UNDERSTANDING APPLIEDLINGUISTICS

An Inaugural Lecture Delivered at theUniversity of Lagos Main Auditorium

On Wednesday, 28th February, 2007

By

PROFESSOR V.B. OWHOTUB.A; Litt; PGDE; M.A; Ph.D. (Sorbonne)

Professor of Curriculum Studies and French LanguageEducation

Faculty of EducationUniversity of Lagos

Victor B. Owhotu (2007)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by anymeans, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording orotherwise without the prior permission of the author.

Published 2007

By

University of Lagos PressUnilag P. O. Box 132,University of Lagos,

Akoka, Yaba Lagos,Nigeria.

e-mail: unilagpress@yahoo.com

ISSN 1119-4456

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DEDICATION

This lecture is dedicated to the evergreen memories of :

My late mother Mrs. Matilda Juliana Owhotu (nee Roberts) of theGambia,1909-1967,school teacher, concert soprano, multilingual,whose love, stance on discipline, blessing and enduring wordsof wisdom have kept me on track since she passed on fortyyears ago,

and

My late wife Mrs. Chinyere Owhotu (nee Uduka), B.A. (Chicago).M.A. (Vermont), M.Sc (Lagos), of Abriba, Abia State, 1948-1998.Words cannot fully illustrate her love, deep faith in my potentials,and her selfless dedication to the welfare of the family.

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UNDERSTANDING APPLIED LINGUISTICS

PREAMBLEThis lecture is in two parts. In the first, I shall briefly examine theconcept, some underlying issues and contents of modern appliedlinguistics. In the second, I shall present a few examples of myresearch-based experiences of thinking and doing appliedlinguistics, drawn mainly from the subfields of French curriculumstudies and special educational linguistics.

INTRODUCTIONUnderstanding applied linguistics may not be possible exceptthrough a conscious and sustained process of multidisciplinaryand interdisciplinary knowledge-building, thinking and doing; notknowledge-building, or thinking, or doing. Knowledge-building isa crucial condition for analyzing and interpreting the structures,contents and core values of the constituent disciplines of appliedlinguistics. Thinking involves rational, reflective, critical thinking,pondering the state of reality, raising issues and questions aboutproblems, challenges, theories, principles and practices,rationalizing results of research, and careful and efficient planningof the teaching and learning objectives, processes, strategies ,outcomes and output. Doing or action derives from knowledge-building and thinking and seeks to apply and evaluate theproducts of knowledge-building and thinking through the use ofconventional or innovative, creative, imaginative, but productiveor effective methods, strategies and techniques. These includeactual teaching, learning, training, research, development anddiffusion, monitoring and assessment.

What is Applied Linguistics?Applied linguistics has been thought to be a difficult concept todefine. Arguments have raged over the key question: what exactly

is being applied? In the 1960s, one was sure of linguistics as atheoretical field of study but not so of its applications.

Nonetheless, certain features of the initial concept of appliedlinguistics covered basically a body of knowledge of linguistictheory, and the relevant aspects of content: language- lexis andstructure, phonology, semantics, and their importance for ageneral theory of language, but which was not of immediateprofessional interest to language teachers. Also important to noteis that linguists (theorists) found little or no esteem amonglanguage teachers (practitioners).The reasons were telling.Whereas the former were considered good at propoundingtheories often far removed from the contextual realities of teachingand learning, the latter were either ignorant of the theorists trade,or cared less about it, relying instead upon pragmatism, hands-on experience and intuition to do their work, not on alien theories.This crisis of confidence was not peculiar to linguists andlanguage teachers. Curriculum studies was considered a coreof educational theorizing in the ivory tower. As Pinar et al(1990:850) observed:

education professors were distant from teachers. Ingeneral it was clear that teachers were skeptical ofeducation professors even in the 1970s teachers didnot regard us as friends and certainly not as experts. Ifteachers have been skeptical of the contributionseducation professors might make to schoolimprovement, many politicians , and even the generalpublic have been, at times, downright contemptuous.

The deep polarization between the linguist and practitioner wasechoed by Chandelier (1977:25) in these words: Qui a mis dans la tte des enseignants que la

linguistique pouvait leur servir quelque chose dansleur enseignement ? {Whoever told teachers thatlinguists could be of any use to them in theirclassrooms ?}

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4 Quand un manuel, un livre est crit par un chercheur,un thoricienJe ne lutilise pas, s il est fait par unpdagogue (praticien) je le prends.{If a book or manualis written by a researcher, a theorist, I wont touch it. Ifit is written by a practitioner, Ill use it.}

However, the works of an emerging generation of the linguistteacher-researcher in the early 1970s, such as William F. Mackay,Bernard Quemada, Robert Gallisson, Daniel Coste, LouisPorcher, David Wilkins and Henry Widdowson would contributesignificantly to reducing the gap, first between theory and practicein second and foreign language education, and then betweentheorists and practitioners. According to Kaplan(2002), the termapplied linguistics first appeared in the 1940s when languageteachers were driven by the urge to dissociate themselves fromteachers of literature and ally themselves with scientific linguists.Furthermore, by the mid 1950s onwards, applied linguisticsbecame associated with the considerable interest that langugeteachers had in structural linguistics and the prospects andimplications of Skinnerian psychology for the dominant teachingmethod of the time, known as the audiolingual method. Thenfollowed the launch of national associations of applied linguisticsand university programmes (for example the University ofEdinburgh) and specialized centres (for example Le Centre delinguistique applique, Besancon, France).The greatest catalysts in bridging the divide were the launch ofthe International Association for Applied Linguistics(AILA) andthat of the Council of Europes Modern Language Project.De Gomes (2005) defines the notion and contents of appliedlinguistics:

Applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary orienteddomain, still too narrowly based and dependent onlinguistics and aimed at a deeper understanding ofhuman linguistic interactions in various contexts andat exploring ways to help improve the quality ofhuman communicative growth and development(.) What should applied linguistics be, Id rather

use could than should, so as to avoid a possiblereading of something imposed, dogmatic. Appliedlinguistics could become a field committed anddedicated to an in-depth, open-ended, permanent,universal (rather than predominantly, Anglo-American or European centered) search for aninterdisciplinary understanding and/or solution ofindividual and collective communicative problemsof acquisition, learning and teaching of languagesin varied and variable contexts. Another crucialmission for applied linguistics could be that ofhelping to contribute to a more crit icalcomprehensive preparation of applied linguists asnew constructors and transformers of socioculturaland political realities through the means of linguisticexpression and communication. That so manyhuman beings are being linguistically and culturallyundervalued and exploited also merits high priorityattention by applied linguistics.

Grabe (2002:3-12) states that early or first generation appliedlinguistics was dominated by issues of language teaching butthat while this relation continues in the parent, the field hasdiversified. This diversity first became manifest at the landmarkWorld Congress of the International Association of AppliedLinguistics (AILA) held in Brussels, Belgium in 1984. The eventbrought together for the first time, scholars from a wide range ofbackgrounds: linguistics, applied linguistics, medicine,educational planning, human and cultural rights organisations,anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists etc. The abstractsof papers presented were in four volumes in a total of 1762 pages!Volume one made up of the 1-11/

2 page abstracts, focused on

three sub-themes (a) language problems in developing countries,(b) language and society, and (c) language and mind. In VolumeII, contributions spread over 495 pages and addressed issues oflanguage teaching and learning, while volume III focused oncommunication and interaction, and logico-linguistics. VolumeIV was dedicated to the AILA scientific commissions symposia.

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In one of the special AILA symposia, several discerning scholarsreviewed the relationship of linguistics and applied linguistics(Bugarski, 1984: 1686; Eliasson, 1984; 1689; Kuttlwein, 1984:1692; Marton (1984; 1694; 1984: 1695) while Tomic, (1984: 1696)focused on the integrity of applied linguistics.

