CHAPTER 9: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS (Continued)
Previous pages: 1

9.2 An extension of the process paradigm
What has emerged in this study is a new way of looking at the language classroom: not only an affective extension of the process paradigm described by Breen (1987b), but also a complex, or "chaotic" extension of the education paradigm in general (cf. Houghton 1989). In this dual-extension (cf. table A-94, below), higher structures of learning (CMI) emerge in a dynamic, complex, trust-based learning environment, in which linguistic aspects (accuracy, vocabulary, fluency, etc.) are important as media for acquisition of learning (and social) skills (Aoki 1999:154), and which are demonstrated in changing perceptions and beliefs regarding the nature of learning and of language: 

TABLE A-94: AN AFFECTIVE/COMPLEX EXTENSION OF BREEN'S (1987B) PROCESS PARADIGM IN LANGUAGE SYLLABUS DESIGN. 

There are no long-term results to indicate that the approach in this study was successful beyond the programme[4], and the best that can be said is that it worked in these conditions, at this point in time. If we ask to what extent this was typical (i.e. would another research team, dealing with similar students/teachers/conditions/etc. have similar results?), complexity theory tells us that minimal differences in input can produce large differences in outcome (section 6.6), and that the question, in this form, is meaningless. If we define "typical" in broader terms, however, asking whether a similar approach would produce equivalent growth and positive attitude change, then observations, beliefs and perceptions built up over the period of research suggest an affirmative response – that a task-based programme which recognises the special process nature of task-based learning, which sees the language classroom as a dynamic complex learning environment, which sees "education-of-the -whole-person" as implicit in TBLL[5] (Finch 1999), which reflects upon and transforms itself through formative evaluation, and which fosters unconditional trusting relationships between participants, will be in continuous transition (growth), and will encourage attitude change (including beliefs and perceptions) in its participants. This change will be positive in terms of learning effectiveness (for the students) and in terms of professional practices (for the teachers), though outcomes will be unpredictable at the local level, and the changes in learner-teacher relationships will probably involve a politic reappraisal of "power of control in interpersonal relationships" (Rogers 1980:294; cf. Aoki 1999:154; Van Lier 1996:167) and of the hegemony of ideas that native speakers of English often take for granted (cf. Phillipson, 1992:72).

9.2.1 Needs analysis
This dual extension of the process paradigm suggests a view of needs analysis that "handle[s] the leap between needs analysis and methods/materials selection or development" (West 1994:14; cf. Chapter 5), through negotiation with the teacher (cf. Bloor & Bloor 1988:66-7), aiming at identification of ineffective learning skills and obstructive affective learning components (e.g. anxiety, negative attitude, lack of confidence), in addition to linguistic and skills-based categories such as technical vocabulary, and presentation language. Working from ideas central to the affective extension, the teacher (as advisor) can suggest that (for example) the most effective way to acquire specific technical language in the L2 might be for the student to devise a "learning project" (e.g. a presentation) in which that language figures prominently. The process of designing, carrying out and completing the project (cf. TWA) will highlight skills that are in need of development, as well as affective barriers, so that methods of addressing these (arrived at in consultation with the teacher) will have meaning for the individual learner, and will therefore provide an authentic and effective forum for learning. Thus, instead of asking "What (language items) does the learner need to learn?", educators can ask "How does the learner see his/her learning needs, and how can these perceptions be satisfied and positively modified to produce effective learning?" Such an approach at ANU thus identified "false beginner" students whose general need was to "speak English", and who had been impeded in achieving this need by affective constraints (lack of confidence, language-learning anxiety), inefficient learning styles, absence of opportunity to interact in the L2, and a history of test-driven formal secondary education (section 2.3.3.1). The initial programme which was designed to address these factors was modified through continuous consultation with students and teachers, and became increasingly student-centred and autonomous as the students progressed through the three years, finally aiming to give 3^rd year students the opportunity and the ability to devise their own learning experiences through a project-based format. This is not to say that every language programme needs the same components, but rather that a programme which examines participant needs in terms of affect, autonomy, and personal relationships (as well as cognitive factors), and which carries out such needs analyses in continuous consultation with those people (cf. the learner conversations in TWA – appendices C-62/3), will have similar results in terms of personal growth and participant satisfaction, both for students and teachers (cf. responses to research questions 6, tables A-72-88.

Continue reading this Chapter: "Reommendations for research"