Action Research Findings:
Implications for Teaching ELLs
Applied Linguistics Winter Conference
March 1, 2014
Daryl Gordon, Maki Nakayama, Huan Ren
Adelphi University
Our Context
Locations:
Long Island (suburban)
Manhattan (urban)
Areas of Practice:
ESL
EFL
Bilingual
Adelphi University
Setting:
Student Teachers
Field Experience Observers
Teachers of Record
Levels:
Elementary
Secondary
Process of Action Research
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Defining Action Research
Process and Steps
Framing a Research Question
Scaffolding the Literature Review
Methods of Data Collection
Data Analysis Presentation
Framing Implications of Study
The Research Question
•
•
•
•
•
Researchable
Suits classroom context
Within your locus of control
Connects to ESL, bilingual, or EFL students
Authentic question which does not prejudge
result
• Free of educational jargon
• Open-ended
Presentation Agenda
• Maki Nakayama – Process Writing
• Huan Ren – Oral Error Correction and
Language Anxiety
• Q&A
▫ Methodology of action research
▫ Defining the research question
▫ Implications of action research projects for
teacher candidates and ELLs.
What happens when ESL students in
an intensive English program
practice process writing?
Maki Nakayama
MA TESOL
Adelphi University
English Education in Japan

Faces a great shift
Elementary school students will start
learning English from the 3rd grade in a few
years.
3rd grade students will be familiar with
English sounds & Speaking English
 5th grade students will focus more on
output skills including writing skills
English Education in Japan
Writing Instruction in Japan
 Write words and expressions
 Cloze Activity
Translate from Japanese to English
WRITING = MEMORIZING
Research Question
What happens when ESL students in
an intensive English program practice
process writing?
How do their writing skills progress
through the writing cycle?
How can the teachers help the students’
writing?
Setting
An intensive English language school
in Long Island
12 Levels:
3 beginners, 3 intermediates, 3 advanced, 3
college preparation classes
Observation: an intermediate writing
class that uses process writing
4-week session
Monday – Thursday, 2 hours each
Case Study (a Chinese Student)
Came to the US before the session started
Three writing assignments (process
writing)
(1) Comparison – Yunnan and Shanghai Food
(2) Biography – Helen Keller
(3) City - Bangkok
Collected Student A’s work and analyzed
Method of Writing Instruction
Hand-writing for the first and second
drafts, and typed the final draft
Held mini-lessons when the teacher
noticed the common errors that
students made
Provided a one-on-one conference
where students received feedback both
orally and in writing
How Useful Is Writing Feedback?
 Truscott (1996)
All error correction is unnecessary, ineffective,
and even harmful.
Ferris (1999)
Research studies reviewed by Truscott were
investigated at various settings as well as instructions.
 Truscott (1999)
Students who did not receive grammar correction
looked happier than those who received it.
Ferris (2004)
More research studies required.
Error Correction/ Feedback
Evans, Hartshorn, and Strong-Krause (2011)
Dynamic Written Corrective Feedback
“A constant, meaningful, manageable feedback from
the teacher, on a timely manner” (Pickett, 2000)
 Students who wrote 20 pages without prewriting and
drafting
 Students who wrote 10-minute paragraphs 3 or 4 times
per week with feedback on each paragraph and
required to revise the paper until they would be free
from error (received dynamic written corrective
feedback).
 Tested by pre- and post- writing exams
 Students who received dynamic written corrective
feedback improved their writing accuracy more
Data from a Case Study of
a Chinese Student
Challenges
 Verb tense
No past tense in the Chinese language; 了 (le)
(example 1)
(example 2)
Challenges
 Run-on Sentence Usage
“
“
Strengths
 High Cognitive Skills: Self-correction
Vocabulary
Grammar

Efficacy of Process Writing
 Conclusion Strengthened
first draft
second draft
Efficacy of Process Writing
 Conclusion Strengthened
final draft
 Conclusion
Students’ L1 transfers to their targeted
language’s writing negatively and positively.
Process writing benefits students’ writing in
various ways through each phase.