What was clear from the compendium was that applied linguisticspre-1984 was undergoing profound change across disciplinesand in all fields where language and language related issueswere involved. It also showed that the polarization betweentheoreticians and practitioners had become much lesspronounced, thanks to the increasing knowledge base andcertification levels of practitioners and the new enhancedprofessional role of teachers as thinkers and researchers,especially action researchers. Grabe W. (2002: 3-12) furtheremphasizes the importance and growing diversity of appliedlinguistics in its post-1984 role as the advocate and facilitator ofaction-oriented problem-solving. In his view applied linguisticsis driven first by real-world problems rather than theoreticalexplorations. In other words, the applied linguist should bepreoccupied by the following: Language learning problems (emergence, awareness,

rules, use, context, automaticity, attitudes and expertise; Language teaching problems (resources, training,

practice, interaction, understanding, use, contexts,inequalities, motivations, outcomes);

Literacy problems, (linguistic and learning issues); Language contact problems (language and culture); Language inequality problems such as (ethnicity, class,

gender, and age); Language policy and planning problems (status planning,

corpus planning, and ecology of language); Language assessment problems (validity, reliability,

usability, responsibility);

Language use problems (dialects, registers, discoursecommunities, gate-keeping situations, limited access toservices);

Language and technology problems (learning,assessment, access and use);

Translation and interpretation problems (on-line, off-line,technology assisted); and

Language pathology problems (aphasia, dyslexia,physical disabilities).

(Kaplan (2002: v-x) highlights the multi/interdisciplinaryframework of the issues and challenges of applied linguistics:

Because the real world language-based problems thatapplied linguistics tries to mediate are enormouslydiverse, having in common only the probability thatthey are language based, it is unlikely that any singleparadigm can speak to the diverse activity of the field.Depending on the setting of a given problem, theapplied linguist/practitioner may be expected to knowsomething about at least the following: Anthropology,Economics, Education theory, Gerontology, History,International Relations, Language learning andteaching, Lexicology, Planning, Policy development,Political science, Psychology and Neurology, PublicAdministration, Sociology, Curriculum Studies andTeacher training and Text production; Advanceknowledge in particular languages, Multiculturaleducation, Educational measurement, Appliedlinguistics... .Of course, since the common element is language,the applied linguist ought to be well grounded inlinguistics, psycho neurolinguistics, and socio-linguistics including literacy, individual bilingualismand societal multilingualism. And all applied linguistsmust be highly computer literate and able to dealwith statistical data.

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Although by November 1980, when I submitted my Ph.D. (doctoratde 3 cycle) thesis for examination, I had become aware that alot lay unexplored outside the boundaries of my doctoral worktitled: Essai sur les dsquilibres entre thories et pratique endidactique des langues trangres (On the imbalance betweentheory and practice in foreign language education), I had alsorealised that there was a lot of remedial and enrichment work Ihad to do. The 1984 AILA World Congress was the decisivecatalyst for me to embark upon the process of interdisciplinaryknowledge building, thinking and doing applied linguistics muchfurther afield, for a much better understanding of the phenomenonof language and in as diverse a setting as possible.

THE GLOBAL CONTEXT OF APPLIED LINGUISTICSIt is surprising that over two decades after AILA 84, scholars stillengage in what Kaplan (2002) describes as a fairly heated publicdiscussion on the nature and scope of applied linguistics. Thisneed not be so if the conceptual principle is clearly understood:that whatever domain involves language and/or a role for languagebeyond traditional language teaching and learning is an integralpart of the inter/ multidisciplinary field of applied linguistics.Furthermore, because of the very wide variety of contents ofapplied linguistics, scholars should not expect a single unifiedtheory or paradigm, since, in practice, methodology simplymeans a constant shift in ways and means of thinking and doing,in line with the specifics of the paradigm.

Expectedly, this remarkable diversity would sooner or latergenerate considerable tensions within AILA. By 1990 appliedlinguistics had become a hydra-like monstrosity (Kaplan 2002)that was to force the French Association of Applied Linguistics(co-founder of AILA) to withdraw from membership of the globalbody in 1992. It was precisely for reasons of apparent conceptualand methodological inconsistencies or incompatibility, whichsucceeding World Congresses of AILA had failed to resolve thatAILA was at the crossroads. In order to move the intellectual

enterprise forward, France launched COFDELA (Laconfdration franaise pour le dveloppement de la linguistiqueapplique) and organized its maiden inter association symposiumfrom January 18 to 20, 1996. Rather than attempt aninterdisciplinary integration, its watch-word was dialogue andexchange of ideas and the mutual respect and coexistence ofeach area of specialization-traditional and emerging-whileattempting to arrive at an inclusive understanding of the genericterm of applied linguistics: what is applied, to what domain andhow? (Marquillo and More,1996)

From the intensive interaction and the various presentationsacross the disciplines, participants were more in agreement withPovlets summation: Il conclut le colloque par une mtaphorede mme que les tableaux noirs sont souvent de couleur verte,en francais, la linguistique dite applique ne peut plus secontenter de faire Iobjet dune lecture littrale. In other words,one could not be too rigid about the concept of applied linguisticsin terms of independent disciplines or areas of knowledge, inquiry,research and applicability; emphasis should be on thepervasiveness of language in human and social life andcommunication in the widest sense that have given rise to therange of sub fields and supporting disciplines I have alreadymentioned. My view of the new field of applied linguistics ispresented in Figure I.

The contemporary applied linguist is therefore expected to be avery competent teacher , able to build rational scenarios forsolving a wide range of language related problems , competentin the design and execution of conventional and innovativeresearch quantitative and especially qualitative, and toconstantly seek to validate existing theories derived from basicresearch. His persistent quest for new knowledge drawn fromall the constituent disciplines, empowers him to contribute toknowledge by developing among others, original and practicaltheoretical models which are then used in practical areas such

9as syllabus design, speech therapy, language planning, stylistics,etc. The tasks and challenges the applied linguist faces in meetingthese expectations are considerable especially in a developingenvironment like Nigeria.

CONCLUSIONI shall end this first part of my lecture with the following questionsthat were central to the heated discussions during the 12th WorldCongress of AILA held in Tokyo Japan in August 1999.

Where does applied linguistics fit in the sociology ofknowledge?

What are the kinds of questions that applied linguists oughtto be addressing?

What are the dominant paradigms guiding research inthe field?

What part(s) of linguistics can be applied to the real-worldlanguage-based problems that applied linguists presumeto mediate?

What kind(s) of problems can be solved through themediation of applied linguistics?

What does an aspiring applied linguist need to know?That is, what should the content of graduate curricula inapplied linguistics be? (Kaplan, 2002).

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11 12

SELECTED EXAMPLES OF THINKING AND DOING APPLIEDLINGUISTICSIn this second part of my lecture, I shall present four examples ofmy research-based experiences of thinking and doing appliedlinguistics drawn, respectively, from French curriculum studiesand special educational linguistics dealing with languagedisorders. They are fairly representative of essential curriculumtheory building and practices with at least four ways ofapproaching curriculum theory building and research: as a bodyof knowledge to be transmitted (syllabus); as a product: anattempt to achieve certain ends or behavioral objectives in thelearner; as a process, that is, the critical, negotiated, democratic,informed interactions between teachers, knowledge, skills, valuesand learners; and as praxis, informed, committed action (Smith,1996, 2000). In the words of Grundy (1987: 115, quoted in Smith2000) such a critical, rational process

develops through the dynamic interaction of actionand reflection. That is, the curriculum is not simply aset of plans to be implemented, but rather isconstituted through active process in which planning,acting and evaluating are all reciprocally related andintegrated into the processAt its centre is praxis,informed, committed action..

The selected experiences that follow are driven by praxis, andthe role of empirical research in understanding phenomenacannot be overemphasized. It is particularly important in theinterdisciplinary subfields of foreign language curriculum studiesand language disorders.

FIRST EXAMPLE: DISORDERS OF LANGUAGEI would like to start with language disorders, the other side of thecoin of normal language development and education that is rarelyaddressed in mainstream education, but that every trainedteacher, school head, and teacher trainer should be aware of,monitor when they occur and address appropriately. Languageand language related learning problems abound in virtually every

classroom in mainstream education. Curriculum history tells usthat it was in fact the development of special education methodsthat pushed the frontiers of curriculum studies from its centuriesold focus on what to teach, or content, to questions about how tobring about learning or emphasize abilities in disability. Forexample the French physician Jean-Marc-Gaspard nicknamedthe apostle of the idiot and his pupil Edward Segan were pioneerand consolidator respectively of methods of teaching the deafmute, while Maria Montessori another teacher of the handicappedwho was greatly influenced by their work, adapted their methodsfor use in educating children of normal intelligence. (Egan, 2003:9-16).

