The Hidden Curriculum of Survival ESL

TESOL QUARTERLY Vol 19 No 3 September 1985

The Hidden Curriculum of Survival ESL

ELSA ROBERTS AUERBACHUniversity of MassachusettsBoston

DENISE BURGESSPajaro Valley Unified School District

This article discusses a new genre in ESL materialsmdashthe increasinglypopular survival texts designed for newly arrived adults A widerange of selections from these texts is examined in light of the statedgoals of curriculum writers as well as the less obvious social impli-cations of these materials In view of the explicit concern withrealistic context texts are evaluated in terms of both how accuratelythey reflect the immigrantsrsquo reality and the extent to which they mayshape that reality Examination of excerpts reveals that frequentlyneither the situational content nor the communicative structure ofmaterials reflects authentic interaction Furthermore the texts oftenprepare students for subservient social roles and reinforce hierarchicalrelations within the classroom by precluding the creation of meaningand the development of critical thinking skills Finally Freirersquos(1981) distinction between problem-solving and problem-posingpedagogues is suggested as a framework for interpreting the short-comings of the survival genre and for moving toward a moreempowering mode of curriculum

The post-Vietnam-era wave of refugees and immigrants to theUnited States has triggered increased attention to the teaching ofadult ESL students In response to the pressing needs of these studentsanew literature of survival English has begun to proliferate Reflectingthe ldquocommunicativerdquo trend in language teaching these materialsfocus on language use rather than grammatical form Their goal is toteach ldquothose skills that provide the students with the practical abilitiesthat enable them to function in the new societyrdquo (Vaut 19821) Theyhave gained widespread acceptance based on their practical reality-based student-centered orientation

While the survival approach is widely acclaimed as ldquostate of theartrdquo ESL by practitioners and publishers alike there has been littlecritical analysis of its theoretical assumptions and implications This

475

separation between theory and practice is what Raimes refers towhen she says ldquoAll too often scholars look at classroom methodologyrather than the underlying intellectual assumptions which generatemethodsrdquo (1983538) Moreover survival ESL exemplifies the type ofcurriculum which Raimes (1983) claims must be re-evaluated in termsof ldquocommunicativerdquo character She argues that many new materials infact focus on the forms rather than the content of language interactioncontinuing to divorce language from thought and language teachingfrom the creation of meaning

In addition sociologists of curriculum (eg Bourdieu and Passeron1977 Apple 1979 Anyon 1980 Giroux 1983a 1983b) call for a criticalanalysis of adult education curricula in terms of their sociopoliticalimplications They argue that no curriculum is neutral Each reflects aparticular view of the social order whether implicitly or explicitlyThis ldquohidden curriculumrdquo generates social meanings restraints andcultural values which shape studentsrsquo roles outside the classroom Thechoices that educators make reflect their views of the learning processthe social context for learning and the studentsrsquo place in societyThese choices have a very real impact on students Giroux (1983a)argues that the failure to examine assumptions about how particularmaterials mediate meanings between students teachers and societyvery often leaves little room for students to generate their own mean-ings and develop critical thinking

Such calls for re-examination are particularly applicable to thesurvival literature genre because of its increasing popularity its placein the communicative teaching trend and its inherent socioculturalnature While particular texts cannot be equated with curriculumthey often shape practice and reflect curricular orientation As suchthe examination of text materials is a necessary step toward theanalysis of goals and directions for adult ESL curricula Thus thepurpose of this article is not to review or rank individual texts inrelation to each other but rather to lay the foundation for debateabout the theoretical assumptions and social implications of survivalmodels by looking at a range of currently available text materials (seethe Appendix for a list of textbooks discussed)

THE ROOTS OF THE SURVIVAL TREND

Although survival skills have been defined as those necessary forldquominimum functioning in the specific community in which the studentis settledrdquo (Center for Applied Linguistics 1983162) in practice theterm has been widely used to refer to literacy and prevocational andbasic skills for students with zero to intermediate language proficiency

476 TESOL QUARTERLY

The single unifying characteristic of this type of text seems to be thatit is situationally oriented around daily living tasks (shopping bankinghousing health care and so on) Most authors explicitly reject agrammatical framework and focus not on ldquowhat students know aboutthe language but what they can do with itrdquo (Center for AppliedLinguistics 198311) A basic tenet of the survival trend is that languagelearning for adults should be experience-centered and reality-basedldquoAdults begin by learning for and from the situations in which theyfind themselvesrdquo (Center for Applied Linguistics 19837) The successof learning depends on the degree to which content is useful tostudents Thus ldquocurricula teaching methods and techniques testmaterials and assessment instruments have been developed to bringboth the students and the classroom closer to the language needs ofthe real worldrdquo (Center for Applied Linguistics 19831)

This concern with reality derives from theoretical developments inboth adult education and second language teaching From adultlearning theory comes the view that adults must be treated as peoplewith complex individual histories responsibilities needs and goals(Knowles 1973) The tasks that an adult learner must perform ineveryday life have increasingly become the focus of curriculumdevelopment (Grognet and Crandall 19823) The Texas Adult Per-formance Level Study (Northrup 1977) made the notion of experience-centered learning concrete by identifying 65 competencies ldquonecessaryfor an adult to perform successfully in todayrsquos societyrdquo (Center forApplied Linguistics 19839) Out of this study the competency-basedadult education (CBAE) model for adult basic education was developed

