ila05_toogood

Proceedings for the Independent Learning Conference 2005

Sarah Toogood 1

Taking Control or Jumping Through Hoops: Issues with SALL in mainstream courses Keynote Address Sarah Toogood Introduction For self-access language learning (SALL) courses to be successful it is important to use scaffolding structures (Benson 2001) and adhere to a particular set of principles (Cotterall 2000). Designing SALL courses for inclusion into mainstream curricula requires careful consideration not only of how to create structures which scaffold autonomy in learning appropriately, but also of factors such as assessment, teacher approach, provision of access to a variety of materials and how these materials may be used. At the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) we have been researching our provisions for SALL both in mainstream courses and in elective courses for many years. As a result, we have become sensitive to the reactions of both teachers and learners. We have tried to address issues that became evident by providing a particular kind of structure to our compulsory SALL courses. The intention of this paper is to give an overview of the different SALL courses we have devised and run within the Language Centre at HKUST. It is also to consider whether or not the scaffolding structures we have integrated into our courses result in learners and teachers jumping through hoops or whether they support SALL teachers and encourage learners to take good control of their own learning Developing SALL in courses There are many ways of fostering autonomy. Benson (2001:111) lists 6 that are talked about in the literature on autonomy and language learning:

• Resource-based approaches - emphasise independent interaction with learning materials • Technology-based approaches - emphasise independent interaction with educational technologies • Learner-based approaches - emphasise the direct production of behavioural and psychological changes in the learner • Classroom-based approaches - emphasise learner control over the planning and evaluation of classroom learning • Curriculum-based approaches - extend the idea of learner control to the curriculum as a whole • Teacher-based approaches - emphasise the role of the teacher and teacher education in the practice of fostering autonomy


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At HKUST we make provision for the first 3 through our Self-Access Centre (SAC) and through our SALL courses we make provision for the last 2. Having reviewed each approach, Benson (2001) concludes that the best overall approach is a combination of all 6 at the level of the curriculum. He does not give an indication of how this can be done and there seems no reason to assume that there should be one particular way of combining the approaches or that there is a ‘best way’. However, it is clear that there are certain common principles that should be taken into account particularly when devising and implementing SALL courses, and especially when they are integrated into the mainstream curriculum. Therefore, SALL course writers and teachers need to bear in mind a number of different factors when developing and implementing SALL courses. What to Bear in Mind A review of the literature on what to bear in mind reveals five key factors that are useful to be aware of when making provision for SALL in any context, but particularly when doing so for mainstream courses. The factors are:

1. Teachers and learners need to be very clear about their roles and expectations 2. Teachers can strongly influence the way in which learners respond to a

particular approach 3. Learners differ in their ability and willingness to use procedures for learner

self-management 4. Assessment of SALL is possible but problematic 5. Scaffolding structures and adherence to principles make for good SALL

courses To better understand the significance of these factors, below is series of quotes from a variety of authors who have grappled with them over the years. The quotes highlight something to be aware of, give a warning or simply present a point of interest. 1. Teachers and learners need to be very clear about their roles and expectations It is easily possible for teachers – the ‘experts’ – to be too dominant in their roles of facilitator or consultant. This may occur because they themselves are ill-prepared for such roles in teacher training courses, or because the learner is reluctant or unable to assume greater responsibility for decision making. (…) If on the other hand, in the interests of promoting greater autonomy, a teacher withholds support and advice from a learner who is as yet ill-equipped to assume the mantle of independent learning, there is greater danger that learners may lack direction or may waste time heading in the wrong direction. (Sheerin 1997:63) For autonomy to be realised, teacher and learner roles must be redefined, for not doing so, or not seeing any reason to, may be a barrier to achieving the strong version of autonomous learning we are putting forward. (Champagne et al 2001:47) The role of the teacher in the negotiation of learning objectives and procedures is also crucial. (…) curriculum-based approaches do not imply an abdication of the


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teacher’s role. On the contrary, as in all approaches to the implementation of autonomy, the attitudes, skills and dedication of the teacher are key factors. (Benson 2001:170) The lessons we learnt from the first year were quite clear:

a. advisers’ approaches to advising and expectations of their advisees were not in fact as similar as we had assumed;

b. some learners stated they wanted more ‘pressure’ or ‘force’ to be able to complete the programme successfully;

c. advisers felt frustrated with some learners, as they did not seem to be making links between their stated language-learning aims and their input, practice and methods of evaluation;

d. advisers felt that some learners treated them as private tutors and did not seem too willing to take real responsibility for their own learning, even though they said that they were. (Pemberton & Toogood 2001:73) Our experience of advising has taught us the importance of guarding against assumptions. In particular, we should not assume that all learners share our expectat ions of the roles of adviser and learner, and that all advisers share the same approaches to advising. Nor should we assume that, just because we believe in promoting autonomous learning, our advising will necessarily support it. We need to make sure that learners are aware of our expectations. More importantly, perhaps, we need to keep checking that our attempts to promote learner autonomy are not undermined by our own preconceived ideas and assumptions. (Pemberton & Toogood 2001:81) 2. Teachers can strongly influence the way in which learners respond to a particular

approach Learners’ attitudes towards self-access may be affected by four main influences. These are: their teachers, their educational institution, their peers, and society. Teachers are an important influence because it is they who are most likely to first introduce learners to self-access. Teachers who do this because of their own commitment to self-access learning are likely to have an enthusiastic attitude and are likely to communicate that enthusiasm to the learners. The attitudes of teachers who introduce self-access to learners simply because of institutional policy are likely to be more variable. In a study of learners’ and teachers’ attitudes to self-access language learning Gardner and Miller (1997) found that learners were, in general, more positive about the benefits of self-access than their teachers. (Gardner & Miller 1999:12) When students speak about learning, they do so in highly emotional terms. This isn’t surprising, yet the emotional dimensions of learning receive scant attention in formal research, for they escape standardized measures and experimental controls. (Brookfield 1990:45) Disjunction of Learning and Teaching Styles. Sometimes it is not the content that students resist but the style in which teachers teach and in which they, as students, are asked to learn. (…) Teachers who rely on only one teaching method must always


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expect a hard core of resisters who are unsympathetic to or intimidated by the approach concerned. (Brookfield 1990: 151-152) (…) a teacher can facilitate learner autonomy in an online environment by interrelating with learners in a way that communicates to them that the teacher has them ‘in-mind’. In this way, the teacher can exercise restraint in not intervening at the level of content whilst helping learners overcome the challenges of isolation, facelessness, and lack of identity within the online class.”(La Ganza 2001:27) 3. Learners differ in their ability and willingness to use procedures for learners’ self-

