Key Points Chapter SixShrum and GlisanSpecial Methods of Instruction ISummer 2012GRAD 210Dr. Bowles, Instructor

Using an Interactive Approachto Develop Interpretive

Communication• Communication in the real world does not occur

in isolation. Skills are used in concert and are shaped by specific cultural contexts.

• Comprehension and interpretation involve cognitive processes for the integration of skills and social processes, such as discussion for meaning.

• ACTFL standards define communication using three modes that emphasize context and purpose of communication with the four skills working together in an integrated fashion.

• The framework is based on a model by Brecht and Walton (1995) that illustrated how we participate in cultural discourses.

The Three Modes•Interpersonal: two-way oral or written

communication and negotiation of meaning• Involves all four skills• Realized through face-to-face conversation

and written correspondence• Participants

• observe and monitor one another• Make clarifications and adjustments in

communication

The Three Modes•Interpretive: listening, reading, viewing

▫ Includes cultural perspectives, personal opinions, and points of view

▫ Includes reading and “listening” between the lines▫ Based on “inferencing”—using generalization,

synthesis, and /or explanation to reason a step beyond the text

▫ Interpretation of text also includes predicting, reaching conclusions, giving opinions and explanations, questioning textual assertions, and relating text to other texts Self to text Text to text Text to world

The Three Modes

•Presentational: formal, one-way communication to an audience of listeners or readers• Involves speaking and writing• Includes giving a speech, oral report,

preparing a paper or story, producing a newscast, for example

Interpretive Communication: Listening and Reading Processes

•The comprehension process• Based on Schema Theory—a cognitive

theory based on the mental processes that connect new information and experiences to prior knowledge

• For reading in another language, the theory points out the role of the reader and the interaction between text and reader’s background knowledge.

• The reader/listener must be able to link new knowledge to memory structures (schemata) that already exist.

Interpretive Communication: Listening and Reading

Processes•The comprehension process

▫Involves both cognitive and social process▫Listeners and readers must use

Knowledge of TL Background knowledge/experience of world Knowledge of discourse types and how they

are organized Ability to hold information in short-term

memory Ability to use a number of strategies to bring

meaning to the comprehension task

Interpretive Communication: Listening and Reading Processes

• The comprehension process• Bottom-up processing: meaning is understood

through analysis of language parts• Discrimination between sounds and letters• Recognizing word-order patterns• Recognizing intonation cues• Analyzing sentence structure• Translating individual words• Examining word endings

• Factors include• Illustrative detail• Surface language features• Reader language proficiency

Interpretive Communication: Listening and Reading

Processes• The comprehension process• Top-down processing: meaning is derived through

contextual clues and activation of personal background knowledge about content of text• Identifying key ideas• Guessing meaning• Reader-driven—background knowledge of reader

• Factors include• Reader background (semantic knowledge)• Reader perspective (reading strategies)• Text schema (topic)• Text structure (organizational pattern of

information)• Episodic sequence (scripts or story grammar)

Interpretive Communication: Listening and Reading

Processes•What we know

• Listener/reader uses both types of processes• Learners use top-down for most immediate

needs and bottom-up to “repair” comprehension

• Comprehension is also a social process:• Readers interact with the features of the text• Comprehension/interpretation affected by

experiences of learners• Discussion of text offers insight and new

knowledge to listeners/readers

Interpretive Communication: Listening and Reading

Processes• The comprehension process▫ The relationship of L1 and L2 interpretive processes

L1 reading skills and L2 linguistic knowledge contribute to one’s L2 reading comprehension with L2 knowledge contributing a bit more.

Linguistic knowledge contributes more at lower proficiency while L1 reading skills contribute more in reading at higher levels.

Second language reading differs from L1 because it involves two languages in almost all of its processes (Koda, 2007)

▫ Three major distinctions between L1 and L2 reading (Koda) Unlike beginning L1 readers, L2 learners can use their prior

literacy experience for assistance Beginning L1 readers have developed a linguistic system prior to

formal literacy work unlike L2 readers. L1 readers begin with decoding words, but this does not work as well for L2 readers because they do not have a pre-existing linguistic code

L1 focuses on processing in a single language. L2 involves processing in two languages.

Interpretive Communication: Listening and Reading

Processes•Listening comprehension

▫Research focused on discourse signaling cues: metalinguistic devices that function as directional guides to signal how readers and listeners should interpret the incoming information Previews (There are four stages of….) Summarizers (To sum up so far….) Emphasis markers (This is the key….) Connectives (and, or, first, etc.)

Interpretive Communication: Listening and Reading

Processes•Differences between listening and reading

• Written texts are • Presentational• Intended for an audience• Organized grammatical into coherent paragraphs• Accessible for multiple readings

• Spoken texts• Contain ungrammatical or reduced forms• Marked by pauses, hesitations, and fillers• May feature topics that shift as conversation

drifts• Limited opportunities for comprehension

The Viewing Process

•The interpretive mode also refers to viewing videos, films, and TV programs•Advantages:

• Increased listening comprehension• Positive effect on grammar skills• Development of advanced level proficiency• Learning cultural information• Good for advanced organizers• Greater confidence for output• Captioning also provides positive effects

The Viewing Process

•Reader- and Listener-Based Factors▫Topic familiarity▫Short-term or working memory▫Strategies in comprehending and

interpreting▫Purposes for listening/reading/viewing▫Anxiety

The Viewing Process

•Text-based Factors▫Length (edit the task to the level of the

students)▫Organization including signaling cues and

non-linguistic features (charts, graphs, titles, fonts)

▫Content and interest level▫New vocabulary

Integration of Authentic Texts• Choose authentic texts that are age- and level-

appropriate.• Edit the task, not the text.• Literary texts promote affective awareness and

cognitive flexibility.• Literary texts provide opportunities for developing

language proficiency.• Choose literary texts that express basic, shared

cultural beliefs of the TL.• Teach literature through workshop-style

instruction (lit circles, journaling, peer review, reader’s theater)

The Interactive Approach• Involves actively constructing meaning

between the text and personal experience and/or background knowledge.▫ Interpretive: Ss comprehend and interpret a text,

acquiring new information and culture perspectives (preparation/comprehension phases)

▫ Interpersonal: Ss share information, inferences, and reactions (interpretation/discussion/creativity)

▫Presentational: SS use new knowledge and perspectives as they create a summary and/or an oral or written product (creativity/extension phases)

L1 or L2?

•Research shows that testing in L1 provides better information about the comprehension level of Ss.

•Teacher modifies language use to match learners’ proficiency levels and the reading/listening tasks.

•Use the L2 especially during the Interpretation/Discussion/Creativity/Extension phases of the interactive model.