversation…(As quoted in The University of Tennessee at Martin Website Retrieved 2003/2004).” The speaker needs to be able to combine structure and vocabulary to convey meaning. In addition, the ability to repair a conversation that may involve cultural references, proverbs, and idioms is indicative of level 3 ILR speaking. The problem is “How do you prepare someone for this type of speech event?” Could role-plays be used as a context for practice, assessment, and acquisition (in the form of backwash from the role-plays) of level 3 ILR speaking? The next section addresses the procedure that was used with the hope that this goal would be achieved.
Procedure
The following procedure was followed for the 12-week advanced Romanian English classes:
· A list of low frequency terms was produced by Romanian English Instructors.
· The form, meaning, and use of these terms were taught by the Romanian English Instructors to Romanian English students.
· Roles in the Role-Plays were assigned and played and feedback was given to the learners.
· Midterm and Final Role-plays were developed wherein the low frequency language items could be used.
· A performance evaluation to assess the students’ use of the terms was made and used.
List Of Low Frequency Terms
A list of low-frequency terms was generated from a curriculum that used the American Language Course Books 31-34 written by the Defense Language Institute and Consider the Issues: Advanced Listening and Critical Thinking Skills by Carol Numrich. A complete list of terms used can be found in Appendix A. Four of the terms are as follows:
to rack one’s brain; to be one’s bag; to bite the bullet; to shoot from the hip
Next, let’s consider how these terms were taught by the Romanian English teachers.
The Form, Meaning, and Use of Terms Were Taught
By Romanian English Instructors
Throughout the 12-week upper-intermediate/advanced English courses taught in 2002 and 2003, the meanings of low frequency items were taught by the Romanian English Instructors in the context in which they were found. The instructors had the students participate in activities such as: guessing the meaning from the context, matching, gap filling, rephrasing, and short role-plays that involved the low frequency items. The intent was to make the productive use of these terms understandable to the widest audience of interlocutors These initial role-plays were not assessed using a performance evaluation. The students practiced the form, meaning, and use of low frequency language items that were part of the word list generated by Romanian English language instructors. Later on in the 12-week upper-intermediate/advanced English courses, the students were given midterm and final role-plays that were assessed using a performance evaluation.
Role-Play Process
The role-play process involved assigning roles to the student, teacher, and assessor. After all the students completed the midterm role-plays, feedback was given.
Student Role
In the middle of the courses taught in the years 2002 and 2003, the students were assessed using 10 situations and four terms for each situation. A student was verbally presented with a situation and could choose one of four terms to use in a conversation. The other students that were not being tested worked on writing assignments in the language laboratory. The student being tested had a student sheet that listed the terms, but not the situations. The student sheet only had four words or phrases on it for each situation. Only one of the terms would naturally fit the situation. If the student didn’t understand the situation that was read by the teacher, s/he would read it again.
Teacher Role
The teachers had a teacher sheet that had the four terms on it and s/he would read them as an example for pronunciation purposes. In addition, the teacher sheet had 10 “situations” which provided the context for the role-plays. The teacher sheet also had a suggested dialogue that the teacher could follow or deviate from depending on how the student responded. The teacher would read the four low frequency items, the situation, and then interact with the student in a role-play. If the student did not understand the situation, the teacher would read it again. During the role-play the teacher would record the utterance wherein the student used the target or non-target term.
Assessor Role
The assessor (either me, or later on, another Romanian teacher) and the teacher would record the utterance wherein the student used the target or non-target term. After the student role-played with the teacher in the 10 situations, each one having four different terms, the student was then finished with the midterm role-play test. The teacher and assessor would then tally their scores separately, and then compare their results. The teacher and assessor would negotiate a score that they felt best reflected the student’s performance.
Feedback
After all the students were tested, the students were given feedback on how they used the terms and how they could be used to be understood by the largest number of interlocutors. This feedback was given to the whole group of students at the same time. During the feedback time, the students (one at a time) were asked to role-play with the teacher, the exact same situations that had been tested. This time the students could see the teacher sheet that had the situations, as it was copied onto a transparency and projected onto a whiteboard. The students (who were not role-playing) were also asked to assess their classmate who was role-playing with the teacher. This process promoted comprehensible input wherein acquisition could take place. The students also better understood how they were being assessed.
Now, let’s consider the midterm and final role-plays themselves.
Midterm And Final Exam Role-Plays
The difference between the midterm and final role-plays was that feedback was not given for the final role-plays as they would be used to assess future classes.
Midterm Role-Plays
Midterm role-plays were used as a context to assess the students’ use of the low frequency terms. These were initially developed by me, and later, for a subsequent class in the year 2004, by Romanian English instructor, Bianca Morar. The following is an example of a midterm role-play. The first part is the student sheet and the second part is the teacher sheet. Only situation #5 is shown. For the complete test, there were a total of 10 situations with four different terms for each situation.
VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSION USAGE TEST 7 STUDENT SHEET
DIRECTIONS: You will hear a situation and be given four vocabulary words. You need to use one of the words in the conversation. You do not need to use the word at the beginning of the conversation unless the context is appropriate.
Situation # 5:
Vocabulary: to rack one’s brain; to be one’s bag; to bite the bullet; to shoot from the hip
Note- The teacher reads the four terms and then the situation in the teacher sheet. He or she repeats it one time if the student doesn’t understand. The suggested teacher dialogue is optional. It may or may not be used depending on how the conversation develops. The teacher is trying to engage the student in a natural conversation.
VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSION USAGE TEST 7 TEACHER SHEET
Vocabulary: to rack one’s brain; to be one’s bag; to bite the bullet; to shoot from the hip
Situation # 5: Your friend wants you to water his plants while he goes on a vacation. You tell him that you really don’t want to do it as you don’t have much experience with plants. You have tried to take care of plants in the past and they have died. Either you or your friend starts the conversation and either you or your friend ends the conversation. I am the friend who wants you to water my plants while I go on vacation.
Teacher: Hey, what’s up?
Student: _______________________________________________________________________________
Teacher: I was wondering if you could take care of my plants.
Student: _______________________________________________________________________________
Teacher: All you would have to do is water them every other day.
Student: _______________________________________________________________________________
Teacher: Well, if you really don’t think you can do it I guess I’ll get someone else.
Student: _______________________________________________________________________________
The teacher did not need to follow the dialogue verbatim as it was written, but could use it as a base.
Final Exam Role-Plays
Towards the end of the course the students participated in a final exam role-play to see if they could use the terms productively. The final role-play was used for assessment purposes. Role-plays were developed that were similar to the midterm tests. The difference between the midterm and final role-plays was that the midterm was only for practice and a grade was not recorded in their records. In addition, they were not given feedback for the final exam role-plays as the same tests would be used for future classes. Other than that, the format for the role-plays and assessment was the same.
