Dr Piotr Steinbrich "New trends in FL education - a reappraisal and a way forward"

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Piotr Steinbrich John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin New trends in FL education: A reappraisal and a way forward 6 t h I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o n f e r e n c e TRENDY ENGLISH Moscow 25-26 N o ve mb e r 20 1 7

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•21st century skills •ELT myths vs classroom reality •Is neuropedagogy telling us anything new and worthwhile? •Is there room for negative emotions in positive psychology in the ELT domain? •Is educational technology the way to go? Overview of the talk

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•learning the subject matter •learning metaskills •developing innovation •using technology •developing career skills Trilling & Fadel, 2009 21st Century learning

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21st Century learning: an overview of key concepts

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critical thinking flexibility creativity problem solving innovation communication cross-cultural interaction ICT literacy media literacy adaptability information literacy social interaction self-direction collaboration

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21st Century learning: an overview of key concepts With the person sitting next to you, briefly discuss which of the 21st century skills you promote in your teaching. Do not be hyper-optimistic.

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Three friends, John, Steve and David, meet in a pub. John arrives a bit late, Steve and David have already had a few sips from their pints. Classroom communication: The case of ELT

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Hi guys, How's it going? Fine. I'm good. Right. So, today, we're going to talk about pollution, ok? David, Do you think cars should be banned from city centres? Yeah. Why? Classroom communication: The case of ELT

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There would be less pollution. It would be so much nicer. Good. Steve, what do you think? I agree with David. Why? With less cars... You mean fewer? Yeah, sorry. With fewer cars, it would be Classroom communication: The case of ELT

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•novelty •anything that touches upon other disciplines (eg. psychology, linguistics, neuroscience) •anything that seems to make teaching more ‘modern’ and up-to-date •anything that makes teachers happy If not 21st century skills, then what?

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If not 21st century skills, then what? E L T Myths

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•a widely held but false belief or idea •idea / belief which is untrue / impossible •misconception, fallacy, mistaken belief, false notion, misbelief, old wives' tale, fairy story, fairy tale, fiction, fantasy, delusion, figment of the imagination Myth

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•Neuropedagogy •Positive psychology •Educational technology ELT Myths

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•conference themes that are rarely reflected in classroom practices •publishers’ concerns - ‘should I stay or should I go?’ Myths

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Myth 1: Neuropedagogy ‘Teachers are interested in neuroscience and neuroscientific findings’ (Pickering & Howard-Jones 2007)

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Myth 1: Neuropedagogy What do you know about neuroscience?

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•Answer the following questions: Myth 1: Neuropedagogy 1. The picture below presents: a.the opening of Star Wars Episode 8 b. brain cells c. the inside of Iphone 8

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•Answer the following questions: Myth 1: Neuropedagogy 1. The picture below presents: a.the opening of Star Wars Episode 8 b. brain cells c. the inside of Iphone 8

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Myth 1: Neuropedagogy 2.The presynaptic cell makes 5- hydroxytryptamine from the amino acid .......... and packages it in vesicles in its end terminals. a.monophan b.duophan c.tryptophan

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Myth 1: Neuropedagogy 2.The presynaptic cell makes 5- hydroxytryptamine from the amino acid .......... and packages it in vesicles in its end terminals. a.monophan b.duophan c.tryptophan

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Neuroscience is like Chomsky’s writings. Everybody thinks it’s great but nobody really understands it. Myth 1: Neuropedagogy

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•Relying on the (interpreted) insights from neuroscientific research •‘Our intuitions about how we learn are often wrong in serious ways’ (Pashler et al 2009) •exposing ‘neuromyths’ Myth 1: Neuropedagogy

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•Neuromyths exposed •left- and right-brain dominance •accommodating learning preferences (VAK) enhances learning (the meshing hypothesis) •optimal age for starting to learn a FL Myth 1: Neuropedagogy

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•Sub-myth 3: the optimal age •How old were YOU when you started learning English? Myth 1: Neuropedagogy

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•Sub-myth 3: the optimal age •‘for the purposes of learning languages, the human brain becomes progressively stiff and rigid after the age of nine’ •‘when languages are taken up for the first time in the second decade of life, it is difficult (...) to achieve a good result’ (Penfield & Roberts 1959: 236) Myth 1: Neuropedagogy

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•Relying on the (interpreted) insights from neuroscientific research •informed teaching •validating good teaching practice Myth 1: Neuropedagogy

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•Informed teaching •providing too much information at once can cause ‘cognitive overload’ •to reduce the load, teachers should support texts with visuals and improve learning through retrieval (recalling what has been learnt) (Roediger et al 2012) Myth 1: Neuropedagogy

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•Informed teaching •unfortunately for neuropedagogy, this has been in operation since the late 1970s (Rummelhart 1977, Stanovich 1980) Myth 1: Neuropedagogy

