Örebro University
Department of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences English
The Art of Imitation
A Pedagogy for Developing Language Awareness
Author: Leon Giang Id no (940309-6739) Degree Project Essay Spring Term 17
Abstract
Although imitation pedagogy is not specified in the subject syllabus in GY 11, English teachers in upper-secondary school can apply this pedagogy in their teaching to enhance students’ language awareness. The subject syllabus specifies that teaching should help students develop language awareness. Imitation pedagogy that involves scaffolding a model can give students the opportunity to develop their language awareness, which in turn can enhance their production and reception skills. In addition, teaching students how to imitate a model work, using scaffolding as a strategy, allows them to practice deep analysis and tostudy how language works in different contexts and for different purposes. Imitation pedagogy that involves scaffolding a speech not only gives students the opportunity to pay attention to form, such as morphology and syntax, while maintaining emphasis on meaning, but also to notice the gap between the model work and their own compositions, which is
beneficial for developing students’ reception and writing skills.
Through the analysis of a model work combined with their writing practice, students learn about how language can create meaning, emphasis, rhythm, clarity, coherency and power. In addition, power is produced through language; therefore, equipping students with the capacity to understand how compositions written in English can be used for a range of different functions and purposes and how to adapt their own compositions to rhetorical context enables them to work towards
participatory democracy. Furthermore, this essay will show how imitation pedagogy could enhance students’ language awareness by analyzing passages from the speech “A More Perfect Union” by Barack Obama. This essay will also demonstrate how this pedagogy could be applied in the English classroom for upper-secondary school
List of Contents Abstract………2 Introduction……….4 Background………11 Theoretical Background………...14 Discussion………...17 Lesson Plan………...27 Conclusion……….31 Work Cited………...33
Introduction
Analyzing the subject English in 2011 Swedish Curriculum for the Upper-Secondary
School closely, one can see that language awareness is central. The English subject
syllabus specifies that ”[t]eaching should also help students develop language
awareness and knowledge of how a language is learned through and outside teaching contexts” (53). In Common European Framework of Reference for Languages:
Learning, Teaching, Assessment, published in 2011, a steering document for the
Swedish subject syllabus, The Council of Europe defines language awareness as “a general consciousness of linguistic phenomena” (181). Another definition of the concept is provided by Anne Burns in the Routledge Encyclopedia of Language
Teaching and Learning, published in 2004. She states that language awareness is
“explicit knowledge about language and conscious perception and sensitivity in language learning, language teaching and language use” (330). In other words, language awareness is concerned with conscious understanding of how language works in different contexts and for different purposes. Teaching in the subject of English should also, according to the subject syllabus, gives students opportunities to develop an “[u]nderstanding of spoken and written English” and also “[t]he ability to adapt language to different purposes, recipients and situations” (54). Language awareness is required to achieve these goals because it involves knowing how the language works in different contexts and for different purposes.
The core content of the subject syllabus encourages English teachers to promote students’ language awareness by giving the students opportunities to
encounter the English language and study how it works as a powerful tool in different social contexts. Language awareness has a dimension that involves understanding
the power dimension of language awareness. Burns states that an unaware mind is sensitive and easy to manipulate through the understated use of the language (331). Language education should, therefore, work towards developing critical minds in order to resist commercial and political manipulation. Moreover, the core content of English 6 states under the subheading “Reception” that teaching should give students opportunities to develop knowledge of “[h]ow language, picture and sound are used to express influence in such areas as political debate and advertising” (60). Such
empowerment of individuals is, according to Burns, often called critical language awareness (331).
Critical language awareness is essential for effective democratic citizenship because the concept is concerned with an understanding of the social and political aspects of language. Power is produced through language; therefore, equipping students with the capacity to understand how compositions written in English can be used for a range of different functions and purposes and how to adapt their own compositions to rhetorical context enables them to work towards participatory democracy. Furthermore, in its Ämneskommentar om ämnet Engelska (The Subject
Commentary Document for English, my translation), the Swedish National Agency
for Education defines critical language awareness, as the ability to approach form, purpose, and context as well as perspective and content critically in written and oral production (8). In “Critical Approaches to Teaching Language, Reading and
Writing,” published in 2010, Hilary Janks claims that critical language awareness is linked to communicative competence, which is a concept that is concerned with grammatical and social knowledge. This concept allows students to interpret and convey messages as well as to negotiate meanings that are somehow hidden below the surface in different social and political contexts. (23-24) Moreover, Norman
Fairclough argues in the book Critical language Awareness, published in 1992, that language education should promote critical language awareness because the concept, with its associated capacities, enables students to be effective citizens in the domain of language (53). Moreover, analyzing the core content for English 7 closely, one can see that teachers should give their students the opportunity to work with “[h]ow oral and written communications in different genres are built up. . . [a]nd how language is used as an instrument to exercise power” (64). Since critical language awareness entails knowing how the language could work as a manipulative tool in different social contexts, it seems reasonable to argue that teachers in the language classroom should work towards developing students’ ability to understand the social significance of the language.