The following was part of the final exam. First is the student sheet, and then the teacher sheet. Note that only situation #1 is on this portion of the student sheet. The complete test had 10 situations with four different words for each situation.
VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSION USAGE TEST FORM C STUDENT SHEET
DIRECTIONS: You will hear a situation and be given four vocabulary words. You need to use one of the words in the conversation. You do not need to use the word at the beginning of the conversation unless the context is appropriate. It is an open conversation. You can begin and/or end the conversation and the instructor can begin and/or end the conversation.
Situation # 1:
Vocabulary: to go by the book; to be one’s bag; to get to the bottom; to shoot from the hip.
VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSION USAGE TEST FORM C TEACHER SHEET
Vocabulary: to go by the book; to be one’s bag; to get to the bottom; to shoot from the hip.
Situation # 1: You are put in charge of taking care of the supplies for your unit. You are not really happy about this as you don’t enjoy being responsible for the supplies. You talk with a peer about your new job. Either you or your friend starts the conversation and either you or your friend ends the conversation.
Teacher: Hey, what’s up?
Student: _______________________________________________________________________________
Teacher: So how do you like being in charge of the supplies?
Student: _______________________________________________________________________________
Teacher: Maybe it is better than some of the other jobs.
Student: _______________________________________________________________________________
Teacher: Well, I need to get going. I’ll talk to you later.
Student: _______________________________________________________________________________
The teacher read the words and then the situation. He or she repeated the situation one time if the student didn’t understand. The dialogue is a suggested dialogue that may or may not be used. The emphasis is on a near-natural conversation, not prescription. Now, let’s look at the performance evaluation.
Performance Evaluation
A performance evaluation was used to evaluate the students’ use the terms. One of the four terms was considered the “target term” What this meant was that the context lent itself to using that term more than the three other terms. The other terms were considered “non-target” terms. The performance evaluation will be discussed in more detail in the assessment section.
NAME___________________________
DATE___________________________
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION FOR VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSION USAGE TEST
NOTE: A LIST OF FOUR WORDS/IDIOMS WILL BE GIVEN TO THE STUDENT. AFTERWORDS, A SITUATION WILL BE EXPLAINED TO THE STUDENT. THEN, THE TEACHER WILL BEGIN A CONVERSATION WITH THE STUDENT. THE CONVERSATION WILL LEND ITSELF TO USING ONE OF THE WORDS/IDIOMS. THIS WORD/IDIOM IS CONSIDERD THE TARGET WORD/IDIOM. THE OTHER THREE WORDS/IDIOMS ARE THE NON-TARGET WORDS/IDIOMS.
10 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom Correctly (Including Pronunciation) With No Errors In The Utterance Which Contains The Target Word/Idiom.
09 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom Correctly (Including Pronunciation) With Some Errors In The Utterance Which Contains The Target Word/Idiom.
08 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom With Some Errors In The Usage (Including Pronunciation) And/Or Utterance But The Conversation Is Comprehensible Including The Meaning Conveyed With The Use Of The Target Word.
07 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom Comprehensibly, But It Was Not Natural To The Conversation. The Student Had To Create The Context In Order To Use The Word/Idiom.
07 Points: Does Not Use Target Word/Idiom But Uses Non-Target Word/Idiom Correctly (Including Pronunciation) With No Errors In The Utterance Which Contains The Non-Target Word/Idiom. Note: The Student Had To Create The Context In Order To Use The Word/Idiom. It Was Not Natural To The Conversation.
06 Points: Does Not Use Target Word/Idiom But Uses Non-Target Word/Idiom Correctly (Including Pronunciation) With Some Errors In The Utterance Which Contains The Non-Target Word/Idiom.
05 Points: Does Not Use Target Word/Idiom But Uses Non-Target Word/Idiom With Some Errors In The Usage (Including Pronunciation) And/Or Utterance But The Conversation Is Comprehensible Including The Meaning Conveyed With The Use Of The Non-Target Word.
04 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom Incomprehensibly.
03 Points: Uses Non-Target Word/Idiom Incomprehensibly.
02 Points: Doesn’t Use Any Of The Words Either Target Or Non-Target, But Conversation Is Comprehensible.
01 Point: Doesn’t Use Any Of The Words Either Target Or Non-Target And Conversation Is Incomprehensible.
00 Points: Doesn’t Say Anything.
DIRECTIONS: WRITE UTTERANCE WITH TARGET/NON-TARGET WORD/IDIOM AND RATE IT.
SITUATION # 1________________________________________________________________________
SITUATION # 2________________________________________________________________________
SITUATION # 3________________________________________________________________________
SITUATION # 4________________________________________________________________________
SITUATION # 5________________________________________________________________________
SITUATION # 6________________________________________________________________________
SITUATION # 7________________________________________________________________________
SITUATION # 8________________________________________________________________________
SITUATION # 9________________________________________________________________________
SITUATION # 10_______________________________________________________________________
Total _______________
The assessment criteria and results shall be considered next.
Assessment Criteria And Results
In order to assess the form, meaning, and use of low frequency language items, the previously mentioned performance evaluation was used. The learner had to: focus on meaning (choose the most logical low frequency language item which corresponded to the situation), use (use it at the right time and place in the conversation), and form (make sure that the correct structure is used). The assessment focused on the utterance wherein the learner chose to use the target or non-target low frequency item.
Although the students’ creativity may be commendable, creativity does not always lead to communication. If a person says, “I was appointed to take care of supply and it isn’t my bag” the term “supply” may or may not cause problems for the interlocutor. If the interlocutor makes the inference that the person meant to say “supplies”, then there is not a problem. But if the interlocutor doesn’t make the inference, then there may be a problem of communication. So the utterance, which encases the target idiom, is also taken into consideration. For example, a student said, “I give she some flowers and now I’m out of the woods.” The student received a “9” for this as he should have said, “I gave her some flowers and now I’m out of the woods.” Being “out of the woods” is encased in the context of “having given flowers.” The interlocutor is forced to translate “give she” to “gave her” in his or her mind. Although it is assumed that most interlocutors may be able to do this, some may not. The instructors, through activities such as: guessing the meaning from the context, matching, gap filling, rephrasing, and short role-plays that involved the low frequency items; led the students’ creativity towards communication that was comprehensible. The intended desire was to have the learner negotiate meaning using a form that was comprehensible. If the utterance were not understood or confusing, the teacher would say, “What?” It is possible that the learners were uttering memorized phrases in the correct places void of meaning and receiving a mark of “10.” However, given the low frequency nature of the target words, the need to choose between four possible choices, and the need to use the term in the right place in the context of the conversation, it is unlikely that the learners were using the terms void of meaning, but not impossible. It is also possible that students were creating with the language attempting to communicate in a way that was full of meaning for themselves, but not understandable to others.
