I I I I I I I I I I I II II I I • • •.. INTERNATIONAL ｊｏｕｒｾａｌ＠ OF EDUCATIONAL ENGINEERING 746 No.8 Oct. 2Q04 No.1729-5971(2004)08-0746-06 Learner Anxiety: "Suggestive Music" for English Conversation Classes Robert J. Dickey (School o/Foreign Languages & Tourism. Gyeongju University, Gyeongju Cit); S. Korea 780-712) Abstract: A semester long collaborative action research study assessing learner improvement in English listening skills through Suggestopedia-like background music in university General English conversation courses in Korea reveals through both qualitative and quantitative assessments that while little growth in listening skill may be realized through these classes, the use of recorded music may provide some advantage without impacting other choices in instructional method. Key words: anxiety; suggestopedia; lozanov; listening; TOEIC; general English classes; conversation years were taught through standardized syllabi and books. 1 The setting Teachers were allowed to deviate from the text. but the Gyeongju University is a fairly typical four-year university in South Korea, with a student population of pooled by a team of the NSE faculty based on materials approximately 5,000 undergraduates, located in a mid- presented in the textbook 2nd year interview exam questions were developed and sized city approximately 300 kilometers from the nation's capital. As with most universities in Korea, English has become a required course of study for all students. All students must successfully complete four semesters of "General Studies English." The flrst year course has a focus on grammar and vocabulary, and for those students Second year, second semester General Studies English Conversation classes taught by four North American instructors are the basis of this investigation. Classes are officially open to students from any major, but usually outside the School of Foreign Language and Tourism, is over 90% of students in a general studies classroom are from one or two designated departments, certain class taught by local part-time instructors. All second year courses are taught by "native speaker of English" (NSE) sections are recommended for particular departments in order to coordinate standardized course offerings within faculty members. Typically 32-40 students meet in an those departments. Most of the students included in this discussion were from the schools of Tourism. Public unheated, non-airconditioned classroom, and a large number of students are unmotivated to learn after five to six years of English grammar and vocabulary insmlction Administration & Law, and Foreign Languages & Tourism. The students entering these schools typically at the middle and high school levels. All classes in both had higher English language skills compared to most Introduction to the author: Dr. Robert J. Dickey (Mr.) is an Assistant Professor at Gyeongju University'S School or' Foreign Language and Tourism in South Korea. Originally from the United States, he has been teaching English (and other subjects) in Korea since 1994. Dr. Dickey holds advanced degrees in public administration and law, and obtained the (RSA) CTEFLA from International House, Hastings, England, he is currently a graduate student in the University of Southern Mississippi Master of Arts in Teaching Languages program. He has been actively involved in Korea TESOL since 1996; serving as national president for the term 2001-2002 as well as in vanou:> other offices. His teaching and research interests include professional ethics, use. of "!ow-technologi' in language instruction, cross-cultural understanding, pronunciation, and content-based learning. The author would like to thank his teaching and data collection collaborators in this project. Mr. Sean M. Reed, .\lr. Alexander E. Vos, and Mr. Michael Humphreys, withou't whose participation, thoughtfulness, and suggestions this research project could not have been completed . - • • • • • ]'\0. 1729-5971 (2004)08-0746-06 Robert J. Dickey: Lea.'ner Anxiety: "Suggestive Music" for English Conversation ClaSses 747 other freshmen at this university, most of whom were unable to gain entrance into more prestigious universities in larger cities. Still, these are mixed-ability classes: those with higher skills and interests in English sit alongside those who understand little and would rather not be in the classroom at all. 2 The problem Gardner's (1989) model of foreign language learner anxiety, reporting that "foreign language anxiety is a situation-specific form of anxiety deriving from previous experiences of poor performance in the language," while Chung et a1. note that other forms of anxiety may also be present (174-175). There is a widely held belief by NSE teachers in across The effects of anxiety (tension, fear, nervousness, and Asia that general studies English conversation courses "stress") in the learning process have been widely are a waste of the students' time, that little is learned. acknowledged in education circles (a literature survey Mosback (1997), in an overview of English learning, has suggested that learning English in a 3-5 hour per week documeming this basic assertion is outside the scope of most all language teacher conferences, and see Arnold, class in the EFL university setting makes "no significant difference to the students' level of English;" in fact 1999; Horwitz, Honvitz, and Cope,1986; Howitz and Young, 1991; MacIntyre and Gardner, 1989; Shin, 2003). Mosback notes a decline in tests scores (316, emphasis in original). Mosback (1997, 318) states "as we had long The literature often describes learner anxiety as an "affective filter" that, when "raised," negatively impacts intuitively felt ... 