management There are different degrees of self-management from novice to expert. Becoming an expert self-managed learner can be a complex and long-term process (Pressley 1995), as it entails an intricate set of skills and knowledge. Expert self-managed learners can assess the requirements of the learning task at hand, can identify and deploy the appropriate learning strategies, can make appropriate attributions for success and failure, and readily accept the responsibility for their own learning (Strage 1998). In the process, expert self-managed learners are able to monitor their own progress, shift strategies upon encountering problems, and to move on when subgoals are attained. In addition, they possess beliefs that support the coordination of procedures and knowledge. Such beliefs include confidence in one’s ability to succeed and the recognition that success often comes after some frustration (Brown and Pressley 1994). (Rubin 2001:26) In deciding the topics for pieces of work, planning and undertaking field work and presenting what they have learned, participants are not only directing themselves, but clearly expressing who they are. In the process, they typically alternate between depression and elation, despair and excitement, enthusiasm and ennui, extreme pride in what they have done and loathing of the whole thing. These human emotions are indicative of participant engagement with their work (and with autonomy). Emotions are also present, but not as tangibly or visibly, when learners undertake teacher-directed tasks in the beginning of the program. (Champagne et al 2001:50) 4. Assessment of SALL is possible but problematic It is possible to find limited evidence that learners who are able to learn independently may also gain greater proficiency. (…) It is apparent that learner autonomy is not an easily described single behaviour. Furthermore, there are so many variables that affect a learner’s degree of autonomy at any one time that it is clearly impossible to evaluate autonomy based on observable behaviour. (Sinclair 1999:100-106) Evaluation plays a pivotal role in the development of learner autonomy. The function of evaluation is on the one hand to ensure that work undertaken is discussed and revised, and on the other to establish a basis of experience and awareness that can be used in planning further learning. It is a recurrent activity between the teacher and individual learners, groups of learners, or the whole class. It can also be undertaken by the learners themselves. (Dam 1995:49)


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In principle, every factor or element involved in the learning process is open for evaluation (see Dam 1995). When evaluating the process – in all three phases of a period – the following formats and types of evaluations are used: • self-evaluation • spontaneous, oral evaluations between peers and/or between teacher and

learner(s) during or after an activity • written evaluations – in diaries or in response to questionnaires, the latter being

produced either by the teacher or the learners themselves • planned and prepared oral evalutions in groups or whole class with or without a

teacher – very often based on questions or questionnaires • combinations of the forms above The format will vary according to what is evaluated and when it is done. Whichever format is used, however, the evaluation will always give rise to discussions and revision of work undertaken and will function as a tool for awareness-raising and development. (Dam 2000:50) To facilitate objective measurement of how learners’ capacity for autonomy in language learning has developed over a course term, two rating scales were constructed. As autonomy is operative at two levels – process control at the task or micro level, and self-direction at the overall process or macro level – two different rating scales needed to be developed. (Lai 2001:35) Nunan observed that opportunities to reflect led to greater sensitivity to the learning process over time. Lor’s (1998) study of learners’ reflective journal entries suggests, however, that many learners experience difficulty in reflecting upon and evaluating their learning spontaneously and often fail to see the value of self-evaluation. In an earlier study of learning logs, Schärer (1983) also observed that students needed considerable assistance and that the use of log books could even have a discouraging effect on weaker students. (Benson 2001:156) Similar to points made above, Voller 1997 lists what is required in order to facilitate evaluation and negotiation of learning. • helping learners to plan and carry out their independent language learning by

means of needs analysis (both learning and language needs), objective setting, (both short-and longer term, achievable), work planning, selecting materials and organising interactions;

• helping learners evaluate themselves (assessing initial proficiency, monitoring progress, and self-and peer-assessment);

• helping learners to acquire the skills and knowledge needed to implement the above (by raising their awareness of language learning, by providing learner training to help them identify learning styles and appropriate strategies). (Voller 1997:102)

5. Scaffolding structures and adherence to principles make for good SALL courses 1. The course reflects learners’ goals in its language, tasks, and strategies 2. Course tasks are explicitly linked to a simplified model of the language learning process


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3. Course tasks either replicate real-world communicative tasks or provide rehearsal for such tasks 4. The course incorporates discussion and practice with strategies known to facilitate task performance 5. The course promotes reflection on learning (Cotterall 2000:110-112) It is evident (…) that the more successful curriculum-based approaches to autonomy do not simply leave the students to ‘sink or swim’. Invariably, their effectiveness depends upon implicit or explicit scaffolding structures that support learners in decision-making processes. Without these structures, curriculum-based approaches would do little to help students to develop their capacity to take control over learning.” (Benson 2001:170) SALL Courses at HKUST We have been developing SALL courses and integrating SALL into the curriculum at HKUST for a number of years. Table 1 below gives an overview of the history and the parameters of each course; each of which has gone through a number of incarnations over the years. For more details see Pemberton & Toogood (2001) and Toogood & Pemberton (2002). Table 1.

Lang 503 Spring (1997-2001)

Lang 306 SAEM Spring (1999-2001)

Lang 306 Fall (2001-)

Lang.106 Fall (2000- )

Lang. 106 Spring (2000-)

Time 14 weeks 3hrs

7/8 weeks 2hrs

10 hours 14 weeks 2hrs

14 weeks 2hrs

Students 50ish PGs

8/12ish 3rd Yr UG

700ish 3rd Year UG

700ish 1st Yr UG

700ish 1st Yr UG

Focus Anything Anything Grammar for Writing an Engineering Report

Vocabulary building for Reading

Pronunciation awareness for Listening

Assessment No Credit Pass Fail Written Report

Quarter of a Credit Grades Written Report

Sixteenth of a Credit Grades

Half a Credit Pass Fail Written Report

Half a Credit Pass Fail Written Report

Compulsory No

No/Yes Yes Yes Yes


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The two non-compulsory courses (Lang 503 and Lang 306 SAEM) which allow learners to choose any skill and any interest for their SALL have not run for a number of years because they are quite different in approach to traditional classroom teaching and as a result it has been difficult to persuade teachers to choose to teach them. However, because of the development of the Virtual English Language Adviser (VELA) (see http://www.vela.ust.hk - About, Purpose) I have been able to run Lang 306 SAEM again this year with teachers who have gained experience from teaching on recent versions of Lang 106. The remaining courses in the table were developed later, and as you can see, are restrictive in terms of focus. The reason for this is to do with student/teacher ratios. The number of students taking these courses is high making it difficult for teachers to cope with a high degree of strategy and interest variety in individual learners’ projects throughout the course, especially as the course structure requires constant dialogue between each individual learner and the teacher. The two courses highlighted (Lang 503 and Lang 106) are the ones I’ll be looking at in more detail later in the paper. Each represents an extreme in terms of the way in which we provide structure for SALL. This then, provides an interesting picture of the developments we’ve made in creating structures which aim to help teachers cope with monitoring and assessing learners progress and improvements and enable learners to develop the ability to take good control of their language learning. Before looking at these courses in more detail, I’d like to show how we try to foster autonomy through the structuring of our SALL courses. How we try to Foster Autonomy Figure 1. plays on the metaphor ‘to sink or swim’ and aims to give an indication of what can happen if the degree of support and freedom on a SALL course, particularly a mainstream course, is not carefully thought through and controlled. When making provisions for supporting SALL, our aim at HKUST has been to try and strike a balance between the degree of support we give and the amount of freedom we encourage learners to take. Figure 1.

