Less Commonly Taught Languages
Less commonly taught languages (or LCTLs) is a label used in the United States for languages other than the most commonly taught foreign languages in K-16 education. Covering a vast collection of world languages outside of English, these languages represent some of the world’s most popular and influential languages, such as Mandarin, Arabic, and Russian, to smaller regional languages, such as Finnish. Increasingly, new challenges to national security, accelerating international business interests, and a growing multicultural populations at home have created a dire need to teach and learn less commonly taught languages in the United States.
While French, German, and Spanish are usually the only languages offered in the nation’s K-12 schools, many students fail to get a head start on the other languages that have emerged as especially valuable in today’s modern world. Even among the less commonly taught languages deemed “critical” by the U.S. government, qualified teachers and appropriate teaching materials are virtually nonexistent across the country’s schools. As such, the national effort to develop and promote programs for less commonly taught languages falls mainly to universities. Working from foundations in both K-12 and higher-education, CULTR and the other Title VI LRCs have served a crucial role in developing curricula, assessments, standards, teaching materials, and research, in addition to providing quality training for teachers.
Projects
Through a dedicated research initiative, CULTR aims to help the learning, speaking, and teaching of critical need languages in the United States. While the current research projects (C2) will be added as they are completed, we invite you to explore our previous grant cycle (C1) research below.
Geolocative Linguistic Landscape Project
Led by Dr. Hakyoon Lee at Georgia State University, this location-based language learning project offers opportunities for students to explore how Korean language is used outside of a language classroom setting. As a project focusing on the less commonly taught language of Korean, the participating students will form a group of roughly 3-4 and choose one of the cultural themes for their project. After these variables are established, each group visits their target site(s) where Korean is used for different purposes and investigates the use of language within that context. The students collect data (picture, video, sound, etc.) and then make a video using a digital storytelling format (less than 5 minutes). Last, the students upload their project on google maps as a means of disseminating the findings and sharing ideas with other people. After presenting the project in their learning environment, the students reflect on their investigation on linguistic landscapes with comparative perspectives.
Project Description
This classroom project explored the usage of Korean in the urban areas of Georgia. Students taking Korean as a foreign language class at Georgia State University participated in this project to investigate how Korean is used across multilingual contexts and to find a connection between the linguistic environments outside of the classroom and the language lessons within the classroom.
Linguistic Landscape (LL) is the main concept used in this project, and it is defined as “the language of public road signs, advertising billboards, street names, place names, commercial shop signs, and public signs on government buildings combines to form the linguistic landscape of a given territory, region, or urban agglomeration” (Landry and Bourhis, 1997, p.25). The students’ LL projects promoted each to discover and understand the advertisements, building names, instructions, newspapers, and graffiti in both the city of Atlanta and through the World Wide Web.
Korean is the fastest growing community in Georgia, making it the 3rd largest Korean community in the US, which means the most prominent commonly used spoken home language other than English and Spanish in Georgia is Korean. Areas in the Korean community are populated with retail services that have many signs in the Korean language and those signs become great resource for students to explore for their LL project. Thus, Atlanta serves as an ideal location to further investigate the linguistic choices related to the use of Korean.
Top Ten States with Fastest Growing Korean Population (2000-2010)
From 2000-2010, 13 states in the U.S. experienced an increase of 50% or greater in their Korean American populations. (Link)
Most Commonly Spoken Language Other than English or Spanish
Removing English and Spanish from the mix, data on the other top languages spoken in the home reveals surprising trends across the United States. (Link)
Procedures
Students selected their points of location which included restaurants and shops, and cultural events. Students visited the place and investigated how the target language was used and how the cultures were integrated into the community. When investigating the geolocative places, students interacted with local people in the community to learn about their target languages and cultures in addition to taking photos and videos. After collecting information, students analyzed their data and shared the findings as a form of digital storytelling. Their projects were then uploaded to a shared digital map as shown in the example to the right.
Project Reflection
Project Reflection
Project Reflection
Student Reflection
Student Reflection
Student Reflection
Findings and Implications
The purpose of the Linguistic Landscape Project served to offer Korean learners an opportunity to look into their language surroundings and to help the students realize how Korean is used across multilingual contexts to how it is locally relevant (Kasanga, 2012). This original project promoted learner awareness of the use of Korean in various social frameworks and offered opportunities to observe and analyze the linguistic and cultural resources around them. By observing what is happening in a local context, this project implemented alternative learning opportunities for the language students. As a community-based and location-based project, this research project facilitated students to utilize their target language for the tasks of comparison, culture, community and communication (the 5C’s in ACTFL standards). The students, as “language detectives” (Sayer, 2010, p.144) or ethnographers, built their regional competence and multimodal literacy through this student-led project. Learning happened not only when they collected/analyzed the data, but also while they were watching their peers’ conclusions.