So there seems to be a balance between authentic meaning-centered creative grammatically inaccurate speech, which may not be understandable, and prescriptive void-of-meaning, memorized grammatically correct non-creative utterances that are comprehensible. In other words, there is the spectrum - from students creating with the language, but you can’t understand what they are saying, to students repeating something like a parrot, which may be void of meaning for them and yet comprehensible to the listener. If language instructors felt that the performance evaluation that is presented in this paper were too “prescriptivist”, they could change it to reward the student for more creativity. The same is true if the instructor felt the performance evaluation were to “liberal.” S/he could change it to reward more accuracy.
Now, let’s look at what one student actually said and the score he received. The following shows the situations for Test Form C, the low frequency items, what the learner said, his score, and reason why he was given that score. Then a final score is given for this student.
VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSION USAGE TEST FORM C
Situation # 1: You are put in charge of taking care of the supplies for your unit. You are not really happy about this as you don’t enjoy being responsible for the supplies. You talk with a peer about your new job. Either you or your friend starts the conversation and either you or your friend ends the conversation.
Vocabulary: to go by the book; to be one’s bag; to get to the bottom; to shoot from the hip.
The student said, “It’s not my bag to be involved in logistics” He was given a 10 as his performance matched the following performance evaluation description:
10 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom Correctly (Including Pronunciation) With No Errors In The Utterance Which Contains The Target Word/Idiom. (The student used the low frequency item correctly.)
Situation # 2: Your friend spanked his child for doing something wrong that the child actually didn’t do. Now your friend feels bad about it. He comes to you for advice. I am your friend who feels bad about spanking his child. Either you or your friend starts the conversation and either you or your friend ends the conversation.
Vocabulary: to look the other way; to swallow one’s pride; to pull one’s leg; to get off one’s back
The student said, “Maybe you must swallow your pride and if you know exactly what’s happen…” He was given a nine as his performance matched the following performance evaluation description:
09 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom Correctly (Including Pronunciation) With Some Errors In The Utterance Which Contains The Target Word/Idiom. (The student said, “what’s happen” and was deducted one point.)
Situation # 3: You have a problem with your heating system so you want to call the technician. A relative says that he can fix it. After a couple of hours he still has not solved the problem. Then a friend calls you on the phone. Either you or your friend starts the conversation and either you or your friend ends the conversation.
Vocabulary: to open the door to; to quell; to lug around; to tinker with.
The student said, “My neighborhood tinker with the situation…” He was given a seven as his performance matched the following performance evaluation description:
07 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom Comprehensibly, But It Was Not Natural To The Conversation. The Student Had To Create The Context In Order To Use The Word/Idiom. (The student said “neighborhood” rather than “relative” so he made up his own context.)
Situation # 4: Your friend wants to tell you about a problem that he has with his marriage. He is not sure you will listen. I am the friend who has marital problems. Either you or your friend starts the conversation and either you or your friend ends the conversation.
Vocabulary: to be all ears; to shake a leg; to let one’s hair down; to give somebody a piece of one’s mind.
The student said, “Well, I’m all ear. Let’s tell me what happened” He was given an eight as his performance matched the following performance evaluation description:
08 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom With Some Errors In The Usage (Including Pronunciation) And/Or Utterance But The Conversation Is Comprehensible Including The Meaning Conveyed With The Use Of The Target Word. (The student said, “all ear” so two points were deducted.)
Situation # 5: Your sister completed college about five years ago. She studied accounting. She worked at a bank for a while, but didn’t seem to like it. Then she went into sales, but didn’t like that either. After that, she got a job with a cell phone company that she really likes. Now you talk with a friend about her. Either you or your friend starts the conversation and either you or your friend ends the conversation.
Vocabulary: standoff; niche; hitch; subsidy.
The student said, “He had really his niche” He was given a four as his performance matched the following performance evaluation description:
04 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom Incomprehensibly. (The utterance was incomprehensible. The conversation was about his sister)
Situation # 6: You just finished eating at a restaurant. You say that you will leave a sum of money for the waiter. I ate with you. Either you or I start the conversation and either you or I end the conversation.
Vocabulary: to strike common ground; to give it a shot; to cover the tip; to compose one’s soul.
The student said, “Let me cover the tip.” He was given a 10 as his performance matched the following performance evaluation description:
10 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom Correctly (Including Pronunciation) With No Errors In The Utterance Which Contains The Target Word/Idiom. (The student used the low frequency item correctly.)
Situation # 7: You just got married about six months ago. In order to keep up with the bills you decided to get a second job and work nights. You feel tired a lot, but are happy about the extra money. A friend comes to talk to you. Either you or your friend starts the conversation and either you or your friend ends the conversation.
Vocabulary: to shoot from the hip; to get to the bottom; to go by the book; to moonlight.
The student said, “Due to the bill, I must moonlight all this /weeks/” He was given a nine as his performance matched the following performance evaluation description:
09 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom Correctly (Including Pronunciation) With Some Errors In The Utterance Which Contains The Target Word/Idiom. (The student said “bill” rather than “bills.” Also, his pronunciation of “weeks” was difficult to understand.)
Situation # 8: You and your friend are fishing. Your friend is amazed by the amount of fish in the lake. I am the friend who is amazed by the amount of fish in the lake. Either you or your friend starts the conversation and either you or your friend ends the conversation.
Vocabulary: teeming; tempest tossed; streaming; weary.
The student said, “It seems the lake been teeming with fish.” He was given an eight as his performance matched the following performance evaluation description:
08 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom With Some Errors In The Usage (Including Pronunciation) And/Or Utterance But The Conversation Is Comprehensible Including The Meaning Conveyed With The Use Of The Target Word. (The student said “been teeming rather than “is teeming.”)
Situation # 9: A meeting was held at your work place to see how things could be done better. The meeting lasted a long time, but it seemed to be productive. A plan was established to make the company work more efficiently. After the meeting you have dinner with a friend. Either you or your friend starts the conversation and either you or your friend ends the conversation.
Vocabulary: to hammer out; to polish up; to harness; to ram.
The student said, “We hammer out the problem and we finally…” He was given an eight as his performance matched the following performance evaluation description:
08 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom With Some Errors In The Usage (Including Pronunciation) And/Or Utterance But The Conversation Is Comprehensible Including The Meaning Conveyed With The Use Of The Target Word. (The student said “hammer out” rather than “hammered out.”)
Situation # 10: Your friend let you borrow his lawn mower. While you were using it you accidentally broke the lawn mower but didn’t tell him. You give him a call. I am the friend who lent you the lawn mower. Either you or your friend starts the conversation and either you or your friend ends the conversation.
Vocabulary: to get something off one’s chest; to drag one’s feet; to see eye to eye; to be on the last leg.
The student said, “I must to get something off one’s chest.” He was given a four as his performance matched the following performance evaluation description:
04 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom Incomprehensibly. (The utterance was incomprehensible. He needed to use “my chest” rather than “one’s chest”.)
So the student’s final score, which was tallied by adding up all ten situations, was 79.