Control Freedom

Lots of Support

No Support

Choosing your stroke and

swimming with guidance

Swimming by numbers

Swimming reluctantly

– may sink…

Sink or Swim


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Our experience over the years, in giving advice in the SAC and in running courses where SALL is an integral part, has shown that given total freedom and no support, learners will either sink or swim. The few who do swim, do well on their own or with minimal support. It is more common however, to see the majority sink. Where learners are exposed to too much control with the teacher making all the decisions and no support for them to develop control of their own learning, there is a tendency for learners to swim reluctantly - sometimes give up and sink. A reason for this may be that the learning is not understood by the learner or personalised in any way, and as a result, becomes meaningless and unmanageable. If exposed to too much control and too much support the result can be a scenario whereby learners simply do what they are told without caring to think for themselves because there is a lack of personalisation in the learning. We may find situations where the teacher is providing too much control yet expecting learners to make decisions. This results in problems: learners may have worked out what is required of them and may be indicating that they are doing well, where in fact they are simply jumping through hoops. If however, the learner is given the right amount of support and the right amount of freedom, then it is possible to see learners making their own decisions whilst being guided in how to develop both in language learning and in critical thinking. Back to the sink or swim metaphor - helping learners choose their stroke and swim with guidance is the scenario we aim for. How we do it is through providing structure which is scaffolded. Structure Like Bamboo Scaffolding As Benson (2001:170) says (see quote above) learners need support when they make decisions and this support is only effective when provisions are made through scaffolding structures. We try to scaffold SALL at HKUST using structural elements which we hope give support that is:

• Strong - clearly defined and in line with institutional demands (high student to teacher ratios and the need to give grades which fit the mainstream)

• Flexible – allowing for individual expression; freedom of choice and development of creativity

For our context in Hong Kong, where bamboo, due to its strength and flexibility, is the preferred material used to support the building of some of the most impressive skyscrapers in the world at a prolific and regular rate, we like to take Benson’s idea of scaffolding structures and think of it in terms of ‘bamboo scaffolding.’ Using this idea of bamboo scaffolding we have developed a number of structural elements for our SALL courses at HKUST. Structural Elements for SALL Courses at HKUST The aim is to combine a number of elements and get the balance right so that learners are given freedom with just the right amount of support. Element One The first element is the ‘Plan-Dialogue-Diary Spiral’. The idea here is to provide a framework for learning and an arena for negotiation between learners and the teacher.


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This concept is not new. It is probably the most common form of support used in most provisions for SALL whether course based or not. Nevertheless, it is also probably the most vital element in the structural equation. My interpretation of how it works can be better explained if you imagine it in terms of how a DNA helix is represented. The ladder- like structure on the outside representing the Plan-Dialogue-Diary Spiral acting like scaffolding for the ‘facts’ (of actions planned/taken/planned), ‘examples/products’ (of language work produced) and ‘reflections’ (of actions planned/taken and or results of work produced) which are contained within. The idea of the spiral or helix is that the framework can be ongoing and progressive. It can also allow a teacher and learner to easily see progress through the structure. Our experience has been that the trick to ensuring that this structural element works well both for learners and teachers in a mainstream course context, is in ensuring that documentation of work follows a fixed pattern, is required and followed-up on often and at regular intervals. Getting the balance right for this and ensuring that the teachers are not overloaded with marking and learners do not begin to feel overloaded with documenting their learning rather than actually carrying it out however, requires very careful planning and attention. Element Two The second element is the division of language skills into ‘General’ and ‘Fundamental’. To help learners more easily choose appropriate strategies and materials, it was necessary that they understand how lack of knowledge in one skill might be the cause of the problem in another. I therefore divided the 7 skills into General and Fundamental. Table 2 shows the relationship between the skills in terms of problems learners may have and what may be the cause. Table 2 Problems with Caused by lack of knowledge in Listening Vocabulary & Pronunciation Speaking Vocabulary & Pronunciation & Grammar Reading Vocabulary & Grammar Writing Vocabulary & Grammar GENERAL SKILLS FUNDAMENTAL SKILLS In the early days of running SALL courses, where the structure of the courses was pretty free - allowing learners to choose a skill and discover for themselves which strategies worked and which didn’t - one of the biggest frustrations we found amongst teachers and learners was that learners would try to address their problems by focusing on one skill and one strategy. For example, they might choose listening and attempt to improve by watching movies or listening to the news, or they might choose speaking and attempt to improve by giving more presentations. This was fine for some learners who saw the process as a means of experimenting and enjoying their learning without pressure. For others however, it was very frustrating with the result that they would study hard or spend a lot of time listening or presenting but see no progress. Generally the reason for this was that they had not diagnosed their problems. They had not considered that their difficulties with listening or speaking


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might be related to a lack of knowledge in pronunciation features or perhaps a lack of vocabulary. From the point of view of the teachers who needed to assess learners’ ability to meet the most common two aims in our SALL courses: ‘To take responsibility for your learning and make improvements in your language’, it was highly problematic. How was it possible to ‘grade’ learners who were ‘exploring’ and had spent the whole of their SALL project time watching movies? How was it possible to have a meaningful dialogue about diaries which never showed any change because the practice being carried out never changed? How was it possible to offer language advice when it was not clear what the problems were? In an attempt to address these issues, we decided to make sure that newer SALL courses required learners to make a connection between the General and the Fundamental skills when they planned their SALL projects. Element Three It was due to the same kinds of issues and frustration that I developed the ‘FTG Model’ (which in fact may act more like a framework). F meaning Focused Practice, T, Transfer Practice and G, General Practice, is a way of dividing strategies and materials into type. It is introduced to learners thus: Type of Language

Practice Description Example

Focused This is what you do to teach yourself something in the language

If you don’t know the meaning of a word/phrase or you don’t know how it’s used, find out through checking meanings and examples in dictionaries and asking fluent/native speakers.

Transfer This where you make a conscious effort to use what you have learnt in Focused Practice

If you have collected and checked the meaning for a list of vocabulary, you can practise the words/phrases to see if you know how to use them correctly. You can see if you now know the meanings when you read, you can use them in a conversation, writing sentences or in an essay. You can check to see if you’re correct by checking in dictionaries again or by reactions you get and you could also check with an adviser, teacher or friends.

General This is what you do when you just expose yourself to the language

Reading, watching movies, listening to the radio, to songs and chatting with friends on the same or a similar topic, even singing in the shower, are all great ways to keep up with the kind of vocabulary you are working on. There’s no need to worry about mistakes or misunderstandings or knowing everything in detail - just have fun!

FTG is now used in both our compulsory SALL courses: Lang 106 and Lang 306, as well as VELA (see above). It has also been incorporated into courses at City University of Hong Kong’s English Language Centre and at Kanda University of


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International Studies, Chiba, Japan through provisions made in the Self-Access Learning Centre (SALC). Knowing how to select and describe strategies and materials in terms of FTG is not always easy and the system does still have its faults. However, for the most part it has been well received as the following quotes from end-of-course questionnaires indicate: “In this module, I have learnt to self-study more effectively by setting learning focus, choosing learning strategies, making learning plan, using varieties of resources in the SAC, evaluating learning progress, making learning decision based on needs and balancing between focus practices and transfer practices. I have also made some improvement on my listening skills on the area of recognizing linking and weak forms in daily conversations.” [Lang. 306 SAEM Student] “No matter how hard I explained, some students couldn’t understand clearly the differences between them. But once they understood they love the concepts and use those terms to describe their learning.” [Lang. 106 Teacher] “It really helps. I’ve got evidence. I’ve got student’s work showing that they have improved.” [Lang. 306 Teacher]

