Critical Cultural Analysis

In the Critical Cultural Analysis, a major course project in APLNG 804 (Focus on Learners), I critically analyzed the following cultural exploration activities, which allowed me to understand the similarities and differences among and between cultures, consider how culture influences language learning and teaching, and examine how my understanding of these important issues has influenced my own language teaching practice.

These learning activities culminated in a self-narrated Critical Cultural Analysis presentation and a written essay and reflection paper, in which I synthesized what I learned during the course, the cultural exploration activities and my own thoughts and experiences.

To listen to the audio files (self-narration) that accompany the Critical Cultural Analysis presentation, please click on links below.

A Few Thoughts on Task-Based Instruction
I appreciate Belgar and Hunt’s (2002) attempts to integrate a task-based syllabus into the English as a Foreign Language curriculum of the Japanese university where they worked. No doubt, as the researchers pointed out, the students involved benefited from this… Read more: A Few Thoughts on Task-Based Instruction
Focus on Grammar
Although the field of language education has seen many advances during the last two decades, especially when it comes to acknowledging the roles social interaction and cultural identity play in the language teaching and learning process, I fear the same… Read more: Focus on Grammar
Learning to Teach
Left: Richard preparing a “lesson” for great aunt Evelyn (October, 1980: Beckley, West Virginia) Right: Richard and sister Crissy working on a “test” using Aunt Evelyn’s manual typewriter (December, 1983: Beckley, West Virginia) Below: Betty McDorman (image from 1978 Coal… Read more: Learning to Teach
Focus on Pronunciation and Fluency
When I studied phonetics and phonology for the first time in the early 1990s, the academic focus was almost entirely on the segmental aspects of the language’s sound system. We reviewed the articulatory and acoustic traits of each consonant and… Read more: Focus on Pronunciation and Fluency
The Dilemmas of Language Assessment
I would like to share my experiences with language assessment in my current instructional context–an intensive English program for international students at a large language school in Miami, Florida. We conduct formal assessments using a full-length simulated TOEIC (a norm-referenced… Read more: The Dilemmas of Language Assessment