'back up' courses in service English are this brief article, but one may find ample evidence at largely a waste of resources." the ability to learn. (Stephen Krashen is widely viewed as an early Jeading figure in these discussions, see his Korean society, like many other Asian natio:ls', is highly early works, e.g., 1982.) The loom of grades provides an attentive to TOEIC scores, and as speaking ability is not inherent level of tension to any classroom, more so for assessed on that exam, nor on the standardized university "difficult courses" such as foreign languages. There is entrance test (KSAT, or su-neung), conversational courses little question that the presence of non-bilingual are frequently little valued. On the other hand, there are expatriate teachers in a graded university course, when also teachers who argue that listening skills directly students have perhaps never spoken with a foreign correlate to speaking ability, and choose to teach using national, raises the stress level still higher for many techniques such as dictation drills, despite the fact that few learners. Yet as Horwitz and Young (1991, p.17:) documented studies confirm that approach. Another observe, "we are only beginning to understand language anxiety and its functioning in the development and perspective, one I endorse, is that listening is not less than performance of second languages" and "exactly how is an important element of any conversation skills course. half of conversation, and therefore listening comprehension anxiety impedes language learning has not been Of course, listening is relatively "easier" resolved." standardized exams than speaking, though such tests may not accurately assess actual competency. to assess in All of these Anxiety is a growing area of research in Asia. Shin issues troubled me, as it did several of my colleagues. The (2003) indicates that teachers from six different Asian question remained, how could we improve our students' countries largely share perspectives on learner's language learning? anxiety, and attempt to deal with these in two ways: creating a comfortable classroom environment (socially, though games, songs, jokes, etc,), and modifying instructional procedures (using open ended questions, group work, different expectations for different learner) Dealing with anxiety in learners of English The ELT literature from the 1970s and 1980s is filled with "humanist" approaches to language teaching, often (76). Those teachers who felt the need to maintain with a basis in psychology or sociology. Rather than a authoritarian roles still believed they could accommodate behaviorist approach such as that which underpins the Audio-Lingual Method, these humanist approaches looked to improving learning through learners' emotional comfort. Community Language Learning, the Silent Way, and Suggestopedia are a few cases in point. There learner anxiety through modifications as mentioned (Shin, 2003, 79). Chung et a1. (2003) remind that there are more issues in anxiety than merely a general sense of discomfort, they cite with approval MacIntyre and .. 3 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL ENGINEERING 748 No.8 Oct. 2004 are a number of texts offering very readable SUf'ileys of complimentary components, many of which are not many of these approaches, including Larsen-Freeman feasible in a typical university classroom. (1986), Richards & Rodgers (1986), Stevick (1980), and most famous aspects of Suggestopedia are the music, the Stevick (1998). Considering the teaching environment: comfortable room (lighting, colors, flowers, art) and chairs, institutional facilities, various levels of and fantastic success stories of vocabulary learnt and the learner interest and ability; and my own philosophy of pleasure of doing so. Arguably of greater importance than class Perhaps the teaching and learning, many of these instructional any of these, students are screened for motivation and designs were simply not feasible in whole or part. appropriacy prior to admittance to a Suggestopedic \:ourse. I decided to trial an easily implemented aspect of Georgi Perhaps also of relevance, Suggestopedic Lozanov's Suggestopedia (see Lozanov, 1978, or any of are typically offered to "true beginners" in thal target the many print and web discussions on Suggestopedia). language. courses There is no widely held "primer" on Suggestopedia: all of One of the most obvious elements of Suggestopedia that Lozanov's past works (sale and co-authored) are both out might be employed in the factory-like barren concrete of print and repudiated by the authors; his design has gone university classroom is music. Many language teachers through several changes (Bancroft, 1999; and Felix, n.d.); have access to audio cassette or CD players in their descriptions written by ｯｴＮｾ･ｲｳ＠ have been criticized by