In my view the main advantage of using FTG is that it helps in enabling both the learners and the teachers see process and progress of SALL clearly. This is vital when discussing plans and diaries and useful when asking learners to document actions and products. Sinclair (1999) referred to evaluating SALL from plans and diaries as ‘Wrestling with a Jelly’ and called for the need to provide teachers with a practical framework that allows for the evaluation metacognitive awareness. I think that to some extent the idea of matching General and Fundamental skills and dividing strategies and materials into Focused, Transfer and General practice types helps to solidify, clarify and enable dissection of the jelly so that when it comes time to ‘wrestle’ with giving the ‘right’ kind of advice or evaluating/grading a learner’s SALL, it’s not such a wobbly process. Element Four Another element we use at HKUST to support our learners when they are taking a SALL course are our SAC (Self-Access Centre) and (as mentioned above) VELA (Virtual English Language Adviser http://www.vela.ust.hk). The SAC was opened in 1993 and is set up in what Gardner and Miller (1999) described as a ‘supermarket system’. Although nowadays it might be better described in terms of what Miller (during a telephone conversation August 2005) is referring to as a ‘multi-mode’ system combining the concept of a shopping environment with a technology centre. For a while, our SAC set up was considered adequate for the needs of our learners, however with the incorporation of SALL into courses and when courses are running concurrently, it can seem a bit small and noisy. Covering an area


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of 300 m2 it only accommodates 60 learners. This is an issue when learners on SALL courses need to access materials (such as pronunciation books and resources), teachers need to hold consultations and only 2 classes out of 6 can be in the SAC during any 1 class slot. Ironically, prior to incorporating SALL into courses, especially mainstream ones, we were hearing corridor rumours that the SAC was a ‘white elephant’ as nobody was using it. This wasn’t in fact true but the perception is that we seem to have gone from one extreme to another: under use to over use. To help somewhat with the issue and allow for learners to access materials online, we developed a website for our SAC which directs learners to general advice on skills as well as lists of materials available. However having incorporated the concepts of FTG and Fundamental and General skills division into the SALL courses, we found that access to general advice that was unconnected to materials was not always that useful either for learners or teachers. This was one of the key reasons behind the proposal to create VELA. VELA has two points of entry: Browse and Plan. Both entry points enable users to make connections between language problems and solutions. Solutions are provided in the form of case specific strategies matched with materials. Integral to both entry points are the concepts of FTG and Fundamental and General skills divisions. Use of a VELA plan has now been incorporated into Lang 106 and is assessed according to criteria which focus on establishing how deeply and responsibly learners have thought about their choices as well as whether or not learners have made progress in the area of language they set out to improve. Element Five Assessment of SALL is the fifth element of structure and perhaps the most interesting. Feelings about the idea of assessment and autonomy run high - some feel that it’s not possible, others feel it shouldn’t be done, while some have found ways of doing it which they believe doesn’t impinge on the freedoms of the learner and are necessary in helping learners pursue more freedoms in their learning. In fact the topic was recently discussed by a number of people on the AILA Scientific Commission’s email discussion list Auto-L. The discussion was started by Alex Ding in March 2005 when he posted a question and comments about autonomy and assessment and it became clear from reading the subsequent postings that there are still many who are wary about the idea of a match between assessment and promoting autonomy. Nevertheless there is a body of literature on the topic, showing inroads that have been made into ways of successfully assessing learners on SALL courses. Jose Lai at the Chinese University of Hong Kong devised a statistical means of calculating assessment criteria linked to a course structure, which was published in the 2001 issue of the AILA review. In the same publication, Marie-France Champagne and her colleagues at the Asian Institute of Technology describe quantitative and qualitative assessment measures developed to evaluate learners’ autonomy and language improvement on a writing course (Talkbase) for a diverse population of pre-masters learners. Deborah Corder (Fri, 25 Mar 2005 – Re [AUTO-L]: Re: autonomy, assessment, plurality) in response to Alex Ding’s posting (see above), also reports on methods implemented at the Auckland University of Technology to incorporate assessment procedures for SALL into the classroom. Lindsay Miller and David


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Gardner have written chapters on assessing self-access learning and the evaluation of SALL in their book ‘Establishing Self-Access from theory to practice.’ (1999) The approach we have taken at HKUST is to combine all the structural elements outlined above. Some of our courses are pass/fail and some are graded, however all use the plan-dialogue-diary spiral and all have now incorporated the concepts of General & Fundamental skills division and at least the F and T part of the FTG Model. Each course also has detailed assessment criteria which are strongly linked to the course requirements. (See Appendix 1. Lang 106 Assessment Criteria) Structural Extremes in two SALL Courses To give an idea of the developments we’ve made in terms of structuring and the seeming impact this has had on being able to say that a learner has taken good or effective control of their language learning, I’d like to show two extreme examples. One is from Lang 503 the first SALL course we ever ran and the other is from the latest running of Lang 106. Both are examples of plans and diaries and can be seen in Appendix 2, Alvin’s Plan and Diaries and Appendix 3, Jennifer’s Plan and Diaries. The first thing to notice about the plan and diary forms is the fact that there is an enormous amount of direction given in the Lang 106 forms compared to the Lang 503 forms. General and Fundamental Skills division as well as the FTG are both much more apparent in the form and rhetoric of the Lang106 plan and diaries. Lang 503 was a much ‘freer’ SALL course with support given in the plan and diary forms through three simple headings: Input, Practice and Evaluation. Lang 106 is a lot more structured with support given in the guise of many headings and prompts linking choices and practice specifically to course requirements and assessment criteria. The question is, which of the structures works best in terms of helping learners take control and stopping them jump through hoops? Alvin - Lang 503 The kind of input and support that Alvin received on the latest running of Lang 503 consisted of:

• Orientation workshops on setting and narrowing goals, General & Fundamental skills: strategies and materials,

• 6 (x 30 mins) meetings with an experienced SALL adviser (and peers) • Weekly diaries + samples of work • 14 weeks (3hrs per week) • Evaluative report (learner + adviser) • Adviser’s role: • We will not:

o tell you what skill to focus on o give you a plan to follow o tell you the ‘best way’ to learn o correct all your English mistakes


