LANGUAGE ACROSS THE CURRICULUM-BEd notes
Unit 5 – Developing proficiency in written Comprehension and Production
Prepared by
Sabarish P
Linguistic hazards in Pedagogic decision making
Eight modes of human activities involving language
• Listening: comprehending oral input/intake
• Speaking: constructing meaningful utterances
• Reading: understanding written texts
• Writing: producing written texts/discourse
• Viewing: attending to visual signs/information
• Shaping: using visual means of expression
• Watching: attending to the movements
• Moving: using the whole body / person
A Comprehensive Literacy Model
• Listening Comprehension Competence
• Auditory-Visual Competence
• Reading Competence
• Writing Competence
• Speaking Competence
• Symbolic Decoding/Semiotic Competence
• Media Competence
• Literary and Aestetic Competence
• Functional-Pragmatic Competence
• Intercultural Competence
• Language Learning Competence
• Metalinguistic Competence/Language Awareness
Physical conditions:
a) for speech:
clarity of pronunciation;
ambient noise (trains, aircraft, ‘static’, etc.);
interference (crowded street, markets, pubs, parties, discos, etc.);
distortions (poor telephone lines, radio reception, public address systems);
weather conditions (wind, extreme cold, etc.).
b) for writing:
poor reproduction of print;
difficult handwriting;
poor lighting, etc.
c) Social conditions:
number and familiarity of interlocutors;
relative status of participants (power and solidarity, etc.);
presence/absence of audience or eavesdroppers;
social relationships between participants (e.g. friendliness/hostility, co-operativeness).
Time pressures:
different pressures for speaker/listener (real time) and writer/reader (more flexible);
preparation time (e.g. improvised vs routinised vs prepared in advance) for speeches, reports, etc.;
limitations on time allowed (e.g. by rules, expense, competing events and commitments,etc.) for turns and interactions;
Other pressures: financial; anxiety-producing situations (e.g. examinations),etc.
Psychological problems:
Prejudice that English is the most difficult language. This result in poor performance
Learning methods:
Use of artificial indirect method of teaching language.
Usually in direct method of language learning we follow LSRW. But in learning English we follow the sequence WRSL
This is against the maxim easy to difficult.
Inability of teachers to understand the difference between language skills and literature.
Problem of Concretizing the abstract idea
Translation method
It helps the learners to understand the text but bars from learning the language
Mother tongue interference
Lack of practice
Availability of Audio-visual aids and its ineffective use by teachers.
Lack of interest
Lack of motivation
Mistakes in language
Crowded classes
Mathematics seem to be most abstract and have a language (or languages) of their own, but when it comes to verbalising or “translating” the findings or the steps and procedures taken on the way towards these findings, the same discourse patterns hold true as in other subjects. For the natural sciences and their corresponding school subjects, language serves above all to convey and discuss hypotheses and probabilities, to argue and give explanations, but the products of scientific activity come into existence and are largely established beyond their expression in language (experimentation, measurements, observations etc.). For the social or human sciences and their corresponding school subjects, language is their very form of existence; history, for example, does not exist as such outside the realms of its expression in language.
As long as math, science, and history teachers assume that the English department bears responsibility for reading and writing instruction, then they'll see no reason to take on that responsibility themselves. Math, science, history, and English teachers tend to get nervous when people start talking about literacy instruction in the content areas. "But I don't know anything about teaching reading!" goes the usual reply. "I don't know how to help kids sound out words or read more fluently." Within each content area, teachers should have a clear and consistent understanding of what it means for students to read and write proficiently in that domain. Biology teachers shouldn't be telling history teachers how to guide students in the analysis of early political tracts, and history teachers shouldn't weigh in on how best to teach the writing of lab reports.
Practical Remedies to reduce the problem
Interdisciplinary collaboration: Collaboration between English language and subject teachers
Explicitly teach English language vocabulary and structures.
Build on ELLs' Background Knowledge to Increase Comprehension
Increase Writing Opportunities
Building a rapport with your class
Place of English should be defined
Building confidence among students by emphasizing more language learning skills
Keeping in mind the aims of teaching English
Solving socio-psychological problems
Building communication skills
Handling mistakes with care
Implement an effective direct systematic reading remediation program.
Integrating reading or writing into their content-based instruction.
Prepared by
Sabarish P
