MLJ Reviews
Edited by JUDITH E. LISKIN–GASPARRO
University of Iowa
MLJ Review Policy
The MLJ reviews books, monographs, computer software, and materials that (a) present results of research in—and methods of—foreign
and second language teaching and learning;
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members of the profession; (c) are intended primarily for use as textbooks or instructional aids in
classrooms where foreign and second languages,
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directly to foreign and second language teaching
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be typed with double spacing and submitted electronically online at our ScholarOne Manuscripts
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THEORY AND PRACTICE
BIGELOW, MARTHA H. Mogadishu on the Mississippi: Language, Racialized Identity, and Education in a New Land. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell,
2010. Pp. xii, 189. $39.95, paper. ISBN 978–1–
4443–3874–4.
In this volume Bigelow recounts her 5-year research engagement with the Somali diaspora community in Minnesota, with a focus on Somali
youth’s abysses of experience of hybrid and multiple identity construction. As the title suggests, it is
interdisciplinary research that crosses the fields of
applied linguistics, second language acquisition,
sociology, anthropology, and education. This interdisciplinarity enables the researcher not only
to explore the complex object of her inquiry but
also to influence the direction of future research.
This book consists of six chapters. Chapter 1
provides an overview by introducing the Somali
diaspora and other key constructs discussed in
the book, including issues regarding advocacy-
integral research on identity and immigrant education. Chapter 2 discusses research in the area of
orality and literacy among adolescents and adults
in the diaspora community and addresses the lack
of research in language education on multilingual
individuals without formal education. Chapters 3
through 5 present three studies chronologically
carried out with Somali adolescents to address
the central theme of the book: how the Somali
“youth are hybridizing and negotiating new identities that have very much to do with who they
were, who their families are, and who they are
hoping to become” (p. 10). Chapter 6 concludes
the book with implications for educating Somali
adolescent refugees, and the author calls for interdisciplinary research on language education for
youth with limited formal education and print literacy, as well as engaged scholarship on the intertwined relationships of language, race, religion
and gender in youth’s identity construction in the
third spaces.
The merits of this book lie in its focus on the immigrant adolescents that represent the most challenging school population in the United States.
Given her involvement with the Somali community, Bigelow presents her understanding of these
teens as a researcher and as their advocate. She
leads readers to see that U.S. institutions are not
prepared to effectively educate these adolescent
refugees who are not only new to the English language, but also new to print literacy. But in turn,
the institutions blame these teens for their “ineducationability” rather than acknowledging or
examining their own problematic education system and practice. The interdisciplinary nature
also makes this research stand out, which enables
the researcher to analyze the complex experience
these teens are tangled in from different perspectives. They are caught as other: between their
home and community and their school, between
oral and print literacy, between Somali American
and African American. Through three separate
studies, the author leads readers to understand
the struggles these teens are going through in
their adaptation to a world where English print
is dominant and where they experience hostility towards their religion and disrespect of their
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culture. Also, these teens are fighting not only
against the mainstream oppression and stereotypes, but also against other minoritized groups.
By integrating her research with advocacy, the
author helps to “dismantle structural barriers in
schooling, document the struggles and strengths
of youth and their families and help educators be
more effective both within and beyond the walls
of academia” (p. 2).
However, there were three major questions pertaining to the research that I wish the author had
discussed further. First, I question the word Mogadishu used in the book title. The word is mentioned only once (p. 113), and it is used as a slur
by the police when addressing Somali children
and youth. Though it is the capital of Somalia,
once used as a slur, the word loses its original
meaning. Second, in regard to the issue of being mistaken as other, the Somali youth do not
like to be misidentified as African Americans. It
is understandable that they dislike being misidentified as people they are not and do not want to
be, but I am concerned that by not wanting to
associate with African Americans because of their
negative media image, they unintentionally ally
themselves with the mainstream society in its discrimination of African Americans. I wish the author had addressed this issue and had assumed the
role of advocate for all minoritized groups, as the
research indicates that stereotypes and discriminations within minority groups are just as severe
and damaging as those whites and people of color
in U.S. society.
In addition, while reading the three case studies, I could hear the researcher’s voice, her critique and discontent with the education these
teens are receiving, but I wish she had supported
her claims better with data, particularly more context for how these teens are undereducated in U.S.
schools. For instance, what was the learning context or curriculum for these teens? How much English language assistance did they receive? What
subjects did they study at the high school level?
What did their school experience look like? In
short, I was looking for data that would show
the inappropriateness of the education offered
to these students.
These concerns notwithstanding, this book
presents a powerful study. It pushes researchers
and educators to think beyond their territories,
examine their practices, and try to help the youth
who need our support and assistance in their transition to our country.
DANLING FU
University of Florida
The Modern Language Journal 95 (2011)
BOWLES, MELISSA A. The Think-Aloud Controversy in Second Language Research. New York: Routledge, 2010. Pp. 168. $120.00, cloth; $39.95, paper. ISBN 978–0–415–99483–5, cloth; 978–0–415–
99484–2, paper.
Bowles has produced a meta-analysis of the use
of think-aloud protocols in second language acquisition (SLA) research. It will be useful to SLA
researchers working in conversation analysis, as
well as sociocultural and cognitive paradigms, all
of which have an interest in verbalizations or inner
(egocentric) speech. The book guides the reader
through the historical use and challenges to the
validity of think-aloud protocols, reviews a model
from cognitive psychology, summarizes research
findings from cognitive psychology and SLA, provides guidelines for data collection and analysis,
and outlines directions for future research. The
book’s organization and lucid prose are decidedly
reader friendly.
Chapter 1 guides the reader through the history
and controversy of think-aloud protocols from
experimenter-provided verbalizations during the
heyday of behaviorism through the shift to a focus on the cognition of the participants. The author notes that both retrospective and concurrent think-aloud protocols are generally accepted
not only in SLA but also in medicine, anthropology, and other fields. In first language (L1) research, think-aloud protocols are used in studies
of reading, writing, and language testing. In second language (L2) research, the think-aloud controversy emerged as differences over whether language production was the proper object of study
or whether introspection might provide a complementary perspective on cognition. As the author points out, inference from production alone
is risky. Think-aloud protocols are one way that
researchers have found to corroborate production data. In L2 research, think-aloud protocols
have been used in studies on reading, writing,
translation, interlanguage pragmatics, conversational interaction, attention and awareness, and
implicit and explicit knowledge. Retrospective
think-aloud protocols, such as stimulated recall,
are particularly useful in research on conversational interaction. Studies of attention and awareness have more typically made use of concurrent
think-aloud protocols.
Chapter 2 introduces the challenges to the validity of think-aloud protocols. These challenges
are defined in terms of reactivity. A think-aloud
protocol is said to be reactive if it has an effect
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on accuracy (veridicality) or on processing or solution time (latency). The main challenge to retrospective think-aloud protocols is their potential reactivity for veridicality. Stimulated recalls,
a retrospective think-aloud protocol, attempt to
address the veridicality issue by providing a
stimulus, such as a replay of an interaction, to
attenuate the effects of memory decay. The main
challenge to concurrent think-aloud protocols, especially metacognitive tasks, is their potential reactivity for latency.
The predictive model used by Bowles is
a typology proposed by Ericsson and Simon
(1964, 1993). This model predicts that nonmetacognitive verbalizations will be largely nonreactive, slowing processing only slightly. It predicts that metacognitive verbalizations may be
more reactive, potentially slowing processing as
well as altering cognitive processing. Bowles reviews a handful of studies of the reactivity of thinkaloud protocols, among them the seminal work
by Ericsson and Simon (1964, 1993), all of which
tended to support the model. The meta-analysis
revealed some effect for task type, suggesting that
some tasks may be more compatible than others
with think-aloud protocols. Most of the studies are
from the field of cognitive psychology. They are,
as Bowles points out, of limited relevance to SLA
because they employed nonverbal or problemsolving tasks. Nevertheless, this analysis serves to
acquaint the reader with the reactivity challenges
to think-aloud protocols and raises the issue of
the compatibility of certain tasks with think-aloud
protocols.
Chapter 3 summarizes reactivity studies with
verbal tasks from the field of SLA. Due to a lack
of homogeneity it was impossible to provide a yes
or no answer to the question of reactivity with
think-aloud protocols, but a number of noteworthy trends emerged across studies. Think-aloud
protocols were associated with facilitative effects
on comprehension and receptive form learning,
and a detrimental effect on productive form learning. There were small latency effects for grammar learning, reading, and metacognitive tasks.
Bowles points to the need for further study to address the possible effects of learner proficiency,
language of the task, and task type.
Chapter 4 presents recommendations for data
collection in think-aloud protocols. Here the
reader finds helpful advice on obtaining informed
consent, pilot testing, instructions to research participants, warm-ups, online reminders, and checks
on compatible task types.
Chapter 5 provides useful advice on transcribing and coding think-aloud data, accompanied by
examples. She urges review of transcriptions to
ensure representativeness and insists on the importance of reporting inter-coder reliability.
Chapter 6 concludes the book with some of the
more salient findings. Bowles notes that reactivity
is not unidimensional, as it may either enhance or
hinder performance. For example, non metacognitive tasks were reactive for receptive form learning, but the effect was to enhance performance.
This finding suggests that think-aloud protocols
can be a source of learning. Reactivity with productive form learning, on the other hand, was
detrimental to performance. Posttest differences
tended to be insignificant, suggesting that thinkaloud protocols can be used reliably. Bowles repeats her call for more research on factors such
as type of report, learner proficiency, explicitness
of instruction, and language of verbalization. She
further notes that think-aloud protocols are better
represented in reading than in writing research.
Bowles’s advice is indispensable to researchers
whose research may benefit from think-aloud protocols, and her recommendations are consistent
with the data. For example, she urges caution in
the use of think-aloud protocols given their reactivity with reading tasks. She also offers invaluable advice on the tasks and studies that are most
compatible with the various types of think-aloud
protocols. As a researcher who has never used a
think-aloud protocol, I have gained a new appreciation of their utility.
TONY HOUSTON
Bryant University
DÖRNYEI, ZOLTÁN, with TATSUYA TAGUCHI.
Questionnaires in Second Language Research: Construction, Administration, and Processing. 2nd ed.
New York: Routledge, 2010. Pp. xiv, 185. $39.95,
paper. ISBN 978–0–415–99820–8.
Those who make use of questionnaires in second
language (L2) research will find an invaluable resource in Dörnyei and Taguchi’s work. As the authors point out, “in spite of the wide application
of questionnaires in L2 research, there does not
seem to be sufficient awareness in the profession
about the theory of questionnaire design and processing” (p. xiii). This book goes a long way toward
filling that gap.
The book opens with an introductory chapter
pointing out what questionnaires are and are
not, along with a thoughtful discussion of their
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advantages and disadvantages. Next comes an
extended chapter on questionnaire construction,
attending to factors such as length, organization, and sampling of questionnaire content
using multi-item scales. Particularly helpful are
the sections on various types of closed-ended
questionnaire items (including Likert scales, semantic differential scales, rank-order items, and
multiple-choice items) and open-ended items
(specific open questions, clarification questions,
sentence completion items, and short-answer
questions). Multiple examples of each of these
item types are provided.
A unique feature of this chapter is the attention
given to translating questionnaires into other languages, an issue that is routinely neglected. The
authors point out the irony in the common practice of devoting significant time and resources to
a questionnaire’s construction but paying little
attention to its translation into the language in
which it will be administered. They suggest utilizing a committee comprised of individuals representing three separate roles—translators, reviewers, and adjudicators—to ensure that the translated questionnaire accurately communicates the
intent of the original version.