Long before my formal training as an applied linguist, I had beenexposed to special education quite early in my career in theFederal Civil Service. As a clerk and Braille library assistant inthe Nigerian National Advisory Council for the Blind, I was familiarwith the early efforts at providing educational opportunities forthe visually challenged children at Pacelli School for the Blindand, to some extent, the hearing-impaired at the Atanda OluSchool for the Deaf in Surulere. By the time I left the Civil Servicefor this university, I had learnt three enduring lessons about thehandicapped or challenged: i) that indeed any mother could havethem, and unlike the popular BBC comedy I am echoing, this isnot a funny experience; ii) that there is ability in disability; and(iii) that advocacy and empowerment through inclusive educationare the most potent tools to fight against untoward societalattitudes and acts of discrimination and intolerance against specialtarget groups.

The 1984 landmark World Congress of the InternationalAssociation of Applied Linguistics (AILA) that I have mentioned inthe first part of this lecture rekindled my interest in specialeducation and culminated in my first attempt at studying languagedisorders in special educational institutions. In the build-uptherefore to my participation in that Congress, I had written a

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theoretical paper on deviant language and communication(Owhotu 1984: 93-94). In a subsequent paper also(Owhotu,1987:117-128), I discussed five major types of languagedisorder as deviant sub-sets of otherwise normal, conventionalinteractions of three pillars of human communication, Form,Content and Use. The range of disorders are: (a) disorder ofform, (b) disorder of content; (c) disorder of use; (d) disorder ofinteraction among form, content and use and in the worst case(e) nil interaction (Bloom and Lahey 1978: 259-303). I alsohighlighted issues, trends and challenges of the behavioral andmedical models of investigation carried out in foreign contexts,while reiterating the need for Nigeria to address the dearth ofinterest and research data, and the need for an integrated teachereducation both pre-service and in-service. As a follow up to thetwo theoretical papers, I carried out an empirical study of languagedisorder/development problems in two special educationalinstitutions in Lagos. Before presenting the high points of thatstudy we need to briefly characterize the five sub sets of disorders.[Figure II].

Subset A1 shows a more congruent overlay of the content anduse components, whereas there is obvious disjunction of form.This represents children whose ideas about the world of objects,events and abilities to communicate these ideas are more intactthan their knowledge of the linguistic system for representingthem (Bloom and Lahey (1978:393). While Kleffner (1978) doesnot think this as significant occurrences, I support Bloom andLaheys position because, for methodological and conceptualreasons, whatever deviates from the norm with implications foreasy, meaningful or total communication, deserves attention.

Subset A 2: In sub set A2, content is at risk, whereas the interactionof form and use appears normal. Clinically, this means thatsubjects are characterized by (a) weak conceptual developmentin relation to ideas of the world that make up the content oflanguage and consequently, his developmental rate will be slower

by 3-4 years compared to his normal peers; (b) weakconceptual component, whereby his utterances are often timescocktail party speech, superficial and irrelevant to the contextof speech.

Subset A 3: Here the language use component is disjointed.The subjects knowledge of the conventional linguistic systemis more or less intact, use or transmission of such knowledge(or linguistic competencies) suffers from inappropriateness ofcontext, or real communicative intent or purpose of the utteranceconsequently, the listener is eclipsed and communication maybe reduced to rambling, repetitive, soliloquy, etc.

Subset A4 is a more serious problem and shows distortedinteractions among the major components of form, content anduse.

Subset A5 is a worst case scenario. There is fragmentation/complete separation of the three components such that noneof the components appears to interact with the other. Such(subject) children use stereotyped speech with utterances thathave little or no relation to the situation in which they occur or toany recognizable content (Bloom and Lahey 1983: 302).

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A NORMAL

B. A1

Disorder of FORM

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D. A3

Disorder of USE

E. A4 Disorder of INTERACTION

F. A5 NIL Interaction

Figure II. Normal and Deviant Patterns (sub sets) oflanguage disorder

Insight from Special Education in NigeriaThe first major official policy statement on the purpose, contextand process of special education in Nigeria was reflected in theNational Policy of Education, 1977, 1981 (revised). The orientationwas clearly in favour of the education of children and adults whohave learning difficulty of different sorts (and, consequently)unable to cope with the normal school class organization andmethods. Furthermore, the policy underlined the crucial conceptof integration, both at the level of the exceptional child and interms of a systematic campaign of awareness for social andeducational integration of the handicapped (NERC 1982). Section10 of the 2004 National Policy on Education (4th. Edition) maintainsthe spirit of the initial policy and further identifies three groups ofprospective beneficiaries of special education made up of thedisabled, the disadvantaged and the gifted or talented. In thislecture, I shall limit myself to the first group. The fate of exceptionalchildren, including the linguistically challenged, has been for verymany decades compounded by the attendant social stigma inthe form of comments, gratuitous advice, criticism thatintensify for parents the feeling of isolation, shock, disappointment(Basewell and Wingrave 1967, pp. 138-146). Until the late 60s, itwould appear, (even for developed countries) that the wholepurpose of special education had been to create an outlet- forsocial and educational misfits and thereby facilitate the smoothrunning of the state school system (Tomlinson, 1982:2). By 1985,there were over 1,500 referred Nigerian children with differentcategories of handicap in 28 special institutions. These figureshave risen significantly as there are more and better receptioncentres, and intensified parental awareness campaigns by bothstate governments and dedicated voluntary organizations.

The empirical literature on speech and language-relateddisabilities has been phenomenal in the last two decades. Thisdevelopment strongly reflects the extent to which this fairly newbranch of applied linguistics captures the interest of very manyacademic and professional disciplines, including medicine,

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psychology, speech therapy and pathology, audiology, education,sociology, linguistics, neurolinguistics, language teaching, andpsycholinguistics. Whereas speech problems refer primarily toboth segmental classes (phonemes: vowels, consonants) andsuprasegmental classes (intonation: tones, stress, rhythm, voice)respectively, language disorders are far more serious andneurologically determined. Most studies of disorders make thedistinction between developmental (congenital) and acquiredforms for example, central pathologies in children such likeaphasia, agnosia, apraxia, and dysarthria, which result fromdysfunction in the central nervous system, are generally regardedas transient, while acquired aphasia (permanent loss ofestablished language skills) is normally associated with the adultpatient (Crystal 1980). Their analysis of discourse of adults withlanguage disorder provides a wide coverage of the problems ofproduction, expression, coherence, continuity, gesturedominance, psychotic discourse, and other problems ofelicitation, vocabulary and minimum coding.

In the 1980s, only a few specialists, to my knowledge, hadattempted any systematic description of specific languageproblems among Nigerian exceptional children (Okeowo andNwanze, 1980, Shaikh, 1982). Much of what was written fell withinthe general theoretical and conceptual framework of specialeducation and the characterization of the main categories ofmentally and physically challenged. Thanks to the work of theNigerian Educational Research and Development Council(NERDC).

I shall now present the highlights of our investigation in this all-important aspects of special educational linguistics.

Purpose of the InvestigationThe purpose of the study was to:(i) Attempt a systematic identification and description of

exceptional children with varying degrees of speech and

language disabilities in two schools for handicappedchildren in Lagos;

(ii) Profile the level of awareness of self, and other (througha concept of self and other interview) and its possibleimplications for the social and vocational integration ofthe children;

(iii) Profile the special education teacher who remains themost crucial instrument and agent of change in the contextof any education system-normal or special.

Subjects and InstitutionsTwo groups of subjects were involved in this study. The maingroup consisted of 30 exceptional children and adolescents withvarying degrees of mental and linguistic disabilities drawn, assaid earlier, from two special institutions in Lagos State. Thesecond group was made up of special education personnelcomprising 18 special teachers, and 7 administrative and supportstaff drawn from a total of four special education institutions onthe Lagos Mainland.

InstrumentsThe following instruments for data collection were used: A 28-item questionnaire for special education personnel; a contentanalysis grid (for NERC published documentation on specialteacher and other personnel), a subject observation schedule;and a self-and-other concept interview schedule.

ProcedureThe study was carried out in three phases: (I) Questionnaireadministration and Analysis of NERC published documents, (II)Observation and Categorization of Subjects; and (III) Self andOther Concept Interviews. Only results of phases II and III are ofimmediate relevance here.

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PHASE II: Observation Categorization of SubjectsBoth institutions presented subjects with a range ofsubnormalities: total brain damage, speech and languagedisorders, autism and echolalia, physical disabilities, slight andsevere mental retardation, cerebral palsy, Downs syndrome,spasticity and absence, in a few cases, of any specific languagedisorder.

