Teaching for Understanding

Introduction

LookingbackatthehistoryofteachingEnglishasaForeignLanguage(EFL)inJapan, many differentapproacheshavebeen used based on differentlinguistic,psychologicalor sociologicaltheories.AsBailey (2005)pointsout,threemethodshavedominated language teaching in thepastsixty years.They areGrammar-Translation Method,Audiolingualism andCommunicativeLanguageTeaching.

In Grammar-Translation Method,students are taught to analyze grammar and to translatefrom onelanguagetoanother.Learnershavechancestounderstandtherulesof grammar,butitdoesn・tmean thatthey understand theEnglish language.In orderfor them to be able to use English,their understanding should certify their fluency and communicativecompetence.InAudiolingualism,Englishistaughtbyhavingstudentsrepeat sentencesandrecitememorizeddialoguesfrom thetextbook.Themethodtriestoautomatize thelanguagehabitstoattainfluencyandautomaticitywithoutmuchfocusonthelearners・ understanding.InCommunicativeLanguageTeaching,followingthewaypeoplelearntheir firstlanguage,itisbelievedthatlearnersneedabundantauthenticinteractionforacquiring anotherlanguage.Thus,themethodutilizesinteraction-basedactivities,suchasrole-playing andinformationgaptasksalongwithpair-workandgroup-workclassorganizations.Those activitiesprovidemorechancesforlearnerstousethelanguage,butwhetherlearnerscan acquirethelanguagesothattheycanuseitinacreativewayisnotyetshown.

TheabovebriefdescriptionofEFLteachinghistorytellsthatalthoughsomeimportance oflearners・cognitiveworkwasconsideredfrom timetotime,theinterestofresearchersand teacherswasmainlyontheaccuracyandfluencyofthelanguageproducedbythelearnersin classroom.Itwasnotonhow teacherscanfacilitatestudents・abilitytogeneralizethegained

― ２ ― 学苑
英語コミュニケーション紀要 No.834 2～14（2010
4）

Teachi

ngforUnderstandi

ng

TomokoKaneko

Abstract

・Teaching forUnderstanding (TfU)・isoneoftheeducationalpedagogiesdevelopedin a HarvardUniversity project.Thisstudy firstintroducestheframework ofTfU with itsbrief history and background philosophy.Italso comparesTfU to othereducationalpedagogies oftenusedinmonolingualclassroomsofvarioussubjects.Finally,basedontheobservationof theabove,betterteaching andlearning ideasin Japaneseuniversity levelForeign Language Englishclassroom willbepresented.

knowledgeeffectively;thatishow teacherscanhelplearnersreallyunderstandthelanguage. Theanswerforthelatterquestionismoreimportantbecausesurfaceaccuracyandfluency basedonshort-term rotememorywithoutrealunderstandingwillnotworkinrealworld. In theareaofeducation,how studentsbuildskillsandknowledgeovertimeandhow teachersmakestudentsunderstandhavelongbeeninterestingissues.Therehavebeenmyriad ofteachingmethodsorideaswhichhavetriedtorealizethese.Thebasicideaofthepresent studyisbasedonseveralofthosestudies,whichweremainlypresentedatthelecturesgiven atHarvardGraduateSchoolofEducation・Mind,Brain,andEducation・Institutein2008and WIDE World,a distancelearning program managed by theHarvard G raduateSchoolof Education in 2009.Both coursessuggesta greatinsighton theframework and teaching ideasforJapaneseuniversitylevelEFL classroom,whichwillbepresentedinthisstudy. 1 TfU andItsView ofUnderstanding

Inthissection,aneducationalpedagogy,TfU,willbeintroducedfirstandthenaview ofunderstandinginTfU willbeexplained.

