Consciousness-raising Activities in Some Lebanese English Language Classrooms: Teacher Perceptions and Learner Engagement

Abstract

The paper starts from the premise that approaches to the teaching of English can only be assessed in the particular settings where they may be used. Cultures of learning, teachers' and students' beliefs and prevailing material conditions will all have a bearing on how a particular approach is received. In the case study reported on here, four teachers implemented a Consciousness Raising (CR) approach to grammar instruction with nearly 200 students in years 7, 8 and 9 of a Lebanese Secondary School. The teachers' and students' reactions to the particular set of activities trialled were recorded in teacher diaries and reports and through interviews with the teachers and their coordinator, and discussions with the participating students. Both teachers and students were overall positive to the approach. The prevailing culture of learning, which encourages learner autonomy and an analytical approach to language seems to have contributed. It was found, however, that in order to avoid discrepancies in the use of metalanguage and classifications and to allow insights from CR to be used in language production-for-practice, CR would need to be an integral part of the regular integrated skills syllabus.

Language Awareness in language learning and teaching: A research agenda

“…Research Task 5 : A modified VIE technique often used in classrooms is to ask the learners themselves to identify the target feature by underlining, circling, or highlighting instances of it in text input. This involves them in language analysis, and thus EWL, and results in a visually enhanced text (for examples of this kind of CR task, see Svalberg 2005). The task may be individual or collaborative and can also include a stage of class discussion or teacher checking.…”

“…This involves them in language analysis, and thus EWL, and results in a visually enhanced text (for examples of this kind of CR task, see Svalberg 2005). The task may be individual or collaborative and can also include a stage of class discussion or teacher checking.…”

Language awareness and language learning

“…The open-endedness of language as a salient characteristic of everyday interaction, conversation in particular, is addressed by van Lier's work on contingency, where he recommends allowing and creating opportunity for learners to experience and deal with the unplanned, unexpected nature of linguistic interaction (van Lier 1992(van Lier , 1994(van Lier , 1996. At this end of the spectrum, LA work is thus radically distinct from traditional explicit language instruction and can either clash with student and teacher expectations or be perceived as challenging in a positive way (Svalberg 2005).…”

“…Ellis 2002). As Ellis points out, it differs from most other language learning activities in that it does not involve learners in producing output for the purposes of practice (see Svalberg 2005 for examples and discussion). Instead, it denotes tasks which aim to focus learners' attention on particular linguistic features and raise their awareness of how these features work (Thornbury 2001).…”

Impact of Consciousness-Raising Activities on Young English Language Learners’ Grammar Performance

“…As Svalberg (2005) defines, consciousness-raising activities are related with a student-centered class. According to Willis and Willis (1996), consciousness-raising activities work as a guideline which encourages the learners to think about samples of language and encourages them to draw their own conclusions about how the language works and they can appear based on spoken or written texts in the forms of conversation or story.…”