MASTER’S THESIS
THE 21ST CENTURY ENGLISH CLASSROOM:
HOW TO TEACH VOCABULARY AND INTRODUCE STUDENTS TO GLOBAL ENGLISHES BY MEANS OF TED TALKS
Ana Márquez Insúa
Master’s Degree in Teaching Training
Centre for Postgraduate Studies
Academic Year 2019-20
THE 21ST CENTURY ENGLISH CLASSROOM:
HOW TO TEACH VOCABULARY AND INTRODUCE STUDENTS TO GLOBAL ENGLISHES BY MEANS OF TED TALKS
Ana Márquez Insúa
Master’s Thesis
Centre for Postgraduate Studies University of the Balearic Islands
Academic Year 2019-20
Key words:
EFL, vocabulary, TED, subtitles, World Englishes
Yolanda Joy Calvo
Abstract
This paper will explore the topic of word acquisition and the exposure to Global Englishes in the EFL class by means of TED talks. For this purpose, basic concepts involved in L2 lexical development will be discussed, such as incidental and intentional learning, word frequency, deep processing, word retrieval, word knowledge and attrition. Additionally, the role of technology in the classroom will be assessed, as we will address the benefits of implementing blended learning and multimodality. Special attention will be drawn to the use of subtitles and the range of possibilities that they offer in the current educational context.
Furthermore, we will briefly explain the different aspects of the Global Englishes paradigm and highlight the importance of teaching the plurillithic reality of the English language in a globalized world. Emphasis will be placed on the position of English as an international language and the need for learners to develop mutual intelligibility. Lastly, we will present our design of activities based on the use of TED talks. This is aimed at portraying different circles of World Englishes and developing lexical acquisition through communicative contexts.
Index
1. Introduction 5
2. Literature review 6
2.1 Word acquisition 6
2.2 Use of technology 19
2.3 Use of subtitles 23
2.4 Introducing Global Englishes 29
3. Didactic proposal 32
3.1 Introduction 32
3.2 Design of activities 34
1st TED talk: Students need to lead the classroom, not teachers,
by Kathy Cadwell 34
2nd TED talk: The real influencers? The teachers,
by Nathania Chua 39
3rd TED talk: Forget university? Four steps to design
your own education, by Till H Groß 43
3.3 Further recommendations 49
4. Bibliography 52
5. Annexes 56
Annex 1.1 65
Annex 1.2 60
Annex 1.3 61
Annex 1.4 63
Annex 2.1 66
Annex 2.2 70
Annex 2.3 70
Annex 3.1 73
Annex 3.2 76
Annex 3.3 80
1. Introduction
This paper deals with the issue of lexical acquisition in English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts in the Balearic islands, Spain. Lexical development is one of the most important aspects of language learning. Among native speakers, it takes place in a natural way, especially by means of listening (Brown, Donkaewbua and Waring, 2008) and interacting with others. Nonetheless, for those who are learning a language other than their mother tongue, it is a slow, gradual and arduous process that requires years of practice and effort. For this reason, learning a high number of words can be very daunting for students.
Besides, the artificial nature of class instruction usually causes learners to receive very limited exposure to the English language. As a consequence, their chances of acquiring a diverse and rich vocabulary are generally very scant.
However, lexical acquisition is an extremely complex language process that researchers are still trying to understand. Currently, there are different approaches and learning strategies that teachers can use in their endeavour to enlarge their students’ lexicon. Technology, for example, is a very versatile tool that is increasingly being used in the world of education, especially in the EFL classroom. It allows learners to use a variety of materials other than textbooks or handouts. Besides, it is particularly useful for providing students with authentic material in the target language, and hence, compensating for the lack of exposure to the language. For this reason, the Youtube and TED platforms are becoming very important elements in EFL classes around the world.
As a matter of fact, technology approximates learners to different linguistic communities, and hence, to different varieties and ways of using the language.
As the world is becoming more globalized, the relevance of English in international contexts is growing, and interactions in this language are no longer held with native speakers exclusively. It is therefore important to introduce students to the many varieties of the language they are likely to find in the future.
This dissertation addresses many different aspects of the process of teaching EFL. It is divided in two different sections: the literature review and the didactic
proposal. In the former, basic concepts involved in the acquisition of EFL vocabulary will be discussed, as well as the role of technology in the classroom, the use of subtitles and the spread of the English language around the world. In the latter, we will present our design of activities, mainly focused on fostering lexical development of target words among students. For this purpose, we will be using TED, a platform in which speakers from across the world share innovative ideas about diverse topics and fields.
We have selected three talks by speakers from different lingua-cultural backgrounds who use different varieties of English. The idea is for students to be able to learn new lexical items, while at the same time developing their listening and communicative skills. Besides, raising awareness of the different uses, contexts and varieties of the language will help them to broaden their horizons and prepare them for a globalized world.
2. Literature review
2.1 Word acquisition
According to Coady and Huckling (1997) lexical competence is one of the most important skills for communicative competence (Coady and Huckling, as cited in Rafiee, 2012). Consequently, it does not come as a surprise when we are told
that “the core element of learning a second language is the task of learning its vocabulary” (Gass, as cited in Rafiee, 2012). It is therefore both shocking and disappointing to see what research has found about its current instruction in EFL classes. The only conclusion reached so far is that educators believe that teaching vocabulary to their students automatically leads to acquisition (Karami, 2019).
Nevertheless, what we do know is that, for vocabulary acquisition to take place, a set of conditions are necessary:
1. students need to be exposed to the new words;
2. these must be encountered several times before they are acquired;
3. a deep processing of words is required; and,
4. encoding needs to occur both at the orthographic and phonological levels.
The first of these points is very obvious: students need to encounter new words in order to be able to learn them. There are two different strategies that can be followed to acquire new vocabulary. One of them is called incidental learning, and it refers to the process of learning without the intention to do so. In this context, it can be described as the by-product of another activity, such as reading. If students read for meaning, they may learn new words without having to pay conscious attention to them (Schmidt cited in Laufer and Hulstijn, 2001). This can also occur through the completion of activities or interaction among students, provided that they make an active use of the target words (Shahraki and Kassaian, as cited in Karami, 2019).
This notion is closely related to Krashen’s comprehensible input theory, which suggests that learners develop knowledge of new lexical items when these are presented within a sequence of words whose meaning they already understand.
That is, learners can acquire new words if they can infer their meaning from the context in which they are being presented (Gistaki, 1998). This inference process is common in incidental learning.
The opposite type of strategy is called intentional learning, and it entails the deliberate attempt to acquire new words. Following this approach, students make the effort to memorize different items by creating word lists, using flash cards or
taking tests, among other things. The main difference between intentional and incidental learning is that, when applying the former, students are being asked to try to learn the target words, so that direct attention is paid to them (Hulstijn, as cited in Karami, 2019).
