How to use English to conduct learning and
teaching activities in junior secondary
History classes (New)
Learning History In English
Dr Peter STOREY
The Open University of Hong Kong
CD1020120035
28.2.2012
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In 1961, Professor Edward Hallet
Carr, fellow of Trinity College
Cambridge, posed the question:
‘WHAT IS HISTORY?’
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According to Carr (1961):
HISTORY IS NOT ABOUT FACTS
The facts are … like fish swimming about in a vast and sometimes inaccessible
ocean; and what the historian catches will depend partly on chance, but
mainly on what part of the ocean he chooses to fish in and what tackle he
chooses to use – these two factors being, of course, determined by the kind
of fish he wants to catch. By and large, the historian will get the kind of facts
he wants.
Carr (1961) pps 23-24
… NOR IS IT ABOUT ACCIDENTAL
COINCIDENCES
"Cleopatra's nose, had it been shorter, the whole face
of the world would have been changed.“
Pascal (1669)
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What is history?
• The enjoyment of a
well-told narrative
• Something related to
who we are
• A way of thinking and
reasoning
• A LANGUAGE
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History is about stories.
Whether or not the ‘facts’ are objectively
true or representative…
… to cultivate a sense of cultural identity
(CDC Syllabus)
… nurturing a healthy perception of history
and culture, and a sense of responsibility to
nature, nation and humanity (Basic Beliefs
of PSHE)
Reasoning about history and with
information about the past is an important
cultural practice of societies and an
important part of the history curriculum
(van Boxtel & van Drie (2004) )
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Asking historical
questions
Use of sources
HISTORICAL
REASONING
- describing change
- comparing
Contextualisation
Argumentation
- explaining
Use of substantive
concepts
Use of metaconcepts
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Historical
reasoning in
English clearly
involves
specific
language skills
which are
distinct and
different from
basic English
proficiency
skills.
van Boxtel & van Drie (2007)
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What is history?
• a way of thinking and relating which requires specific
language skills for:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
asking historical questions
describing change
comparing
explaining
arguing
contextualising
interpreting
• in the process of constructing one’s cultural identity
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To study History in English
• Students need to develop the academic
English language skills they need to engage in
historical reasoning.
• What are these skills?
– academic literacy skills (Cognitive Academic
Language Proficiency (CALP) as distinct from Basic
Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS)
(Cummins, 1979, 2003)
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CALP vs BICS
‘… native speakers of any language come to
school at age 5 or so virtually fully competent
users of their language. They have acquired
the core grammar of their language and
many of the sociolinguistic rules for using the
language appropriately in familiar social
contexts. Yet schools spend another 12 years
(and considerable public funds) attempting
to extend this basic linguistic repertoire into
more specialized domains and functions of
language.’
Cummins (2003, p.
323)
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i.e. they have
BICS (basic
interpersonal
communicative
skills)
but they have not
yet developed
cognitive academic
language
proficiency (CALP)
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Academic English: Linguistic components
The phonological component
the ability to pronounce technical and non-technical words accurately
The lexical component
knowledge of the forms and meanings of words used in the academic
discipline and of non-technical academic words
The grammatical component
knowledge that enables learners to use grammatical constructions associated
with description, explanation, interpretation etc…
The sociolinguistic component
knowledge of text genres used in academic English specific to the domain
The discourse component
knowledge of the discourse features used in specific academic genres such as
transitions, organisational signals, logical relationships etc…
28.2.2012Based
2016/7/1
on Scarcella, R. (2003) Academic English: a conceptual framework
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Vocabulary Learning – some findings
from the ELA study
• Does vocabulary
learning consist of
ability to memorize
meaning /spelling and
recognise the Chinese
equivalent of English
terms…
• Should teachers focus
on the technical
vocabulary of the
subject…
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• … or being able to
pronounce the words
and to use the words
to give oral and
written responses in
classroom discussions
and in exams?
• … or also teach more
general English terms
which are unfamiliar
and hinder students
understanding of key
concepts and ideas?
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Technical vs non-technical vocabulary
Type of words
Meaning
Domain
Examples
General words
non-specialised
used across fields
already, busy
Technical words
specialised
used in specific
fields
fulcrum, pivot
Academic words
both specialised
used across fields
and non-specialised
assert, research
From Scarcella (2003) p. 14
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Second language classrooms contrast
strongly with subject classrooms:
• The communication patterns found in
language classrooms are special,
different from those found in contentbased subjects …. in a history or
geography lesson … attention is
principally on the message, not on the
language used.