Next, we shall consider how 10 students responded to the first situation. The following utterances were recorded from ten different students for situation #1 of the vocabulary and expression usage test form C that was shown previously.
Learner Utterance Score
…because it isn’t my bag, but if I must to do, I do it. score = 9 The use of the term is correct, but there is an error
in the utterance.
I really don’t like it. It’s not my bag. score = 10
I’m in charge of supplies and it’s my bag. score = 7 The student didn’t
understand the context. He made
up his own context and used the
term appropriately.
It’s not my bag. score = 10
To take care of the unit supplies is not my bag. score = 9 The use of the term is correct, but there is an error
in the utterance.
Yes, it isn’t my bag. score = 9 The student should have said, “No, it isn’t my bag.
…supply and it isn’t my bag. score = 9 The student should have used “supplies” rather than “supply”
…supply of my unit and it isn’t my bag. score = 9 The student should have used “supplies” rather than “supply”
It’s not my bag to be involved in logistics. score = 10
I’m afraid that’s not my bag. score = 7 The student thought the teacher was his supervisor. He didn’t understand the context, but used the term comprehensibly.
If the students used a term more than once or more than one term for a situation, each time a target or non-target term was used it was rated. An average of the use was then the score for that particular situation. So if the student said “It not my bag to work with supplies. I need to get to the bottom of this problem.” S/he would receive an 8 for “It not my bag” and a 7 for “get to the bottom” So his score for this situation would be 7.5 for this situation. Note that although “get to the bottom” was not a target idiom, it was used comprehensibly.
In a role-play wherein “to want an arm and a leg” was the target item, some learners said, “I think they want an arm and a leg” and “…they want an arm and a leg.” But other learners said, “They take me an arm and a leg”, “He really wants for me an arm and a leg”, and “It seems we had an arm and a leg….”
The interlocutor has to make a “comprehension gap jump” in order to understand what is being said in the last three utterances. Some interlocutors are better at jumping the gap than others. But if we want to appeal to the widest possible audience, we have to assume that some people will not “jump the gap.” Thus, at some point for certain interlocutors the form will distort the meaning. In addition, the use of the term needs to reflect the use of the intended audience in order to be understood by the widest possible number of people. Consequently, a performance evaluation can help assess the form, meaning, and use of the terms.
The average scores of the midterm role-plays and the final role-plays for three different 10-student classes were as follows:
Midterm Role-Play Final Role-Play
Class A 74.3% 88%
Class B 75.3% 88.7%
Class C 77.6% 89.3%
Eighty percent of the items that were on the midterm role-plays were also on the final role-plays. Two of the items on the final role-plays were new (In the sense that the had not been tested on the item before). So this made the final test both an achievement test and a performance evaluation.
The increase in the average between the midterm and the final role-play can be explained, in part, simply because the students may have been more comfortable with the format of the test. But on the other hand, they were under more pressure because they knew that the final role-plays would be assessed as one of the final grades for the course.
Some of the situations may not have been as clear as others. In the teacher sheet for test # 7 Situation # 5 it states
“ Your friend wants you to water his plants while he goes on a vacation. You tell him that you really don’t want to do it as you don’t have much experience with plants. You have tried to take care of plants in the past and they have died. Either you or your friend starts the conversation and either you or your friend ends the conversation. I am the friend who wants you to water my plants while I go on vacation.”
If the learner is not listening carefully, s/he may be confused. S/he may not make the connection that the teacher is also “the friend who wants his or her plants watered.” It may simplify the situation to change the beginning to say “I want my plants watered while I go on vacation.” Thus, the way the situation is written may affect the interaction of the learner.
Now, let’s consider the backwash from instruction and the role-play process.
Backwash From The Instruction And Role-Play Process
According to the performance evaluation results, it was concluded that the Romanian students exhibited a consistent ability to use the terms in a native-like manner. It seemed that the students’ understanding of the terms went deeper as a result of using them in a speaking context, rather than just reading and/or listening to them. Many of the students were able to repair the conversations when the teacher did not understand the students’ use of the low frequency items. Students negotiated speak acts during the role-plays such as apologizing, complaining, agreeing, and persuading. Finally, their abilities to begin and end conversations and socially interact with others were refined.
The role-plays promoted modified interaction on the part of the learner and teacher. When the teacher playing his or her part did not understand an utterance by the learner, she would ask the question “What do you mean?” The learner would then adjust his utterance in order to communicate. In addition, the student would ask for clarification if he did not understand what the teacher was saying.
Moreover, it was found that the students were not acquainted with the American “What’s up” “Not much” “How ya been doin?” “Fine” expressions. These role-plays provided a context wherein the learners could practice the dialogues.
The feedback process after the midterm role-plays provided the students with comprehensible input as to what the target item was and what they said. They had a chance to look at their utterances in written form. They had a chance to look at the situations in written form. They also had an opportunity to practice the target idiom as was demonstrated by the instructor. Sometimes these sessions became somewhat lively, as the students argued for their selection and use of the terms as being correct.
Unfortunately (from a research perspective), all the groups took part in both midterm role-plays and the final role-plays. As a result, a comparison cannot be made between groups that participated in role-plays and those that did not.
Finally, a conclusion will be drawn.
Conclusion
The role-plays for upper-intermediate/advanced English classes in 2002 and 2003 in Romania were developed with the intention to provide a context to assess form, meaning, and use of low frequency language items. This was deemed important in light of a desire to facilitate language practice and acquisition at level three of the ILR descriptors. Consequently; a list of low frequency terms was produced by Romanian English teachers; the form, meaning, and use of these terms were taught by the Romanian English teachers to Romanian English students; role-plays were developed wherein these terms could be used; a performance evaluation to assess the students’ use of the terms was made; and, at last, a final test, consisting of 10 role-plays, was given and the students’ results were evaluated.
On the one hand, some of the Romanian students expressed the definition for the term and then expressed the term itself. This seems somewhat artificial although some native speakers may communicate in this manner. In some cases the student did not completely understand the situation which was read to him orally. As a result, he used the term in a way that may not have corresponded to the situation. Also, the role-plays were time consuming compared to teacher-fronted activities.
On the other hand, the role-plays offered students the ability to create with the language. They gave
students the opportunity to practice items in contexts that they may encounter in real life. Because of the low frequency nature of the items in this study, the students may have had a hard time practicing these items in a productive sense, had they not had the opportunity to use them in role-plays. Some of the students, who did not have a high level of language competence, as was seen in their final oral interview (this interview was not part of the role-plays), were, nonetheless, able to use the low frequency items in a comprehensible way.
There may be a rough relationship between the score the student received on the performance evaluation, and individual items, and the ILR level at which the learner was communicating, at least during the segment of the conversation which encased the low frequency item. A score in the seventies may relate approximately to level one, a score in the eighties to level two, and a score in the nineties to level three. This is clearly subjective. More research needs to be done in this area.