Critical capacity can make students more aware of others’ manipulative rhetoric. Sharon Crowley and Debra Hawhee remind us in Ancient Rhetorics for
Contemporary Students, published in 2012, that Aristotle defines rhetoric as “the
power of finding the available arguments suited to a given situation” (1). They define rhetorical awareness as the ability to recognize how and when speakers or writers are making good or bad arguments through stylistic and rhetorical choices. Crowley and Hawhee claim that the concept deals with “the gift of greater facility with language “ (1). What is more, rhetorical awareness can be learned to better evaluate how speakers or writers make their work appeal to their specific audience (1). Teachers in English 7 should cover “[h]ow stylistic and rhetorical devices are used for different purposes“ in their teaching because being aware of how these elements are used to reach different rhetorical objectives enables students to more easily recognize the manipulative rhetoric that occurs in diverse social and political circumstances (64).
Being rhetorically aware also strengthens student’s discourse competence, which is, according to The Council of Europe, the ability to organize sentences in sequence so as to construct coherent stretches of language. In other words, discourse competence includes the knowledge and ability to control the ordering of sentences in terms of their style as well as their rhetorical effectiveness (132). A lack of discourse competence can lead not only to misunderstanding central messages, but also
ineffective writing that confuses the reader because discourse competence, according to The Council of Europe, also involves knowing how to “structure and manage discourse in terms of logical ordering and cohesion” (124). Furthermore, rhetorical awareness could benefit students’ ability to create and organize coherent and effective sentences, which appeals to the audience.
Task-based activities that encourage students to notice particular linguistic features could increase their language awareness. In Approaches and Methods in
Language Teaching, published in 2014, Jack C. Richards and Theodore S. Rodgers
state that noticing is a hypothesis that explains the relation between noticing linguistic features such as, form meaning and context, and the process of language
development. Noticing features of the input can “serve as a trigger which activates the first stage in the process of incorporating new linguistic features into the learner’s language competence” (181). Noticing, or consciousness-raising, can be promoted through task-based activities that require students to pay attention to form, such as the morphology and syntax, while maintaining emphasis on meaning. Furthermore, noticing the principles and rules that govern the structure of sentences as well as how the context can change a word’s meaning could benefit student’s knowledge about how the language works, which is essential if learners are to acquire new language (181).
Imitation is a pedagogy that could be used in the English classroom in task-based activities in order to enhance student’s language awareness. Crowley and Hawhee claim that imitation is concerned with copying a model, studying it carefully, and imitating its structures (305). Edward P.J. Corbett states, in his article “The Theory and Practice of Imitation in Classical Rhetoric,” published in 1971, that one of three most familiar meanings of imitation to English teachers is “the rhetorical notion of copying, aping, stimulating, emulating models” (2). Imitation pedagogy in classical rhetoric allows students to borrow the structures as well as certain words used in sentences and supply his or her material within the structure of the imitated model. In
The Practice of Creative Writing, published in 2013, Heather Sellers states that this
pedagogy refers to what she calls “writing between the lines,” which is a scaffolding technique that requires the imitator to borrow another writer’s work, study its
significance, and skip a couple of lines in order to build his or her own piece in between the existing lines (43). Although this pedagogy seems to encourage students to plagiarize another writer’s work, Sellers states that “[w]hen you imitate, you aren’t copying or stealing. You’re performing a training exercise, one that has a long and respected tradition in the arts” (55). Furthermore, this kind of imitation could enhance students’ language awareness because it requires them to pay attention to how the author uses different linguistic features as well as stylistic and rhetorical devices to create power, emphasis, rhythm, coherency, fluency, and persuasive arguments. As the student becomes more aware of the power of language and how it is used to achieve certain rhetorical objectives, the individual will be more effective in his or her own production because this exercise allows the students to imitate for instance, a political speech, and use the author’s style to make his or her own piece effective.
Although language awareness is clearly stated in the aim of the English subject, I believe many teachers do not possess the knowledge of how it could be promoted, besides through reading. However, reading with the goal of gleaning information from a text is different from reading with careful attention to the ways words and phrases fit together. Nevertheless, it is possible to accomplish both at once, of course, but imitation pedagogy provides opportunities for students to not only read but also practice their writing. Corbett believes that there is no doubt that students could develop their writing skills and language awareness largely through imitation (Corbett, 249). However, I will argue that imitation pedagogy enhances students’ language awareness by requiring them to pay attention to how language is used for specific purposes and in specific contexts. My objective is to answer the following question: How could imitation pedagogy enhance students’ language awareness in the upper-secondary English classroom? I will demonstrate how an exercise in the
textbook The Well-Crafted Sentence, A Writer’s Guide to Style, published in 2013, by Nora Bacon, which involves analyzing and scaffolding three passages of the speech “A More Perfect Union” delivered by Barack Obama, could enhance students’ language awareness. I will also offer a lesson plan to show how this kind of imitation pedagogy could be implemented in the English language classroom for
upper-secondary school.
