English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers have to make decisions about how to assist their learners. What should be taught today? Are there activities or some input which would be suitable? What type of assistance may my learners need? How should I assess their work? The answers to these important questions can be made clearer if the teacher uses goal setting in his or her learning program. That is, the teacher asks the question "What am I trying to teach my learners?"

What are ESL Goals?

ESL program are concerned primarily with learning goals. These fall into four categories (Nation: 1995). They are:

1. Language: vocabulary, grammar, phonology (sounds)
2. Ideas: content or subject matter (rules, instructions, history)
3. Skill: fluency, accuracy, strategies (paraphrasing, dictionary use), process skills (speed reading, note-taking, essay writing)
4. Text: discourse rules (use of connectives, pronouns), text types (narrative, problem-solution, instructions, inquiry)

Language makes up the building blocks essential for any form of communication. Knowledge of vocabulary, grammar and phonology grow as fluency and accuracy improve. Ideas represent information which is being communicated using English as the medium of communication, such as the case of second-language learners studying in International or other English medium schools. In fact, any subject matter used as input in classes can be used for ideas-learning, alone or in combination with other learning goals. Skill is the ability to use the language for communication, and thus is closely related to the language goal. Text, while often neglected as a learning goal, is clearly important if communication is to be appropriate in varied situations. The text goal concerns formality versus informality, the way language in used in society, and standards or requirements for study and work-related communication. In short, for language to be correct, it must also be appropriate.

An activity can be concerned with a single goal (e.g., vocabulary - in a reading exercise), or a combination of goals (e.g., ideas, text type, accuracy - in an essay-writing activity). Goals can be as specific as the learning of the use of a suffix (e.g., ful), or as general as fluency. The choice of learning goals in an activity depends largely on the learning needs of the learners (what they need to learn) and their current level.

Choice of Learning Goals

At times, it is preferable to limit the number of learning goals in an activity, as learner attention is more directed at a particular learning goal if other aspects of the language are within their prior knowledge or experience (Nation: 1995). This is because there are fewer aspects of the language for the learner to worry about. Reducing the complexity of activities is especially important with low-level learners.

For example, an activity giving low-level learners practice in listening skill could provide input that uses language, ideas and text types familiar to the learners, and which does not need to be learnt or relearnt. This would lower the complexity of the task for both teachers and learners, by making only one aspect of the language challenging to the learners, namely listening skill. One way this could be achieved is by having the learners themselves provide input for the listening activity. In this way, learners are now faced only with recognizing familiar language in the spoken form (the stated goal of the activity). If assessment is required, learners could retell the story, take a summary, or even write it out in full in a dictation task.

More advanced learners preparing for study and daily life in another country, in contrast, could be presented with activities which demand attention to a wide range of learning aspects simultaneously, to mirror the language situation they will soon face, such as studying, shopping, and opening a bank account. Class activities could present new ideas with new vocabulary using a new text type, and at a speed which the learners find challenging to follow. For listening tasks, examples of such input are authentic news stories, weather forecasts, and guest speakers. Assessment, if required, could be gained by requiring students to take notes of the input (with or without appropriate headings provided).

Thus, goal setting should reflect the language-knowledge and competency that the learners require in order to communicate successfully in their target situation, be it school, university, work or daily life.

Preparing Activities

Input or materials used in an activity should be appropriate for the choice of learning goals. Often input or materials need to be simplified to some degree, particularly when used with low-level learners. For example, with reading passages where the goal is ideas only (e.g. Find the main points in the passage), learners ideally should not be struggling with unfamiliar vocabulary. Rather, new words could be replaced with simpler ones, pre-taught, included in a glossary, or quickly translated by the teacher (if the teacher knows the learner's language). Graded readers provide an excellent source of simplified reading material, where the vocabulary and grammar have been controlled.

If text type is the learning goal (e.g., using connectives in writing), learners could be asked to improve the readability of a writing passage which lacks connectives by inserting appropriate connectives such as however, therefore, and on the other hand. If the passage uses familiar ideas and vocabulary, learners would be more able to fully concentrate on the activity task, namely improving text.

While teachers need always be aware of the goal(s) of an activity, learners can also benefit from this knowledge, especially when assessment is of specific learning areas. Low-level students would be particularly keen to know when and when not grammatical accuracy was being tested. Clearly, students would benefit greatly from knowledge of mark allocation prior to assessment. What kind of assessment should be undertaken?

The Effect of Goal Setting on Assessment

Taking writing activities as a case study, Table 1 shows how the choice of goals determines the instructions that would be given to learners about the task assessment (mark allocation).

The first writing activity, journals or journal writing, is primarily a fluency activity, intended to raise learner confidence and ability in expressing ideas clearly in writing. Learners are instructed to write about their ideas on various topics. Learners are told that their work will not be graded for accuracy, or even corrected. Rather, teachers or other students read the entries for content (ideas), and any comments given (usually welcome) focus on ideas, only. If assessment is required, marks should be given for interesting, imaginative, regular pieces of writing. If accuracy was also assessed, this would no longer be a fluency activity, as learners would lose their confidence and interest if errors were identified.

It should be noted that journal writing used for fluency should provide learners with practice in a range of text types, including the common narrative (story telling), inquiry (requesting information), instruction (giving directions) and so on. Use of these text types in journals could be encouraged if teachers provide learners with topics such as "My First Memory", "A Letter to an Embassy Asking about Visa Requirements," and " My Favorite Recipe," respectively. A detailed explanation of text types with useful examples and notes appears in Derewianka (1990).

The second writing activity, summarizing a written passage, focuses on the skill of recognizing main ideas. The task requires learners to understand a passage, and identify the main ideas in writing. Many learners have difficulty with recognizing main ideas. The task could be less demanding if the reading passage is familiar to the learners. Assessment in this activity is concerned with correct identification of the main ideas.

The third writing exercise, a proof-read essay, requires the learners to consider a wide range of language aspects (ideas, language, text, and accuracy) in a writing exercise. Learners would ideally have completed the many stages of process writing, namely topic identification, brainstorming, organizing ideas, drafting, feedback on content, revising, proof-reading, and error-correction. As process writing is a skill that needs to be learnt, the teacher should guide the learners through each stage, giving feedback on learner attempts. Learners need to know how many marks are being allocated to content, style, and accuracy in assessment.

Summary

Goal setting in ESL learning is primarily to make the learning process more effective, by focusing on the many aspects of language learning in a systematic way. The process should be meeting the language needs of the learners, while recognizing their need for assistance.

ESL learners need not be overwhelmed with the demands of activities. Rather, classes can be an opportunity for learners to build up their language competency and knowledge in small manageable steps, with time to enjoy the learning process as they go.

Further Reading

Derewianka, B. (1990). Exploring How Texts Work. Primary Teaching Association: Roselle, NSW.

Nation, I.S.P. (1995). Teaching Listening and Speaking, E.L.I. Occasional Publication: Victoria University of Wellington.