Háskóli Íslands Hugvísindasvið Enska English Words in Context An Unexpected Voyage: A Reading Adventure Ritgerð til MA-prófs í Ensku Jenny Berglind Rúnarsdóttir Kt.: 060166-5449 Leiðbeinandi: Birna Arnbjörnsdóttir Maí 2016 Abstract This paper is written in four parts and includes an introduction and a conclusion. The first part reviews the literature on the status of Icelandic English learners in primary schools in Iceland, the current Icelandic National Curriculum for Foreign Languages (2014), and the role of the European Language Portfolio as a tool for promoting learner autonomy. The wide gap between English learners in the primary school system and the requirements for digital literacy supports the growing need for effective CALL material, that are learner orientated. The second part of the paper is a review of research on different language methodologies and techniques that are relevant to the proposed learning material. Listening and vocabulary development is crucial to second language learning and the computer is an ideal tool to develop both, as well as, learner autonomy. The third part of the paper will describe the literature on vocabulary acquisition and developing listening skills. The literature is relevant to the methods, techniques, and content of the proposed computer assisted teaching material , An Unexpected Voyage: A Reading Adventure, which is aimed at developing vocabulary and listening comprehension within the context of a remedial interactive story at a pre-intermediate level. The final part of the paper is a discussion on the teaching material and its contents, the structure of the material, the objectives for the listening and vocabulary tasks, the plot outline, the characters and the setting, and how to implement in the classroom. It, moreover, discusses digital and teacher’s assessment and how the material relates to the Icelandic National Curriculum for foreign languages, the European Portfolio. And how the abilities listed in the CEFFL for study skills correlates to the teaching material. Finally, this paper will attempt to answer Chapelle’s questions on language learning potential related to this CALL material. 1 Table of Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 4 1. The Learner, the Teacher and the Curriculum ................................................................. 6 1.1 English Learners in Icelandic Primary Schools .......................................................... 6 1.2 The Icelandic National Curriculum ............................................................................. 8 1.3 The European Language Portfolio .............................................................................. 9 1.4 The Common European Framework for Foreign Languages (CEFFL) ................... 11 2 Methods, Techniques, and Tools for Second Language Learning ............................. 14 2.1 Predominant teaching methodologies in the early 20th century ................................ 14 2.1.1 The Grammar Translation Method ..................................................................... 14 2.1.2 The Direct Method ............................................................................................. 15 2.1.3 The Audio Lingual Method ................................................................................ 15 2.2 Communicative Teaching Methodologies in the 21st century .................................. 16 2.2.1 Communicative language teaching (CLT) ......................................................... 16 2.2.2 Task-based Language Learning and Teaching (TBLT) ..................................... 16 2.2.3 The Storyline Methodology ............................................................................... 18 2.3 Storytelling ................................................................................................................ 20 2.4 Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) ..................................................... 21 2.4.1 Digital Remedial Reading .................................................................................. 24 2.4.2 Digital storytelling .............................................................................................. 26 3 Listening and Vocabulary Development ....................................................................... 28 3.1 Corpus Linguistics ..................................................................................................... 28 3.2 The Semantic Transparency of Idioms ..................................................................... 29 3.3 Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition ............................................................................ 30 3.4 Strategies and techniques for deliberate Teaching of Vocabulary ........................... 31 3.5 Listening Comprehension .......................................................................................... 34 4 An Unexpected Voyage: A Reading Adventure ........................................................... 37 4.1 The remedial navigational story ................................................................................ 37 2 4.2 Listen and do Tasks ................................................................................................... 38 4.3 The Plot Outline ......................................................................................................... 81 4.4 The Settings ............................................................................................................... 81 4.5 The Characters ........................................................................................................... 82 4.6 Productive Tasks ........................................................................................................ 88 4.7 Assessment and feedback .......................................................................................... 89 4.8 Implementation .......................................................................................................... 91 4.9 Language Learning Potential ..................................................................................... 92 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 93 References ............................................................................................................................... 94 Appendix A ............................................................................................................................. 99 Appendix B ............................................................................................................................ 102 Appendix C ........................................................................................................................... 104 Appendix D ........................................................................................................................... 105 Appendix E ............................................................................................................................ 106 Appendix F ............................................................................................................................ 108 Appendix G ........................................................................................................................... 110 Appendix H ........................................................................................................................... 111 3 Introduction Since I began teaching English in 2000, I have noticed an increasing proficiency gap between English learners through the years. More and more Icelandic children are exposed to English on a daily basis. Their lexicon vary and often it is impossible for a teacher to fully establish the extent in which students’ lexicon vary. What is evident though, with this widening gap between learners, is that whole classroom teaching is no longer a suitable teaching approach. Addressing all individual learner types, at different levels, has become an arduous task, using the traditional methods. Additionally, finding suitable material for learners at different proficiency levels can be time-consuming, especially for class teachers that teach English along with other subjects. Hence, we need to find new ways of teaching and monitoring learners that are effective and efficient, that address individual needs, encourage cooperative creative learning and alternative assessments to traditional testing. In 2012, I was employed by the National Center for Teaching Materials in Iceland, to come up with an idea for computer aided language learning material aimed at developing vocabulary based on the word list and images from Adventure Island of English Words, a set if learning materials for TPR teaching of young learners, which is divided into a box of flashcards, a handbook guide for teachers using TPR in the classroom, and printable worksheets and test sheets, accessible on the following website, http://vefir.nams.is/adventure_island/index.htm.The vocabulary selected were topic based and framed within a suggested storyline Shipwrecked on a Fantasy Island. (Runarsdottir, 2008, p 31-35) An Unexpected Voyage: A Reading Adventure is an interactive story, also based on a