The subject observation schedule was designed to provide, foreach subject, descriptive data in respect of: (a) Category ofhandicap (b) Sex; (c) Chronological age; (d) Mental age (e)Presentation (physical mental); (f) Speech, Language disability;(g) Socialization level; (h) General awareness; (i) Prospects ofmainstream curriculum and vocational integration. With the kindassistance of the consultant speech therapist and audiologist,subjects were selected from case notes, then observed. Theirvarious presentations were discussed, and relevant datarecorded for each subject on the observation schedule. Thecomplete data is presented in Tables I and II.

Profiles of the Exceptional Subjects

i. Speech/language disorders were indeed the mostcharacteristic observable manifestation among subjectsin the special education institutions. The mean mentalage of subjects was 4.7 years as against a mean,chronological age of 13.0 years. This was very low andmade the realization of the stated goals of social,curriculum and vocational integration doubtful. Althoughthe contact socialization level score of 36% of subjectswas found to be average, prospects of the integration ofsubjects in terms of the lifecoping skills of language(spoken and written) appeared very poor for at least 50%;especially as they presented with strong motorcoordination problems. 60% of subjects rejectedunelicited verbal interaction with their peers.

Self-concept and Other InterviewThe interviews were conducted by the senior teacher in Englishand Yoruba languages based on the interview schedule. Out ofthe seven categories of handicap interviewed, the total braindamaged (2 subjects) had the greatest communication disorders,with a total absence of speech, but for occasional grunts. Theecholalic category (1 subject) showed only rudimentarycommunicative interaction; inaudible monosyllabic responses tocues, punctuated with sporadic repetition of some items of theinterviewers questions, often the last word or two. However, theslight mental retardation category (6 subjects) showed the highestcommunicative awareness and achievement on the more difficultitems of social habits, concrete objects, space and dimensions(see Tables I and II).

Rating on Self and Other Concept Interview (Table II)The highest level of awareness was shown in subjects responsesto questions related to greetings (68.75%); and saying theirnames (75.0%); (items 1, 2). Average awareness scores were recorded on knowledge aboutDaddys and Mummys whereabouts (56.25%), and of theirimmediate school environment, 50.0%; (items, 8, 9.)The lowest awareness scores were recorded for correctly tellingtheir age (25.0%); friends name (31.25%); reason for their peerspresence (6.25%); whether they had any brothers and sisters(31.25%): (Items 4, 5, 7, 8, 10).

Self-and-other Concept InterviewThe following findings were very important for personality andsocio-cultural and socio-educative theorizing.i. Subjects concept awareness level of their social habits

was low, with only 39.5% appropriate response to thequestions whether they drank beer and smokedcigarettes; (items 12, 13).

ii. There was a very high awareness among subjects oftheir sociocultural habits. For instance, in response to

21 22

the question do you like dancing? 96.5% said yes, and,to the request for them to dance,81.25% did (items 14aand 14b).

iii. Very high ratings were recorded of subjects awarenessof concrete classroom objects, (items 17, 18, 19).

iv. There was a very low awareness rate of dimensionsbased on questions about the interviewers height andsize: only 25% rightly disagreed that the interviewer wasvery fat, and very short: (items 15 and 16).

v. Only 31.25% correctly identified the time of day when theywere being interviewed (in the afternoon}. The rest saidit was in the evening or at night. (item 21)

The results had strong implications for the special educationlanguage curriculum. The result of the self-and-other- conceptinterview provided some fundamental areas in whichreinforcement was urgently needed especially in language skillsacquisition and socialization. While 75% of the subjectsresponded positively to the interviewers greetings, and couldsay their name, all gave grossly incorrect chronological age. Only4 out of the 16 subjects could name his or her perceived friend.While most subjects identified the location of interview as schooland that they were in the institution to learn (sise) (Yoruba), theirpeers, were, in their opinion, there to play (sere). Most of thesubjects agreed that they smoked cigarettes and drank beer!Their concept of height, size and volume was very low; night andday, for example, were a conceptual blank for more than 55% ofthem. This is an interesting area for congruency theory in specialpsychology, although with this set of subjects, one may not talkof dynamism of normal human interaction, personal andinterpersonal. Secord and Backman (1974: 516) provide theconventional setting for self-concept and concept of other, whichcontrasts rather sharply from the situation I observed. Becauseof his possession of language and a superior intelligence, manhas a unique capacity for thinking about his body, his behaviour,his appearance to other persons.

In other words, he is able to objectify himself first, therebyestablishing a basis for objectifying others. This is the key tohuman communication. A notable methodological contributionin this regard is the linguistic profiling technique (Crystal 1982),which underscores the need for educators, researchers andclinicians to first make very systematic descriptions of thesubjects linguistic behaviour at the phonological, grammaticaland semantic levels. Thus, an expectancy profile is arrived at,and only then can a programme of early prevention, or remediationbe designed. For very practical reasons this approach is muchpreferred to the medical model, which emphasizes etiology andetiological syndromes that in any case, neither address theproblems raised nor quantify or profile samples of the subjectslinguistic competence or performance. As Kleffner (1978:6.)affirms: No amount of information about a childs geneticbackground, medical history, developmental history, diseases,or family interruptions can ever serve as the basis for identifyinglanguage disorder.This has been well illustrated very recently by a postgraduatestudent of mine, who teaches in the university staff school, whichI shall now discuss.

24

% 39.5

39.5

68.5

81.2

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12.5

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75.0

81.2

5

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5

31.2

5

23

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25 26

At the beginning of my 2004/2005 lectures on Applied Linguisticsand Foreign Language Education, an M.Phil. student of minehad wished to know what the language disorder component inthe course outline was all about. I pointed to three books on theshelf and said she could read up and submit a written summaryas her first assignment! When she brought the assignment, shequite excitedly broke what I considered good news indeed. Havingread the books, she concluded that certain strange behavioursshe had observed among some of her pupils were beginning tomake sense. We discussed her observations and agreed theneed for some clinical/case study of the problem. She undertooka preliminary study of three of the pupils on the four (English)language skills of oral comprehension, speaking, reading, andwriting.

Her findings, which I summarize here, were based on social andlinguistics profiling of three subjects (See Table III)

Subject I (Male)Social Profile: (described as) amiable, hyperactive and lessattentive in class.Linguistic profile: He speaks English and Yoruba. His speechis comprehensible but he responds to questions inmonosyllables. He reads words like no and map as on andpam respectively. Apart from the words he has memorized, hispronunciation is bizarre, often with no relationship with the soundsof the designated words ... He also experienced difficulty with theconstruction of simple sentences of four to six words in length.Despite the fact that the pupil was receiving customized lessonsto improve his linguistic competence, his class teacher remarkedthat he made little progress.

Subject 2 (Female)Social profile: Speaks Yoruba and English. Sometimes gives theimpression of someone who is lost in thought, and emotionallydisturbed. Talks sparingly repeated class I and also repeatingclass 3.

Linguistic profile: Her spoken language is comprehensible can hardly read simple words of four to five letters, but oralcomprehension is fairly satisfactory. She often searches forwords to express herself . Simple sentence construction is amajor problem. She finds it difficult to correctly copy from theblackboard despite evidence of satisfactory vision.

Subject 3 (Female)Social Profile: Always gay and found in the company of herfriends almost talkative . Remains attentive in classrepeating the class.Linguistic Profile: For her, tense agreement isinconsequential. Her ability to do written comprehension isdoubtful, at times she writes out of content. She appears to havea good memory because she often recollects what she has justheard or listened to.

Table III: Prevalence of observed problems among thethree subject

Skill Behaviour Subjects exhibiting

behavior

Speaking Dysfluency in normal conversation Incomplete grammatical structure. Improper use of words and meaning

023

Reading Mispronunciation of words Foreshortening of words Sequent hesitation when reading Inappropriate intonation when reading poor phonemic awareness Directional confusion

333333

Comprehension Word finding difficulty Fragmentation of sentence meaning

into smaller and poorly related chunks Difficulty in answering oral

comprehension questions Difficult answering written

comprehension questions

3

1

1

3

Writing Letter reversal Number reversal Letter inconstitencies (shape / size) Unfinished letters Difficulty copying from the blackboard.

22212

Source: compiled from Chugbo (2005)

behaviour

Frequent hesitations

inconsistencies

27 28

As I say, this was a welcome event. As a preliminary in-classinvestigation, much more work remains to be done on a wholeschool-to-school basis for us to be able to influence necessaryreform in terms of teacher awareness ,management training andintegrative or inclusive learning. Nonetheless, this developmentcorroborates our conclusions made over 20 years ago, still validand urgent, that mainstream teachers do need to be aware ofthe range of language related problems that exists in almost everyclassroom; be trained to recognize signs and symptoms andmake appropriate interventions or, better, refer cases to the schoolhead and parents for professional advice. Lack of awareness onthe part of teachers and school heads might well mean rejection,frustration, underachievement and perhaps the end of the roadfor the child.

