AttendingtoAttendanceandAttention
Attendancein theclassroom iscommonly defined asbeing present,a cognateofthe Japanese出席.Thereisalsoamedicaldefinition,onewhereaphysicianisinattendanceat a hospital,providing a service,mostly based on an archaicdefinition ofwaiting forthe master.A closelookatWebster・sdictionarywillshow asomewhattautologicaldefinitionof attendanceto mean thenumberofpersonsattending,or thenumberoftimesa person attends.Ifwefollow on,wefindthatattendmeanstopayattentionto,anothertautology. Notethatfurtherdownthelistofdefinitions,afterlookafter,andtakechargeof,andthe olderto waitfor,wefinally arriveatthedefinition common to teacher,to bepresent. Curiously,thereisnoWikipediaentryforAttendanceinEnglish.
Ifwecontinuelooking,wefindtheintransitiveverbtobemuchmoreinteresting.They areprimarilyabouttheselforthemind,notthebody.Toattendtoyourworkistoapply yourself,andtopayattentionistoapplyyourmind.
Theuseoftheword attention hereleadsusto theOED,wherewefind thatafter referencesbyChaucerandShakespeare,acogentdefinitionarisesin1690withJohnLocke, in ESS.HumaneUnderstanding,・When theIdeasthatofferthemselves,..aretaken notice of,and,asitwere,registred in theMemory,itisAttention.・Thus,according toLocke, AttentionisverymuchakintoLearning;oratleasthaselementsofLearning.Wecouldgo sofarastosaythatAttentionisarequisiteelementofLearning.
Thisisallaratherlong way tointroduceatopicofcentralimportancetolanguage learning;attention.For onecannotlearn anything withoutattention,butthiseffectis 学苑英語コミュニケーション紀要 No.870 38～46（20134）
Attenti
onandTechnol
ogyi
nthe
LanguageCl
assroom
Kevi
nRyan
Abstract
Technology in thelanguageclassroom hascaused disruption oflate.Attention isonearea thatmany teachersfeeltheneed to address.A closerlook atattention revealsthereare culturalandlinguisticdifferencesintheconceptandhow itrelatestoattendance.Psychology andpersonalinteractionsaffectattentionwhenwefactorinuseoftechnologysuchassocial mediaand constantaccesstotheInternet.A largebody oflinguisticresearch on attention revealsthattechnologybothenhancesandconfoundsclassroom interaction.Thefinalsection dealswith suggestionsfortechnology usetoenhanceattention in theclassroom,oratleast getstudentstorecognizeandusetheirintentionalattentionwisely.
compoundedinthat,aswewillseelater,languageisessentiallyourattentionapplied.We willdiscussattention anditsroleon many levels.Thenewestmanifestation ofaconcern aboutattention ishow technology affectsit,andhow thataffectsouralready considered opinionsonlearning,languagesandclassroom management.
Attention
Howard Rheingold,authorofNetSmart:How tothriveonline,beginshisclassesat StanfordUniversitybyaskinghisstudentstoshuttheirlaptopsandturnofftheirphones. Thisisunusualthesedays,butnotsurprising.Thenheasksthem toclosetheireyes.This doessurprisethem.Heasksthem tomonitortheirthoughts,andhow theyjumpfrom one topictoanother,andhow effortlessitis.
Afteraskingthem toopentheireyesagainheexplainshow thereisnoneedtowork atmakingyourmindwander.Itdoesthatallbyitself.Thenhegoesontoexplainoneof thefivedigitalliteracieshisclassisgoingtoaddress:Attention.Rheingold:・・Ican・tchange yourmentalhabitsinasinglesemester,・Icontinue,aftertheyopentheireyes,・butIcan suggestasimple,powerfulidea:youcanlearntobeawareofhow youshiftyourattention whenyourphonebuzzesoryourlaptopscreenbeckons・・(2012,p.35).Thesefivenew digital literaciesalldependonattention,themostbasicandintegraltolearningitself.Theother fourliteraciesareCrapDetection,Participation,Collaboration,andNetSmart.Thisauthor willbeusingNetSmartasatextbookforhisComputerLiteracycoursethissemester.