Obama’s speech, “A More Perfect Union,” resulted in a turning point in his first presidential campaign. Obama’s campaign was threatened by the disclosure of remarks by Reverend Jeremiah Wright that were widely perceived as anti-white or anti-American. The speech was performed in Philadelphia in 2008. Furthermore, the purpose of the speech was to condemn Wright’s comments that went viral on the Internet. Furthermore, Obama used the occasion not only to criticize what Wright had
said, but also to set forth his vision of an America in which divisions between black and white people, and between liberal and conservative people, could be overcome. It is clear how Obama uses the language as a powerful tool to persuade his audience in his speech. This gives the students the opportunity to study his style and rhetoric, which is widely admired.1
1 For scholar discussions of Obama’s style, see William L. Benoit’s article "Barack
Obama’s 2008 speech on Reverend Wright: Defending self and others" (Public
Relations Review 42.5 (2016): 843-48. Web); Dennis and Grube and Elizabeth Van
Acker’s article, "Rhetorically defining a social institution: how leaders have framed same-sex marriage" (Australian Journal of Political Science 52.2 (2016): 183-98. Web.); Miriam, Diez-Bosch and Franch pere’s article, "In God We Trust, with God We Fight. Religion in U.S. Presidential War Rhetoric: From Johnson to Obama." (Journal of Media and Religion 16.1 (2017): 1-14. Web.); Irungu, Wageche and Chi Changhai’s article, "Conceptual Metaphors and Rhetoric in Barack Obama’s and Xi Jinping’s Diplomatic Discourse in Africa and Europe." (International Journal of
Background
Language awareness can change the students’ attitude towards language studies as well as increasing their motivation to learn. Burns claims that one of the five dimensions that language awareness involves is what she calls the affective
dimension. In this dimension, language awareness aims to stimulate curiosity about the language, thus increasing the interest in acquiring new linguistic knowledge (331). In How Languages are Learned, published in 2013, Patsy M. Lightbown and Nina Spada explain that “affect” refers to feelings of anxiety or negative attitudes, which are two negative factors for acquiring language. The affective filter hypothesis is concerned with a metaphorical barrier that prevents learners from acquiring large quantities of comprehensible input because a large amount of comprehensible input can have negative effects on the individual’s attitude and motivation, which in turn is associated with poor learning outcomes. However, the authors claim that acquisition, from this point of view, occurs when one is exposed to language that is just a step beyond the level of the language already acquired (106). In addition, if
comprehensible input is just a step beyond the learners existing knowledge about the language, he or she may not filter out the input, thereby increasing their motivation to learn and curiosity about language.
Language awareness’ cognitive dimension is highly advocated in the subject syllabus for the upper-secondary school. This cognitive dimension includes,
according to Burns, awareness of contrast, units, system, pattern and categories. Burns argues that the goal of teachers working with this dimension is to make the individual aware of the very processes of language learning use by attending to functions, genres, and social stereotypes (331). Analyzing the English subject in 2011 Swedish Curriculum for the Upper Secondary School, one can see that teaching in
English 5, 6 and 7 should cover these goals. First, teaching in English 5 should cover “ [h]ow words and phrases in oral and written communications create structure and contexts by clarifying introduction, causal connection, time aspects, and conclusions” (54). Secondly, teaching in English 6 should cover “[h]ow structure and contexts are built up and how attitudes, perspectives and style are expressed in spoken and written language in various genres” (60). Lastly, English 7 states that teachers should cover “[h]ow oral and written communications in different genres are built up. How stylistic and rhetorical devices are used for different purposes and how language is used as an instrument to exercise power” (64). The progressions from English 5 to English 7 are concerned with enhancing the students’ language awareness by analyzing how
different written and oral communications are built up in terms of sentence structures, rhetorical choices, diction and style.
Critical language awareness is often associated with the power dimension of language awareness, which The National Agency for Education argues in its chapter “Skolans Värdegrund” (Fundamental Values and Tasks of the School, my translation) that the students’ should develop. According to Burns, the power dimension focuses on how language is used to exercise power in different contexts. She states that an unaware mind is easier to manipulate because the person is less sensitive to understated use of and assumptions about the language (331). Therefore, language education should give students the opportunity to develop their critical language awareness because, then, the students may be able to counter commercial and political oppression as well as manipulation. Moreover, The National Agency for Education states that students should be given the opportunity to “ practice thinking critically, reviewing facts and circumstances and understanding consequences of different
alternatives” (8; my translation). Critical language awareness is required as the students work towards participatory democracy.
