TOP NOTCH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SERIES

Issue 1

MAKING ENGLISH

UNFORGETTABLE
Enhancing Acquisition in the EFL Setting
Joan Saslow and Allen Ascher

These three Rs
ensure memorablility
in the EFL setting :

RELEVANCE
Adult EFL learners need English
to communicate with both
native and non-native speakers
of English. Content of lessons
and materials should reflect
that reality.

RE-ENTRY
Adult EFL learners lack
exposure to repeated English
input outside the classroom,
so lessons and materials must
serve as delivery vehicles of realworld language input. This is
key to avoiding fossilization.

REINFORCEMENT
Adult EFL learners need to
feel they are making progress.
Ensuring that students view
tangible progress on a daily
basis reinforces their enthusiasm
for learning English.

2005 Joan Saslow and Allen Ascher

English?

I studied it for ten years and I cant speak

a word!

Such is the self-critical lament heard everywhere people study English

outside of the English-speaking world (the EFL setting). Is the setting itself interfering with the learners ability to remember
language well enough to use it competently and confidently? If so,
why should this be? What can be done about it? And, if English is so
hard to learn, why does everyone keep trying?
Todays adult learner knows that in virtually any profession, English
is an essential skill. World economies and cultures are increasingly
interconnected and interdependentpolitically, socially, and technologically. Multinational companies consist of confederations of
offices in numerous countries, and English has thus become a convenient lingua franca. Indeed, according to Ricardo Schutzs study, 75%
of all international communication in writing, 80% of all information
in the worlds computers, and 90% of Internet content are in English.
More than ten years ago, the British Council reported, English is the
main language of books, newspapers, airports and air-traffic control,
international business and academic conferences, science, technology,
diplomacy, sport, international competitions, pop music, and advertising. And we know that the importance of English has only
increased since then. As one example of the primacy of English in
international business, in fiscal 2002 the global Japanese company
Matsushita employed 245,922 people worldwide, only 28% of
whom were Japanese. We need English-speaking managers who
can explain Matsushitas corporate philosophy to overseas affiliates
and train employees there, said Shigeru Mizuno of the management
development team.

And it has been commonly agreed that, of the English

speakers in the world today, between 60 and 80% are not
native speakers. The British Councils landmark English
2000 project predicted that over a billion people would
be studying English by the year 2000. In fact, according
to David Crystal in 1997, A conservative estimate is that
1,200,000,000 to 1,500,000,000 people in the world are
reasonably competent in English.
So, if English is an essential life skill for all
who work, travel, or merely inhabit todays
world, how can English language educatorsas a professionaccelerate, promote,
and ensure communicative competence in
EFL learners? Essentially, the question is:
How can we make English unforgettable?

Quantitative factors affecting

learner achievement. In light of the

inadequate vocabulary, and almost all have difficulty

understanding rapid native speech.

Qualitative factors affecting learner

achievement. More importantly, the success of
English instruction in the EFL setting is also compromised by qualitative factors: the paucity of authentic
English input and the almost total lack of opportunity
for authentic practice outside the classroom.

A hundred seventyfive hours might

seem like a lot of
instruction until
one realizes that
there are only 168
hours in one week!
So one years study
amounts to not
much more than one
weeks time!

No teacher alone can possibly provide

enough quantity or quality of input, nor
construct enough opportunities for practice,
to even come near to matching the impact
of an authentic English-speaking environment. Materials must, therefore, be the
teachers partner in repairing the deficits
of the setting.

In our view, however, most textbooks used

in the EFL setting dont provide adequate
or repeated input; almost none recycle
material enough for it to be remembered,
and the amount of practice included
doesnt approach the quantity necessary
to create confident competency. And textbooks tend to approach classroom learning
as a linear process, with vocabulary and
grammar taught one following the other like footsteps on
a march, until the syllabus is covered with virtually
no integration along the way.

fact that many learners feel shame at their

lack of communicative ability, especially
their poor ability to understand and use
spoken English after years of instruction,
its important for us to examine our
expectations. Just what are reasonable
expectations, given the reality of the EFL
setting? One simply cant ignore the purely
quantitative element in estimating total
instructional contact hours in this setting. A typical
academic year is between 30 and 40 weeks, with
instructional times varying widely: normally from as
few as three hours of instruction per week to five; more,
of course, in intensive courses. However, calculating
five hours of instruction per week for 35 weeks yields
175 hours. A hundred seventy-five hours might seem like
a lot of instructionuntil one realizes that there are only
168 hours in one week! So one years study amounts to
not much more than one weeks time!