classroom for listening activities, thus adding music does Lozanov and his staff for inaccuracies; and the system has not require technology/infrastructure upgrade to these since again been redesigned and renamed, now known as classrooms. As the specifics of the music have changed "Desuggestive Learning" (Lozanov, 1999). The work of Lozanov has been revised by others as well, in designs during the four models or designs by Lozanov (Bancroft, 1999; Felix, n.d.; Ostrander and Schroeder, 1979), it known as "Accelerated Learning", "Super-Learning" and seemed that the common element of classicallpre- "Suggestive Accelerated Learning Technique" among Classical music would in itself suffice as a treatment. others (ibid). Such an approach was widely reported in the mass media of the 19905, best known as "The .'Ylozart effect" (see Due to lack of available literature sources prior to the Campbell, 2001) and popularized tor pregnant mothers, commencement of this study, the research method was infants, and small children in such media as "Baby drawn from the overviews of Suggestopedia offered by Mozart" and "Baby Bach" videos and audio recordings Larsen-Freeman (1986), Richards and Rodgers (1986), (Baby Einstein company, 1998a, 1998b). Stevick (1980), and Stevick (1998). The broader literature survey done during and after this course does not contra- 4 The method indicate the method chosen, although there are several The hypothesis for this collaborative action research variations on the theme of music, even among the various project became "Would a 'musically suggestive' works by Lozanov himself. environment, within the confines of a typical university classroom, facilitate improved listening durng the class, Stevick (1980) summarized the underlying assumptions leading to improved communicative skills'w of the Suggcstopedic method in a succinct manner: native of English (NSE) Several agreed to join in the study, we all expressed uncertainty as to the (1) That learning involves the unconscious functions of the effectiveness of Suggestopedia in whole or in part, which leamer, as well as the conscious functions; and (2) that seemed a healthy skepticism. people can leam much faster than they usually do, but (3) that learning is held back by (a) the norms and limitations Four NSE instructors administered an abbreviated which society has taught us, and by (b) lack of harmonious, version of a commercial TOEIC practice test to nine relaxed working together of all parts of the leamer, and by General Studies English Conversation classes during the (c) consequent failure to make use of powers which lie idle second and third week of the semester. Questions 21-50 in most people most of the time. (p. 230) The Suggestopedic method involves a number of . were used (listen to a brief conversation, select one of three spoken responses). The same test was administered during the 13 th and 14th weeks to the seven classes that ••II II • • ｾｉ＠ No.1729-5971(2004)08"'()746-06 Robert 1. Dickey: Leamer Anxiety: "Suggestive Music" for English Conversation Classes 749 were included in the study, as one instructor was unable to participate in the full study. In the intervening time, in the "treatment" classes music was regularly played at low volume prior to the beginning of instruction, during breaks, and occasionally during student working periods. The "control group" classes received no music. In every other respect, instructors attempted to teach these courses in the same manner as all other courses they taught \\'ithin the General Studies English Conversation program (though there was no attempt by instructors to match each other's teachi,ng practices). Each of the three instructors taught one "treatment" dass" and one or two "control group" classes, and all except myself also taught other General Studies English Conversation classes where the pre- and post-tests were not administered. ｾｉ＠ For most of the treatment class sessions, the music selected was from a "Classical Guitars" recording, this seiection is consistent with the Baroque form of music most commonly identified with the Suggestopedic method. One instructor chose to replace the classical music for several weeks with an "Early years Beatles" recording, he reported that the change in music apparently made no difference in student attitudes towards music in the class. ｾｉ＠ ｾｉ＠ I I I I I I Although the sophomore General Studies English Conversation course does not explicitly focus on listening, most of the textbook's exercises and our classroom activities were specifically oriented to listening comprehension or conversational (listening + speaking) skills development. The other reasons for selecting a portion ofthe TOEIC test were related to ease of administration and validity: few other tests are available that have similar minimal demand in test implementation, and test validity issues include the fact that students were willing and eager to give their best efforts on practice TOEIC tests that did not affect their grades. Tests were anonymous, using date of birth to match pre-tests to post-tests. Such a matching system allowed us to examine both cumulative class averages and student-specific nonns. The reason for the music and the tests was explained to the students as "for us teachers to test our teaching." As there were no other alterations to our teaching beyond "background music," students seemed to accept this as nothing far out of the routine. 