Chapter 3 deals with questionnaire administration, including a discussion on methods of sampling and sample size, an up-to-date treatment
of the advantages and disadvantages of paperand-pencil, email, and online questionnaires, and
helpful recommendations for increasing the quality and quantity of participant response in each of
these types of questionnaires.
Chapter 4, which addresses the processing of
questionnaire data, ironically contains both the
greatest strengths and weaknesses of the book. A
strong point is the detailed treatment of the analysis of quantitative data, including instructions on
coding, keying in, and cleaning up the data, which
I have not seen addressed in similar works. Included are discussions of the treatment of missing
data, the correction of impossible or contradictory data, and the recoding of values from negatively worded questionnaire items. In contrast, the
treatment of qualitative data is surprisingly short,
with only one page devoted to the content analysis of open-ended questions and a conspicuous
lack of examples. Researchers who plan to make
extensive use of open-ended questions will want
to supplement this book with other resources.
The final chapter of the book offers an example
of the construction and piloting of a specific motivational questionnaire (which is the most significant change from the first edition of the book),
intended to “provide a detailed, illustrative analysis of how an actual scientific research instrument
The Modern Language Journal 95 (2011)
was developed from scratch following the theoretical guidelines” (p. xi). Especially useful is the information on the calculation of the internal consistency of the questionnaire items and their subsequent modification. The book concludes with
a useful checklist for questionnaire construction
that succinctly summarizes the important points
from each chapter.
The book is written in straightforward, accessible language, with frequent comments by Dörnyei
that illustrate the insights gained through years of
experience in using questionnaires. The work is
also punctuated with witty and informative quotes
from other authors that help focus the reader
on big-picture issues related to questionnaire
construction.
Overall, this may be the best and most informative work to date on the construction, administration, and processing of questionnaires in second
language research. I will definitely consider using
this book in my graduate classes on second language research.
BLAIR BATEMAN
Brigham Young University
ELLIS, ROD, SHAWN LOEWEN, CATHERINE
ELDER, ROSEMARY ERLAM, JENEFER PHILP,
& HAYO REINDERS. (Eds.). Implicit and Explicit Knowledge in Second Language Learning, Testing and Teaching. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters, 2009. Pp. xi, 408. $49.95, paper.
ISBN 978–1–84769–174–3.
Over the past two to three decades, consensus
has begun to emerge across diverse disciplines
in support of the notions that implicit and explicit knowledge in language are manifested by
mechanisms in distinct areas of the brain, entail
distinct types of representation, and overall are
quite dissociated. The current volume is a wideranging compilation based on three years’ of comprehensive inquiry on differentiated roles of implicit and explicit knowledge as applied to second
language (L2) acquisition. The authors fully embrace the dichotomy, asserting that such a partition is essential for teasing apart the functions of
the two types of knowledge within L2 proficiency
and for understanding the effects of instructional
approaches on L2 acquisition. They also maintain that at a basic level, this distinction shapes
our grasp of the very nature of the acquisition
process. These premises form the basis for several
absorbing discussions and solid experimental accounts throughout this volume.
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The book is logically organized into five interconnected sections, reflecting the scope and sequence of the three overarching objectives driving the research project. Specifically, these goals
entail (a) devising tests to measure L2 implicit
and explicit grammatical knowledge; (b) identifying the respective relationships between L2
implicit/explicit knowledge and general language proficiency; and (c) exploring the contributions of form-focused instruction to the acquisition of implicit and explicit L2 grammatical
knowledge. Although each of these objectives receives adequate treatment, it is fair to say that the
two primary foci of the book are the investigation
of aspects of L2 knowledge and L2 instruction,
whereas the examination of L2 learning does not
receive equal scrutiny.
Of the book’s five sections, section 1 consists
of a chapter in which Rod Ellis presents an accessible overview of second language acquisition
(SLA) research and relates the primary SLA issues to L2 implicit and explicit knowledge, learning, and instruction. Additionally, Ellis weighs in
to conclude the volume in section 5 with an executive summary that does not shy away from assessing the previous chapters’ experimental results
and, when required, acknowledging the limitations of the study as a whole. He considers the
team’s initial research plan, noting that it squarely
meets the study’s first objective, while also recognizing that the second and third objectives have
not been fully met. For the most part, Ellis frames
the entire study as a work in progress, and thus the
reader comes to appreciate that scientific endeavors can be successful in the absence of definitive
outcomes.
Sandwiched between Ellis’s contextualizing introductory and closing remarks, the remaining
sections of the book lay out an array of methodologically sound experiments, even though some
yield less than conclusive empirical findings. Such
is the case in the foundational second section of
the volume, which focuses on the development
of tests as a means of obtaining reliable and valid
measurements of implicit and explicit (grammatical) knowledge. The four chapters in this section
advance theoretically based testing instruments of
L2 implicit and explicit knowledge that fill a void
in current SLA literature, including the elicited
oral imitation test (ch. 3), response time measures of grammaticality judgments (ch. 4), and
the metalinguistic knowledge test (ch. 5). The
test batteries clearly demonstrate why experimental results are not always clear-cut even given a
well-developed base.
The measures of knowledge are applied to
four rather diverse contexts in section 3: ob-
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stacles in the learning of certain grammatical
structures, the nature of language proficiency,
individual variation in language proficiencies,
and metalinguistic knowledge of teacher trainees.
Chapter 7 presents a helpful evaluation of the
International English Language Testing System
(IELTS) tests and the Test of English as a Foreign
Language (TOEFL), concluding that to a large
degree both the IELTS and TOEFL draw upon
explicit knowledge. Chapter 8 touches on learner
variability, showing positive correlations between
implicit/explicit knowledge and the learner variable. Chapter 9 explores the metalinguistic knowledge of two distinct trainee teacher profiles, native
speakers and nonnative speakers, and examines
the impact of these differences on form-focused
instruction. The study’s primary finding is that
both groups of teacher trainees have relatively low
metalinguistic knowledge, with the native speaker
group being the lower of the two.
The four chapters in section 4 investigate
whether form-focused instruction plays a role
in the acquisition of L2 implicit and explicit
knowledge. Form-focused instructional options
include those based on input to students, explicit
grammatical information, production, and corrective feedback. The results of input-based versus
output-based teaching of the indefinite article a as
an expression of generic meaning are examined
in chapter 10, with each approach demonstrating merit. Chapter 11 reports on learners who
received instruction on the third person –s under the condition of intensive exposure in the
absence of explanation. The outcomes show no
significant effect on implicit/explicit knowledge.
Chapter 12 looks at the role of enhanced input
on the intake and acquisition of English negative adverbs. Grammaticality judgment tests were
used to arrive at the conclusion that enhanced input positively affects intake and acquisition. Chapter 13 inquires whether different outcomes obtain
when implicit versus explicit corrective feedback
is employed in the target structure, past tense
–ed. The researchers’ findings suggest that explicit
feedback effects are greater than those of implicit
feedback.
In terms of content and layout, the combination of detailed information pertaining to study
participants, an appendix with test batteries, and
coherent analyses allow for seamless replication of
a number of the studies presented, with the exciting possibility of extending or varying the experiment for further study. Test results are displayed
with statistical analyses, enhancing the reader’s
ability to determine the significance of individual
factors in the acquisition of L2 implicit/explicit
knowledge. There are some extremely trivial
670
annoyances such as the lack of an author index
and an unfortunate error on page 24 where chapter 10 is referenced when Ellis is referring to
chapter 11. In sum, this valuable and timely resource will complete the reference library of SLA
researchers, teachers, and students.
TERESA SATTERFIELD
University of Michigan
KING, NIGEL, & CHRISTINE HORROCKS. Interviews in Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage Publications, 2010. Pp. viii, 248. $43.95,
paper. ISBN 978–1–4129–1257–0.
There has been a recent profusion of manuals
designed to help novice qualitative researchers.
Their how-to approach is undoubtedly a good
thing because these books provide social scientists, especially graduate students, with guidelines
for making their research more systematic and rigorous. King and Horrocks’s contribution gives us
an accessible but sophisticated look at interviewing as a research method. The authors point out
in the introduction that interviewing is a familiar activity—we constantly see public figures, experts, and witnesses to an event being interviewed
on television—but that as a method, the research
interview has particular challenges. I agree with
their premise that conducting a successful interview is far more difficult than it may seem, and
there are many subtle complexities that a skillful
interviewer should be aware of. The book does
overlap somewhat with other books on the subject, such as Seidman’s Interviewing as Qualitative
Research (Teachers College Press, 2006), but by
contrast it does not focus on a particular type of
interview, but rather takes a broad approach and
covers a range of interview types.
The book’s eleven chapters are comprehensive
in their coverage of the various aspects of interviewing, from conducting group interviews (ch. 5)
and using recent technologies like Skype (ch. 6)
to consideration of ethics in interviewing (ch. 7).
The authors present a poststructural view of the
interview as a co-constructed social practice. However, I was surprised that concepts such as intersubjectivity, which seemed directly related, were
not discussed. The absence of some concepts may
be due to the authors’ applied social psychology
background, which I found refreshing because it
is different from that of researchers trained in the
anthropological tradition. For instance, in chap-
The Modern Language Journal 95 (2011)
ter 2 (“Philosophical Assumptions”) the authors
locate a range of assumptions about knowledge
construction that are implicit in the methods of
epistemological traditions in philosophy and social sciences research. They “question notions of
objectivity and the epistemological integrity of
searching for one universal truth, suggesting that
with qualitative interviewing there is the potential for multiple realities” (p. 104). They also take
an explicitly critical view, arguing that interviews
must be “entangled in the politics and practices
of the social world” (p. 126).
Chapters 3 through 6 tend to be didactic, presenting solid and practical advice on interviewing.
The authors provide excellent concrete examples
drawn from different disciplines; for example,
they illustrate the relative merits of using different
types of interview guides (pp. 38–40) or avoiding
pitfalls in phrasing questions (pp. 50–51). There
could have been more examples that used transcripts or protocols to demonstrate their point.
Chapters 7 through 11 present aspects of qualitative interviewing such as ethics (ch. 7), reflexivity
(ch. 8), data analysis (ch. 9), and phenomenological and narrative research (chs. 10 & 11).
The authors do well to balance their discussion
of practical concerns and epistemological considerations. For example, the chapter on reflexivity approaches the topic as a philosophical concern for locating oneself in one’s work and recognizing how one’s personal motivations influence
the research. The authors give several fine examples from excerpts of research projects. Chapter
9 gives a brief introduction to analyzing interview
data, which is useful for novice researchers, especially the section on deciding on conventions
and level of detail needed for transcriptions. It is
worth noting that other works, such as Kvale and
Brinkman’s InterViews: Learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing (Sage, 2008) have a more
thorough discussion of interview analysis.
One shortcoming of the book was the omission of several topics that are relevant to interviewing in language education and applied
linguistics. Because it is a book written for qualitative researchers across social science disciplines, the authors make the common assumption
that interviews are monolingual interactions between monolingual (fully competent adult native)
speakers sharing the same first language (L1). In
our field this is often not the case, and so questions of what language to use, appropriateness of
codeswitching, and translating transcriptions in
the second language (L2) become paramount.
Likewise, although they include a nice discussion of building rapport and dealing with unequal
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status and difficult interviews (ch. 4), they do not
mention how cross-cultural differences could affect the interview process. Neither do they consider interviewing other age groups (e.g., young
children, teenagers) or L2 speakers who may have
an incomplete mastery of the language in which
they are being interviewed. One final qualm was
that they approach an interview study (chs. 3, 4
and ch. 9 on analysis) as a self-contained method.