In contrast, the language-learning experience in an environment in which the learner is surrounded by the target
language is more three-dimensional, with exposures and
practice reinforcing each other and the students facility
growing geometrically. It is, as Diane Larsen-Freeman
puts it, dynamic, complex, and nonlinear. Multiple,
varied, and repeated exposures to target language provide
an inescapable echo; immediate opportunities to practice
abound, and previously learned language can be continually observed in similar, though not identical, contexts.
The environment itself makes language unforgettable.
No wonder study in an English-speaking country is such
a powerful learning experience. The dilemma, then, facing the profession is how to overcome the quantitative
and qualitative factors inherent in the EFL setting that
make achievement of communicative competence seem
so elusive.

No one would expect to master a language in just a few

weeks, but quantitatively that is what several years of
instruction actually is. Taking that into account, the level
learners reach after four or five years is really quite good;
perhaps they are what Crystal called reasonably competent, in spite of their self-criticism. We know the level
most learners reach from instruction alone: although
there are wide differences among learners, most speak
hesitantly yet functionally with grammatical errors and

The importance of models. Many deliberate

Lewis talks about the need for opportunities to observe,

hypothesize, and experiment with new language.
Supporting this concept is the fact that most learners
who experience immersion in another languagesuch
as occurs when traveling or living in another country
report that snatches of observed or heard language
remain in their memory and that they silently repeat that
language to themselves like a refrain, further leading to
its memorability, acquisition, and use. Therefore, when
input from the environment outside the classroom is
lacking, the classroom and learning materials themselves
must serve as the vehicle for that input, bringing language
back numerous times for the student to notice and
remember in the same way.

choices can be made in the EFL setting that will greatly

increase the impact of instruction. Although the classroom can never fully duplicate the experience of living,
traveling to, or studying in the English-speaking world,
it can be much enriched. The following section will
examine pedagogical devices that promote memorability
and greatly increase acquisition and competence.
An unfortunate aspect of currently popular methodologies has been a reduction in input for observation in the
classroom. Describing his experience teaching Bosnian
zero beginners in the U.K., author Robert ONeill
describes the frustration of learners confronted with what
he describes as production-obsessed methodology and
its relentless insistence on elicitation. Students needed
more opportunities to process language before being
expected to use it productively.

Though input must form an important part of English

language instruction in all settings and at all levelsits
inclusion in classrooms and materials is all the more
crucial in the EFL setting. Input should consist of aural
and written modelsconversational and non-conversationalthat students can observe and practice. In the
last century, during the audiolingual phase of language
teaching history, dialogs formed the core of instruction,
and the mechanical repetition and substitution drills used
to practice them led to their rejection as non-cognitive
behaviorism.

It has been our experience, having taught adults of all levels in both the EFL and the ESL settings, that in the ESL
settingwhere students have an opportunity to observe
spoken and written English outside of classit is reasonable and beneficial to devote most class time asking them
to produce. In the input-rich ESL setting, students are
consolidating and using language observed in the environment. Less class time needs to be devoted to
classroom presentation and observation. In the EFL
setting, on the other hand, which is input-poor,
insisting that students speak without enough opportunity
to observe leads them to silent panic, the consequence of
which is that only the most able students participate in
class. A further consequence of depriving learners of
opportunities to observe new language is that their language becomes fossilized, and their ability to engage in
discussions doesnt grow commensurately with the time
they spend in English study.

Though the criticism was valid, the fault lay more in the
pedagogy of (what many saw as) mindless parroting
than in the dialogs themselves. That fact notwithstanding,
in the EFL setting one of the most regrettable consequences of the reaction to audiolingualism was the
reduction or even disappearance of conversation models
in the communicative, learner-centered, and taskbased textbooks that followed. But learners need models
of the way people really speak English to make up for
whats lacking in the environment. Such models are an
essential point of departure on the road to expression
and should not be neglected.