Attentionisacopingmechanism,onethatallowsustoavoidpsychosis.Somekindsof autism are essentially a lack ofan attentionalfilter.This filter operates because itis necessary.・In fact,itisestimated thatin any given second weconsciously processonly sixteenoftheestimatedelevenmillionbitsofinformationourcombinedsensespasstoour brains・(Karges,1999).
Attentionwasfirststudiedinthefieldofphilosophy.Inprint,thefirstreferencetothe studyofattentionmightbeinrelationtomemory.JuanLuisVives,aSpaniardbornthe yearafterColumbusdiscoveredAmerica,foundthatmemory improvedwith attention.As psychologydeveloped,Leibnitzcoinedtheterm ・Apperception・,whichrefersto・theprocess by which new experience is assimilated to and transformed by the residuum of past experienceofanindividualtoform anew whole・(Runes,1962).Atthistime,scientistswere juststarting todifferentiatethevoluntary andinvoluntary applicationsofattention.This isamongtheearliestexamplesofresearchintowhatwenow callmultitasking.Mosttermed theoppositeofattention asdistraction.In theearly 20th century ideasfrom behaviorism broughtstudiesoftaskswitchingandteststhatconfoundedperception,requiringattention tobefocused.The・StroopEffect・wasthemostcommonofthese,withtestsmadeofwords ofcolors,themselvescolored in a differenthue.Theconfusion caused a doubling ofthe processing time.In thelatterpartofthelastcentury,listening totwostreamsofverbal
information and being tested forcomprehension becamea dominantexperimentalmethod (subjectsweretoldtofocusononeofthetwostreams).Debatecenteredaroundwhetherthe unattendedaudiostream enteredconsciousnessornot.Thislasteduntilelectricalsignalsin thebrainofferedbetterdata.WiththeadventofPET scansandfMRI,thefieldblossomed, lead by M ichaelPosner.TermslikeSelectiveAttention,Divided Attention,Bottom-up vs Bottom-down,Overt and Covert,Processing load,and others brought a much clearer delineationbetweenvoluntaryandinvoluntaryattention.
Mostinteresting isonebranch ofattention study thatdealtwith culturaldifferences; what we pay attention to,and the balance between multiple targets of simultaneous attention.Research showsthatindigenouscultureswerebetterableto balanceattention among differenttargets,even among children,whereascultureswith technology showeda propensitytocategorizeandstratifymultipletargets,unabletoattendequally.
Manybelievethatrequirementsofourmodernsocietyhaveledtoahigherappreciation ofconscious,focusedattention.Eventheadventofthetimepiece,forexample,hasquantified timetosuchadegreethatitseemsnaturaltodividetimeintoseconds,minutes,andhours. Thescientificmethod and atomization ofknowledgeintofieldshasrequired ustoignore moreandmoreinaneffortasindividualstounderstandmoredeeplysmallslicesofreality. Attentionhasalwaysbeenlinkedtolearning,andisevenreflectedinthestructureof thebrain.
Thediscoveryof・mirrorneurons・inprimatesstronglyimpliesthatpayingattentiontoothersis oneofthefew humancognitivecapabilitiesthatmaybeneurally・hardwired.・Mirrorneuronsfire whenyoudosomething,buttheyalsofireinthesamewaywhenyouwatchsomeoneelsedoing thesamething....Unlikemostspecies,weareabletolearnbyimitation,andthisfacultyisatthe basisofhumanculture(Rheingold,2012,p.40).
Thetrainabilityofattentionisarequisiteforsociety.Onlyhumansattendtothemental stateofothersinordertoincreasetheirknowledgeandteachthem.
Oneoftheprimary toolsoftheexperimentalpsychologististostudy casesthatare abnormal,thatlack acertain factorin which theresearchersareinterested.So,too,with attention:lookingatwhen,whereandhow attentionisinterruptedorpreventedleadstoa deeperunderstanding.
Multitasking,oncetouted asa way to getmoredone,isnow being questioned by researchers.CliffordNassofStanfordlooksatmultitaskingasitisemployedbyconsumers ofmedia,new andold.Thereisaslidingscaleofmultitaskers;peoplewhocanansweran email,holdaconversationandupdatetheirfacebookpagewouldbecalledhighmultitaskers. Studiestodayfocusontwoareas.Oneiswhetherhighmultitaskersarebetteratfocusing attention ornot.Theotherdealswith switching tasks.Nassandothershaveproven that thereisnosuchthingasrealmultitasking,whichislikerunningtwoormoreprocessesin
parallel(likethenewercomputers).Humansmaylookliketheyaremultitasking,butthey areactuallyswitchingbackandforthbetweentasksveryquickly.Thishasmanynegative effects,many which slow usdown.Somestudieshavefound ittakeslongertomultitask thantoperform thetasksinaseries,oneafteranother.Italsoleadstomoreerrors.