This movement in adult education has occurred more or less simul-taneously with the growth of the functional-notional and communica-tive trends in ESL The latter can be characterized by concern withreal language use a student-centered classroom humanistic approachesto instruction and an orientation to language acquisition rather thanlanguage learning (Raimes 1983543) Out of the parallel trends inCBAE and ESL has arisen the notion of competency-based ESL(CBEESL) which has gained increasing popularity in teaching sur-vival English CBEESL curricula teach to ldquotask-oriented goals writtenin terms of behavioral objectives which include language behaviorrdquo(Center for Applied Linguistics 19839) Often these competenciesare defined in terms of those identified by the Texas Adult Perfor-mance Level Study (eg Keltner and Bitterlin 1981 Keltner How-ard and Lee 1981) Language learning is broken down intoldquomanageable and immediately meaningful chunksrdquo (Grognet andCrandall 19823) The goal is demonstrated mastery of the languageassociated with specific skills performance indicators are associated

SURVIVAL ESL 477

with competencies so that students can be pre- and post-tested formastery

ln view of this explicit concern with real-life tasks and theirlinguistic demands survival curricula must be examined in terms ofhow well they live up to the goals of being situationally and com-municatively realistic As Taylor (1982) points out what is labeledldquorealityrdquorsquo in the language classroom may not in fact be reality Thuswe must ask to what degree the contentmdashthe ldquoreal worldrdquo presentedin survival textsmdashreflects what adult ESL students actually encounteroutside the classroom and to what degree language forms mdash t h etypes of language interaction which take place in the classroommdashreplicate those of the outside world Furthermore we must examinehow the selection and presentation of reality contribute to shapingsocial roles for students

SITUATIONAL REALITY

One of the inherent limitations of presenting situationally realisticcontent at a low level is the need to maintain structural simplicityAs a result of linguistic constraints model dialogues in survival textsare often oversimplified to the point of being misleading as Exam-ples 1 and 2 illustrate

1 A How can I get a loanB Why do you want the moneyA To buy a carB How much money do you needA $200000B Please fill out this applicationA When do I get the moneyB In a week(Freeman 1982101)

2 A How much is the houseB Itrsquos $460 a monthA How much is the cleaning depositB $200A When can I move inB Next week(Mosteller and Paul 1985188)

A more serious limitation of many texts results from not taking intoaccount the socioeconomic conditions of newcomersrsquo lives Middle

478 TESOL QUARTERLY

class values culture and financial status are often reflected in lessoncontent for example a dialogue describing a student spending hisone day off work playing golf fails to acknowledge that golf is aculture- and class-specific sport (Delta Systems 1975197621ndash23) Apassage which argues that the advantages of having a telephoneinclude the fact that it facilitates buying by credit card orderingmeals for delivery and finding out snow conditions for skiing (Cathcartand Strong 1983214) is not likely to be relevant to survival ESLstudents

Beyond these rather obvious examples of a reality alien tonewcomers more subtle distortions are pervasive in survival textsas can be seen from an examination of health housing and workunits Typical health units focus on the use of the medical systemdescribing symptoms making appointments understanding simplediagnoses instructions and prescriptions

3 A Hello Dr Greenrsquos officeB This is Mary Thompson Irsquom calling about my daughter

Sarah She has a fever and a rashA When can you bring her inB Right awayA All right Wersquoll see you in a few minutes(Keltner Howard and Lee 198155)

4 Eat good foodStay in bedSleep a lotDonrsquot smoke

drinkworkworrystay up latego to bed late

(The Experiment in International Living 198352)

Example 3 is misleading for several reasons A newcomer is morelikely to go to a community health clinic or emergency room than toa private physician it is highly unusual for a doctor to see a patienton a momentrsquos notice and a phone call of this sort would probablyrequire giving more information about symptoms (onset of feverand rash and so on)

Economic problems associated with health care are ignored inmost texts For example in one lesson a nurse asks a first-time

SURVIVAL ESL 479

patient if he would like to be billed and he responds that he thinksinsurance will cover the visit (Keltner and Bitterlin 198161) Fre-quently new patients are asked to prepay newcomers are unlikelyto have insurance and if they do it may not cover routine officevisits The advice in Example 4 may be impossible to carry out forsomeone who must work to survive As Wallerstein points out(1983a40) this kind of lesson neither acknowledges possible prob-lems in following doctorrsquos instructions (because the patient cannotafford leisure time) nor recognizes unhealthy conditions which maybe contributing to the illness Not exploring the economic or socialcontext of health problems may reinforce studentsrsquo sense of help-lessness

Thus what is excluded from curricula is as important in shapingstudentsrsquo perceptions of reality as what is included Failure to addresssuch factors as crowded clinics long waits unhealthy living or workingconditions high costs and communication problems neither preparesstudents for what they might encounter nor legitimates these expe-riences when students encounter them Instead it may promote theview that these problems are somehow aberrations or worse theresult of the studentsrsquo own inadequacies

