October 2011 Issue of Reading in a Foreign Language Is Available

The October 2011 issue (Volume 23, Number 2) of the electronic journal Reading in a Foreign Language (RFL) is now online and can be read at http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/rfl/October2011

In this issue, Patrick B. Judge reports on long-term, multi-case study examining the motivations of eager readers in an extensive reading program at a private Japanese high school. In the second article, Cindy Brantmeier, Aimee Callender, & Mark McDaniel examine the effects of embedded “what” questions and elaborative “why” questions on reading comprehension with advanced second language learners of Spanish. and finally, Jing Wang & Christine H. Leland report on their study of what beginning learners of Chinese perceive as helpful in learning to recognize characters.

This issue also includes two book reviews: Zahir Mumin reviews Studies in Language Testing 29: Examining Reading: Research and Practice in Assessing Second Language reading by Hanan Khalifa & Cyril J. Weir. And the series of Real Reading: Creating an Authentic Reading Experience 1–4 by Lynn Bonesteel, David Wiese, & Alice Savage is reviewed by Pakize Uludag & CeAnn Myers.

There also is a discussion in this issue, in which John P. Racine comments on an article by Meara & Olmos Alcoy that appeared in Volume 22, #1, April 2010.

In the last section of this issue, Cindy Brantmeier, Xuicheng Yu, and Tracy Van Bishop has a feature on Readings on L2 Reading: Publications in Other Venues 2010-2011.

RFL is a scholarly, refereed journal published on the World Wide Web by the University of Hawai`i, with Richard R. Day and Thom Hudson as the co-editors and Anne Burns, Macquarie University, as the reviews editor.

The journal is sponsored by the National Foreign Language Resource Center (NFLRC), the University of Hawai‘i College of Languages, Linguistics and Literature, and the University of Hawai‘i Department of Second Language Studies. The journal is a fully-refereed journal with an editorial board of scholars in the field of foreign and second language reading. There is no subscription fee to readers of the journal. It is published twice a year, in April and October. Detailed information about Reading in a Foreign Language can be found at http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/rfl

Book: Second Language Task Complexity

From http://benjamins.com/#catalog/books/tblt.2/main

Second Language Task Complexity: Researching the Cognition Hypothesis of language learning and performance
Edited by Peter Robinson
Published by the John Benjamins Publishing Company

Description: Understanding how task complexity affects second language learning, interaction and spoken and written performance is essential to informed decisions about task design and sequencing in TBLT programs. The chapters in this volume all examine evidence for claims of the Cognition Hypothesis that complex tasks should promote greater accuracy and complexity of speech and writing, as well as more interaction, and learning of information provided in the input to task performance, than simpler tasks. Implications are drawn concerning the basic pedagogic claim of the Cognition Hypothesis, that tasks should be sequenced for learners from simple to complex during syllabus design. Containing theoretical discussion of the Cognition Hypothesis, and cutting-edge empirical studies of the effects of task complexity on second language learning and performance, this book will be important reading for language teachers, graduate students and researchers in applied linguistics, second language acquisition, and cognitive and educational psychology.

Visit the publisher’s website at http://benjamins.com/#catalog/books/tblt.2/main

Book: Social Justice Language Teacher Education

From http://www.multilingual-matters.com/display.asp?isb=9781847694225

Social Justice Language Teacher Education
Edited by Margaret R. Hawkins
Published by Multilingual Matters

Table of Contents:
Teacher Education for Social Justice - Ken Zeichner
Multimodality, Social Justice and Becoming a ‘Really South African’ Democracy: Case Studies from Language Classrooms - Denise Newfield
Does Intercultural Bilingual Education Open Spaces for Inclusion at Higher Education? - Mahia Maurial and Moise ́s Suxo
Education and Social Justice in Neoliberal Times: Historical and Pedagogical Perspectives from Two Postcolonial Contexts - Matthew Clarke and Brian
Enfranchising the Teacher of English through Action Research: Perspectives on English Language Teacher Education in Uganda - Robinah Kyeyune
Dialogic Determination: Constructing a Social Justice Discourse in Language Teacher Education - Margaret R. Hawkins
Creating a School Program to Cater to Learner Diversity: A Dialogue between a School Administrator and an Academic - Franky Poon and Angel Lin
Working for Social Justice in a Collaborative Action Research Group - Kelleen Toohey and Bonnie Waterstone

Visit the publisher’s website at http://www.multilingual-matters.com/display.asp?isb=9781847694225

Activities To Get Students Speaking

Diana Corcos, a teacher and teacher trainer, gives a few tips on how to get students speaking in class at http://oupeltglobalblog.com/2011/09/27/activities-to-get-students-speaking

dotSUB: Add Your Own Subtitles to Videos

On the dotSUB website you can view, upload, transcribe and translate any video into any language. You can also search through videos that have already been uploaded to see if a video you want is already subtitled in the language you’re after – the selection of languages is extensive.

Explore this resource at http://dotsub.com

Improve Your Students’ Circumlocution Skills, Part 2

Here are more suggestions for improving your students’ circumlocution skills.

