Phase 1: Action Plan
Action Plan.
After I completed the initial needs assessment of my students, I reevaluated my teaching context and continued to delve into the research surrounding EIL. From my understanding of the literature, there were not clearly suggested ways of how to implement EIL into an ESOL framework. Rather, many of the literatures' focal points discussed consensus of the importance of EIL and how to raise teacher's awareness of the subject. Although important, I felt that the necessity of heightening awareness of EIL in the ESOL classroom should extend to students and not just educators. Due to this gap in the information, I decided the first phase of my action research would target my students with exhaustive and informative information on EIL. I wanted to produce a clear balance between explicit instruction and student-centered learning. Thus, I designed my first phase to include four separate, yet cohesive, sections each with its own activity objective and opportunity for discussion.
After I completed the initial needs assessment of my students, I reevaluated my teaching context and continued to delve into the research surrounding EIL. From my understanding of the literature, there were not clearly suggested ways of how to implement EIL into an ESOL framework. Rather, many of the literatures' focal points discussed consensus of the importance of EIL and how to raise teacher's awareness of the subject. Although important, I felt that the necessity of heightening awareness of EIL in the ESOL classroom should extend to students and not just educators. Due to this gap in the information, I decided the first phase of my action research would target my students with exhaustive and informative information on EIL. I wanted to produce a clear balance between explicit instruction and student-centered learning. Thus, I designed my first phase to include four separate, yet cohesive, sections each with its own activity objective and opportunity for discussion.
Section 1.
The first section utilized a bottom-up learning approach with the focus on a self-created Fact or Fiction Worksheet that was based on information from Sandra Lee McKay's Teaching English as an International Language. This worksheet was comprised of six statements that asked students to decide whether they thought each statement was true or false and encouraged them to provide a brief explanation for their answer. An example statement is, "40% of the world's English speakers are non-native speakers". The students were asked to work in pairs so they were able to negotiate the meaning of the statements with another person and exchange opinions of the answers. Although the pairs were allowed to have differing answers, they had to explain the decision for their answer to their partner and to the class. After all of the students had finished completing the worksheet, I facilitated a whole-class discussion. During this time, the students were held accountable for their answers as I asked them to justify their answers with explanations. The purpose of this activity was to provide an in-depth understanding about basic facts of EIL and to create a foundation of information onto which the students could build new information as the phase continued. I also wanted to peak students' interests through the True or False Worksheet and promote peer collaboration. Examples of the completed worksheets can be found in Figure 14 and Figure 15.
The first section utilized a bottom-up learning approach with the focus on a self-created Fact or Fiction Worksheet that was based on information from Sandra Lee McKay's Teaching English as an International Language. This worksheet was comprised of six statements that asked students to decide whether they thought each statement was true or false and encouraged them to provide a brief explanation for their answer. An example statement is, "40% of the world's English speakers are non-native speakers". The students were asked to work in pairs so they were able to negotiate the meaning of the statements with another person and exchange opinions of the answers. Although the pairs were allowed to have differing answers, they had to explain the decision for their answer to their partner and to the class. After all of the students had finished completing the worksheet, I facilitated a whole-class discussion. During this time, the students were held accountable for their answers as I asked them to justify their answers with explanations. The purpose of this activity was to provide an in-depth understanding about basic facts of EIL and to create a foundation of information onto which the students could build new information as the phase continued. I also wanted to peak students' interests through the True or False Worksheet and promote peer collaboration. Examples of the completed worksheets can be found in Figure 14 and Figure 15.
Section 2.
The second section of my first phase was an expansion on the information given in the first section through explicit instruction meant to provide a historical and contextual understanding of EIL. The students were presented with a PowerPoint Presentation that I created based on information from McKay (2002) and Jenkins (2009). The PowerPoint Presentation focused on the characteristics of an international language, how English has spread throughout the world, and facts about the English language in today's global world. The students were encouraged to take notes and ask questions throughout the lecture to deepen their understanding of the material. At the end of the presentation I facilitated a whole class discussion to answer any remaining questions and to provide the students with an opportunity to grasp the information and reflect on what it meant for their pronunciation goals. The purpose of this section was to increase the students' understanding of the basic facts that they had been given through the True or False Worksheet and heighten their knowledge of EIL through explicit instruction. A few example slides can be seen below in Figure 17, and Figure 18.
