Hi all - 

I've been reading all week, and now how some time to respond.  I hope the 
following is useful.

First of all, I totally agree awareness is a critical element for working 
on fossilization issues.

And then, just to put another work into the mix, I was just reading a 
chapter (Chapter 9) in Ilona Leki's book "Understanding ESL Writers."  She 
writes about an interlanguage (an unstable language developed during the 
language learning process).   The student is on his/her way to developing 
the correct L2 form by receiving input, but this student stresses and 
ignores rules based on input.  For example, s/he may have learned about 3 
person "S" and then overgeneralize the rule to modal forms (She cans...) 
Eventually, s/he will stop as s/he practices more.

I'm simplifying, but what Leki says at the end of all this is:  "Normally, 
as language learners continue recieving input from the target language, 
their interlanguage reshapes itself in increasing conformity to the L2. 
For reasons not completly understoond, however, certain interlanguage 
forms become fixed, or folssilized, and no amount of input seems to be 
able to induce a re-analysis of the fossilized form to put it more in line 
with the L2...Fossilized interlanguage forms are particularly difficult to 
alter, possibly because the learner is for whaterver reason unmotivated to 
identify completely with the target discours community."

She has more to say about what to do (this particular chapter is about 
correcting sentence level errors - what, how, why).  Worth a read I think.

Moira Taylor

Moira Taylor
CUNY Adult Literacy Program
101 West 31st St., Room 704 
New York, NY 10001
Tel: 212 652 2883
Fax: 646 344 7329
www.literacy.cuny.edu 




"Nicole Graves" <cnaamh at rcn.com>
Sent by: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov
04/12/2007 04:05 PM
Please respond to specialtopics
 
        To:     <specialtopics at nifl.gov>
        cc: 
        Subject:        [SpecialTopics 284] Re: fossilization


Lynne,

Language awareness works for fossilization too.  If you stop the student 
and 
focus on one point and explain the differences or similarities, on the 
spot, 
chances are the problem will go away.  When the student is ready to become 

aware and you make the student aware, it always works.  One at a time.

Nicole B. Graves
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lynne Weintraub" <lynneweintraub at hotmail.com>
To: <specialtopics at nifl.gov>
Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2007 7:36 AM
Subject: [SpecialTopics 283] Re: fossilization



> Heide--the GED grammar question reminds me of a related question I've 

had 

> on

> my mind for a long time. Over the years, I have run into a number of

> students who seem to be "fossilized" in their language development. They 



> get

> to a certain point, and then they just don't seem to make any progress

> anymore in terms of pronunciation, structure, or even expanding their

> vocabulary. Has any research been done on this problem? Do you have any

> ideas on how to break through? I'd like to offer some hope (and 

> strategies)

> to their tutors, but so far I haven't found any that are genuinely

> successful.

> Lynne Weintraub

>

>

>>From: "Wrigley, Heide" <heide at literacywork.com>

>>Reply-To: specialtopics at nifl.gov

>>To: <specialtopics at nifl.gov>

>>Subject: [SpecialTopics 282] Re: (no subject) teaching grammar in the

>>GEDclass

>>Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2007 23:41:16 -0400

>>

>>Hi, Cheryl

>>

>>I'm sorry it took me awhile to get to the grammar question. I just got

>>back from D.C. and am off to Austin in the morning, but here it goes.

>>

>>First of all, it is indeed very difficult to help students write with

>>expression and help them develop their language skills so that they are

>>able to write sentences that are grammatical. It is quite a challenge,

>>especially once students are able to communicate quite well orally and

>>aren't particularly keen on working on their grammar skills.

>>

>>Complicating the enterprise is the fact that at this level the

>>difficulties that students have may differ from learner to learner so

>>anything you teach to the entire class will probably bore some students

>>(since it's not their problem) and frustrate others (cause they are not

>>ready - given where they are in their language development - to absorb

>>whatever rules you are presenting). So any time there is a presentation

>>to the entire class on grammar at this level you may only have a few

>>students who are with you. (Cheryl, correct me if I'm wrong in your

>>case, since I am speaking in general terms and obviously don't know your

>>students).

>>

>>One thing that doesn't work very well, is to have students write their

>>paragraphs on the board and have everyone else point out the grammar

>>mistakes. Students generally are not particularly engaged in what other

>>students have written, particularly if asked to focus on form. And

>>again, some students may be able to detect errors and correct them (and

>>what are they learning?) while others are nowhere near ready and the

>>explanations make no sense to them - again, if some of you have had

>>great success with this strategy, let us know.