For some scholars, however, the distinction between these two different strategies is not straightforward. It is actually quite difficult to know the amount of attention that students pay to unknown words when reading or doing any kind of activity (Arndt and Woore, 2018). And it is also logical to think that not every learner deals with vocabulary the same way and at all times. Furthermore, some academics have acknowledged the complexity of incidental learning and therefore, the difficulty to recognize it (Ramos, as cited in Karami, 2019).
Nevertheless, as many scholars have noticed, a degree of conscious attention is needed in order to acquire a new word. So, in this sense, it can be said that the real difference between these two modes relies on the amount of attention paid to the items, instead of the type of attention (Craik and Lockhart, as cited in Arndt and Woore, 2018; Ellis, as cited in Seyed Jafar, 2012).
So, whether students learn intentionally or incidentally, their exposure to the target words is an obvious need. This leads us to point number two. Depending on the type of activity employed, exposure will play a bigger or a smaller role. For example, when reading a text, the number of encounters with the words is more determining for acquisition than when practicing listening (Vidal, 2010). In any case, the process of vocabulary learning is gradual and requires a period of memory consolidation before the establishment of a new lexical entry. Repetition of exposure should be distributed across time in order to be effective (Vidal, 2010;
Segers et al, 2018).
Regarding point number three, it is already well established that “how deeply a linguistic feature is processed stands in direct relation to the extent of learning that results” (Craik and Lockhart, as cited in Arndt and Woore, 2018). This means that the more elaboration a student makes when encountering a new word, the greater gains on vocabulary acquisition she or he will be able to make (Anderson and Baddeley, as cited in Laufer and Hulstijn, 2001). Therefore, the act of inferring words leads to better retention than passively being provided with a
definition or a synonym. In addition, according to Day and Knight, students who look up the meaning of unknown words in the dictionary are able to remember them better than those who do not (Day and Knight, as cited in Laufer and Hulstijn, 2001). In a similar vein, words that are practiced by means of activities are better retained than those which are solely inferred by context (Paribakht and Wesche, as cited in Laufer and Hulstijn, 2001).
Finally, point number four deals with form: when learning a new word, the spelling and pronunciation are very relevant for its encoding. This is because the phonological short-term memory is of paramount importance for the acquisition of vocabulary. When learners process information they hear, the verbatim or exact words of an utterance are only kept in the working memory for one and a half to two seconds. Afterwards, this is replaced by the final idea or message that has been conveyed. If the learner wants to retain parts of speech in the long- term memory, articulatory rehearsals are needed. Conversely, if rehearsals are suppressed, the learning of those words will not take place (Papagno, as cited in Vidal, 2003).
Therefore, paying attention to form is essential for acquiring new words (Barcroft, as cited in Segers et al, 2018). If the learner focuses too much on semantics, this may lead to a weaker econding of the word form, and hence, diminish form- meaning associations (Barcroft, as cited in Segers et al., 2018). However, Ellis adds that, while phonological features are acquired implicitly through exposure and practice, semantic processes are learnt explicitly, requiring a more conscious processing. The implications of this contribution are twofold. On the one side, it means that, in order to make form-meaning connections, learners must employ really complex meta-cognitive strategies, such as contextual inferrencing (Ellis, as cited in Hulstijn and Laufer, 2001). On the other side, it also means that it is not really a matter of whether attention is directed to form or to meaning, but rather, of how deep this processing is ( Craik and Lockhart, as cited in Vidal, 2003).
Accordingly, and as a form of conclusion, it could be argued that a combination of repeated exposures through time and depth of processing seems to be the key
for word acquisition. However, this language process is more complex than what has been described so far and therefore further issues should be addressed.
So, as has already been mentioned, the difference between what constitutes incidental and intentional learning is somewhat unclear. In a similar vein, scholars do not seem to agree on which of the two strategies is most effective for vocabulary acquisition. Some studies suggest that most L1 (first language) and L2 (second language, or in this context, target language) lexicon is acquired incidentally by reading (Anderson & Freebody, as cited in Seyed Jafar, 2012).
According to this view, learning vocabulary through instruction or memorization is so burdensome that resorting to incidental learning seems the only reasonable way for students to develop lexical competence. A possible explanation for this may be that when words are presented in context, they are more easily learnt than when they are simply shown in isolation (Zeng, as cited in Jiang, 2015).
According to Fraser, incidental inferencing leads to better acquisition and retention of words than other lexical processing strategies, such as looking up words in the dictionary (Fraser, as cited in Raifee, 2012). Ellis confirms that inferring unfamiliar words from the context engages learners in conscious cognitive operations, such as selective attention and hypothesis formation (Ellis, as cited in Li, 2016) And, as Craik notes, “[a] deeper [level of] processing [is]
associated with higher levels of subsequent remembering” (Craik, 2010).
However, despite the apparent contradiction, this proposition does not imply that incidental learning leads to better acquisition than intentional learning. In fact, Hulstijn’s studies seem to suggest that incidental learning strategies through reading render small lexical gains (Hulstijn, as cited in Barcroft, 2015). So, even though it is assumed that a substantial amount of L2 vocabulary is learnt by reading (Nation and Coady, as cited in Raifee, 2012), it is also widely accepted that the number of words acquired this way are only limited (Horst, as cited in Segers et al., 2018). This only confirms, once again, the complexity of this language process and the amount of time and effort it requires.
In this sense, some scholars have pointed out the benefits of intentional learning.
Hung, for instance, asserts that this strategy accelerates the process of lexical development, due to the repetition and memorization techniques. According to
Ellis, intentional learning directs the student’s main attention to the linguistic form, while incidental learning focuses on the overall meaning (Ellis, as cited in Arndt and Woore, 2018). Besides, Schmitt argues that it aids acquisition for those students who are not able to notice L2 vocabulary features by themselves (Hung, as cited by Karami, 2019).
Actually, de Groot estimates that there is no intrinsically better strategy, and that their efficacy for learning depends on many factors (Groot, as cited by Karami, 2019). As Craik puts it “incidental encoding can yield levels of memory performance that are at least as good as those obtained after intentional learning”
(Craik, 2010). As a matter of fact, research seems to indicate that mixed instruction of intentional and incidental strategies leads to greater retention and acquisition than any of these two alone (Karami, 2019). It seems then, that a combination of both strategies (incidental and intentional) is the best option for the process of lexical acquisition. Schmitt (2008) further suggests that the application of intentional exercises can be an effective way to enhance learning after incidental strategies have been used (Schmitt, as cited in Karami, 2019).