Practicing the five canons could make the students’ more aware of the persuasive and communicative possibilities that exist in language. Crowley and Hawhee remind us that invention style, memory, delivery and arrangement are the five canons that the ancient teachers would let their students practice because being aware of these “rhetorical arts”, one could better understand how the language is used for different purposes (23). Invention is concerned with the process of developing and shaping convincing and compelling arguments with regard to the authors’ rhetorical objectives. Arrangement, on the other hand, is concerned with how to arrange
arguments in compositions in order to create maximum impact on the audience (222). The third canon deals with style, which relates to the use of figures of speech and rhetorical devices such as metaphors, diction and gestures. Memory is the process of delivering a speech without the use of notes by memorizing the words as well as storing up relevant literary references and quotes. Lastly, delivery is concerned with how to deliver a speech effectively by practicing the use of gestures, tone and pronunciation as well as other bodily signs that could help emphasize the words and make it more effective (253). Being aware of these rhetorical language arts enables the students to invent effective arguments in different contexts and for different purposes.
Imitation exercises can develop the students’ language awareness because the pedagogy enables them to make a close study of a model and produce something of their own that is similar to the analyzed model. Corbett explains the significance of analysis and genesis in an imitative exercise. He states that the term “analysis” is concerned with a close study of a work in order to observe its significance. “Genesis,”
on the other hand, is the process of producing something close to the analyzed model (4). Corbett uses the term “prelection” to describe the kind of close analysis that requires students to pay attention to units as small as words and phrases in order to expose the weaknesses and strengths in structure, style and selection in a composed text. However, students today may not get the kind of help with their writing that the prelection provides because teachers, from my point of view, tend to just discuss the concepts in a prose text and neglect to emphasize the strategies of form and style. Furthermore, as the students become more aware of how the language works by imitating someone else’s model, they may be able to develop the tools needed to better create an original composition.
Theoretical Background
In this section, I will address important theories that can explain how imitation pedagogy, with its associated categories, can enhance students’ language awareness and language learning.
To understand how imitation pedagogy could enhance students’ language awareness, one needs to consider a few cognitive aspects. Burns claims that explicit language teaching is effective to stimulate cognitive development, which in turn has positive results for language acquisition and use (332). Richards and Rodgers argue that language is learned when the mind re-organizes the information from the input on the basis of existing knowledge and produces something new with the knowledge acquired (23). Nevertheless, Lightbown and Spada claim that teachers need to consider the amount of comprehensible input the students are exposed to because being exposed to large quantities of input could result in poor learning outcomes
language learning, by requiring the students to study how the language works in a specific context and produce an own piece on the basis of the analyzed text.
Imitative exercises could promote language learning because there is a close connection between noticing features of the comprehensible input and their later emergence in the individual’s own production. The noticing hypothesis is, according to Richards and Rodgers, a cognitive theory that explains second language acquisition through noticing features in the input such as words, syntax and form (181).
Lightbown and Spada claim that a learning process begins when learners notice something in the second language that is different from what they expected or that fills a gap in their knowledge of the language (115). Richards and Rodgers claim that task-based language teaching, such as activities that involve noticing features while maintaining emphasis on meaning, could draw the students’ attention to forms they might otherwise not have noticed in the input or their output (181). Once the students have used the features, noticed from the input, in their production, they are in a better position to notice the gap between their own productions and the original
compositions. This will require the students to carefully structure and manage their output in order to ensure that their messages are communicated. This process is essential, according to this language learning theory, in the second language development and if the students’ are to acquire new language (181-182). Imitation exercises could promote this learning process because the pedagogy encourages students to notice grammatical features that arise from its role in meaningful communication and use these features in the process of developing their own compositions.
Language awareness is required in order to communicate effectively in
to better language learning through functional theory. The authors claim that
functional theory deals with the ability to recognize how language is used to achieve different communicative purposes (24). This theory is closely linked to the concept of communicative competence, which the authors define as “knowledge that enables a person to communicate functionally and internationally” (24). This competence enables students to interpret and convey messages as well as to negotiate meanings within different contexts (24). With other words, functional theory entails knowing how to use a language for a range of different functions and purposes as well as how to adjust the use of language according to contexts and audiences and how to
understand and produce different types of texts. Imitation exercises that involve analysis and genesis could enhance the students’ language awareness, which in turns promotes language learning in terms of reception and production skills.