SalonMagazinewriterKatieMcDonoughreportsastudydoneinMichiganthatshowed thateven shortinterruptionscan causearisein thenumberofmistakesaperson makes. ・Researchers asked 300 people to perform a sequence-based task, and found that interruptionslastingjustsecondsmanagedtodoubletheerrorrate・(McDonough,2013).We even seethatmultitasking among tween girlsin theUS iscorrelated with ・a seriesof negativeexperiences:feeling lesssocialsuccess,notfeeling normal,having morefriends whom parentsperceiveasbadinfluencesandsleepingless・(Stober,2012).
Even whileusersareawarethatmultitasking isinefficient,thepracticecontinuesto proliferate.・Asmany as80％ ofpeoplemultitask on amobiledevicewhilewatching TV, findsanew study.・and・70％ ofrespondentsmultitask atleastonceaweek;49％ doso daily.・and ・60％ browsethemobileweb,ofwhich 44％ search forunrelated contentand 38％ searchforrelatedcontent・(Fox,2011).
AttentionandTechnology
The ubiquitous presence of an Internet connection provided through a cellphone networkhashadalastingeffectonpeople,andamongthem themostaffectedareteensand youth,whoparticipatemorethan thosein otherage-groups.Butfirstwemustteaseout thenewertechnologyfrom afarmoreprevalenttechnology・reading.
Punditshavetakentogivingwarningsabouthow technologyisaffectingourbrain,and how interactionsinsocietyarechangingasaresult.Manyofthesearepurportedlyrelated torisesinuseoftechnology.OneofthebestknownofthesepunditsisNicholasCarr.
NicholasCarr,inhis2010bookTheShallows,excerptedintheAtlanticin2008,argues thattheInternetisdesigned in a way thatencouragesskimming and discouragesdeep reading.HequotesthecognitiveresearcherMaryanneWolf,・When weread online,she says,wetend tobecome・meredecodersofinformation.・Ourability tointerprettext,to maketherichmentalconnectionsthatform whenwereaddeeplyandwithoutdistraction, remainslargelydisengaged・(Carr,2008).
Aboutadecadeago,LindaStonecoined theterm continuouspartialattention.When you seesomeoneconstantly checking theirphoneformessagesorfacebook updates,when youseethattheyarenotlisteningorparticipatinginameetingwithalloftheirattention, thisiscontinuouspartialattention.Differentfrom multitasking,whichhasasagoalmore efficient operation,continuous partialattention strives for constant connection with a channelofcommunication.Stone:・Wepay continuouspartialattention in an effortNOT TO MISS ANYTHING.Itisan always-on,anywhere,anytime,any placebehavior that
involvesan artificialsenseofconstantcrisis・(Stone,2002).Stonebringsupanotheruseful way to look attechnology and how itaffectsus.Likesleep apnea,a disruption ofthe breathingrhythm duringsleep,Stonenoticedfirstinherself,thenstudiedinothers,email apnea.Shefound thatwhen shechecked heremail,therewasa hitch in herbreath,a stoppingoftheintakeofair.
Sherry Turklehasworked fordecadesattheintersection ofemotion and computing. SheisthecurrentdirectoroftheMIT InitiativeonTechnologyandSelf.Inhermostrecent book,AloneTogether:WhyWeExpectMorefrom TechnologyandLessfrom EachOther,she writesabouthow shehasseenanevolutionofsocialinteractions,wherewenow paymore attentiontoourmachinesthanwedotoourfriends.Shestatesintheintroduction,
Thesedays,insecureinourrelationshipsandanxiousaboutintimacy,welooktotechnologyfor waystobein relationshipsandprotectourselvesfrom them atthesametime.Thiscan happen when one is finding one・s way through a blizzard of text m essages;it can happen when interactingwitharobot.Ifeelwitnessforathirdtimetoaturningpointinourexpectationsof technology and ourselves.Webend totheinanimatewith thesolicitude.Wefeartherisksand disappointmentsofrelationshipswith ourfellow humans.Weexpectmorefrom technology and lessfrom eachother(Turkle,2011,p.xii).