Multiple choice language item semi-structured role-play may offer language learners opportunities to produce low frequency terms in near-authentic contexts. They promote modified interaction on the part of the learner and the instructor. This results in comprehensible input, which is important for language acquisition.
Research into the other forms of multiple choice language item role-plays such as using the low frequency items in the situation and the synonyms on the student sheet, role-plays using low frequency English for Special Purposes (ESP) terms, giving the student different question forms to choose from, having the student choose different verb forms, having the student use passive voice, and looking at rate of speech would enhance the understanding of using role-plays in the classroom. In addition, having students create and practice role-plays among themselves may make the activities more learner centered.
During a graduation party I asked one of the students if he knew much about cable television connections as I was having problem with my reception. He said the problem could lie with the cable company or with the TV itself. He then concluded by mentioning that he really didn’t know and said “It’s not my bag!”
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Bachman, L. F. & Cohen A. D. (1998) Language testing – SLA interfaces: An update. In L. F. Bachman and A. D. Cohen (Eds.). Interfaces Between Second Language Acquisition and Testing Research (pp. 1-31). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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The University of Tennessee at Martin. Retrieved May 6, 2003
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APPENDIX A
a company man
a dry run
a flying start
a general rule of thumb
a pain in the neck
a slip of the tongue
abject
above one’s head
adept (adj.)
adornment
affliction
affluent
allocation
allure
ambivalent
an arm and a leg
ancestral
apolitical
autocratic (adj.)
backlash
baffled
benign (adj.)
blabbing
blink of an eye
block clubs
blueprint
body politic
boom
brain drain
breakthrough
breathless
brickbats
bucolic
by the skin of one’s teeth
caress
chain reaction
chaos
charisma
chatty
chronic (adj.)
cognizant
cohesion
commodity
consensus
contingency
crackpots and tyrants
cream of the crop
crucial
crucial (adj.)
cynical (adj.)
defiance
descriptive (adj.)
dire (adj.)
disenfranchised
dispenser
dissension
diverse (adj.)
drastic (adj.)
drawback
embedded
entrepreneur
equitable (adj.)
essence
ethical (adj.)
etiquette
explicit (adj.)
extenuating circumstance
fancy-grade
fermentation
foe
foolproof
foray
framework
frazzled
furtively
gaffe
gait
governed
harbor of stability
harried
hasty (adj.)
heredity
hitch
hot under the collar
illiterate (adj.)
imminent (adj.)
immune (adj.)
implicit (adj.)
in large part
in order
incarnation
incompetent (adj.)
indispensable
inevitable (adj.)
integrity
integrity
jargon
label
livelihood
lofty
lost in a shuffle
makeshift
martinet
meticulous (adj.)
myopia
myriad
niche
notorious (adj.)
novice
obsessed (adj.)
on the fly
on the heels of
one’s bag
opportunity of a lifetime
out of the woods
outskirts
pantomime
parlor games
parochial
patchwork quilt
patrol
peeping Tom
perishable
perspective
pie in the sky
pimp
pot luck
prejudice
prestige
proficient
profound (adj.)
prosaic
prospect
protégé
psyche
public charges
pungent
realia
remorse
resume
school of thought
second string
secondhand
self-starter
sinister
skeptical (adj.)
snob appeal
sound (adj.)
standoff
streaming
stringent (adj.)
stuffy
sturdy (adj.)
subsidy
sullen (adj.)
tactile
tang
teeming
tempest tossed
tenet
tensile
tinkerer
to alienate
to anticipate
to ban
to be all ears
to be big on something
to be cognizance of
to be conditioned by
to be in over one’s head
to be incumbent upon
to be on the last leg
to be on the tip of one’s tongue
to bear with
to beckon
to bewilder
to bite the bullet
to boycott
to break out
to catch on
to catch somebody’s eyes
to come of age
to compose one’s soul
to concoct
to connote
to contend
to cover the tip
to cut across
to decipher
to delegate
to deprive
to derive from
to drag one’s feet
to draw straws
to drop a bombshell
to duck
to eavesdrop
to egg on
APPENDIX A
to embark
to encompass
to etch
to exacerbate
to extol
to facilitate
to fall into the hands of
to feel at home with
to fight tooth and nail
to flunk
to fondle
to foot the bill
to foster
to foul up
to fritter away
to get off one’s back
to get one’s hands full
to get something off one’s chest
to get to the bottom
to give a hand
to give it a shot
to give somebody a piece of one’s mind
to go behind someone’s back
to go by the book
to go on and on
to hammer out
to harness
to hassle
to have a leg to stand on
to have a sweet tooth
to have the upper hand
to hedge
to hold one’s own
to incorporate
to inculcate
to inflict
to irk
to keep a straight face
to knuckle under
to let one’s hair down
to live up
to look the other way
to lug around
to mangle
to mimic
to moonlight
to notice
to open the door to
to phase in
to play with fire
to pluck
to poke fun at
to polish up
to prescreen
to pull one’s leg
to push the panic button
to put fears to rest
to put heads together
to put one’s foot down
to put one’s foot into one’s mouth
to put one’s nose to the grindstone
to quell
to rack one’s brain
to ram
to realign
to rub elbows with
to scoff at
to scramble
to scurry
to see eye to eye
to set aside
to shake a leg
to shed
to shirk
to shoot from the hip
to shudder
to skid
to skip
to slap
to sniff
to spoil supper
to stare
to stay loose
to step on somebody’s toes
to stick one’s neck out for somebody else
to strike common ground
to sue
to swallow one’s pride
to take a drag
to take issue
to take something from the top
to tinker with
to troubleshoot
to twist
to vacillate
to vie
to warrant
top banana
turmoil
twist
underlying
upscale (adj.)
upstart
vast (adj.)
weary
wet behind the ears
with open arms
wretched
yearning
Although the students’ creativity may be commendable, creativity does not always lead to communication. If a person says, “I was appointed to take care of supply and it isn’t my bag” the term “supply” may or may not cause problems for the interlocutor. If the interlocutor makes the inference that the person meant to say “supplies”, then there is not a problem. But if the interlocutor doesn’t make the inference, then there may be a problem of communication. So the utterance, which encases the target idiom, is also taken into consideration. For example, a student said, “I give she some flowers and now I’m out of the woods.” The student received a “9” for this as he should have said, “I gave her some flowers and now I’m out of the woods.” Being “out of the woods” is encased in the context of “having given flowers.” The interlocutor is forced to translate “give she” to “gave her” in his or her mind. Although it is assumed that most interlocutors may be able to do this, some may not. The instructors, through activities such as: guessing the meaning from the context, matching, gap filling, rephrasing, and short role-plays that involved the low frequency items; led the students’ creativity towards communication that was comprehensible. The intended desire was to have the learner negotiate meaning using a form that was comprehensible. If the utterance were not understood or confusing, the teacher would say, “What?” It is possible that the learners were uttering memorized phrases in the correct places void of meaning and receiving a mark of “10.” However, given the low frequency nature of the target words, the need to choose between four possible choices, and the need to use the term in the right place in the context of the conversation, it is unlikely that the learners were using the terms void of meaning, but not impossible. It is also possible that students were creating with the language attempting to communicate in a way that was full of meaning for themselves, but not understandable to others.