Current Issues and Directions in Special EducationalLinguisticsThe current literature is extremely rich on learning difficulties inthe foreign language (FL) classroom. There are excellenthistorical reviews of the trends since the 1970s, by Ganschowand Sparks (2001:79 98) and Sparks (1995). Certainfundamental issues raised including lessons and directions forlanguage disabilities and linguistics in general.

Ganschow and Sparks (2001) distinguish between learners atrisk, and those with learning disabilities in the foreign languageclassroom. At risk individuals refer to those who have failed orexhibited inordinate difficulties facing FL courses in school,whereas the term learning disabilities is used to refer to individualswho have on record the diagnosis. The two relevant contexts ofFL learning here are mainstream education and special education.In the former case critical variables are at play such as aptitude;models of learning or students learning strategies; individualdifferences and varying contexts and contents of learning;motivation and anxiety. Generally research interests have focusedmainly on the good learner profile, ethnology and ethno-methodology and personal accounts of successful FL learning.

With regard to foreign language disabilities, US collegerequirements of a foreign language are enforced, except wherea student presented with identified, diagnosed FL learningdisability. Students would then be eligible for FL waiver or coursesubstitution, and while 14% of all institutions of higher educationrequire FL training upon college entry, close to half of all collegesrequired it for graduation. Against this backdrop of curriculumprerequisite, Austin et al (1988) cited in Ganshow and Sparks(2001), report that in the late 1980s, an estimated 1% of thecollege population had self-identified as having specific learningdisabilities, and the number was thought to be rising. Theoutcome of this finding was the establishment of closecollaboration between foreign language educators and specialeducators, the use of a considerable array of innovative teachingstrategies for FL learning disabilities, and the launch (in 1989) ofthe linguistic coding differences hypothesis (LCDH) based onCarroll and Pimsleurs propositions on aptitude testing.

The theoretical premise of LCDH is that the primary causalfactors in successful or unsuccessful FL learning are linguistic;that is, students who have difficulties learning a FL are likely tohave overt or subtle difficulties in their native language. In otherwords, LCDH suggests that native language skills, in thephonological / orthographic, syntactic, and semantic codes, formthe basic foundation for FL learning, with the phonological /orthographic components being the most problematic. Like atthe 1984 AILA World Congress, the interest in language disabilitieshad become multidisciplinary and multisectoral: essentially,through the coming together of mainstream educators andspecial educators, making FL learning disabilities the centre ofinterdisciplinary theorizing, empirical research andcommunication, and training. The following extract summarizesthe trends in the disability from the 1990s.

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Across the world, there was increasing access toinformation about learning disabilities / dyslexia inrelation to a variety of languages. In June of 1999, theBritish Dyslexia Association held the first conferenceon Multilingualism and Dyslexia (including the teachingof modern foreign languages); The first book of readingson bilingualism / multilingualism and dyslexia appeared(Peter and Reed, 2000); there was a proliferation ofpublications about orthographic differences acrosslanguages, including nonalphabetic languages, and theirimplications for individuals with learning difficulties (..)There was also a rise in the availability of assessmentinstruments across language a growing body ofinformation about learning disabilities and FL studybecame available through world wide web sites ..(Ganshow and Sparks 2001).

Looking ahead, the following six research questions/issues willcontinue to be useful to interested scholars in both mainstreamand special education. The main finding is indicated for eachquestion (Ganschow and Sparks 2001).

Q1: Are there native language and FL aptitudedifferences between good and poor FL learners?Students classified as learning disabled and at riskstudents showed poorer performance than good FLlearners on native language measures, particularlymeasures of phonological orthographically processingand FL aptitude.

Q2: Are there native language and FL aptitudedifferences in students with differing levels ofmotivation and anxiety?Highly anxious FL learners performed more poorly thanlow anxious student on the above measures (i.e.phonological and orthographic processing and FLaptitude)

Q3: Are there FL proficiency differences among studentswho differ in their level of native language and FLaptitude?Self-reported surveys indicated that both good and poorFL learners wanted to learn a FL but that poor FL learnershad less positive attitudes about their ability to learn.

Q4: What are the best predictors of FL grades and FLproficiency?The best predictors of FL grades and FL proficiency weretasks of native language phonological / orthographic skillsand the Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT).

Q5: Are there native language and FL aptitudedifferences in students classified as learningdisabled and at risk students not classified aslearning disabled both of whom have FL learningproblems?Students classified as learning disabled and at riskstudents performed similarly on native and FL aptitudemeasures.

Q6: Do student with FL learning problems benefit frommultisensory structured language (MSL) instructionin the FL?Students with FL learning problems benefit from MSLinstruction.I need to reiterate the fact that applied linguists have anendless scope across languages: native, second andforeign and further tongues, to move the frontiers ofempirical investigation and (practical) theory building. Iam quite familiar with the Nigerian literature; and thereare huge gaps. In order to move applied linguisticsforward in Nigeria, I could not agree more with thedirections for research suggested by Ganschow andSparks (2001).

(i). Aptitude: Educational psychologists and appliedlinguistics would need to update and normalize the two

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main measures of FL aptitude test MLAT (1959) and P-LAB (1966);

(ii) Proficiency: There is urgent need for scholars to design(and validate) instruments to quantify current measuresof FL proficiency in order to compare students moreeffectively in empirical studies;

(iii) Verbal memory (Prop mechanism) is the store housefor data bases of notions, concepts and skills for whichretrieval and use are vital for learner progress andachievement. Empirical research that helps tocharacterize the working memory of at risk learners isneeded.

(iv) Early identification: Few studies have been conductedwith at risk learners who begin FL study in their earlyyears. There is need to examine the best time to beginFL study and to determine whether early instruction in anFL will prevent or promote later difficulties. Longitudinalstudies in particular would be useful for prediction of laterFL success or failure.

(v) Cross-linguistic variables: There is need for empiricalstudies on cross linguistic variables in relation to studentswith classified learning disabilities/dyslexia. There is aneed to examine differences across languages that mightfacilitate or hinder learning FL for at risk learners.

SECOND EXAMPLE: ICTs in Foreign Language TeacherEducationThe advent of the computer into the everyday context of teachingand learning had generated considerable anxiety, skepticism andcynicism on the part of education practitioners, especiallyclassroom teachers. On the one hand, they feared that themachines were going to cost them their jobs, then becameskeptical about the contribution that the computer could evermake to students learning of the four basic language skills oflistening, speaking, reading and writing. Above all, teachers

especially in the arts and humanities developed technophobia. Iam not sure teachers in the non-science disciplines, even intertiary education, are out of the woods yet. But we may as wellaccept the grim reality that IT or ICTs have become the longpredicted second revolution that will not go away now.

I shall now first examine salient current global directions in ICTsin education including teacher education, and then share myresearch-based experiences in this fascinating but crucial areaof applied linguistics.

The Global Directions in ICTs in EducationInformation and Communication Technologies {ICTs or IT} are atrue second revolution that is determining, as it were, the fate ofnations with respect to globalization, the digital divide and theneeds and dilemmas of the developing and least developedcountries {LDCs}. Despite the overwhelming odds thesecountries face, there is an overarching hope that perhaps onlyeducation can contribute to reduce significantly the digital divideand all its concomitant effects: social, political, economic, aswell as the real danger of becoming exiles or victims of informationand knowledge isolation. This holistic view of ITs potential isstrongly reflected in UNESCOS vision, philosophy andprogrammes especially over the last decade. Significant actionstaken by the Organization in this respect include the creation in1999 of the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies inEducation {IITE}with headquarters in Moscow, and the AddisAbaba based, Africa-centred UNESCO International Institute forCapacity Building in Africa {IICBA} providing, essentially,opportunities for teacher education through distance learning,educational materials development as well as women educationand empowerment. Furthermore, since 1998, specific regionalevaluation and capacity building activities have been coordinatedby UNESCO Regional Offices, of which two studies arenoteworthy. The first focused on assessing levels of awarenessand practices in several countries as reflected in their national

33 34

and educational action plans and systems. The report (UNESCO2002) provided invaluable insight into the universal acceptanceof ICTs as a must factor in national educational and developmentplanning and practices, and the need to devise very closemonitoring mechanisms at all levels for cost efficiency. Thesecond more substantial study is highlighted in the project titledUsing ICTs to upgrade the Quality and Reach of Education inAsian and the Pacific {2003} which aimed to breakdown barriersand build bridges.

