Australian Review of Applied Linguistics - Volume 35, Issue 2, 2012

This article draws on ethnographic data from a longitudinal study of newly-arrived immigrants of non English-speaking background in the Australian Adult Migrant English Program to investigate their opportunities for using English and the language learning strategies (LLS) they used to make the most of these opportunities. Analysis of their reports of spoken interactions in and beyond the classroom suggests that many participants had little awareness of the strategies they could use to increase their opportunities to interact with other English speakers. Most participants did not use any LLS and those they did use were largely social in nature and motivation. With a particular focus on social strategies, we consider participants’ use of LLS to improve their English. We identify some constraints on their use of social strategies and some ways in which contextual and individual factors interacted for learners at different levels of proficiency. We conclude with some practical implications for LLS instruction in English language programs for new arrivals. The findings suggest that explicit instruction particularly in social talk and interaction could help learners increase their contact with Englishspeakers. Families and communities could also benefit from information to promote understanding of the communication challenges facing newly arrived immigrants of non English-speaking background.

This article examines youth assessment of the quality and success of languages provision. The discussion draws on data collected from students and graduates of Victoria’s 16 secondary Turkish programs in large-scale surveys (n=858) and follow-up interviews (n=177). Surveys revealed that upper secondary Turkish classrooms serve predominantly Australian-born Turkish students. Nine out of ten respondents rated their English language and literacy skills considerably higher than Turkish despite regular Turkish exposure beyond school, an average of four years of Turkish study, and a positive orientation toward Turkish maintenance in Australia. Thematic interview analyses indicated that informants found classes beneficial in expanding contexts and purposes of Turkish use, improving Turkish fluency and understanding, broadening cultural knowledge, deepening communication with family, creating a sense of belonging to the larger Turkish community, and helping students prepare for the comprehensive language exam. Across all sites, student motivation and learning were adversely affected by increasingly heterogeneous class composition and a lack of a cohesive Turkish-as-a-second-language curriculum. Youth recommendations included redesigning the curriculum to teach Turkish language and literacy skills systematically, emphasizing literacy development throughout the program, parallel teaching of Turkish and English writing styles, enhancing professional development, improving school outreach, and establishing prerequisites to prolong student participation.

Teachers and learners can hold differing ideas about language and goals for language learning which are then played out in classroom interactions. Constructions of what counts as language and learning impact on learner engagement and identity and the outcomes of language learning. This study analyses a researcher’s account of the learning of Arabic in three different contexts. Data consist of journals, reflective notes and document collection and are analysed using content and thematic analysis. The study found that conflicting views of language impacted on learner engagement and on the identity positions available to learners, especially to background speakers. It argues that the constructions of language and identity positions offered to learners need to be taken into account in language classrooms for language learning and teaching to be effective.

This longitudinal study investigated teachers’ use of the first language (L1) in two French foreign language (FL) intermediate level classes at two Australian universities. A native French-speaking teacher (NS) and a non-native French-speaking teacher (NNS) were observed and audio-recorded approximately every two weeks over a 12- week semester. The study investigated the quantity of L1 used, the purposes it served, and whether these changed over time. It also investigated possible factors that explain teachers’ L1 use, including teachers’ attitudes towards the L1 use. The study found consistently more L1 use by the NNS than the NS, but that over time the use of L1 by the NS teacher increased. The L1 served a variety of purposes, most notably explanations of vocabulary and of tasks. However, towards the end of the semester, there was a marked increase in the use of L1 by both teachers for the purpose of general administration. The interview data show that use of L1 was related to the teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and goals and these together with context-specific factors determined L1 use. The findings are discussed in terms of how to establish guidelines concerning appropriate levels of L1 use in FL classes.

Research has shown that language change is driven on one hand by forces internal to language itself such as grammar-internal systematic pressure, and on the other hand by social motives such as social identity. Language contact presents new features, but why is it that some of them are incorporated as variation and evolving into language change, while others are not? This paper reports a study on a sound change in Shanghainese, a dialect of the Chinese language. Data were collected in natural contexts of conversation followed by a brief interview with informants to gain identity related information about them. It has found that previously negative perception of status attached to a new sound induced by language/dialect contact changed into a positive perception, and people started to identify positively with this new sound. Further, there were differences in various different age and gender groups in taking up the new sound. As a result, this sound has evolved from a nonnative alternative to a systematic variation and it is being established as a sound change. This study has thus further confirmed that social identity plays a pivotal role in driving language features into language variation and language change.