The Research Base of Workplace Plus

The Research Base of Workplace Plus (continued)

The Research Base of Workplace Plus

Workplace Plus is based on scientifically based, peer-reviewed studies of ESL pedagogy, as well as standards for adult ESL education developed at the national level.

Content

Topics and Skills

The topics and skills developed in Workplace Plus are based on a synthesis of these standards for adult education and adult ESL education developed for use nationwide:

· The Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS), which delineates key workplace skills for the 21st century (SCANS, 1991)

· The CASAS competencies, which defines key workskills and lifeskills for adults in the United States (CASAS, 2003)

· The Equipped for the Future (EFF) Content Standards, developed by the National Institute for Literacy to define key skills and competencies adults need in three critical areas of their lives: employment, family, and community life (Stein, 1995)

In addition, Workplace Plus is compatible with standards for adult ESL developed in Florida, Texas, and California and adult ESL program standards developed by TESOL (2000).

Communicative Grammar Syllabus

The communicative grammar syllabus in Workplace Plus is based on a rigorous analysis of the grammatical structures learners need in order to communicate about the content and skills developed in the series. This type of analysis has its roots in the notion of linguistic competence as one of the subcomponent of communicative competence, as developed in Savignon (1997). The process used to identify relevant new language is more fully described in Friedenberg et al. (2003).

Instructional Design

The instructional design of Workplace Plus is based on three research-based principles: development of learners’ communicative competence, employment of a learner-centered approach, and development of multiple intelligences and diverse learning styles. In addition, key features of Workplace Plus are informed by research.

Communicative Competence

The overall instructional design of Workplace Plus is based on developing learners’ communicative competence, as delineated by Savignon (1997). In Workplace Plus, learners develop communicative skills through focused listening, speaking, reading, and writing activities, all of which are designed to increase learners’ linguistic competence, sociolinguistic competence, discourse competence, and strategic competence.

Learner-Centered Approach

The learner-centered topical syllabus discussed previously and the “Do It Yourself” personalization activities on each two-page spread in Workplace Plus are based on research summarized in VanDuzer (1999), which stresses that adult learners should interact with materials that “meet their needs and are interesting.” This approach is also compatible with Knowles’ (1980 & 1984) theory of adult learning, which emphasizes that adult learners are motivated and successful when their learning is of immediate importance. For this reason, each “Do It Yourself” activity empowers learners to apply their new knowledge and skills to their jobs, workplaces, and lives immediately. For this same reason, learners receive ample opportunities to personalize the dialogs they learn in the Practical Conversation section in each unit. In addition, free worksheets in the Teachers’ Resource Binder allow learners to create personalized versions of the grammar boxes in each unit, encouraging learners to analyze the new language in ways that are meaningful and relevant to their lives. Finally, a complete assessment program checks learners’ ability to use the skills in meaningful, purposeful contexts that are relevant to learners’ lives.

Multiple Intelligences and Diverse Learning Styles

The variety of activities in the Workplace Plus Student Books, Teachers’ Editions, Workbooks, Audio Program, and Teachers’ Resource Binder (including manipulables, discussion activities, hands-on projects, etc.) allow teachers to address all seven of the multiple intelligences presented in Gardner (1983) and Gardner, Kornhaber, and Wake (1996) as well as visual, auditory, and tactile-kinesthetic learning styles discussed in Brown (2000).

Vocabulary Development

Because studies such as Eskey (1997) show that comprehension and learning increase when students are familiar with the vocabulary, each unit of Workplace Plus opens with an innovative picture dictionary feature. In addition, key supplementary vocabulary is introduced on key pages whenever learners need it to complete an activity. Supplementary activities in the Teacher Resource Binder, as well as review and recycling of vocabulary throughout the unit provide plenty of reinforcement of the new vocabulary. As a result, learners are able to read all the words on each page as they work through the unit, and actively use the new vocabulary as they complete the “Do It Yourself” activities on each spread. Knowing all the vocabulary also reduces learner anxiety, a key factor in lowering learners’ affective filters and increasing acquisition, as discussed in Krashen (1981).

Development of i + 1

Teachers have long known that learners’ receptive ability always outstrips their productive ability, a fact that has been confirmed by researchers such as Krashen (1982). Studies such this one have shown that language acquisition is facilitated when learners receive comprehensible input that is slightly beyond their productive ability, a notion Krashen calls i + 1. For this reason, activities such as Authentic Practice 1 contain utterances longer and more syntactically complex than learners are capable of producing, but that learners are capable of understanding. As a result, learners realize that they are able to understand native speakers in everyday interactions, even if they do not understand each individual word or sentence pattern. In addition, because the input is comprehensible, acquisition will take place.

References

Brown, H. D. 2000. Principles of Language Learning and Language Teaching. 4th ed. White Plains, NY: Longman.

CASAS. 2003. CASAS Life Skill Competencies. San Diego: CASAS.

Eskey, D. 1997. “Models of Reading and the ESOL Student.” Focus on Basics 1 (B), 9-11.

Friedenberg, J., et al. 2003. Effective Practices in Workplace Language Training: Guidelines for Providers of Workplace English Language Training Services. Washington, DC: TESOL.

Gardner, H. 1983. Frames of Mind. New York: Basic Books Inc.

Gardner, H., Kornhaber, M., & Wake, W. 1996. Intelligence: Multiple Perspectives. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt.

Knowles, M. S. 1980. The Modern Practice of Adult Education: From Pedagogy to Androgogy. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Cambridge Adult Education.

Knowles, M. S. 1984. Andragogy in Action: Applying Modern Principles of Adult Education. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Krashen, S. 1981. “Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning.” Studia Linguistica, 61.

Krashen, S. 1982. Principles and Practices in Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Pergamon.

Research Agenda for Adult ESL. 1998. Washington, DC: National Center for ESL Literacy Education.

Savignon, Sandra. 1997. Communicative Competence: Theory and Classroom Practice. 2nd Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills. 1991. What Work Requires of Schools: A SCANS Report for America 2000. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor.

TESOL. 2000. Standards for Adult Education ESL Programs. 2000. Washington, D.C.: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages.

Stein, Sondra. 1995. Equipped for the Future Content Standards: What Adults Need to Know and Be Able to Do in the 21st Century. Washington, DC: National Institute for Literacy.

VanDuzer, C. 1999. Reading and the Adult Language Learner. ERIC Digest. Washington, D.C.: National Center for ESL Literacy Education.

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