>>

>>Ok, here then are some strategies that you might try:

>>

>>1. There is a hypothesis in second language acquisition that

>>emphasize the notion of "noticing" and holds that students won't be able

>>to acquire accurate linguistic forms and structures, unless they first

>>notice them, that is unless they pay attention to their own language and

>>the language of others and say to themselves "oh, that's how it's said

>>(or not said); this is how you write it; this is what people do"  And

>>once student pay attention to these forms, it becomes easier for them to

>>use correct forms or edit their own writing. So one suggestion I would

>>make to build in your students a curiosity about language, an eagerness

>>(well, may-be not eagerness, but an interest) in seeing how language

>>works. This notion is also known as "language awareness" and it goes a

>>long way in helping students pay attention to how the language they use

>>in expressing their ideas is similar or different from the way other

>>people say or write things.

>> a. One way to help students build language awareness and

>>look at their own language output is to ask students to circle the kinds

>>of phrases or words that appear in their writing that they are not sure

>>about. Sometimes students a way to self-correct, but you can also work

>>with them to find better ways of expressing their ideas (sometimes that

>>means fixing up the grammar and other times that means rephrasing a

>>sentence and using a different structure altogether, one that the

>>student is more familiar and comfortable with).  After you help students

>>use fix-up strategies, you can then ask them to pay attention in their

>>reading to see if they can identify the structure in question in other

>>people's writing.

>> b. Another way is to have students read their writings into

>>a tape recorder and then listen to it again to see if it sounds right.

>>I first saw this technique used when I was up in Vancouver at the

>>Invergarry Learning Centre where Janet Isserlis taught for awhile. It

>>was amazing to see how students would read their essays and then

>>self-correct as they noticed that the language they used was awkward or

>>ungrammatical. The tape recorder acted as a tool for editing and

>>revision that was fun for students to use (many students I've known just

>>hate rewriting - in their mind it was hard enough to put pen to paper

>>and get their thoughts in writing, they don't want to prolong the

>>agony). So the tape recorder adds a new dimension (students can just

>>take turns using the machine as they finish their writings).

>>

>>Of course, building language awareness and helping students self-monitor

>>their writing is only one strategy to help students gain greater

>>accuracy in their writing. And self-monitoring is not a great deal of

>>help if students don't have much experience with the standard ways of

>>writing. So you may want to see if there are some common areas of

>>difficulties that your students share (subject-verb agreement; passive

>>constructions; irregular past verbs) and then teach mini-lessons that

>>zero in on those areas. While some students respond well to rules

>>because they are good at deductive thinking, others do much better when

>>you present patterns of language and then draw their attention to the

>>commonalities within these patterns - so that you help your students

>>abstract the grammar rules from the sentences they see - helping them to

>>get to the aha! moment. This approach is also known as "discovery

>>grammar".

>>

>>If particular grammar forms are new to students and they need to know

>>them because there are no simpler work-arounds, they will need some

>>guided practice in using these forms in different ways so that they

>>become internalized.  I would then include these structures in a grammar

>>editing check-list that students can use when they look over their own

>>writing - once again, building language awareness in the process.

>>

>>Another insight that might help you: Just correcting students each time

>>you see a mistake in their writing and giving them a quick explanation

>>generally doesn't work unless the student made a careless mistake. This

>>sort of "drive-by" grammar lesson usually doesn't stick. It is much

>>better, generally, to set some time aside, either with an individual

>>student or with the group and ask the student(s) to focus on a

>>linguistic form when they are not in the middle of writing or reading

>>their writing to others.

>>

>>Finally - and you will notice a theme here - a lesson that I learned as

>>an adult second language learner:  Quite a few of the mistakes that I

>>made in writing English disappeared when I spent more time thinking

>>about and discussing what it is I wanted to say and write.

>>

>>Quite often, at the intermediate levels, the language that learners use

>>is muddled and the sentences awkward or ungrammatical, because the

>>thinking is still fuzzy. Once a writer is clear on what it is exactly

>>(s)he wants to say, it is easier to construct sentences that are clear

>>and concise.

>>

>>I used this model of talking things through to discover what it is you

>>want to write with my students when I taught Developmental Writing and

>>for many students it did make a quite a difference.

>>

>>Others did need some structured lessons on the grammar they had missed

>>along the way.

>>

>>So no silver bullet here (ha! another cultural reference to mess with

>>the uninitiated).

>>

>>Good night all!

>>

>>Heide

>>

>>________________________________

>>

>>From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov

>>[mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of cheryl gentry

>>Sent: Sunday, April 01, 2007 9:01 PM

>>To: specialtopics at nifl.gov

>>Subject: [SpecialTopics 261] (no subject)

>>

>>I teach GED at CRC...a prison in Norco, Calif. I have many students who

>>grew up speaking Spanish in the home and have difficulty with English

>>grammar. Are there any special tricks?

>

>

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