Walsh, 2006, p.3
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In language classrooms …
the linguistic forms used are …
simultaneously the aim of a lesson and
the means of achieving those aims
(Walsh, 2006)
Meaning and message are one and the
same thing
(Long, 1983)
Language is both the focus of activity …
as well as the instrument for achieving it
(Willis, 1992)
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Principal characteristics of L2 classroom
discourse from the teacher’s perspective:
1.
2.
3.
4.
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control of patterns of communication;
elicitation techniques;
repair strategies;
modifying speech to learners.
Walsh, 2006
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1. Control of patterns of communication
• It is the teacher who
‘orchestrates the interaction’
(Breen, 2001)
‘Getting the best’ out of a group of learners – that is,
facilitating contributions, helping them say what they mean,
understand what they are studying and making sure the rest of
the group is able to follow – is dependent on a teacher’s ability
to make professional use of language. This ability has to be
learned and practised over time, in the same way that teachers
acquire and perfect classroom teaching skills.
Walsh, 2006, p
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2. Elicitation techniques
• Questions facilitate production of target
language forms.
The roles of different question types:
Closed questions  short responses.
Referential questions  more natural responses.
Display questions  various functions.
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Role and function of questions
• Classroom discourse differs from ‘normal’
communication:
• a much greater number of questions is used
• the function of questions is largely to encourage
involvement rather than elicit new information
Long & Sato, 1983
• Length and complexity of learner utterances are
determined more by whether a question is closed or
open than whether it is a referential or display one.
Musumeci, 1996
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recitation
display
precision
cognition
_
+
depth of processing
Teacher: Good, say the whole sentence: Water is heating the radiators.
(Recitation)
Teacher: Good, what do we call that construction?
(Display)
Teacher: And can you think of some things that it might be heating?
(Cognition)
Teacher: Aha, can you explain that in a little more detail?
(Precision)
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van Lier, L. (2001: 95) 18
3. Repair
• making linguistic errors and having them
corrected directly and overtly is not an
embarrassing matter
Seedhouse (1997)
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4. Modifying speech to learners
 to provide comprehensible input;
 to influence learner language (to ‘model’)
 to increase student exposure to language
 to cater for comprehension difficulties.




simplify vocabulary; avoid idiomatic expressions;
simplify grammar – shorter utterances, use of present tense;
slower, clearer speech and modified pronunciation;
increased use of gestures and facial expressions.
Chaudron (1988)
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A content-based approach
• Potentially excellent environment for L2 learning
• But does good content teaching = good academic
language teaching?
• PROBLEMS:
– practice opportunities for language consolidation
– balance of focus on language skills
– aims/objectives in respect of language
skills/knowledge
– comprehensible input/output
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The content teacher may
• rarely ask for modifications to learner speech,
relying instead on imposing their own
interpretation (Musumeci, 1996).
• persist in ‘smoothing over’ learner
contributions as a means of maintaining the
flow of the lessson.
• in doing so, deny learners crucial opportunities
for learning.
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The content teacher may:
• only require students to give
brief oral answers to questions
or to fill in blanks
• be reluctant to devote time to
writing as a means of learning
• not formulate language
objectives, or place them at
lower priority
• not pitch teacher instruction
and exposition at the
appropriate level of linguistic
difficulty to facilitate language
development
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giving little opportunity for
sustained student talk needed to
develop complex language use
(Swain, 1988).
seeing writing as the work of the
English teacher and not useful in
promoting learning of the subject
content (Langer & Applebee, 1987).
specification of language-learning
objectives must be undertaken with
deliberate, systematic planning and
coordination of the language and
content curricula (Snow, Met, &
Genesee, 1989).
Learning activities need to enable students
both to understand and to develop language
ability through listening (comprehensible
input) and speaking (comprehensible output)
(Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2006; Swain,
2000).
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Setting language objectives
1. Identify the language demands of the learning
tasks/activities of each selected topic.
2. Consider the language functions, language
structures and vocabulary necessary for
completing the tasks.
3. Provide language support for students to cope
with the language demands while completing
the learning tasks and achieving the content
objectives of the topic.
Based on Gibbons, 1991
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