English Spoken Here Health and Safety (Messec and Kranich1982b) is noteworthy for presenting a broader view of health care Itelicits discussion about fears of going to the doctor and problems oflong waits expenses and treatment (Example 5) compares privateand public health facilities and discusses preventive medicine homeremedies and stress reduction The student is presented with optionsrather than formulaic prescriptions for behavior

5 Talk to your friends about their doctors Ask them questions abouttheir doctors1 What do you like about the doctor2 What donrsquot you like about the doctor3 Is the doctor easy to see4 Do you have to wait a long time for him or her5 Does the doctor charge a lot6 How does the doctor treat you

(Messec and Kranich 1982b65)

Housing units typically include information about looking for anapartment negotiating rental agreements communicating with thelandlord and describing repair problems competencies includereading ads taking care of sanitation problems and filling out

480 TESOL QUARTERLY

rental application forms As is the case with health units lessons onhousing often reflect a middle class perspective The gap betweenthis perspective and the actual survival issues faced by newcomerscan be seen by comparing Examples 6 and 7 with the excerpt fromthe Boston Globe story (Example 8) about the housing problems ofIndochinese refugees in Boston

6 A The kitchen has a new sink and stove The bedroom has abeautiful river view

B Yes it does How many closets are thereA Three closets and a linen closet The bathroom is very modernB Does it have a shower and a bathtubA Yes it doesB I like it Irsquoll take it(Freeman 198253)

7 You have to be quiet in an apartment You have to clean it and takecare of it Talk to the landlord if you have problems If you donrsquotlike your apartment or if itrsquos expensive you can move(Walsh 1984a53)

8 ldquoWe buy the diapers the Huggiesrdquo Le Suong was saying ldquoIn thecold they are good to stuff in the cracks by the window rdquo

ldquoBut itrsquos not the cold that is the biggest problemrdquo Nguyen VanSau said ldquoIt is getting somebody to come when things get brokewhen the ceiling cracks or when people get scared of a fire likethere was at number 4

ldquoWe call 10 15 times and nobody comes All I want is them toclean and make the rats go so children will not be near themrdquo hesaid

ldquoI tell them once about a rat and the man he say to eat itrdquo SingHa 9 said ldquoHe laugh and say we eat dogs so we can eat rats toordquo(Barnicle 1984)

The situation of tenants who are forced either to accept poorconditions or fight to have them changed is usually not mentioned insurvival texts While tenantsrsquo responsibilities in the areas of sanitationand upkeep are discussed at length landlordsrsquo obligations are largelyomitted Where housing problems are discussed there is seldomfollow-up discussion on how to resolve them For example althoughEnglish Spoken Here Consumer Information (Messec and Kranich1982a) includes dialogues about complaining to an unresponsivelandlord the absence of discussion about alternative courses of action

SURVIVAL ESL 481

may reinforce the sense that the goal of the lesson is language practicerather than communication for survival

Examples 9 and 10 illustrate the kind of lesson material which couldserve as a stimulus for discussion about strategies for addressinghousing problems

9 A Wersquove just moved out of our apartment They wonrsquot give usour deposit back

B Did you leave it cleanA Yes we did It was spotlessB Why donrsquot you see a lawyerA We donrsquot know one Lawyers are expensive and wersquore brokeB Try the legal aid society Someone there can help you(Keltner Howard and Lee 1981167)

10 When you are having a problem with your apartment notify thelandlord as soon as possible If he doesnrsquot make the necessaryrepairs in a reasonable amount of time write a letter to himexplaining the problem again Keep a record of the dates whenyou spoke to him and keep copies of the letters that you have sentIf the landlord still doesnrsquot make the repairs you can often get helpfrom a local government agency(Foley and Pomann 198241)

In each of these cases the authors leave it up to teachers to structurediscussion which relates lesson content to studentsrsquo own experience

Units on work often promote the view that finding a job dependson how well you fill out applications dress for interviews makeappointments and so on While these skills may be helpful they arenot sufficient Weinstein (1984481) suggests that focusing on paper-work tasks (which in fact are of ten handled by family members) onlyadds to ldquofeelings of powerlessness in a bewildering new culturerdquo andgets in the way of developing talents which the newcomers mayalready have This mechanical decontextualized view of job findingis exemplified by Examples 11 and 12

11 Women wear dresses or skirts and blouses men wear jackets andtiesListen carefully to the questions and answer questions carefullyAsk questions about the jobHave your resume with youBe confident(Freeman 198292)

482 TESOL QUARTERLY

12 Miss Nakamura is looking for a job In her country she was awaitress Every day she looked in the newspaper Last week shewent to an employment service and they helped her They sent herfor an interview First she called the personnel department andmade an appointment She also sent in an application She lookedvery nice on the day of the interview [The interviewer] asked ifMiss Nakamura wanted to work full-time or part-time She saidshe would like to work full-time Now she has a job She makes$350 an hour plus tips She is very happy(Keltner Howard and Lee 1981136)

