There were four take-home tasks in each assignment, each worth 5 marks, giving a ... 13-to-16 mark band, an increase from 62% to 64%; and a concomittant ...
The Integration of Language and Content: Action Research Based on a Theory of Task Design Alan Jones and Samantha Sin Macquarie University
Suggested citation: Jones, A., and S. Sin. 2004 The integration of language and content: Action research based on a theory of task design. Journal of Applied Linguistics, Vol. 1 No. 1, 95-100. [Note that the current pagination des not correspond to that of the published article.]
Introduction In 2001-2002, we were funded to integrate the teaching of selected generic skills with the teaching of accounting content in a first year accounting unit.1 Integrated materials were collaboratively designed, trialed in semester 2, 2002, and evaluated immediately afterwards. The new materials were presented as an integral, assessable component of the syllabus. The intervention produced a marked improvement in student learning (Sin and Jones, 2003), which was assessed using objective criteria combining considerations of content and expression. The materials were essentially adaptations of the task-types used in communicative language teaching and testing, designed to ensure that students focused on content rather than form. We hypothesized that, if form is driven by meaning, an improvement in language proficiency would accompany improved understanding of content, both achievable through a sustained focus on meaning. This note briefly outlines the kinds of task used and results obtained. Background to the Intervention We considered that many of the generic skills promulgated by the professional accounting bodies in Australia and New Zealand were basically linguistic or else realized through the medium of language. We saw this as an opportunity to address the weak language skills of first year students2 by building selected generic skills into the core curriculum. We also had theoretical aims, wishing to test the claim that an integrated approach to teaching language and content can achieve both better language skills and a deeper understanding of content 1
We gratefully acknowledge funding (in the form of two Flagship Grants) from Macquarie University, as well as the cooperation and encouragement of staff of the Department of Accounting and Finance, Division of Economic and Financial Studies. 2 This problem reflected increasing student numbers in non-traditional categories: mature-age students, new migrants, students from non English-speaking backgrounds, and international fee-paying students.
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(Mohan, 1986, 1990; Krueger and Ryan, eds., 1993; Pally, 200, 2001; Murphy and Stoller, eds., 2001; Bruce, 2002; Crandall, 1992, 2002). A content-focused approach also avoids reliance on the 'transfer of skills'. Also, students are considerably less resistant to support that is fully integrated with their coursework than to add-on varieties. The intervention involved the replacement of multiple-choice questions in the mid-semester examination with assessment based on written work (15% of overall assessment). The main instrument was a series of three written assignments each consisting four accounting questions/tasks. We designed the assignments (and exercises accompanying them) in accordance with principles of communicative language teaching. They were designed in such a way that even weaker students, and particularly those with weak language skills, would be able to complete them, improving their understanding of accounting in the process. Task Design In each assignment, a number of scaffolded exercises and guided writing tasks preceded the main writing task, which alone was assessed. This scaffolding was the main innovation, designed to check for, activate, and interrelate key accounting concepts, with syntactic structures needed to express them, and a guided approach to initial writing tasks. The exercises used were of the following types: Scaffolded Exercises Gapped Texts (varying degrees of difficulty; distractors) Sentence Completion ( some of the missing words) Propositional Clusters ( distractors) Tables and Flow Charts (filled in to a greater or lesser extent) Summary Writing, composing texts (critical-analytical reading; recognizing what is relevant; organizing information) Guided Writing Students were given extensive background information, and asked to consider:
Recipient reactions Purpose in writing Standard formats/conventions
Table 1 below contrasts the standard language learning objectives of such tasks with objectives focused on skills and/or content.
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Table 1: Task Types and Objectives
Scaffolded Exercises Gapped Texts Sentence Completion Propositional Clusters Tables and Flow Charts Summaries, short compositions
Language Learning Objectives
Content and Skills Learning Objectives
Lexical items, grammatical Understanding concepts, items/functors conceptual relations Completing syntactic structures; Understanding concepts, knowing alternative structures principles, conceptual relations Providing syntactic structures on Deepening understanding of basis of vocabulary items principles, conceptual relations Interrelating category labels in a Deeper understanding of key given schema/taxonomy conceptual frameworks Recognizing what is relevant; reorganizing information; classifying concepts; organizing concepts in a conceptual schema
Guided Writing Recipient design
Achievement of goals
Possible standard format ('genre'), conventions
Control of mood, pronouns, modes of address; modality – appropriate uncertainty/hedging Rhetorical skills, largely structure based; use of modality (expressing uncertainty, and probability); appraisal system Appropriate format ('genre'), generic structures and functions; correct register
Interpersonal skills; empathy; understanding other points of view; relationship building Strategic communication skills: negotiation, persuasion; understanding shared/unshared values; knowledge of own and company goals Understanding why and how information is packaged and staged; why specific language suits specific contexts
Language objectives can be meaningful and motivating when improved language proficiency is the main aim. But focusing on these objectives fails miserably with students intent on acquiring expertise in a knowledge-based subject. There were four take-home tasks in each assignment, each worth 5 marks, giving a total of 20 marks for each assignment. The amount of scaffolding was reduced from assignment to assignment to encourage increased independence. Meanwhile, the difficulty and complexity of the tasks increased. Markers evaluated answers holistically, adopting an integrated view of content and communicative effectiveness. They viewed 'evidence of understanding' and 'adequate expression' as two facets of one process. Grammatical inaccuracies were not the focus; however, a half mark was deducted for unintelligible writing.
