English Language Teaching in its Social Context
English Language Teaching in its Social Context
English Language Teaching in its Social Context
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COMPREHENSION AND PRODUCTION STRATEGIES 85be<strong>in</strong>g tra<strong>in</strong>ed to be obta<strong>in</strong>ed. The former is based on a five-step scale on which globalproficiency can be estimated (supplemented by plus scores for each numerical category) .Thelatter gives separate rat<strong>in</strong>gs for syntax, vocabulary, fluency, and other skill areas. In this way,the longitud<strong>in</strong>al development of the learners can be monitored through an exam<strong>in</strong>ation ofthe profiles generated by the analytic mark<strong>in</strong>gs scheme over several po<strong>in</strong>ts <strong>in</strong> time.Higgs and Clifford (1 982) report that profiles of students at earlier po<strong>in</strong>ts of <strong>in</strong>structioncan be used predictively to estimate the likely later ga<strong>in</strong> of the candidates <strong>in</strong> question. Giventhe basic five-stcp scale, candidates whose grammar rat<strong>in</strong>gs were above or equal to theirrat<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>in</strong> vocabulary or fluency tended to cont<strong>in</strong>ue to progress and reach hgher performancelevels as they received more <strong>in</strong>struction. In other words, balanced analytic rat<strong>in</strong>gs or highergrammar predicted cont<strong>in</strong>ued ga<strong>in</strong> and capacity to profit from <strong>in</strong>struction. In contrast,students whose earlier profiles showed strong fluency and vocabulary skills did not manifestthe same degree of susta<strong>in</strong>ed improvement. Higgs and Clifford (1982) called these learners‘term<strong>in</strong>al 2’s’ (from the five-step scale), suggest<strong>in</strong>g that the earlier profile was associated witha probable plateau<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> achievement at around Level 2. It seemed as though the earlier fluencyand vocabulary ga<strong>in</strong>s comprised cont<strong>in</strong>ued development, and may have been associated withfossilization. These learners corresponded, <strong>in</strong> some ways, to Schmidt’s Wes, s<strong>in</strong>ce earliercommunicative effectiveness (and the higher fluency and vocabulary scores earlier <strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>struction might be connected with a communicative orientation on the part of such learners)represented a short-term advantage which proved expensive <strong>in</strong> the longer run s<strong>in</strong>ce it wasassociated with an <strong>in</strong>terlanguage system which became less permeable. Once aga<strong>in</strong>, thesuggestion is that unless there is direct <strong>in</strong>volvement of the underly<strong>in</strong>g language system <strong>in</strong>communication, it need not develop, even though communicative effectiveness does change.Theoretically-based concernsIn addition to these empirically motivated concerns over the usefulness of communicationstrategies, there are somc more theoretically-based worries. First of all, there are what mightbe termed logical criticisms of the viewpo<strong>in</strong>t. For example, it is difficult to imag<strong>in</strong>e exactlyhow such strategies can leave a trace. It is likely that <strong>in</strong>terest<strong>in</strong>g operations will occur whenachievement strategies are used to cope with communicative problems whose solution willrequire some adaptation of the underly<strong>in</strong>g systcm. But <strong>in</strong> such cases thc need to solveunforeseen problems will ensure that thc lion’s share of cognitive resources will be directcdto convey<strong>in</strong>g mean<strong>in</strong>gs. As a result, it is not easy to see how memory of what exactly hasworked can be effectively reta<strong>in</strong>cd for the next occasion when the strategy may be useful,s<strong>in</strong>cc this outcome would require the spare capacity to fumble towards such a solution andsimultaneously to monitor <strong>its</strong> nature and <strong>its</strong> effect. It seems unlikely that the conflict<strong>in</strong>g callson limitcd resources will allow this with any dependability.VanPattcn (1 990) makes a similarpo<strong>in</strong>t <strong>in</strong> relation to comprehension, where he demonstrates that syntactic and semanticproccss<strong>in</strong>g seem to conflict as far as attentional resources are concerned, and that attentionspan is too limited to allow both to be emphasized simultaneously. One can only assume thatspeak<strong>in</strong>g, as part of the <strong>in</strong>teraction, will pose significantly greater problems for learn<strong>in</strong>g.More generally, for the use of communication strategies to work to foster progresssystematically, it would be necessary to show not simply that they leave a trace, but also thatthe use of such strategies has some cumulative build<strong>in</strong>g potential. For if SLA research hasdemonstrated anyth<strong>in</strong>g, it is that dcvclopmental sequenccs have considerable importance.It would be necessary, therefore, to show that the progressive improvisations which solvecommunication problems build upon one another, and are not isolated chance manipulationsof language elements <strong>in</strong> one restricted area, but have system-develop<strong>in</strong>g potential, and push