Incorporating CIRLI into a TESL Course

By Ulugbek Nurmukhamedov

Introduction

During their career, teachers frequently meet students who have confronted real-life issues. A real-life issue is defined as “pressing life problems and concerns affecting students’ daily lives” (Glick, Joleaud & Messerer, 2013, p. 4). Real-life issues may come in a wide range of forms (e.g., violence, bullying, sexually transmitted diseases, mental health issues) and most teacher training programs focus on training pre-service and in-service teachers how to teach a particular subject matter (e.g., grammar, listening, etc.), leaving little or no space in the teacher-training curriculum for real-life issues.

The Curriculum Infusion of Real Life Issues (aka CIRLI) is designed to help teachers understand the prevalence and importance of real-life issues that affect the lives of their students and integrate study of these issues into K-12 classes. The action research discussed in this paper was initiated to raise in-service teachers' awareness of real-life issues and ascertain their attitudes towards CIRLI.

Methods and Procedure

The project involved experienced and novice in-service teachers who were all pursuing either a TESL Graduate Certificate or MA in TESL degree at Northeastern Illinois University (Chicago, Illinois). I implemented the CIRLI approach in a graduate-level course, TESL468: Principles of Language Assessment, which introduced students to the fundamental concepts and principles of language assessment. During the course, the students read chapters from their textbook (by Brown & Abeywickrama, 2010) and received practical training in designing and administering language tests in the areas of L2 reading, writing, listening, and speaking, including vocabulary and grammar.

CIRLI was tied to the final course project, which required students to develop a short mock practice test that examined English language learners’ reading or listening proficiencies. The teacher-students were provided two reading texts and two audio passages that addressed drug addiction and drug overdose. The students had to use either one of the readings or listening passages to develop a test. The listening passages consisted of podcast episodes produced by National Public Radio (Mann, 2021; Cardoza, 2020), while the reading materials included a piece from the New York Times (Richtel, 2019) and a text from the website of American Addiction Centers (confer references for more information). The final project guidelines and the rubric to evaluate students’ projects can be found in the author’s Google Drive at https://tinyurl.com/itbecirli

Upon completing the test, the teacher-students had to answer the following reflective questions: (1) What have you learned about the topic? (2) Do you think that your familiarity with this topic will impact the way you teach children and/or adult language learners in the future? These self-reflection questions were administered to examine in-service teachers’ attitudes about the project, as well as their future degree of engagement with students that may be routinely confronting issues of drug addiction or overdose.

The project was first piloted in Spring 2021, involving five students, and implemented again in the Fall 2021 semester with seven students. In all, twelve in-service teachers participated in the CIRLI project but only nine of them consented to share their reflections on the project. Out of the nine participants, seven were K-12 teachers, while two of them were teaching adults in an English language program. Completing a final project offered two advantages. First, creating a mock practice test enabled in-service teachers to apply theory and practice what they learned throughout the semester. Second, working on this content was designed to raise their awareness of the issue.

Preliminary Findings

I employed a content-analysis approach to analyze the teacher-students’ responses provided in the reflection section of their assignment. This coding approach involves identifying key themes in their responses (McKay, 2006). I read their reflections repeatedly to identify key topics prior to labeling these ideas and categorizing them into meaningful themes that emerged. Some of their responses are listed below (the participants’ pseudonyms are included in parentheses).

Theme 1: Becoming aware about real-life issues.

While using the reading or listening passages to create the tests, students’ awareness of real-life issues, particularly with regard to drug overdose, obviously had increased. In this regard, here are some of their reflections:

“I will certainly be more empathetic, loving and caring towards children who come from challenging backgrounds. I will also educate my young as well as adult learners to be more informed about the topic and how to make these children more comfortable and acceptable in their surroundings.” (KC)

“... this kind of text inspired me and will be a helpful background for my knowledge on the topic of drugs that I will convey to my students.” (AZ)

“My familiarization with this topic may impact the way that I teach adult language learners in the future.” (DS)

These participants’ statements indicate that the CIRLI project raised their awareness of the topic of drug overdose, providing them with background information about the issue and helping them to reflect on ways to approach students who might have been impacted by this scourge. The participants’ responses show that they are considering integrating this topic into their teaching to in turn raise their students’ awareness of the topic.

Theme 2: Practicing assessment techniques with authentic materials.

The second theme is related to the way that CIRLI content enabled teacher-students to put into practice their classroom-friendly assessment skills. Here are some of their reflective statements in this regard:

“A great project because it not only focused on how you create assignments…but also I got to learn about a topic that I was not rather familiar with originally.” (MA)

“This task was a chance for me to transfer the information I learned throughout the course…There is a huge impact on the way I will teach this topic...I can post more critical questions and have higher level thinking conversations around the topic.” (HB)

“Educate students with “real” scientific data, so they can, on their own, make a more educated choice when it comes to using drugs.” (DF)

The reflection statements show that the teacher-students were not only engaged in learning about real-life issues but also were provided with an opportunity to put into practice what they learned during the graduate-level assessment course. As the respondents indicated, working on this project enabled them to review previous classroom materials (e.g., creating multiple-choice questions, checking the readability of a text, giving clear test instructions) covered during the assessment course.

