11
Sep
2009
English Tutoring
ESL & Tutoring
ESL, or the study of English as a Second Language, is a booming industry around the world due to the prevalence of English in international business, law and culture. Whether this will remain the case as it has since the rise of the British Empire followed by the ‘American Century’, with the rise of China and India as emergent superpowers is uncertain. However, for the present the study of English by those for whom it is not their native language, is not only a growing industry but is also increasingly gaining the attention of academics.
The analysis of ESL study and teaching covers everything from cooperative learning, plagiarism as a cultural phenomenon, the effectiveness of written feedback by ESL tutors, and the effectiveness of phonological learning. Below a study is briefly outlined on the non-verbal components of ESL tutoring.
Tutoring as an “Embodied Activity”
Hassan Belhiah had an article published in the Journal of Pragmatics in 2009 (Vol 41, Iss 4), entitled ‘Tutoring as an embodied activity: How speech, gaze and body orientation are coordinated to conduct ESL tutorial business’. Her study analyses tutorial openings and closings based on data from real-time dialogues involving native American English-speaking tutors and non-native speaker students. The focus of her research was to study the extent to which conversation participants’ vocal and non-vocal actions contributed to the co-construction of ESL discourse as a collaborative activity. Her study was based on the findings of other academics as well, showing the gaze patterns can be used to indicate commitment and engagement, to elicit or show recipiency, and to ensure a smooth flow of conversation. It can also be used to show disengagement, through a variety of mechanisms.
Her findings showed that in the coordination of talk (eg turn-taking), gaze and body orientation there was little difference between participants, though it might be expected since they were from different cultural backgrounds. This is significant because, she claims, that for two people to communicate effectively it is not sufficient, “and perhaps not even necessary” (p841), that they share the same grammar.