Abstract
Due to population mobility and demographic changes the conceptual distinction between first and second language education is increasingly difficult to maintain in many educational contexts. In this chapter we trace the evolving language models underlying two increasingly connected fields within language education: the teaching of in English (as a second language) for academic purposes and academic literacy (usually associated with first language speakers). It will be argued that despite the communicative approach first heralded some fifty years ago, the teaching of English as a second language is still grappling with the conceptual and pedagogic challenges of mirroring real life language use. Likewise, academic literacy education has been moving from a somewhat generic grammar-based approach towards a more subject discipline-driven approach that takes account of the actual language use in different domains of the academy. We conclude with the observation that there is a need to develop a model of language and literacy for academic communication that takes account of situated practices within specific disciplines, without losing sight of the communicative facility afforded by general language proficiency for both first and second language users.
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Notes
- 1.
There is a set of related terms connected to the teaching of English language to speakers/learners whose first language is not English.. The term “English as a Foreign Language” (EFL) is used widely to refer to the teaching of English to learners for whom English is not normally a medium of societal communication, e.g., learners of English in Japan or even Japanese learners of English following an English language course in the USA. The term “English as an Additional Language” (EAL) is increasingly used, particularly in Australia and UK, instead of English as a Second Language (ESL) when referring to learners-users from diverse language backgrounds whose first language is not English. In the USA, the term “English Language Learners” is used when referring to school-aged students from minority language communities. Given that this discussion will cover issues and research connected to a number of related fields hailing from different intellectual traditions and educational frameworks, we use the term “second language” as a general label.
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/11690481/Oxford-University-dons-verdict-on-their-students-Cant-spell-read-or-think.html Accessed on 2016-10-19
By James Rothwell, Nick Mutch, and Jake Hurfurt
12:20 AM BST 22 Jun 2015
They are supposed to be the cream of the academic crop.
But Oxford University students have been excoriated by their tutors for their poor spelling in exams and displaying a lack of “basic common sense” in essays.
Some students at the elite university found it “difficult to express their thoughts in writing” and spoke as if they were “down the pub,” according to examiners’ reports in a range of subjects.
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Leung, C., Lewkowicz, J. (2015). Second Language Academic Literacies: Evolving Understandings. In: Street, B., May, S. (eds) Literacies and Language Education. Encyclopedia of Language and Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02321-2_14-1
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Second Language Academic Literacies: Evolving Understandings- Published:
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02321-2_14-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02321-2_14-1