Relevance to NFLRC Mission
This project will contribute to the development and implementation of new teaching methods and teaching materials for under resourced local students. The Geolocative Linguistic Landscape Project is related to the mission of the NFLRC because the innovative aspects of this study will highlight a relatively unexplored language and language learning considering placed based research methods. By focusing on Korean, a less commonly taught language, this project will provide Korean teachers and students the opportunity to learn the language in their local community, utilize that language outside of the classroom, and communicate with others in through various means and settings. From the student perspective, this project also empowers an enjoyable and fulfilling learning environment with peers. As such, research and dissemination of this project’s results offers meaningful insights to other language educators.
Relevance to the Research Areas of CULTR
This project also has crucial impact on the LRC at GSU as it offers an opportunity for the students to explore their own local environment and language use, and they bring what they experience into their language class at GSU to create a space for learning and sharing. Building on CULTR’s mission, the involved students serve as ethnographers by investigating and observing their own learning outside of language classroom. In turn, these originally under resourced students will be better prepared to each advance their abilities and move forward with additional resources in the classroom.
Post-Project Evaluation Plan and Criteria
As a post project, dissemination of the results can be distributed through campus-wide events and various GSU departments. As a way of circulating the project to a wider community, presentations of the Geolocative Linguistic Landscape Project to other Korean teachers at the American Association of Teachers’ of Korean and other conferences will be accomplished.
Content Validity of Japanese Language Proficiency Test
Led by Dr. Mizuki Mazzotta at Georgia State University, this study investigates the content validity of the gap-filling (or rational deletion cloze) test included in the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), a high stake standardized test offered by the Ministry of Education. Though JLPT contains gap-filling (or rational deletion cloze) test as a part of reading comprehension section, whether cloze tests measure only local linguistic knowledge or global level comprehension ability has not been understood clearly. The present study attempts to clarify this issue by qualitatively examining test-takers’ retrospective verbal reports.
Project Description
This study aims to investigate the content validity of the gap-filling (or rational deletion cloze) test that is a part of the reading comprehension section of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), a high stake standardized test offered by the Ministry of Education. Though JLPT contains gap-filling (or rational deletion cloze) test as a part of reading comprehension section, whether cloze tests measure only local linguistic knowledge or global level comprehension ability has not been understood clearly (Yamashita, 2003). Studies such as Chihara et al. (1977), Bachman (1985), Jonz (1990), and Chavez-Oller et al. (1994) showed that cloze test measured text-level processing ability. However, there are also studies which demonstrated that what cloze tests measure is local syntactic ability (e.g., Alderson, 1979; 1980; Shanahan et al., 1982). Conflicting results of previous studies may be explained partly by the fact that the information carried by a cloze item varies (e.g., Alderson, 1980; Bachman, 1982: 1985). Yamashita (2003:268) points out that to restore words like prepositions and idioms, only local linguistic knowledge is necessary while anaphora or conjunctions cannot be restored without textual understanding. For the purpose of revealing the difference between each cloze item, Bachman (1985) classified cloze items into four types: “(1) within clause; (2) across clause, within sentence; (3) across sentence, within text; (4) extra-textual” (modified from Yamashita 2003, p. 268). Although Bachman’s (1985) is useful, Yamashita (2003) argues that it is not guaranteed that cloze items hypothesized to measure test-takers’ text-level understanding do indeed measure such skill. To clarify this issue, Yamashita investigated EFL learners’ perspectives by examining their verbal reports while taking the gap-filling tests. Her qualitative analysis of the verbal protocol showed that test-takers used text-level information. This study continues this line of research by investigating the validity of a gap-filling test in Japanese, a language that has been under investigated. Research questions are as follows:
1. Do JLPT cloze items require text-level understanding according to the cloze item classification framework developed by Bachman (1985)?
2. What is the source of information that test-takers use to answer gap-filling test items? Do they use text-level information?
Method
Participants:Ten non-native speakers of Japanese will participate in this study.
Materials: This study will examine actual JLPT used in the past which is published as an official study guide. Levels N4 –N1 contain one set of gap-filling questions. Total of 3 sets of questions from Level N4 – N2 will be examined.
