Teacher's Perceptions of Language Learning - Case Study Example

Running Header: CASE STUDY Case Study Language learning Name Institution 1. Introduction English is with no doubt among the most spoken languages in the world today and it is spoken as an official language in more than 40 countries worldwide. These statistics have raised concerns over the language leading to various researches and case studies. With the raising numbers of students learning the language worldwide, questions have been raised on who is English and who is not. Similarly, some have engaged in debates on when is somebody’s English proficiency considered as accurate and of the international standards? A number of scholars have come up with various concepts to answer the above questions. The differences in the concepts and thoughts have made English a great deal of discussion. For instance, a number of authors like Woodrow (1991) and Rose (1984) argue that the best way to assess ones English skills is through studying his or her proficiency in the language. On the other hand, Scott states that one’s English skills can be assessed through his or her accuracy in speaking, reading, and writing the language (Scott, 1996). In other words, there are many theories and concepts of assessing language proficiency. However, one should note that language proficiency is diverse and for one to assess it, has to look at a number of factors. As Scott (1996) states, knowing a particular language and being fluent involves a number of factors. For instance, there is the reading aspect of it. One can not be fluent in a particular language only by speaking, reading or writing it. For him or her to be proficient in the language, he/she has to be all round and so is the case with English. With the above facts, this assignment presents a case study on a detailed examination of a non English speaker who is learning English as his second language. The report seeks to explore on the English proficiency of the learner and his progress in learning the language. There are a number of factors considered in determining the progress of the learner and his current level of proficiency. The main objective is to assess the language proficiency to determine the strengths and weaknesses in his commanding of the English language. As such the case study has two approaches; attribute-based approach for aspects such as personal variables and input-based approach for aspects such as the quality and quantity of L2 input received from the environment. These approaches aimed at thoroughly studying the learner’s English fluency and accuracy (MacArthur & Malouf, 1991). As such, the paper has two sections i.e. the learner’s background information and second section on assessment of his English proficiency. 1.1 Background information In my case study I chose to assess the language proficiency Ray. Ray is a great friend of mine from the republic of Taiwan. He was born and raised in Taiwan and has practically spent all his time in there. He took all his studies in Taiwan from kindergarten till he got his degree in Electronics. During his third grade, Ray started his English-learning journey. Even though he has learnt English for some time, he still got a long way to go. Not until he came to Australia, his English was very poor because there was not much focusing on English in public schools back in his native country. There were limited opportunities to practice English in Taiwan. Most of the schools in the country lacked the required facilities to teach English and had very few teachers who were fluent and accurate in the language. Because of this, Ray decided to come and study English in an English speaking country so as he could speak the language as accurate and fluent as the natives. His thirst for English was driven by his dream of working with a big company back in his country thus wanted to use English as an added advantage towards securing the job. He decided on Australia because it is an English speaking nation and hoped that interacting with English native speakers would help him enrich and strengthen his English affluence. He attended his university and worked in his part-time job too. From the information above it is obvious that his native background greatly affected his language learning. For instance, Ray was not aware of the new plan of teaching English upon his arrival in Australia. This implies that he had not gone through the English learning plan as it is supposed to be. In other words, Ray skipped some stages in learning English that are vital. For instance, the fact that he started learning English in his third grade implies that he missed out on the vital foundation one gets while in primary and secondary school. Skipping these stages always results into unlimited and unstable learning experience (Grace & Kabata, 2010). For example, Ray was only familiar with simple English comprised of the alphabet, numbers and the three main tenses (i.e. past, present and future). In most cases this simple English always focuses on only two of the for language skills (i.e. writing and listening). With such a limited experience Ray had difficulties adapting to the new environment as he lacked on some of the important aspects of English that one gets during his or her foundation in primary and secondary schools. For instance, interacting with fellow students