The following excerpts summarize the strategy and series ofderivable lessons for education systems around the world:

The programmes focus is on how to use ICTs to reducedisparities in both educational access and quality andultimately, bridge the digital divide. Its special concern forgender uses in ICT use in education will promote the EFA[Education For All Dakar 2000; Jomtien 1990].Frameworks call for gender equality in education by theyears 2015...

UNESCO envisions that ICT will result in an educationalenvironment programme involving enriched curricular anda cadre of teachers who are competent in facilitatingbetter learning through ICTs.Furthermore, in order to achieve the vision and goal ofthe Asia-pacific ICT project, four major areas of emphasiswere identified by the partners:-

The need for unambiguous and sustainable ICTs ineducational policies which promotes successful policymodels and strategies of ICT integration ...., places specialemphasis on removing barriers to participation and thelearning of girls and women, out - of - school youth, thedisadvantaged and those with special needs and thepoor.

Capacity - building of teachers through training andprofessional development and other facilitators for

effective use of ICTs in improving teaching and learning.Some of the focused actions of this project include:developing a regional guideline on curriculum frameworkand standard of ICT infusion by teacher; designingtemplates of ICT-integrated e-lesson plans and evaluationtools for teachers to assess their student learning usingICTs; and creating an on-line network of teacher centresto share innovative practices.

Integration of ICTs in the classroom and strengtheningICT use in school and [ASEAN] School net through coreactions including (i) exploring and demonstrating how ICTscan be used in schools to improve the quality of educationfor all and better prepare youth for the demands of theknowledge society, (ii) developing interactive educationsoftware and ICT-based teaching/learning lessons andmaterials for integration into the teaching of science,mathematics and language, and (iii) exchangingexperiences and best practices generated from the useof ICTs and School net in ASEAN countries.

Empowerment of Non-formal learning/ Educationprogrammes for meeting non-mainstream adult andcommunity needs especially improve the quality of lifeand alleviate poverty among disadvantaged ruralpopulations through greater access to context- specificeducation programmes using ICTs.

At this point one should ask one important question amongseveral others, that I have asked myself since the late 1980s,which is: Is Nigeria (and by extension sub-Saharan Africa) readyfor the ICT revolution, the e-revolution and the knowledge-basedeconomy? As Bates (2001: 115) rightly affirms the sooner thata nation or an education system gains experience and practicein e-learning, the more economically competitive that nation islikely to become. But he adds stable electricity supply andreliable and moderately priced internet access is a necessarycondition for e-learning.

35

In two related reviews, I examined policy trends and practices inintegrating ICTs in education systems in both developed anddeveloping countries (Owhotu, 1999:29-39;2006). The developingcountries showed particular interest in new technologies despitethe odds they faced in terms of basic support infrastructure (forexample fixed telephone access/density, power and their ailingeconomies). As at 2006 when I carried out a small scale surveyof the integration of ICT in public schools system in some sub-Saharan countries, the situation had not changed significantly(Owhotu 2006:311-316).

Empirical Insight into ICTs in Foreign Language TeacherEducation (1996-2006)Between 1996 and 2003, I carried out a longitudinal study of ICTs(or IT) in pre-service teacher education and in selected state -funded and independent secondary schools in England. Thestudy was of interest in several respects:

i. I had monitored policy dialogue and curriculumimplementation plan of the relevant provision of theBritish National Curriculum, first adopted in theEducation Act of 1988, when I was a British CouncilFellow at the Institute of Education, University ofLondon. The United Kingdom was going to experimenther national IT policy implementation, which to mymind should throw up valuable insight and lessonsfor Nigeria.

ii. Information and Communication technology hadbecome the overriding focus of national educationpolicy across the world and one instinctively lookedto the developed countries for insight and lessons.

iii. The critical role of all teachers across the subjectcurriculum in making the innovation work was givenspecial emphasis;

iv. The learner or end user was also recognized as themain stakeholder and the key beneficiary and potentialagent for the sustenance and impact of the ITrevolution.

36

v. As early as 1986, Nigeria had expressed keen interestin joining with the emerging global ICT trend and wassearching for appropriate ways and means ofactualizing her computer education policy;

vi. In 1994, almost a decade later. when I first carried outa French Government-sponsored study of newtechnologies in the French language classroom, inFrance, Nigeria was still at the 1986 starting block,despite the initial frenzy of crash-teacher trainingcourses and supply of computers to the pilot schools(in an environment with little or no matchinginfrastructure, facilities and teaching resources)!

Two main questions guided the study: How was the British National curriculum being

implemented with respect to information technology skillsdevelopment in initial teacher training and in the secondaryschool modern languages curricula?

What lessons could one learn for the Nigerianenvironment against the backdrop of Nigerias moribund1987 computer education/literacy policy?

Procedure for data collection (1996 and 2003)The procedure was generally the same in 1996 and 2003 withsome modification to the locations of study. Whereas in 1996my investigation was limited to institutions in Cambridgeshire,the 2003 phase included similar institutions in Oxford and London.In 2003, I used a total of seven different questionnaires, as againstfour in 1996. The 2003 IT skills questionnaire was expanded toinclude the internet and on-line data sourcing/current searchskills; web design and e-learning. The extension was meant toaccount for developments in ICT since 1996. A questionnairesurvey of the state of IT in schools was once again facilitated bythe PGCE modern foreign language students at Cambridge,Oxford and London Universities. I also mailed some subjectspecific questionnaires to randomly selected placement schools

37

to be filled in by their head of modern foreign languages, the ITtutor and the school IT Coordinator/ Administrator respectively.The Post-graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) cohortcompleted three sets of questionnaire that required them toprovide base line information on (a) their IT skills and level ofconfidence; (b) their perceptions of certain issues including theaim of school placement and related experience, and (c) theiropinion of the National Curriculum generally and the IT provisionin particular.

Furthermore, I carried out several classroom observations ofteaching and training sessions at Oxford and Cambridgecomprising IT lecture/workshops and micro teaching sessionsduring which PGCE students made IT mediated presentations.Classroom observations were also made during study visits toschools, one comprehensive village {community} college, anindependent {private} secondary school in Cambridge and atechnology college in Camberwell, London.I shall now present a summary of noteworthy results of the variousquestionnaire surveys only, with some indication of the trend onthe same issues as observed in 1996.

Summary of Main Results of the Study (1996 2003)Between 1996 and 2006 the United Kingdom made verysignificant progress in IT policy implementation. Informationtechnology was well entrenched in the school curriculum, bothas a core course and across the various school subjects,especially its rapidly growing use in the modern foreign languageclassroom. For instance, data obtained for 38 Oxford, Cambridgeand London placement schools showed that there was a totalof 2,203 personal computers for teaching and learninglanguages, including 65 laptop computers, giving an average ofabout 58 computer units per school.

38

More importantly, modern foreign language learners in 2003 hadsignificantly greater access to and use of IT for regular instructionand independent learning, which was markedly different fromthe situation in 1996.

Data for available foreign language software and facilities wasalso obtained. The great majority of schools had CD ROMS,multi-wave radio cassette recorder, video cassette recorder/playback facility and a variety of modern language magazines. Agood number had foreign language pre-recorded cassettes whilea few had satellite TV receivers. All had e-mail facility and almostall had internet access. Three London schools had video orteleconferencing facility which objective is to encourage topical,relevant, face-to-face exchanges among the members of classesin two (or potentially more) locations (Kinginger 1999). In contrastto the situation in 1996, the current shift has been more towardsinternet-based materials and resources the use of the over-headprojector and multimedia.

Perhaps the most significant finding was in relation to the IT skilldevelopment of trainee teachers. Seventy-six PGCE student-teachers from Oxford,Cambridge and London universitiesresponded to our questionnaire by the end of the (1st) MichaelmasTerm. This was to assess their perceived levels of confidenceand attainment/achievement in the four skill CLUSTERS asfollows. (Percentage scores are shown for the three universitiesrespectively). A +B: Operational and word processing skills: with 87%;

78%; 85%, respectively; C: Databases and Desk Top publishing: 61%; 31%; 67%,

respectively; D: Spread sheet: 59%; 42%; 53%; respectively; and E: Internet skills: 43%; 46% and 45%.What this shows is that within only the first term, most studentshad become confident (and competent) in at least clusters A, B,and C. This result was all the more significant as only 16 out of

39 40

76 respondents (21. 05%) were familiar with the requisite IT skillsbefore enrolling on the PGCE course.