Procedure: Participants will take gap-filling test individually with the researcher. Immediately after a participant answers a question, researcher will ask the participant to say what was happening in his/her mind while answering the test questions.
Analysis: Using Bachman’s (1985) classification of cloze item types as a framework, the researcher will analyze if cloze items in JLPT (Levels N4-L2) require text-level understanding. The audio-recorded think-aloud protocol data will be analyzed qualitatively using Yamashita’s (2003) categorization framework.
Expected Outcomes and Impact
This project will directly influence Japanese language study in an academic environment. The results obtained from this study will illustrate the gap-filling test taking process of test takers. Such information is valuable because it will enable Japanese language teachers better prepare their students for JLPT. When the project is published, it may indirectly influence the publisher of JLPT to improve the content validity of its gap-filling tests.
Relevance to NFLRC Mission
This project is relevant to NFLRC mission because through investigating the content validity of JLPT, it aims to reveal the nonnative speakers’ test taking process. Dissemination of the results will inform Japanese language teachers on efficient test preparation methods.
Relevance to the Research Areas of the Proposed LRC at GSU
This project is relevant to the LRC at GSU because it provides significant focus on the needs of Japanese teachers and learners, a language that has been taught at GSU.
Post-Project Evaluation Plan and Criteria
The LRC at GSU will conduct an external evaluation of the following two objectives of this project. Student survey will be the primary measurement instrument used in the evaluation of Objective 1. Every year, the researcher will conduct a survey among students of Japanese to find out the number of students who obtained the JLPT certificate. Objective 2 will be evaluated by the successful publication of the project.
Objective 1: This project will increase the number of Japanese learners who receive the JLPT certificate of various levels.
Objective 2: This project will disseminate the information regarding the content validity of the JLPT reading section through publishing its result in a scholarly journal with an aim to contribute to the improvement of the content validity of the JLPT reading comprehension section.
The Role of Task Complexity in Promoting Language Learning
Led by Dr. YouJin Kim at Georgia State University, this study explores Robinson’s Cognition Hypothesis which predicts that increasing the complexity of instructional tasks will promote more interaction opportunities for language learners during task-based interaction, and therefore, facilitate their language knowledge and use (Robinson, 2001, 2007). To date, the majority of studies targeted English language learners, and a little attention has been given to the acquisition of less commonly taught languages such as Korean in the US. The proposed study will test the Cognition Hypothesis in light of the relationship between task complexity and their linguistic performance (complexity, accuracy, fluency) during task performance.
Project Description
Instructional tasks have been used as a primary unit of instruction or as building blocks of classroom language learning over the past few decades (e.g., Bygate, Skehan, & Swain, 2001; Ellis, 2003). Proponents of task-based language teaching have argued that instructional tasks provide learners with opportunities for constructive interaction, authentic input and functional language output (Ellis, 2003). To date, although the benefits of tasks have been supported by a number of empirical studies, they mainly targeted English language learners. Therefore, whether learners of less-commonly taught languages such as Korean would benefit from carrying out tasks in classrooms is still questionable. Furthermore, when designing tasks, one of the critical questions is related to how to adjust task complexity levels. According to Robinson’s Cognition Hypothesis, requiring L2 learners to engage in tasks of increasing complexity for instance, either by requiring learners to use reasoning skills [+reasoning], or to consider many elements [-few elements], can direct learners’ attention to specific, task-relevant language forms (2001). More specifically, it may (1) elicit L2 production characterized by greater accuracy and complexity but less fluency, and (2) promote greater amounts of interactional processes during interaction, thereby facilitating L2 development. The purpose of the proposed study is to examine the role of task complexity in developing Korean language learners’ linguistic performance (complexity, accuracy, and fluency) during written and oral task performance.
Participants: Approximately 60 Korean Foreign Language learners (KFL) enrolled in Korean language classes at Georgia State University will be recruited to participate in the study.
Research design: The study will employ a pretest-posttest-delayed posttest design. It will be carried out over one semester in classrooms. Each class will follow task-based syllabi, and students will perform tasks with various levels of task complexity. Task complexity will be operationalized as different levels of reasoning demands and the amount of elements required for completing tasks following Robinson (2001). Multiple dependent variables are complexity, accuracy, and fluency measures of learners’ oral and written output during task performance as well as during posttests.