Main Takeaway from the Action Research

Overall, the in-service teachers in the present action research demonstrated a positive attitude about the CIRLI-driven final project because working on the project raised their awareness of real-life issues with regard to drug overdose and its detrimental effects on society, adults, and especially schoolchildren. Furthermore, they dealt with a hands-on activity that enabled them to apply concepts from course readings and classroom exercises to successfully complete their mock test project. Two of the teachers who offer adult ESL courses said that they would use their final projects in their own classroom thanks to what they perceived to be interesting content and a level-appropriate topic. Because the teacher-students in the current action research showed a willingness to integrate CIRLI into their curricular and professional development endeavors, I plan to introduce additional topics such as refugees or mental health issues that would fit the CIRLI model into my future TESOL courses.

References

American Addiction Centers. (2021, February 23). Guide for children of addicted parents. https://americanaddictioncenters.org/guide-for-children

Brown, D., & Abeywickrama, P. (2010). Language assessment: Principles and classroom practices (2^nd ed.). Pearson.

Cardoza, K. (Host). (2020, February 6). Helping a child whose parent is struggling with addiction [Audio podcast]. In Life Kit. https://tinyurl.com/TESL468addiction

Glick, R., Joleaud, B., & Messerer, J. (2013). Curriculum infusion of real life issues
[Unpublished manuscript]. Northeastern Illinois University.

Mann, B. (2021, March 3). Drug overdose deaths surge among black Americans during pandemic [Audio podcast]. In Morning Edition. https://tinyurl.com/TESL468drugoverdose

McKay, S. (2006). Researching second language classrooms. Lawrence Erlbaum Associations

Richtel, M. (2019, December 18). Teen marijuana vaping soars, displacing other habits. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/18/health/teen-drug-use.html

Dr. Ulugbek Nurmukhamedov teaches in the MA TESOL program at Northeastern Illinois University (Chicago, IL). His research interests include second language vocabulary and computer-assisted vocabulary learning. He has published in these areas in journals including TESOL Journal, ELT Journal, Language Teaching, and International Journal of Lexicography.