In educational research, interview data are often
triangulated with other sorts of data. In educational ethnography, for example, interviews are
generally used in conjunction with classroom observation and other sources, and good interviews
questions should flow from what the observer is
seeing in the lessons.
Interviews in Qualitative Research is recommended for graduate students doing a dissertation that relies on qualitative interviews. It will also
be of interest to those teaching a graduate seminar on qualitative research, as certain sections
can be used for supplemental reading and several
examples would generate discussion.
PETER SAYER
The University of Texas at San Antonio
KOSHY, VALSA. Action Research for Improving Educational Practice: A Step-by-Step Guide. 2nd ed.
Thousands Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2010.
Pp. xv, 160. $44.95, paper. ISBN 0 978–1–84860–
160–4.
Action research, traditionally defined as research
carried out by practitioners with the aim of instituting change, has long had a place within
the field of language learning and teaching as
a means of generating local knowledge that can
inform teaching practice. This volume provides a
concise and accessible introduction to action research for novice researchers. Aimed primarily at
K–12 teachers, it offers a step-by-step guide to conducting an action research project, taking readers
from the initial planning stages through collecting and analyzing data and writing up and disseminating the findings. Although not specifically
addressing the field of language learning, it nevertheless could serve as a useful guide for language
teachers interested in engaging in action research
as part of their professional development.
The book’s eight chapters comprise three major sections. The first four chapters serve as an
introduction to action research, beginning with
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a definition of what it is and what it is used for
(ch. 1), and then moving on to the preliminary
stages of research such as selecting a topic (ch. 2),
conducting a literature review (ch. 3), and planning (ch. 4). Chapters 5 and 6 provide brief outlines of methods for data collection (ch. 5) and
analysis (ch. 6). These methods are primarily qualitative, with coverage on designing surveys, conducting classroom observations and interviews,
collecting relevant documents, video recording,
and coding qualitative data (including use of computer software for this purpose). These chapters
also include lists detailing the advantages and disadvantages of each of these methods as well as a
discussion of research ethics and strategies to enhance validity and reliability. The final two chapters offer practical advice on writing (ch. 7) and
publishing (ch. 8) action research. Case studies
summarizing action research projects (usually in
a British context) are incorporated throughout
to illustrate the concepts being discussed. Each
chapter also includes a short list of references to
relevant texts and Web sites on research methods,
action research, and educational policy.
Overall, the book has much to offer to teacher
practitioners with no prior research experience. It
provides a thoughtful discussion of the purpose,
goals, and limitations of action research, and its
chapters on planning, reviewing the literature,
and writing up research could be read productively by any novice (or experienced) researcher.
The discussion of research ethics is most welcome,
although it does not go much beyond the basics of
obtaining consent and maintaining confidentiality. Given the sensitivity of conducting research
in classrooms (especially on one’s own students
or colleagues, as is commonly done in action research), more could have been said regarding the
specific ethical issues that can arise in situated
research.
Given the range of data collection methods presented, discussion of each is necessarily sketchy,
and anyone taking up one of these methods as
part of a research project would be well advised
to consult some of the texts included in the list of
references. More seriously, there is no discussion
of discourse analysis as a potential alternative to
content analysis for the study of classroom interaction, and information on using statistics is limited
to frequency counts. Although an extensive discussion of these analytical methods would not be
expected in a book of this type, some mention of
what one can and cannot legitimately claim based
on frequency counts or content analyses would
have added to the book’s otherwise solid discussion on generating evidence to support claims.
672
Similarly, the issue of how one might define or
measure vague constructs such as motivation or
attitudes (the focus of several of the case studies) or what would count as evidence of change
in these areas is never raised. Although these absences reflect the need to balance comprehensiveness and readability for a nonspecialist audience,
they make the book best suited for teacher practitioners who want to explore their own practice
rather than for graduate student researchers who
are more likely to be held to stricter standards.
Despite these shortcomings, the book succeeds
in its stated goal of demystifying the research
process for nonacademics and empowering
teachers to engage in action research as a means
of improving practice and expanding their own
knowledge of the field. Although the absence of
exercises or activities that would help readers to
develop their research skills somewhat limits the
book’s usefulness as a classroom text, it could
serve as a general guidebook to action research
or as a supplemental text within a comprehensive
course on research methods.
DEBRA A. FRIEDMAN
Michigan State University
PAVLENKO, ANETA. (Ed.). The Bilingual Mental Lexicon: Interdisciplinary Approaches. Clevedon,
England: Bilingual Matters, 2009. Pp. xv, 250.
$39.95, paper. ISBN 978–1–84769–124–8.
The book consists of a four-page preface and nine
chapters. The shortest is 20 pages, the longest
36, but the other seven all range between 24 and
29 pages. Because the topics are so diverse, each
chapter has its own list of references. There is no
composite bibliography, but there is a list of authors before the three-page subject index.
Several chapters contain tables and diagrams,
all in black and white. They are organized intuitively and are not needlessly complex. However,
one diagram (p. 63) is fuzzy, though still legible.
Excellent proofreading has produced a text remarkably free of typos and semantic lapses. For
the latter, I am reduced to mentioning a handful
of instances. Unless it is intended as humor, “to
conclude, let me begin” (p. 151) could use some
polishing. It is not hard to imagine a euphonious
alternative to “refer to references” (p. 239). “Gestures’ spoken lexical affiliates” (p. 167) smacks of
an imported construction, albeit completely comprehensible.
The Modern Language Journal 95 (2011)
I found only occasional, generally peripheral
mechanical issues. One trivial example involves
capitalization (“Van de Poel,” p. 73, versus “Van
De Poel,” p. 247). Here a slash is missing from
“and/or” (p. 187), there a superfluous comma
follows “thus” (p. 194). The use of double parentheses is arguably awkward (p. 7). I suspect a missing umlaut on “Uber” (p. 231), and there is no
doubt in the case of “Düsseldorf” (p. ix).
More noticeable is the matter of accent marks
on Iberian surnames ending –ez. It appears from
a quick Internet search that several of the authors cited have themselves dispensed with the
accent mark, and that is their business. Even so,
the occurrence of “A. E. Hernandez” and “M.
Hernández” in successive entries (p. 22) is a bit
disconcerting. “Garcı́a” comes with (p. 241) or
without the accent mark (pp. 213, 236), as does
“Sebastián-Gallés” (pp. 22, 246 with; p. 77 without).
The preface fittingly touts the inclusion of
scholarship from a number of disciplines as the
book’s main contribution to research on the bilingual lexicon (p. xiii). To provide a degree of coherence, the authors address four points from
their disciplinary perspectives: questions, methods, summary of research, and future directions
(p. xii). The emphasis naturally varies from chapter to chapter. For example, the first is primarily
a summary and consequently has a vast bibliography, whereas the second has a rather short list of
references and focuses on pointing out promising
new directions.
Even given all these differences of approach,
the editor achieves the goal of offering more than
just a collection of loosely related pieces of scholarship. As a way of highlighting the connections,
on numerous occasions a summary of research
includes references to other chapters in this volume.
The preface identifies the primary targeted
readership as researchers on the bilingual lexicon (p. xii). I agree wholeheartedly that this book
would be most useful to said group, but I trust that
by this point they require little convincing.
No doubt others will find the specifics of at least
certain chapters to be of interest, and perhaps
the general thrust of some of the other contributions. The first three pieces could be noteworthy
for neurocognitive studies, the last two for neurolinguistics. The following contributions (chs. 4–
7) would be particularly apt for anyone teaching
a second language (L2) or additional languages
(L3).
I offer as a particularly useful example for L2
a portion lifted from the paradigmatic discussion
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of linguistic categories (p. 137). Although ‘chair’
and silla more or less line up, as do ‘bench’ and
banco, ‘stool’ may come across as either silla or
banco, though in those cases the two are not generally interchangeable for the Spanish speaker. The
point that needs to be explicit for language teachers is that although learning words is easy, identifying and assimilating categories is not. Furthermore, in this case the problem is relevant whether
the L2 is English or Spanish.
The exposition proceeds with concrete things
that may exist in one country but not another,
such as certain kinds of windows (p. 138). One
can, however, see a picture of such a thing and
grasp the meaning. What does the L2 teacher do,
though, if the concept of privacy does not exist
in the first language (L1) (e.g., Russian) but is
central to many L2 (e.g., English) speakers?
The authors build on the strengths of previous models while seeking ways to eliminate, or
at least minimize, weak points. They enumerate
areas that have not been adequately investigated.
They repeatedly advocate taking more variables
into consideration in studying bilingualism and
multilingualism, with an eye to a more complex
and nuanced set of models.
The book leaves us with some exciting and
challenging notions. The cognitive processes of a
monolingual and those of a bilingual operate differently (p. 1). Bilingualism is a spectrum, not a
matter of either/or. Each bilingual mind is unique
and constantly in flux (p. 72). Some features of
the spoken L2 do not apply to the written L2, and
vice versa (p. 14). Each language added to the
mix makes bilingualism and multilingualism even
more complicated.
Finally, I would be remiss if I did not celebrate
an unexpected moment of humor. After thanking
certain parties, one author amends the time-worn
mea culpa clause to read, “All remaining nonsense
is mine” (p. 179).
ROBERT O. GOEBEL
James Madison University
PISKE, THORSTEN, & MARTHA YOUNG–
SCHOLTEN. (Eds.). Input Matters in SLA. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters, 2009. Pp. v,
312. $169.95, cloth; $52.06, paper. ISBN 978–1–
84769–110–1, cloth; 978–1–84769–109–5, paper.
This edited volume explains the place of input
in current second language acquisition (SLA) re-
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search and its implications for second language
(L2) instruction. It puts together the work of both
well established and young scholars who explain
why input matters not only in L2 acquisition in
general but also in L2 phonological acquisition
in particular. The book is a much-needed contribution to both the field of language instruction
whose methods are still production focused, and
to the field of SLA, which usually overlooks adult
L2 phonology acquisition and development.
In the introduction, one of the strongest features of the book, the editors provide a general
picture of the state of the research regarding
input in L2 development and the implications
for teaching. With the assumption that languagespecific mechanisms enable acquisition, the editors address our current understanding of property and transitional theories and give an informative overview of input and phonology. The particular aim that drives the volume is to shed light on
the role of input in the rate, route, and end state in
L2 acquisition. Because of its uncommon focus on
phonology, the editors include four compelling
reasons to justify the book. The introductory chapter provides a strong background on both input
in SLA, and research in L2 phonology in a clear
and accessible way.
The first part deals with matters of input in
seven chapters. In chapter 1, Andreas Rhode reports the results of a study on the learning development of the English progressive within the
frame of the aspect hypothesis and the distributional bias hypothesis. The results shed light
on the role of input in the route of acquisition.
In chapter 2, Bill VanPatten addresses O’Grady’s
(2003) and Carroll’s (2001) accounts about the
nature of input processing by comparing and contrasting theirs with his account. VanPatten’s usual
clear and accessible style is present in this chapter,
and the reader will find his accounts on negative
evidence particularly useful to better understand
instructed SLA studies. In chapter 3, Marjolijn
Verspoor, Wander Lowie, and Kees de Bot provide a clear account of dynamic systems theory
to explain L2 development. They provide the rationale for a comprehension-based instructional
approach and offer a personal account of their
learning of Indonesian which, although may not
be realistic for certain learners’ personalities, informs L2 learning from a student perspective.