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When we first developed the plan and diary forms for this course we wanted to give learners as much freedom as possible to help them direct their own learning develop their ability to direct their learning in a supportive and encouraging environment. This included expressing themselves freely when they documented their learning. As a result, we minimized the prompts for documentation to three simple headings: Input, Practice and Evaluation. This meant that there was very little structure there to help learners see the logical links between what they set out to do and how they did it. It was basically up to the adviser to help the learner: see the need for logical links and in accordance with the aims of the course and help the learner improve in a particular area of language. One of the most challenging aspects of Lang 503 was trying to strike a balance between the learner’s freedoms in terms of ‘exploring’ materials and strategies to achieve their own aims, and getting them through the course aims and requirements successfully within the course timeframe. Analysis Taking a close look at Alvin’s plan seems to indicate that the input he received from the workshops has paid off and he has a clear idea of which materials to use and what he needs to do to meet his aim. In other words it seems logical. However a closer look at his diaries reveals that Alvin didn’t follow his plan. Alvin did lot of pronunciation exercises from books, changed suddenly in his penultimate diary to some work on vocabulary, and ended up by throwing himself in at the deep end by using a presentation he had to give to his supervisor and research colleagues as a ‘sample of work’ to show his gain and improvement in accordance with his aim. This shows a logical gap in his learning process because he has not made systematic connections between the type of practice he has been carrying out and his aims. The only time we see a type of practice that we could say ‘transfers’ his knowledge of the pronunciation features he had been working on is in his final diary where he reports on the presentation he had wanted to do well in. However in choosing to wait until this point to transfer what he’d been studying from the pronunciation books, and in choosing this as a forum for his transfer he has not given himself time to make mistakes, assess his progress or reflect on the processes he’d used so far. A requirement of the course was that Alvin needed to show samples of work in his diaries to indicate language learning or gain. By the time Alvin did this presentation it was near the end of the course. Without wishing to seem too suspicious, the question of whether Alvin included this presentation in order to show some kind of transfer practice has to be asked and if it is true that he did this, then was this a case of jumping through hoops? Assessing Alvin to determine whether or not he had the ability to take good control of his learning and to state that he had improved in his chosen area of language was not an easy task; not least because despite the quantity of information Alvin provided, it simply didn’t show whether he had been or could be successful. Tackling issues with


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strategies such as scripting presentation content to work on transfer was a difficult task as Alvin had quite strong views on how to prepare a presentation. Respecting Alvin’s freedom of choice and knowing my job was to support his autonomy, I could not force him on this and felt like I had to watch helplessly as the end of the course dawned and he struggled with his presentation. I felt particularly frustrated at not being able to do more than encourage and say he should keep up the good work. In dealing with Alvin on this course, I felt as though I was jumping through hoops myself. My overall assessment of Alvin was that he was keen to improve and hard working, but he wasn’t necessarily at a point at which he could take effective control of his learning because I couldn’t see that he was making the logical links necessary to achieve his stated aim. However, I also felt that Alvin’s inability to take effective control of his learning was not due to a failure on his part, it was more to do with a failing in how the course had been constructed. Despite the fact that Alvin was given quite a lot of support in terms of my time and initial orientation, the lack of structure in the plan and diaries resulted in him swimming reluctantly and sinking. Alvin passed the course on effort, attitude and the belief that he could in the future, with continued support, be able to take good control of his learning but my sense of failure as his teacher remained. Jennifer - Lang 106 The kind of input and support that Jennifer received on the latest running of Lang 106 consisted of:

• A course book scheduled for 14 weeks of a combination of class-based and SALL-based work

• In class explanations & tasks on how to make logical links between aims, actions and outcomes

• Description of assessment criteria and how it relates to aims and requirements

• Diagnostic test + evaluation of results • VELA Plan (2 drafts) • Diaries (min 3 showing FTG) • Weekly consultations (in small groups of approx 5 for 15mins) • 14 weeks (2 hrs per week: part SALL, part consultation) • Final test + evaluation of results • Evaluation report (learner + teacher)

In comparison to Lang 503 this course is very explicit in terms of the structural elements and how the role they play to help learners develop knowledge of ways to learn systematically, logically and effectively. As a result, it seems a lot less free than Lang 503. Specifically, learners are not allowed to choose any skill or combination of skills, they must focus on Reading and Vocabulary building in one semester and Listening and Connected Speech in Pronunciation in the other.


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The VELA plan and the diaries include structural elements, which also restrict the amount of freedom learners have in creating their plans and documenting their learning. This begs the question of whether or not we’ve gone too far with the structure so that it restricts too many learner freedoms. However, from a teacher’s point of view, the forms do seem to he lp in terms of giving direction so that the learner is able to provide the type of information necessary for the teacher to give advice in accordance with course requirements. Analysis Looking at Jennifer’s documentation it is easy to see what she’s doing and how. It is therefore easy to give feedback with regard to her progress simply by referring to the prompts in the plan/diary for the type of information that’s needed and using reference to General and Fundamental skills divisions as well as FTG in order to highlight where logical links in learning can be made. From Jennifer’s plan we can see that she’s adapted the original VELA one line objective to incorporate her own personal goals while at the same time showing knowledge of and ability to build in course requirements. Moving down to look at the section on Assessing Progress we can see again how Jennifer has made adaptations and personalized her plan. Looking at Jennifer’s final evaluation, it’s clear that she was a happy customer. The combination of the type of structure we have in the plans and diaries together with the assessment criteria means that it is easy for both Jennifer and I (her teacher) to ensure she follows logical systematic learning strategies within the confines (in terms of time, need to show gains in language and learning when dealing with large numbers of individuals at one time) of this compulsory course. The fact that the strategies and materials were chosen by Jennifer in VELA combined with the requirement to document her learning in the diaries using reference to FTG meant that the pressure was off me as a teacher to suggest or force what might seem like personal preference strategies or materials. Unlike Alvin’s documentation of his learning, the language Jennifer uses is very personal and shows reflection as well as factual information. This gives the sense that the decisions Jennifer made are hers despite the amount of direction she is under. The difference between what we see of Jennifer’s work and Alvin’s is that Jennifer leaves the course feeling motivated and I as her teacher leave feeling confident that she now has the knowledge and ability to take good control of her learning and see successful outcomes. It is of course impossible to draw conclusions based on two extreme examples but what is interesting here is that they are extreme. This is quite encouraging because the developments made in Lang 106 and to some extent Lang 306 are the result of attempts, over the years, to address a wide variety of problems related to issues of hoop jumping and whether or not we are helping learners take effective control of their language learning. Generally the way in which these developments have come about has been through encouraging teachers and learners to share their feelings about the courses and particular elements in the courses.


Sarah Toogood 17

Hoops and Control Below is an indication of the type of comments received from teachers and learners in an attempt to address the question of whether or not the structures we now have in place are beneficial to learners and teachers or whether they encourage them to jump through hoops. We know that Lang 503 had different parameters to Lang 106 and Lang 306 and therefore could be less restrictive in many ways. Nevertheless, questions remain: Are the compulsory courses too restrictive? Does the seemingly excessive amount of structure cause learners to jump through hoops and take away from their wish and ability to control their learning? Our results indicate that this does not seem to be the case for the majority of learners. Here’s a taste of their reactions:

• This course is very good • There is a lot of freedom and I like the SAC • It’s systematical and fun and the memory of learning is almost permanent • I prefer this kind of learning because each person has different problem. • Everyone should find out what is their problem and solve it • I prefer an interesting learning such as the learning in the SAC but not the

classroom • The lang 106 is very good in helping us learn individually • There are several factors which can lead to success in my learning and

improvements in my language ability. The first factors is a wide range of materials in the SAC that can provide the language learners suitable and plenty ways to improve their languages. The second factor is setting up VELA plans. It is useful because the learners have some useful guidelines and instruction to learn language step by step

Some however, are not so happy:

• Waste my time due to only 1 credit in 1 year • Not my own idea, learn by pushing (course requirement) • If a person really want to study, he will study himself • (Teacher) Too much work for students and teachers - too much accounting for

what they have done (Lang 306) • (Teacher) I don’t like dealing with students who lie about their projects.

