Beyond Mute-English: Empowering Oral Competency

Article Sidebar

PDF
Published: Oct 8, 2015
Keywords:
ESL, oral, confidence, native speaker, mute-english, ESL pedagogy, EFL, TESOL, best practices, methods

Main Article Content

Gary Douglas Young
Gachon University (Seongnam, Korea)

Abstract

‘Beyond Mute-English’ is an instructional essay based in practical applications and professional teaching experience.  The article presents foundational methods, gleaned through the author’s nine years instructing foreign learners of English at universities in America, China, and The Republic of Korea, and aims at resetting complex approaches in second language acquisition by revisiting best practices for developing oral competency.  The article outlines six concepts, referred to as ‘silver keys,’ pertaining to the study of English as a second language, with brief, substantive elaborations of each. The silver keys the article establishes are built around the pedagogical concepts of mimicry, specificity in adaptation, high currency versus low currency language, necessity of mastering the basic skills before progressing, and intrinsic motivation in learning.

Article Details

Issue
Vol. 9 No. 2 (2015): The New English Teacher
Section
Research articles

 

 

 

Author Biography

Gary Douglas Young, Gachon University (Seongnam, Korea)

Gary Young has taught Composition or English as a Second Language at Northern Michigan University, Marymount College, Beijing University of Education, and Sichuan University of Education.  The author is currently in his fourth year as a full-time faculty member at Gachon University in Seoul where he teaches composition and academic English.  His last scholarly article, on plagiarism and conflicts in cross-cultural education, ‘Writing Woes in the Land of Mao,’ was published in the spring, 2013 volume of Writing on the Edge (University of California, Davis).

References

Andreou, G. and Galantomos, I. (2009). The Native Speaker Ideal in Foreign Language Teaching. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 6(2), 200-208.

Barcroft, J. (2004). Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition: A Lexical Input Processing Approach. Foreign Language Annals, 37(2), 200-208.

Evans, Daniel W. (2000). Communicative Humanistic Acculturation Techniques. Texas Papers in Foreign Language Education, fall issue: 5(1), 1-8.

Greene, R. L. (1992). Human memory: Paradigms and paradoxes. Hillsdale, NJ: Psychology Press (Lawrence Erlbaum).

Harrington, Stasie C. and Hertel, Tammy Jandrey (2000). Foreign Language Methods Students’ Beliefs about Language Learning and Teaching. Texas Papers in Foreign Language Education, fall issue: 5(1), 53-68.

He, Deyuan (2013). What Makes Learners Anxious While Speaking English: A Comparative Study of the Perceptions Held By University Students and Teachers in China. Educational Studies, 39 (3), 338-350.

Kaye, N. and Matson, D. (2000). From Writing to Speaking: Enhancing Conversation. ESL Magazine, 3(1-6), 18-20.

Krashen, Stephen (1982). Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Pergamon Press. Online: Stephen Krashen. (http://www.sdkrashen.com/content.books/pri

ncipals_and_practice.pdf) (accessed November 18, 2014).

Kuntz, Patricia S. (1997). Beliefs about Language Learning Held by Students and Their Teacher (A Pilot Study). Queen Arwa University Research Report, ERIC Document: 18p. (http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED407853.pdf) (accessed November 21, 2014)

Piller, I. (2002). Passing for a Native Speaker: Identity and Success in Second Language Learning. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 6(2), 179–206.

Rampton, M.B.H. (1990). Displacing the ‘Native Speaker’: Expertise, Affiliation, and Inheritance. ELT Journal, 44(2), 97-101.

Sachs, Murray (1982). Literacy, Learning, and Foreign Language Study. ADFL Bulletin, 13(3). (http://www.adfl.org/bulletin/V13N3/OLD/133013.HTM) (accessed November 20, 2014).