Instructional materials: A total of 10 communicative tasks representing two degrees of task complexity will be designed. For instance, simple tasks will ask learners to exchange information without making a decision (e.g., exchanging information about study abroad programs). For complex tasks, the learners will be asked to make a decision (e.g., deciding which study abroad programs he/she will attend).
Testing materials: In order to measure to what extent learners improve linguistic performance in terms of complexity, accuracy, and fluency, oral and written tests will be provided at the beginning and the end of the semester. For instance, students will be asked to describe pictures in Korean or will carry out oral interview with the researcher.
Data coding: First, recordings of oral task performance will be transcribed, and written task performance will be typed. Then the data will be analysed for complexity (e.g., the number of clauses in AS unit), accuracy (e.g., the number of error-free clauses), and fluency (e.g., the number of syllables per minute).
Expected Outcomes and Impact
The results of the proposed study will provide insightful information regarding materials design for language pedagogy. Furthermore, the findings are informative for training world language teachers in the US. The study targets Korean language learners at Georgia State University. However, the findings of the study might be applicable for various teaching contexts targeting different languages with multiple proficiency level learners.
Relevance to NFLRC Mission
The proposed study addresses the majority of NFLRC mission statements. First, it focuses on developing pedagogical methods and materials for teaching less commonly taught languages such as Korean. Also it involves analyzing learner data in terms of their oral and written performance (i.e., testing). The findings of the study will be used for teacher training purposes.
Relevance to the Research Areas of CULTR
There are a lot of Korean language schools in Atlanta. The findings of the study would be informative for language learning in K-12 schools serving underrepresented populations such as heritage Korean language learners.
Post-Project Evaluation Plan and Criteria
After completing the project, applications will be submitted for an external grant focusing on world language education (e.g., Spencer).
Bearing the Motivational Burden: Emotion Labor of U.S. Foreign Language Teachers
Headed by Dr. Kris Acheson-Clair at Purdue University, this study sheds light on the relationship between student attitudes and the effectiveness of US foreign language curriculum through the scope of emotion labor. The theoretical construct has recently spread from communication and psychology to education literature as researchers acknowledged that the issue affects teachers as well. Although student emotions in SLA have been examined, the field of applied linguistics has not yet tapped the explanatory potential of teacher emotions. In this qualitative study, the emotion work of teachers in U.S. foreign language classrooms is explored by interviewing Spanish high school teachers.
Project Description
In terms of producing competent speakers, US foreign language (FL) education has not proven terribly successful. Dr. Acheson-Clair has argued that negative student attitudes towards languages other than English contribute to this general failure of FL classes in the US by decreasing student motivation (Acheson, 2004). These negative attitudes stem from a variety of causes, including relative geographic isolation and a sense of economic and/or linguistic superiority; they impact student learning in foreign language classrooms by making students feel either that other languages are not “worth” spending the effort to learn, or that it is the responsibility of others to learn languages but not their own. One new area of research that may shed light on the relationship between student attitudes and the effectiveness of US FL curriculum is emotion labor on the part of teachers. Emotion labor is a hot topic in the fields of communication and psychology, with myriad studies on service professionals such as nurses, flight attendants, and 911 operators. The theoretical construct also recently spread to education literature as researchers acknowledged that the issue affects teachers as well (Näring, Vlerick, & Van de Ven, 2012). Isenbarger and Zembylas (2006) have noted the role that emotion labor plays in teacher job performance, for example. Although student emotions in SLA have been examined (Imai, 2010), the field of applied linguistics has not yet tapped the explanatory potential of teacher emotions. Since the relationship between emotion labor and teacher burnout has been studied in other teaching contexts (see Kinman, Wray, & Strange, 2011), the time has come for applying this theoretical construct to foreign language classrooms. In this qualitative study, Dr. Acheson-Clair explores the emotion work of teachers in US FL classrooms by interviewing Spanish high school teachers and analyzing interview data. This research seeks to answer questions surrounding emotion labor of US FL teachers, such as the following: Do FL teachers in the US feel a burden for generating student motivation, and do they perform excessive emotion labor to meet that burden? How might emotion labor contribute to teacher burnout? What effects does emotion labor have on perceived (lack of) teacher efficacy? What are possible solutions (prevention and treatments) for excessive emotion labor of US FL teachers?
Relevance to NFLRC Mission
This project is related to the first aspect of the mission of NFLRC: Research, development and dissemination of new and improved teaching methods. If teachers can develop strategies to maximize their students’ motivation while minimizing their own emotion labor, the combined benefit will be improved student learning outcomes and lower teacher attrition.