A type of incidental strategy that is associated with the learning of new words is called retrieval. It consists of the production of the target words in context by the learner or, in other words, the “accessing of stored information based on previous experience” (Barcroft in Roediger and Guynn, as cited in Barcroft, 2015). This means that the retrieval of a word can only occur when the learner has already encountered that word before, and has thus been able to gain some partial knowledge. Retrieval of words from memory can modify the existing information that students already possess at the moment of the retrieval act. This way, recalling and using a lexical item in context that the learner has already met can change his or her concept of that very word (Roediger and Guynn, as cited in Barcroft, 2015). This potential for changing semantic associations of the lexical items is proportional to the depth or difficulty of the retrieval process (Gardiner, Craik, and Bleasdale, as cited in Barcroft, 2015).
According to a study carried out by Barcroft, retrieving words is thought to strengthen the connections between word form and meaning (Barcroft, 2015). In addition, it has also been suggested that retrievals positively correlate with longer
retention of the lexical items. Students who used retrieval during their learning of L2 words in Roediger and Karpicke’s study (2008) were able to remember these lexical items after a week. In contrast, those who did not employ the retrieval technique did not reach such retention scores (Karpicke and Roediger, as cited by Segers et al., 2018). In a similar vein, the results of an experiment carried out by Segers et al. (2018) have proved that memory retrieval increases the long- term retention of new L2 vocabulary to a greater degree than inferencing processes do. Contextual inferences, actually, seem to work better for comprehension and meaning recognition of new words (Karpicke and Roediger, as cited in Segers et al., 2018).
To summarize, retrieval is a way for students to practice the target words they have already encountered. This incidental strategy is thought to improve retention, compared to contextual inferencing, which is thought to improve semantic knowledge. These are two distinct processes and cannot coexist at the same time: words that are inferred from the context are not retrieved from memory, and the other way around (Karpicke and Roediger, as cited in Segers et al., 2018).Retrieval is beneficial when learners have met the target words and already possess some knowledge because “this must be consolidated through repetition” (Segers et al., 2018).
Examples of retrieval activities in class are the incorporation of cloze exercises or pictures as prompting elements while reading a text, or the summarizing or paraphrasing of video content, as in He’s experiment (Segers et al., 2018; He, 2019). Interaction with teachers or peers while using target words is another form of retrieval. Thus, negotiating the meaning of words, as in requesting clarifications or confirmation checks, aids acquisition (Newton, as cited by Hulstijn and Laufer, 2001).
Two different theories support this idea. The first is Swain’s Output Hypothesis, which suggests that students do not only need comprehensible input in order to acquire linguistic competence, but they also need to create output themselves (Swain, as cited in He, 2019). As Nava and Pedrazzini (2018) explain, comprehensible input is crucial in second language acquisition, though insufficient. Students must engage both in written and spoken production in order
to become proficient users of the language (Nava and Pedrazzini, as cited in He, 2019). The second theory is Long’s Interaction Hypothesis, which states that negotiating meaning eases the acquisition of the L2 because learners obtain comprehensible input as a result (Long, as cited in He, 2019). According to Ellis, one of the benefits of negotiation is that it provides learners with more time to process the words (Ellis, as cited in He, 2019).
Finally, Nguyen and Boers (2018) suggest using an input-output-input sequence of tasks when dealing with videos, instead of the more classical input-input-output arrangement. This way, students have the chance to notice the gaps between their own production and the video content, and to focus on the information that they lack during the second viewing (Nguyen and Boers, as cited in He, 2019).
In order to recapitulate the points that have just been discussed, it can be said that the use of a mixed strategy of incidental and intentional learning is thought to be the most effective. Furthermore, the implementation of retrieval techniques, such as negotiating meaning or producing output containing the target words, have proved to correlate with long periods of vocabulary retention. So, to further develop the topic of lexical acquisition, and as this paper explores the contributions of both reading and listening, a description of how these very different modes differ is therefore needed. As a remark, reading will take place in the form of subtitles, while listening will take place in the form of a conference.
Regarding the reading mode, it should be noted that frequency of occurrence, as has already been stated, is the most determining factor for word acquisition.
Predictability from word form and parts comes second, followed by type of word elaboration and type of word, respectively. However, when looking at the listening condition, predictability of word form and parts is the most decisive factor, followed by type of word, type of word elaboration and frequency of occurrence (Vidal, 2010).
As it can be observed, predictability of word form and parts aids word acquisition significantly in both conditions. When reading, encountering a morphologically predictable word is as conducive to learning as encountering a cognate.
Nevertheless, when listening, meeting a phonologically predictable word is more conducive to acquisition than facing a cognate (Vidal, 2010).
Type of word elaboration refers to the explanations or clarifications that the text or the audio provide for the target words. In general, words that receive elaboration are more easily retained than those which do not. Similarly, the more explicit the elaborations are, the higher the gains obtained. This factor is especially relevant in the listening mode, since students may have trouble recognizing words in L2 speech. In this sense, the prosodic elements of the spoken discourse help learners make form-meaning connections and thus, remember the words that have been elaborated upon (Vidal, 2010).
Regarding the type of word, three different categories can be established:
technical words (those related to a specific field of knowledge), academic words (those used in research and which belong to the formal register) and low- frequency words (those which are not commonly used in the language). Under the reading condition, technical words show the greatest gains, closely followed by low-frequency words, and then by academic words. The latter are by far the most difficult type to acquire. Under the listening condition, however, technical words are still the easiest to learn, but low-frequency and academic words seem almost equally problematic for students (Vidal, 2010). So, as can be observed, academic words show the worst results for both conditions. A possible explanation for this may be that they are are abstract nouns present in most lectures, and therefore, are not specific to any particular topic. Besides, as they are neither salient nor crucial for comprehension, they make the process of creating form-meaning connections even more challenging (Vidal, 2010; Vidal, 2003).
In reference to the frequency of exposure of the target words, there is a variance in the two modes. Scholars suggest that a smaller amount of encounters are needed for reading than for listening (Vidal, 2010). However, there seems not to be a consensus on the number of times required for students to learn a new word.
According to Vidal, between two and three encounters are effective when reading, but Rot rises them to six. However, Nation and Wang suggest ten or more encounters, but for Waring and Takaki, it should be around twenty (Vidal, 2010; Webb, 2010). Under the listening condition, Vidal proposes that between
five to six exposures to a novel word are necessary. Horst, nonetheless, thinks that ten is a more suitable number (Vidal, 2010).