In order to be more effective citizens, students need to understand how texts work in relation to the social settings in which they are read and produced. In Critical
Reading in Language Education, published in 2005, Catherine Wallace states that
some literacy become more dominant, influential and visible than others because of the power involved in the language used (37). Furthermore, Hilary Janks claims that this theory is a social orientation to English language and literacy teaching, which involves the choices we make when using language as actions that benefit some at the expense of others (268). This theory is concerned not only with different forms of language in different settings, but also the implications of power involved in their use, which is important to recognize in order to develop a critical approach to language. A close analysis of a model speech, gives the students the opportunity to study its social significance, which focuses the attention on how language could work in that
Discussion
In the textbook The Well-Crafted Sentence, Bacon shows how imitation pedagogy that involves scaffolding a speech could help students develop their language
awareness. I have chosen to use exercise 4G in Bacon’s textbook as an example of a task-based activity that requires students to notice how the language could be used in a political context to achieve rhetorical objectives. The exercise involves a close analysis of three passages from Obama’s speech “ A More Perfect Union”, and an imitation of their structure and his style by using a scaffolding technique. This essay will show how the exercise could be performed and determine to what extent the assignment could help students develop their language awareness and how the learning could promote the development of communicative goals of the English subject. Moreover, this essay will also offer a lesson plan to demonstrate how this kind of exercises could be implemented in the English classroom in upper-secondary school.
The purpose of the exercise is to give the students the opportunity to try writing like Barack Obama. The students are to study three passages from the speech “A More Perfect Union”, paying particular attention to series and to repeated words or phrases. The students are provided with some support for their writing process. They are to think about a social group or phenomenon that, rightly or wrongly, elicits widespread fear or resentment. It could be, for instance, immigrants, big business or highly educated people. In addition to this, the students need to think of an occasion when there has been a misunderstanding and explain the root of that person’s mistake by following the structures of the passages demonstrated as closely as they can. Moreover, they are to do this by skipping a couple of lines as they read the passages and create their own compositions by filling out the gaps with their own words.
The exercise requires the students to analyze passages in Obama’s speech to realize the potential their features could have in their own composition.
Analyzing the first and second passage closer, one can see Obama’s use of repetition as a stylistic device to create clarity and rhythm. Obama’s repetitive use of the subordinating conjunction “when” and the phrase “as if” makes the passage more apparent because it creates an echo effect when read aloud. Furthermore, the structure of these passages is parallel, which means that the same pattern of words or phrases within the passages are repeated to indicate that two more concepts have the same level of importance as well as to create rhythm and clarity in the language Obama is using. Considering the fact that the speech was performed during a presidential election when important social issues were being discussed and the stakes were high, the use of parallel structure is essential because repetitive phrases or words makes the text both easy to follow and impresses the main points upon the readers’ or listeners’ memory.
In the third passage, Obama uses the pronoun “ we” repeatedly to create power and meaning. The repetitive use of “we” in the subject position indicates that he speaks as a representative of or on the behalf of an institution, which creates a feeling of unity. Obama spelled out different ways the people could make a foolish choice by presenting Reverend Wright’s standpoints from his own perspective, and suggested that “we”, the people, could make a wiser choice by joining his campaign. The power from the language is significant in this passage, because the repetitive use of “we” during this political context, creates a feeling of unity and an image, in the readers mind, of a group of people standing together saying yes to justice and
Using Obama’s parallel structure as a scaffold to compose a new piece could be a way to complete this exercise. Obama uses repetition as a stylistic device in the second passage to explain and emphasize the profound mistake of Reverend Wright’s sermons:
The profound mistake of Reverend Wright’s sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It’s that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country–a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black, Latino, Asian, rich and poor, young and old–is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past (Bacon 75).
An imitation of this passage could result in something like this:
The profound mistake of Donald Trump is not that he spoke about immigrants in our society. It’s that he spoke as if our society was incapable of being multicultural; as if the color of one’s skin were the problem; as if this country–a country that made it possible for
everyone to have an education, to get a job, and to live in a coalition of Jews, Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, rich and poor, young and old– is somehow threatened by the people who helped this nation become our pride. With this demonstrated, one could see the use of repetition as a stylistic device in both my and Obama’s imitation to create clarity, emotions and rhythm as we try to convey our messages to the readers or listeners.
The students could realize how the language could be used to create power and meaning by imitating the parallel structure in the third passage of the speech. Obama
uses the pronoun “ we” repeatedly in the third passage to make his audience feel included in a bigger picture, and to create clarity, emphasis and power, which is desirable in order to persuade or influence an audience. These effects are required in this particular context because Obama’s main objective is to get as many votes as he could. The parallel structure in this passage creates a feeling of unity, which is desirable considering the rhetorical situation.
For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division and conflict and cynicism . . . . We can play Reverend Wright’s sermons on every channel, every day, and talk about them from now until the election and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hilary supporter as evidence that she’s playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election, regardless of his policies. We can do that. But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we will be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change. This is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election we can come together and say, not this time (Bacon 75-6).