Cultural factors also confound the problem of overreliance on elicitation. Students from some cultures are
naturally reticent and less likely to speak up. But even
adult learners who are not particularly shy, no matter
how motivated and anxious to speak, are often ashamed
to reveal their lack of ability and embarrassed to speak
incorrectly. So, paradoxically, some features of our
communicative methodologies work against the very
communicative goals we strive for.

A model, however, is not only something to observe: it

is an effective productive practice medium. Here also
recent materials have de-emphasized or ignored the
crucial first step of using the conversational model for
personalization. Following a comprehensive study of the
most widely used English course books, in 1996 Saslow
reported: Another casualty of recent teaching approaches is practice: safe, controlled, limited practice of new
language. Often this step is skipped, and students are
expected to produce new language freely before they

We believe it is impossible to overestimate the importance

of observation as a first (and ongoing) step. Michael

In the classroom, this conversation can be practiced

numerous times, each time with a different partner,
inserting true and personalized information to contribute
to its memorability. Moreover, an implicit corollary
benefit of this conversation model is that it permits
practice of can and have to, making it an extremely
efficient way to increase its impact on the learning
process. Beginning and intermediate students in the EFL
setting derive great value from this sort of controlled
practice and it should not be denied them.

are readywith the inevitable results: minimal expression

and lack of confidence.
Since models maximize both exposure and practice, they
contribute to making language unforgettable. However,
keeping in mind the pitfalls of audiolingual methodology,
intensive practice and personalization of modelsrather
than mindless substituting of poorly known vocabulary
into themis what makes them valuable. Controlled
personalized practice of a good model prepares the
learner to later pull practical language out of his or
her pocket and transfer it to diverse speaking situations.
And for students who need to use Englishtodays
studentsthis practice phase must not be skipped.

Not all models, however, impart equal value. To

contrast, lets look at an ineffective conversation model
that doesnt lead to memorability.

What makes an effective conversation

model? Conversation models are most valuable

B: Can you help me? Im trying to copy

this memo.

when they are practical, short, and transferable to

other situations. The following beginning-level model
exhibits these three characteristics:

A: First, open the cover and put the paper on

the glass.
B: Like this?
A: Yes. Then, choose the number of copies you
want. Next, close the cover and press the
START button.

A: Why dont we play basketball sometime?

B: Great idea. Whens good for you?
A: Tomorrow at three?

B: Thanks for your help.

B: Sorry, I cant. I have to meet my sister at

the airport.

Lets apply the same test. On the surface it appears to

be practical: one often asks others for help operating
something or doing something. However, upon examination we see that it is only practical insofar as it only
applies to the specifics of operating a photocopier. The
only productive purpose it serves is for rote memorization, whicheducators agreeprimarily fosters
short-term memory. It cannot easily be transferred (or
personalized) because a completely new set of vocabulary
items would be needed to make any changes to the
request for help in the model. It can only be used to discuss working a photocopier. If we convert the model to a
conversation guide, as above, it is difficult to imagine a
pair of beginning-level students using it to ask for help in
operating, say, a microwave oven or a vacuum cleaner.

A: How about Wednesday at five?

B: That sounds great.
The model above is practical: its an exchange that often
occurs when two people want to get together for some
sort of activity (not only sports!), so students can readily
see its value. Its short, and therefore easy to remember.
And its transferable: all parts of this conversation model
can change to fit reality; for example, different activities
can be suggested, different days and times can be substituted, and other excuses can be offered.
As an illustration of transferability, see the following
conversation guide of the same conversation model.
Having learned activities vocabulary earlier, students can
manipulate the conversation model in their own way.

B: Can you help me? Im trying to _____.

A: Why dont we _____ sometime?

A: First, _____.

B: Great idea. Whens good for you?

B: Like this?

A: _____?

A: Yes. Then, _____. Next, _____.

B: Sorry, I cant. _____.

B: Thanks for your help.

A: How about _____?

B: _____.

whether content is relevant or irrelevant to their real

needs outside the classroom. Relevant content in a textbook is irresistible; irrelevant content is irritating and
viewed as a waste of time.