So there seems to be a balance between authentic meaning-centered creative grammatically inaccurate speech, which may not be understandable, and prescriptive void-of-meaning, memorized grammatically correct non-creative utterances that are comprehensible. In other words, there is the spectrum - from students creating with the language, but you can’t understand what they are saying, to students repeating something like a parrot, which may be void of meaning for them and yet comprehensible to the listener. If language instructors felt that the performance evaluation that is presented in this paper were too “prescriptivist”, they could change it to reward the student for more creativity. The same is true if the instructor felt the performance evaluation were to “liberal.” S/he could change it to reward more accuracy.
Now, let’s look at what one student actually said and the score he received. The following shows the situations for Test Form C, the low frequency items, what the learner said, his score, and reason why he was given that score. Then a final score is given for this student.
VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSION USAGE TEST FORM C
Situation # 1: You are put in charge of taking care of the supplies for your unit. You are not really happy about this as you don’t enjoy being responsible for the supplies. You talk with a peer about your new job. Either you or your friend starts the conversation and either you or your friend ends the conversation.
Vocabulary: to go by the book; to be one’s bag; to get to the bottom; to shoot from the hip.
The student said, “It’s not my bag to be involved in logistics” He was given a 10 as his performance matched the following performance evaluation description:
10 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom Correctly (Including Pronunciation) With No Errors In The Utterance Which Contains The Target Word/Idiom. (The student used the low frequency item correctly.)
Situation # 2: Your friend spanked his child for doing something wrong that the child actually didn’t do. Now your friend feels bad about it. He comes to you for advice. I am your friend who feels bad about spanking his child. Either you or your friend starts the conversation and either you or your friend ends the conversation.
Vocabulary: to look the other way; to swallow one’s pride; to pull one’s leg; to get off one’s back
The student said, “Maybe you must swallow your pride and if you know exactly what’s happen…” He was given a nine as his performance matched the following performance evaluation description:
09 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom Correctly (Including Pronunciation) With Some Errors In The Utterance Which Contains The Target Word/Idiom. (The student said, “what’s happen” and was deducted one point.)
Situation # 3: You have a problem with your heating system so you want to call the technician. A relative says that he can fix it. After a couple of hours he still has not solved the problem. Then a friend calls you on the phone. Either you or your friend starts the conversation and either you or your friend ends the conversation.
Vocabulary: to open the door to; to quell; to lug around; to tinker with.
The student said, “My neighborhood tinker with the situation…” He was given a seven as his performance matched the following performance evaluation description:
07 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom Comprehensibly, But It Was Not Natural To The Conversation. The Student Had To Create The Context In Order To Use The Word/Idiom. (The student said “neighborhood” rather than “relative” so he made up his own context.)
Situation # 4: Your friend wants to tell you about a problem that he has with his marriage. He is not sure you will listen. I am the friend who has marital problems. Either you or your friend starts the conversation and either you or your friend ends the conversation.
Vocabulary: to be all ears; to shake a leg; to let one’s hair down; to give somebody a piece of one’s mind.
The student said, “Well, I’m all ear. Let’s tell me what happened” He was given an eight as his performance matched the following performance evaluation description:
08 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom With Some Errors In The Usage (Including Pronunciation) And/Or Utterance But The Conversation Is Comprehensible Including The Meaning Conveyed With The Use Of The Target Word. (The student said, “all ear” so two points were deducted.)
Situation # 5: Your sister completed college about five years ago. She studied accounting. She worked at a bank for a while, but didn’t seem to like it. Then she went into sales, but didn’t like that either. After that, she got a job with a cell phone company that she really likes. Now you talk with a friend about her. Either you or your friend starts the conversation and either you or your friend ends the conversation.
Vocabulary: standoff; niche; hitch; subsidy.
The student said, “He had really his niche” He was given a four as his performance matched the following performance evaluation description:
04 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom Incomprehensibly. (The utterance was incomprehensible. The conversation was about his sister)
Situation # 6: You just finished eating at a restaurant. You say that you will leave a sum of money for the waiter. I ate with you. Either you or I start the conversation and either you or I end the conversation.
Vocabulary: to strike common ground; to give it a shot; to cover the tip; to compose one’s soul.
The student said, “Let me cover the tip.” He was given a 10 as his performance matched the following performance evaluation description:
10 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom Correctly (Including Pronunciation) With No Errors In The Utterance Which Contains The Target Word/Idiom. (The student used the low frequency item correctly.)
Situation # 7: You just got married about six months ago. In order to keep up with the bills you decided to get a second job and work nights. You feel tired a lot, but are happy about the extra money. A friend comes to talk to you. Either you or your friend starts the conversation and either you or your friend ends the conversation.
Vocabulary: to shoot from the hip; to get to the bottom; to go by the book; to moonlight.
The student said, “Due to the bill, I must moonlight all this /weeks/” He was given a nine as his performance matched the following performance evaluation description:
09 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom Correctly (Including Pronunciation) With Some Errors In The Utterance Which Contains The Target Word/Idiom. (The student said “bill” rather than “bills.” Also, his pronunciation of “weeks” was difficult to understand.)
Situation # 8: You and your friend are fishing. Your friend is amazed by the amount of fish in the lake. I am the friend who is amazed by the amount of fish in the lake. Either you or your friend starts the conversation and either you or your friend ends the conversation.
Vocabulary: teeming; tempest tossed; streaming; weary.
The student said, “It seems the lake been teeming with fish.” He was given an eight as his performance matched the following performance evaluation description:
08 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom With Some Errors In The Usage (Including Pronunciation) And/Or Utterance But The Conversation Is Comprehensible Including The Meaning Conveyed With The Use Of The Target Word. (The student said “been teeming rather than “is teeming.”)
Situation # 9: A meeting was held at your work place to see how things could be done better. The meeting lasted a long time, but it seemed to be productive. A plan was established to make the company work more efficiently. After the meeting you have dinner with a friend. Either you or your friend starts the conversation and either you or your friend ends the conversation.
Vocabulary: to hammer out; to polish up; to harness; to ram.
The student said, “We hammer out the problem and we finally…” He was given an eight as his performance matched the following performance evaluation description:
08 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom With Some Errors In The Usage (Including Pronunciation) And/Or Utterance But The Conversation Is Comprehensible Including The Meaning Conveyed With The Use Of The Target Word. (The student said “hammer out” rather than “hammered out.”)
Situation # 10: Your friend let you borrow his lawn mower. While you were using it you accidentally broke the lawn mower but didn’t tell him. You give him a call. I am the friend who lent you the lawn mower. Either you or your friend starts the conversation and either you or your friend ends the conversation.