1
1.WhatisTfU

TfU isa term foroneoftheeducationalpedagogiesfirstcoined by H.Gardnerand D.PerkinsofHarvardGraduateSchoolofEducationProjectZeroresearchgroup.Thegroup hasinvestigatedthedevelopmentoflearningprocessesinchildren,adultsandorganizations since1967.ProjectZerowasoriginallyfoundedtostudyandimproveeducationintheartsand over the years its concern has been gradually expanded to include education across all disciplines.AsasuccessiveprojectofProjectZero,TfU wasafive-yearprogram designedto developandtestpedagogyofunderstanding.Theprojectfirstfocusedonteachingandlearning in only foursubjects(English,history,math,and science)in themiddleand high school years.However,itnow offersonlineworkshopandtheframeworkisusedasaprofessional developmenttoolthroughouttheUnitedStatesandinothercountriesinalldisciplines. 1
2.A view ofunderstandinginTfU

Thecoreoftheprogram isaperformanceview ofunderstanding,whichexemplifiesthat ifastudent・understands・atopic,s/hecannotonlyreproduceknowledgebutalsouseit inunscriptedways.Theperformanceview ofunderstandingisnotanew ideaandthereis no doubt that allteachers teach for understanding among others.Yet,teaching for understandingstillcontinuestobeextremelydifficultforallteachers.BlytheandAssociates (1998)explain thatunderstanding a topicmeansbeing ableto do a variety ofthought-provokingthingswiththetopic.Theystatethatifstudentsunderstandthetopic,・theycan explain,findevidenceandexamples,generalize,apply,analogize,andrepresentthetopicin new ways.・Thus,understanding comesbeyondsimply knowing whatitis.Moreover,the

developmentofunderstanding isacontinuousprocess,too.Theaboveauthorswritethat ・thereisalwaysmoretobeexploredalongwiththedevelopmentoftheunderstanding・and theydefineunderstandingas・beingabletocarryoutavarietyofactionsorperformances thatshow one・sgraspofatopicandatthesametimetoadvanceit・.

1
3.How studentslearnforunderstanding

Aswelearnswimmingbyactuallyswimming,welearnlanguageby・languaging・;i.e., byusingitinacontext.InTfU,understandingatopicmeansbuildingupperformancesof understanding around that topic,thus the mainstay of learning for understanding is actually carrying outsuch performances.Learnersareabletolearn forunderstanding by spendingthelargerpartoftheirtimewithactivitiesthataskthem todothought-provoking taskssuchasexplaining,makinggeneralizations,and,ultimately,applyingtheirunderstanding ontheirown.Themostimportantpointisthattheymustdothesethingsinathoughtful way,usingtheirownthinking.Inaddition,teacher・sandstudents・appropriatefeedbackwill surelyhelpthem dothisbetterbecausethefeedbackstimulateslearner・sdeeperthinking. 2 TheTfU Framework

In thissection,theframework employed by TfU willbeexplained.Itconsistsofthe four frames:generative topics,understanding goals,performances ofunderstanding and ongoingassessment.

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1.Generativetopics

Generativetopicsareissues,themes,concepts,andideas,which provideenough depth, significance,multipleconnections,andvarietiesofperspectivetosupportstudents・development ofunderstanding.Theguidelinesofgenerativetopicsarestated asfollowsin Blytheand Associates(1998):

① Centrality: Topicisofcentralimportancetooneormoredisciplines. ② Engagement:Topicisinterestingandengagingtothestudents.

③ Accessibility:Topicisaccessiblethroughvariedage-appropriateresources.

④ Connections:Topic offers opportunities for multiple connections to their previous experiences.

⑤ Challenges: Topiccanalwaysbeexploredmoreandmoredeeply. 2
2.Course-longandunit-longunderstandinggoals

Understanding goalsboth course-long and unit-long indicatewhattheteacherwants his/herstudentstogetoutofworkintheclass.Thegoalsclarifywhataremostimportant forstudentstounderstandinacourse/unit.Thus,twotypesofunderstandinggoalswillbe describedin TfU.Theformerspanstopicsandthelatterfocuseson thecentralaspectsof

agenerativetopicoftheunit.

Bothunderstandinggoalssharethefollowingfeatures(Blythe& Associates,1998): ① Theyfocusontheunderstandingofimportantconcepts,methods,purposes,orformsin

disciplines.