Using scaffolding to imitate this passage could have the following result:
For we can accept a politics that promotes segregation and conflict and injustice . . . . We can play Donald Trump’s speeches on every channel, every day, and talk about them from now until the election and make
Americans think that I somehow believe or sympathise with his offensive words. We can deny the fact that Donald Trump wants to close the borders, build walls and let the refugees live in fear, or we can stand and watch the men, women, and children who have fled for their lives get exiled from a country because they don’t look or believe like you do. We can do that. But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we will be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change. This is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, we want justice.
The ability to know how to use the parallel structure successfully in written production could help the students’ communicate more effectively. After analyzing passages from Obama’s speech, the students are to create their own speech by choosing a similar momentous topic and write between the lines of the analyzed work. Sellers states that students will be better writers after finishing an imitation exercise that involves scaffolding a model work because this pedagogy requires the students to study the significance of the language in the author’s style and structure, and use these elements when composing their own piece (42). Furthermore, Richard and Rodger’s functional theory advocates that the learner could develop the ability to use the language to achieve different communicative purposes by being aware of how the language works (24). As the students become more aware of how the parallel structure works in Obama’s speech, he or she will be better able to use this structure to communicate more effectively in their own compositions.
This type of exercise could enhance the students’ language awareness because it requires them to study a model speech closely and observe how the language is used
to achieve certain rhetorical objectives. The close analysis required in the exercise is what Corbett calls prelection. This term is, according to Corbett, a close analysis that aims to expose the weaknesses and strengths in style, selection and structure in a composed text by paying attention to units as small as words. This kind of analysis emphasize the strategies of form and style, which are two essential elements that the students need to be aware of in order to be effective in their own writing (5).
Furthermore, the close analysis provides opportunities for the students to study Obama’s use of different stylistic devices such as repetition and its significance in social and political circumstances. As demonstrated above, my close analysis and imitation of Obama’s speech provided me with a better understanding of how to use repetition to create rhythm, clarity and emphasis in a political context.
Analysing Obama’s speech, the students could develop a better understanding of how the language works in relation to the social settings in which it is produced. Obama is using the language as actions that benefit some at the expense of others when he claims that everyone who sympathize with Reverend Wright are making a foolish choice. Furthermore, the exercise could develop the students’ critical language awareness by enabling them to study how Obama’s arguments are build up in terms of structure and diction, while keeping the rhetorical situation in mind. The students are provided with opportunities to reflect and discuss why Obama is repeating words such as “we” in the way he does. As the students become aware of how the language can be organized depending on the social context, they could develop their critical language awareness. In addition, critical language awareness is, according to Burns, required in order to develop a critical approach to literacy, which is crucial for developing citizens who can counter political and commercial oppression and
The students can also develop their language awareness by noticing the grammatical features in the input. The exercise 4G is a task-based activity that involves noticing the structure of sentences and how the context can change a word’s meaning. Richard and Rodgers state that exercises that enable the students to notice these elements could develop their knowledge about how the language works, which is essential if learners are to acquire new language (181). Analyzing the speech closer, one could notice Obama’s use of parallel structure to create clarity, rhythm and
power. In addition, according to the cognitive theory of language learning, Richard and Rodgers state that after noticing the grammatical features from the input, the mind will process the new information in relation to the existing knowledge and the students could thereafter draw on that knowledge in their production (23). As
demonstrated, close analysis requires the students to notice how Obama uses parallel structure in an effective way and the scaffolding exercise enables the students to create their own compositions, using the information acquired from the input.
Furthermore, in Language Literature and the Learner: Creative Classroom Practice, published 1996, Ronald Carter and John McRae state that teaching materials, which involves texts that show how language works in different contexts, could be an effective way to give the students’ the opportunity to notice the possibilities of the language (20). Exercise 4G is a good example of a task-based activity that could enhance students’ language awareness by providing possibilities for them to notice how different features work in different contexts, as well as to use these features in their own production.
Noticing the gap between Obama’s speech and the students’ own
compositions could enhance language learning. The imitation exercise above requires the student to scaffold Obama’s speech and produce his or her own piece between the
lines. Corbett describes this imitative exercise as genesis, which is concerned with the process of composing something similar to the analyzed model (4). Furthermore, Richard and Rodgers claim that students are in a better position to notice the gap between their own productions and the model work after they have used the features, noticed from the input, in their own compositions (181). With other words, the students are encouraged to reflect how and why their own speech is similar to or different from Obama’s in terms of meaning, effects, clarity and rhythm. As they become aware of the many variables that are important in speeches such as context, objectives and audience, they will, according to Richard and Rodgers, restructure and manage their production to make sure that their messages are communicated. This process is crucial for acquiring new language (181). Moreover, task-based activities that require the students to notice how the language works in a specific context, can promote this kind of process, which is beneficial for the second language
development (182).
