On July 6 and 7, an international conference was hosted by the Department of English and Linguistics, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Thammasat University. The theme was English language teaching (ELT), whether as a second, additional, or foreign language, or as an international Lingua Franca, in the Digital Age. Among many interesting speakers, TU Assistant Professor Nitinant Wisaweisuan, Ph.D. gave an opening address in which she commented about the importance of English studies for Thai pupils. She remarked that she always remembers her first teacher of English. Since technology is exceptionally influential for people in every domain of life, it has also become central to language practice. Ajarn Nitinant cited one book in particular, English Language Teaching in India: The Shifting Paradigms (2012). This study, by Professor S. P. Dhanavel, an emeritus professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, was mentioned to underline the ever-changing nature of language. She concluded that at TU, students and ajarns recognize the great importance of language skills for creating a diverse society of harmony and peace.
Another informed presenter was Jutarat Vibulphol, Ph.D. a University Instructor at Chulalongkorn University, who specializes in teaching methods, teacher education, and language education. As she began her presentation, Ajarn Jutarat confessed that Thammasat was her dream university when she was in high school, although she did not wind up attending TU. She pointed out that one result of the digital age is library expansion, so that resources are not limited to the physical bounds of a building. People can be more mobile, but remain connected. This encourages the development of a multi-cultural, multi-national society where learning can occur anywhere, at any time.
Professor Leslie Barratt of Rajabhat Roi Et University, Selaphoom District, Roi Et, Thailand, also offered insights. Professor Barratt teaches at the graduate school of Rajabhat Roi Et University. Before then, she taught for over 35 years at Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. As she noted online, after her retirement, as she decided to move to rural Thailand
to help Thai colleagues develop the English needed here for the new ASEAN Community. I intend to spend my final professional years in promoting locally appropriate best practices and multilingualism in English language teaching while also advocating for teachers and learners…As a lifelong language learner of approximately 15 languages, I am particularly interested in any aspect of language change or variation that causes difficulty for learners.
To an attentive audience at the ELT in the Digital Age conference, Professor Barratt noted that as lifelong language learners, we need to keep listening, echoing Ajarn Nitinant’s comment about language always changing. In 2006, Professor Garratt wrote a paper available online with examples of how English language usage changes. The digital age is moving fast and English is changing quickly, so how do students and ajarns keep up to date about what English is and how to teach and learn it? As studies of the brain advance, we realize that the more we know about the brain, the more this knowledge can help us understand how people process language as it varies. She cited Professor Guadalupe Valdés of the Stanford University Graduate School of Education, USA, to the effect that English is not a classroom subject that can be ordered and learned, so why do we continue to teach language as a rule-based linguistic system, as we have done for centuries? Originally ancient languages were taught according to rules decided later because we do not fully understand ancient languages, including how to speak them. We guess what many words in ancient languages mean, without knowing for sure, because there are no living speakers of these languages who may be asked. We teach ancient languages as closed systems with sets of rules. With modern languages, where we do have living speakers, this approach is especially inappropriate. Even ancient languages were not closed in reality, they changed too, but we lack exact information about how they changed and why. Professor Barratt added:
Modern languages are open systems. We should compare rules in English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks, often written many years ago by some person sitting in a room. These rules were not based on data, but set up as standards.
She quoted Professor Valdés that language is a
species-unique communicative system acquired naturally in the process of primary socialization.
It is a form of communication, not a set of rules. Successful language learning happens through experience, not only by being immersed in a language when we visit a place. We may also go online and learn about language, not just rules. This leads to better language learning. Professor Barratt insisted:
Language is a system for negotiating meaning, not a box of rules.
She likened the traditional textbook approach to studying English in Thailand and elsewhere to trying to teach someone to ride a motorcycle by showing a diagram and making the student memorize all the parts of the vehicle and how it works. Even after learning all these things, students would not be able to ride a motorcycle without falling over. Instead, if the parents of students ride with them as a child, and they feel what the motorcycle is like, they will learn. We must experience language the same way. Professor Barratt suggested that Google Images can be useful for finding terms for things, learning and using vocabulary.
A simple Google search can tell us things about English language terms, such as whether to use in contrast or on the contrary. Commonly confused in English usage, these two expressions have different meanings. Google tells us that in contrast is used far more often than on the contrary. In contrast just compares one thing to another, while on the contrary is more complex, first rejecting an argument and then going on to explain that the opposite is true. In most cases, in contrast would be the right choice, but Thai students prefer on the contrary, even when it is used in the wrong places. She suggested ajarns and students might consult the Google Trends website as well. Based on Google Search, Google Trends shows how often a search-term is entered compared to total search-volume across different regions of the world, in different languages. This site helps us understand changes in language over time and geographical distribution.
She pointed to an image of a USB flash drive, also known as a USB drive, USB stick, thumb drive, pen drive, jump drive, disk key, disk on key, flash-drive, memory stick, or USB memory, the data storage device including flash memory with an integrated USB interface. Google Trends tells us that over time, many terms for the same item have become less popular, for example memory stick. In Thailand only, this object was referred to as a handy drive, but this Thai English term is not useful if we are speaking to someone from outside the Kingdom. If we want to know how to use British or American spelling of a word, searching a word such as color/colour on Google Trends will inform us that around the world, American spellings are used more, except in countries which were once British colonies. This may help us decide which type of spelling to use in a thesis or other academic writing. Professor Barratt ended her presentation with the advice that digital searches may be used for meaning, difference between words, and formal academic use. Yet even elementary school students in Thailand may search online for real usage instead of relying on textbooks. Instead of rules, rely on data-driven learning.
(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)