The suggestions in Example 11 are too vague to be useful in additionthey are presented as universal guidelines when in fact they maybe inappropriate for many jobs The hidden message of passageslike Example 12 seems to be that if you like Miss Nakamura followthe appropriate steps you will find a job Conversely if you haveproblems it may be because you did not communicate properlyThis idealized version of job finding contrasts sharply with anothermore realistic view from the same text series

13 A You look tired What have you been doingB Irsquove been looking for a job for 2 weeks now but I canrsquot find

anythingA Did you check the want adsB Yes but they all say they need someone with experienceA What about the state employment office Have you gone

there yetB Yes I went there and left an application They told me to

come back in a week(Keltner and Bitterlin 1981132)

Example 13 is exceptional in its portrayal of the frustrations faced byjob seekers Most texts do not prepare students for long lines forsituations where they are treated less than respectfully or for rejectionsThey rarely discuss nonpersonal factors like competition with Americ-ans economic recessions and discrimination

Beyond describing an oversimplified reality texts often prescribeparticular roles for students As sociologists of curriculum have pointedout education is an ldquoimportant social and political force in the processof class reproductionrdquo (Giroux 1983a267) The classroom often servesto ldquoparallel and reproduce the values and norms embodied in thelsquoacceptedrsquo social relationships of the workplacerdquo (Giroux 1983b9) In

SURVIVAL ESL 483

survival materials this hidden curriculum often takes the form ofpreparing students for menial positions and teaching them the cor-responding language of subservience Opening Lines (The Experimentin International Living 1983178) makes explicit what other textsimply by outlining only the lowest-paying jobs as options for refugees(busboy busgirl waiter waitress cook maid janitor factory workerdishwasher and so on)

The humorous dialogue in Example 14 captures the essence of theemployment conflict for many newcomers

14 A What did you do in LaosB I taught college for 15 years I was Deputy Minister of Education

for ten years and then A I see Can you cook Chinese food(The Experiment in International Living 1983177)

Rather than being used as the basis for a meaningful discussion of thecontradictions facing refugees who were professionals this dialoguetrivializes their dilemma by not encouraging students to explore theproblem (or even to discuss options like becoming bilingual parapro-fessionals) Instead teachers are instructed to ask students ldquoWhy dorefugees have to start their jobs at the bottomrdquo (1983387) Thepresupposition of the question (that newcomers must start at thebottom) in itself precludes consideration of less than menial jobs Thereason given in answer to the question is that refugees lack languageskills contacts and credentials Again the broader social context isignored The implication of the answer is that refugees start at thebottom because they are somehow inadequate rather than that struc-tural demands of the economy (for example the need for cheaplabor which foreign-born workers have traditionally filled) restricttheir options (Auerbach 1984)

Survival on the job is often equated with being submissive studentsare taught the language associated with being on the bottom of thepower hierarchy This can be seen in the often expressed positionthat prevocational ESL students be taught to understand t h eimperative but not to produce it because they must obey orders butnot give them Language functions in most survival texts includeasking for approval clarification reassurance permission and soon but not praising criticizing complaining refusing or disagree-ing The Hopewell Work Series (Husak Pahre and Stewart 1976)which is promoted by the Center for Applied Linguistics as ldquomatterof fact with a minimum of moralizingrdquo (1983154) provides students

484 TESOL QUARTERLY

with a list of rules for job success in Examples 15 and 16 Example17 from Part II of Basic Adult Survival English (Walsh 1984b) illustrates that this kind of prescriptivism is by no means a thing ofthe past

15

16

17

I should be clean and neatI should be friendly and politeI should help other peopleI should not complainI should not be silly at workI should not lose my temper at workIf my boss tells me I made a mistake I should not get mad(Husak Pahre and Stewart 19762)Sarah was a shampoo girl sometimes her supervisor told her shemade a mistake Sarah did not get mad or yell She told hersupervisor she would try harder to do better work She workedharder than the other employees Sarah was a good workerWhy(Husak Pahre and Stewart 197634-35)To be a good worker you shouldGo to work on timeDonrsquot be absent a lotWork hard Donrsquot be lazyBe friendly Get along with everybodyBe nice to other workersSay hello to themTalk to them Smile at themBe clean and neatIf you have a problem tell your bossIf you are a bad worker the company can fire youThen it might be hard for you to get another job(Walsh 1984 b66)

In each of these cases workers are told to be obedient and to dowhatever the boss asks at the same time they are told to get alongwith co-workers In reality these two goals may be contradictory Aworker who naively tries to curry favor works harder than othersand indiscriminately follows orders may be resented or ostracized byco-workers There is a delicate balance of power in every Americanwork place and the new arrival who enters the work force unawareof these dynamics may encounter problems Moreover texts whichsuggest that workers immediately go to their bosses with problems

SURVIVAL ESL 485

overlook the possibility that the source of many problems may be thesupervisors themselves (some of whom may ask workers to do unsafework work outside their job classifications and so on) While claimingto teach students how to get and keep a job prevocational units rarelyaddress conflict on the job They focus on the duties and obligationsof workers without mentioning their rights or options

