TSL 610 - 01: Applied Linguistics & Professional Practice

Revised 1/08

COMMON COURSE SYLLABUS

Murray State University

TSL 610 - 01: Applied Linguistics & Professional Practice

Credit Hours: 3.0

I. Course Title: Applied Linguistics and Professional Practices

II. Catalog Description: A specialized application of subareas of linguistics with emphasis on the impact of theories of linguistics on ESL/EFL pedagogy. Topics of focus include issues in research design and methodology, and the ethics of conducting research. Prerequisite: 510.

III. Purpose: To develop students’ understanding of the principles and issues in applied linguistics and allow them to relate those issues to their own ESL teaching.

IV. Course Objectives: (Coded for Kentucky Experienced Teacher Performance Standards, NTPS; TESOL Standards, TESOL; KERA Initiatives KERA) By the end of the course, students in this class are expected to

A. Be familiar with theoretical concepts/models and terminology in applied linguistics. (NTPS 2; TESOL 1,2)

B. Analyze research in applied linguistics for assumptions and hypotheses about second language learning and teaching to allow them to become “critical consumers” of future research in applied linguistics. (NTPS 2,9; TESOL 5)

C. Design and conduct original research in the field of ESL. (NTPS 1,2,9; TESOL 5)

D. Acquire skills that will allow them to be active contributors to the field of ESL: writing abstracts, writing research proposals, presenting research, integrating technology into presentations. (NTPS 1,8,9,10; TESOL 5)

The EPBS Themes – Diversity, Assessment, Literacy/Reading, and Closing the Gap are explored as course topic that students discuss, research, and write literature reviews over to fully explore these topics. They investigate these themes and how they should be implemented in the language classroom. Students design materials and assessment tools that address all of these themes.

V. Content Outline: The first part of the course will be devoted to general theoretical issues surrounding applied linguistics and a discussion of specific theories. The rest of the course will involve analyzing applications of linguistic theories in ESL in the literature and developing skills for carrying out and reporting student-designed research to the TESOL community.

VI. Instructional Activities: The primary format of this course will be discussion and workshop. Additionally, I will present information on specific topics in a lecture style format when appropriate. You are expected to read the assigned material and come to class prepared to discuss it. There will be some in-class writing assignments and other activities to facilitate discussion, when appropriate. The assignments and research that you conduct as part of class will become part of class discussions.

VII. Field, Clinical and/or Lab experience: None except as it pertains to the projects/research that students conduct for class.

VIII Resources: The Murray State University Library will serve as the principal resource. However, interlibrary loan and the World Wide Web will also be very useful for this course.

IX. Grading procedure: Semester grades will be determined as follows:

Letter grades will be assigned according to the following scale:

A = 90 – 100 pts.

B = 89 – 80 pts.

C = 79 – 70 pts.

D = 69 – 60 pts.

E = 59 – 0 pts.

Course Requirements: Percentage

A Discussion Leader 10%

B Article Critique and Reaction/Response 30%

1) Article Critique (10% percent each X 2) 20%

1) Reaction/Response (5% percent each X 2) 10%

C Midterm Exam 15%

D Final Project 45%

1)  Project Proposal 5%

2)  Annotated Bibliography 10%

3)  Original Research Project 20%

4)  Project Presentation 10%

Total Percentage of Grade 100%

X. Attendance: Attendance Policy: Students cannot learn without consistent effort throughout the semester. Attendance will be expected in all sessions as defined in General Procedures. Students cannot pass this class if they miss more than 3 classes.

XI. Academic Honesty Policy: This policy is provided in the Murray State Student Handbook on page 30, and can be accessed online at the following address: http://www.murraystate.edu/secsv/handbook/Handbook.htm

XII. Textbook and other course expenses:

Required texts:

Burns, A. (1999). Collaborative action research for English language teachers. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.

Mackey, A., & Gass, S.M. (2005). Second language research: Methodology and design. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Additional Readings:

Other articles will be placed on the Blackboard site. Listed in alphabetical order of assigned reading.

Chang, A., & Read, J. (2006). The effects of listening support on the listening performance of EFL learners. TESOL Quarterly, 40, 375-397

Csizér, K., & Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The internal structure of language learning motivation and its relationship with language choice and learning effort. The Modern Language Journal, 89, 19-36.

De Angelis, G. (2005). Interlanguage transfer of function words. Language Learning, 55, 379-414.

Egbert, J. (2003). A study of flow theory in the foreign language classroom. The Modern Langauge Journal, 87, 499-518.

Elwell, M. (2001). Editor’s choice: The efficacy of service-learning for community college ESL students. Community College Review, 28(4), 47-58.

Freeman, D. (1998). Doing teacher research. Pacific Grove: Heinle & Heinle.

Gan, Z., Humphreys, G., & Hamp-Lyons, L. (2004). Understanding successful and unsuccessful EFL students in Chinese universities. The Modern Language Journal, 88, 229-244.

Goldschneider, J., & DeKeyser, R. (2005). Explaining the "Natural Order of L2 Morpheme Acquisition" in English: A Meta-analysis of multiple determinants. Language Learning, 55(Suppl1), 27-77.