② Theyarenotbehavioral;theydescribewhatistobeunderstoodinsteadofwhatstudents willdo.

③ Stated goals are ready to share beyond the classroomwith parents,colleagues,and administrators.

④ They reflectmorethan onedimension ofunderstanding (knowledge,methods,purposes, orforms).

⑤ Theyfocusonsomecommonmisconceptions,assumptions,and/ortroublesomeknowledge thatcouldblockunderstandingifleftunchallenged.

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3.Performancesofunderstanding

Activities that require students to use knowledge in new ways orsituations are performancesofunderstanding.Inclassrooms,studentsareoftenaskedtowritememorized vocabulary,to answerquestionsaboutfactsreportedin atextbook,toreadaloudmodel dialogues,ortotaketrue-falseorshort-answertests.Allofthesearenotperformancesof understanding.Inordertoelicitperformancesofunderstanding (i.e.toreshape,expandon, extrapolatefrom,applyandbuildonwhattheyalreadyknow),teachersshouldaskstudents toexplaintheiranswers,togivereasonsfortheiranswers,tooffersupportingevidenceand tomakepredictions.

Therearethreelevelsofperformancesofunderstanding (introductory,guidedinquiry, andculminating)andstepbystep,studentsenhancetheirperformances.

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4.Ongoingassessment

Thisisthefinalfactor oftheframework.Receiving assessmentisasimportantas performance of understanding. Although this fram e is explained as the last frame, assessmentcriteriashouldbeestablishedattheearlierplanningstage,andfeedbackfrom a varietyofperspectivesshouldbeofferedtothestudentsevenwhenthestudentsareatthe introductory level of performances. To attain satisfactory level of performances of understanding,assessmentcriteria need to bein m ind ofboth theteacherand students. Needlesstosay,notonlyteacher・sbutalsootherstudents・feedbackisindispensable.

Giving feedback orassessmentiswhatteachersoften do in classroomwithoutmuch consciousness.However,manyofthem donotnecessarilysupportunderstanding.Oneofthe reasonsisthattheyareinclinedtoevaluatestudentperformanceswithouthavingmadethe assessmentcriteriaexplicitbeforehand.Sinceteachersnaturally haveacertain assessment criteriainmindbasedontheirownexperiences,theymiss-supposethatstudentswouldalso

havethesameobjectivesandassessmentcriteriaastheydo.Anotherphenomenonoftenseen istoevaluatestudentperformancesonlyattheendofaunit.Thepurposeofevaluationis togivestudentschancestoimprovetheirperformances,nottogivethem grades.

Insummary,thefollowingchartshowstherelationshipamongthefourframesofthe TfU frameworkbasedonBlytheandAssociates(1998).

3 ComparisonwithOtherPopularPedagogicalIdeas

In this section,the twelve most popular pedagogicalideas willbe introduced and comparedtoTfU.

3
1.BacktoBasics

BacktoBasicsemphasizestheroutineandbasicskillsofreading,writing,andarithmetic. In TfU,theseskillsaretaughtwithin thecontextofmorecomplex performancesof understanding.Focused practice sessions can also be usefulifstudents understand the relationshipbetweentheskilltheyarepracticingandtheperformanceofunderstandingin whichtheywillusetheskill.

3
2.CooperativeLearning

CooperativeLearning isa teaching strategy started by SpencerKagan (1994)in the 1980・s,wheresmallteams,eachwithstudentsofdifferentlevelsofability,useavarietyof learning activitiestoimprovetheirunderstanding ofasubject.Each memberofateam is responsiblenotonly forlearning whatistaughtbutalso forhelping teammates,which createsan atmosphereofachievement.Studentswork on theassignmentuntilallgroup memberssuccessfullyunderstand.

― ６ ―

Many performancesofunderstanding can involvecooperativelearning,butCooperative Learningitselfdoesnotaim forunderstandingbystudents.

