Abstract
This study sought to determine whether the CFLP has been successful in its attempts to effect instructional change. A review of the relevant literature highlighted a number of teacher variables that influence change in classroom practice, namely personal and work-related factors, as well as preservice and inservice experiences. Given the foreign language context of this study, additional variables were also considered, such as the language of instruction, and teachers' target-language proficiency.
On the basis of the literature review, it was hypothesized that: (1) The degree of employment of communication-based instruction among CFLP participants would be associated with the extent of teachers' CFLP participation as well as the nature of their preservice training. Specifically, it was anticipated that teachers whose preservice training Specifically, it was anticipated that teachers whose preservice training was communication-based would be more likely to implement CBI than teachers whose preservice training was grammar-based, and that CFLP participation would have a positive effect on CBI practice; (2) Attitudes towards CBI would be associated with the extent of teachers' CFLP participation as well as the nature of their training. Teachers who had CBI preservice training would report more positive attitudes towards CBI than teachers who had GBI (grammar-based) preservice training; (3) Teachers of less-commonly-taught languages (LCTLs) such as Japanese or Chinese would be less likely to implement CBI and would demonstrate significantly less positive attitudes towards CBI than teachers of the European languages French, German, and Spanish; (4) CFLP participation would have a greater effect on the pedagogy of an older generation of teachers whose preservice training was grammar-based than younger teachers whose preservice training was communication-based; and (5) Self-ratings of language proficiency would be positively correlated with both CBI practice and attitudes towards CBI.
The methodology employed in this study entailed two stages of data collection. Stage I was qualitative, involving a series of 22 semi-structured interviews with a sub-sample of CFLP participants. Stage II was quantitative and consisted of a mail survey of over 500 CFLP participants. The survey response rate was 66%.
Based on the quantitative data, it was determined that teachers who had GBI preservice training practiced significantly more CBI, held more positive attitudes about CBI, and experienced more pedagogical change towards CBI than teachers whose preservice training was communication-based. GBI-trained teachers also had significantly more experience and were significantly more influenced by inservice/work-related factors than CBI-trained teachers. This unexpected relationship between preservice training and CBI practice was attributed to the fact that GBI-trained, more experienced teachers had significantly higher levels of CFLP participation, and the CFLP had a greater effect on their pedagogy than that of the CBI-trained teachers, whose pedagogy was already consonant with the CFLP philosophy of language instruction. In addition, since the CBI-trained teachers were significantly less experienced than the GBI-trained teachers, it was posited that at this early point in their careers the CBI-trained teachers were not as receptive to and had less of a need for inservice programs than their more experienced colleagues.
The influence of target language proficiency on attitudes towards CBI and practice was not determined, due to the fact that 95% of the survey participants rated themselves as proficient. Similarly, an inadequate sample size of LCTL teachers made differences in practice and attitudes between teachers of the less-commonly and more-commonly taught languages difficult to detect.
Two of this study's principal research questions, do professional development efforts influence pedagogical change; and is the CFLP a viable means of disseminating language pedagogy, have implications not only for the CFLP itself, but also for a number of fields, including foreign language education, educational policy, and professional development. In terms of the CFLP, the results indicate that the Project should modify its primary focus in order to accommodate changing teacher demographics. The data strongly suggest that the CFLP in its current form is more appealing to experienced, GBI-trained teachers rather than newer, CBI-trained teachers. Given that the strongest predictor of Project participation is preservice training, the CFLP must consider alternate ways to appeal to the CBI-trained population of teachers as well, such as a greater emphasis on the teacher networking aspect of the Project, or risk eventual obsolescence.
Implications for the foreign language field include reconsidering the role of grammar in a communication-based program. The qualitative data underscored foreign language teachers' concerns about their students' grammatical capabilities and the teachers' pedagogical eclecticism. According to the findings, the call for change from grammar-based to communication-based practice needs to be tempered by a call for balance. Finally, the data highlight the potential of professional development for foreign language teachers. Although the CFLP cannot be all things to all teachers, it is apparently doing the foreign language field a great service in terms of the professional support that it provides teachers, as reflected in its participants' attitudes and practice. Intensive, continuous professional development in the form of a state-wide project is an important model for both the foreign language and professional development fields -- it can have a profound influence on teachers' pedagogy, and be an effective catalyst for change.
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