Rheingold(2012)sumsupthesituation:・Thehabitofmultitasking,amplifiedbytechnologies ofdistraction,ishurtingourcapacityforsustainedattention.Unwittingly,weincreasingly baseourpersonalrelationshipsonsurveillanceasopposedtotrust.Booksaredisappearing (orwillbesoon);we・resacrificingour・hard-won・abilitytowrestlewithatext.・
AttentionintheClassroom
With thepervasiveuseoflaptopsin theUS and Europe,and to a lesserdegreein Japan,weseetherelationshipbetweenlecturerandnote-takerchange.Indeed,thishasled to ideasliketheflipped classroom,wherelecturesarerecorded on video and assigned as homework,allowing for m ore interaction among students,if numbers permit,in the classroom.Forthoseprofessorswhorefusetoprovidealternativestolectures,anew app (application)allowsstudentstorecordboth audioandvideoin class.Itiscalledsnoozerr. Seventythreepercentofstudentsreportthatthey・cannotstudywithouttechnology・(Laird, 2012).
Astechnology permeatestheclassroom,itisincumbenton theteachertoprovidean environmentthatworkswiththetechnology,puttingittogoodpedagogicaluse,insteadof workingagainstitwithprohibitions.Attemptsatbanningcellphone(now smartphone)use in classhavebeen largely unsuccessfulunlessclassesaresmallenough fortheteacherto keepacloseeyeonstudents.
DeGennarofindsthatstudentsandteachersusinginstantmessaging(IM)haveinteractions ofthefollowing types:・Negotiated goals,Co-constructed problem solving,and supportive argumentation・(DeGennaro,2008.p.11).
Although stillin their initialstages,studies show thatone-to-one use ofpersonal technologyisthemostadvantageoustolearning.Whenstudentshavetheirowntechnology (oftencalledBYOD,orBringYourOwnDevice),theyareinvestedinmaintainingthetools needed to implement learning, and integrate them into life beyond the classroom. Technology mandatedorprovidedby theschooltendstogetusedonly minimally,andis seenbystudentsasanobligationinsteadofanopportunity.
AttentionintheLanguageClassroom
Addinglanguagetothemixoflearningandclassroom,alongwiththedistractionsof technology increasesmotivation,butalsoaddsasubstantialcognitiveload.In addition,a differentkind ofattention isrequired for languagelearning.Developed in thelasttwo decades,ConsciousnessRaising(notthepoliticalvarietyofMaoZedong),issimplyawayto draw attention to elementsoflinguisticsin utteranceswhich studentsareattempting to produce.
To look moreclosely atattention in thelanguageclassroom wemustfirstconsider interactionsandhow theyareaffectedbyclassroom interaction.
・Schutz(1967)recognizedthatbeinginvolvedinaface-to-faceinteractiontransformsanindividual・s experiences,creating・attentionalmodifications・oneachactor(p.171).Whenpeopleareinvolvedin an interaction,they influenceeach other・sconsciousexperienceandtheway each attendstothe world.Inunderstandingattention,itiscriticaltolooknotonlyatindividualactors,butalsothe interactiontranspiringbetweentwoormoreactors(Scott,2009,p.113).
Languageandlinguisticshavetakenalonglookatattentionintheclassroom,breaking it down into its constituent elements.・...Stuss,Shallice,Alexander,and Picton (1995) attemptedtotaxonomizeattentionbyidentifyingfivemaincomponentprocessesunderlying theperformanceofattentiontasks:monitoring,energizing,inhibiting,contentionscheduling adjustment,andif-thenlogiccontrol・(SegalowitzandFrenkiel-Fishman,2005,p.645).Language itselfisapartofthecognitiveprocess,andinawayisafilterthatguidesattentiontothe mostsalientsocialinteractions.