3
3.EssentialQuestions

An EssentialQuestion capturesthemostimportantaspectsofa topicthatstudents study during a given unit.EssentialQuestionsresideatthetop ofBloom・sTaxonomy (Bloom & Krathwohl,1956),whichhasbeenwidelyusedbyeducatorsinplanningeducation. Thequestionsareframedtoprovokeandsustain studentinterestaswellaslink toother essentialquestions.

EssentialQuestionsdirectstudentstoconsiderparticularaspectsofthattopic,whilea generativetopicinTfU isabroadfieldforexploration.

3
4.Exhibition

Through exhibitions,students strive to achieve specialized knowledge and aim to considerlearning asan adventure.Exhibitionshelpstudentsdevelopteam spiritandtheir abilitiesin attracting theattention ofviewers.They areby definition publicand include feedbacknotonlyfrom teachersandclassmatesbutalsofrom peopleoutsidetheschool.

AsforTfU,itisnotpublicandfeedbackcomesonlyfrom teachersandclassmates. 3
5.Hands-OnLearning

Hands-OnLearningprovideslearningbyhelpingstudentstoacquireknowledgeandskill outside of books and lectures.Learning can occur through work,play and other life experiences.

Notallhands-onactivitiesareperformancesofunderstanding.Anactivitymustpresent acognitivechallengewhichwillleadstudentstodevelopanddemonstrateunderstandingto beaperformanceofunderstandinginTfU.

3
6.InterdisciplinaryCurricula

InInterdisciplinaryCurriculateaching,educatorsapplycontentandmethodologyfrom morethan oneacademicdisciplinetoexamineatheme,issue,question,problem,topic,or experience.

BecausemanyconnectionscanbemadebetweenissueswithinasingledisciplineinTfU, teacherscanteachforunderstandingjustaseffectivelybyfocusingonasingledisciplineor domain.

3
7.Lectures

A lectureisan oralpresentation intended to presentinformation orto teach people aboutaparticularsubject.Usuallytheteacherwillstandatthefrontoftheroom andrecite

information.Criticspointoutthatlecturing isaone-way method ofcommunication that doesnotinvolvesignificantparticipationbystudents.However,lecturesdeliveredbytalented speakerscanbehighlystimulating.Lecturesareusefulforgivingstudentsnew information fornew topics.

TfU believes that lectures work best when they are brief,targeted,and given in responsetoquestionsstudentsraiseastheycarryoutperformancesofunderstanding. 3
8.MultipleIntelligences-BasedTeaching

Thetheory ofMultipleIntelligenceswasdevelopedin 1983by Dr.HowardGardnerat Harvard University (Gardner,1993).He proposes eight different intelligences:linguistic, mathematical, spatial, musical, kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalist intelligences.Dr.Gardnerstatesthatalthough weesteem thehighly articulateorlogical peopleofAmerican culture,weshouldalsoplaceequalattention on individualswhoshow gifts in the other intelligences.His frame allows students to build and demonstrate understandinginavarietyofways,usingdifferentintelligences.

Allperformancesshouldhelpstudentsdeveloptheunderstandingsstatedinthegoalsin TfU and,indoingso,alltheintelligencesabovewillbestimulatedattheendofthecourse. 3
9.Portfolios

Portfoliosarecollectionsofstudents・work overtime.A portfolio often documentsa student・sbestworkandmayincludeothertypesofprocessinformation,suchasdraftsof thestudent・swork,thestudent・sself-assessmentofthework,andtheparent・sassessment. Portfoliosmayalsobeusedforevaluationofastudent・sabilitiesandimprovement.

Portfoliosthatincludeexamplesfrom allphasesofstudents・work aremorehelpful thanportfolioscontainingonlyselected・bestworks・forongoingassessmentinTfU.Students・ progresstowardtheunderstandinggoalscanbereviewedbycheckingtheportfolios. 3
10.Project-BasedLearning

Project-BasedLearningactivitiescreateopportunitiesforstudentstoworkonproblems intherealworld.Projectsrelevanttotheworldoutsidetheclassroom canhelpthestudents toseeandunderstandtheconnectionsbetweenclassroom activitiesandtheworldoutside.