The power relations of the outside society may also be reproducedin the classroom when the tone of materials is patronizing Despite thepersistent claim that the learner must be treated with respect becauseldquohis intellectual capacity is that of an adultrdquo (Freeman 1982 v) studentsare often portrayed as incompetent and addressed like childrenEvery chapter of Opening Lines includes a ldquohumorousrdquo cartoondepicting student errors for example a student trying to mail a letterat the drugstore (The Experiment in International Living 198389)Students are taught to use polite forms although teachers are notrequired to do so in addressing students (e g The Experiment inInternational Living 198319) instructions are given in the imperativeand some authors use the we form commonly used with children

A more subtle form of disrespect to students is the way in whichcultural information is presented It is commonly agreed that ldquoanadult education program shouldnrsquot require the adult to integrate withthe second culture to acquire the languagerdquo (Center for AppliedLinguistics 198355) The introductions to survival texts often stressthe need to accept the studentsrsquo culture (see Delta Systems 19751976)At the same time the stated goal of most survival texts is to teachAmerican cultural norms ldquoskills which the community requires andthe students lackrdquo (Vaut 19821) Many curriculum writers have diffi-culty reconciling these goals of accepting the studentsrsquo own cultureand teaching about the new culture In practice the norms of Americanculture are often presented without reference to studentsrsquo experienceor exploration of cultural differences Readings and cultural notessuggest rules for behavior and lessons chunk these behaviors intoskills which students are taught to perform In many cases guidelinesare presented as invariable standards For example under the subtitleldquoOrientation Notes Transportationrdquo Basic Adult Survival Englishstates that ldquoIn America you need a car Almost everybody has a carSome families have two or three carsrdquo (Walsh 1984a85)

18 Brush your teeth after every meal If you canrsquot brush rinse withmouthwash or plain water If you have food between your teeth usea toothpick Use dental floss every day You should see yourdentist twice a year for a check-up(Freeman 198243)

486 TESOL QUARTERLY

In Example 18 from a text which claims to ldquotreat the adult learnerwith dignityrdquo the author takes on the role of prescribing personalhygiene (in the imperative) a topic which may be inappropriate fordiscussion in some cultures Other texts tell students to tie theirgarbage in plastic bags to defrost their refrigerators once a week tomake shopping lists and to use deodorant and insect spray (see Walsh1984a)

In addition to presenting cultural information as ldquostandardsrdquo manysurvival texts view cultural adaptation as a one-way process Textsoften violate a basic principle of adult education by concentrating onwhat students do not know rather than using prior knowledge andexperience as a bridge for learning Very few survival texts incorporatecultural comparisons and contributions from students about theirown experience in a systematic way Information about differencesin such areas as housing family structure and job finding is rarelyelicited (presumably because the goal is to teach American ways)This approach contradicts the findings of schema theory researchwhich shows the importance of activating background knowledgefor reading comprehension (see Carrell and Eisterhold 1983) Sometexts do elicit explicit cultural comparisons The reading in Example19 is followed by questions about cultural differences

19 American customs are different from Laotian customs There aremany things here that I find strange and confusing In America menand women often walk hand in hand Sometimes they even kiss inpublic We donrsquot do this in Laos

People also dress quite differently here Very often I see womenwearing shorts and sleeveless blouses(Kuntz 19826)

Carver and Fotinos (1977) consistently encourage students to examinecultural differences For example even in a simple lesson aboutvegetable names (197721) they ask ldquoWhich of these vegetablesgrow in your native countryrdquo A reading about American dressingcustoms is followed by the questions in Example 20

20 How do people dress in your native country to go to school To goto church To go to parties To go to work Are people in yournative country allowed to wear their hair any length they want to Ifnot why not What do you think about the peoplersquos clothing in thispicture(Carver and Fotinos 197711)

SURVIVAL ESL 487

Texts which exclude cultural comparisons and conflicts from cur-ricula define acculturation as a one-way process rather than as aninteractive one They implicitly promote a view of learning about anew culture as a mechanical process of superimposing one set ofnorms on another This view does not allow for meaningful culturaltransformation the creation of culture through a process of criticaland selective integration of the old and the new To the degree thatsurvival texts focus on changing behaviors rather than critically exa-mining cultural differences they may contribute to what Freire callsadaptation Freire (19814) characterizes the difference betweenadaptation and integration as follows

Integration results from the capacity to adapt oneself to reality plus thecritical capacity to make choices and transform that reality To the extentthat man loses his ability to make choices and is subjected to the choices ofothers to the extent that his decisions are no longer his own because theyresult from external prescriptions he is no longer integrated Rather he isadapted

COMMUNICATIVE REALITY

Because teaching communication rather than teaching languageper se is a stated goal of survival curriculum developers (Center forApplied Linguistics 19836) it is particularly important to examinethe degree to which these materials are communicatively realistic Towhat extent is realistic discourse modeled in the texts and to whatextent do materials stimulate authentic communication betweenstudents