Students are not serious about their projects. They lie about the hours they spend. They say what you would like to hear - instead of evaluating the project and their benefits (Lang 306)

The biggest complaint about SALL courses is the workload. Another issue is to do with the personal nature of the interactions between learners and teachers about the work. HKUST, like other Hong Kong universities, battles with a ‘copy culture’ amongst students. Language courses are compulsory for the majority of undergraduates


Sarah Toogood 18

throughout their three years of study. If students are not motivated to work on language or are feeling too pressured by other course commitments then they become unwilling to put time and effort into their work. When they are required to document their learning and their reflections on their work for a SALL project, this copying behaviour and negative or pragmatic attitudes towards the course can become quite apparent and can be rather disturbing for teachers unused to holding constant dialogue with individual learners in their classes. However, on the plus side, if the structural elements are in place and teachers are not leaving their students to fend for themselves, it becomes quite hard for learners to cheat. If learners are helped to see the value of working for themselves, it also becomes meaningless to them. In an interview with students on Lang 306 SAEM the students admitted to me that they had considered cheating but decided in the end that it was easier to do the SALL and also more meaningful. “I came up with that [idea of cheating] when my FYP was due but finally I didn’t do that, I DIDN’T do that! Because my motivation to join this module wasn’t that because I’m not actually doing something for you but I’m learning for me. So although I did have the idea it was my motivation in participation of this module enabled me to keep a positive attitude towards learning self-learning.” “The other course focus on the same thing, for example business letter, they [students on the course] usually come from the same department so the business letter can be easily modified but on self-access they focus on different area I at least cannot copy from Michael.” (Toogood & Pemberton 2002:105-106) Another issue is the question of monitoring and assessing learners on SALL courses. Does more structure make this easier for both learners and teachers? The responses to this show that for some, it doesn’t. Some learners hate filling out forms and don’t see the value in the plans and diaries; some teachers feel uncomfortable without ‘lessons’ or ‘materials’ to use in the classroom and some are unclear about how to assess the plans and diaries, feeling that they need to ‘police’ the learners.

• Stop asking students do such time-consuming useless stuff • It’s informative but useless • The structure of the diaries is good but not flexible enough • (Teacher) For police work it was useful to have something to chase them

along with but that hardly seems key to IL practice By far the majority however, seem to feel that it does make things easier:

• After creating VELA plans I can start my study according to the plan and it helps me quite a lot

• I can follow it to do SALL and it’s more easy • This help me work in a systematic way. Moreover, it gives me idea how to

start learning vocabulary • I understand my difficulties and I can use strategy to overcome • It is good and suitable to do 3 diaries because when doing that allows you to

reflect the method that you are using and how you are doing


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• Although it is time-consuming but useful for us to know what I’ve done • Every assignments have feedback. I can really learn something • Good as to monitor learning progress • (Teacher) Helps to see the essential elements of making up a plan e.g.

duration how often, how to evaluate etc • (Teacher)I think [diaries] are necessary to accomplish the goal. Otherwise

they would have no idea what they were actually supposed to be doing • (Teacher) [FTG] was quite useful

Although the requirements to document learning in plans and diaries where the concepts of General and Fundamental skills divisions and FTG have been incorporated do not suit everyone, and although the process is considered time-consuming by some, on the whole it is accepted and valued. Our end-of-course questionnaire results from Lang 106 and Lang 306 indicate that, for the majority of learners and most teachers, the way in which the courses are scaffolded using our structural elements does seem to make it easier to monitor and assess work on a SALL project. Conclusion Benson (2001:170) tells us that: It is evident […] that the more successful curriculum-based approaches to autonomy do not simply leave students to ‘sink or swim’. Invariably, their effectiveness depends on implicit or explicit scaffolding structures. Without these structures, curriculum-based approaches would do little to help students develop the capacity to take control over their learning.” However, there is still the question of how much structure and what type. At HKUST we have made inroads in designing compulsory SALL courses by developing scaffolding structures, which like bamboo are strong, have clearly defined boundaries yet are flexible and supportive. We have also attempted to bear in mind factors which influence the willingness and ability of both teachers and learners to handle SALL in courses. We have done this by providing structural elements which are directive yet aim to encourage learner control. According to results from our end-of-course questionnaires, reactions, despite being for the most part positive and motivating, are still mixed. It seems that even where very little structure is given, some will not take/give control and some will jump through hoops. Nevertheless, it is important to continue studying these issues and to be sensitive and flexible to the varied reactions to incarnations of SALL in mainstream courses. References Auto-L Discussion List – Email Posting: Thur, 21 Apr 2005 – Re: [AUTO-L]:

Assessing learner autonomy


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Benson, P. (2001) Teaching and Researching Autonomy in Language Learning. London: Longman.

Brookfield, S. (1990) The Skillful Teacher. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Champagne, M-F., Clayton, T., Dimmitt, N., Laszewski, M., Savage, W., Shaw, J.,

Sroupe, R., Thien, M.M. & Walter, P. (2001) ‘The assessment of learner autonomy and language learning’. The AILA Review, 15, 45-55.

Cotterall, S. (2000) ‘Promoting learner autonomy through the curriculum: Principles

for designing language courses’. ELT Journal, 54:2, 109-117. Dam, L. (1995) Learner Autonomy 3: from Theory to Classroom Practice. Dublin:

Authentik. Dam, L. (2000) ‘Evaluating autonomous learning’. In B. Sinclair, et al. (eds.) Learner

Autonomy, Teacher Autonomy: Future Directions. London: Longman, pp.48-59. Gardner, D. & Miller, L. (1999) Establishing Self-Access: from Theory to Practice.

Cambridge University Press. La Ganza, W. (2001). Out of sight – not out of mind: learner autonomy and

interrelating in online teaching. Information Technology, Education and Society, 2:2, 27-46.

Lai, J. (2001) ‘Towards an analytic approach to assessing learner autonomy’. The

AILA Review, 15, 34-44. Pemberton, R. & Toogood, S. (2001) ‘Expectations and assumptions in a self-directed

language- learning programme’. In M. Mozzon-McPherson & R. Vismans, (eds.) Beyond Language Teaching: towards Language Advising. London: Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research, pp. 66-83.

Rubin, J. (2001) ‘Language learner self-management’. Journal of Asian Pacific

Communication, 11:1, 25-37.

Sheerin, S. (1997) ‘An exploration of the relationship between self-access and independent learning’. In P. Benson & P. Voller (eds.) Autonomy and Independence in Language Learning. London: Longman, pp. 54-65.

Sinclair, B. (1999) ‘Wrestling with a jelly: the evaluation of learner autonomy’. In B.

Morrison (ed.) Experiments and Evaluation in Self-Access Language Learning. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Association for Self-Access Learning and Development, pp.95-109.

Toogood, S. & Pemberton, R. (2002) ‘Integrating self-access language learning into

the curriculum: a case study’. In P. Benson & S. Toogood (eds.) Learner Autonomy 7: Challenges to Research and Practice. Dublin: Authentik, pp. 85-109.

Toogood, S. & Pemberton, R. (forthcoming) ‘Scaffolding for self-access language

learning and the Focused-Transfer-General Practice Model.’ In T. Lamb & H.


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Reinders (eds.) Supporting Independent Language Learning: Issues and interventions. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.

VELA http://www.vela.ust.hk - About, Purpose Voller, P. (1997) ‘Does the teacher have a role in autonomous learning?’ In P. Benson

& P. Voller (eds.) Autonomy and Independence in Language Learning. London: Longman, pp. 98-113.