In TfU,projectsareusefultohelpstudentsachievetheunderstanding goals,butthey mustbeaccompaniedbyongoingassessment.

3
11.Text-BasedTeaching

Textbooks provide students with the knowledge and information they need for understanding.They often includeconventionalproblem solving tasks.However,textbooks oftenpresentdifficultiestosomestudentsbecausetheyoftencontainfactsthatarehardfor

studentstosummarizeandexplain.

InTfU,textbookswillbeusedtoofferstudentsbasicknowledgeandinformation,which willbeextendedassourcesforperformancesofunderstanding.

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12.ThinkingSkillsCurricula

Theterm ・thinkingskills・referstothehumancapacitytothinkinconsciouswaysto achievecertainpurposes.Suchprocessesincluderemembering,questioning,formingconcepts, planning, reasoning, imagining, solving problems, making decisions and judgments, translatingthoughtintowordsandsoon.Thosecurriculacanprovidecognitivechallenge, collaborativelearning,and meta-cognitivediscussion.Bloom・staxonomy ofthinking skills (Bloom & Krathwohl,1956)hasbeenwidelyusedbyteachersinplanningtheirteaching.He identifiesanumberoflowerordercognitiveskillsandhigherorderskillsasfollows:

Thequestion in thelower partofeach ・Thinking Cues・ column showsan example questionteacherscanaskwhentellingastorytostudents.

InTfU,thinkingskillsaredevelopedinthecontextofperformancesofunderstanding. ― ９ ―

Chart2.Bloom・sTaxonomy(BasedonBloom & Krathwohl,1956) No. Order CognitiveGoal ThinkingCues

1 lower Knowledge ・Saywhatyouknow orremember ・Repeat ・Define ・Identify

・Tellwho,when,which,where,orwhat Q:Whathappenedinthestory?

2 lower Comprehension ・Describeinyourownwords

・Tellhow youfeelaboutitorwhatitmeans ・Explain,compareorrelate

Q:Whydidithappenthatway?

3 lower Application ・How canyouuseit? ・Wheredoesitlead? ・Applywhatyouknow ・Demonstrate ・Useittosolveproblems

Q:Whatwouldyouhavedone? 4 higher Analysis ・Whatarethepartsortheorder?

・ What are the reasons why or the causes,problems, solutionsorconsequences?

Q:Whichpartdidyoulikebest?

5 higher Synthesis ・How mightitbedifferent,how elseorwhatif?

・Suppose,puttogether,develop,improveorcreateyour own.

Q:Canyouthinkofadifferentending? 6 higher Evaluation ・How wouldyoujudgeit?

・Doesitsucceed? ・Willitwork?

・Whatwouldyouprefer?・Whydoyouthinkso? Q:Whatdidyouthinkofthestory? Why?

4 ApplicationtoEFL Classroom inJapan

Understandingtheaboveframeworkandclaims,whatwecanapplytoEFL classroom inJapanwillbediscussedinthissection.

4
1.Fivekeypoints

Many ofthepointsproposed by thepedagogicalideaslisted abovehavealsotaken a focusedpositioninEFL.Thefollowingisthelistofideaswhichareandcanbeappliedto EnglishlanguageteachinginJapan.

① Setgoalsforgenerativetopics

Teachinggoalsmustalwaysbeinboththeteacher・sandstudents・minds.Settinggoals beforehand is also the idea proposed by many teaching professionals these days (Mckeachie& Svinicki,2006).

② Elicitfrom students

Elicitation from thestudentsisan extremely importantissueespecially in teaching languages.Studentsshould alwaysbein thecenteroflearning.Teachersneed to let them thinkthroughthought-provokingactivities.

③ Usetask-basedteaching

Task-based teaching isoneoftheeffectivewaysto apply students・understanding to practicaluse.Alwaysgivestudentschancestobecognitively activeistherul e.Task-based languageteaching (TBLT)hasbeen a big issuein SLA forseveralyearsand investigation on how and why TBLT works (ex.Corony & Willis;2005,Van den Branden,Bygate& Norris;2009)isbeingsearchedintheareanow.