Imitation exercises such as the one demonstrated in this essay could work towards the development of the communicative goals of the English subject. The subject syllabus states that teaching in the English subject in upper-secondary school should give students the opportunities to develop an “[u]nderstanding of spoken and written English” as well as “[t]he ability to adapt language to different purposes, recipients and situations” (54). The close analysis of Obama’s speech enables the students to recognize how the language could work in a specific context, which is beneficial for the development of an understanding of the spoken and written English. In addition to this, the analysis enables the students to notice how Obama adapts the language to achieve his rhetorical objectives as well as the rhetorical
students to notice the gap between their own composition and the model work, they will, according to Richard and Rodgers, structure their language to make sure that their messages are communicated effectively (181). This could in turn help the students develop the ability to adjust their language to different purposes, recipients and situations.
Learning how Obama uses the language as a social orientation that benefits some at the expense of others could develop the students’ critical awareness, which a communicative goal listed in the core content of English 6 and 7. The core content in English 6 states under the subheading “ Reception” that teaching should give the students opportunities to develop the knowledge of “[h]ow language, picture and sound are used to express influence in such areas as political debate and advertising” (60). English 7, advocates that teachers should give their students the opportunity to work with “[h]ow oral and written communications in different genres are built up. . . [a]nd how language is used as an instrument to exercise power” (64). A close analysis of Obama’s speech could not only develop the students’ ability to recognize how the language could be used to influence a group of people, but also how a political speech could best be organized to achieve its purpose. For instance, Obama influenced his audience by spelling out the wrongs of Reverend Wright’s standpoints and creating a sense of unity by using the pronoun “we” repeatedly throughout his speech.
Moreover, as the students become aware of how the language could be social orientated, they could, according to Janks, develop a critical approach to language, which entails knowing how the language could be used as an instrument to exercise power (268-269).
Obama’s use of repetition as a stylistic device throughout all three passages provides opportunities for the students to study how he organizes the language to
make it appeal to his audience. Crowley and Hawhee argue that awareness of how stylistic and rhetorical devices are used in a specific situation can help the students to better evaluate how speakers or writers make good or bad arguments, which is beneficial for the development of critical awareness (1). Obama uses repetition as a stylistic device to indicate that two or more ideas have the same level of importance and stresses the main points upon the reader’s memory, which is an effective way of making sure that his messages are communicated effectively. Furthermore, being aware of how different rhetorical and stylistic devices work in different contexts, enable the students to easier recognize how the language can work as a manipulative tool to achieve certain rhetorical objectives. As the students become more rhetorically aware, he or she may, according to The Council of Europe, be able to better compose coherent stretches of language and control the ordering of sentences in terms of its style and rhetorical effectiveness (132). This in turn could benefit the students’ communicative abilities because knowing how to use the language to create clarity, fluency and emphasis promotes effective writing and speaking. Imitation exercises like 4G allow the students to work with “[h]ow stylistic and rhetorical devices are used for different purposes . . .,” which is stated in the core content of English 7 in the 2011 Swedish Curriculum for Upper-Secondary School (64).
Lesson Plan
Corbett believes that imitation pedagogy is one of the most effective ways to develop students’ language awareness as well as writing skills. Language awareness is a very wide concept that involves important dimensions that teachers need to cover in their teaching in order to develop the students’ knowledge about how language works in different contexts and for different purposes and their communicative abilities as well as critical approach to language. In addition to demonstrating how a student might complete an imitation exercise, this essay will show how imitation pedagogy could be applied in the English language classroom to promote language awareness and
language learning by formulating a lesson plan that involves a close analysis of the speech “I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King Jr and a writing exercise that requires the students to scaffold the speech as they compose their own piece.
A historical background about the speech is necessary to make the students aware of the rhetorical situation in which the speech was performed. The speech was presented in August 28, 1963 in Washington, D.C. In addition, King uses a handful of literary and rhetorical devices in his speech to convey messages about the civil rights. His use of the language as a powerful tool to create meaning, power, emotions and clarity are matched with the strength of his massage. King explained his vision of the future, in which the white and black people lived as equals. The speech was delivered in 1963 when the racial segregation and discrimination against African Americans were current. Furthermore, the language used in the speech to achieve rhetorical objectives is significant, which makes it good material for an imitation exercise in the English learning classroom.
Table 1: Classroom example of how to use imitation to promote language awareness
Learning focus: How to use stylistic and rhetorical devices to create emphasis, clarity, and persuasive arguments.
Target group: English 7.
Pre-task: Give the historical background of the speech. Provide the students with charts that include the definitions of the following literary terms: Alliteration,
anaphora, metaphor, and parallelism. Give the students a printed copy of the speech “I Have a Dream”.