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Results Table 3 shows the five bands and percentages of students achieving them: Table 3: Marks achieved for the three written assignments
Assignment 1 Assignment 2 Assignment 3
0 to 4 1% 0% 1%
5 to 8 3% 3% 2%
9 to 12 26% 22% 19%
13 to 16 62% 64% 64%
17 to 20 8% 11% 14%
In all three assignments, over 95% of students achieved the third level. Movements towards the higher bands are evident when the percentages are compared between first and third assignments. For the 17-to-20 mark band, there was an increase from 8% to 14%; for the 13-to-16 mark band, an increase from 62% to 64%; and a concomittant decrease from 26% to 19% for the 9-to-12 band. The improvement for international students was particularly striking. In the 13-to-16 band, there was increase from 52% to 68%; while for the 9-to-12 band there was a decrease from 37% to 26%. Student perceptions were mixed (Jones and Sin, 2002) but on the whole favourable. We note that perceptions are predicted quite strongly by the academic backgrounds of the students – rather than, say, language backgrounds. Discussion Content-based approaches to language teaching were adopted in the US in the 1980s in school curricula (Crandall, 1987, Crandall et al., 1987), and a number of 'integrative' theories and methods arose in the 1990s. While many saw improved language skills as the aim, others believed that an integrated approach would also assist the learning of content. Mohan (1990) called for an integrated pedagogy in which "Language development and content development are not regarded in isolation from each other and there is a focus on the intersection of language, content and thinking objectives." However, many recent models have been built less on an "intersection" of language, content and thinking objectives than on a mapping of distinct rhetorical and grammatical skills onto variously labeled cognitive skills and abilities. Others amount to theme-based language curricula. In the present initiative, we attempted to exploit the 'intersection' adumbrated by Mohan (1990). The fact that the course was an accredited content-based unit and part of degree program, helped ensure that content was the primary focus. We downplayed the 'skills' side of the intervention, as many students were reluctant to turn their attention to generic skills, let alone language skills. So we avoided talk of writing and writing skills, using 'restatement' instead of 'paraphrase', restating 'principles' or 'definitions' or 'propositions' 4
rather than 'sentences'. Thus, not only were communicative task-types adapted for the teaching and learning of content, the whole idiom of language teaching was eschewed. All tasks were thoroughly contextualized, so that rather than writing responses to abstract questions from a textbook, students were crafting authentic-looking documents to meet context-specific needs. Yet, although the tasks were content-based, they demanded fairly sophisticated language-based skills. These skills were 'scaffolded'. Conclusion Our results indicate that the mixture of task types used (see Jones and Sin, 2003) produced an overall improvement in student learning, in terms of content knowledge and the clarity and accuracy of its expression. In general, the tasks were well accepted by students as an integral part of their content-focused syllabus. Each of the task-types used now needs to be investigated separately, and evaluated from the separate viewpoints of language and content outcomes.
References Bruce, Nigel. (2002). Dovetailing language and content: teaching balanced argument in legal problem answer writing. English for Specific Purposes, 21, 31-345. Crandall, J. A. (1987). ESL through content-area instruction: Mathematics science, social studies. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents. Crandall, J. A. (1992). Content-centered learning in the United States. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 13, 111-126. Crandall, J. A., G. Spanos, D. Christian, C. Simich-Dudgeon, and K. Willetts. (1987). Integrating Language and Content Instruction for Language Minority Students. NCBE (now NCELA): Teacher Resource Guides Series. 1987, No. 4. Crandall, J. A., and D. Kaufman. (Eds.). (2002). Content-Based Instruction in Higher Education Settings. Alexandria, VA: TESOL, Inc. Jones, A., and S. Sin. (2002). Perceptions and Priorities of Diverse Groups of 1st Year Accounting Students with Regard Generic Skills/Communication Skills. Paper delivered at HERDSA and AAANZ Annual Conferences, Perth, July, 2003. Jones, A. & Sin, S. (2003) Generic Skills in Accounting: Competencies for Students and Graduates. Prentice Hall/Pearson Education. Krueger, M. and F. Ryan (Eds.). (1993). Language and content: Discipline and content-based approaches to language study. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath.
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Mohan, B.A. (1986). Language and Content. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Mohan, B.A. (1990). Integration of language and content. In Proceedings of the first research symposium on limited English proficient students' issues (pp. 113-160). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs. Murphy, J. M. and F. L. Stoller (Eds.). (2001). TESOL Journal, Vol. 10, Nos. 2/3. Special Theme: Sustained-Content Language Teaching: An Emerging Definition. Pally, M. (Ed.). (2000). Sustained Content Teaching in Academic ESL/EFL: A Practical Approach. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin. Pally, M. (2001). Skills Development in 'Sustained' Content-Based Curricula: Case Studies in Analytical/Critical Thinking and Academic Writing. Language and Education, 15:4, 279305. Sin, S. & Jones, A. (2003). The learning outcomes of an integrative method of teaching generic skills in a first year accounting course. Presented at CPA Australia Accounting Educators’ Forum, Sydney, 2003. [Publication forthcoming.]
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