In the light of these findings, Webb’s theory (2010) about the depth of word knowledge seems relevant. He argues that the number of times a learner is exposed to a target word is connected to the amount of knowledge that he or she will obtain from it. So, instead of focusing on the encounters, he pays attention to the different stages of word acquisition. From one to two exposures, gains mainly involve form, but barely meaning. From five to nine encounters, students may be able to acquire some partial knowledge. And from ten to more exposures, the chances of properly learning the meaning of a word and other features increase (Webb, 2010). In this sense, the amount of word exposure directly affects the amount of gains that can be made. The more encounters a learner faces, the better knowledge he or she will be able to acquire about the target word.
However, there are more differences between the reading and listening modes yet to be addressed. On the one hand, reading is thought to provide a higher number of lexical gains than listening. According to Vidal’s study (2010) participants who learnt under this condition reported better recognition and better scores for full and partial knowledge of the target words (Vidal, 2010). Reading also allows students to focus on a wider range of words (such as technical and low-frequency words) in comparison to the listening mode, which can only account for gains on technical words. Furthermore, studies have proved that reading allows learners to engage in form aside from meaning, whereas listening is mainly concerned with meaning only (Hildyard and Olson, as cited in Vidal, 2010). For instance, according to Ellis, the mere act of reading creates phonological awareness of the target words (Beaton and Ellis, 1993).
Besides, extensive reading not only aids students’ acquisition of new words, but it also helps them noticing lexical phrases, collocational patterns and new nuances of meaning, as well as reinforcing partially known words (Warin and Takaki, as cited in Segers et al., 2018). One final advantage of the reading mode is that it allows learners more time to process the words. Per contra, listening practices are perceived as more ineffectual for acquisition, as words “pass ephemerally” (Ellis, as cited in Vidal, 2010).
On the other hand, listening is proved to generate higher retention of words than reading, especially for high-proficiency learners. However, the opposite phenomenon can be observed in low-proficiency students. As they have poorer listening comprehension skills, their gains are usually very small. Also, as it has been discussed already, the phonological aspect of words is important for acquisition. Although the extent of this effect is difficult to determine, recurrent access to the phonological storage can lead to stronger, more specific and more permanent memory traces (Vidal, 2010).
Notwithstanding this, the difficulty of connected speech and speed of discourse may pose a challenge for L2 learners (Webb and Rogers, as cited in Webb) However, students attending EFL lectures seem to be able to make new lexical gains, although not all of them are kept in the memory (Vidal, 2003). Apparently, the rates of word acquisition and long-term retention vary according to the students’ proficiency. It usually means that the higher the proficiency, the greater the vocabulary gain, but also the greater the vocabulary loss. This may occur due to a process of interference, because the more words students learn, the more interference they cause and the more difficult it is for learners to remember all of the items (Wingfield and Byrnes, as cited in Vidal, 2010, ).
As a form of conclusion, the reading mode seems to be more beneficial for the acquisition of both meaning and word form, whereas the listening mode creates higher retention over time. Besides, as it has been explained, the process of lexical development is influenced by many different factors. Thus, word knowledge is not a simple and straightforward construction. Instead, it entails various aspects and nuances.
In this sense, knowing a word can imply many things. For instance, that the student is familiar with its meaning. However, this does not automatically indicate that he or she is able to use it correctly in a sentence, especially if the item is a polysemous word or has several nuances of meaning. This is because productive and receptive knowledge require different processes, or actually, are different parts of the gradual process of acquisition. While the former involves the creation of a new lexical representation in the student’s mind, the latter only involves
“discriminable, but not necessarily complete representations of the new L2
words” (Schneider, Healy, an Bourne, as cited in Segers et al, 2018). Therefore, productive knowledge takes more effort to acquire and denotes better mastery of the language than receptive knowledge. But meaning is just one aspect of the whole spectrum of word knowledge.
According to Richards, knowing a word implies many different aspects, which include the morpho-syntactic properties of a word, as well as its derivation process, associations, frequency of occurrence in the language and semantic features. The pedagogical approach to word knowledge offers two different categories: breadth and depth of word knowledge (Wesche and Paribakht, as cited in Seyed Jafar, 2012). The former refers to the number of lexical items that a learner knows, while the latter describes the degree or amount of word knowledge that a learner possesses (Nation and Read, as cited in Seyed Jafar, 2012). These two different concepts are highly correlated, meaning that students who have a rich vocabulary are usually knowledgeable about the different features of the L2 words. What is more, breadth and depth of knowledge are also linked to the long-term retention of inferred words (Seyed Jafar, 2012).
According to Nation, there are different aspects of vocabulary, namely form, meaning and use. The former is constituted by both the spoken and written form of words, i.e., their pronunciation and spelling. The meaning dimension entails knowing the form-meaning connections of a given word, but also its associations, i.e., synonyms and antonyms. Moreover, it refers to the ability of the learner to use the word productively in a variety of contexts. Lastly, knowledge of the use of a word refers to the awareness of the different grammatical functions that a lexical item can fulfil, as well as the possible collocational patterns that it may adopt (Li, 2016).
It can be observed, then, that word acquisition comprises many different levels and stages of knowledge. As has been explained before, this slow learning process depends to a certain extent on the amount of word exposure that students receive. Lexical acquisition through listening, for example, takes longer to occur than acquisition through reading, because a higher number of encounters with the target words are needed in this mode (Segers et al., 2018).
Examples of this phenomenon have been provided in page sixteen.
According to Segers et a. (2018),, two conditions are needed in order for acquisition to take place: words should be encountered between thirty and fifty times, and also, words should be encountered soon again after reading. If these requirements are not met, lexical gains will not be preserved and will eventually fade from memory (Segers et al., 2018).
Therefore, developing complete and solid knowledge of a word requires an enormous effort and extensive exposure. As a matter of fact, lexical knowledge is thought to attrite relatively easily (Weltend and Grendel, 2003). And although there is a positive correlation between meaning recall and vocabulary size, attrition rates have been proved to be independent from language proficiency (Desmet, Montero Pérez and Peters, 2015; Bahrick, as cited in Vidal, 2003).
Therefore, forgetting should be perceived as a natural part of the process of lexical development for all kinds of learners.
It ought to be noted that when students are not primed for meaning, their chances of forgetting the target words are higher. So, in order to ease the acquisition of novel words, teachers should ensure that these are met often and that students understand their meaning before being exposed to them in a text (Segers et al., 2018), or for the purpose of this paper, in a listening activity. Similarly, scholars recommend target words to be used in multiple contexts, such as different class lectures. This way, learners will be able to associate a variety of cues to new words they meet, and thus, enhance the whole acquisition process (Stenberg and Powell, as cited in Vidal, 2003).
On the whole, the learning of a word entails diverse aspects of knowledge, often layered and complex. Developing competent lexical skill depends considerably on the frequency of exposure, the depth of processing and the level of language proficiency of the learner. In order for students to acquire full knowledge of a target word, they should be aware of its many different features, such as meaning, form, syntax, morphology and derivation, and be able to use it in a receptive and productive way.
