Make Learning and Use of Terminology Less Problematic?
One interesting finding unrelated to terminology differences that emerged from the study was that there was a significant correlation between knowledge of terminology and language proficiency for the Hong Kong students, though no causative link could be posited. In many ways the most interesting results came from the qualitative analysis. This gave evidence that students were confusing pairs of terms on a wide scale either term where the forms were similar or complementary terms (e.g. definite and indefinite article). There was also evidence of the guessing of unknown terms, along functional lines, and the existence of prototypes in student minds for certain grammatical categories. All of these aspects could form the basis of future research.
What can be done about the situation to make the learning and use of terminology less problematic? Firstly, those who use terminology and others who promote it (e.g. teachers, grammarians, textbook writers) should consider the terms they advocate. Pairs of confusing terms (e.g. phrasal verb, verb phrase) should be avoided where possible, particularly for pedagogic purposes. (It is probably impossible to do this with scientific terminology, where pairs such as subjunct and subjunctive abound.) Although ELT terminology may seem to be fixed, the very fact that there is so much variation, as evidenced by this study, demonstrates that alternatives are possible.
Secondly, teachers of English need to appreciate the extent of the problem. No tertiary programme can assume that their students have the required terminology to undertake the scientific study of English grammar at this level. But if it is reasonable to assume that these students’ knowledge of terminology reflects pedagogic practice at the secondary level, then it is not just tertiary teachers who need greater awareness. Teachers at all levels must take care, and those moving from one place to another must not assume that their terminology is portable. Classes where the students are from different backgrounds will be particularly problematic. But even where they are from the same general background very few assumptions can be made, given the wide intra-group differences identified in this study. As a result, whenever terminology is to be used concrete measures are needed to check knowledge and to identify and prepare learners who are weak in it (e.g. via self-access exercises or support materials, such as glossaries). This is especially relevant for textbooks aimed at an international audience which use more than a bare minimum of terminology.
The final implication concerns the use of terminology as a research tool in investigating the metalinguistic knowledge of learners. To the theoretical doubts about the use of such a methodology outlined at the start of this paper must be added the practical problems identified by these results. Many learners, even English majors at university, cannot be relied on to have more than a smattering of terms, and studies should be designed with this in mind; where possible, alternatives to the use of terminology, such as the techniques outlined by Ellis (2004), should be sought.
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