Vocabulary: to get something off one’s chest; to drag one’s feet; to see eye to eye; to be on the last leg.
The student said, “I must to get something off one’s chest.” He was given a four as his performance matched the following performance evaluation description:
04 Points: Uses Target Word/Idiom Incomprehensibly. (The utterance was incomprehensible. He needed to use “my chest” rather than “one’s chest”.)
So the student’s final score, which was tallied by adding up all ten situations, was 79.
Next, we shall consider how 10 students responded to the first situation. The following utterances were recorded from ten different students for situation #1 of the vocabulary and expression usage test form C that was shown previously.
Learner Utterance Score
…because it isn’t my bag, but if I must to do, I do it. score = 9 The use of the term is correct, but there is an error
in the utterance.
I really don’t like it. It’s not my bag. score = 10
I’m in charge of supplies and it’s my bag. score = 7 The student didn’t
understand the context. He made
up his own context and used the
term appropriately.
It’s not my bag. score = 10
To take care of the unit supplies is not my bag. score = 9 The use of the term is correct, but there is an error
in the utterance.
Yes, it isn’t my bag. score = 9 The student should have said, “No, it isn’t my bag.
…supply and it isn’t my bag. score = 9 The student should have used “supplies” rather than “supply”
…supply of my unit and it isn’t my bag. score = 9 The student should have used “supplies” rather than “supply”
It’s not my bag to be involved in logistics. score = 10
I’m afraid that’s not my bag. score = 7 The student thought the teacher was his supervisor. He didn’t understand the context, but used the term comprehensibly.
If the students used a term more than once or more than one term for a situation, each time a target or non-target term was used it was rated. An average of the use was then the score for that particular situation. So if the student said “It not my bag to work with supplies. I need to get to the bottom of this problem.” S/he would receive an 8 for “It not my bag” and a 7 for “get to the bottom” So his score for this situation would be 7.5 for this situation. Note that although “get to the bottom” was not a target idiom, it was used comprehensibly.
In a role-play wherein “to want an arm and a leg” was the target item, some learners said, “I think they want an arm and a leg” and “…they want an arm and a leg.” But other learners said, “They take me an arm and a leg”, “He really wants for me an arm and a leg”, and “It seems we had an arm and a leg….”
The interlocutor has to make a “comprehension gap jump” in order to understand what is being said in the last three utterances. Some interlocutors are better at jumping the gap than others. But if we want to appeal to the widest possible audience, we have to assume that some people will not “jump the gap.” Thus, at some point for certain interlocutors the form will distort the meaning. In addition, the use of the term needs to reflect the use of the intended audience in order to be understood by the widest possible number of people. Consequently, a performance evaluation can help assess the form, meaning, and use of the terms.
The average scores of the midterm role-plays and the final role-plays for three different 10-student classes were as follows:
Midterm Role-Play Final Role-Play
Class A 74.3% 88%
Class B 75.3% 88.7%
Class C 77.6% 89.3%
Eighty percent of the items that were on the midterm role-plays were also on the final role-plays. Two of the items on the final role-plays were new (In the sense that the had not been tested on the item before). So this made the final test both an achievement test and a performance evaluation.
The increase in the average between the midterm and the final role-play can be explained, in part, simply because the students may have been more comfortable with the format of the test. But on the other hand, they were under more pressure because they knew that the final role-plays would be assessed as one of the final grades for the course.
Some of the situations may not have been as clear as others. In the teacher sheet for test # 7 Situation # 5 it states
“ Your friend wants you to water his plants while he goes on a vacation. You tell him that you really don’t want to do it as you don’t have much experience with plants. You have tried to take care of plants in the past and they have died. Either you or your friend starts the conversation and either you or your friend ends the conversation. I am the friend who wants you to water my plants while I go on vacation.”
If the learner is not listening carefully, s/he may be confused. S/he may not make the connection that the teacher is also “the friend who wants his or her plants watered.” It may simplify the situation to change the beginning to say “I want my plants watered while I go on vacation.” Thus, the way the situation is written may affect the interaction of the learner.
Now, let’s consider the backwash from instruction and the role-play process.
Backwash From The Instruction And Role-Play Process
According to the performance evaluation results, it was concluded that the Romanian students exhibited a consistent ability to use the terms in a native-like manner. It seemed that the students’ understanding of the terms went deeper as a result of using them in a speaking context, rather than just reading and/or listening to them. Many of the students were able to repair the conversations when the teacher did not understand the students’ use of the low frequency items. Students negotiated speak acts during the role-plays such as apologizing, complaining, agreeing, and persuading. Finally, their abilities to begin and end conversations and socially interact with others were refined.
The role-plays promoted modified interaction on the part of the learner and teacher. When the teacher playing his or her part did not understand an utterance by the learner, she would ask the question “What do you mean?” The learner would then adjust his utterance in order to communicate. In addition, the student would ask for clarification if he did not understand what the teacher was saying.
Moreover, it was found that the students were not acquainted with the American “What’s up” “Not much” “How ya been doin?” “Fine” expressions. These role-plays provided a context wherein the learners could practice the dialogues.
The feedback process after the midterm role-plays provided the students with comprehensible input as to what the target item was and what they said. They had a chance to look at their utterances in written form. They had a chance to look at the situations in written form. They also had an opportunity to practice the target idiom as was demonstrated by the instructor. Sometimes these sessions became somewhat lively, as the students argued for their selection and use of the terms as being correct.
Unfortunately (from a research perspective), all the groups took part in both midterm role-plays and the final role-plays. As a result, a comparison cannot be made between groups that participated in role-plays and those that did not.
Finally, a conclusion will be drawn.
Conclusion
The role-plays for upper-intermediate/advanced English classes in 2002 and 2003 in Romania were developed with the intention to provide a context to assess form, meaning, and use of low frequency language items. This was deemed important in light of a desire to facilitate language practice and acquisition at level three of the ILR descriptors. Consequently; a list of low frequency terms was produced by Romanian English teachers; the form, meaning, and use of these terms were taught by the Romanian English teachers to Romanian English students; role-plays were developed wherein these terms could be used; a performance evaluation to assess the students’ use of the terms was made; and, at last, a final test, consisting of 10 role-plays, was given and the students’ results were evaluated.
On the one hand, some of the Romanian students expressed the definition for the term and then expressed the term itself. This seems somewhat artificial although some native speakers may communicate in this manner. In some cases the student did not completely understand the situation which was read to him orally. As a result, he used the term in a way that may not have corresponded to the situation. Also, the role-plays were time consuming compared to teacher-fronted activities.