Above all, the process of lexical acquisition should be understood as a slow, gradual and error-prone process that learners must undertake in order to develop complete mastery of the target language. Aside from the fact that most concepts
and classifications mentioned are still blurry and need further research, some conclusions can be drawn from them. Firstly, intentional and incidental strategies provide different benefits for word acquisition, and the combination of both is especially effective. Secondly, exposure should be distributed across time in order to aid acquisition. Thirdly, reading correlates to improvement of meaning while listening correlates to longer retention of the target words. Fourthly, knowing a word entails different aspects and levels of knowledge, and breadth and depth of vocabulary are associated with a higher number of gains. And finally, depth of word processing is the most crucial aspect for lexical acquisition; and attrition, a natural part of the latter.
2.2 Use of technology
For the past two centuries, the use of technology has been growing and spreading increasingly, to eventually become an essential part of our daily lives.
Actually, the current economic system of multinational companies and corporations not only allows, but also demands continuous communication between people located in different countries (Crystal, 2003). And with this technological revolution has come the globalization of the English language (Crystal, 2003; Kuppens, 2013).Therefore, these two very different processes are profoundly intertwined.
Technology is then a very powerful tool to connect users from across the world into what is known today as “global village”, an international community surfing the net and exchanging information with one another (Crystal, 2003). This potential for real-life communication makes technology a very appropriate and versatile device to implement in EFL classes. For example, the use of videos in the classroom creates shared experiences for students and teachers, which allows them to deal with the content and the target words in a more authentic and contextually relevant way. In fact, the Dual Coding Theory suggests that information which is presented in a combination of verbal and non-verbal channels reinforces the connections between the two types of input. Hence, using videos in class is an interesting way to aid acquisition, because it strengthens the students’ ability to learn and remember words that have been presented through
audio speech and images (Hall and Dougherty Stahl, 2012) This notion is supported by the theory of Multi-channel communication, which claims that information introduced by means of different modalities aids learning (Andt and Woore, in Moore, Burton, and Myers, as cited in Andt and Woore, 2018 ).
Instructing through multimodal channels is especially important in the current classroom context because the students’ “capability of consuming, interpreting, and producing multimodal literacies is becoming increasingly significant for academic and social purposes”( Jewitt & Kress, as cited in Choi and Yi, 2016).
Furthermore, multimodality allows them to engage in content learning and enables them to focus on topics of their own interest (Cuban, as cited in Andrei, 2016). This way, blended learning, or the combination of face-to-face and online learning, (Mehaffy, 2012) provides students with a more active learning process (Murphy and Baki, 2013) as it encourages critical thinking (Garrison, 2011), and switches the focus from the teacher to the student (Russell, 2016; Mehaffy, as cited in Russell, 2016; Murphy and Baki, as cited in Russell, 2016; Garrison, as cited in Russell, 2016).
Besides, the use of Youtube in class fosters peer-to-peer interaction and makes the subsequent tasks more authentic (Jones and Cuthrell, as cited in Brook, 2011). According to recent findings, it improves the students’ aural, oral and writing skills and serves as a source of enjoyment for them, as it deals with the present popular culture (Malhiwsky, as cited in Brook, 2011, Mayora, 2009;
Almenaj, as cited in Heriyanto, 2015). Additionally, the implementation of videos helps teachers adapt to the fast-paced attention span of their students in the digital age (Elyas and Kabooha, 2015).
This way, the use of media provides authentic L2 aural input that helps students acquire the spoken form of words, becoming a useful complement to reading (Webb, 2010). Therefore, extensive viewing of TV programs and videos may lead to an increase in vocabulary, as it allows unknown words to be encountered in context repeatedly and thus makes them more likely to be learned (Horst, Cobb,
& Meara, as cited in Webb, 2010). Besides, videos are a useful tool to increase students’ motivation, because the visual cues help them understand the
utterances and as a result, boost their comfort and confidence in the L2 (De Bot et al, as cited in Li, 2016).
When dealing with reading activities, the use of narrow reading (selecting texts that are content-related) is thought to be effective for lexical acquisition. This is because, as the texts address the same topic, they use a big number of running words, and hence, have a smaller lexical load (Hwang and Nation, as cited in Webb, 2010). This characteristic of narrow reading creates a potential for vocabulary learning, since the same words are repeatedly used in the different texts, and thus, are more likely to be remembered (Waring and Takaki, as cited in Webb, 2010). Related texts also contain fewer word types and word families, as well as a higher number of encounters with low-frequency words (Webb, 2010).
This combination of factors makes narrow reading a useful tool for learning vocabulary, and in fact, can also be applied to the watching of TV programs or videos, as Webb (2010) shows in his study. Although some researchers claim that reading is the main source of acquisition of lower-frequency words, new media and technology offer multiple possibilities for gaining L2 exposure, both inside and outside the classroom (Arnd and Woore, 2018). This becomes especially relevant nowadays, as extensive reading is not a common activity among learners, and the use of technology can constitute a big help for this purpose (Waring, as cited in Arndt and Woore, 2018).
In this sense, the introduction of TED talks as class material may be a good choice considering its many advantages. TED videos are conferences that last from ten to twenty minutes approximately, and can be found on Youtube as well as on the following website https://www.ted.com/talks?language=es. They employ native and non-native speakers of English from around the world who gather in different cities in order to present their innovative ideas, usually based on their personal experiences or discoveries. TED talks deal with a wide variety of topics, such as business, science and technology, language or politics (Nurmukhamedov, p.769). The website includes multilingual subtitles in more than forty languages, as well as hyperlinks to TED Conversations and the TED Community, where users can interact with each other (Nurmukhamedov, 2017).
In sum, TED talks provide learners with “current, authentic and globally-relevant material” while giving them the chance to use technology in a socially and culturally appropriate way (Healey, as cited in Fogal, Graham and Lavigne, 2014).
Since speakers use very simple explanations and include fewer specialized words than university lecturers, talks can be understood with relative ease by L2 learners who are not familiar with the field (Nurmukhamedov, 2017). This is why TED talks are becoming increasingly popular in EFL, ESP (English for Specific Purposes) and college-level classes in different parts of the world ( Takaesu, as cited in Nurmukhamedov, 2017).