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•Validating good language practice •tapping into learners’ prior knowledge •using pre-tasks to activate what the students already know to build on the prior knowledge Myth 1: Neuropedagogy

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•Validating good language practice •tapping into learners’ prior knowledge •Anderson (1983) made the very same remark; •activating schemata •common sense Myth 1: Neuropedagogy

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•Is it that the whole neuroscience thing is telling us the bleeding obvious? Myth 1: Neuropedagogy

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•Our brain is not designed to reproduce information but to process it (CRITICAL THINKING) •The tasks that require deep processing are committed to memory (ENGAGEMENT) •Learning is an emotive-cognitive process (REINFORCEMENT, MOTIVATION) •Learning is a social process (CLT) Myth 1: Neuropedagogy

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Myth 1: Neuropedagogy Back to square 1 •‘Our intuitions about how we learn are often wrong in serious ways’ (Pashler et al 2009)

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•American invention •key concepts: •flow •positive emotions •well-being Myth 2: PosPsy

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’Every culture offers not only a linguistically embodied grid for the conceptualization of emotions, but also a set of ”scripts” suggesting to people how to feel, how to express their feelings, how to think about their own and other people's feelings, and so on.’ (Wierzbicka 1999: 240) Myth 2: PosPsy

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’Something ”fantastic” for Americans would not be ”fantastic” in my way of thinking.’ (…) ‘When Americans say it was great, I know it was good. When they say it was good, I know it was okay. When they say it was okay, I know it was bad.’ (Klos-Sokół 1997: 176) Myth 2: PosPsy

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So, what’s in it? Myth 2: PosPsy

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Flow theory (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975, 1993) •holistic experience that people feel when they act with total involvement •playing a computer game •doing a sport •doing a hobby •reading a book Myth 2: PosPsy

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Flow •clear goals and immediate feedback •matching the challenge to the skill •merging of action and awareness •intense concentration and absorption Myth 2: PosPsy

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Flow •sense of control •loss of self-consciousness •contraction of the normal sense of time •self-rewarding experience Myth 2: PosPsy

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•focusing on strengths rather than weaknesses promotes a different developmental route •positive reinforcement is highly effective Myth 2: PosPsy

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•creating a positive learning environment •providing support & positive feedback •avoiding negative emotions Myth 2: PosPsy

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•Do teachers create a positive learning environment in the language classroom? •Are teachers supportive? •Should we avoid negative emotions in the classroom? Myth 2: PosPsy ✔ ✘ ?

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•Are teachers supportive? (the case of feedback) •evidence from classroom discourse studies: •high frequency verbal manifestations of teacher support: •‘mhm’, ‘okay’, ‘very good’, ‘great’ Myth 2: PosPsy ➞ ➞

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•TOPIC: Should women be paid as much as men for doing the same job? [students discuss the topic in pairs and then the teacher asks some learners at random to report back] Myth 2: PosPsy

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Martyna, what’s your opinion? We agree because it’s not fair when man gets more money than for example woman. Mhm. I think they should get the same money. Mhm. Very good. And Mateusz? Myth 2: PosPsy

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Yes. We think, to znaczy [I MEAN] I think because she don’t agree doesn’t agree Yes, yes, she think different from me mhm, very good but I think men are bigger and have more power and they, jak to będzie [HOW DO YOU SAY THAT], utrzymują całą rodzinę [BREED THE WHOLE FAMILY]. Family. Mhm. Breed the family. Very good. Myth 2: PosPsy

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•Positive reinforcement? •Support? •Positive emotions? •Communicative value? Myth 2: PosPsy

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•Reinforcement, support & communication (wherever applicable) •co-constructing communicative tasks by the teacher and the learners on the spot •do not talk at the learner, do not talk to the learner, talk with the learner (Thornbury 2001) Myth 2: PosPsy

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•Should we avoid negative emotions? •they have more impact than the positive ones •fear reduces excessive risk taking •anger predisposes us to overcoming obstacles (Komorowska 2015) Myth 2: PosPsy

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•Should we avoid negative emotions? •positive emotions may lead to simplification and mental shortcuts •they may lead to less systematic thinking and less careful observation •they may be responsible for lack of realism in decision making (Forgas 2007) Myth 2: PosPsy

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• So, what’s the correct answer? • reflecting on which option is better in a given context for a given student • ‘Today’s interest of FLT teachers in positive psychology reflects a considerable degree of wishful thinking about motivated learners, (...), high self-esteem or applying autonomous approaches to goals, methods and materials.’ (Komorowska 2015) Myth 2: PosPsy

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• So, what’s the correct answer? Myth 2: PosPsy any extreme is dangerous

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•Living by 21st century skills •21st century skills checklist •Being critical about novelty, but not rejecting it altogether •Common sense and experience-based INTUITIONS seem to be the best guides Conclusive remarks