To speak or not to speak: future teachers' dilemma
Submitted by:
Michal Daszkiewicz
Abstract:
Theoretical and vocational CONTEXT
The study is based on the fundamental premise on the primary and expanding educational role of language (Daszkiewicz 2017, Wasilewska 2017) (underlying and giving rise to the Educational Role of Language Network). It juxtaposes what BA students of early education think of widely understood classroom use of language (language beliefs) against their actual use of it (language actions) and involves respondents whose professional job is about to consist in shaping children’s understanding of the world through language and whose limited classroom use at university is – in the light of that communication-based job – both disturbing and surprising.
PROBLEMS & HYPOTHESES
The key question pertaining to their language beliefs is whether they view oral language as (a) supporting classroom activities (only), and/or (b) as beneficial to learning, and/or (c) as an educational value per se, and/or (d) as a personal attribute worth developing for whichever reasons (Wenzel 2015; Voice21/English-Speaking Union 2017). On the level of language actions it is studied whether the teachers-to-be justify their decisions to speak or not to speak in the classroom with arguments falling into the affective, worldview, psychomotor or cognitive domain. It is hypothesized in the study that (1) students see oracy as more essential for classroom activities and learning than for overall education and personal development; (2) students see oracy as supportive to learning, yet this is not confirmed by their actions in the university classroom; (3) students’ decisions to speak are mostly explained by emotional factors; (4) students’ decisions not to speak are most strongly affected by emotional and worldview factors (jointly referred to as ‘personal’) (the four-domain approach prompted by Niemierko 2009).
TOOLS & FINDINGS
The study is based on a questionnaire comprising two parts, one pertaining to language beliefs (with 16 Likert-five-degree-scale items, 4 items per each of the perceived purposes of classroom speech (a)-(d) above) and the other to language actions (with 16 similar items pertaining to the four educational domains). With four indexes pertaining to the four said domains, the study proves the first two and the last hypothesis right, but disproves the third one, which can be construed as implying that the respondents are easily discouraged from oral expression in the classroom, but not strongly convinced to do so of their own will. This has far-reaching consequences for them as well as for those whom they are going to teach. The most general conclusion to be drawn from the study’s findings is that oral language is seen as subservient to education rather than the other way round, which in the case of L1 education is – taking into consideration our knowledge gained from the so-called linguistic turn – far from being desired.
Keywords: language beliefs, language actions, early education teachers, classroom speech, personal decisions to speak (or not to speak)
References
Daszkiewicz M. (2017). Educational Role of Language – Its Multi-faceted Scope and Its Social Complexity, (in:) Daszkiewicz M., Wasilewska A., Filipiak E., Wenzel R. Educational Role of Language, Gdańsk: Wydawnictwo Naukowe “Katedra”, 47-72.
Niemierko B. (2009), Diagnostyka edukacyjna, Warszawa 2009: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
Voice 21/English-Speaking Union (2017). Speaking Frankly. The case for oracy in the curriculum, https://www.esu.org/__data/assets/pdf_file/0025/13795/ESU-Speaking-Frankly.pdf. s
Wasilewska A. (2017). Expansion of the linguistic paradigm in studies on childhood and school, (in:) Daszkiewicz M., Wasilewska A., Filipiak E., Wenzel R. Educational Role of Language, Gdańsk: Wydawnictwo Naukowe “Katedra”, 137-150.
Wenzel R. (2015). Language education and teaching by the learner’s text creation, (in:) K. Janczukowicz, Rychło M. (Eds), General Education and Language Teaching Methodology. The Gdańsk School of ELT, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 113-134.