at the tender age in primary school equips one with vital English communication skills, a skill that was not familiar with Ray. In the second section of the case study I assessed Ray’s English proficiency and his progress in the language since coming to Australia. As stated earlier, my assessment process focused on two major qualities: fluency and accuracy. With the fluency, I assessed Ray’s English skills through a thorough examination of his proficiency in listening, speaking, reading and writing. On the other hand, in the accuracy section, I majorly focused on his grammar, pronunciation, speech presentation and lexis. The main objectives of my case study were to assess the range of use and level of fluency in the main skill areas of listening, speaking, reading, writing, and to note what is mastered and what is still difficult in the areas of pronunciation, grammar, and lexis. To achieve the above objectives I had to engage Ray in my series of activities so as to gather the required information. I interact with him by spending a few hours together each day. The actual layout was 3 sessions of a half to one hour each spread over a period of one month. This time was vital for making observations, assessing his level of mastery of English, collecting initial information and analyzing it so as to decide what to look at more closely as far as Ray’s English proficiency is concern. It also enabled me to go beyond the one-on-one interview approach as I engaged him in a series of activities to assess his English use in all facets of his life. I also had time to assess Ray’s personal self-assessments and the observation comments from his teacher and friends. 2. Assessment process As stated earlier, the assessment approach I used comprised of two main entries; fluency and accuracy. The entries were important in assessing Ray’s progress as they touched on all aspect of language proficiency. 2.1 Fluency Definition of fluency in the context of language learning is the ability of a person to read, listen, speak and write a particular language easily and smoothly. Kessler (2007), states that fluency determines one’s strength in the four major language skills (i.e. writing, reading, listening and speaking). As such, fluency can also be used as an assessment tool for ones proficiency in a particular language, as long as he or she takes it as a second language. It is an aspect of language learning that grows with time and experience (Dinev &Mullen, 2008). Below is a comprehensive assessment of Ray's competence in each skill focusing on both strengths and weaknesses. 2.1.1 Listening Listening skill is one of the four skills that most learners find easy to master. For the case of Ray, he had mastered the skill properly. He was a keen listener and could pay attention for a relatively long period of time. His lecturer echoed this by confirming that Ray was among the few foreign students at the school who showed little listening problems. Even though in some instances he does not understand what he listens to, he is still keen to pay attention to the later. This is expressed in the way he jots down short notes especially the things he does not understand so as to inquire on them later, a virtue that clearly reflects in his marks. According to him, his listening skill was enhanced during his degree program where he learned to listen even without understand. I could confirm this as I notice his attentiveness in the interview I engaged him in. He notes that the skill helped him adapt to the school full of English native speakers. Ray has also enhances his listening skills through various tutorial sessions at the school. During these sessions he betters his skills by talking with friends. These interactions and his will to prosper have won him a slot in activities such as debates, role-playing and games-based on listening among others that further help him improve the skill. Another interesting thing with Ray is his passion for English music. He loves listening to soul music and is keen to catch all the words in the lyrics. He also has a lyrics book where he writes lyrics to all his favorite songs. Apparently, the late Michel Jackson his favorite musician. From the observations Ray enjoys singing along these songs during his free time. He also replays the songs severally to try and writing the lyrics of new songs on his own and later confirm with friends or on the internet. He is also a fun of English football with Manchester United being his favorite team. In cases where he is unable to watch the game on TV, Ray keenly follows the games’ proceedings through listening to commentators over the radio. In general Ray has good listening skill. The skill has been natured through interaction with friends whom he spends a lot of time with. Listening to music has also improved the skill. However, he has some problems with listening to a quick speaker. He tends to miss some words. I discovered this as he often missed out on some commentaries during one of the premier league games. However, he was quick to ask a friend next to him. 2.1.2 Speaking Ray’s speaking ability is not yet to the standard as that of his listening skill. He has not yet reached the standards of being termed as a fluent English speaker. I discovered this through the various activities in engaged him in. similarly, from his self-assessment he acknowledges