Process writing enhances students’ revising
and editing skills and this will help students
to be an independent writers.
Completing all the phase of process writing
will increase students’ academic awareness.
Long-term study is needed.
Implications for Teaching Writing
Understand students’ first language
tendencies & challenging aspects
 Provide implicit & explicit feedback
For Japanese English teachers…
○ Shift to the actual writing instruction
○ Understand how the Japanese language
transfers to the English language writing
○ More research studies is needed
How does an ESL teacher provide oral
corrective feedback without creating
language anxiety?
Huan Ren
MA TESOL
Adelphi University
24
Rationale
 Learners’ creative ability to construct language is
important in L2 learning.
Learning processes of ELLs become more and
more important
Impact of ineffective error correction may last
long
Effective feedback benefits learning performance,
cognitive and mental development
25
Research Question
How does an ESL teacher in a high school
setting provide corrective feedback on student
oral errors without creating language anxiety
about oral accuracy?
26
Setting
A public high school located in New York City
A pull-out ESL classroom from grade 10 to 12
26 English language learners and 1 ESL teacher
Intermediate English language proficiency
27
Data Collection And Analysis
Interviews
Observation journals
Classroom or after class engagement
28
Error Analysis
What is Error Analysis?
A research-based or evidence-based approach for
the studying of English language learners’ learning
process. Focus more on internal perspectives (SavilleTroike, 2006).
Why Error Analysis?
It focuses on learners’creative ability to construct
language, has more developmental improvements
than prior approaches, study from a learning
perspective rather than a teaching perspective, and
make learning process itself become more and more
important (Saville-Troike, 2006).
29
Oral Correction
Why oral correction comes with specific
significance?
Happens authentically in ESL classroom
The significance of oral practicing raised
Language Anxiety
More frequent in various socio-cultural L2 learning
contexts (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986; MacIntyre, 1999;
Young, 1991).
Arise from many kinds of sources, according to the learners'
individually unique frame of reference (Skehan, 1989;
Young, 1991).
Has potentially harmful effects--often called "debilitating
anxiety" (Brown 1994)
30
Types of Oral Correction
Explicit Correction
Recast
Elicitation
Clarification
Repetition
Metalinguistic Feedback
31
Findings
 Language anxiety happens more frequently
in L2 speaking.
 Effectiveness of oral correction varies
under different conditions.
 Negotiation of meaning is more effective in
providing corrective feedback during
communication.
Negotiation of meaning
• Negotiation of meaning is a process that speakers go
through to reach a clear understanding of each
other.
• Strategies for the negotiation of meaning: Asking for
clarification, rephrasing, and confirming what
you think you have understood
33
Language anxiety happen more frequently in L2
speaking
Language anxiety usually can potentially hamper
the optimal learning and teaching, thus pose a
challenge to all language teachers (Ohata, 2005).
Language anxiety happens more frequently in L2
oral activities, especially among individuals who
are emotionally more sensitive, more vulnerable,
and more shy.
34
Why languge anxiety happens
-Me: G, how do you think about the discussion we did before in
class?
-G: Good. They talk interesting things.
-Me: I didn’t hear your voice that often. Why not join them?
-G: I...I sometimes know the answer, and know what to say. But
I don’t know they are right or wrong. They, my classmates,
will think I speak nothing or I am stupid. And I speak too slow.
-Me: If given more time, do you think you will speak more, and
talk more with other classmates?
-G: I don’t know. Sometimes I am afraid make mistakes, and my
classmates will laugh me.
35
Effectiveness of oral correction varies under different
conditions
Teacher feedback and student uptake does not
yield conclusive results (Lyster & Ranta, 1997).
Different types of oral correction are used under
different conditions, and may have different
effects, the effectiveness of different types of oral
correction also varies.