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Appendix 1 Lang 106 Assessment Criteria (Student book 2005:5-6)

Normally, assessment criteria are used by someone else (a teacher or examiner) to evaluate a final piece of work which you hand in. However, in LANG 106 we encourage you to get involved and use the assessment criteria listed below throughout your learning.

As you know from reading p. 1, LANG 106 aims to help you take responsibility for your own learning so that you can control it well and become confident and successful in your ability to use English.

If you really intend to do this, it is essential that you know how to assess your learning and that you carry out assessments continuously. The three assessment criteria listed on the next page have been specially developed to help you and others evaluate and question:

what you did, how you did it and why you did it

The answers to these questions will show clearly whether or not you are on the right track. Look at the table which lists the assessment criteria below, and check carefully to see what each criterion means, and what you should not do!

Criterion What does it mean? How NOT to do it! Depth of thought

Relevance of learning carried out/planned to your learning objectives

Clarity and elaboration

• Have you thought carefully about your language learning?

• Have you considered feedback and advice from others on what you’ve done?

• Is the learning that you have carried out related to the objectives that you set in your Plan?

• Does the learning that you decide to do next follow on logically from what you’ve done?

• Is your meaning clear? • Have you provided examples and justification to

support your points?

• Rush through the task in a few minutes, with little thought or effort!

• Ignore what others have said about your work!

• Carry out some learning that has no connection to what you planned to do!

• Continue with the same strategies and materials even though they don’t help!

• Forget to check your writing before submitting it!

• Write a short piece with no examples or explanations!

In order to give you useful feedback on your learning this semester, your instructor will use the assessment criteria for all your Assigned Tasks. You are strongly encouraged to use the same criteria before you hand in your Tasks so that you can understand or seek advice on: • what you could do, • how you might do it and • why you should do it

Note: If your instructor feels that you have not met all of these criteria for an Assigned Task, s/he will ask you to redo the task until you have done so satisfactorily. At the end of semester, your instructor will evaluate all the Assigned Tasks that you have completed over the semester (including any that you may have redone) and assign a grade to you. If you have completed all the Assigned Tasks and met the above criteria for each task, you will receive a Pass. If at the end of semester you have still not completed all the Assigned Tasks, or have not done so satisfactorily, you will receive a Fail.


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Appendix 2 Lang 503 - Alvin’s Plan and Diaries

Alvin’s Plan (draft 2) Aim: to improve my pronunciation when I give presentations, especially focusing on word stres s, sentence stress, rhythm, and intonation so that my speech sounds more fluent and confident.

Input Use the following materials:

* Worksheets, At the beginning, to make it easier for me. Instead of talking out the whole book, I can work on loose worksheets, which the areas of pronunciation, level of the exercise and the time needed is specified on the worksheet. * Book and Cassette Better English Pronunciation: Word Stress Headway Pre-intermediate Pronunciation: Linking Improving Oral Pronunciation: Word Sentence In Tempo: Rhythm Sound English: Intonation * Video Many of them have transcripts so I can work out focused exercises on the area of pronunciation that I’m practicing by using the text, listening to the speech and watch the way people talk. I also want to expose myself to different accents.

Practice Spend three hours per week: * Use the materials above and do many exercises from them as I can * Have a conversation with native speakers * Give a presentation to my partner every three weeks.

Evaluation * Keep a record of improvement by checking how much I get right in the exercises against the answers. Re-do some of the exercise and compare the score with the scores before. * Tell my partner what I have focused on and ask him to check that particular area when I present. * Record my presentation on tape and review it form time to time * Show the tape-recordings to Sarah during advice session so that I can get extra feedback

Alvin’s Diary 8 (week 10)

Input Book (Improving Oral Communication) Focus: Rhythm

Practice * Read the chapter which concerning about the sentence stress. * Do the exercise in the book and record down my conversation, which compare it with the answer in the tape.

Evaluation * Compare my conversation with the model answer in the tape, I found that I doesn’t have any pausing even in a long sentence. Listen to the answer in the tape, I found that to achieve a good rhythm, pausing is necessary. From the practice, I found that I should divide the sentence into several parts, which need to clarify meaning, to emphasise a feeling or an idea. * I need to focus more on pausing in a sentence. And arrange the words into group, move smoothly from one word to the next without making any sudden stop. * I want to change the topic little bit by focusing on vocabulary one more field. Because widen my vocabulary not only can improve the fluency of my speaking, but also reduce misunderstand probability

Alvin’s Diary 10 (week 13)

Practice * Give a presentation to my research group mate. Evaluation * I have spoke too fast. I finished the presentation before my time schedule. But it

already has improvement as before. * Don’t be too nervous, otherwise I will speak too fast. * Before the presentation I have prepared the script, which I will speak during the presentation. But the script just is the key points. Don’t memorize the script; otherwise I will speak too fast not naturally, although it can improve the fluency.


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* Try to speak slower, to make it more fluent. * If I can’t continuous, pausing (don’t too long) or use ‘mum’ * Consider which points I want to emphasize, give a strong accent on it, which can improve the fluent.

Appendix 3. Lang 106 - Jennifer’s Plan and Diaries

Jennifer’s VELA Plan (draft 2)

Items Details Objectives *Is your objective what you really want to achieve? *Can you achieve your objective in the time available? *Does your objective link with your chosen strategies and materials? *Have you thought about how to assess your progress?

I want to know enough vocabulary to be able to follow fantasy stories easily *I only use a bilingual dictionary, so I tend only to look at the translation of the word and don’t get to see many sentences or other information about how the word is/can be used *I don’t have a systematic way of building and remembering my vocabulary knowledge, so I don’t spend enough time and don’t use the best strategies From the result of the pre-test of the SALL project, it shows that I am very weak on the adjectives and phrases. So, I would like to learn more on adjectives & phrases, especially the meaning of the adjectives. Therefore, I think reading fantasy stories can help me learn more adjectives words. Also, I would like to study more about the usage of the phrases because sometimes I can guess the meaning but do not know how to use the word correctly.

Time Allocation *How many weeks/months will you spend on your objective? *How many hours will you spend on your learning each week? *What days in the week will you do the learning?

I plan to spend [2 months] on trying to achieve this objective I plan to spend [3 hours] each week on my learning I plan to learn on the following days of the week: [Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday] On Tuesday I would read the materials that I choose for my plan and pick up some vocabulary that I do not understand. On Wednesday, I would focus on the vocabulary that I chose on Tuesday check the meaning and usage on the Dictionary and learn from it. On Thursday, I would write the diary for that week and revise the vocabulary.

Strategies Materials Strategies & Materials *Do your strategies and materials link logically together? *Does your objective link logically with your chosen strategies and materials?