In chapter 4, Stephen Krashen provides an update on his influential comprehension hypothesis
(CH) and briefly addresses the limitations of the
skill building hypothesis and the comprehensible
output hypothesis. He explains how findings from
animal language communication support the CH
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and leaves open the question of whether his
hypothesis would also be supported by alien language learning.
Chapters 5 and 6 address the role of output
in SLA. Nel De Jong reports the findings from
a study with L1 Dutch speakers trying to learn
Spanish adjective–noun agreement rules from a
skill-based L2 learning perspective. The findings
suggest a role for production within the study’s
conditions, however and, as expressed by the author, the training tasks may not be appropriate for
classroom contexts. In chapter 6, John Stephenson reports the findings of a study that compared
learners’ attitudes towards The Learnables materials (Winitz, 2002) and the communicative approach. Because of the study’s focus on learners’
attitudes, it did not give any actual support for
the participants’ perspectives. However, the study
provides information about the value put on language production by L2 learners. The first part
of the book closes with chapter 7, where Werner
Bleyhl presents a compelling argument based on
developmental psychology findings for the essential role of input in L2 acquisition processes, and
it connects theory with practice in an effective,
readable way.
The second part of the book begins with chapter 8, where Alene Moyer claims that traditional
measures for phonological development overlook
factors such as sources of input and learners’ intentions. The reader will benefit from the presentation of recent research on opportunities for
input, time on task, and context, as well as how
they affect L2 phonological attainment. In chapter 9, James Flege reviews the literature in an
attempt to evaluate DeKeyser’s (2000) claim on
the minor role of input in native-like pronunciation after the critical period. A recurring theme
of the second part of the book is the critical period hypothesis (CPH) and how it has hindered
the search for other potential sources of variation
in L2, especially phonological variation. Through
his experience sampling method, Flege proposes
new ways of quantifying input to observe factors
besides age that explain L2 phonological variation. Perhaps one of the most practical chapters
for L2 instructors is Benedetta Bassetti’s (ch. 10),
which focuses on the effects of orthographic representations on L2 learners’ pronunciation. She
addresses research on a variety of writing systems, and its implications for classroom teaching
will enlighten instructors who teach L2 writing
systems.
Chapter 11 addresses whether phonologically
varied L2 English input from L1 Danish teachers
influences learners’ L2 vowel pronunciation. Al-
The Modern Language Journal 95 (2011)
though the study is based on a small sample of
only male participants, Ocke-Schwen Bohn and
Rikki Bundgaard-Nielsen address the topic of input heterogeneity. In chapter 12, Anja Steinlen
argues that pronunciation guides are too general
to accurately describe acoustic properties that are
actually produced by native speakers, and she reports the results of a study that supports her argument. The volume concludes with chapter 13, in
which Henning Wode presents data on phonological development in immersion settings. The data
seem to support his claim that there are no agerelated phonological differences but rather proficiency differences, thus providing an alternative
perspective to the CPH.
A limitation of the volume is the seemingly accepted view of the native speaker as the ideal
phonological model, which may lead to controversy in some applied linguistics circles. But in
sum, this needed volume not only offers a range of
perspectives on input matters, but its vast glossary
and implications for teaching sections will appeal
to SLA researchers and L2 instructors alike.
CLAUDIA FERNÁNDEZ
Knox College
ARABIC
ALOSH, MAHDI. Ahlan wa Sahlan: Functional
Modern Standard Arabic for Beginners. 2nd ed.
New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009. Pp. 668.
$69.95, cloth. ISBN 978–0–300–12272–5. CD and
DVD, free to adopters.
ALOSH, MAHDI. Ahlan wa Sahlan: Functional
Modern Standard Arabic for Beginners, Letters and
Sounds of the Arabic Language. Workbook. 2nd ed.
New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010. Pp. 172.
$34.00, paper, ISBN 978–0–300–14048–4. CD and
DVD, free to adopters.
This instructional package consists of a textbook,
a workbook, one audio CD, and one DVD available for download as MP3 and MP4 files, in addition to an online interactive Web site. The workbook consists of six units in which letters of the
alphabet are introduced with groupings depending on the shape of the shell. The presentations
are structured logically, and the abundant exercises include activities aimed at helping students
recognize the letters and practice writing them.
Each letter is presented in its different forms. The
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DVD and CD provide good practice exercises for
most units and introduce cultural aspects such
as greetings, people’s introductions, nationalities,
and leave-taking. The amount of detail, variety of
exercises, modes of material presentation, audio
and video material, and the interactive Web site
make a good deal of valuable material available
to students and instructors. Overall, the material
is rich and variable, and serves the goals listed in
the introduction.
There are, however, other areas for improvement. Although the DVD material is visually helpful, the pictures and illustrations are sometimes
confusing. Matching the picture to the vocabulary item leaves room for occasional ambiguity.
This is due to one or more of the following reasons: (a) The writer uses certain vocabulary items
that are influenced by the Syrian dialect; for example, musajjileh ‘tape recorder’ and balah ‘dates’
instead of musajjil and tamr (p. 50); (b) some
words are used in the plural form but the illustration denotes a singular object, and vice versa; for
example, the words for ‘chicken’ and ‘Bedouins’
(p. 11); and (c) the writer uses some illustrations
that can be associated with more than one word;
for example, illustrations and words for Lebanon,
‘athletic’ and ‘strong’ (p. 30), ‘smile’ and ‘nest’
(p. 45), and ‘farmer’ and ‘snow’ (p. 50). The phonetic material warrants revision (pp. 53, 54, 57,
77). Because the material is not intended for linguistics students, it may reinforce the stereotypical complexity of Arabic. The material on phonetics could, however, guide instructors in effective ways of teaching differences in Arabic and
English sounds. Similarly, Appendix B (pp. 144–
145) needs careful revision. Explaining emphatic
consonants of Arabic requires more than simply
describing the consonant and mapping it to an
English equivalent. Research on emphasis and
pharyngealization suggests that attention should
be focused on the syllable, not on only the consonant. Exemplifying the emphatic voiceless alveolar fricative (the emphatic variant of /s/) and the
emphatic voiceless alveolar plosive (the emphatic
variant of /t/) by s in sod and t in tar, respectively, can do little, if anything, to help students
understand the differences. For native speakers of
American English, these are allophonic variants
whose differences are the province of specialized
linguists. Current research in the phonetics of emphasis in Arabic can help in teaching emphatic
sounds, but this knowledge and training should
be directed to Arabic instructors, who can use it
to enhance their work with students.
The Ahlan wa Sahlan textbook comprises
24 units, a list of appendices pertaining mainly to
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the Arabic alphabet and verb conjugation, and an
answer key for exercises in both books. Each unit
follows a somewhat unified format: it begins with a
list of objectives and is followed by vocabulary presentation, reading passages, and comprehension
activities. After every reading passage or grammar
target, exercises in increasing complexity are presented to internalize the material. The textbook
focuses on the communicative value of almost all
exercises and activities. On several occasions, the
author conveniently provides summaries of the
grammar targets that serve both the student and
the instructor.
In the introduction, the author asserts the goal
of the instructional package to be the achievement of “a proficiency level within the Intermediate range as established by the American Council
on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)”
(p. xxviii). This goal is well served by the course
material. The appealing presentation and the variety of approaches to learning are commendable. The author has opted for Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) as the variety for the textbook, while also acknowledging the diglossic situation in the Arab world, especially the fact that in
all Arabic-speaking countries, oral skills (listening
and speaking) are acquired in the local dialect
(p. xxvi). Although the justification for MSA is
based on educational and pedagogical principles,
there are equally strong arguments for incorporating dialects beginning at the Novice level. There
is little evidence to support the idea that teaching only MSA at the early stages provides a sufficient foundation for learning the dialects later.
Indeed, introducing any dialect of Arabic early
on makes learning the language considerably easier and more rewarding. The decision to adopt
MSA for all audio and video material results in
less natural interactions that sometimes lack thematic unity. Examples of this problem appear in
the dialogues of units 4 and 21, and the content
on page 42.
I also take issue with the inclusion in the text
of low-frequency vocabulary and structural items.
The use of dual demonstratives, for example is
highly marked, even for native speakers.
The use of word-final case endings is one of the
most problematic issues in the book. It is common knowledge that Arabic is highly inflectional.
Vocalizing word endings complicates early learning and drives students to ask for rules for nominative, accusative, and genitive cases when the
focus should be directed to basic material. Besides, it is unusual to use case endings in speech,
even beyond the intermediate level, because they
are infrequent in native speech. The book’s
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numerous examples include unit 16, where the
vendor at the Juice Café speaks Levantine,
whereas the students speak MSA with marked
case endings.
Ultimately, I found this course package to be
both rich and enriching. The materials can help
Novice-level students advance to the Intermediate
level. I believe, however, that the materials need to
be complemented by solid instruction and training in an Arabic dialect from the beginning. Taskbased instruction can support the use of authentic
material that enhances learning.
MOHAMMAD AL–MASRI
The University of Oklahoma
LAHLALI, EL MUSTAPHA. How to Write in Arabic. Edinburgh, Scotland: Edinburgh University
Press, 2009. Pp. 185. $37.50, paper. ISBN 978–0–
7486–3588–7.
This English–Arabic self-help text is organized
into an introduction, five units, an answer key,
and two appendices. Each of the five units (“Connectors,” “Letters,” “Stylistic Expressions and Vocabulary,” “Writing Articles,” and “Creative Writing”) includes notes followed by exercises. The
author’s aims are to help learners to develop and
refine writing skills, achieve competency with an
efficient style, learn necessary style-related linguistic features, adopt Arabic stylistics, become familiar with different written genres, and acquire writing expressions. These broad goals are attempted
within the confines of a short book that incorporates helpful and original features to assist the
writing learner and practitioner.
With this volume Lahlali offers the learner a
welcome updated writing guide for Arabic. This
work is preceded by two other well-known publications dedicated to writing development. AlWarraki and Hassanein’s (1994) text on Arabic connectors remains an authoritative selfhelp guide that treats comprehensively four categories of connectors with accompanying exercises. Lahlali offers one unit on these connectors and adds four others that address important
areas of writing not known by this reviewer to
have been previously considered. Although Samy
(1999) is perhaps the classic textbook on writing, Lahlali’s contribution offers a new presentation and a range of activities that will match the
expectations of current learners. Although this
text offers improvements over the two existing re-
The Modern Language Journal 95 (2011)
sources, it may not satisfy those accustomed to
their well-known approach. This inviting text can
be successfully used to autonomously review and
expand writing skills in areas described and exemplified by the author.
In “Connectors” the author presents connectors in Arabic in a straightforward fashion according to their functions, and each one is accompanied by examples. These include numerous connectors and connecting expressions that occur as
individual words or particles (e.g., conjunctions,
ordinals, conditional and necessity words), relational phrases (e.g., comparative, resultative, introductory, conclusive, summative), or subjective
phrases (e.g., those expressing argument, similarity, probability.) Sentence examples clarify the use
of each term. Brief explanatory notes and examples are followed by exercises that Intermediate
High and Advanced learners should find accessible and useful.
The second unit, “Letters,” offers brief guidelines in English for producing culturally and linguistically appropriate written correspondence.
These include guidelines and examples for letters
of congratulations, condolence, apology, complaint, application, and resignation, as well as love
letters, email messages, memoranda, and advertisements. After learners read model texts and answer comprehension questions, they proceed to
write a letter in line with the text. A colleague
noted that many native speakers would find this
correspondence guide helpful.