5 The results The semester-long nature of this study made mid-course changes impossible, unlike many "action research" projects with their cyclical Plan!Action/EvaluatelReplan/Action ... design (see Dickey, 2001). Findings were not available until after the semester had been completed. Our aim had been, from the origin of the study, to analyze for potential changes in the next year's . curriculum as well as within our personal teaching styles regardless of syllabus. One problematic outcome was the existence of a decline group, a class whose post­test scores were lower than their pre­test (but see Mosback's comment quoted above). Only students who took both pre­test and post­test were included in the statistical analysisthis decision was based on the fact that during the second and third weeks of classes students are still permitted to transfer between classes. In this small popUlation of 109 test­takers (not including the decline group nor those who took only one of the two tests), the pre­test/post­test score grm.vth of individual learners within any single class varied widely, nor were single classes very consistent with others of similar type. Instructor comments, however, necessarily reflected their experience with all learners, as none attempted to monitor which students had taken the first test, and no student was required to take either the pretest or post­test, it was entirely optional. Students seemed pleased with the musical interludes, though after a few class meetings they no longer seemed to notice. Even if played during pairwork or small group exercises, music seemed to not affect their outvvard behavior. A few students hummed along before class began, certain of the melodies were heard along campus hallways. ｾ＠ From the ps),cholinguistic standpoint, all seemed well. On the other hand, the rate of test score improvement from pre­test to post­test was not at all consistent with the success stories of Suggestopedia. Collectively, the music treatment groups saw a net increase of 0.097, and the control groups improved by 0.077 (after removal of the decline group). Improvement, as shown in these figures, however, was small. Such slow growth in language skills is the reality that language learners and . their teachers face everyday. We' can ｬｩｮ､･ｲｳｾ＠ this' INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL ENGINEERING 750 better with the following example: a student who scored 16 out of 25 in the pre­test would likely score 17 or 18 on the post­test 10 weeks later. This report is not based on intensive statistical analysis, but it would be appropriate to note that such analysis was conducted. Also of interest to some researchers may be the issue of "inter­instructor variability." Three schools provided most of the students within six of the seven classes analysed: each provided both a control group and a treatment group, and no instructor taught more than . one section with one school (as all class sections for each designated school were held at the same time). Analysis done at the school level and instructor level was not revealing. It seems, as Mosback (1997) observes, that students do not develop as much or as fast as we would hope. We saw only 8.6% improvement in test scores for all students over 11 weeks of instruction, and this only after a (control­group) class with a net decline in scores had been removed from consideration. 6 Future action I I I As with any action research, we may question whether the investigation was thorough enough or \vide·ranging enough to respond to concems of reliability and validity. Teachers did not "teach to the test," as this was central to ' the investigation: would listening skills (not the main focus of the course) improve if we affected the classroom environment? The instructors did not attempt to modify the treatment beyond the choice of music noted above, and we didn't discuss the project extensively between ourselves prior to preparing "after action" summations of our classroom activities which these were prepared after the post­tests had been administered, but prior to test scoring. Susan Barduhn (personal communication) commented after a conference presentation on of the statistical No.8 Oct. 2004 findings of this study "That's not Suggestopedia." To which I agreed. I recognize that Lozanov claims that Suggestopedia is an "all or nothing" type of approach, that loss of only a few elements undermines the full process. Since environmental changes such as class scheduling, carpeting, upholstered chairs, room color, fresh flowers, and noise control are beyond the control of most university teachers, along with class sizes and frequency/duration of class sessions, and more importantly, the desire of ail learners to be active participants, we never hoped for the dramatic language skills improvements claimed in the Suggestopedic approach. Nor were any of these instructors trained in "Suggestology," Lozanov's psychology­based framework for his methodology. Instead, this investigation was based on the realities facing an ordinary language teacher in Asia. What I have concluded