Raimesrsquos (1983) criticismmdashthat much of the so-called communica-tive approach is little more than the traditional form-centered methodin disguisemdashapplies to many survival texts The organizing principlefor somebooks continues to be structure (eg Delta Systems 19751976Cathcart and Strong 1983) Using structural criteria in sequencinglessons may result in a lack of semantic cohesion between units forexample a lesson called ldquoWhere did you work in your countryrdquo isfollowed by ldquoWe went to the circusrdquo (Delta Systems 19751976)While both lessons focus on the past-tense structure the juxtapositionof these two topics seems incongruous Concern with grammaticalcontrol rather than discourse constraints can lead to anomalous dia-logues for example portraying a newly arrived refugee talking to herchildren in English The attempt to teach specific forms often leads tocommunicatively unrealistic passages such as those in Examples 21and 22

488 TESOL QUARTERLY

21 Are you a mana woman

(The Experiment in International Living 198337)22 Hi Ben How are you

Fine thank youWhat day is itItrsquos Tuesday(Delta Systems 19751976 [5]12)

Beyond examining whether the model dialogues mirror reality wemust ask if texts create a setting where authentic communication cantake place in the classroom What are the interactive tasks and demandsmade on students In most cases students are provided with gram-matical functional or cultural information in the form of modeldialogues and a series of follow-up exercises designed to help themldquomasterrdquo or reproduce the information The text provides both thecontent and the form of languagebehavior to be used Studentscontribute neither experiences nor ideas new to the teacher or otherstudents Display questioning a technique designed to elicit specificinformation already known to the teacher (Gaies 1983208) is usedfrequently For example almost every chapter of Everyday Englishbegins with a variation of ldquoIs this a tomato No Itrsquos an applerdquo (Shurer1980 [Food] 1) Although this type of questioning occurs rarely innatural conversation outside the classroom (Long and Sato 1983) itappears frequently in survival texts An information gap usuallyappears only after a long series of ldquocommunicative drillsrdquo (Raimes1983544) From a language acquisition point of view the rehearsal ofrituals may be inefficient if as Warshawsky claims (1978472) formsare best acquired when they assume a critical role in transmittinginformation

The concern with assessability may partially account for this lackof attention to the creation of meaning With the new emphasis onaccountability in education ESL curriculum developers have focusedon behavioral objectives and performance indicators as a way toquantify progress (Tumposky 1984) Since knowledge of the worldand thinking skills do not lend themselves to easy measurement theyare not compatible with the expressed goals of creating a curriculumwhich is ldquoa performance-based outline of language tasks that leads todemonstrated mastery of the language associated with specific skillsrdquo(Grognet and Crandall 19823) As Tumposky warns this behavioralorientation may well result in teaching which concentrates primarilyon ldquothe lower order skills which are easiest to measure (1984305)ldquoRaimes argues that the concern with quantification contradicts a truly

SURVIVAL ESL 489

communicative definition of language ldquoWe have divided languageinto discrete units we have stressed assembling not creatingrdquo (1983539)Not until language teaching engages the thought and mind of thelearners can it be called communicative

PROBLEM SOLVING VERSUS PROBLEM POSING

Survival ESL materials have been created in response to very realand pressing social problems and have attempted to be situationallyrealistic to treat adult learners with dignity and to assist their transitioninto the new culture However as this article has tried to show thereis a great deal of unevenness among texts and within texts regardingthese goals In many cases survival texts unwittingly present anidealized view of reality a patronizing attitude toward students aone-sided approach toward culture and a model of language acquisi-tion which is only superficially communicative While attempting tohelp newcomers to fit into American society some texts may have theimpact of socializing students into roles of subservience Why is it thatdespite well-meaning and commendable intentions survival textsoften fall short of stated goals

The distinction made by Freire (1981) between problem solvingand problem posing offers insight into this question Freire suggeststhat very often in situations of profound social change and upheavaleducators see their role as one of assistencialism that is they believethey must intercede on behalf of their students with educationalwelfare to help them solve their problems Curriculum developersthus assess studentsrsquo needs and prescribe solutions As Goulet (seeFreire 1981 ix) puts it ldquoAn expert takes some distance from realityanalyzes it into component parts devises means for resolving diffi-culties in the most efficient way and then dictates a strategy orpolicyrdquo The teacherrsquos job is to transmit predetermined knowledge orskills which the students need to meet the demands of society Theteacher is the ldquoproviderrdquo and the students are the ldquoclientsrdquo or ldquocon-sumersrdquo of the curriculum Freire calls this view the banking modelof education The teacher makes deposits which accumulate interestand value (Berthoff 19843) The transfer of wealthinformationknowledge is one-way from the teacher to the students Solutions arefound for the students and imposed on them While claiming to bestudent-centered ldquosuch an approach in fact places all the responsibilityfor learning on the teacherrdquo (Tumposky 1984306) According toFreire (1981) the greatest danger of this approach is that it reinforcesthe silence and passivity of powerless people rather than creatingconditions which allow them to identify and think critically aboutproblems

490 TESOL QUARTERLY

In survival materials problem solving often takes the form ofchunking reality into competencies corresponding to specific skillsjudged necessary for successful functioning in American society Thecomplex reality of the newcomersrsquo world is presented in simplifiedreduced form with almost recipe-like instructions for what to say andhow to act Where problematic aspects of reality are introduced theyare sometimes treated as sources of humor language practice orsupplemental activities Only rarely are students asked to developtheir own strategies for addressing problems as in Examples 23 and24