Unit 3, “Stylistic Expressions and Vocabulary,”
provides lists of expressions common to Arabic
writing with an English gloss, each set grouped
according to stylistic use. As an example, one of
over 80 such entries is alaa wajh al-tafSiil ‘in detail, at great length.’ The expression is modeled
in a sentence with a structure and context intended to clarify the expression’s meaning and
function. This effort usually succeeds. Expressions
are thematically grouped according to expressive
uses (e.g., hard work and efforts, emotion, failure
and disappointment, time and age, economy and
trade, elections, force and violence). This effort to
make vocabulary available for writing according
to domain and purpose is original and valuable
given the small number of such listings for Arabic
idioms. Moreover, Lahlali’s effort aligns with recent corpus-based efforts to identify and assemble
idioms and lexical items.
The fourth unit, “Writing Articles,” offers guidance for writing a variety of texts: a précis, introductions and conclusions, a news report, an Arabic essay or article, and an introduction to a TV
show. Perhaps surprisingly, punctuation in writing
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an Arabic essay is highlighted. The author also
directs readers to writing guidelines on the Internet (p. 116). After suitable texts are presented
for basic discourse analysis, learners are asked to
prepare articles using the models and guidance
provided.
In Unit 5, “Creative Writing,” Lahlali outlines
steps for writing a short story. Rhetoric (al balaagha) and its features are a central aspect of
writing in Arabic, so Lahlali presents Arabic examples of simile (al -tashbiih), assonance (al -janaas),
and metonymy (al -kinaaya), all within the genre’s
four parts. The learner can analyze each of two
samples and identify the key features of the
writing.
Two appendices add valuable content to this
writing guide. Appendix 1 highlights examples of
typical learner writing errors and provides exercises to address them. The treatment of errors
and the presentation of grammatical structures
are not as thorough as in mainstream Arabic
textbooks. Common learner errors are summarized and offered as exercises, and answers for
many exercises are included in a separate index.
Appendix 2 consists of 19 pages of useful idioms
that can be used in learner writing projects. Some
may prefer different English translations for these
expressions.
On balance this book contains more Arabic
than English. Its claims about results may be
broader than the actual results achieved, depending upon the level of the learner. This new guide
is concise and inclusive. The reader should not be
confused by the title, How to Write in Arabic. This
self-help text is not about how to write the Arabic
alphabet. It offers concrete, authentic, and functional guidelines for learners who wish to develop
and improve their writing skills.
TERRENCE M. POTTER
Georgetown University
FRENCH
BROWN, BECKY. À Table!: The Gourmet Culture of
France. Newburyport, MA: Focus Publishing, 2010.
Pp. 205. $35.95, paper. ISBN 978–1–5810–297–6.
Instructor’s Manual.
According to neuroscientific research, learning is
a multisensory and multimodal process. The more
input and interconnections, the deeper learning is likely to be. At birth, our primary senses
are taste and smell. Thus, everything goes in the
mouth to be “learned,” often to the consternation of doting adults. In most American education, however, taste and smell get relegated to
the 20-minute lunch break, an occasional science
class, and the world language classroom. The latter, when done well, touches all aspects of the
foreign tongue. For French, taste holds a particularly relished position, for France is renowned
for its bon goût. À Table!: The Gourmet Culture
of France brings taste and smell back to center
stage in content-based instruction (CBI) integrating history, culture, civilization, and literature.
The table of contents, appropriately labeled “Le
Menu,” lists chapters as the nine courses for a
real French meal: Apéritif , Amuse-bouche, Entrée,
Plat principal , Salade, Assiette de fromage, Dessert,
Café et friandises, and Digestif . Each contains an
introduction that explains some facet of French
gastronomie, from its origins in chapter 1 to an
all-inclusive sweep of today’s cultural expressions
in chapter 9. Each part of the chapter is followed by its own cuillerée de réflexion, or discussion questions, that go well beyond basic comprehension, urging learners to mull over what they
are learning with one another. The zestes d’activité
let teachers and students engage the material in
an interesting, interactive fashion. Small literary
bits, called goût littéraire, appear throughout the
book; these include short readings like Valéry’s
Le vin perdu, a poem like the somewhat overdone
Déjeuner du matin by Prévert, and, of course, the
unavoidable Proustian madeleines. There are slices
of realia, ranging from Un menu pour enfant by
Auguste Escoffier (p. 53) to L’art de découper le
fromage (p. 94). Pincées de grammaire (the partitive, the polite conditional, etc.) are interspersed
throughout: delectable métaphores mangeables and
juicy grains de conversation; brins de parole made of
first-person culinary musings; dégustations to foster sampling of the “real thing” and to teach the
fine art of critical tasting (via supplied rubrics); à
vous, chez vous recipes (made with Amero-friendly
measures) to savor at home; and, the au-delà of
pour en savoir plus. The instructor’s manual offers teachers sufficient background information
to compensate for gaps in gourmet/gourmand
knowledge. À Table integrates easily into an upperintermediate- to-advanced curriculum in its entirety, or may serve to supplement a more standard conversation, writing, culture, or literature
course. When it is used as the plat principal
of a course, the author suggests pairing it with
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Peter Mayle’s Aventure dans la France Gourmande:
avec ma fourchette, mon couteau et mon tire-bouchon
(Seuil, 2003, translated into French by Jean Rosenthal), and/or Calixthe Beyala’s Comment cuisiner
son mari à l’africaine (Albin Michel, 2000). Both
the textbook (pp. 173–182) and the instructor’s
manual (pp. 43–50) provide chapter-by-chapter
discussion questions for these suggested works.
A number of films are likewise suggested at the
end of each textbook chapter and in the instructor’s manual (p. 50). I was very pleased to see La
grande bouffe listed, despite its somewhat unsavory
finale and 3-hour length. La grande bouffe and Delicatessen do not offer “comfort food” for thought,
however artistically and culturally authentic they
may be. Both the textbook and the manual recommend further readings, yet they provide a
paucity of Web site URLs (only eight!). I did not
see the stellar MERLOT/Alliance Française gastronomie link of the Missions virtuelles listed, for
example. Nor did I see mention of podcasts on
gastronomical subjects, or the mobile apps (available on iTunes) like Cuisiner , Liste d’épicerie mobile,
Marmiton, Saveurs, iDélices, La liste des achats, Encyclopédie de fromages, or Vins de France. Perhaps
the uthor assumed that we all know how to search
online.
The only off-putting—and this ever so slight—
aspect of the text, for me, arises in the first chapter, Apéritif . The dégustation is le chocolat noir . It
simply jarred my sensibilities by its placement in
the apéro section along with a text on the goûter .
It is followed by a brin de parole entitled La vie
se croque au Nutella, and by the chapter recette,
mousse au chocolat. The préface states, nonetheless, that “Decisions regarding chapter content
and topic order were guided first and foremost
by pedagogical soundness rather than necessarily
by topical coherence. This occasional disjunction
is, in fact, incidental for a CBI course whose goal
is language mastery through content, as opposed
to courses in culinary schools in which this particular content would be key” (p. xi). I would imagine, too, that the author and editors opted for
chocolate and Nutella in part as tasteful “openers” to tantalize students into staying the course.
Starting a class with chocolate tasting undoubtedly “makes the medicine go down in the most
delightful way,” thus accomplishing the ultimate
goal of the apéritif .
In all, then, À Table!:The Gourmet Culture of
France provides a lively, intriguing, well-designed
and pedagogically sound set of learning materials that bring taste back into the curriculum and
put content-based learning on the table. After all,
France is a country where l’éducation au goût has a
The Modern Language Journal 95 (2011)
central place in public education, so this approach
is most fitting.
KATHRYN MURPHY–JUDY
Virginia Commonwealth University
HUBBELL, AMY L. À la recherche d’un emploi.
Business French in a Communicative Context. Newburyport, MA: Focus Publishing, 2010. Pp. xviii,
254. $59.95, paper. ISBN 978–1–58510–372–0. Instructor’s Resource Manual. ISBN 978–1–58510–
411–6.
A la recherche d’un emploi is a business French
textbook that targets third-year college students
and includes an instructor’s manual directed at
French professors who are not specialists in business French. It includes seven chapters, and in the
instructor’s manual Dr. Hubbell proposes sample
syllabi for semester courses that meet either two or
three days a week. Videos on a publisher Web site,
YouTube and other publicly available videos, and
materials found through Web links are integrated
into textbook activities.
Although the author tells us in the instructor’s
manual that she kept in mind the international exams of the Paris Chamber of Commerce (CCIP),
the contents include significant information on
Canada and on comparisons with the United
States that are practical for Americans in ways not
covered in exams of the CCIP. For example, in
her presentation of types of companies (corporations, partnerships, small and medium-sized companies) she includes well-known American companies where students may seek employment, and
she presents 40 French companies listed on the
CAC 40, as well as the top 25 Canadian companies. Students thus have real-life-appropriate examples.
Students planning to work for nonprofits,
government agencies, or businesses will appreciate Hubbell’s content on French government
organization, French ministries and their roles,
and Web sites on how to learn more. This
information is current and includes changes to
French overseas departments and territories that
took place in April 2011. She integrates into pedagogical exercises videos that are equally current,
like the one on sustainable development that
comes from L’Oréal’s 2011 corporate Web site
provided at http://www.loreal-paris.fr/videos/ledeveloppement-durable-chez-l-oreal-paris.aspx#
It is noteworthy that all the videos and links work,
and pedagogical exercises are effective.
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Although it targets third-year French, the Instructor’s Resource Manual aims high, preparing
for Paris Chamber of Commerce (CCIP) exams
through the B2 level. Hubbell does not explain
the ratings of the Common European Framework
of Reference for Languages. The B2 level corresponds roughly to the American ACTFL Advanced Low level, although some B2 requirements
fall into the Intermediate High category or into
the Advanced Mid category. Few third-year students have achieved a B2 level at the beginning
of their first third-year course, but Hubbell’s book
contains far more vocabulary, explanations, and
pedagogical exercises to get them there than do
other books that target the B2-level exams. For
students at the Intermediate Mid or Intermediate
High level, communicative activities in the book,
and suggestions to the teacher in the instructor’s
manual, will help them work toward the next level
of competence in reading, writing, interpersonal
speaking, presentational speaking, and listening.
If they are not ready, students can take a lower
level CCIP exam at the A2 or B1 level. Although
the instructor’s manual does not mention the
five Cs of language learning, the author clearly
had those in mind in preparing the content and
exercises.
This book does not purport to cover all areas of
the CCIP exams at the B2 level. For example, the
content does not include insurance, transportation, and certain bank documents that one finds
in other textbooks. There is no mention of Produit
National Brut in defining Gross National Product,
and abbreviations for long term labor contracts
CDD and CDI are resolved using “de” instead of
“à,” but these minor oversights are rare. They are
far outweighed by the availability of resources and
organization of communicative activities to provide preparation students will need to take exams
at the B2 level. The book may even compete at the
fourth-year level, where one can replace certain
cultural content (like the first chapter’s video on
French regional prejudices) and substitute added
business content on labor unions or other topics.
This book is also appropriate for courses not
leading to CCIP exams. In a composition and conversation course or a course focused on French for
special purposes in related fields (international
relations, European studies, Francophone studies), instructors have ample materials to help students with double majors or interdisciplinary majors find internships or jobs in their fields. The
topics apply to many settings.
Seeking a job is something that every graduate
will do, and chapters on writing a resume, preparing a cover letter, going through a job interview,
all with advice on how to put one’s best foot forward, are useful for students seeking employment
in any language. The etiquette of job seeking
has cultural variations between the United States,
Canada, and France, and those differences are
explored in depth. Explanation of different academic degrees is somewhat sketchy without a better explanation from the instructor. Thus, instructors must become familiar with Europe’s Bologna
Process for higher education reform to explain
how the French went from their former system to
just three degrees (Licence, Master, Doctorat) in the
past decade. Although new degrees are identified
(pp. 76–77) by name and linked to a Web site,
the referenced old degrees (pp. 15,105) thus still
need explanation.
