This document discusses dilemmas in teaching primary literacy in a second language to adults. It argues that oral skills are necessary for developing literacy and that literacy also promotes oral skills. It examines whether language skills are unitary or separate and the prerequisites for learning a language and literacy. These include phonological awareness, memory, and visual skills. Practice is important for developing literacy skills but oral skills should come first. Adults face different challenges than children in developing literacy. New tools like DigLin and EU-Speak 2 aim to support a balanced focus on oral skills and literacy development.

2. Maisa Martin
University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Alfarådet 19.9.2014

3. Primary literacy in L2
Dilemmas:
Adults in Nordic societies must speak, read and
write (cf. Qarin Franker’s presentation)
Literacy is based on oral skills – and traditionally
taught on that basis for children
Oral skills as a basis of literacy also necessary for
those who learn to read for the first time as adults
and in L2 (LESLLA research results)
New languages traditionally taught with textbooks
Acquiring oral skills requires literacy?

4. Rationale
All language learning and teaching is based on beliefs
on what language is, how it functions and how it is
learned.
Teacher training mustmake teachers aware of their
beliefs and able to take a critical look at them (and
change them if they become convinced that it is
necessary).
Learners need ways to express their abilities, needs
and beliefs (cf. Karen Schramm’s presentation).

5. Content
Language skills – unitary or separate?
Prerequisites for learning a language
Prerequisites for learning to read and write
Adults vs. children
Ways forward (e.g. DigLin, EU-Speak 2)
Conclusions

6. Language skills – unitary or separate?
Most research in the area of language testing: To test
one must know what is tested.
Less in focus in SLA or pedagogical research: Skills are
often assumed to be separate but overlap is allowed.
If unitary, not necessary to teach or test separately
If separate, each skill can/must be taught separately
repercussions for classroom
The hand model of language skills to illustrate the
research results

7. The hand model of language skills

8. Prerequisites for learning a language
Ability to hear
Memory
Ability to distinguish between speech and other sounds
Phonological awareness:
Segmentation
Ability to distinguish between speech sounds (same vs.
different)
Ability to group sounds into phonemes
Natural differences in these abilities
Filter effects of L1

9. Examples of L1 filter effects
Develop very early
b/p, d/t, g/k in Swedish or English for Finns
Phonemic length in Finnish for many others:
1. tule
2. tulee
3. tulle
4. tullee
5. tuule
6. tuulee
7. tuulle
8. tuullee
Contrastive knowledge of learners’ L1s necessary (cf. Jakob
Steensig’s presentation)

10. Why phonological awareness
important
Language is constructions, incl. words.
Words stored with phonological associations in the
early stages of L2 learning
Native speakers and advanced learners have semantic
associations
Explains some of the confusions of the early learners
(i.e. vähän vs. vanha, koulu vs. kuolla)

11. Phonological memory
Short-term memory
Digit span
Great individual variability
Required both for immediate speech processing and
for forming permanent representations of phonemes
Phonemes as first increments of speech
Gradual growth of the size on increments fluency
Literacy improves phonological skills

12. Prerequisites for literacy:
Visual skills and memory
Background, foreground, focus
Lines (straight, curved)
Shapes formed by the lines
Directions (left, right, up, down)
Size, font, capitals, punctuation
Context (cf. Qarin Franker’s example on arabic)
Genre
Pictures
Colours

13. Does practice help?
Depends on your view on what language is and how it
is acquired.
Nativist approach
Many theories of the connection between L1 and L2
Usage-based approach
Frequency and saliency of occurrencies the most
important factors

14. How does practice help?
Environment determines affordances
Literacy requires practice
Literacy provides practice
Sound/letter correspondence can be practised
Many phonemic features can be practiced, e.g.
Graphogame, DigLin
Blending difficult to teach
Comprehension requires fluency, fluency requires
practice.

15. Reading Writing
Letter by letter or whole words?
Language specific but in the long run holisticmethods
fail
Reading writing (reception production)
Writing reading (agency)
Fine motor coordination
Need reduced by typing, also smaller demand for visual
memory

16. Some research results on early
writing
Cefling Topling research projects
Results on the relationships of fluency, accuracy and
complexity.
At A1 level traditional complexitymeasures do not
work, subordination common (in Finnish).
Fluency before accuracy.
Oral skills help a lot early on (up to B1).

17. Adults vs. children
Children ”wired” for language learning, particularly
phonology and pronunciation.
Greater plasticity of the brain
Less L1 filter effects
Adults learn faster inititally (if educated)
More world knowledge semantic and pragmatic skills
Variety of interests
Attitudes and motivation have greater influence
Higher expectations

18. The chicken and the egg?
Acquiring oral skills requires literacy? Not
necessarily, of course, but alphabetic literacy
promotes the phonological development, reading
allows revision, writing taking notes (memory is
aided by literacy).
Literacy without oral skills is mote in most
contexts.

19. Ways forward
Oral skills first.
Tools for helping the co-development of oral skills and
literacy.
Tools for promoting fluency and comprehension.

20. DigLin
Computer exercises for early stages of L2 and literacy
learning for Dutch, English, Finnish and German
Expectations set by the teacher, way to reach them
found by the learner
Unlimited practice, no set order
Promotes learner autonomy and agency
ASR (Automatic Speech Recognition)
www.diglin.eu

21. EU-Speak 2
Surveys of knowledge and skills required of literacy
teachers (much based on the work of Alfarådet).
Newcastle, Amsterdam, Cologne, Granada, Jyväskylä,
USA (LESLLA initiative)
Target: Curriculum guidelines for online in-service
teacher workshops
One module piloted in 2014 - 2015

22. Why this in English?
Maybe we cannot help noticing errors?
Errors distract
Have to unlearn noticing them
Promoting this is a language policy issue
A positive note: Using more than one language across
the lifespan delays the onset of dementia by four years
(Bialystok).