that indeed he still has numerous problems with English speaking. Most of these problems I can attribute them to his poor background in the language. Speaking skills are taught from tender age of which Ray missed out on. This is probably because English was neglected in Taiwan, a factor that made Ray miss on practicing the language during his early age. He also had minimum interactive activities when learning English in his third grade. This was because of lack of enough English speakers in his school. As such, most of the speaking he did was in classes and on official forums. However, his speaking skill got a major boost during his degree as it involved a lot of presentation and interactions that were vital for him. Another weakness I identified with Ray’s speaking skill is his presentation. From the activities I engaged him in, I noticed that Ray’s presentation is affected by a number of factors. For instance, Ray finds it difficult to express himself or his views when he is under pressure. I noticed this when he almost failed to mention a word when his lecturer pressurized him to account for his lateness. He tends to stammer and finds it hard to pronounce even a word. However, with time he composes himself and speaks out. Another factor that affects his presentation is the kind of audience he addresses. Ray seems to be afraid of mass audiences and people in authority. For example, he found it a bit difficult in addressing the entire language school during a past graduation ceremony when he was picked on by his lecturer as the only student from Taiwan. However, when he is in comfort of his friends, he can speak without much stammering to relatively large crowds. This is how he survives in the school debates and open forums. Sitting in company of his friends during these debates gives him courage and he can speak despite of his accent. He comfortably addressed the debate club for about ten minutes without major stammering. However, he finds it hard to do the same in meetings involving school authorities probably due to fear of authority. Ray’s speaking skill is at its best when he is with his friends and when delivering a written speech. He freely interacts with them and can talk about any topic. For instance, when left in class in the company of his friends and colleagues, Ray can address the class with much ease as compared to when his teacher is in vicinity. A good example is when he shared with his class about his favorite movie produced in his native country 2.1.3 Reading Reading is the skill through which learners get to encounter new words to expound on their vocabulary. They make note of new words as they can across them when reading new books, journals and newspapers among other written sources. Ray’s reading skill has grown a bit after coming to Australia. However, he still has major problems with reading academic and difficult books. He is not a fun of reading hence his poor state of skill. He complains of difficulty in reading and can hardly read a whole document without stammering. Similarly, he takes a lot of time trying to pronounce some words. For instance, he took more than two minutes to complete reading the journal extract (see attached: appendix A) which is relatively a long period of time for such article. From the observations I also noticed that Ray’s reading skills are at their worst when he encounters scientific, medical or biological vocabularies. For instance, he was completely unable to read out words such as ‘chromatography’ and ‘physiology’. Another character with Ray’s reading skill is that the more difficult words he encountered in a single article, the more he stammers. This was also noticed when reading before a big audience such as in class or school forums. However, his skill seems to be better when the content he is reading has pictures or images. These pictures help him remain focused and try guessing the message of the content he is reading. For instance, I engaged him in reading a medical article that had a picture of a patient suffering from Tuberculosis. He was able to read the statement; “tuberculosis is an air borne disease thus can be passed on through sneezing…..” In this context he was able to differentiate the meaning of ‘borne’ and ‘born’ which he had failed before when he encountered the two words in a business document. However, despite all the challenges, Ray has made recommendable efforts to master the skill. Since reading is not his hobby, he has adapted to the habit of reading from areas such as libraries that gave him the required reading atmosphere to psyche him up. He has also made it a habit of reading newspaper everyday and taking note of new vocabularies that he fails to guess their meaning. Even though his skill was poor at the time of the study, his lecturer notes that the personal efforts has seen the skill grow and that he has made tremendous progress since coming to Australia. This was also reflected in his marks where he responded to online proficiency test by scoring 68% an improvement from 43% the previous test. His reading speed has also improved and he could complete reading a 2 paged article on Internet Addiction to Social Networking (appendix B) within 5 minutes. 