The second section of my first phase was an expansion on the information given in the first section through explicit instruction meant to provide a historical and contextual understanding of EIL. The students were presented with a PowerPoint Presentation that I created based on information from McKay (2002) and Jenkins (2009). The PowerPoint Presentation focused on the characteristics of an international language, how English has spread throughout the world, and facts about the English language in today's global world. The students were encouraged to take notes and ask questions throughout the lecture to deepen their understanding of the material. At the end of the presentation I facilitated a whole class discussion to answer any remaining questions and to provide the students with an opportunity to grasp the information and reflect on what it meant for their pronunciation goals. The purpose of this section was to increase the students' understanding of the basic facts that they had been given through the True or False Worksheet and heighten their knowledge of EIL through explicit instruction. A few example slides can be seen below in Figure 17, and Figure 18.
Section 3.
The third section of the first phase took a specific portion of the information from the PowerPoint Presentation, Kachru's Circles of English, and asked the students to elaborate on it through pair work. The students were given a worksheet with a diagram of Kachru's Circles of English on the top that was left blank and asked to collaboratively define what the inner-circle, outer-circle, and expanding circles are and give examples of at least five countries for each circle. The students were told that once they were done, they should go to the class whiteboard and write their examples within a diagram of Kachru's Circles of English that I had drawn. The class then reviewed the pairs' definitions of the three circles and debated the answers that had been written on the board within the diagram. The class also discussed the pros and cons for organizing countries this way and what other ways this information could be organized and presented. The purpose of this section was to raise the students' awareness of how different countries use English in specific ways throughout the world and what that meant for the individuals who live in these countries. The students had the opportunity to directly connect with the information by deciding which circle their own country fell into and what that meant for them as a member of this country. An example of a completed Circles of English Worksheet can be found in Figure 19. Photos of students filling in the circles on the board are found in Figure 18 and Figure 20.
The third section of the first phase took a specific portion of the information from the PowerPoint Presentation, Kachru's Circles of English, and asked the students to elaborate on it through pair work. The students were given a worksheet with a diagram of Kachru's Circles of English on the top that was left blank and asked to collaboratively define what the inner-circle, outer-circle, and expanding circles are and give examples of at least five countries for each circle. The students were told that once they were done, they should go to the class whiteboard and write their examples within a diagram of Kachru's Circles of English that I had drawn. The class then reviewed the pairs' definitions of the three circles and debated the answers that had been written on the board within the diagram. The class also discussed the pros and cons for organizing countries this way and what other ways this information could be organized and presented. The purpose of this section was to raise the students' awareness of how different countries use English in specific ways throughout the world and what that meant for the individuals who live in these countries. The students had the opportunity to directly connect with the information by deciding which circle their own country fell into and what that meant for them as a member of this country. An example of a completed Circles of English Worksheet can be found in Figure 19. Photos of students filling in the circles on the board are found in Figure 18 and Figure 20.
Section 4.
The fourth and final section of the first phase sought to provide students with an opportunity to reflect and expand on the information they learned through small group discussions (3-4 students). Once the students were randomly broken up into groups, they were each given the same list of ten discussion questions and asked to verbally answer the questions. These questions encouraged students to elaborate on the information that had arisen during the discussion on Kachru's Circles of English as well as the information provided to them on through the PowerPoint Presentation. An example question was, "In your country, is it common to hear English being spoken in public areas?" During this time, I walked around and listened to students as they answered the questions, asked the peers follow-up questions, and found similarities and differences in their peers' answers. The purpose of this section was to put EIL into the students' personal English frameworks so they could relate to, and understand, it on a deeper level. Additionally, it gave the students the chance to broaden their understanding of their peers' English language backgrounds and other perspectives of EIL. The discussion questions can be seen below in Figure 21.
The fourth and final section of the first phase sought to provide students with an opportunity to reflect and expand on the information they learned through small group discussions (3-4 students). Once the students were randomly broken up into groups, they were each given the same list of ten discussion questions and asked to verbally answer the questions. These questions encouraged students to elaborate on the information that had arisen during the discussion on Kachru's Circles of English as well as the information provided to them on through the PowerPoint Presentation. An example question was, "In your country, is it common to hear English being spoken in public areas?" During this time, I walked around and listened to students as they answered the questions, asked the peers follow-up questions, and found similarities and differences in their peers' answers. The purpose of this section was to put EIL into the students' personal English frameworks so they could relate to, and understand, it on a deeper level. Additionally, it gave the students the chance to broaden their understanding of their peers' English language backgrounds and other perspectives of EIL. The discussion questions can be seen below in Figure 21.