Hayes-Harb, R. (2006). Native speakers of Arabic and ESL texts: Evidence for the transfer of written word identification processes. TESOL Quarterly, 40, 321-339.

Kim, Y. (2006). Effects of input elaboration on vocabulary acquisition through reading by Korean learners of English as a foreign language. TESOL Quarterly, 40, 341-373.

Lazaraton, A. (2004). Gesture and speech in the vocabulary explanations of one ESL teacher: A microanalytic inquiry. Language Learning, 54, 79-117.

Lee, S. (2005). Facilitating and inhibiting factors in English as a foreign language writing performance: A model testing with structural equation modeling. Language Learning, 55, 335-374.

Major, R., Fitzmaurice, S., Bunta, F., & Balasubramanian, C. (2005). Testing the effects of regional, ethnic, and international dialects of English on listening comprehension. Language Learning, 55, 37-69.

Nunan, D. (1992). An introduction to research methods and traditions. In Research methods in language learning (pp. 1-23). Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.

Perry, F. (2005). How to locate research. In Research in applied linguistics: Becoming a discerning consumer (pp. 21-37). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Polio, C., & Gass, S. (1998). The role of interaction in native speaker comprehension of nonnative speaker speech. The Modern Language Journal, 82, 308-319.

Rydland, V., & Aukrust, V. (2005). Lexical repetition in second language learners’ peer play interaction. Language Learning, 55, 229-274.

XIII. Prerequisite: None

XIV. Statement of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity: Murray State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, marital status, age, or disability in employment, admission, or the provision of services, educational programs and activities, and provides, upon request, reasonable accommodation including auxiliary aids and services necessary to afford individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate in all programs and activities. For information regarding nondiscrimination policies contact the Office of Equal Opportunity, 270-809-3155.

XV. Course Policies/Expectations:

A.  Graduate level performance is expected from all students. At the graduate level, it is assumed that students are, to a great extent, responsible for their own learning. Therefore, all readings and assignments are to be completed PRIOR to the class for which they are assigned in a thorough and timely manner. Class attendance and quality in-class participation is expected. If you are absent, you should call a classmate to get class notes and assignments.

B.  Students are expected to complete all assignments on time. All out-of-class assignments should be typewritten, unless otherwise stated, following standard academic conventions and the APA style manual.

C.  Late work will be accepted only with prior instructor consent and WILL BE PENALIZED a letter grade for each 24 hours that the assignment is late. If you are absent the day when a homework assignment is due, you are still required to hand it in on time. Receiving permission to submit an assignment late will not remove the penalty. Special exceptions for emergencies may be made in accordance with University Policy.

D.  Students are expected to participate fully in all class discussions.

Details of Course Requirements:

Assignments: This is a brief listing of the assignments required in the course. Additional information will become available as the course and semester develops.

A.  Discussion Leader: Each student will select TWO of the readings for the course, except for chapters in the textbooks, and will be responsible for the preparation of the discussions questions for the class for that particular reading. These articles will be read by all members of the class and will be discussed in each of the group chats. Each presenter will give a BRIEF overview of the reading and will prepare questions to lead the class in a discussion of the key points of the article. Students will NOT simply summarize the article or “LECTURE” the article to the class.

B.  Article Critiques & Response/Reaction Papers (2):

1.  Article Critique: You will be required to find and assess two primary research studies on the application of any linguistic theory to ESL teaching. Since materials on your chosen topic in the Waterfield library may be somewhat limited, I recommend that you select your articles very soon. The first article must be a quantitative study or experiment, and the second article must be an action research study or experiment. Articles should relate to your research project. The preliminary critique will be submitted to classmates for discussion and response. Each person will write a response/reaction paper for ONE other critique (to be assigned) and will provide a copy to the classmate after which the author will have a week to make any revisions necessary to the critique before the final Article Critique is submitted.

2.  Response/Reaction Paper: Each student will read the Article Critiques of one of his/her classmates and will write a brief 1 to 2-page response/reaction paper. The author of the critique may then revise the critique before it is submitted to the instructor.

C.  Midterm Exam: An in class exam will be administered for which students are expected to provide thorough and quality answers. More details will be provided prior to the exam.

D.  Original Research: You will plan, develop, conduct, and report on an original research project that will require that you get IRB approval prior to conducting the research IF you plan to publish or present this research outside of the class.

1.  Project Proposal: You will write research questions and design a project that will answer these research questions.

2.  Annotated Bibliography: You will collect a minimum of 10 primary research and theoretical articles related to your research and present them in an annotated bibliography, designed to assist you in the writing of the literature review section of your project. You may not include any review articles in this bibliography.

3.  Research Project: You will carry out the research that you proposed in your Project Proposal and will present a write up of your findings, a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of your study and design, and a reflection of what you have learned through your dialogue/research journal.

4.  Project Presentation: You will present a 10-15 minute conference style presentation concerning your research project during the final course meeting. You will design a PowerPoint or web page and ONE PAGE handout that will condense the material.