2.1.4 Writing Just like the reading skill Ray has not properly mastered writing skill well to become a professional writer. Even though there was a lot of writing during his entire degree program, much of this writing was in his native language. He is still a learner of the writing skill and thus has numerous challenges in writing some words. His main challenges are getting the spellings correct. He misses out on some words. From the observations and interaction with Ray I noted that his writing has numerous simple spelling mistakes, singular/plural errors, and verb tense errors. This was exhibited in his dictation and sentence construction performance (see attached, appendix C). Just like reading, Ray’s writing skill is at its worst with scientific and medical terms. He fails to spell a number of medical terms. Out of the ten words dictated to him he only managed six, which his lecturer notes that it is not such a bad performance English being his second language. A number of punctuation and capitalization mistakes were also present in his writings. For instance, the paragraph below written on his stay at his new school shows a number of punctuation and spelling errors. my new school has been good and I am enjoying staying and learning the school, I have good friends they help me and we talk a lot I don’t get bored.also here the studies are taken very serious not like my previus school. I no I have problem with spiking fluent English but my friends I have made here they help me so much.i want to master this language and go back home and I am sure I will get a good job.thats why I am dedicated and I thank my teachers so much they are nice people.” From Ray’s writing above a number of errors can be pointed out. For example, the paragraph lacks a smooth flow of information and he seems not to have arranged his ideas well. However, there is a significant difference of the paragraph above and his formal writings in school. In his school work he appears tidy and straightforward about the topic he is asked to write on. To some extend he chooses suitable words, spells correctly, composes the topic sentences and conclusions with much success. 2.1.5 Body language The most cultivated skill in Ray is the body language. Ray knows how to express whatever he feel on his face. For instance, when he misses out on some spelling he clearly expresses his frustrations on his face. Most of his friends also like hanging around him due to his funny character. He knows how to act some situation, a skill he mostly uses in during debate sessions where he explains his views with physical signs when he misses out on the right vocabularies. I also had fun interacting with him especially during the interview where he could respond with facial expression to explain some thing he had no name or phrase to describe it. Appendix D shows a chart showing general assessment results for Ray’s skills. Logically, being good at speaking and good in body language, his listening skills will improve and this is the same for his reading and writing skills. This is mostly because the skills are often interrelated. 3. Accuracy In the second entry, we will discuss pronunciation, grammar, and lexis. These are the essences of language accuracy. According to Hall & Hord (1987), accuracy is the ability to compose grammatically correct sentences. 3.1 Pronunciation Ray’s pronunciation has been affected by his native language. This is evident in his accent and rendition. He pronounces some words with the Taiwan accent. For instance the word ‘right’ a time he pronounces it as ‘light’. He also mistakes ‘camera’ for ‘camela.’ His pronunciation problem seems to be more persistent when he is under pressure of attention of large audiences. The recent observations from his presentation when he was asked to address the class on the importance of studying English revealed that his intonation decreases whenever he is not sure about the correct pronunciation of the word. He also has a few difficulties with stressing the right words. However, Ray has made tremendous improvements since coming to Australia. Most of the improvements have been in his accent and intonation. Observations made by his teacher reveal that he has become more understandable (appendix E). According to him, most of these improvements are due to the positive impact of interacting with his friends who are native speakers. Whenever he misses on a curtain pronunciation he tends to copy his friends. His love for English music, movies and the general western culture has greatly helped him master some pronunciations. He has also embraced the concept of learning principle of ‘meaningful learning’ which links 'existing knowledge/experience and new material'. 3.2 Grammar Ray lacks good foundation in grammar. Most of his problems in writing are grammatical. This implies that indeed he has along way to go in mastering grammar. For instance, he made several simple tense mistakes (appendix C). From the observations I noticed that Ray seemed to be comfortable only with the three main tenses (i.e. past, present and future tenses). I engaged him in a short test on verb inflections (i.e. verb, noun, adjective, and adverb) and possessive pronouns and he showed a few errors in using tenses especially in passive form. For example he writes; ‘the teacher has come in time’, ‘The milk had been drunk’ and ‘the lecturer ha took a lot of time on this topic.’ From these observations, Ray still needs more training on language writing and tense usage. However, he is not that badly off. He does not have serious difficulties of tenses and pronoun usage. He corrected most of the simple mistakes he made upon the second trial. Appendix F shows his performance in proficiency test on tense, irregular verbs, use of articles and pronouns. 3.3 Lexis Ray’s vocabulary is not yet to perfection. It is because of this reason that he says he interacts with friends and reads books and newspapers. When I asked him how he learns new words, he answered; “Most of the words I read them in class, newspapers in the library and my personal books. I look for their meaning and try them on my friends when were interact.” From his personal assessment I observed that some of his vocabulary he learns them from music lyrics and from watching English movies. For instance, he had written down a number of words such as ‘suffocate’ and ‘asunder’ from lyrics of the song angel (by Michel Jackson) of which he checked for their meanings from the dictionary. Ray’s scientific/medical vocabulary is so limited. From the interviews and tests he did I noticed that he could choose to use several words in one sentence to convey his message whenever he missed out on a particular vocabulary. For example, in his end of semester essay writing test the lecturer had corrected him to use the word ‘injection’ instead of ‘the doctor gave the little girl medicine through a needle’. Other proficiency tests revealed that Ray also had difficulties with spelling. There are instances where he knows the sounds of the correct word but can not put them in correct spellings. For example in the test on vocabulary, he constantly misspelled words such as ‘fit’, ‘drunk’ and ‘rite’ with ‘feet’, ‘drank’ and ‘write/right’ respectively. Ray’s lexis however seems to be at its best in his speech. He shows some proficiency in his speech by choosing meaningful vocabulary for his phrases. He can also convey his message in few words. For example, instead of saying ‘big spoon’ he could use ‘spade’. He is also proficient in generating verbs, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs from the root. However, what disturbed him most was learning new vocabulary that always took him some time. 4. Summery and conclusion From the assessment above, much can be said about Ray. For instance, from the observation I made, he can be associated with the two most evident principles of Brown’s; ‘willingness to communicate’ and ‘intrinsic motivation’ (Brown, 2007). For willingness to communicate, Ray is so determined to learn English. This is seen in his self-confidence and his strong belief that he can accomplish whichever task. From the assessment I remarked that few difficulties with his reading and speaking, he does not seem embarrassed whenever he makes a mistake in his presentation. This is a virtue that his lecturer appreciates him for. He states that it has made him make friends and he does not limit contact with certain friends (appendix E). He likes interacting with everyone, especially with English native speakers who have positively impacted his progress in mastering English. Regarding ‘Intrinsic Motivation’ principle, I noticed that Ray likes comparing himself with the western culture and with anyone who is an ENS. I concluded this from the observation of how much he enjoys English songs and movies. He usually tries to speak like western people as he sees them in the movies and behaves just as the way they do. I can link this with Brown’s principle; Language-Culture connection principle (Brown, 2008). His greed for mastering English is intrinsically motivated by the dream of acquiring a job in a large company with a good salary. His lecturer is keen to notice the motivation and congratulates him on that. The psyche has seen him spend up to six hours a week in the English language centre (ELC) and after which he extends the same attitude to his a part-time job that is also in an English environment. However, the principle that I can say it is not quite evident to Ray’s strategy of learning the English language is the ‘Strategic Investment’ principle. Even though he is a risk-taker and willing to communicate, he does not devote much time and effort to learning and studying English. This is evident with the way he does not spend enough time and efforts in home-study and contents with the English in the ELC. Similarly, in English classes, he mostly avoids challenging topics and concentrates on relatively simple ones for his practice. According to him, he believes that the study time in the ELC, working in an English environment and being in an English-native country would be sufficient in his English learning process. ‘Strategic Investment’ would benefit Ray in his English learning by improving on himself and knowing his personal learning style to make a full-dress use of his surrounded environment (Marshall & Bannon, 1986). That would have happened if he extended the same dedication he has in school to practicing English at home. He can decide to concentrate on his weak points as personal homework in the evenings and on weekends. Apparently his weakest points are vocabulary and pronunciation. He should thus read more books and other English literatures to enrich his vocabulary. It will also help him improve his grammar which is still not to perfection. The diagnosis of the proficiency test for Ray shows that his level is still at the advanced beginner level with a general score of 68%. This is still not fluent. As such, he still needs more practice and interaction with ENS to perfect on his speaking, writing and reading skills that are relatively poorer as compared to listening (Vodanovich & Piotrowski, 2004). References Brown, D. (2007). Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach To Language Pedagogy. New York: Pearson Longman. Dinev, T., & Mullen, M. (2008). Internet Users’ Privacy Concerns and Attitude towards Government Surveillance –An Empirical Investigation. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 17(3), 214-233. Grace, W., & Kabata, K. (2010). Accuracy Vs Fluency. London: Routledge. Hall, G., & Hord. S. (1987). Change in schools: Facilitating the process. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Kessler, G. (2007). Formal and Informal CALL Preparation and Teacher Attitude towards Technology. Computer Assisted Language Learning journal, 20(2), 173-188. MacArthur, C., & Malouf, D. (1991). Teacher beliefs, plans, and decisions about foreign language learning. Journal of Special Education, 25(2), 44-72. Marshall, J., & Bannon, S. (1986). Linguistic Challenges. Association for Educational Data Systems Journal, 20(2), 270-286. Rose, M. (1984). Writer’s block: The cognitive dimension. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press. Scott, V. (1996). Rethinking foreign language writing. Boston: Heinle & Heinle. Vodanovich, S., & Piotrowski, C. (2004). Faculty Attitudes towards Web-Based Instructions May Not BE enough: limited use and obstacles to implementation. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 33(1), 309-318. Woodrow, J. (1991). Teachers’ perceptions of language learning. Journal of Special Education, 25(2), 44-72. APPENDIX A: Journal extract on World heavy weight championship The World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the SmackDown brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the WWE Championship of the Raw brand. It was established under the Raw brand in 2002, after Raw and SmackDown became distinct brands under WWE, and has moved between both brands on different occasions, mainly as a result of the WWE Draft. It is one of a number of world titles represented by the historic Big Gold Belt. The championship is generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants execute scripted finishes rather than contend in direct competition. WWE journal (2009) APPENDIX B: Internet Addiction to Social Networking In the resent past, the internet has gained rapid popularity. This has been due to the creation of more interactive websites. Lively social networks such as myspace and facebook have attracted more people. There have been cases where people spend hours on-line. This clearly illustrates an internet addiction among such people to the extent of affecting their personal life as well as professional output (Orzack, 1996). It is common sense for people to manage their time effectively. However, it has become quite common to meet or hear of people who have been so much enamored with on-line social networks that they fail to respond to other personal issues that require equal attention. This getting ‘hooked’ to the internet has arisen several questions hence the need to explore some of the possible causes and explanations for this phenomena. Recent studies on social networking have shown amazing numbers of cases of internet addiction. These high numbers have been due to some of services available on-line that have unique psychological properties. These properties have induced dissociation, time distortion and instant gratification among internet surfers to the extent of causing up to 10% of these surfers to suffer from web dependency. Moreover, there have been common cases of internet addicts who suffer from anxiety-related disorders and other emotional problems like depression. These victims get lured into the fantasy world of the internet in the attempt of psychologically escaping the unpleasant feelings and the real life stressful situations at hand. In most cases, such individuals end up developing Internet addiction disorder (IAD), a condition characterized by excessive computer use that interferes with daily life (Coate, 1992). Several social networks have led to IAD. For example gambling, gaming, shopping on line and sex related networks have been at the front line as the major causes of IAD. Several studies and researches have highlighted net compulsions such as compulsive gambling and shopping to be troublesome especially when done in person. Most of internet addicts who seek rehabilitation claim excessive online gaming and gambling which they consider inappropriate. Similarly sexual activities such as explicit online sexual conversations and excessive attention to pornographic literature take root positions in such cases. These addictions have led to poor school grades, broken marriages, lost jobs and poor diet. With such statistics, the questions that tend to go through our minds is how such people get into such situations as the internet does not call any one. Most people get attracted to internet social networks due to their non-physical nature. These networks offer computer assisted interpersonal communication among online users despite the physical and geographical difference between