The learner would need to know the names of different

parts and operations for each machine substituted for the
photocopier (that you push a vacuum cleaner and
choose attachments, that you select a time and
place food on a turntable in a microwave, etc.)
Experience and the necessity of covering the syllabus tell
us, however, that bringing random vocabulary in and not
practicing it is distracting and causes us to lose continuity
and impact.
Such conversation models are not useful
or practical in classrooms in the EFL setting since they dont provide transferable
input or contribute to the memorability
of the original model itself. And returning
to the quantitative factor, working with
such a model wastes the scarce time
students have in which to learn English.
Activities must all contribute to the
enrichment of the learning experience.
When examining textbooks that have
conversation models, then, it is recommended that one examine the models to
see if they can be personalized by using
known vocabulary and structure so they
contribute to memorabilityand therefore usabilityin the world outside a
classroom.

Lets start by examining how adult EFL learners may use

English. As mentioned earlier, the odds that they will use
English to communicate with non-native speakers of
English are as high, if not higher, as the
odds that they will use it with native
speakers. They may use it while traveling,
Adults can see
working, or studying in an English-speakimmediately whether
ing or non-English speaking country.
And they may use it to communicate with
content is relevant or
native speakers and non-native speakers
irrelevant to their
who are visiting their own countries.
Some practical contexts that come to
real needs outside
mind in those settings are: ordering
the classroom.
and paying in restaurants, renting cars,
Relevant content in a
checking into and out of hotels, finding
a doctor in a foreign country, helping
textbook is irresistible;
someone find a dentist who speaks
irrelevant content is
English in ones own country, complaining
when something goes wrong, meeting and
irritating and viewed
greeting people whose cultures are differas a waste of time.
ent from ones own, apologizing, asking
for information, describing ones own
culture and traditions, etc.
In the not-so-distant past, the orientation of textbooks
and lessons was entirely to prepare students to communicate with native speakers of English and to be familiar
with the culture of what Kachru calls the inner circle.
The content of materials teaching American English
was heavily infused with information about the culture
of the United States, and the content of materials teaching
British English provided similar information about the
culture of the United Kingdom. The assumption that anyone learning English should be prepared to function in an
English-speaking country or culture was unquestioned.

Relevant content for adult students. Adult

learners around the world have certain characteristics
that should guide us to effective decisions about content
and pedagogy. Meeting these needs can make English
irresistible to adults.
Adult learners:
choose to enroll and pay money for it (unlike
adolescents or children, who are enrolled by others).
have a real need for English, and therefore demand
practical content.
have limited time, either because they have a job
or must learn English FOR a job.

But todays adult student is preparing to use English for

international communication in a variety of situations
whether in foreign countries or at homein which he or
she may encounter unfamiliar cultural norms from a variety of cultures. The content of material and lessons must
now reflect that. The center of most students Englishspeaking worlds is no longer the United States or Britain.

dont want to be infantilized by the classroom

experience; they are adults and dont want to be
embarrassed by their mistakes.
need to observe results.
All topics, themes, models, and content presented should
have obvious practical use. Adults can see immediately

Cultural fluency. While its not the role of the text-

activities that follow should contribute obviously to

the achievement of the goal. As an example:

book, the teacher, or the lesson to teach students detailed

cultural information about people they may or might not
Supposing a communication goal of, Learn to order
encounter in their lives outside of class or outside of their
and pay for a meal in a restaurant, the following is a
country of origin, it is helpful to prepare students to cope
sequence of presentations and activities that could make
with anticipated differences. Cultural fluencymaking
up that class session:
students aware that certain traditions are likely to be different from their ownenables them to
1. Vocabulary presentation: Foods.
communicate appropriately and to avoid
2. Vocabulary practice: A contextualized
In our experience,
embarrassment. For example, a student
controlled practice exercise follows so
when newly learned
traveling for business or pleasure may
that students understand and can use that
need to take a taxi but be unsure about
language is not used
vocabulary in a specific, limited context.
whether the driver will expect a tip and if
3. Conversation models and controlled
and elicited repeatedly
so how much. Students can learn how to
practice: Ordering from a menu, making
ask a hotel concierge, Is it customary to
it is quickly forgotten;
food
choices, expressing preferences
tip the taxi driver?or answer such a
or
at
best
it
becomes
in
food.
question from a visitor. Or if business
4. Additional social language: Comavailable to the learner
travelers attend a company meeting outmunicating with a waiter or waitress (for
side of their home country, they should
only receptively.
example: Were ready to order, Well
feel able to say, Are most people in the
Unfortunately,
many
take the check, please, Do you accept
office on a first-name basis? or Excuse
credit cards?).
me. I dont know the custom here. How
textbooks fail students
would you like to be addressed? or
5. Listening comprehension: Students
in this regard.
Please call me Kim. They should also
hear a series of conversations between
feel prepared to answer such questions
people eating in a restaurant and predict
from a visitor to their country. This kind
what they will say next, using the social language from
of language content is irresistible to adults because
the list above.
they all know the potential embarrassment that ensues
6. Free practice: Groups of students practice the commuwith feeling awkward or, even worse, with doing somenication goal: order and pay for a meal. They role-play
thing that would be offensive to people of another
diners and servers at tables, using real menus and their
culture. When irresistible language content is included in
own personalized responses. They apply the new vocabua course or textbook, students are motivated, pay attenlary, the conversation models, and the additional social
tion, and re-enroll: all conducive to language mastery.
language they learned in the lesson. In this way, students
Seeing ones own progress. Another essential
leave class knowing they have achieved the goal and seefactor in creating irresistible instruction is enabling
ing that they can do something they couldnt do before
students to see their own progress. Students who see
they came to class. This confirmation of progress develconcrete success are enthusiastic about studying English,
ops enthusiasm and contributes to the irresistibility of
and nothing motivates like success. In a recent study by
language instruction.
the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and
Integration and multiplication. In our experiLiteracy (NCSALL), two of the three supports to learner
ence,
when newly learned language is not used and
persistence demonstrated in adult learners were establishelicited repeatedly, it is quickly forgotten, or at best it
ment of a goal by the student and progress toward
becomes available to the learner only receptively.
reaching a goal.
Unfortunately, many textbooks fail students in this
To provide students with that support, students should
regard. As writers trying to construct an ideal offering for
have an opportunity in each class session to understand
the student learning in the EFL settingand in an
the goal and observe their achievement of the goal. Goals
attempt to make English unforgettablewe have taken
must be stated, and all presentations, exercises, and
the position that there cannot be too many exposures to

Summary

target language. Integration and multiplication of new

language is crucial if instruction in the EFL setting is to
attempt to approach the quantity and quality of input in
the English-speaking environment.

Although the challenge to learn a language in the EFL

setting is formidable, with quantitative and qualitative
factors compounding the difficulty, we believe creating an
environment within the class that attempts to duplicate
quantitative features of the native language setting is the
most appropriate instructional design for lessons and
materials. Materials need to provide a high quantity of
intensive, authentic, yet comprehensible input for learners
to observe before they make it their own. New language
needs to be deliberately and systematically recycled to
ensure maximum exposure. And numerous opportunities
to practice must be provided to make up for the lack of
such opportunities outside of class.

The challenge, then, is how to present learners with an

adequate number of classroom exposures (exposures
here includes both observation and practice) to new
language so they will remember it. One traditional means
of multiplying exposures is to have students incessantly
repeat the new language in order to memorize it.
Unfortunately, as we know, this memorizing tends to be
short-term. Repetition is also boring and de-motivating.
Lets look at two simple qualitative and quantitative
approaches that increase classroom exposures to new
vocabulary.

Finally, recognizing the unique needs of the adult learner,

content should be carefully chosen for its practicality and
relevance to how the adult learner may use it in the real
world. Daily opportunities should be constructed to
allow learners to observe their own progress.

A qualitative way to maximize exposure without being

repetitive is by constructing context shifts in which the
same new vocabulary or grammar appears naturally.
Clothing vocabulary, for example, taught in an early
unit in a textbook can be re-entered later in a unit on
shoppingand anywhere else possible. Language used
to express regrets about purchases in an early unit can
be re-entered in a unit later on machines. Changing the
context or topic refreshes the learners interest and
recycles language in an efficient way.