Relevance to the Research Areas of CULTR
So far this project has included participants from rural, low-income public secondary schools, with high percentages of African Americans and other ethnic minorities. These are the very schools where student achievement is lowest and teacher attrition highest. The study is therefore directly related to the focus area of the GSU LRC: Expanding opportunities for language learning in K-12 schools serving underrepresented populations.
Post-Project Evaluation Plan and Criteria
This project received IRB approval, and data collection and analysis are underway for follow-up to this project. The study has already yielded a conference presentation (annual convention of the American Association of Applied Linguists), and should produce at least two peer-reviewed journal articles upon completion. For maximum impact and exposure, the manuscripts will be sent to for review to top-tier journals such as the Modern Language Journal and the Foreign Language Annals.
The publication that came out of this project is available online at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/modl.12333/full
2018-2022 Grant Cycle
Based on LRC core values, CULTR has established the objectives and related projects for the 2018-2022 funding cycle. Our research is centered around the development of materials and assessments in less commonly taught languages (LCTLs). Specifically, CULTR now focuses on Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, all of which are taught in Georgia State University’s Department of World Languages and Cultures. The following projects are expected to be completed by 2022.
R1: Mapping the DLI Opportunity Gap. CULTR will partner with the Alonzo A. Crim Center for Urban Educational Excellence in the College of Education and Human Development at GSU to create an interactive map of DLI schools and programs in the nation. By highlighting the lack of availability of DLI programs to the most underserved communities, CULTR and the Crim Center will create data and research to inform action to address the opportunity gap. As an extension of the DLI mapping project, CULTR and the Crim Center will conduct research and create curriculum around culturally responsive DLI programming and instruction. This will anchor DLI pedagogy and teacher training in (1) what these communities already know, (2) how the students learn best, and (3) practices that address and work through the affordances of DLI theory and pedagogy. This approach will create opportunities for and with students and their communities that allow them to become more purposefully connected to today’s global environment. Through this collaboration with the Crim Center, and with financial support from GSU’s Office of Student Success, an interactive map of available DLI programs will allow CULTR and other researchers to explore the social and institutional structures that impede access among underserved students and families in acquiring the language ability, intercultural competence, and global mindset needed to be competitive in a global marketplace. This project will generate research through articles and conference presentations, as well as pedagogical resources for teachers and advocacy materials for families through the creation of a Family and Community Toolkit and the Family and Community Information Camp. This project may also have policy implications for both state and municipal legislatures as DLI schools are developed, proposed, and approved.
R2: Developing a computerized assessment battery of pragmatic competence in Chinese as a second language (Dr. Shuai Li). This multi-year project aims to develop and validate an assessment battery for testing L2 Chinese pragmatics for college students. Pragmatic competence is conceptualized as a multi-faceted construct encompassing pragmalinguistic ability (e.g., speech acts, implicature, routines), sociopragmatic ability (e.g., level of formality), and discursive ability (e.g., opening, turn taking, and closing). The only published study on assessing L2 Chinese pragmatics is one by the researcher which reports on a project funded by the CULTR. Because Li’s study only focused on one specific aspect of pragmatic competence, the proposed project plans to expand the scope of assessment by including additional vital pragmatic constructs (e.g., speech acts, routines, discursive ability) into a computerized assessment battery.
R3: Goals, Expectations, and Motivations of Collegiate Less Commonly Taught Languages Learners (Dr. Mizuki Mazzotta). The proposed study aims to fill a research gap by investigating the nature (i.e., needs, interests, attitudes, opinions) of college students in less commonly taught languages (LCTLs) by investigating the goals, expectations, and motivations of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean learners at multiple universities. This mixed-methods study will inform teaching strategies, course designs, and recruitment strategies of the three LCTLs programs.
R4: Linguascaping the school: A deep mapping project for urban linguistic landscape (Dr. Hakyoon Lee). This project explores how the concept of Linguistic Landscape (LL) is employed as a pedagogical tool in multilingual school contexts. This is an extension of a CULTR research project funded in 2014. To expand the scope of the project, LL will be applied to the local K-12 schools to investigate how LL promotes learners’ understanding of multilingualism as well as target language in different social contexts. The study will illustrate how the concept of LL is applied to different Korean educational settings, especially in K-12. As the first geolocative language research in K-12 context in the U.S., this project will promote greater understanding of linguistic dynamics within foreign language education. It may also contribute to FL policy and have considerable impact on the practices and management of bilingual and multilingual education in the U.S.