This book’s content will be appealing to students and faculty. Pedagogical exercises are sound
and helpful. The instructor’s manual gives an answer key and good pedagogical suggestions. In
summary, it is a welcome addition for teachers of
business French and related fields.
PATRICIA W. CUMMINS
Virginia Commonwealth University
ITALIAN
CAPEK–HABEKOVIĆ, ROMANA, & SANDRA
PALAICH. Parola a te! Instructor’s Edition.
Boston: Heinle Cengage Learning, 2009. Pp. xiii,
384. $87.95, paper. ISBN 978–1–4130–2188–2.
Italian Café Music CD, $ 15.98. ISBN 1–4130–
2319–3. Book Companion Web Site, free to adopters.
Parola a te is a textbook for the teaching of Italian at the intermediate level and for conversation courses. Its emphasis is on the geographical,
historical, economic, and sociological aspects of
Italian culture, which it illustrates as a tension between tradition and modernity. This textbook features a companion Web site as well as an audio CD
with songs ranging from classic Fred Buscaglione
to contemporary Daniele Silvestri. The Web site
provides the audio clips for the Ascoltiamo! sections, the links for the Sul web expansion activities,
and the video clips of the program Sulla strada.
It also contains teacher resources such as sample
syllabi, lesson plans, and pop quizzes.
Parola a te comprises twelve chapters, each
revolving around a specific Italian region. This
framework lays the foundations for the book to
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build on several cultural aspects. Historical timelines, recipes, proverbs from regional dialects,
highlights on local economies and customs, anecdotes, biographies of notable Italians from the
present and the past, all contribute to give a multilayered, complex, and overall enjoyable representation of the country, its character, its heritage,
and its people. Appunti grammaticali, an appendix
of approximately fifty pages, provides a synthetic
grammar overview with some application exercises, while the Vocabolario features some essential
lexicon presented across the textbook.
From a pedagogical viewpoint, Parola a te is a
very well balanced tool. First and foremost, it offers a wealth of new vocabulary along with the opportunity for students to practice it in meaningful
contexts, through a variety of exercise formats,
and at different stages in each chapter. Second, it
fosters reading and writing at the intermediate
level through manageable paragraphs and creative assignments, complemented by online research materials retrievable thanks to the excellent links of Sul web. Third, it promotes listening
through the Ascoltiamo! sections, which include
two aural comprehension exercises and a set of
personal questions in each chapter, and the video
segments of Sulla strada, available with related activities on the companion Web site. The audio CD
Italian Café, featuring songs from the 40s, 50s,
60s, and today, is more of a musical treat than
a teaching tool, since there are no related worksheets available. Speaking is fostered through a
variety of communicative, pair work activities thematically linked to each chapter. The streamlined
grammar and limited exercises at the end of the
book are consistent with the goals of Parola a te,
which is essentially a cultural reader in line with
the five Cs (Communication, Culture, Connections, Comparison, and Communities) of the National Standards for foreign language learning.
However, as sound as its pedagogical foundations and overall structure may be, an examination of this textbook reveals serious cracks in
different areas, so to speak. Let us start by considering the title itself. “Parola a te!” is not an
Italian expression, or rather, it is not a correct
one. In a television or radio debate, a journalist
or a moderator would invite another interlocutor
to speak by using the idiomatic phrase “a te la
parola!,” less frequently “la parola a te!,” roughly
‘your turn to speak’ or ‘over to you’ (see also the
thread on www.wordreference.com from December 5, 2008). It appears as if such a title was chosen to suggest the communicative nature of this
textbook. Alas the lack of a seemingly harmless
definite article makes it fatally flawed.
The Modern Language Journal 95 (2011)
At any rate, minor lexical, idiomatic and even typographical mistakes are present throughout the
book. Here are some examples drawn from the
first chapter alone: “i proiettori anteriori” instead of
“i fari anteriori” (car headlights, p. 13); “rispondi
sia in voce che in scritto” instead of “rispondi sia a
voce che per iscritto” (‘answer both orally and in writing,’ p. 23); “l’associazione finisce col disciogliersi”
instead of “la società finisce con lo sciogliersi” (‘the
joint venture ended up being dissolved,’ p. 21).
A typical example of typos are some words that
have been accidentally hyphenated: “al-leanza,”
“se-condo,” “pubblicazio-ne” (p. 19).
Another serious weakness of Parola a te is the
total absence of authentic texts by renowned Italian authors or journalists. In fact, all the reading passages are by Capek-Habeković and Palaich
themselves. The result is a homogeneous, unoriginal, at times contrived and dull language,
from the first chapter to the last. In addition,
there is no grammatical progression and no increase in the difficulty level of the language presented. Rather, the reading passages are all characterized by a monotonous and pervasive “presente
storico,” or historic present tense, featuring occasional past tenses of the indicative and even more
sporadic tenses of the subjunctive. From the content viewpoint, sometimes too much information
is jammed in a single paragraph with the result of
confusing the student who is not acquainted with
the subject matter. As an example, let us consider
the opening paragraph of Società in the Piedmont
region (p. 6). In the span of eleven lines, it mentions the Italian emigration to North and South
America, the domestic emigration from southern
to northern Italy, and today’s foreign immigration
towards Italy with its consequence of racial tensions. These are actually three distinct and highly
problematic events in Italian social history that
would require a deeper and more elaborate discussion.
Let us conclude by looking into the audio and
video components. At least one of the listening
comprehension exercises in every chapter is a
fill-in-the-blank portion of a reading passage that
immediately follows. Although valuable for the
sake of intonation and pronunciation, this activity clearly defeats the purpose of practicing and
fine-tuning listening skills. The video program
consists of edited video clips from Heinle’s Sulla
strada DVD, whose cover is labeled “Video for
Introductory Italian Programs,” and which is already an integral part of Heinle’s three textbooks
of elementary Italian, namely Adesso! 3rd edition,
Ciao! 6th edition, and Salve! Needless to say, a different product appropriately geared towards the
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intermediate and advanced levels would have
been more beneficial.
Overall Parola a te’s sound pedagogy and cultural content makes it a suitable reader for intermediate and conversation courses, in conjunction
with a formal grammar text (Habeković is also author of Insieme and A Vicenda, Lingua). However,
on account of its inherent linguistic weaknesses,
this textbook’s adoption is not recommended at
an advanced level of instruction. And now, dear
colleagues, “la parola a voi!”
CRISTINA PAUSINI
Tufts University
MULTILINGUALISM
BLACKLEDGE, ADRIAN, & ANGELA CREESE.
Multilingualism. London: Continuum, 2010. Pp.
255. $49.95, paper. ISBN 978–0–8264–9209–8.
Multilingualism is an important contribution to
the study of bilingual education in the United
Kingdom, with significant implications for the
drafting of educational and legal language policy
in other countries of the world having large immigrant or autochthonous language minorities. The
authors adopt a carefully thought out theoretical perspective, and a well designed ethnographic
research methodology, to study the use of four
major heritage languages from the United Kingdom (Gujarati, Bengali, Chinese, Turkish) taught
to children born to immigrant parents and grandparents in what the authors call “complementary”
schools (i.e., nonstatutory schools which teach
languages to children with familial and/or ancestral ties). In the United States these schools are
known as heritage schools, for example, Chinese,
Greek, Jewish, and so on. The project design is
of four ethnographically informed case studies in
which data was collected simultaneously by a team
of nine researchers with extensive training in the
ethnography of speaking. For each case study the
researchers identified two schools (two Bengali
schools in Birmingham, two Chinese schools in
Manchester, two Gujarati schools in Leicester and
two Turkish schools in London) where they observed, recorded, and interviewed participants, including observation of classrooms and assemblies,
staff meetings, parents’ evenings, prize giving and
extramural school events. Some of the children
were also visited at home. In all, the authors and
their assistants collected an impressive array of
data derived from a variety of sources: 192 hours
of audio-recorded interactional data, 168 sets of
field notes, 16 hours of video recordings, and interviews with 66 key participants in the project.
The authors adopt a so-called postmodern “critical” perspective towards the study of bilingualism and multilingualism, based on the ideas of
Bakhtin and his collaborators and disciples, addressed not only to researchers and scholars but
also to language teachers, especially those arguing that the target language should be used in the
classroom at all times. Focal to this approach is the
notion that ethnicity, race, class, and, more importantly, language, are social constructions playing
an important role in the creation of social difference. The book directly addresses theoretical,
political, and pedagogical problems of bilingual
and multilingual education in novel ways. For example, it attempts to dispel the belief that the
use and visibility of minority languages in classrooms and other public spaces is problematic and
causes educational failure and social segregation.
Also, this book rejects the accepted notion that
bilingualism is the same as the coexistence of
parallel linguistic systems, what Heller and others call “double monolingualism” or bilingualism
with diglossia. Instead, the authors of this book
propose adopting the concept of “flexible bilingualism,” that is, the simultaneous use of different
languages, which is, in turn, based on the wellknown concepts of “translanguaging” and “heteroglossia” proposed by Garcı́a and Bailey, respectively.
This book will be of great interest to researchers, scholars and students of language policy (including pedagogical policy) and language
rights, since it demonstrates convincingly that
bilingual immigrants and their descendants possess multiple identifications and oftentimes they
also have more than one transnational identity
or sense of belonging. One cannot underestimate the important role such insights can play in
teacher’s classroom attitudes towards non-target
languages as well as in determining language educational policy in countries where the choice of
language of instruction is being disputed (e.g.,
Papiamentu Creole vs. Dutch in Aruba). Similarly, the insights about multiple identifications
and transnational identities in this book can be
of much value in court decisions dealing with
official English and English-only legislation in
the United States, where judging the validity of
feelings, attitudes, and behaviors displayed by
bilingual speakers and the linguistic naturalness
(and hence the legality) of codeswitching in the
workplace is at stake. Last but not least, high
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school and college teachers and lecturers, who
uncritically adopt the so-called communicative
method for teaching foreign languages in schools
and universities, where only the use of the target language (and the so-called standard variety to boot)
is allowed in the classroom, should pay attention
to this book, since, as the authors convincingly
demonstrate, the language classroom is as much
a medium of social and linguistic construction as
it is an input–output language acquisition device.
The authors offer important theoretical insights
regarding language attitudes, identity, heritage,
nationalism, ideology, power and the construction of self in the heritage language classroom.
However, psycholinguists looking for significant
insights concerning bilingual language development will be somewhat disappointed, since this
book does not measure language development
or proficiency in complementary schools (a topic
that remains to be discovered). These comments
should not be construed as negative criticism,
since the authors did not aim to produce a psycholinguistics work. I strongly recommend Multilingualism to scholars and students of bilingualism
and multilingualism, government officials, personnel and teachers involved in curriculum design and teaching methodology, and advocates of
language rights in public forums and the legal
system, since this book is not only well designed
and thoroughly researched but also offers important theoretical insights and detailed descriptions
of language attitudes by immigrants and their
descendants in the classroom and outside of it.
These insights should be heeded not only in the
United Kingdom but also in other countries of the
world where large numbers of immigrants and autochthonous language minorities reside.
EDUARDO D. FAINGOLD
The University of Tulsa
LYTRA, VALLY, & PETER MARTIN. (Eds.). Sites of
Multilingualism: Complementary Schools in Britain
Today. Stoke-on-Trent, England: Trentham Books,
2010. Pp. xx, 175. £22.99, paper. ISBN 978–1–
85856–454–8.