④ Giveappropriatefeedback

Ongoing assessmentbased on clearly articulated criteria for successfulperformances bothbytheteacherandstudentsiscrucial.InSLA,somedetailedstudiesonfeedback (Lyster,R.& Ranta,L.,1997;Lyster,R.,2004,etc.)havebeenpublishedandstillmany researchersareinterestedinwhysomefeedbackworksandsomedon・t.

⑤ Keeprecords

In order to gauge progress towards understanding goals, portfolios that include examplesfrom allphasesofstudents・workarehelpfulforreflectingonperformances. Keepinglearningrecordintheform ofportfoliosisalsobeingtriedbymanyteachers withsomeeffect.

Itissomewhatsurprisingthatwhathavebeendiscussedinthedisciplineofeducationare alsoissuesmanyresearchersandteachersinSLA andEFLdisciplineareinterestedin.Whatis notfocusedoninEFListhenotionthatallkindsoflearningtakesplacebydoingavarietyof thought-provoking things.Itisclearfrom theabovesurvey thatasking learnersto do cognitivelychallengingtasksisextremelyimportantforthem toreallyunderstandthelanguage.

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2.A ModelEFL LessonPlan

FollowingtheTfUguidelinesexplainedintheformersections,amodelEFLunitlessonplan willbepresentedhere.Chart3showsaunitlessonplanon・PersonalLetters・forFreshmen.

① Generativetopics

Following the TfU guidelines,the generative topic chosen for the sample class is ・PersonalLetters.・ThemainpurposeofEnglishlearningforJapaneseuniversitystudents is proficiency for realcommunication.Some study English so that they can use the languagewhentheyhaveachancetotaketripstoEnglish-speakingcountries,whilesome

― 11―

Chart3.ModelEFL UnitLessonPlan Subject FreshmenEFL Course-LongUnderstanding

Goals

1. How doeswriting in English help meto communicatewith peoplefrom othercultures?

2. How canIcommunicateeffectivelywhenwritinginEnglish? GenerativeTopic(Unit) PersonalLetters

Unit-LongUnderstanding Goals

1. Whatisthepurposeofwritingletters?

2. WhatEnglishlettershaveIbeenmostimpressedby? 3. How canIwritegoodletters?

Sequence UGs Performancesof_{Understanding} OngoingAssessment Introductory #1 ・Students(Ss)reflectthepurposesfor

whichtheywrotelettersinEnglish. ・Ssdiscusstheirresponsesandasa

classgeneratealistofpurposes.

Criteria:

Diversity of reasons. Teacher (T) discussesthiswithSs.

Feedback:

Informal T-Student(S) and S-S in contextofwhole-classdiscussion. Guided

Inquiry

#2 ・Ss in groups pick up some impressive English letters from the samples in the handout and discuss why they・re impressive, coveringbothstylesandlinguistic features.

・After the presentation by each group,the class makes a listof characteristics.

Criteria:

Sensitivity to the range of characteristics that make a letter impressive.Awarenessofstylesand linguisticfeatures.

Feedback:

More formal during presentations thanduringgroupwork.

Culminating #1 #2 #3

・Individually,Sswritean English letter.Theletterneedstoincludea purpose,the addressee and key expressionsusedtomaketheletter impressive.

・Boththedraftandthefinalletter willbekeptintheportfolio. ・Thefinalletterwillbesenttothe

addressee.

Criteria

Co-developedby T andSsbeforeSs beginwriting.

Feedback

Formal.Thefirstdraftiscritiqued byaclassmateandthefinaloneby selfandT,usingcriteriasheet.

study English in case they need to use itattheir future work and so on.For those students,lettersinEnglish,forexample,seasons・greetings,thankyounotesareimportant mediaforcommunication.Manykindsofresourcesareavailable,forexample,sampleletters on the web,copies of letters written by famous people,personalcards received from teacher・sfriendsandsoforth.StudyingEnglishletterwritingrelatestotheunderstanding ofgrammaticallycorrectsentencesandalsoofthesamenessanddifferencesofbackground culturesofthetwolanguages.Connectionstostudents・non-schoolcontextsarealsoevident. Whenplanninggenerativetopics,thebestwayistothinkaboutwhatintereststheteacher andthestudentsmostinthesubjectarea.