In terms of the potential for vocabulary acquisition, the composition of the TED talks seems to be fairly appropriate. This is because a small number of high- frequency words are repeated throughout most of the conference, while a large number of low-frequency words cover only a small part of the talk (Nation and Webb, as cited in Nurmukhamedov, 2017). Besides, TED talks promote both communicative competence and student autonomy, as videos can be accessed from home and watched independently while using online dictionaries or other sources of external help (Floyd and Jeschull, as cited in Nurmukhamedov, 2017;
Andrei on Abraham, as cited in Russell, 2016). Additionally, they can serve as a model for those students who lack oral presentation skills, and repeated watching may help them improve their pronunciation (Floyd & Jeschull, as cited in Nurmukhamedov, 2017).
However, it has been suggested that TED talks are not particularly useful for the teaching of academic words due to their relative low frequency in the spoken discourse (Nurmukhamedov, 2017). For this reason, the use of TED videos may be a good starting point to slowly introduce students to this kind of vocabulary. In fact, according to Parry’s study, the type of words that L2 learners are most commonly unfamiliar with are those which belong to the formal register (Parry, as cited in Vidal ,2010).
All things considered, the implementation of videos in class can be challenging for both teachers and students. Since listening comprehension correlates deeply with the vocabulary size of the learners, having a list of topical words and proper nouns featured on the talks may be of great help (van Zeeland & Schmitt, as cited
in Nurmukhamedov, 2017). This way, teachers can pre-teach the target words in advance and reduce the lexical load of the video. Another option to aid comprehension is to practice the target words in scaffolding activities previous to the talk (Nurmukhamedov, 2017).
However, educators can also benefit from the digital nature of the talks and assign them as homework. This way, students may improve their listening and vocabulary skills at home, and even develop further topical vocabulary if they continue watching content-related presentations. Additionally, they are able to activate the L1 or L2 captions on their screen and monitor their own learning (Nurmukhamedov, 2017).
2.3 Use of subtitles
As has been mentioned in previous sections, reading allows learners more time to process the words than listening activities do, a feature that is conducive to vocabulary acquisition (Vidal, 2010). Conversely, L2 speech poses more difficulties for comprehension than texts, because learners are not familiar with the phoneme sequences and word structure of the foreign language (Cutler, as cited in Vidal, 2010). As this paper deals with the implementation of videos in the classroom, full captions seem to be a convenient solution for this problem. They have proved to be more efficient for lexical development than the absence of subtitles (Li, 2016, Sydorenko, as cited in Desmet et al., 2015). Captions help students understand the boundaries between the different words, which may otherwise seem blurry in connected speech. This way, learners can identify the form of the words they are being exposed to, especially in those fast-paced parts of the audio (Bird and Williams, as cited in Desmet et al., 2915).
Subtitles contribute to the vocabulary acquisition of learners in different ways.
First of all, captions not only improve recognition of written and spoken word forms, but they also help building the initial connections between the L2 lexicons and their meanings (Winke et al., as cited in Desmet et al., 2015). Furthermore, captions increase the depth of word processing and rise students’ attention, both crucial for acquisition (Winke et al., as cited by Li, 2016).
As Krashen points out, low levels of anxiety are necessary in order for language learning to take place (Krashen, as cited in Wang, 2019; Gitsaki in Krashen, as cited in Gitsaki, 1998). According to Vanderplank’s study (2016), captions provide students with a sense of peacefulness and effectively lower their affective filter, liberating them from negative emotions and enabling them to concentrate on language (Vanderplank, as cited in Wang, 2019).
In addition, subtitles offer students a little boost in their lexical development, as they can simultaneously learn through visual (written) and aural (spoken) channels. This creates especially good conditions for their learning process when dealing with authentic L2 input (Li, 2016; Bianchi & Ciabattoni, as cited in Li, 2016). Thus, captions ease the processing of words and compensate for speed (Zeeland and Schmitt, as cited in Li, 2016). These facts seem to accord with the underlying ideas of the Multi-channel communication and Dual coding theories, because it shows that the use of aural and visual (text and images) modalities is beneficial for acquisition, as it is a combination of different (verbal and non-verbal) channels.
The success of reading-while-listening activities on word acquisition is indicative of how useful these two channels are when used simultaneously. In a study by Segers et al. (2018), reading-while-listening activities produced more vocabulary gains than reading-only and listening-only activities, and in fact, were also the most preferred type by students. This is probably due to the fact that they aid listening comprehension and provide students with better understanding of the intonation and meaning of the sentences. This way, learners can achieve more meaningful reading and listening (Day and Bamford, as cited in Segers et al., 2018).
A further advantage of using subtitles in videos is that they reinforce information that has previously been learnt (Winke et al., as cited in Li, 2016). As students become repeatedly exposed to the same words, they refresh their word knowledge and are thus able to maintain it over time (De Bot et al, as cited in Li, 2016). This reduces the cognitive load of the activity (Hao-Jan, as cited in Li, 2016) and allows them to pay more attention to the novel words. Hence, captions
allow students to effectively “link new information to old information” (McLaughlin, as cited in Gitsaki, 1998) and consequently, achieve better learning results.
The use of captions can be considered an incidental learning strategy to aid listening comprehension (Li, 2016). In fact, some studies claim that EFL learners read subtitles in a systematic way, irrespective of their language knowledge, age, or language of the captions (L1 or L2) (d’Ydewalle and De Bruycker, as cited in Desmet et al., 2015). Students are reported to spend longer periods of time looking at subtitles in those parts of the video in which the content is difficult to understand (Ydewalle and Pavakanun, as cited in Li, 2016). This is probably because there is a correlation between the amount of time invested in processing words and the lexical gains obtained as a result (Williams and Morris, as cited in Desmet et al., 2015). Desmet et al.’s study (2015) seems to prove that when learners read captions in order to gain meaning, dwelling long on the novel words is conducive to acquisition (Desmet et al., 2015).
The different caption types impact the duration span of subtitle reading. For instance, according to Desmet et al.’s study, keyword captioning leads to longer gaze duration on the target words than full captioning. In a similar vein, students using intentional learning exercises during video viewing (such as test announcement) also spend more time dwelling on the target words than those who use incidental learning strategies (Desmet et al., 2015). However, for the purpose of this paper, full captions have been chosen as the most appropriate option for Spanish Bachillerato students, whose level of proficiency may not be high enough to understand a TED talk without such help. Besides, the aforementioned study shows no significant difference neither on form recognition nor on meaning recall between keyword captioning and full captioning users when the video is played twice, as it is the case for this didactic proposal (Desmet et al., 2015). However, when the video is played once, keyword captioning users do obtain better results in meaning recall than full captioning users (Clarebout, Desmet, Montero Perez and Peters, 2014, as cited in Desmet el al., 2015).
There are other existing types of subtitles, such as L1, L2 or bilingual subtitles.
On the one hand, the former is reported to lead to the learning of words and phrases, although it may slow the tempo of the watching process (Katche, as
cited in Li, 2016). This type of captions is beneficial when the vocabulary used or the pace of speech are too difficult for learners (Guillory, as cited in Li, 2016).