One area of research in the field of second language learning that has recently begun to receive
increased attention is how heritage languages are
acquired. This volume, although not directly related to the mechanisms of heritage language acquisition, presents a variety of descriptions of is-
The Modern Language Journal 95 (2011)
sues and practices in British community schools
where heritage languages are taught. These complementary schools are defined by the editors as
non-mandatory schools that are established by
specific ethnic minority communities, often for
the promotion and maintenance of the community’s language, religion, and/or culture. The volume’s twelve chapters are organized along the
lines of three main foci: language and literacy
practices, processes of identity formation, and policy and practice.
The section on language and literacy practices
begins with a contribution from Blackledge and
Creese that examines the use of standard versus
regional heritage language varieties in Bengali
complementary schools in Birmingham. Based on
observations and interviews, the researchers determine that while there is a concern, particularly
on the part of the school, that the standard form
of Bengali be kept separate from other varieties,
both teachers and students make use of all of the
linguistic resources they have at their disposal.
In chapter 2, Lytra, Martin, Baraç, and Bhatt focus not just on the linguistic resources utilized
in Turkish and Gujarati complementary school
classrooms, but also on other modes of communication, such as images, writing, and gesture. By
doing so, they gain a deeper understanding of
classroom interactions. In the following chapter,
Wei and Wu explore how teachers in Chinese complementary schools associate the teaching of literacy and specific linguistic structures to traditional
Chinese social and cultural beliefs, even though
students may prefer a more modern view of China.
Sneddon’s chapter 4 describes the partnership between an Albanian complementary school and a
mainstream elementary school, and how this developing partnership allows children who attend
both schools to feel that their language and culture are valued. In the last chapter of this section,
Ruby, Gregory, Kenner, and Al-Azami go outside
of the complementary school context to investigate how a grandmother from Bangladesh teaches
Bengali to her grandchildren along with other
neighborhood children.
The next section of the book, which concentrates on processes of identity formation among children attending complementary
schools, opens with a chapter by Prokopiou and
Cline that explores how these schools affect
the development of students’ cultural and academic identities. Based on their research in two
complementary schools, one Greek and one Pakistani, they conclude that while the schools differ from each other in terms of the sociocultural context and specific goals, they both help
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students gain a better understanding of their cultural identities. In chapter 7, Francis, Archer, and
Mau find that students in a Chinese complementary school closely associate knowing Chinese with
their ethnic identity, while in the next chapter,
Souza focuses on the link between identity and
language choice in her observations of how three
children that attend a Brazilian Portuguese complementary school maintain their image of good
Portuguese learners.
The theme of the final section of the book is
policy and practice. In the first chapter of this section, Pantazi describes how a group of Greek complementary school teachers modify their ideas of
appropriate pedagogy in order to better meet the
needs of their students. In chapter 10, Helavaara
Robertson focuses on the benefits of the development of links between complementary and mainstream schools by examining how teacher training students’ perspectives on ethnic minority students in the mainstream classroom change positively after visiting a complementary school. Barradas’s chapter discusses both opportunities and
challenges for collaboration between Portuguese
complementary schools and mainstream schools,
based on recent policy initiatives in Britain. The
book closes with a chapter by Conteh, in which she
argues for a focus in the mainstream classroom on
how each learner can develop his or her linguistic
resources, whatever they may be, in a way that he
or she can fully benefit from them.
This volume will primarily be of interest to
those involved in teaching and administration in
heritage language programs, both in mainstream
and complementary schools. Its description of the
policies and practices of complementary schools
along with how these policies and practices affect teachers and students can contribute to a
deeper understanding of the goals and outcomes
of such programs, whether they are in Britain or
elsewhere. The book may also be of interest to researchers in the area of heritage language acquisition, in that it draws attention to the social and
cultural aspects of heritage language learning and
emphasizes the relationship between learners’
home language and their identity. The wide variety of complementary school contexts described
in the volume allows the reader to see commonalities across these contexts, despite differences in
the communities served by the schools. One common theme that recurs in the book is the tension
between what parents and teachers desire for students in terms of cultural and linguistic learning,
and what the children value. Another is the strong
relationship between heritage language and identity, and how complementary schools help stu-
dents develop both. All of the chapters employ
a heavily qualitative research methodology, with
observations and interviews serving as the primary
data sources. Because of this, readers looking to
generalize to other contexts, or those who prefer a
more quantitative approach may be disappointed.
One negative aspect of the book regardless of
preferred research methodology is the frequent
use of acronyms and terminology specific to the
British context. Many chapters incorporate references to government or educational agencies that
will not be meaningful to a foreign reader without
further explanation.
In summary, this volume makes a valuable contribution to our knowledge of the social and cultural aspects of heritage language learning in
complementary schools, and while the research
presented in the book is not necessarily generalizable to contexts beyond those described, it does
motivate the investigation of similar issues in other
heritage learning contexts while at the same time
showing the need for policy makers and educators
to take into consideration its findings.
REBECCA FOOTE
University of Illinois
SPANISH
DE PRADA, MARISA, & PILAR MARCÉ. Comunicación eficaz para los negocios: Curso de conversación, recursos y vocabulario. Madrid, Spain: Edelsa
Grupo Didascalia, 2010. Pp. 112. $20.99, paper.
ISBN 978–84–7711–700–1.
De Prada and Marcé’s Comunicación eficaz para
los negocios (CEN) provides resources for facilitating the acquisition of effective second language
(L2) communication skills in a Spanish-speaking
business environment. The volume focuses on the
presentation and use of key lexical items associated with various aspects of the business world
and also provides pragmatically appropriate gambits to carry out conversations in business settings.
CEN is geared for students of Spanish at the
CEFR level B (Independent Speaker, equivalent to
Intermediate High/Advanced Low on the ACTFL
scale) from diverse linguistic backgrounds. The
book consists of ten chapters that treat business
themes: Montamos una empresa, Lı́deres y jefes, Participamos en una feria comercial, Lanzamos un producto, Logı́stica y distribución, Exportamos, En el
banco, Invertimos en Bolsa, expatriados profesionales,
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and Responsabilidad social empresarial. These chapters are followed by transcriptions of the listening
passages on the audio CD and the answers to all
the book’s discrete-point exercises. These last two
features allow learners to check their aural comprehension and get feedback on their answers to
many of the book’s exercises.
Each chapter contains the following sections:
vocabulary, activating prior knowledge (brainstorming), entering into the theme, deepening
(lexical) knowledge, paying attention, and effective conversation. The Vocabulario (‘vocabulary’)
section contains two columns of decontextualized Spanish lexical items related to the theme
of the chapter, which the student is told to translate into his/her native language in order to understand the meaning of these words throughout
the chapter. The Activa tus conocimientos (‘activate your knowledge’) ask students leading questions to stimulate prior knowledge, for example,
¿Qué caracterı́sticas consideras que ha de tener un emprendedor? ‘What characteristics do you believe an
entrepreneur should have?’
The next two sections, Entra en el tema (‘enter into the theme,’) and Profundiza (‘deepen
[lexical] knowledge’) both provide activities to
help facilitate the mapping (binding) of form to
meaning in intrasign relations and the deepening of the depth of knowledge dimension that recognizes the relatedness of words (intersign relations) as synonyms, antonyms, and semantically
and derivationally related lexical items (Henricksen, B. [1999]. Three dimensions of vocabulary
development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 21[2], 303–18). The first of these sections
(Entra en el tema) focuses on basic definitions of
terms to be used throughout the chapter and often requires learners to work with synonyms of
those terms or group words semantically (e.g.,
semantic mapping), notice derivational relationships (e.g., feria ‘fair’ [noun] vs. ferial adj. form),
match words with their descriptive definitions, insert new items appropriately into lengthy definitions of new terms or into authentic texts that
have been modified for pedagogical purposes by
the authors, and summarize passages.
The next section (Profundiza) helps learners
solidify their knowledge of new words by processing these items more deeply, e.g., recycling new
vocabulary in different contexts, putting actions
in chronological order, categorizing, titling paragraphs, and choosing the appropriate word from
a selection of possibilities at various points in a
text. In addition, students engage in activities that
will facilitate their attainment of Advanced level
proficiency, such as using extended prose, mak-
The Modern Language Journal 95 (2011)
ing inferences beyond the facts given (e.g., students are asked to characterize the type of investor [conservative, moderate, aggressive] that
would be more comfortable with specific types of
investments), expressing their own ideas and justifying their opinions, comparing and contrasting
ideas, and solving problems. Moreover, students
are asked to think about the big picture, for example, the social consequences on the family unit
when employees are sent abroad). This section
also fosters communication among learners, who
are encouraged to compare their opinions with
those of other students.
In the Presta atención (‘pay attention’) section
learners are often asked to insert appropriate vocabulary from a list into a modified authentic text
(usually taken from the Internet) or choose the
most appropriate term from various options given
to fill certain blanks in the text. They then listen to the same passage read by a native speaker
of Peninsular Spanish on the CD to check their
answers and internalize the positive or negative
feedback provided by that process.
The Conversación eficaz (‘effective conversation’) section found at the end of each chapter provides learners with gambits (e.g., functional phrases for opening and closing conversations, asking/giving advice, expressing agreement/disagreement) and opportunities to put
their new lexical and pragmatic knowledge into
practice in role-plays simulating workplace interchanges (e.g., a banker counseling someone who
has been the victim of credit card fraud, a financial advisor counseling someone how to invest a
new inheritance).
The pedagogical approach of this text meant
for a second language audience is somewhat different from that of Exito commercial (EC ; Doyle,
M., Fryer, T. B., & Cere, R. [2010]. Éxito comercial. 5th ed. Boston: Cengage) or En activo: Practical Business Spanish (EA; Santamarı́a Iglesias, E.
& Jones, H. [2008]. En activo: Practical Business
Spanish. New York: Routledge), which were created for English-speaking foreign language learners of Spanish who may lack cultural knowledge
about the Spanish-speaking world (Spain and
Latin America) and still need grammatical help
to carry out the pragmatic functions required in
a workplace environment. The focus on Peninsular Spanish, the lack of grammatically focused
presentations and activities, and the dearth of
cultural content in CEN indicate that it may be
geared to a well-educated European audience that
is already familiar with Spanish culture and who is
assumed to possess a level of proficiency that does
not require specific grammatical practice in order
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to express carry out the communicative functions
presented in this book. In addition, CEN assumes
that learners already possess quite a bit of knowledge about business, which is necessary for students to carry out successfully many of the book’s
activities.
Some shortcomings of CEN include its lack of
resources to help with the understanding of new
words in context (e.g., graphics and pictures from
business contexts, cultural information), an absence of models of appropriate ways to carry out
conversations in business settings (e.g., workplace
dialogues in DVD video format), and the lack of
additional practice of new material (e.g., Internetbased activities). These features contrast with the
contextualized presentation of vocabulary and
the use of audio and video conversational models
from various parts of the Spanish-speaking world
and Internet-based ancillary activities provided
by other Spanish business texts (e.g., EC and
CA).
In sum, this book on Business Spanish exemplifies some of the best practices for facilitating
the acquisition of L2 vocabulary, as outlined in
Lafford, B., Lafford, P., & Sykes, J. (2005). Entre dicho y hecho . . .: An assessment of the application of second language acquisition and related research to the creation of Spanish CALL
materials for lexical acquisition. CALICO Journal, 24(3) 497–529. However, due to its lack of
cultural information, model conversational dialogues from Spanish-speaking business environments, and grammatical practice, in the United
States CEN would best used as an ancillary text
to a more comprehensive textbook package in a
course geared toward advanced-level Spanish students, who also have some basic understanding of
the field of business.