23 Who would you call Where would you go1 If I wanted to find out about care for my children I would

2 If I wanted to learn a trade to get a job3 If I wanted to locate the nearest playground for my children

(Keltner and Bitterlin 1981185)24 What would you do in the situations below

Your new washable shirt shrinks the first time you wash itThe milk you just bought at the store is sour(Carver and Fotinos 197736)

However even in these selections the problems are quite straight-forward and there seem to be expected correct answers For morecomplex problems like job-finding difficulties or landlord problemsstudents are often presented with solutions (like job retraining or legalremedies) rather than encouraged to discuss a range of options anddevise strategies together

By contrast a problem-posing view of education sees the identifi-cation and analysis of problematic aspects of reality as central to thecurriculum The teacherrsquos role is not to transmit knowledge but toengage students in their own education by inviting them to enter intothe process of thinking critically about their reality The purpose ofthe endeavor is not to find solutions for students but to involve themin searching for and creating their own alternatives ldquoInstead ofeducation as extensionmdash a reaching out to students with valuableideas we want to sharemdashthere must be dialoguerdquo (Berthoff 19843)

The only currently available book which defines problem posing asthe starting point for adult ESL curricula is Wallersteinrsquos (1983a)Language and culture in Conflict Problem-Posing in the ESL Class-room This book intended as a teacher resource rather than a student

SURVIVAL ESL 491

text adapts Freirersquos outlook to survival issues in the United States It isbased on the premise that education should start with problematicissues in peoplersquos lives and through dialogue encourage students notonly to develop a critical view of their reality but to act on it toimprove their lives Each of the sample lessons codifies in picture ordialogue form an affectively loaded theme which reflects a contra-diction in studentsrsquo lives The teacherrsquos role is to facilitate the dialoguebetween students with a series of inductive questions aimed at elicitingstudentsrsquo ideas assisting them in making generalizations relating thetheme to their own lives and helping them to take action to effectchange where applicable Unlike many other survival materials thevocabulary grammar and function exercises are subordinated to theprocess of exchanging and creating meaning What is remarkable isthat even at beginning levels of language learning Wallerstein (1983b)has found that a problem-posing environment can be created throughthe use of simple codes small-group work the physical acting out ofdialogues and support from bilingual participants

CONCLUSION

There is little doubt that newcomers need to know the languageassociated with finding jobs housing health care and so on Refugeesand immigrants are immersed in a process of profound transformationand they need the tools to be able to confront changes The question isnot whether they should be taught the language of survival but howand to what ends The problem-posing view of education challengesthe notion that survival skills should be taught as a body of knowledge(linguistic and cultural) to be transmitted from teachers to students Itsuggests that the language of housing and jobs for example be taughtas a function of the single most important skill needed for survival theability to think critically As London (see Collins 1983181) has saidldquoIncreasingly a premium must be placed not so much on what tothink but on how to think critically Preparation for living in a rapidlychanging world requires that people learn how to learn rdquo

The transition from a problem-solving orientation to a new moreempowering mode must start with teachersrsquo examining materialsalready in use and asking simple questions about how reality isportrayed to what degree student contributions are encouragedwhat kinds of social roles are implicit and how much opportunity forcreative and critical thinking is allowed Only by asking these questionsand making explicit the values inherent in the materials we use can webegin to move toward a new mode of curriculum As Giroux (1983bII)puts it

492 TESOL QUARTERLY

To acknowledge that the choices we make concerning all facets of curric-ulum and pedagogy are value laden is to liberate ourselves from imposingour own values on others To admit as much means that we can begin withthe notion that reality should never be taken as a given but instead has tobe questioned and analyzed In other words knowledge has to be madeproblematic and has to be situated in classroom social relationships thatallow for debate and communication

By problematizing our knowledge about teaching we do exactlywhat is proposed here for students our own critical self-examinationbecomes a model of the process we are inviting our students toengage in

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors would like to thank Ann Berthoff Neal Bruss and Donaldo Macecto forinsightful comments on earlier versions of this article We are particularly grateful toVivian Zamel and Stephen Gaies for their many valuable suggestions regarding boththe substance and style of the article

THE AUTHORS

Elsa Roberts Auerbach teaches in the ESL and Bilingual Education Programs at theUniversity of Massachusetts at Boston After receiving her PhD in Linguistics atNorthwestern University she worked for many years as an assembler with foreign-born workers in the electronics and auto industries She has taught ESL in union-sponsored work-place programs as well as at the community college and universitylevels

Denise Burgess is a resource teacher for the Department of Migrant Education inWatsonville California She has an M Ed in BilingualESL Studies from the Universityof Massachusetts at Boston and has taught adult and community college ESL inBoston and California

REFERENCES

Anyon Jean 1980 Social class and the hidden curriculum of work ]ournalof Education 162(1)67ndash92

Apple Michael 1979 Ideology of curriculum London Routledge andKegan Paul

Auerbach Elsa R 1984 Shopfloor ESL the language of self-defense Paperpresented at the 18th Annual TESOL Convention Houston March 1984

SURVIVAL ESL 493

Barnicle Mike 1984 December 10 Their home in America Boston Globep 25

Berthoff Ann E 1984 Reading the world reading the word Paulo Freirersquospedagogy of knowing Scholarship in Teaching Boston University ofMassachusetts