Furthermore, according to the students themselves, L1 subtitles are helpful for gathering a general idea of the content as well as useful background information (Li, 2016). This correlates to the results of Markham’s study, which suggests that L1 subtitles are more conducive to content comprehension than L2 subtitles (Markham et al., as cited in Wang, 2019). Hence, it can be argued that L1 captions are especially convenient during the first watching. However, Mingye Li’s study shows that the number of lexical gains that this kind of subtitles provide is low in comparison to that obtained with L2 subtitles (Li, 2016).
L2 captions, on the other hand, help students mapping the written form of words with the corresponding phonetic forms, which aids listening comprehension (Vandergift, as cited in Li, 2016). Instead of hearing an unidentifiable stream of words, learners are then able to segment the aural input and make sense of it (Mitterer and McQueen, as cited by Li, 2016). This reduces the cognitive load and allows them to make inferences of the novel words, therefore contributing to acquisition (Segers et al., 2018). Besides, L2 subtitles are thought to produce less lexical interference than L1 subtitles, promote active listening and improve the writing skills of learners (Guichon and McLornan, as cited in Li, 2016).
It has also been suggested that L2 subtitles are a source of motivation for students, because they become more engaged in the listening activity and thus, enhance their learning process (Dörnyei, as cited in Li, 2016). As has been explained before, emotions play a relevant role in the acquisition of the L2.
Conforming to Krashen’s Affective filter blocking hypothesis, comprehensible input will not be of use to learners if they cannot concentrate on the language and thus, are not able to process it (Krashen, as cited in Gitsaki, 1998).
According to Mingye Li’s study, using L1 subtitles leads to higher scores on word recall during the day that the video watching takes place. However, the use of L2 subtitles leads to better results on word recognition seven weeks after students’
exposure to the video (Li, 2016). This means that L1 captions are more beneficial for retrieving words from one’s memory in the short term, while L2 captions are more effective for recognizing words in the long term.
It is thought that different kinds of captions may suit different learner profiles. For example, according to Vulchanova (2015), L1 subtitles are more effective for less proficient students, as their language skills are too limited for audio comprehension. Conversely, advanced learners can benefit more from L2 subtitles because they possess a higher level of competency (Vulchanova, as cited in Li, 2016).
All things considered, detractors argue that captions may hamper the development of listening skills, as students have the chance to simply read the text instead of listening to the audio (Borrás & Lafayette, as cited in Li, 2016). In addition, the use of subtitles is thought to be redundant because the same information is being transmitted through spoken text, written text and images.
This phenomenon may cause a cognitive overload on students and reduce the speed of language processing, affecting their learning (Sweller, as cited in Li, 2016). Nonetheless, other scholars seem to advocate for the implementation of captions in EFL classes. Vulchanova (2015) sees subtitles as a way to support L2 learning, and claim that the use of three channels is more conducive to acquisition than the use of just one or two (Vulchanova, as cited in Li, 2016).
Students across the spectrum of proficiency, however, may benefit from captions differently. As has been explained before, beginners may find subtitles very useful, but advanced learners may perceive them as unnecessary and redundant, especially when watching unchallenging videos. Therefore, teachers should identify the level of their students and adapt the use of subtitles to the purpose of the listening activity (Li, 2016).
As has been mentioned previously, it is a good idea to provide learners with a list of the target words and/or difficult words that appear on the video. In order to further aid vocabulary acquisition, they can be administered in the form of glosses. In this sense, a study has proved that when using incidental learning, L1 gloss type contributes to the development of the productive word knowledge, whereas the L2 gloss type seems to promote receptive word knowledge (Dabaghi and Rafiee, (2012). According to some scholars, L1 translation is the most effective way to learn vocabulary, in terms of word meaning, form and usage (Laufer and Shmueli, as cited in Li, 2016; Nation, as cited in Li, 2016). It is also
the quickest and clearest way for students to gain comprehension of the lexical items (McKewon, as cited in Li, 2016). Nonetheless, Oxford and Crookhall (1990) regard the use of direct translations as decontextualized learning, because words are presented in a non-communicative context (Oxford and Crookhall, as cited in Li, 2016). In a similar vein, some studies claim that L2 words are acquired faster through non-verbal stimuli than through L1 translations (Wimer and Lambert, as cited in Beaton and Ellis, 1993 ).
However, it has also been reported that bilingual glosses are beneficial for word acquisition, as they deepen the language processing and lead to longer retention as a consequence (Laufer and Smueli, as cited in Li, 2016). Similarly, the use of bilingual captions, which is a common practice in countries like Belgium, Finland or China when broadcasting TV programs, has caught the attention of scholars (Li, 2016). According to Mingyue Li’s experiment (2016), bilingual subtitles provide better scores than L1 or L2 subtitles both at the level of word recognition and word recall; both in the short term and in the long term (seven weeks after the viewing of the video) (Li, 2016). These results seem to correlate with posterior studies (Fang, Fang, and Zhang, 2019). Contrarily, according to Wang’s experiment, the use of dual captions does not render higher vocabulary scores than the use of L1 or L2 captions (Wang, 2019).
All things considered, the three experiments mentioned above were carried out among Chinese students, whose mother tongue differs from the English language a great deal more than Spanish does. Besides, the Latin origin of the English lexicon, especially in the formal register, is naturally advantageous when using L2 captions in the EFL class. In addition, the aforementioned problems that captions may cause on students, such as cognitive overload, redundancy and slow processing, make monolingual subtitles a more appropriate option for Spanish-speaking English learners.
As for the type of monolingual subtitles that are more suitable for the Spanish context, L2 captioning seems to be more conducive to vocabulary acquisition, because it provides a higher number of lexical gains. Furthermore, it reinforces the connections between the spoken and written forms, enhances retention and
recognition of words, improves writing and listening skills, and generates more motivation among students.
When designing video-oriented activities aimed at teaching novel words, it is important to draw the students’ attention towards them. Asking learners to focus on meaning or on form (spelling or pronunciation) is useful for this purpose (Laufer and Hulstijn, 2001; Laufer, as cited in Desmet et al., 2015). Announcing an upcoming vocabulary test is also an effective method for students to pay attention to the target words as they appear on the video. This will deepen the language processing and thus, enhance their learning. According to Desmet et al.’ study (2015), a second viewing of the video through intentional learning promotes word recognition (Desmet et al., 2015).