On the other hand, the role-plays offered students the ability to create with the language. They gave
students the opportunity to practice items in contexts that they may encounter in real life. Because of the low frequency nature of the items in this study, the students may have had a hard time practicing these items in a productive sense, had they not had the opportunity to use them in role-plays. Some of the students, who did not have a high level of language competence, as was seen in their final oral interview (this interview was not part of the role-plays), were, nonetheless, able to use the low frequency items in a comprehensible way.
There may be a rough relationship between the score the student received on the performance evaluation, and individual items, and the ILR level at which the learner was communicating, at least during the segment of the conversation which encased the low frequency item. A score in the seventies may relate approximately to level one, a score in the eighties to level two, and a score in the nineties to level three. This is clearly subjective. More research needs to be done in this area.
Multiple choice language item semi-structured role-play may offer language learners opportunities to produce low frequency terms in near-authentic contexts. They promote modified interaction on the part of the learner and the instructor. This results in comprehensible input, which is important for language acquisition.
Research into the other forms of multiple choice language item role-plays such as using the low frequency items in the situation and the synonyms on the student sheet, role-plays using low frequency English for Special Purposes (ESP) terms, giving the student different question forms to choose from, having the student choose different verb forms, having the student use passive voice, and looking at rate of speech would enhance the understanding of using role-plays in the classroom. In addition, having students create and practice role-plays among themselves may make the activities more learner centered.
During a graduation party I asked one of the students if he knew much about cable television connections as I was having problem with my reception. He said the problem could lie with the cable company or with the TV itself. He then concluded by mentioning that he really didn’t know and said “It’s not my bag!”
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Bachman, L. F. & Cohen A. D. (1998) Language testing – SLA interfaces: An update. In L. F. Bachman and A. D. Cohen (Eds.). Interfaces Between Second Language Acquisition and Testing Research (pp. 1-31). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bailey, K.M. (1998). Learning About Language Assessment. San Francisco: Heinle &Heinle.
Defense Language Institute English Language Center. (1991). American Language Course Books 31-34. Lackland Air Force Base Texas.
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Johnson, M. (2001). The Art of Non Conversation: A Reexamination of the Validity of the Oral Proficiency Interview. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
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Ladousse, G. P. (1987). Role Play. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Makita, Y. 1995. The Effectiveness of Dramatic/Role-Playing Activities in the Japanese Language Classroom. University of Guam. Retrieved April 11, 2003
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The University of Tennessee at Martin. Retrieved May 6, 2003
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APPENDIX A
a company man
a dry run
a flying start
a general rule of thumb
a pain in the neck
a slip of the tongue
abject
above one’s head
adept (adj.)
adornment
affliction
affluent
allocation
allure
ambivalent
an arm and a leg
ancestral
apolitical
autocratic (adj.)
backlash
baffled
benign (adj.)
blabbing
blink of an eye
block clubs
blueprint
body politic
boom
brain drain
breakthrough
breathless
brickbats
bucolic
by the skin of one’s teeth
caress
chain reaction
chaos
charisma
chatty
chronic (adj.)
cognizant
cohesion
commodity
consensus
contingency
crackpots and tyrants
cream of the crop
crucial
crucial (adj.)
cynical (adj.)
defiance
descriptive (adj.)
dire (adj.)
disenfranchised
dispenser
dissension
diverse (adj.)
drastic (adj.)
drawback
embedded
entrepreneur
equitable (adj.)
essence
ethical (adj.)
etiquette
explicit (adj.)
extenuating circumstance
fancy-grade
fermentation
foe
foolproof
foray
framework
frazzled
furtively
gaffe
gait
governed
harbor of stability
harried
hasty (adj.)
heredity
hitch
hot under the collar
illiterate (adj.)
imminent (adj.)
immune (adj.)
implicit (adj.)
in large part
in order
incarnation
incompetent (adj.)
indispensable
inevitable (adj.)
integrity
integrity
jargon
label
livelihood
lofty
lost in a shuffle
makeshift
martinet
meticulous (adj.)
myopia
myriad
niche
notorious (adj.)
novice
obsessed (adj.)
on the fly
on the heels of
one’s bag
opportunity of a lifetime
out of the woods
outskirts
pantomime
parlor games
parochial
patchwork quilt
patrol
peeping Tom
perishable
perspective
pie in the sky
pimp
pot luck
prejudice
prestige
proficient
profound (adj.)
prosaic
prospect
protégé
psyche
public charges
pungent
realia
remorse
resume
school of thought
second string
secondhand
self-starter
sinister
skeptical (adj.)
snob appeal
sound (adj.)
standoff
streaming
stringent (adj.)
stuffy
sturdy (adj.)
subsidy
sullen (adj.)
tactile
tang
teeming
tempest tossed
tenet
tensile
tinkerer
to alienate
to anticipate
to ban
to be all ears
to be big on something
to be cognizance of
to be conditioned by
to be in over one’s head
to be incumbent upon
to be on the last leg
to be on the tip of one’s tongue
to bear with
to beckon
to bewilder
to bite the bullet
to boycott
to break out
to catch on
to catch somebody’s eyes
to come of age
to compose one’s soul
to concoct
to connote
to contend
to cover the tip
to cut across
to decipher
to delegate
to deprive
to derive from
to drag one’s feet
to draw straws
to drop a bombshell
to duck
to eavesdrop
to egg on
APPENDIX A
to embark
to encompass
to etch
to exacerbate
to extol
to facilitate
to fall into the hands of
to feel at home with
to fight tooth and nail
to flunk
to fondle
to foot the bill
to foster
to foul up
to fritter away
to get off one’s back
to get one’s hands full
to get something off one’s chest
to get to the bottom
to give a hand
to give it a shot
to give somebody a piece of one’s mind
to go behind someone’s back
to go by the book
to go on and on
to hammer out
to harness
to hassle
to have a leg to stand on
to have a sweet tooth
to have the upper hand
to hedge
to hold one’s own
to incorporate
to inculcate
to inflict
to irk
to keep a straight face
to knuckle under
to let one’s hair down
to live up
to look the other way
to lug around
to mangle
to mimic
to moonlight
to notice
to open the door to
to phase in
to play with fire
to pluck
to poke fun at
to polish up
to prescreen
to pull one’s leg
to push the panic button
to put fears to rest
to put heads together
to put one’s foot down
to put one’s foot into one’s mouth
to put one’s nose to the grindstone
to quell
to rack one’s brain
to ram
to realign
to rub elbows with
to scoff at
to scramble
to scurry
to see eye to eye
to set aside
to shake a leg
to shed
to shirk
to shoot from the hip
to shudder
to skid
to skip
to slap
to sniff
to spoil supper
to stare
to stay loose
to step on somebody’s toes
to stick one’s neck out for somebody else
to strike common ground
to sue
to swallow one’s pride
to take a drag
to take issue
to take something from the top
to tinker with
to troubleshoot
to twist
to vacillate
to vie
to warrant
top banana
turmoil
twist
underlying
upscale (adj.)
upstart
vast (adj.)
weary
wet behind the ears
with open arms
wretched
yearning