made by Ridho Ambarita

English literature USU 2011

Consciousness Raising and Language Awareness:

　The terms “consciousness raising” (CR) and “language awareness” (LA) are often used in discussions of second language acquisition (SLA) and foreign language teaching (FLT). These concepts are very important in language education, but they tend to be confused with each other.

　There are three main reasons. First, “consciousness” and “awareness” are widely used beyond linguistics, so their meanings are ambiguous. Second, the term “awareness” is often included in the definition of “consciousness,” and the term “consciousness” is often included in the definition of “awareness.” Third, the terms CR and LA tend to be used without an understanding of their backgrounds, even though their backgrounds are obviously different.

　CR was introduced and its effectiveness has been discussed by Sharwood Smith (1981, 1985), Rutherford (1985, 1987), and others, based on the theoretical framework of Bialystok’s model (1978) for SLA. Rutherford and Sharwood Smith (1985) defined CR as “the deliberate attempt to draw the learner’s attention specifically to the formal properties of the target language,” and described the role of grammatical consciousness in language learning as follows: “one can explicitly call attention to a grammatical feature and, if necessary, even articulate an informal pedagogical ‘rule’ as an instructional aid; one can implicitly call attention to a grammatical feature through calculated exposure of the learner to crucial preselected data; and one can choose to ignore a grammatical feature altogether, thus neither suppressing it nor giving it prominence.”

　On the other hand, LA is a broader and more sociocultural concept which originally started with the British Language Awareness Movement in the 1980’s. In the U.K., it was found that pupils who had problems learning English also had problems learning a foreign language, and they recognized that teachers of English as a mother tongue and foreign language teachers should share their problems with each other and try to find common solutions. In 1982, the National Council for Language in Education (NCLE) defined LA as “a person’s sensitivity to and conscious awareness of the nature of language and its role in human life,” and set three broad parameters-a cognitive parameter, an affective parameter, and a social parameter-to develop such sensitivity and awareness. Accordingly, Hawkins (1984) suggested practical ideas to be implemented. In the 1990’s, James and Garrett (1992) introduced five domains (affective, social, power, cognitive, and performance), and van Lier (1996) brought the fruits of linguistic studies to each domain.

　Thus LA is a broad concept for seeing languages from various aspects. But if LA is contrasted with CR in foreign language classes, the principle of LA is that both teachers and students become aware of the nature and features of their linguistic repertories and develop their metalinguistic competence in order to make use of language learning. James (1998) suggested that if teacher training were less dichotomized so that the teacher of L1 was also the teacher of L2, interfacing would be dramatically improved.

　In conclusion, CR and LA are different, but both of them are essential in language education. In FLT, I believe that we can make use of the fruits of linguistic research by using CR and LA positively and creatively. In English education in Japan, in particular, I believe that teachers who are native speakers of Japanese can make effective use of LA and teachers who are native speakers of English can make effective use of CR

Input enhancement (IE) is a concept in second language acquisition. Mike Sharwood Smith coined the term to cover methods language teachers use to clarify details of a second language for students such as accents, idioms and slang.

This method makes use of techniques including:

Avoiding vowel reduction typical of rapid or casual speech

Slowing down the rate of speech

Using exaggerated stress and intonation

Extensive repetition of words and phrases

Less pre-verbal and more post-verbal modification

Use of gestures, text enhancement such as boldface

Underlining and the use of video

It differs from similar concepts such as motherese or teacher talk, where the main aim is to teach the language, without emphasizing a native accent. IE includes use of traditional techniques to teach grammar and usage. Sharwood Smith distinguishes external input enhancement from internal input enhancement with the former referring primarily to techniques used in the deliberate teaching of a language and the latter employing ordinary events or situations.

The term "input enhancement" was designed to replace the term 'grammatical consciousness-raising' (CR) because the developers believed the older term did not allow for enhanced learning that occurs in a natural or accidental setting instead of an academic or purposefully educational setting..