Other kinds of activities that can be done in order to promote overall listening and communication skills are note-taking and summarizing during or after viewings, comparing summaries and expanding them with partners, or even writing short essays or doing presentations on the topics of the TED talks. Using cloze activities is another way to foster listening comprehension, as well as directing students’ attention to the target words. This exercise can be inverted, so that students are the ones who select a TED talk, analyze it and create a cloze activity for the rest of their peers (Watkins and Wilkins, 2011). Group discussions about topics tackled on the videos are convenient for promoting critical thinking (Fogal et al, 2014) as well as creating a more authentic source for interaction in the L2.
This is especially important, because language learning depends to a great extent on how much class activities resemble real-world tasks (Dunan, as cited in Mayora, 2009).
2.4 Introducing Global Englishes
Due to historical processes of colonialism, imperialism and globalization, the English language has spread throughout the different continents, and still continues to do so. As a result, estimates show that one in four of the world’s population are now able to communicate in this language with relative success (Crystal, 2003). According to the World Economic Forum, 1.5 billion people
around the world speak English, but fewer than 400 million use it as a mother tongue (Lustig, 2018). This means that non-native speakers currently outnumber native speakers, a trend that is increasing. Besides, the population in places where English is spoken as a second language is growing 2.5 times faster than in those where it is considered a first language (Crystal, 2003) and this has obvious implications for language usage.
The spread of the language can be divided into three different stages or concentric circles of World Englishes (WE). The inner circle englobes countries which use it as a first language, including the USA, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The outer circle is formed by those states in which it is used as a second language by multilingual communities that have institutionalized it.
Singapore, India and Malawi are countries that fall into this category, among many others. Finally, the expanding circle is constituted by nations that bear no historical connection to the English language or culture, but regard it as a valuable tool and place importance in its instruction. Countries like Russia, China or Spain are representative for this group, which, as its name indicates, still continues to expand. In such places, English does not have any special administrative status and is simply taught as a foreign language (Crystal, 2003).
However, the distinction between second language and foreign language is becoming blurry nowadays, as territories with no links to the British colonial process, such as Scandinavia, use it more widely than countries of the outer circle of WE (Crystal, 2003).
The Global Englishes Language Teaching approach (GELT) acknowledges this complex and manifold language scenario and advocates for the teaching of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) or as an International Language (EIL), two similar concepts. The former entails a focus on non-native speaker interaction, while the latter draws attention to how users from different lingua-cultural backgrounds communicate in international contexts. Additionally, GELT includes the perspective of WE, which examines the use of the language by post-colonial communities of Asia and Africa (Dogankay Aktuna and Hardman, 2018; Galloway and Rose, 2017).
In sum, GELT addresses a wide range of English varieties and criticizes the privileging of standard native varieties as the only ones worthy of value. For this reason, it encourages exposure to the diversity of Global Englishes in order to enable students to participate in international contexts (Galloway and Rose, 2017). However, the plurilithic reality of the language poses a problem for its instruction, as there are no well-established ELF core features, and most EFL materials and class curricula still preserve a native-speaker bias (Jenkins, 2005).
Therefore, cross-cultural skills, active listening and intercultural awareness should be fostered (Dogankay Aktuna and Hardman, 2018) along with global intelligibility (Crystal, as cited in Kang, 2015; Jenkins, 2005).
In fact, pronunciation has been regarded as a major problem for communication among learners, who claim to receive insufficient training (MacDonald, as cited in Kang, 2015). It is therefore crucial to encourage them to develop their own intelligible accent instead of focusing exclusively on native-speaker varieties (Kang, 60). Besides, setting a more realistic goal will help them avoid frustration (Derwing and Munro, as cited in Kang, 2015). In this sense, exposure to Global Englishes (GE) prepares learners for the demands of a globalized world, as it provides a wider model for pronunciation and improves their understanding of ELF accents they may encounter in the future.
3. Didactic proposal
3.1 Introduction
As has been mentioned before, this design of activities is aimed, on the one hand, at the teaching of novel words, especially of those related to the topic of education. This is achieved by means of content-related videos in which speakers from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds explain their personal opinions and experiences related to this field. Because the nature and the tone of TED talks is somewhat informal, learners will not receive much exposure to academic words. However, teachers can take advantage of this fact and use it to gradually approximate EFL Bachillerato students to the formal register. As the English language is of special importance in academia, students should be equipped with the appropriate resources to meet the linguistic challenges they may encounter in university.
On the other hand, this set of activities is intended to widen the students’ horizons and bring them closer to the different contexts and realities of the English language usage. Although the TED platform is an American product and is hence shaped by Western standards, it does provide a glimpse of the use of different varieties and accents of GE. In this sense, this is beneficial for EFL classes, because it shows how speakers of different circles of WE communicate in global contexts for international audiences in mind. Therefore, this provides students with a good training for interacting with and adapting to speakers from different backgrounds. Conversely, being exposed to countless regional non-standard varieties that learners are not likely to encounter in real life would be impractical as well as overwhelming.
Regarding the structure of this activity plan, we will be using three TED talks including speakers from different countries: the USA, the Philippines and Germany. Students will be asked to work at home and in class with them, and their content will be covered during two to three sessions after each viewing.
Actually, the idea is for teachers to use a TED talk every one or two months in order to enhance both students’ listening and oral skills. If learners manage to achieve lexical development, better communicative skills and intercultural
awareness, their chances of succeeding in international interactions will grow exponentially.
Unfortunately, as this paper focuses on the design of activities within the Spanish educational context, the development of cross-cultural skills, mutual intelligibility and intercultural competence are difficult to attain, as no authentic international communication will occur during classes. However, students are encouraged to explore the multitude of TED talks and to reflect on the existing bilingualism and multiculturalism of the modern society.
Going back to the implementation of videos, the teacher will provide students with a list of topical words within the field of education and difficult words that are going to appear on the video. These lists will contain L1 translations as well as L2 definitions and synonyms of the target words. The goal is to expose students to them for the first time, as well as to facilitate their comprehension of the video.
The teacher will go over every of the words with the students, and ensure that they read, hear and pronounce them. Afterwards, students will be asked to match the word forms with their corresponding meanings, as a source of scaffolding activity previous to the viewing. Although the lists will not exceed the number of twenty-four lexical items, students are encouraged to use dictionaries and subtitles at home in order to be able to understand the rest of the non-covered words used of the talks. The lists comprise the most relevant words in terms of video content and comprehension, and include the ones that are less likely to be inferred by learners.
Since it is very difficult to pay attention and to remember such a big number of words, students will be encouraged to practice the target words during different days, in different activities and by means of different strategies. For example, after having worked with the word list and after having watched the video at home, learners will watch it in class again, but with L2 captions. Most activities planned for that day involve making summaries and comparing notes. During the following sessions, however, students will be required to use the target words in more creative and dynamic ways, such as in discussions or the creation of exercises and surveys. You will find our class designs down below.
