False beginners

This is my definition of a false beginner.

‘False beginners are those learners in any ELT program who have consistently failed to master sufficient language skills at each level of instruction: they are operating at an inadequate level of performance at whatever level of instruction they have reached.’

Although no formal definition of the false beginner has, to the best of my knowledge, been agreed upon within TESOL TEFL, the definition proposed by Richards et al [1985: 103] is often quoted:

‘A false beginner is a learner who has had a limited amount of previous instruction in a language, but who, because of extremely limited language proficiency, is classified as at the beginning level of language instruction. A false beginner is sometimes contrasted with a true beginner, i.e. someone who has no knowledge of the language.’

Peaty [1987: 4] describes false beginners entering university courses in Japan. It may seem familiar to readers in other parts of the world. Peaty reports that, in Japan, such learners normally have a background of six years of high-school English based on the study of grammar and translation of sentences. Unlike true beginners, who have never learnt or have completely forgotten what little English they had learnt, false beginners in Japan frequently know quite a lot of English, and can draw on this knowledge in developing important skills that were neglected at high school, such as listening and speaking. False beginners have a background of English grammar and a relatively large vocabulary, but they are generally unable to use English purposefully for communication. Peaty [1987] suggests that teachers should therefore focus their efforts on exploiting and activating what such learners already possess [rather than adding more of the same].

Helgesen [1987: 24] states the following.

‘False beginners understand the meaning of a great deal of language and are able to engage in controlled, form-based [accuracy] activities, but their skills are very limited when they get into meaning-focused [fluency] situations.’

False beginners understand the meaning of a great deal of language imperfectly and partially and it is this that characterizes their performance. The implication of Helgesen’s point, however, is clear: when teaching large groups of false beginners, activities should initially be in the area of receptive fluency [listening and reading with a focus on content and on automaticity] and on productive accuracy [speaking and writing with prescribed forms and probable language, and again with a focus on automaticity].

When implementing receptive fluency listening exercises, Ur [1985: 25] suggests using task-based exercises:

‘…listening exercises are most effective if they are constructed around a task. That is to say, the students are required to do something in response to what they hear that will demonstrate their understanding.’

When implementing productive accuracy speaking exercises, the teacher should be concerned with the issue of correction. Helgesen [1987: 28] believes that self-correction should be encouraged with productive accuracy speaking exercises:

‘The purpose of correcting is, of course, to enable the students to become aware of the language and to make their own corrections…The key is to support students in noticing their errors and generating the correct form themselves rather than parroting correction.’

Among the many activities that teachers can choose from in providing receptive fluency and productive accuracy practice to false beginners, dictation activities and dictogloss activities are ideal, as they can combine practice in both areas.

References

• Helgesen M [1987] False Beginners: Activating Language for Accuracy and Fluency [The Language Teacher 11.14 pp 23 to 29]
• Peaty D [1987] False Beginners: Who Are They and What to Do With Them [The Language Teacher 11.14 pp 4 to 5]
• Richards J, Platt J & Weber H [1985] Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics [London: Longman]
• Ur P [1985] Teaching Listening Comprehension [Cambridge: CUP]

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