Lessons for Planning ICTs in Teacher Education in NigeriaWhat, from our findings, explains the resounding success storyof ICT policy in British education? Five major factors have beenat play: a very strong political will driven by the awareness ofthe potential of ICTs in national development; a very activepromotion of sustainable partnerships with a wide range ofstakeholders and democratization of the policy designprocess (including teachers voices); an exemplary commitmentto efficient policy implementation, and a culture of monitoring,assessment and reporting for possible review/adjustment/reform.More importantly, several national frameworks and institutionalsupport systems were established, such as the TeacherTraining Agency (TTA), the Office for Standards in Education(OFSTED), the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) and theDepartment for Education and Employment (DFEE). Monitoringand assessment became closely tied to funding of schools andteacher training institutions. The setting up of the Teacher TrainingAgency in 1999 provided added impetus to integrate IT within 10subjects specialties: Art, English, History, Modern Foreignlanguages, Design and Technology, Mathematics, Music, PhysicalEducation, Religious Education and Science, in addition to ITwhich is a separate examination subject for the NationalVocational and Technical Qualification (NVTQ). Even the perennialanxiety over funding was adequately addressed for sustainabilityof the innovation.

For example, OFSTEDs (2001) report indicated as follows:The Department for Education and Employment {DFEE}funding for the ICT infrastructure and generic trainingamounted to 675 million pounds over four years andbegan in April 1998... distributed to Local EducationAuthorities {LEAs}via the Government StandardFund {SF}. In addition the Government announced that,from April 1999, 230 million pounds of lottery fund

would be available from the New OpportunitiesFund {NOF} a non departmental public body to helpincrease the competence of all teachers in their use ofICT in teaching and learning. The scheme would usetraining organizations, approved by NOF and quality-assured by the Teacher Training Agency . The DFEEwas given the role of formulating the ICT policy foreducation and steering the implementation of mostaspects of the governments ICT strategy for schools.This involved working with the ICT supply industry,LEAs, the TTA and the British Educational andCommunication Technology Agencies {BECTA}.

More importantly the report acknowledged that: There isemerging evidence of a link between high standard across thecurriculum and good ICT provision variable and is more markedin some than others . The powerful new resources obtainedwith AGFL funds have increased pupils motivation to learn .Training programmes that lack the intended subject-specific focushave been less effective in raising teachers confidence to useICT . Many teachers have bought their own computers throughGovernment schemes. Computers ownership has helped toboost teachers confidence and basic ICT skills significantly.(Theemphases are mine).

With specific reference to foreign language teacher education,the implementation of ICT policy was in terms of creating aconducive learning and training environment. The followingabridged excerpts (Box1) amply demonstrate how modern foreignlanguage teachers are put through their paces at Cambridge,London and Oxford.

41 42

BOX I: Conducive Institutional Environments (Oxford)

The Department has extensive ICT facilities. TheDepartments ICT Centre has two rooms for teachingpurposes and for use by individual PGCE students bothequipped with powerful multimedia PCs. Additionalcomputers and ICT equipment are located in the LibraryResources area. PGCE students also have access tolaser printers, colour printers, digital cameras, scanners,video capture equipment, a video editing suite andelectronic Smart boards. All computers can be used forword-processing. The growing library of educationalsoftware consists of a large number of packagesappropriate for the secondary age range. All of thecomputers in the Department are connected to theInternet and can be used for e-mail. All curriculum subjectteaching rooms are equipped with Smart boards andcomputer projection systems. A loan pool of equipmentconsisting of laptop computers, portable data projectorsand digital cameras (still and movie) is available forPGCE students to take into schools.All interns are required to demonstrate competence inthe use of ICT for teaching and learning in their mainsubject, as a condition for the award of QTS (QualifiedTeacher Status). These capabilities are developedthrough each curriculum subject programme, supportedby ICT workshops.

BOX II: Conducive Institutional Environments (Cambridge)

During the first term, you will attend introductory, sessionson the main applications of ICT in language teaching (e.g.word processing, database, spreadsheet, Power-Pointand the Internet). The aim of this part of the course is toprovide you with sufficient confidence and knowledge tosupport the integration of this resource in your teachingduring Terms 2 and 3.

In School, during PPI, you should find out how ICT isplanned and used within the department and across theschool as a whole. You should observe teacher(s) andlanguages and from other subjects if possible, usingcomputers in the classroom. In consultation with yourmentor you must plan and carry out Assignment 6 (Pupiluse of ICT in Language learning). The aim is to provideyou with a first experience (whether with a full class orsmall group of pupils) of assessing the effect of theresource on the linguistic performance, learning strategiesand motivation of pupils. The extended placements inthese two terms give you the chance to focus on howICT can be integrated in lesson planning generally. Yourfocus should be on how ICT activities can link up withother parts of the lesson. You should also think abouthow ICT lessons can fit in schemes of work extendingover a sequence of lessons. Copies of your lesson plansinvolving ICT should be included in here.

You should aim to try out ICT activities in lessons withpupils of different age and ability groups; and to supportdifferent language learning objectives (e.g. the fourlanguage skills. You should aim to engage in broaderprofessional activities. For instance, your departmentmight ask you to make a small presentation at one of itsstaff meetings on the potential of ICT.You will be asked to make a Power Point Presentation ata subject studies sessions in Term 3 on some aspect ofyour ICT teaching experience.

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It is time once again to address the same question about Nigeriasreadiness for the ICT revolution. Nigerian education haswitnessed some encouraging developments in IT related matterssince 2003. For example: (a) the Petroleum Development TrustFund signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Microsofttargeting schools and especially the capacity building of teachersand institutions, which led to the establishment of Microsoft ITAcademies(Nigeria Monthly 2006); (b)Nigeria established theDigital Bridge Institute an International Centre forTelecommunications and Information Studies; (c) hosted theWorld Digital Africa 2006 Conference on the theme ICT foreducation, development and empowerment: children and learningfor learning; (c) launched the one-laptop-per-child (OLPC)initiative in collaboration with the Nigerian government whichresulted in the provision of one million, $100 laptops for the e-secondary school project in Nigeria (The Vanguard, 2006). (d) Anational Computer in Schools Committee and a few ICT (skillacquisition) Villages have recently been set up.

Internet access has only begun to have some significant impacton university campuses for both students and academic staffespecially. The National Universities Commission has set up asuccessful on-line training programme for higher educationpersonnel known as the Virtual Institute for Higher EducationPedagogy (VIHEP) and also coordinates the Nigerian VirtualLibrary Project for universities and other institutions of HigherEducation. Similarly, the Federal Government has establishedthe National Information Technology Development Agency(NITDA); launched a geoinformatic communication satellite inorbit, with a second IT dedicated satellite for launch soon.In spite of the apparent progress at the macro level, the issuesof infrastructure, appropriate environments, and costs of ICTpolicy implementation at the micro levels in schools and teachertraining faculties constitute the most serious challenges for thepublic sector. In cases where some attempt have been made by

tertiary institutions to provide a semblance of IT compliance fortheir students, research has shown that nothing significant ishappening in this regard. Some scholars (Busari, 2006:165-194and Maduekwe, 2006:165-184) recently investigated the problemin several tertiary institutions and have found discouraging results.Busari sums up her impressions: a situation where studentsreceive little or no exposure to ICT during training calls for all,both at secondary and university levels, to re-examine the currentstatus of IT in education, right from the primary school. Similarly,Maduekwes study clearly showed that the provision of trainingin ICT skills for pre-service teacher trainees in FSC 103 in twouniversities was largely inadequate.

The implications are clear. We cannot over-emphasize the factthat the all-comers university-wide GST computer core courseswill not on their own make students in tertiary institutions in Nigeriacomputer and IT-literate. Most students have become IT literatethrough their own independent action/initiative. For instance,Awoleye and Siyanbolas ( 2006 :1708-1713) study showed that92 percent of undergraduate students have embraced theinternet, spending on average 3 hours per week in the pastfour years. It also showed that the interest has made an impacton their academic and life while science-based students madeuse of the internet more than their non-science peers. Anotherrelated implication of this self-help trend among students is thatTeacher Training Departments have a crucial obligation to developthe IT skills of prospective teachers. The foundation in terms ofknowledge building, thinking and good practices in IT educationis laid there at the undergraduate B.A, B.Sc. Education (Hon),and Postgraduate diploma in Education programme levels,echoing as strongly as practicable the conducive environmentsfor teaching, training and independent learning.