Incorporating CIRLI into a TESL Course By Ulugbek Nurmukhamedov Introduction During their career, teachers frequently meet students who have confronted real-life issues. A real-life issue is defined as “pressing life problems and concerns affecting students’ daily lives” (Glick, Joleaud & Messerer, 2013, p. 4). Real-life issues may come in a wide range of forms (e.g., violence, bullying, sexually transmitted diseases, mental health issues) and most teacher training programs focus on training pre-service and in-service teachers how to teach a particular subject matter (e.g., grammar, listening, etc.), leaving little or no space in the teacher-training curriculum for real-life issues. The Curriculum Infusion of Real Life Issues (aka CIRLI) is designed to help teachers understand the prevalence and importance of real-life issues that affect the lives of their students and integrate study of these issues into K-12 classes. The action research discussed in this paper was initiated to raise in-service teachers' awareness of real-life issues and ascertain their attitudes towards CIRLI. Methods and Procedure The project involved experienced and novice in-service teachers who were all pursuing either a TESL Graduate Certificate or MA in TESL degree at Northeastern Illinois University (Chicago, Illinois). I implemented the CIRLI approach in a graduate-level course, TESL468: Principles of Language Assessment, which introduced students to the fundamental concepts and principles of language assessment. During the course, the students read chapters from their textbook (by Brown & Abeywickrama, 2010) and received practical training in designing and administering language tests in the areas of L2 reading, writing, listening, and speaking, including vocabulary and grammar. CIRLI was tied to the final course project, which required students to develop a short mock practice test that examined English language learners’ reading or listening proficiencies. The teacher-students were provided two reading texts and two audio passages that addressed drug addiction and drug overdose. The students had to use either one of the readings or listening passages to develop a test. The listening passages consisted of podcast episodes produced by National Public Radio (Mann, 2021; Cardoza, 2020), while the reading materials included a piece from the New York Times (Richtel, 2019) and a text from the website of American Addiction Centers (confer references for more information). The final project guidelines and the rubric to evaluate students’ projects can be found in the author’s Google Drive at https://tinyurl.com/itbecirli Upon completing the test, the teacher-students had to answer the following reflective questions: (1) What have you learned about the topic? (2) Do you think that your familiarity with this topic will impact the way you teach children and/or adult language learners in the future? These self-reflection questions were administered to examine in-service teachers’ attitudes about the project, as well as their future degree of engagement with students that may be routinely confronting issues of drug addiction or overdose. The project was first piloted in Spring 2021, involving five students, and implemented again in the Fall 2021 semester with seven students. In all, twelve in-service teachers participated in the CIRLI project but only nine of them consented to share their reflections on the project. Out of the nine participants, seven were K-12 teachers, while two of them were teaching adults in an English language program. Completing a final project offered two advantages. First, creating a mock practice test enabled in-service teachers to apply theory and practice what they learned throughout the semester. Second, working on this content was designed to raise their awareness of the issue. Preliminary Findings I employed a content-analysis approach to analyze the teacher-students’ responses provided in the reflection section of their assignment. This coding approach involves identifying key themes in their responses (McKay, 2006). I read their reflections repeatedly to identify key topics prior to labeling these ideas and categorizing them into meaningful themes that emerged. Some of their responses are listed below (the participants’ pseudonyms are included in parentheses). Theme 1: Becoming aware about real-life issues. While using the reading or listening passages to create the tests, students’ awareness of real-life issues, particularly with regard to drug overdose, obviously had increased. In this regard, here are some of their reflections: “I will certainly be more empathetic, loving and caring towards children who come from challenging backgrounds. I will also educate my young as well as adult learners to be more informed about the topic and how to make these children more comfortable and acceptable in their surroundings.” (KC) “... this kind of text inspired me and will be a helpful background for my knowledge on the topic of drugs that I will convey to my students.” (AZ) “My familiarization with this topic may impact the way that I teach adult language learners in the future.” (DS) These participants’ statements indicate that the CIRLI project raised their awareness of the topic of drug overdose, providing them with background information about the issue and helping them to reflect on ways to approach students who might have been impacted by this scourge. The participants’ responses show that they are considering integrating this topic into their teaching to in turn raise their students’ awareness of the topic. Theme 2: Practicing assessment techniques with authentic materials. The second theme is related to the way that CIRLI content enabled teacher-students to put into practice their classroom-friendly assessment skills. Here are some of their reflective statements in this regard: “A great project because it not only focused on how you create assignments…but also I got to learn about a topic that I was not rather familiar with originally.” (MA) “This task was a chance for me to transfer the information I learned throughout the course…There is a huge impact on the way I will teach this topic...I can post more critical questions and have higher level thinking conversations around the topic.” (HB) “Educate students with “real” scientific data, so they can, on their own, make a more educated choice when it comes to using drugs.” (DF) The reflection statements show that the teacher-students were not only engaged in learning about real-life issues but also were provided with an opportunity to put into practice what they learned during the graduate-level assessment course. As the respondents indicated, working on this project enabled them to review previous classroom materials (e.g., creating multiple-choice questions, checking the readability of a text, giving clear test instructions) covered during the assessment course. Main Takeaway from the Action Research Overall, the in-service teachers in the present action research demonstrated a positive attitude about the CIRLI-driven final project because working on the project raised their awareness of real-life issues with regard to drug overdose and its detrimental effects on society, adults, and especially schoolchildren. Furthermore, they dealt with a hands-on activity that enabled them to apply concepts from course readings and classroom exercises to successfully complete their mock test project. Two of the teachers who offer adult ESL courses said that they would use their final projects in their own classroom thanks to what they perceived to be interesting content and a level-appropriate topic. Because the teacher-students in the current action research showed a willingness to integrate CIRLI into their curricular and professional development endeavors, I plan to introduce additional topics such as refugees or mental health issues that would fit the CIRLI model into my future TESOL courses. References American Addiction Centers. (2021, February 23). Guide for children of addicted parents. https://americanaddictioncenters.org/guide-for-children Brown, D., & Abeywickrama, P. (2010). Language assessment: Principles and classroom practices (2^nd ed.). Pearson. Cardoza, K. (Host). (2020, February 6). Helping a child whose parent is struggling with addiction [Audio podcast]. In Life Kit. https://tinyurl.com/TESL468addiction Glick, R., Joleaud, B., & Messerer, J. (2013). Curriculum infusion of real life issues [Unpublished manuscript]. Northeastern Illinois University. Mann, B. (2021, March 3). Drug overdose deaths surge among black Americans during pandemic [Audio podcast]. In Morning Edition. https://tinyurl.com/TESL468drugoverdose McKay, S. (2006). Researching second language classrooms. Lawrence Erlbaum Associations Richtel, M. (2019, December 18). Teen marijuana vaping soars, displacing other habits. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/18/health/teen-drug-use.html Dr. Ulugbek Nurmukhamedov teaches in the MA TESOL program at Northeastern Illinois University (Chicago, IL). His research interests include second language vocabulary and computer-assisted vocabulary learning. He has published in these areas in journals including TESOL Journal, ELT Journal, Language Teaching, and International Journal of Lexicography.
Fall 2022 - Volume 50, Issue 2