F *Strategy A: Selecting words/phrases from fantasy books (find fantasy books from Transfer Practice Materials in Step 5) and using dictionaries (details )

F Title: Collins COBUILD English Dictionary for Advanced Learners Units/pgs: ALL Type: Book Accent: N/A Features: Contains detailed explanations and examples to show how words are used. Frequency bands indicate how common a word is, which is a useful feature. Recommended for Strategy A, B Location: HKUST SAC, Reading and Writing Area: Dictionary Shelf Title: Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners Units/pgs: ALL Type: Book Accent: N/A Features: Contains detailed explanations and examples to show how words are used. Indicates the 7,500 most common words of English-the ones most worth learning. Recommended for Strategy A, B Location: HKUST SAC, Reading and Writing Area: Dictionary Shelf Title: Cambridge Advanced Learner’s


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Dictionary Units/pgs: ALL Type: Web Accent: N/A Features: This dictionary is designed for learners and has clear definitions and helpful examples. It is good on phrases/idioms. Recommended for Strategy A, B Location: http://dictionary.cambridge.org Title: Yahoo Dictionary Page Units/pgs: - Type: Web Accent: N/A Features: A list of different types of online dictionaries from general to specific vocabulary. Have a look through the list of links to find a dictionary which you think will be useful for you. Recommended for Strategy A, B Location: http://dir.yahoo.com/Reference/dictionaries

T Strategy D: Checking your progress through reading and listening (details )

T Title: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone Units/pgs: - Type: Book Accent: N/A Features: This is the first in the Harry Potter series. A great story about wizards and witches and a boy’s (often dangerous) adventures at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Vocabulary: Level 7 (Advanced) Recommended for Strategy A, B, C, D Location: HKUST SAC, Reading and Writing Area: Reader’s Shelf (Fantasy)

G *Strategy A: Read fantasy books on a regular basis *Strategy E: Watch fantasy movies on a regular basis *Strategy F: Find vocabulary-learning games sites online and play the games

G Title: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone Units/pgs: - Type: Book Accent: N/A Features: This is the first in the Harry Potter series. A great story about wizards and witches and a boy’s (often dangerous) adventures at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Vocabulary: Level 7 (Advanced) Recommended for Strategy A, B, C, D Location: HKUST SAC, Reading and Writing Area: Reader’s Shelf (Fantasy)

Assessing Progress *Think about how to assess your progress

*Review your words on a regular basis *Test yourself on your target words at the beginning and end of a period of learn ing *At the end of a period of learning, read the same fantasy stories as the ones you read at the beginning – or read fantasy stories which are similar in terms of difficulty level and topic. Can you now read these stories more quickly or with greater understanding than you did at the beginning of the period of learning? *Look back at what you’ve achieved after a fixed period of time and ask yourself:

*what have you done? *how have you done it/ *what do you now need to focus on? *what do you need to change about how you practise?

*Write diaries every week that show what I’ve done and what I think I’ve learnt. Every week I will try to work on 25-30 words, and show the work that I’ve done to my English teacher or my classmate. That’s make me follow the schedule that I have


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plan. *Will have a post-test about 100 words after this SALL project to see if I have really learned the words I chose. It will be testing on the meaning and the usage of the words I chose. Before the test, I have to hand in a list about 200 words to my English teacher.

Jennifer’s 3rd Diary

Diary number: 3 This diary covers my learning from 04/04/05 to 10/04/05

Objective What did you aim to do within this period of time?

In this week, I would like to revise and review the word list that I have done last time. It is because I still have the same problem on checking the meaning by using online dictionary. But the meaning that I have checked is still not suitable for the post-test because it would be so easy to know what is the word is checking for as the dictionary that I used will explain the meaning by using the word that I wanted to check

Time Allocation Consider how you spend your time on different materials and strategies as this may affect your progress Indicate number of hours, when or how time was used.

Length of time intended Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun

1 1 Actual time used

Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun 1 1 0.5 0.5

How time was used Focused Transfer General

1 1.5 0,5 Strategies and Materials Show what you did – include evidence of your vocabulary learning strategies and materials for each type of practice. Include: *details of the steps for each strategy *details of dictionaries/reading material used e.g. titles, pg number, URLs etc. *samples of reading materials (with words/phrases highlighted) *lists of vocabulary learned with meanings, examples etc. *your usage: sentences/writing you have produced

Focused Practice I have read 6 pages of the Harry Potter book. I collected 20 words from these 6 pages. Then, focused on these 20 words by checking meanings and examples from online dictionary. I’ve stored the meanings (English and Chinese) As I listen to what my advisor said, so I change my reference source to another online dictionary. Words that I’ve collected: (with reference meaning from Collins Cobuild Compact English Learners’ Dictionary, Cambridge Online dictionary and Yahoo dictionary for Chinese meaning) Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (P. 21-25)

Wristwatch Glove Puppet Slug Shrunk (shrink) Ruins (ruin) Chimney Snarled (snarl) Maniacs (maniac) Wailed (wail) Reptile Sobs (sob) Slithering (slither) Grin Cobras (cobra) Frantically (frantical) Glistening (glisten) Baggy Knuckles (knuckle) Sellotaped (sellotape) Moaned (moan)

Transfer Practice I finished reading 6 pages on this week and I still have 20 words to work on next week. As I know I do [not] have so much time left, so I might just study more example sentences that find on the online dictionary instead of making sentences by my own word. But if I still have time I will try to make myself. General Practice This time I changed the way of doing general practice, I tried to read the story first for a page and then told my friend that what is that page taking


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about in Chinese to see they understand or not and maybe as them to check the Chinese version of Harry Potter book to see I am right or wrong.

Assessing Progress Evaluate your learning in detail, and explain clearly any problems you had. Comment on what you liked/disliked about the strategies and the materials. Provide evidence to support your self-assessment and reflect on: *notes you’ve made *examples of words/phrases you found it easy or difficult to learn *scores for tests *comments from others * your own feelings about your progress

Focused Practice I checked meanings of the words that I collected and revised the word list I have done before. Tried to remember it. Transfer Practice I tried to remember the meanings of the words and study more example sentences on different online dictionary. General Practice My friend and I were quite enjoyed to do this practices even he/she is not reading the English version of Harry Potter book but they can also study the English words with me.

What next and why? Based on what you’ve written above, state what plan to do next, giving reasons why. Consider if you need to modify your objective/strategies/materials/time for your learning

I will keep on study the next 20 new words that I left for the post-test and study more words in the text book. I will still using the same strategy on general practice cause it is a good strategy for a lot of things like getting confidence to talk even in Chinese and English

Jennifer’s Final Evaluative

My Evaluative Report of SALL Project

After finished all the Post test and peer test, I think I did pretty well on the SALL Project because I got a high scores of both tests. For the past 7 weeks I learnt a lot of things. I learnt how to learn vocabulary in an effective way, a lot of vocabulary from the glossary and the fantasy story book “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”. I met my objective that to learn more on adjectives and phrases. I can recognize 70% for the words from the glossary. In my VELA plan, I mentioned that I would lik e to focus on adjectives and phrases, but after I started to read the story book I really think that I need to study more on verbs too. On the first two weeks, I took a long time to read the story book but every time I can only finish a few pages. There were a lot of new words for me. It made me like checking every word in the book so my progress was so slow in the beginning. I can only read 30 pages because this book is level 7. I read the book , checked the meaning of the new words and noted down the meaning in English and Chinese. I was concentrating on reading the book to write my own sentences to see I can really understand how to use the word or not. So I had study a lot of example sentences on the web dictionary and the real dictionary. I think I will finish reading this story book because this is my goal and will learn more new words from the book. Actually, I tried to read that before but I gave up because I was so lazy to check the dictionary. So I really want to finish that this time.

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