36
Types
of
Correctiv
e
Feedbac
k
Type of
Error and
Times
Time in
Total
Recast
Repetition
Explicit
Correction
Elicitation
Metalinguis
-tic Clues
Clarificatio
-n Request
Pronunciatio
-n
3
Pronunciatio
-n
3
Pronunciatio
-n
2
Pronunciati
-on
2
Pronunciatio
-n
0
Pronunciati
-on
1
Grammar
6
Grammar
4
Grammar
3
Grammar
2
Grammar
2
Grammar
0
Vocabulary
1
Vocabulary
1
Vocabulary
1
Vocabulary
1
Vocabulary
1
Vocabulary
1
10
8
6
5
3
2
37
Little Uptake
Student: The man named Sam. He’s America...
Teacher: He is? Ameri-can.
Student: ...(skipped) and talk to everyone. Very smart. When people
all the time...complin...
Teacher: Complain.
Student: ...(skipped) all the time...about carrying water, he start
contest. He said how adul couldn’t solve problem...
Teacher: Ok, He said how adult (rise tone) couldn’t slove problems
(emphasize ‘-s’ sound).
Student: He say he give twenty dollars to child under twelve who
has best idea.
Teacher: He...what?
Student: (silent)...
Teacher: It is ‘He said’ here.
38
Negotiation of meaning is more effective
Negotiation of meaning proved to be more effective
at leading to immediate repair.
Corrective feedback creates opportunities to
negotiate the meaning by encouraging more active
learner involvement in the error feedback
process (Lyster & Ranta, 1997).
Language anxiety will be released to the most
extent.
39
Strategies for negotiation of meaning
Teacher: Good morning! How’s everything? Are there any
interesting things happen to you?
Student A: Yea! Yesterday is my birthday!
Teacher: Oh wow! Yesterday was your birthday?! Happy birthday!
How did you celebrate your birthday?
Student A: I go to..., oh! I went to the park, with my parents. We
have...had? (Looked at the teacher to make sure) ...had
lunch there. Then I went shopping with my friend.
Student B: Happy birthday! I saw you yesterday in the mall!
Student A: Really? You should call me!
Teacher: You two were not together yesterday?
Student B: No. She was with another friend… (Stopped, looked at
the teacher and asked) “Another?”
40
Strategies for negotiation of meaning
Teacher: Yes! Another!
Student A: Yea, I was with C! We didn’t see each other for a
long time!
Teacher: Wow! How long?
Student A: Almost two year!
Teacher: Oh so you haven’t seen your friend for almost two
years?
Student A: Yeah! I haven’t seen her for long! ‘Haven’t’,
right?
Teacher: Yes! When we talk about something that happened
before, and had already finished now, we use the
past perfect aspect!
Student A: Ah! I see!
41
Why Talk
Me: Do you want to be corrected by others when you are
speaking?
Student A: Sometimes. When my teacher corrects me in
class, I will feel a little embarrassed.
Student B: Me too. But if I am corrected when I am talking
with my friends--like we do before class--I will
feel more relax.
Me: Why do you feel more relax at that time?
Student A: Because nobody is listening to you so seriously,
and we just talk!
Student B: Yes! You can just say what you want to say, but
you will feel pleasure when your friend and your
teacher find your small mistake and help you to
make it right!
42
Why Talk
Students C: I feel I want to speak more when we are talking together.
Mistakes are not important because I can understand my
friends and my teacher. If I don’t understand, I will ask
them, and they will explain, and tell me more!
Student B: Yeah! I can speak more clear when my friends and my teacher
ask me to explain more. I also feel more confident when I
speak more and more.
Student C: Yes. You will not be...be... (ask her classmates in Spanish for
the word ‘anxious’ in English)...?
Student A: Anxious!
Student C: See?! You will not be anxious when you ask something, or make
mistake.
Student B: That’s true. I can also practice more in this way.
Student A: Practice make perfect! Oh! Makes! Practice makes perfect,
right?
Me: Yes! Practice makes perfect!
43
Implications
Stimulate students’language learning motivation
and inspiration
Engage in active negotiation actions
Provide more interactive oral correction practices
Build up a less anxious classroom environment
Further Questions
How can we improve our correcting strategies to lead
to more successful uptake for students?
Questions?
• Methodology of action research
• Defining the research question
• Implications of action research
projects for teacher candidates and
ELLs.
Thank you!
ありがとうございます。
谢谢!