Developing the ICT Skills of Language TeachersIn order to ensure that the goals and objectives of IT skillsdevelopment for language teachers are achieved, the planning

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lessons I have already highlighted become imperative in threemain areas. These are: attitudinal, ICT knowledge base and rangeof competences. Technophobia has been identified as asignificant attitudinal challenge that teachers in the Arts andhumanities have to be helped to overcome. The confidence toexplore the new technologies and look closely at old ways ofthinking and doing things is the best way forward into theknowledge economy and modern foreign language industry. Theknowledge component includes: understanding the ICT revolutionand development in ICTs and their role, uses or impact on foreignteaching and learning; functional understanding of the working ofa Computer system and a user appreciation of the variouscomponents; rational decision-making in adopting teacher-friendlyand learner-friendly language software in relation to the four basicskills and culture; monitor and critically assess the outcomes ofvarious researches into ICTs in teaching and learning languages;knowledge of functions in relation to learner skills and learningissues (Table IV). Skills comprise the following: (1) Operational,(2) Word-processing, (3) Databases, (4) Spreadsheets, and (5)Internet / Multimedia. This last one is particularly an importantcomplex of skills and includes at least 14 sub-skills ranging frombrowsing, writing and sending e-mail with attachment; chat / e-conversation to web authoring to website design, accessingdedicated teaching resource to job hunting, taking online coursesor tutorials to using Internet as a virtual library. (6) Further skillsinclude using bibliography software such as endnote; using avideo camcorder; making audio recordings; taking skillphotographs; using the photocopier; using the overhead projector(OHP); preparing transparencies for the OHP; creating PowerPoint slides; setting up equipment to give a Power Pointpresentation; preparing materials using desktop publishing (DTP)and; scanning images and graphics for DTP.The mastery of all these skills by teachers in training is relevantto all language curricula, first, second and foreign.

Table 1V: Examples of Functions and Learner-related Issues

ConclusionI have shown in this discussion of ICT policy implementation inEngland what strong political will can do; how crucial buildingsustainable partnership among all stakeholders is; how qualitycontrol and assurance could only be achieved through a cultureof objective monitoring, assessment and reporting; how fundingcould be sourced and well managed; how at the institution-basedlevel, Oxford, Cambridge and London demonstrated thatsuccessful implementation has been a function of an enabling /conducive environment they have provided for language teachertraining and learning. In the wider context of education, ICTinvestments in teacher education across the curriculum has theenormous potential multiplier effects in providing a more efficientmeans of delivering literacy training within a sustainable literateenvironment, and support adult literacy and basic skills acquisitionin basic education etc (Wagner and Kozma 2005:5).

A THIRD EXAMPLE: Voices in School-based FrenchCurriculum ReformIn this third example of thinking and doing applied linguistics, Ishall present briefly my experiences of micro-system or school-based French curriculum reform involving syllabus design in

Functions Learner Skills Learning Issues CALL websitesWord processingText manipulationSpreadsheetsDatabasesInternetWeb pagesPower Point PresentationsCD-ROMsSchool websitee-mail linkslanguages clubs

Oral practiceWritingReading comprehensionCommunicationGrammarVocabulary acquisitionCultural awareness

DifferentiationMotivationIndependent learningImmediate feedbackAccuracyRevisionText level literacyLanguage authenticity

Source: University of Cambridge PGDE Handbook 2002/2003Source: University of Cambridge PGCE Handbook 2003/2004

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communicative French, French curriculum evaluation, teachertraining and organizational improvements.In 1990, shortly after I returned from sabbatical, during which Ispent about four months as a British Council Fellow at the Instituteof Education University of London, I was invited by the Head of alarge multinational International School comprising primary andsecondary wings- to save their souls. It would be my firsthands-on experience of such a thoroughly cosmopolitan/multicultural context of schooling; running a different curriculum,a different value system and school culture from ours. However,three important facts were in my favour:(i) My familiarity with curriculum history (comparative) and

the role of North America in modern curriculum theoryand development;.

(ii) My recent research and professional experience atLondon University on multiracial education, English as asecond language curriculum as well as modern foreignlanguage learning, and the emerging British NationalCurriculum;

(iii) My disciplinary tradition of knowledge-building, thinkingand doing applied linguistics determined the logic of whatto do or not to do when one got to an unfamiliar culturalterrain, as well as the relativity of theoretical and knowledgebases. In other words, I made no assumptions; was waryof appearances, sought out and characterized theobserved differences; planned and experimented,consolidated adjusted and validated outcomes.Accordingly, I evolved a ten-phase interventioncomprising the following actions: (i) situational analysis(ii) needs identification and analysis; (iii) administrationof learner-questionnaire, (iv) placement/diagnostic testsof learners of French across the higher elementary andJunior high secondary grades (v) hands-on classroomteaching which was a crucial strategy for understandingthe multicultural context of curriculum reform; (vi)communicative French syllabus design, and trialing by

the teachers; (vii) review of aspects of school culture;(viii) review of organization to include teachers voice atschool management board.; (ix) needs-based In-serviceand workshop for teachers; (x) Monitoring andassessment of curriculum implementation.The memorable highpoint of this experience was that allmy recommendations were accepted and implementedby the school authorities (Owhotu,2001). From thesuccess of that project, other multicultural internationalschools using the British National Curriculum invited meto replicate, as it were, our work in their schools.

In 1999, about six years later, I was again invited by the sameInternational school to validate the programme and prepare it foraccreditation from their Home School Board. Building on thefoundation I had laid six years earlier and with classroomobservation, workshops, seminars and syllabus review, theFrench programme got the accreditation with commendation.Between then and June 2001 we had the mandate to monitorimplementation of agreed recommendations and strategies.Other outcomes of the reform are noteworthy: the schooladministration and French teachers were agreed that there hadbeen significant improvement in the teachers team spirit, lessonplanning skills, classroom organization and instruction as wellas teacher self-assessment, and assessment of studentlearning outcomes.

These encouraging results notwithstanding, I decided, with thekind approval of the school authorities, to probe beyondappearances as it were, and carry out a voices survey of bothparents and learners. In that particular environment, parents andlearners were both informed and vocal stake holders in the reformprocess. If they had been generally dissatisfied then I would havelaboured in vain. The voices survey was therefore to enable usto assess whether or not in their view there were any noticeable/significant improvements in teaching based on parentsobservation concerning their children and wards attitudes

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towards French and their achievements. Learners wererequested to address similar issues.

Relevant FindingsFor the purpose of this lecture I shall highlight the trends for onlythe critical items in both questionnaires.

Parents Voices164 parents returned their questionnaire duly completed, exceptfor a few items that were not fully completed.

What is your opinion, in general, of the French programme? 140 parents responded, of whom 98 (70%) had a positive opinionof the French programme ranging from excellent lot ofimprovement, very good, fine, to quite organized: 28 others(20%) were not sure, while 14 (10%) had a negative opinionranging from quite weak, too simple to prefer Spanish toFrench.

Do you sincerely think your child has made appreciableprogress in

(a) Understanding French? and (b) Speaking French?Out of the 154 responses, 127 (82%) agreed that their childrenslistening comprehension skill had improved; 12 (7.7%), had anegative view, while 13 (8.4%) were not sure. With respect totheir childrens spoken French, 92 (59.7%) agreed that theirchildrens spoken French had improved; 35 (22.7%) disagreed.while 27 (17.5%) were not sure.

How would you rate the effectiveness of your childs Frenchteachers?

Out of 158 responses, 94 (59.49%) said it was Good, 40(25.31%) said it was satisfactory, 13 (8%) thought it was poorwhile 11 (%) were not sure.

If French was an elective programme, would you haveencouraged your child to study it all the same?

Out of 158 responses 136 (86.07%) said yes, 14 (8.8%) said nowhile 8(5,06%) were not sure.

From this analysis of the key items, parents did seem to haveclearly positive impressions of the French programme. A total of134 parents (84.81%) said they were satisfied with the Frenchteachers effectiveness, 70% were satisfied with the Frenchprogramme while another 86% said they would encourage theirchildren to study French. More importantly, 82% thought that theirchildren had made progress in listening comprehension skill, with59% observing improved oral skill of their children. 86.07% ofthem laid due emphasis on the importance of the Frenchlanguage in the world today, next to English, and would encouragetheir children and wards to c