BARBARA A. LAFFORD
Arizona State University
TACELOSKY, KATHLEEN, RUTH A. KAUFFMAN, & DENISE M. OVERFIELD. Diálogos: Hacia
una Comunidad Global . Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall, 2010. Pp. xv, 165. $66.67, paper.
ISBN 978–0205–64394–3.
This book, designed to be completed in one academic semester, is an intermediate Spanish language text for college students. As emphasized in
the preface, the authors’ goal is to “encourage
the growth of an awareness of global issues, high-
685
lighting our interconnectedness to each other in
spite of distance and cultural differences” (p. xi),
which shows the integration of the National Standards for Foreign Language Education, especially
the connections and communities standards. The
text’s emphasis is on communicative language
learning through meaningful interactions among
students, who have multiple opportunities to engage in the three modes of communication. In
this sense, the book includes tasks focused on interpersonal communication, through which students can interact orally in a variety of contexts;
presentational communication through writing;
and interpretive communication through reading and listening comprehension of a variety of
authentic texts.
The textbook contains 5 chapters: (a) Nos presentamos, (b) La niñez: Una etapa fundamental, (c)
La importancia de la salud, (d) Entre la vida y la
muerte, and (e) El dinero y las finanzas. Each chapter is divided into various sections: conexión personal, expresión cultural, contexto global, reflexión,
ampliando el conocimiento con experiencia, and explicaciones gramaticales. These chapters are focused
on themes relevant to college students interested
in global and cultural issues. At the end of the
text there are three appendices designed to help
students when engaging in the writing process:
one with general instructions and guidelines for
the compositions in each chapter, one with a
sample outline to be used as a model when students plan their compositions, and one with a
sample composition written based on the sample
outline. In addition, a companion Web site provides additional instructional materials, including downloadable grammar exercises, Web resources, and streaming audio for each chapter.
There is also a downloadable Instructor Resource
Manual, accessible with a login name and password, which can be requested from the publishing
company.
In the first section of each chapter, conexión personal , the authors provide a meaningful way to activate students’ background knowledge by drawing on their personal experiences and connections to the topic. One of the major strengths
of this text is that the tasks are designed to
be completed individually, in pairs, or in small
groups, and are focused around students’ personal lives and experiences, which guides students through their thinking process and provides
them with multiple opportunities to think about
the theme before reading and listening about
it.
The second section, expresión cultural , provides
an opportunity for students to read authentic
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texts that tackle the topic discussed. Although
the texts are written by various authors from the
Spanish-speaking world, it would have been interesting to see authors from more countries and
backgrounds represented so that students could
be further exposed to different perspectives. In
addition, it might have helped focus students’
learning about these authors’ perspectives had
there been tasks prompting students to research
the authors’ backgrounds and the contexts in
which they wrote their texts to further enhance
students’ understanding and reflection upon the
topics.
The third section, contexto global , includes oral
accounts by native speakers, who discuss some
aspect of the topics presented and relate them
to their personal experience. These audios are
a valuable way to expose students to various accents as well as real-life experiences of people of
different backgrounds. Another highlight of the
book is the design of the listening tasks. These always include pre-listening activities, which help focus students’ attention, listening activities, which
vary between listening for gist and listening for
specific information, and post-listening activities,
which provide opportunities for students to connect what they heard to their own personal
experiences.
The fourth section, reflexión, provides further
opportunities for students to reflect upon the
topic and express their thoughts through writing. The writing tasks are designed following
a process approach and include a pre-writing
section, where students are prompted to brainstorm ideas for their composition and write an
outline, a writing section, which includes revision instances with peer and teacher feedback,
and a post-writing section, where students are
encouraged to engage in self-feedback and final revision of their compositions. This emphasis on the writing process is extremely valuable
and well designed, although it would have helped
to see an appendix with guidelines for peer
feedback.
The fifth section, ampliando el conocimiento con
experiencia, focuses on students’ active involvement in their communities through suggested
service learning projects. Although these types of
tasks provide valuable opportunities for students
to become engaged with their communities, some
of the suggested projects might be difficult or even
impossible to carry out due to lack of resources
and/or variations in the settings where students
are studying. Instead of including one or two possible service projects in the textbook itself, it might
have been more valuable to include a wider vari-
The Modern Language Journal 95 (2011)
ety of suggested service projects in the Instructor’s
Manual so that instructors could select the ones
relevant to their instructional contexts and then
assign them to their classes.
Finally, the sixth section, explicaciones gramaticales, provides explanations of the grammar
points students need to use and apply in the
chapter. Although there are no exercises specifically designed to foster practice and application
of these grammar topics, they are successfully integrated into the chapters, as students will most
likely use them when engaging in the three modes
of communication through the suggested tasks.
Further, more explicit grammar practice exercises
are provided in the companion Web site for those
instructors that want to include them in their instructional planning.
Overall, this book provides a viable alternative
for intermediate-level Spanish classes that have a
strong emphasis on service and community engagement. Instructors will benefit from the variety of well-designed communicative tasks and the
multiple opportunities to foster student discussion and reflection upon relevant, contemporary
cultural topics that will probably spark students’
interest and engagement.
LAURA LEVI ALTSTAEDTER
East Carolina University
TESTING
FULCHER, GLENN. Practical Language Testing .
London: Hodder Education, An Hachette UK
Company, 2010. Pp. xvi, 352. £19.99 paper. ISBN
978–0–340–98448–2.
Written by Glenn Fulcher, reader in education
(TESOL, University of Leicester, UK), past president of the International Language Testing Association (2006), co-editor of Language Testing , and
author of numerous articles and books on testing,
this volume is a noteworthy analytical and critical
compendium of the extant research on the practical aspects of standardized language testing.
Practical Language Testing contains ten chapters in which the author provides a comprehensive and comprehensible account of all of the
facets involved in what may seem to be the arcane
process of standardized testing. In fact, the good
language teacher and the good language learner
should have a clear notion of the purposes,
functions, and formats of testing so that they
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understand them better. Large scale standardized
tests are what Fulcher labels “high stakes” tests,
that is, tests with a significant impact on the test
taker, the institution, and society (pp. 3, 321).
In the first chapter, the author points out that
language assessment serves multiple functions in
areas such as education, employment, international mobility, language planning, and economic
policy making (p. 1). Testing may be formative,
that is, it informs language instruction and acquisition. Likewise, it may also be summative, that is,
it provides a way of determining achievement and
proficiency, frequently for certification (pp. 2–3).
Fulcher then poses the most significant question of the entire book: “Why do such tests exist?” (p. 4). First and foremost, testing is part of
a decision-making process. More precisely, it is a
means for implementing social and political values. Ideally, testing should contribute to equality
of opportunity in a meritocratic society to ensure
that people are judged only on performance and
ability in a fair and equitable manner and not
for other reasons (birthright, economic privilege,
randomness).
The second chapter addresses standardized
testing, which has become ubiquitous in this era
of accountability. Since the public now demands
precise measurement of scholastic progress and
achievement, various organizations produce standardized tests intended to measure these results scientifically. Two paradigms exist: (a) normreferenced testing, or the measurement of performance based on comparison of one person
to others taking the same test; and (b) criterionreferenced testing, or the interpretation of scores
according to predetermined standards of absolute
performance. This chapter contains some technical material on standardized testing, but it is not
beyond the grasp of the typical reader.
In the third chapter on classroom assessment,
the author talks about various aspects including
assessment for learning, peer-assessment, selfassessment, dynamic assessment, dependability,
and the need for an underlying theory of
assessment.
In the remaining seven chapters, Fulcher
discusses the multiple dimensions of secondlanguage testing. Chapter 4 thus introduces the
essential notion of the test design cycle (p. 94)
with its eight sequenced stages: (a) test purpose; (b) test criterion; (c) construct definition;
(d) task/item design: specification writing;
(e) evaluating, prototyping and piloting; (f) field
testing and assembly into the final format; (g) inferences; and (h) decisions, though it focuses only
on the first three.
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Chapter 5 addresses actual test specifications
including those for the item or task, evidence,
test assembly, presentation, and delivery.
The sixth chapter is concerned with the evaluating, prototyping, and piloting of test items. Of
special interest in this chapter is the selective transcription of an actual sample of four participants
engaged in a collaborative discussion of a single
test item (pp. 162–172) together with Fulcher’s
enlightening annotation.
Chapter 7 details the scoring of tests. Because
machine scoring of multiple-choice items is mechanical and inexpensive, it facilitates scoring.
The scoring of constructed response tasks may involve holistic, primary-trait scales, or multiple-trait
scoring, which is more time consuming and may
raise issues of reliability. Noteworthy is Fulcher’s
discussion of automated scoring for written and
speaking tasks since many teachers remain skeptical about its value and meaning (pp. 216–218).
Chapter 8 deals with the alignment of tests to
standards. The fact that the notion “standard”
has multiple meanings represents one significant
problem (pp. 225–226). Among the issues discussed in this chapter are the use of standards for
harmonization and identity, performance level
descriptors, standard-setting methodologies, evaluation of standard setting, and training.
The penultimate chapter addresses test administration, which includes the control of extraneous variables, the use of rituals, standardization of conditions and training, planned variation (people who require specific accommodations because of special needs or disabilities),
unplanned variation (cheating), scoring procedures and their moderation, data handling and
policy, and the reporting of the outcomes to the
stakeholders.
The last chapter on testing and teaching discusses the effects of standardized tests on teaching
and learning (“washback”), which may be negative or positive. In the latter case, a standardized
test has constructive outcomes, that is, it may enhance the curriculum, improve teaching methodology, encourage greater coverage of skills and
content. In the former case, however, an individual instructor may “teach to the test” without considering its overall negative ramifications.
Finally, Fulcher reminds the reader that the selection and use of standardized tests requires a
consideration of the following elements: (a) test
purpose, (b) test taker characteristics, (c) domain
of interest, (d) constructs of interest, (e) validity,
(f) parallel or equated forms, (g) test administration and practicality, and (h) impact (pp. 292–
294).
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Each of the ten chapters has an “Activities” section to offer the reader extensive practical application of the previously elaborated principles.
These exercises are not rote because they require thoughtful and deliberate contemplation.
Fulcher’s lucid writing style makes the purposes,
processes, and procedures involved in testing
comprehensible, while, simultaneously, making
the reader aware of its intricacy and complexity.
Furthermore, his deft use of metaphor (architecture, engines, and so forth) makes his points clear
and precise.
The appendices are quite useful: (a) Table
of z-scores; (b) Gaokao (National College Entrance Test, China) conversion table; (c) The
individual linguality test; (d) Service encounters in the C[ommon] E[uropean] F[ramework]
of R[eference]; (e) Fluency rating scale; and
The Modern Language Journal 95 (2011)
(f) Suggested answers for selected activities in
the text proper. A useful glossary, an extensive
reference section, and a valuable index complement this excellent reference tool. Fulcher also
refers the reader (p. xv) to his informative Web
site: http://languagetesting.info, which contains
a rich variety of invaluable resources related to
testing (videos, features, articles, links, podcasts,
scenarios, statistics, and so forth).
Most second-language instructors recommend
that prospective language teachers acquire and
develop a personal professional library (dictionaries, grammars, textbooks, CDs) during their
undergraduate and graduate education. Fulcher’s
book should be one of those volumes.
FRANK NUESSEL
University of Louisville