Newsletter No. 107

CUHK Newsletter No. 107 4th May 1997 3 President-Elect of TESOL Explains Language Rights, Reflective Teaching, and ELTU Experience Prof. Kathleen Bailey T E S O L P rof. Ka t h l een Bailey, reader i n the English Language Teaching Unit, has recently been chosen as president-elect of the International TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of O t h er L a n g u a g e s) Organization, w h i ch is headquartered i n Washington DC. She was elected through an international ballot by over 18,000 English language teaching professionals affiliated w i t h TESOL, a nd w i l l serve a year as president-elect before be i ng i ns t a l l ed as president of the organization i n March 1998. As a p r o f e s s i o n, TESOL i n c l u d es teaching English as a second language to s t uden ts i n c o u n t r i es l i ke the U K , US, Australia, and Canada where English is the p r i ma ry language of communication, and teaching English as a foreign language i n countries l i ke Japan, Spain, and Me x i co where English is not the p r ima ry language of communication. TESOL's stated mission is to 'strengthen the effective teaching and learning of English around the wo r l d wh i le r e s p e c t i ng the l a n g u a ge r i g h ts of individuals'. Wh a t e x a c t ly does ' r e s p e c t i ng the language rights of i nd i v i dua l s' mean and what constitutes an act of infringement upon those rights? Prof. Bailey explains that it means p r omo t i ng English language learning not at the expense of, but along w i t h, the sustenance of the native language. Prof. Bailey quotes an example f r om her o w n teaching experience: 1 first started teaching as a j u n i o r h i g h s c hool teacher i n southwestern California, close to Mexico. The student population was 70 per cent Hispanic and the new arrivals spoke no English. But there was a rule i n the school that forbade students to speak Spanish on campus. That's n o t r e s p e c t i ng the l a n g u a ge r i g h ts of i n d i v i d u a l s. The l a n g u a ge r i g h ts of i nd i v i dua ls include the r i ght to use one's mother tongue, to continue its development, and the r i ght to choose, to a large extent, w h e t h er one is g o i ng to l e a rn ano t her language. The issue is actually far mo re complex than it seems at a glance. There are acts of infringement, for example, wherein teachers enforce not a language but a certain accent i n the classroom.' Prof. Bailey points out that disrespecting language rights is 'politically inappropriate'. 'We want to avoid linguistic imperialism—the taking over of a c u l t u re or a c o u n t ry b y e r a d i c a t i ng its language,' she continues. 'Besides, it has been demonstrated that students actually learn a new language better if their home language is sustained. Repressing the home l a n g u a ge w o u l d be a sheer wa s te of linguistic resources.' Prof. Bailey, w h o has been i n the t each i ng profession for over 20 years, is also an advocate of reflective teaching, an approach to teaching wh i ch involves collecting data on teaching and trying to improve by examining—'reflecting on'—the data. The data collected can take the f o rm of audio or video recordings of teaching sessions, samples of students' wo r k, students' test scores, or descriptive journal entries. 'Every day after I teach, I type religiously for about an hour i n a journal on the w o r d processor,' says Prof. Bailey. ' M y entries i n c l u de m y reflections on m y pe r f o rmance and the class's, h ow to change my teaching for the better, what to do for the next class, and what has puzzled or wo r r i ed me.' By emphasizing that teachers record their teaching, reflective teaching enables t h em to i n t e r p r et their performance i n each class they conduct, so that they can improve the next time round. 'I can go through my journal and look for things wh i ch have wo r k ed we ll and also prepare myself for the r ough spots. This guards against selective memory. I w i l l be able to recall almost everything I have encountered,' Prof. Bailey explains. A labour-intensive practice, reflective teaching makes extra demands on the teachers' t i me a nd energy. A way out. Prof. Bailey points out, is to taperecord classes and listen to the taperecordings on the way home f r om wo r k. P r o f. Ba i l ey is on a one - year sabbatical f r om the Monterey Institute of I n t e r n a t i o n al Studies i n Ca l i f o r n i a, where she's been teaching for over 15 years, and to wh i ch she w i l l return this fall. Prof. Bailey was attracted to Ho ng Kong because it is linguistically a very interesting place, w i t h its l o n g b i l i n g u a l h i s t o ry of Cantonese and English and the rise i n impo r t ance of Pu t onghua. An o t h er a t t r a c t i on is associated w i t h her research interest i n language assessment, i n particular the effects of changes i n language tests on teaching. Wi th the syllabus updates i n the late 80s and the 90s of the English paper of the Ho ng Kong Certificate of Education Examination, and the Use of English paper of the Ho ng Ko ng Ad v an c ed Level Examination, H o ng Kong is a choice target of her study. 'Besides,' Prof. Bailey points out, 'I wanted to do classroom teaching w i t h young people. I was involved i n teacher education at graduate level at the Monterey Institute. That's w h y I decided to apply wh en the opportunity to teach at the ELTU came up. A n d the ELTU also has a very good reputation.' Prof. Bailey has been teaching mostly first- year students i n her t wo semesters here. She is 'impressed' b y their s t udy habits and their knowledge of English grammar and vocabulary; what they lack is the confidence to speak and listen i n interactive conversation. Prof. Bailey suspects that the h i gh priority accorded to exam results i n local secondary schools may have resulted i n teachers tailoring their teaching for exams. 'I think the exam-oriented teaching and learning system as it n ow stands is a trade-off. The students may be able to recite grammar rules but can they make conversation?' The focus of Prof. Bailey's teaching, hence, has been on encouraging students to use their linguistic know l edge i n discourse and conversation. T o r the first mon th or so i n the first term, I really struggled w i t h the students' passivity. Then I realized that if I let them be passive, they w o u l d remain passive. But if I structured the text i n such a way that they had to talk, their desire to learn and their respect for me w o u l d motivate them to talk. This term it took me only one week to break the ice.' It is a p i ty that w i t h her wealth of experience Prof. Bailey cannot stay longer to contribute more to English language teaching on this campus. On her part Prof. Bailey believes that her links w i t h C U HK w i l l continue: her TESOL presidency w i l l mean more travelling to represent the organization at conferences the wo r l d over and to p r omo te c ommu n i c a t i on be t ween teachers and researchers; it may not be long before she revisits Ho ng Kong and CUHK. 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