・Languageitselfcan beviewed asan attention-directing system,in asenseexpressed by many cognitivelinguists(Langacker,1987;Talmy,1996,2000;Tomasello,1998).Thecentralideahereis thatlanguageservestodirecttheinterlocutor・sattentionasheorshebuildsamentalrepresentation ofthe meaning conveyed in the incoming message.As has been proposed by Langacker and Talmy,thisrepresentation or schema construction involvesa number ofcognitivephenomena,
including,amongothers,foregroundingandbackgroundingofinformationthatis,placingpieces of information in particular relationships to each other (see especially Talmy,2000,chap.4)
(SegalowitzandFrenkiel-Fishman,2005,p.645).
Resultsin astudy ofattentionalcontrolandlanguagelearning (n＝16)showedthat, ・Bilinguals・speedofattention controlin theL2accountedforasignificantproportion of theuniquevarianceintheirproficiencyinthatlanguage.・and・Hierarchicalregressionanalysis revealedthat,when taken together,L1andL2attention controlaccountedfor59％ ofthe varianceinthebilingualproficiencymeasure・(SegalowitzandFrenkiel-Fishman,2005,p.651).
Itishardtoextricateattention from language.Thismay besomething desirablefor researchpurposes,butonehastounderstandthatitmaynotbethebestforlearning.The research isatsuch an early state,perhapsitisnow bestto work with a morenatural approachtolanguageteachingandlearning.RichardSchmidtwasoneofourbestresearchers, andyetwefind:
・Ifallthese accounts are correct,attention is a crucialconcept for SLA.The allocation of attention isthepivotalpointatwhich learner-internalfactors(including aptitude,motivation, current L2 knowledge, and processing ability) and learning-external factors (including the complexity and distributional characteristics of input, discoursal and interactional context, instructionaltreatment,and task characteristics)come together.What then happens within attentionalspacelargelydeterminesthecourseoflanguagedevelopment,includingthegrowthof knowledge (the establishmentofnew representations),fluency (access to thatknowledge),and variation.
However,itcouldbearguedthatattentionintheseaccountsismerelyadeusexmachinathat doesnotexplain anything...To gain a better understanding ofwhatattention isand how it works,itisnecessarytoturntopsychology...(Schmidt,2001,p.11).
ImprovingAttention
Attention affects language learning in the classroom at every level.From simple attentiontothetaskathand,whereteachersstrivetoexpandthetimeontaskduringany classroom activity,totheverybasicconstructsoflanguageitself,attentionisakeyfactor. Therearemanywaystoimproveattentionatanyoftheselevels.
Atapersonallevelforbothteacherandlearner,meditationisthemosttime-testedway toimproveattention.Whenmeditationpermeatesintomindfulactivities,thereisabenefit acrossallthelevelsofattention.Mindfulnessitselfisprobably themostpurekind of attention.
Therearemany activitiesdesigned to improvemindfulnessorattention thatcan be appliedin class.Insteadoftaking attendance,ashortpracticesession atthebeginning of class,focusing on one ofthe many levels ofattention (attention to a language point,
attentiontoaskill,attentiontoahabit)isoftenhelpful.Mostimportantistherealization thatstudents(andteachers)havecontroloverwhattheyattendto,andwhattheyignore. Thisdifferencebetweenvoluntaryattentionandinvoluntarydistractionisthekeytofocus. Technology,while often contributing to the distraction,does have tools to harness attention.Softwareisavailablethatblanksoutalldistractionsforasetperiodoftimeso thatpeoplecan work exclusively foran optimal20minutes,takeashortbreak,andthen getbacktoafocusedtask.Monitoringsoftwareshowsyouwhichprogramsyouuseeach day,tallyingupaweeklyscoreofproductiveanddistractingsoftwareuse.Thisauthorhas been abletoraisetheproductiveendofhissoftwareusefrom 45％ tomorethan 70％ by closelymonitoringanddiminishinghisuseofsiteslikeYouTubeandFacebook.
Languagelearning isa messy business,onein which studentsneed interaction with proficientspeakerstoimproveatagreatrate.Findingsuchspeakersandcontactingthem when and where needed is the key to effective use oftechnology as a communication channel.Thissortofsociallanguagelearningisaneffectiveadditiontoclassroom practice. In theclassroom,new programsthatboth controltheflow ofinformation,eliminating distractions,yetallowingenoughflexibilitytobranchoffifthestudentwishestodoso,are now available.Itisagainincumbentuponteacherstoprovideanenvironmentwherethere isroom toroam,buttofosterthedisciplinetosticktothetaskthestudentchooses.
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