② Performancesofunderstanding

In thesampleclass,each studentwillbeasked toreflecton thepurposesofwriting English letters and discuss their responses with other classmates.This willsatisfy the introductory understanding performances.Then they focus on what makes the letters impressive.Theywillnotonlylookatstylesoflettersbutalsoatlinguisticfeatures,and thewaytouseuniqueexpressionseffectivelyinordertocommunicatewhatyoureallyfeel. Thenfinally,studentsindividuallywriteanEnglishlettertosomeonewhom theywantto send amessage.Thefinalletterwillbesenttotheaddressee,which connectswhatthey learnintheclasstotheirreallife.

③ Understandinggoals

Thecourse-longunderstandinggoalsforthesampleEFLclasssethereisatypicalones for the university level non-major EFL course.Although when asked which English languageskilltheymostwanttodevelop,mostJapanesestudentsanswer・speaking,・along with thedevelopmentofinternetsystems,studentswillhaveincreasingly morechancesto writeEnglishthanspeakitinthefuture.

Theunit-long understanding goalssetforthiscourseareready tosharebeyond the classroomsandreflectseveraldimensionsofunderstanding(knowledge,methods,andforms, atleast).Writing good English lettersissometimesmisunderstood by studentsto mean writing grammatically correct sentences following a special format. It is extremely importanttounderstandthatthecontentofthelettersismostimportantandgoodletters canmovethereaders・mindaswellasgiveaccuratemessagestotherecipient.

④ Ongoingassessment

Alongwiththesequencesofperformancesofunderstanding,thecriteriaandfeedbackin ongoingassessmentchange.Intheintroductorylevel,theteacherhelpsstudentsalotand thefeedbackisinformal.Intheguidedinquirylevel,theteacher・shelpbecomesless,while thefeedbackbecomesmoreformal.Attheculminatinglevel,criteriawillbeworkedbetter ifthestudentsandtheteacherco-developit.Inthisway,studentsareforcedtochallenge someofthemoredemandingcognitivetasks.

Summary

Although how cognition works in foreign language learning is stillan issue to be studied,alltheresearchersnow admitthatitaccountsforalargepartoflearning.Good languagelearnerstudiesinSLA tellthatanawarenessoflearner・sownlearningprocessis oneofthemajoraspectsofsuccessfullearning(Ellis,1994).Thisawarenessisclassifiedas oneofthemeta-lingualstrategiesandisrealizedbymeta-cognitiveknowledgewhichhelps them assess their needs,evaluate progress,and give direction to their learning.Such awareness gives learners controlover their own learning.Even in assessing one・s own learning,though itisonly asmallpartofwholelearning process,cognitiveactivitiesare extremely important.Thus teaching for realunderstanding,which focuses on cognitive challengesbystudents,iswhatgoesbeyondpracticeforsurfaceexchangeofwordsinEFL classrooms.Thought-provoking activitiesareindispensablein thispointofview.Whilein SLA,researchersaresearchingforwhyandhow thosethought-provokingactivitiesleadto acquisitionoflanguageandarestrivingtofindevidenceforit.Forexample,althoughsome detailedstudiesoftheeffectofdifferentkindsoffeedbackhavealreadybeenprogressedas statedbefore,whyfeedbackiscognitivelyusefulisnotyetanswered.Atthesametime,one ofthebiggestpracticaldevelopmentsthesedaysin SLA istask-based languageteaching (TBLT).Consideringtheinsightfrom theTfU,TBLT issurelyoneofthemostpromising waysforEFLtoelicitsomecognitivechallengesfrom studentswhenitiscarefullyplanned. ReferencesConsulted

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（金子 朝子 英語コミュニケーション学科）