Irresistible and motivating content provides something

learners not only can talk about, but that they will want
to talk about. Thoughtful recycling will ensure memorabilityand subsequently experimentationboth
enhancing and maximizing learner achievement.

A quantitative way to maximize exposure is by changing

the vehicle that exhibits or carries the language.
Using vocabulary as an example of a quantitative
approach to multiplication and integration, as materials
writers, we consider the following amount of integration
in the list below to be a bare minimum. Both within
the textbook unit where it is presented, as well as in
subsequent units, vocabulary should be embedded and
recycled in:
reading selections and realia
listening comprehension tape scripts
example sentences in grammar charts
grammar exercises
conversation models and opportunities to practice them
video scripts
songs
Instructors should expect that their materials provide
these multiple exposures and intensive, systematic
recyclinganything less leads to forgetability.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Joan Saslow
Joan Saslow is co-author, with Allen
Ascher, of Top Notch: English for
Todays World. She was Series Director
of True Colors: An EFL Course for Real
Communication and of True Voices, an
EFL Video Course. She is the author of
Ready to Go: Language, Lifeskills, and Civics; Workplace
Plus: Living and Working in English; Literacy Plus; and of
English in Context: Reading Comprehension for Science
and Technology.
Ms. Saslow has taught in Chile and the United States in a
variety of programs. She taught English at the Binational
Centers of Valparaso and Via del Mar, Chile, and French
and English at the Catholic University of Valparaso. In the
United States, Ms. Saslow taught English as a Foreign
Language to Japanese university students at Marymount
College and to international students in Westchester
Community Colleges intensive English program. She also
taught workplace English at a General Motors auto assembly plant. Ms. Saslows special interest is in distinguishing
the needs of the EFL and the ESL learner and creating
materials appropriate for each. She has an M.A. in French
from the University of Wisconsin.

Other topics forthcoming in the

TOP NOTCH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SERIES:

Developing Cultural Fluency
Beyond Model Conversations:
Enabling Real Discussions
A Learner-Supportive Grammar

Allen Ascher
Allen Ascher, formerly Director of the
International English Institute at
Hunter College in New York, has been
a teacher, teacher-trainer, author, and
publisher. He has taught in language
and teacher-training programs in both
China and the United States. Mr. Ascher specialized in
teaching listening and speaking to students at the Beijing
Second Foreign Language Institute, to hotel workers at a
major international hotel in China, and to Japanese students from Chubu University studying English at Ohio
University in the United States. Mr. Ascher taught students
of all language backgrounds and abilities at the City
University of New York, and he trained teachers in the
TESOL Certificate Program at the New School. Mr. Ascher
has an M.A. in Applied Linguistics from Ohio University.
Mr. Ascher is co-author, with Joan Saslow, of Top Notch. He
is author of Think About Editing: A Grammar Editing Guide
for ESL Writers. As a publisher, Mr. Ascher played a key
role in the creation of some of the most widely used materials for adults, including True Colors, NorthStar, Focus on
Grammar, Global Links, and Ready to Go.

REFERENCES
British Council: English 2000. In David Graddol. The Future of
English? The British Council. 1997.
John P. Comings, Andrea Parrella, and Lisa Soricone: Helping
adults persist: four supports. NCSALL. 1999.
David Crystal: English as a Global Language. Cambridge. 1997.
B.B. Kachru: Standards, codification and sociolinguistic realism:
the English language in the outer circle. In R. Quick and H.G.
Widdowson (eds) English in the World. Cambridge. 1985.
Michael Lewis: The Lexical Approach. Language Teaching
Publications. 1993.
Joan Saslow: Real language: the vitamin for the student studying
English outside the English-speaking world. Longman. 1996.
Ricardo Schutz: O Ingles como lingua internacional. sk.com.br/skingl. 2003.
Sower, C. (1997). An attitude of inquiry: An interview with Diane
Larsen-Freeman. The Language Teacher, 21 (7), 27-28, 37.
Shinichi Yanagawa: English, the lingua franca of business. Daily
Yomiuri On-line. August 10, 2003.

ISBN 0-13-2385210-X