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Responding to a teacher’s request for helpful phrases in the target language, Bill Heller provides this list for Spanish:

The most important ones I teach from the start are:

For nouns:
Es una cosa que... (It's something that....)
...se usa para... (is used to, one uses....)

Es una persona que.... (It's a person who...)
Es un lugar donde... (It's a place where...)

For verbs:
Es lo que hace una persona... (It's what a person does...)
...para... (in order to)
...que quiere... (who wants to...)
...que necesita... (who needs to...)


For adjectives:
Describe una cosa que... [It describes something that…]
Describe una persona que... [It describes a person that…]
Describe un lugar que... [It describes a place that…]

Heller, B. Re: [FLTEACH] Circumlocution. FLTEACH listserv (FLTEACH@LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU, 20 Sep 2011).

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Responding to another person’s suggestion to use the game “Apples to Apples,” a listserv user says,

I also have that game in Spanish, Manzanas con manzanas, and the adjective cards are *perfect* for lessons on changing an adjective to an adverb by adding -mente. There are so many of them! I call about 4 students up to the board at a time, hand them a card (I look at them first because there might be some that don't work), and they have to change the adjective to the feminine form (if it is in the masculine form) and add -mente. There are lots and lots of adjectives in the game above and beyond what is in their book and it's good practice for them.

Meyer, C. Re: [FLTEACH] Circumlocution word ideas. FLTEACH listserv (FLTEACH@LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU, 18 Sep 2011).

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Circumlocution has come up as a popular topic on FLTEACH several times; you can search the FLTEACH archives for more discussion and suggestions at http://listserv.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S2=FLTEACH&m=208457&s=circumlocution

Some more circumlocution activities and other suggestions for staying in the target language are available at http://languagelinks2006.wikispaces.com/Staying+in+the+TL (scroll down).

Improve Your Students’ Circumlocution Skills, Part 1

FLTEACH listserv users have been sharing ideas for building their students’ circumlocution skills. Here are some of their suggestions:

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Tracy Waid of Mooresville High School in North Carolina suggests the following:

I did a quick circumlocution activity with my level 1 high schoolers that they seemed to enjoy and was quick and easy. I put a bunch of English words on slips that they had to get their partner's to say by explaining what it was (make sure you pick some hard ones!). I used a label template, copied it on card stock, making two different sets using 2 different colors. I had my first block cut them out and then I store them in sandwich baggies to reuse with other classes.

Put your students in pairs and give each pair one set of each color. Explain the task is to get their partner to say the word on the slip I did a few examples first - talking about things like what it looks like, what it's used for, etc. ex. A compass - this is something you use when you are camping (the partner says tent likely), no, it's something so you know where you are (a map?) no, it's round and metal and has north on it (compass!). We talk about how circumlocution gets easier once you have more vocabulary and how important it is to study your vocabulary

Partner one gets 3 minutes to see how many cards they can get their partner to say. Then they switch and the other person gives the clues from their stacks for 3 minutes. At the end of the 6 minutes the pair in the class that combined got the most words wins a prize (candy, bubbles, stickers, etc. - yes, even my high schoolers love this). Even though you only have 1 class winner pair, they still get to see who is better than the other within their individual pairs.

Waid, T. Re: [FLTEACH] Circumlocution. FLTEACH listserv (FLTEACH@LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU, 17 Sep 2011).

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Another listserv user provides the following list of words and terms that are useful for circumlocution practice:

available – apology – workshop – trial - pun - adequate - smuggle - elucidate - restrictions - variable - meritorious - Thanksgiving - majestic - perilous - cause & effect - white out - merger - penalty box - lock out - play offs - gang violence - budget cut - hijack - antiquated - fender bender - convenience store - pantomime - fast forward - air turbulence - ATM - bagel - alimony - partnership - bland - skeleton key - mail forwarding - CD (bank) - pom-pom - personable - treacherous - derby (horses) - rejection - small talk - jackhammer - chain gang - meticulous - raccoon - sequins - to drop off - reserved seats - Mr. Potato Head - knot - subliminal - sprinkles - double agent - corkscrew - negligent - hard hat - detour - seriously - squeegee - Plymouth Rock - charades - heat wave - daylight savings time - apron - Drano - piñata - strings attached - Oscar - polar bear - lunch box - hot air balloon - pretzel

Ladd, R. Re: [FLTEACH] Circumlocution. FLTEACH listserv (FLTEACH@LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU, 17 Sep 2011).

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Deb Blaz contributes:

Of course, you can always have them give clues for the regular unit vocabulary, but with my upper level kids I especially like to give aspects of US culture that they might actually HAVE to explain some day to someone...

For example, I used to have them explain what a brownie is. [Other culturally-embedded suggestions include] hay ride, Christian music, Prom, Homecoming, Groundhog Day, [and] learner's permit (for driving).

Blaz, D. Re: [FLTEACH] Circumlocution. FLTEACH listserv (FLTEACH@LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU, 17 Sep 2011).