a) What are the characteristics
of the plateau stage?
b) How can learners be helped with each of these?
a) What are the characteristics of the Plateau Stage
Richards (2008) suggests various characteristic problems occurring at the plateau stage as Ls move from low to high intermediate. These include:
1. Input may result in an increase in receptive competence, but new language is not transferred to productive use.
2.
a) Ls may either still lack fluency and feel
insecure when asked to speak or b) may continue to use the language they are
more familiar with so that although fluency may be adequate, there is no
increase in productive range or complexity.
3.
Accuracy problems may occur in productive
activities, with some basic errors starting to fossilise.
4.
Productive language use may be adequate in terms
of accuracy but still does not sound natural – for example, it may be
overformal, with learners (especially those from Romance languages) using
Latinate verbs inappropriately for the register – eg. “I received a message
from David” rather than “I got a
message…” .
5.
To this I would add that any of these problems
may result in learners becoming frustrated and demotivated – they will already
have been studying for some time but both a) feel they are no longer making
progress. Eg a high B1 level learner I taught, who constantly left off the
plural “s”. When an error like “I took my two dog to the park” was pointed out,
she was obviously able to self-correct but would become visibly upset, saying
eg “Why do I keep doing this? Of course I know it.”
b) Strategies to help with these problems
Problem 1
6.
The T. needs to ensure that new language is “noticed”
(Schmidt, 2010) – ie processed consciously, and not just understood receptively and
then forgotten, which is common at the plateau stage. It needs to be made salient.
Strategies for doing this may range from highlighting it in texts, to using guided discovery activities rather
than “telling” Ls rules, to using personalisation activities which allow the Ls
to relate the language to their own experiences, opinions, needs etc. All of
these increase cognitive depth of processing and therefore the likelihood of
retention and transference to productive use.
7.
“Noticing” and salience may also be promoted by ensuring
that, when new language is introduced it is not “buried” in a mass of other
language so that confusion arises. Thornbury (2011) argues
for the use of short texts which can be used to ensure full comprehension and
intensive study rather than the long and complex texts often found in current
coursebooks.
8.
“Noticing” through saliency and deep cognitive
processing should be only the first step however. After the language focus
stage, learners need both “massed” and “distributed” practice (Stevick, 1976) if the
language is to be retained and transferred to productive use. “Massed” practice
means giving the Ls the chance to use the language several times in the lesson
where it first occurs. “Distributed” practice means ensuring it is constantly
recycled and consolidated – in homework and in future lessons. This frequency
of exposure contributes to further “noticing” and retention.
Problems 2-5
The follow up stage to discussion activities can be used to
attack these problems. It should contain:
9.
Continual focus on inaccuracy, both of errors
with recently learnt language and of low-level mistakes, to stop them
fossilising. The principle that “mistakes are a natural part of language
learning” (a belief underlying and promoted by the Communicative Approach) may
well be true – but this doesn’t mean they will necessarily disappear if
ignored. (Problem 3). Focusing on them and using Demand High techniques
to practice them helps consolidate the correct forms
10.
Upgrading
of correct but lower level language. Eg if a learner says “I was late because
there was a lot of traffic” the teacher can use this as an affordance to
introduce the lexical chunk “stuck in a traffic jam”. (Problem 2b). The
same can be done for any language which is comprehensible but sounds
unnatural. (Problem 4)
11.
The chance for Ls to ask about any language they
know they had problems with which may have been missed by the T as s/he was
monitoring a different pair/group at the time. (Problem 2a)
12.
Focus on and praise for recently learnt language
that individual Ls do transfer to productive use. Eg if in a later
lesson one of the learners does use the chunk “stuck in a traffic jam” the T.
can board it as “I was late because I
was s…… in a t…… j….”, elicit the missing words from the other learners and
praise the learner who used it. This not only helps to provide distributed
practice and frequency of exposure (see point 8) but also gives the learner who
used the phrase the sense that they are, in fact, learning and progressing. (Problem
5).
Problem 2
13.
Task repetition can be used to increase fluency
and/or allow learners to practice language that has been corrected or upgraded
in the follow up stage. They change partners (to add variety) and repeat the task, concentrating on using
the language that was corrected or upgraded. Tasks which can be used in this
way range from roleplays to anecdote telling activities to discussions on
specific topics.
References and Further Reading
Schmidt, R. (2010) Attention, awareness, and individual differences in language learning
Yi, F. (2007) Yi, F. Plateau of EFL Learning: A Psycholinguistic and Pedagogical Study.
Richards, J.C, (2008) Moving Beyond the Plateau, CUP
Stevick, E.W. (1976) Memory, Meaning and Method, Newbury House
Note
You may have noticed that I omitted Richards' point about inadequate lexical knowledge. This is because I see this as a “normal” learning need for the level rather than a specific characteristic of the plateau stage.