them. Moreover, despite the real social presence, Cyberspace communications such as chat rooms and email discussion groups give people the social contact experience. This has become stimulating and rewarding that a lot of people do not know when to stop or find it challenging to do so. Internet virtual communities have cultural values with social norms that encourage interaction with strangers. Therefore, despite its non-physical nature, with current globalization and our large cities, the internet has become a vital source of interpersonal contact. Hence more people find themselves slaves to internet dependency even without their knowledge. Even though cyberspace seems to be advantageous, it has its shortcomings that are rarely detectable especially with internet adorers. It is because of this that most surfers get addicted. Several communications protocols are overseen as these networks do not monitor non-verbal responses. Different people hold different protocols thus lack of guidance on a uniform protocol at times leads to unconsciously breaking of individually held expectations about communications protocols. It is because of this that most people have experienced pathological consequences as it is the most common dis-inhibiting effect inherent in on-line interactivity. With the computer aid, online interactivity has resulted into poorly understood psychological phenomena. Due to the absence of real social contact, people feel free to exchange whatever they have through the text based interpersonal communications. "If all computer-mediated communication systems can be said to have one single unifying effect upon human behavior it is that usage tends to cause the user to become less inhibited." (Reid, 94). This unrestrained in expression has been widely received as an exiting and stimulating aspect of internet communication, a condition that has greatly contributed to the occurrence of IAD. APPENDIX C: Ray’s performance in dictation and sentence construction Sample of dictation responses 1. Zuulogy (zoology) 2. Recieved (received) 3. Chronology 4. Linguistik (linguistic) 5. Coagulet (coagulate) Sample of constructed sentences 1. I have been learning in the school since last year. 2. Mr. Green is my favorite lecturer because he teachs good. 3. Joining the school was the best thing that happens to me. 4. By the time I arrive in class the lecturer was already teaching. 5. I cannot wait to finish this course. I realy want to master this language and go back home and get a good job. APPENDIX D: A general assessment results for Ray’s skills APPENDIX E: Ray’s lecturer’s observation moments Speaking Ray can speak although he needs more practice. He still has a few difficulties pronouncing some words especially those containing sounds l and r. but with the right guidance he will become a good speaker. I think he should interact more with his friends to help him master the skill. It has worked for others it will definitely work for him too. Listening Ray is a really good listener. I have not had major problems with listening yet. He has not major problems with remaining focused in class during lessons. Another thing I note with him s that he listens to whatever is being said irrespective of whether he understands it or not. If he doesn’t understand a thing you will see him noting down the words to go look their meanings later after the lesson. He has also followed the teachers for clarification which is a good thing. Writing Now Ray’s problems begin here. But he is not badly off. he only has a few problems with spellings and differentiating sounds. He commonly misspells sounds l for r and vise versa. But I thing with more training and reading more books he will master the spellings. But I am impressed by his progress bearing in mind that he is taking English as a second language is not badly off so far. Reading Yah just like writing he also has a few problems here and there in getting some sounds right. I think needs to do more practice on the skill. He should also take the challenge to read more books and not just books but should also read other articles, information on the internet just any English article he comes across. It will help him. He does really like reading that much so I think he should make it a habit. Accuracy Several simple grammar mistakes but he is not that bad for an advanced beginner. At least he has mastered the three basic tenses; he is also a little bit comfortable with verbs and pronouns so I can say he is not that worse. Although he needs a lot of practice in form of interacting with friends, personal reading and researches. General comments Ray is a dedicated student I envy his self-confidence and hunger for English. I think this is what has brought him this far. It is a good virtue that every student should have. Nothing comes easily. You have to fight for everything and that is what Ray is doing. Even though he makes mistakes in class, in his speech, in his writing he never gets demoralized. He is ready to listen to correction and that’s what ha made him perform so well. What he needs to work on is his presentation. He is a bit shy with big audiences. But so far the going is good. He should continue the same spirit and work on the few highlighted areas. APPENDIX F: Ray’s performance in proficiency test on tense, irregular verbs, use of articles and pronouns. Read More