Task: Analyze two or three passages of the speech, paying attention to one of the literary terms provided. Describe how King uses the literary device to create emphasis and clarity as well as develop and shape convincing and compelling arguments. Moreover, as they complete this exercise, students are to choose a similarly
momentous topic and scaffold the passages they have analyzed by writing between the lines. An example of how to approach this exercise is demonstrated below.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream . . . I have a dream that one day in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right there in Alabama little black boys and girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers (King 5).
The imitation of the passage above, copying King’s use of parallelism as a literary device, could result in something like this:
I have a dream that ______will one day live in ______ where
______will not be judged by ______ but by ______. I have a dream . . . I have a dream that ______, with its ______, with its ______ having his lips dripping with ______ and ______, one day right there in ______ little ______ and ______ will be able to join hands with little ______ and ______ as sisters and brothers.
Post task: As the students complete their compositions, they are to find similarities and differences between the model work and their own piece in terms of how it appeals to the audience and how it creates emphasis, clarity and persuasiveness.
This lesson plan is an example of how Corbett’s analysis and genesis could be implemented in the classroom to give the students the opportunity to develop their language awareness. This exercise promotes awareness of invention and arrangement, which are, according to Hawhee and Crowley, two canons within the field of rhetoric that are concerned with developing convincing arguments and their impact on the audience (222). In addition to this, the exercise also promotes better writing by encouraging the students to notice the gap between their compositions and the model work. This will, according to Richard and Rodgers encourage the students to
restructure their output so that the language is appropriate to the context and their messages are communicated (181-182).
There are many ways to use imitation pedagogy in the English classroom to develop the student’s language awareness and communicative abilities. The lesson plan demonstrated above could be adjusted in many different ways depending on
what teachers want their students to develop. For instance, if the critical aspect is the focus, one could encourage the students’ to analyze passages in which the language is used to manipulate the audience. Teachers could also encourage the students to analyze passages of political speeches or open letters to find relations between how the language works in different social or political contexts. In addition to this, political speeches or open letters are teaching materials to be preferred during this kind of analysis because they require the students to pay attention to not only how the ways words and phrases fit together, but also the social significance that affects how the authors uses the language.
Conclusion
This essay has argued that imitation pedagogy enhances students’ language awareness by requiring them to pay attention to how language is used for specific purposes and in specifics contexts. Some texts could be more visible, dominant, appealing and convincing than others because of the power involved in the language used.
Therefore, teachers should strive to develop the students’ critical language awareness and put questions of social justice and equity at the center of literacy and language education. Once the students become more aware of the social significance of what they read, write or hear, they can develop a critical approach to language, which is a step closer to participatory democracy. Furthermore, teaching in the English
classroom for upper-secondary school should develop the students’ language awareness by giving them opportunities to encounter the English language as a powerful tool in different contexts. In addition to this, the critical capacity gained from analyzing social or political speeches where the language has been used as a powerful tool to influence the audience, could make the students more aware of others’ manipulative rhetoric because critical language awareness is concerned with an understanding of social and political aspects of the language such as rhetorical situations and objectives.
This essay has also argued that task-based activity such as imitative exercises that require the students to notice specific linguistic features can not only develop their language awareness, but also their communicative abilities. Bacon’s exercise is an excellent example of an imitation assignment that requires the students to notice the use of repetition and parallelism as stylistic and rhetorical devices, which is, according to Crowley and Hawhee, beneficial for recognizing and evaluating how speakers or writers make their work appeal to their specific audience (1).
Furthermore, The Council of Europe states that being rhetorically aware strengthens the students’ discourse competence, which means the ability to arrange sentences to create rhetorical effectiveness in terms of coherency and clarity (132). Moreover, the imitation pedagogy demonstrated in this essay allows the students to closely analyze the inspirational speech of Obama to realize his strength and style so that they can draw on that knowledge when they compose their own speeches. This enables the students to notice the gap between the both compositions. According to Richard and Rodgers, noticing the gap is beneficial for students because it enables them to notice similarities and differences between their own compositions and the models during the writing process. It also requires them to restructure their compositions to make sure that their messages are communicated properly. This process is, according to Richard and Rodgers, essential for developing effective writing and acquiring new language (181-2).
Imitation pedagogy is an optional approach to language teaching that can develop the students’ language awareness. However, any task-based activity that requires the students to notice specific linguistic features could, according to Richard and Rodgers, develop their language awareness (181). Teachers should, in my opinion, strive for an individual-based teaching that takes into account the students’ conditions and needs, because each students’ ability to process comprehensible input varies. Above all, one could conclude that there are different ways to achieve the same goal; it is up to the individual teacher to choose assignments that are effective for his or her pupils.
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