is that if a teacher is carrying an audiocassette or CD player into a classroom anyway, adding "suggestive music" adds little to the teaching burden. Furthermore, as an added advantage, it seemed to help reduce my non­instructional "teacher talking time" during quiet moments in the classroom. Music d:d not reduce the amount of instruction the background music could have been a greater distraction to some students than the more customary institutional and outdoor sounds of a Korean university classroom. Recognizing the possibility that music may assist in the learning process through a lowering of the affective filter, such contributing to an improvement ill listening skills, I have concluded that I should take music into all my classes. Meanwhile I continue my action research into other possibilities. [A followup study, Dickey 2003, presented at the Pan­Korea English Teacher's Association conference in Busan in September 2003 documents the use of Suggestopedia's artwork on the walls, plus light/color and aroma therapies: contact the author for a copy of the proceedings article.] References 1 A­rnold, J. (Ed.). Affect in language ｬ･｡ｲｮｩｧ｛ｾｦ＠ Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1999. 2 Horwitz, E.K., Horwitz, M.B., & Cope J.A. Foreign lang'../age classroom anxiety[J]. Modern Language Journal, 1986,70, 125­132. 3 Horwitz, E.K.., & Young, D. Language anx;iety: From theory and research to classroom implications[J]. Upper Saddle River, NJ (USA): Prentice Hall. 1991. 4 MacIntyre, P.D., & Gardner, R.C. Anxiety and second language learning: toward a theoretical clarification[J]. Language Learning, 1989,39: 251­275. 5 Shin, S­J. The teacher's perspectives on students' language anxiety[J]. English Language and Literature Teaching, 2003, 9(1): 67.82. I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I No. 1729­5971 (2004)08­0746­06 Robert 1. Dickey: Learner Anxiety: "Suggestive Music" for English Conversation Classes 751 6 Krashen, S. Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition[MJ. New York: Pergamon. 1982. 7 Chung, H­S., Thomson, R., Bowman, M., Swafford, G., & ThorkeIson, T. Listening comprehension and anxiety in Korean EFL classes: A comparison ojmain idea comprehension and detail comprehension practice[J]. Korean Jotnnal ofApplied Linguistics, 2003, 19(1): 173­187. 8 Mosback, G.P. Service courses in ESL aI university level-How effective (JJ'f? tJuy?[J]. English Language Teaching Journal, 1997,34(4): 313­318. 9 Larsen­Freeman, D. Techniques and principles in language teaching[MJ. New York: Oxford University Press.1986. 10 Richards, J., & Rodgers, T. Approaches and methods in language teaching[M). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1986. 11 Stevick, E. Teaching languages: A way and ways[MJ. Cambridge, MA (USA): Newbury House. 1980. 12 Stevick, E. Working with teaching methods: What's at stake?[M). Pacific Grove, CA: Heinle & Heinle. 1998. 13 Lozanov, G. Suggesrologr and Outlines oJSuggestopedy (M. Hall-Pozharlieva & K. Pashmakova, Trans.)[M). New York: Gordon and Breach. (Original work published 1971.), 1978. 14 Bancroft, W.J. Suggestopedia and language acquisition: Variations on a theme[M). New York: Gordon and Breach. 1999. 15 Felix,U.(n.d.). Suggestopedia. Available: http://www­personal.monash.edu.au/­ufelix/thesis2­2.htm and http://wwwpersonal.monash.edu.aul­ufelixlthesis2­3.htm 16 Lozanov, G. Letter from Dr. Lozanov [to the membership of the International Alliance for LearnL.'1g). Available as a web archive: http://\veb.archive.orglweb/19991 006194 713/http://www.fidalgo.netl­indigo/letter.htm. 1999. 17 Ostrander, S., and Schroeder, L. Superlearning[M]. New York: Delta. 1979. 18 Campbell, D. T1!eMozart effect[M]. New York: Quill. 2001. 19 Baby Einstein Company. Baby Mozart (video). Burbank, Calif (USA). 1998a. 20 Baby Einstein Company. Baby Bach (video). Burbank, Calif (USA). 1998b. 21 Dickey, R. Perspectives on action research. PAC Journal 1, 175­183. Available: http://www.pac­teach.org/jrnl­v1/, 2001. 22 Dickey, R. Learner Anxiety and the Korean classroom environment[R). Presentation before the Pan­Korea English Teachers Association September 20,2003, Busan, Korea. 2003. *********************************************************************************************************** ｾＮｑｴｩｮｵ･､＠ In ｾ from Page 773) my concern is mainly laid on idiolectal feature i blank verse. I have deliberately given the lio ' this essay to the most favorite wor . writing blank verse, his 02tfing feature of using tic scansion, there are quite a number of nglish words ending in r or-er, like 'fever', ich poets using stress­syllable metre same, or ｳｹｮｯｭｵｾＮＲＭ､＠ and phraseology to achieve various effects a y e unique phonemic patterning and convemence. rhythmic pa ｾ 3 Conclusion in blank verse. ｾ＠ 'sum up, Tintern Abbey incorporates Wordsworth's poetic ideas into poetic structures typical of the poet and , turns out to be the blank verse triumph of the poet. common to all his works. As far as space is References 1 Abrams, M. H. ed. The Nort . London: Oxford University Press, INC, 1875. 3 Leech, Geoffrey TO' Linguistic Guide to English Poetry[MJ. London: Longman Group Lt , . ected Lyrical Poems oj Wordsworth[M]. Changsha: Hunan Literature and Arts Pr ­..,t!ll_ _ _ _ ｬＡｉＧｴｾＭ］｟＠ "