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Current Courses Check
below for short introductions to the courses I generally teach (in ascending
order by course reference number). As needed, I will also post additional
resources for my courses below. |
Kea!
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SLS 600: Introduction
to Second Language Studies
This course introduces students to second language studies, as
represented in the MA in SLS program at the
1.
survey the scope
of applied linguistics, including central issues and problems, key concepts and
terminology, and the important work done by applied linguists in society;
2.
consider
professional issues and expectations for second/foreign language educators,
including key components of practitioner development, important professional
organizations and job destinations, and the nature of teaching in distinct
socio-cultural environments;
3.
review a variety
of research approaches employed by applied linguists—and language educators in
particular—in the study of second languages as they are used, taught, learned,
assessed, etc.;
4.
encounter the
major domains of second language studies as they are addressed specifically by
the UH SLS Department and as they relate to the MA in SLS program.
This course also serves as an introduction to the kinds of work that
will be expected of students as they progress through the MA in SLS program,
including critical reading of the professional literature, thoughtful and
active participation in class discussions, cooperative completion of
study/research/presentation tasks with student colleagues, meaningful applied
research, and individual academic writing. There is no text book for this
course; there will be a packet of readings available during the first week of
classes.
SLS 631/730: Second Language Program Evaluation
Program evaluation plays a variety of roles
in education and society, though it is often narrowly construed as an external accountability
mechanism only. In language education, as well, program evaluation has the
potential to do considerable good or bad, depending on how (and in whose
interests) it is designed, implemented, and utilized. Good or not, demands for
language educators to engage in program evaluation are on the
increase—therefore, it is essential that we be prepared to respond in ways that
benefit language learners and other stakeholders, that help us to perpetuate
and improve our language education efforts, and that enhance the vitality of
language programs in education and society.
In this course, participants will explore
the potentials and pitfalls of evaluation, with a primary focus on language
program improvement, and they will develop the knowledge and skills to design
effective evaluations at the classroom, curricular, institutional, and societal
levels. Course topics include: (a) the (limited) contribution of program
evaluation in language education thus far; (b) major language program
evaluation projects that have been undertaken in recent history; (c) the
critical need for evaluation as a way of focusing practice-relevant L2
instructional research; (d) a range of useful evaluation models, from
program-theory to empowerment to utilization-focused; (e) standards of
evaluation; (f) the paradigms debate and pragmatic resolution in contemporary
practice; (g) the extensive array of epistemologies and methods available to
evaluators (bridging the ‘qualitative’ to ‘quantitative’ spectrum); and (h) the
importance of values and politics in language education, and how program
evaluation deals with these tricky societal forces.
Class Postings:
SLS 670: Second
Language Quantitative Research
This course
introduces basic design, measurement, analysis, and inference procedures used
in second language quantitative research methodologies, with an emphasis on
applying/understanding statistics and on developing foundational skills with
computerized statistical tools. More broadly, the course addresses a range of
topics critical to the accurate and ethical use of quantitative methods in L2
studies, including: (a) the purposes and roles of research; (b) thorough
literature review and the generation of research questions; (c) overall design
strategies for gathering, organizing, and analyzing quantitative data; (d) the
importance of accuracy (and error) in developing and using measures and other
data elicitation procedures; (e) critical reading of research reports; and (f)
current concerns with the use of statistical significance testing, the role to
be played by power analysis, effect sizes, and confidence intervals, and the
nature of ‘scientific research’.
Statistical
techniques covered in this course include a variety of applications within the
following broad categories:
- description
- correlation and prediction
- comparison of means
- comparison of frequencies
Each technique is
addressed from three perspectives: principles
(logic and use), practice (how to calculate
and interpret), and presentation (how
to display and report). For each technique, the use of computerized statistical
tools is demonstrated, and students are afforded practice opportunities through
analytic exercises. Time permitting, the course addresses additional advanced
statistical techniques (including those that students particularly need to use
or wish to know about), such as strategies for dealing with multivariate
problems and the basics of quantitative meta-analysis.
There will be fairly heavy reading and homework assignments, and each
student will complete a research project report -- either a full study report
(including basic Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion/Conclusions
sections) or a clearly conceived quantitative research proposal. Required
Textbook: Black, Thomas R.
(1999). Doing quantitative research in the social sciences: An integrated
approach to research design, measurement, and statistics.
SLS 680P: Task-based Language Teaching
Intro presentation and
overview of TBLT
Task-Based Language
Teaching (TBLT) is an educational framework for the theory and practice of
teaching second or foreign languages. It is based on a constellation of ideas
issuing from philosophy of education, theories of second language acquisition,
empirical findings on effective instructional techniques, and the exigencies of
language learning in contemporary society. Since its origins in the literature
in the 1980s, task-based language teaching has evolved from a handful of
pedagogic principles and ‘methods’ to a broad-based foundation for the
implementation of full-scale language programs. Publications on the topic are
on the increase (including at least 10 books published between 2005-08), there
is an active biennial conference series (2005à
This 680P course will
survey issues at the core of TBLT, with particular emphasis on its pedagogic implications, as befits the
“P” designation of the course. Following a brief introduction to the history
and scope of TBLT, several organizing frameworks for TBLT practice will be
reviewed. We will then shift our attention for the majority of the semester to
applied research and practice in task-based education, covering the topics of
needs analysis, curriculum, task design, teachers, learners, assessment, and
program evaluation. The course will conclude by highlighting a handful of
contemporary challenges in putting TBLT ideas to work in diverse contexts.
SLS 710: Second
Language Teaching
This
course provides a critical survey of contemporary theory, research, and
practice in language teaching, broadly conceived. Language teaching will be
considered from the following key and interrelated perspectives: (a) contexts of teaching
(social, professional, program, classroom); (b) curriculum (needs/means
analysis, identification of objectives and student learning outcomes, syllabus
design); (c) instruction (pedagogic methods, classroom practice,
learner/teacher/other variables, materials and media); (d) assessment and
evaluation (as used for distinct purposes at the program, course, and
individual student levels); and (e) teacher development (training others,
personal development, teaching conditions and political action). A
cross-cutting emphasis throughout this course will be on linking applied
linguistics theory and research to L2 teaching practice. Accordingly, the
course assumes a thorough grounding in L2 analysis, acquisition, and use (as
covered in prerequisite courses: SLS 640, 650, 660), as well as introductory
knowledge of L2 assessment and research approaches (as found in prerequisites:
SLS 490 and 600).
While
L2 teaching comprises the content of SLS 710, this is not a teaching practicum
course (cf. SLS 690); rather, it seeks to build upon students’ existing
teaching experiences and inform their future education-related work. The
primary purpose of this course is to encourage students to think and act in
systematic, evidence-driven, and well-articulated ways about language education
within more or less structured programmatic settings. Further, the course
encourages and facilitates the application of students’ academic
specializations to concrete problems in L2 teaching.