Bourdieu Pierre and Jean-Claude Passeron 1977 Reproduction in educationsociety and culture Beverly Hills California Sage

Carrell Patricia L and Joan C Eisterhold 1983 Schema theory and ESLreading pedagogy TESOL Quarterly 17(4)553ndash573

Center for Applied Linguistics 1983 From the classroom to the workplaceteaching ESL to adults Washington D C Center for Applied Linguistics

Collins Michael 1983 A critical analysis of competency-based systems inadult education The Adult Education Quarterly 33(3)174ndash183

Freire Paulo 1981 Education as the practice of freedom In Education forcritical consciousness Paulo Freire 1ndash61 New York ContinuumPublishing

Gaies Stephen J 1983 The investigation of language classroom processesTESOL Quarterly 17(2)205-217

Giroux Henry A 1983a Theories of reproduction and resistance in the newsociology of education a critical analysis Harvard Educational Review53(3)257-293

Giroux Henry A 1983b Toward a new sociology of curriculum ManuscriptGrognet Allene G and JoAnn Crandall 1982 Competency-based curricula

in adult ESL ERICCLL News Bulletin 6(1)3ndash4Knowles Malcolm 1973 The adult learner a neglected species Houston

Gulf PublishingLong Michael H and Charlene J Sato 1983 Classroom foreigner talk

discourse forms and functions of teachersrsquo questions In Classroomoriented research in second language acquisition Herbert W Seliger andMichael H Long (Eds) 268ndash284 Rowley Massachusetts NewburyHouse Publishers Inc

Northrup Norvell 1977 The adult performance level study Austin TheUniversity of Texas

Raimes Ann 1983 Tradition and revolution in ESL teaching TESOL Quar-terly 17(4)535ndash552

Taylor Barry P 1982 In search of real reality TESOL Quarterly 16(1)29ndash42Tumposky Nancy R 1984 Behavioral objectives the cult of efficiency and

foreign language learning are they compatible TESOL Quarterly18(2)295ndash310

Vaut Ellen S 1982 ESLcoping skills for adult learners Language in Educa-tion Theory and Practice 46 Washington D C Center for AppliedLinguistics

Wallerstein Nina 1983a Language and culture in conflict problem-posingin the ESL classroom Reading Massachusetts Addison-Wesley

Wallerstein Nina 1983b Problem-posing can help students learn fromrefugee camps to resettlement country classrooms TESOL Newsletter17(5)28ndash30

494 TESOL QUARTERLY

Warshawsky Diane R 1978 The acquisition of four English morphemes bySpanish-speaking children Abstract in Second language acquisition abook of readings Evelyn Hatch (Ed) 472 Rowley MassachusettsNewbury House Publishers Inc

Weinstein Gail 1984 Literacy and second language acquisition issues andperspectives TESOL Quarterly 18(3)471ndash484

APPENDIX

Currently Available Textbooks Discussed

Carver Tina K and Sandra D Fotinos 1977 A conversation book Englishin everyday life Book Two Englewood Cliffs New Jersey Prentice-HallInc

Cathcart Ruth and Michael Strong 1983 Beyond the classroom RowleyMassachusetts Newbury House Publishers Inc

Delta Systems 19751976 English as a second language a new approach forthe twenty-first century Arlington Heights Illinois Delta Systems

The Experiment in International Living 1983 Opening lines a competency-based curriculum in English as a second language a teacherrsquos handbookBrattleboro Vermont The Experiment in International Living

Foley Barbara and Howard Pomann 1982 Lifelines coping skills in EnglishNew York Regents Publishing Company Inc

Freeman Daniel B 1982 Speaking of survival New York Oxford UniversityPress

Husak Glen Patricia Pahre and Jane Stewart 1976 The work series How Ishould act at work Sewickley Pennsylvania Hopewell Books Inc

Keltner Autumn and Gretchen Bitterlin 1981 English for adult competencyBook II Englewood Cliffs New Jersey Prentice-Hall Inc

Keltner Autumn Leann Howard and Frances Lee 1981 English for adultcompetency Book I Englewood Cliffs New Jersey Prentice-Hall Inc

Kuntz Laurie 1982 The new arrival ESL stories for ESL students BookTwo Hayward California The Alemany Press

Messec Jerry L and Roger E Kranich 1982a English spoken here consumerinformation New York Cambridge Book Company

Messec Jerry L and Roger E Kranich 1982b English spoken here healthand safety New York Cambridge Book Company

Mosteller Lee and Bobbi Paul 1985 Survival English English throughconversations Englewood Cliffs New Jersey Prentice-Hall Inc

Shurer Linda (Ed) 1980 Everyday English Student Book I HaywardCalifornia The Alemany Press

Walsh Robert E 1984a Basic adult survival English with orientation toAmerican life Part I Englewood Cliffs New Jersey Prentice-Hall Inc

Walsh Robert E 1984b Basic adult survival English with orientation toAmerican life Part II Englewood Cliffs New Jersey Prentice-Hall Inc

SURVIVAL ESL 495