Australian Journal of Teacher Education
Volume 24 | Issue 1

Article 2

1999

Multiple Data Sources: Converging and diverging
conceptualizations of lote teaching
Kazuyoshi Sato
University of Queensland

Robert Kleinsasser
University of Queensland

Recommended Citation
Sato, Kazuyoshi and Kleinsasser, Robert (1999) "Multiple Data Sources: Converging and diverging conceptualizations of loteteaching," Australian Journal of Teacher Education: Vol. 24: Iss. 1, Article 2.
Available at: http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol24/iss1/2

This Journal Article is posted at Research Online.
http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol24/iss1/2

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

MULTIPLE DATA SOURCES: CONVERGING AND DIVERGING CONCEPTUALIZATIONS OF
LOTE TEACHING
Kazuyoshi Sato and Robert Kleinsasser University of Queensland
ABSTRACTThe study, uncovered Japanese Language Other
Than English (LOTE) teachers' understandings ofcommunicative language teaching (CLT). Using theidea of multiple data sources, the project relied on
open-ended interviews, classroom observations,and LOTE teacher survey responses. The data
provided answers to two research questions: 1)
What are LOTE teachers' beliefs and knowledge
about (communicative) language teaching? and 2)
How do LOTE teachers implement CLT in theirclassrooms. The multiple data sources provided
information that both converged and diverged,
providing insights not only into communicative
language teaching, but also teachers' views oflanguage teaching in general. The various sources
allowed a richer and deeper conceptualisation of
LOTE teachers and captured nuances, subtlety, andcomplexity that these Japanese LOTE teachers
dealt with in their daily professional lives. Such

Nonetheless, there is little known about what L0TE
teachers actually understand by CLT and how they
implement CLT in classrooms. As Kleinsasser andSavignon (1991) note, in the specific area of LOTE
teacher education, there has been "little systematic
inquiry

conducted

intolanguageteacher

perceptions and practices" (p. 291). Moreover, in
the recent general teacher education research area,
the question of how teachers learn to teach is moreconcerned with what teachers actually know andhow that knowledge is acquired than what teachers
need to know or how they can be trained (Carter,
1990; Richardson, 1994; Golombek, 1994). Current
research on teaching practices should focus onteachers' knowledge and beliefs with relation totheir practices rather than effective teaching
behaviours (Richardson, 1994). Therefore, it would
seem worthwhile investigating how LOTE teachers
view CLT and how they actually teach inclassrooms.

databases have much to offer researchers indealing with understanding the many aspects of
LOTE teacher education in particular and teacher

Most Australian LOTE teachers have either
received training or inservices in communicative
language teaching (CLT) during the last decade.

education in general.

National and state initiatives to develop students'
INTRODUCTION, RESEARCH QUESTIONS,OVERVIEWIn our efforts to improve language teaching, wecommunicative abilities in LOTE are abundant

have overlooked the language teacher (Savignon,

School Studies, 1995; Clyne, Jenkins, Chen,

1991,p.272)

Tsokalidou,

There are many theoretical developments ofcommunicative language teaching (CLT) alongwith policy and curriculum initiatives to promote
communicative language learning of Language
Other Than English (LOTE) (e.g., Berns, 1990;
Canale & Swain, 1980; LoBianco, 1987; Board of
SeniorSecondary

SchoolStudies,

1995;

Littiewood, 1981; Savignon, 1983; 1997; Schulz &Bartz, 1975; Vale, Scarino & McKay, 1991).

Vol. 24, No. 1, 1999

(see, for instance, Board of Senior Secondary&

Wallner,

1995;

Queensland

Department of Education, 1989; Scarino, Vale,
McKay, & Clark, 1988; Vale, Scarino, & McKay,1991). Although problems have been identified
with the teaching of LOTE in the Australian
context such as articulation, low proficiency levels,lack of quality inservices, good materials, andschool support (e.g., Koide, 1976; Kawagoe, 1989;
Kleinsasser, forthcoming), a major issue still
remains, there is little known from the teachers'

17

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

perspectives what they think CLT is or how theyliterature

implement it. In essence, inservice LOTE teachers,

Mathison, 1988), and, qualitative inquiry supports

those teaching in the schools, have not been studied

the use of various data sources (e.g., LeCompte,

in any great depth. How is CLT understood in light

Millroy, & Preissle, 1992; Denzin & Lincoln,of the fact that national and state directives urge

1994a), in the area of teacher education, it is rarely

communicative LOTE abilities? What is happening

discussed. In this paper, the importance of multiple

with CLT in LOTE classrooms? This paper aims todata sources will be outlined along with a brief

uncover a subgroup of LOTE teachers' beliefs andtheoretical perspective sketching the relevance ofknowledge about CLT in connection with theirstudying teacher beliefs, perceptions, and practices.

practices which have been overlooked by both

Then the participants and the various multiple data

researchers and policy-makers. The larger study

sources will be presented. Findings will then be(Sato, 1997) sought to answer four researchoffered from the various data sources to help begin

questionsinformation

answering the two research questions. Finally, a

concerning LOTE teachers' beliefs and knowledge,

discussion concerning the use of multiple data

how LOTE teachers implement CLT, how LOTE

sources and the findings conclude the article.

teachers

seekingacquire or

to

find

develop

out

CLT,

and

the

implications for LOTE teacher development. In thispaper, specifically two of the research questions areTHEconcerning

RELEVANCE

educationOFinquiry

MULTIPLE(e.g.,DATA

SOURCES OR , TRIANGULATION AND THE
STUDY OF TEACHER BELIEFS

highlighted: (1) What are LOTE. (in this particularstudy, Japanese) teachers' beliefs and knowledge
about (communicative) language teaching? and (2)How do they implement CLT in their classrooms?

Triangulation to some means the use of three ormore differing collection strategies to affirm andarticulate the validity of evidence each produces(e.g., Williamson, Karp, Dalphin, and Gray, 1982).

This paper reveals Japanese LOTE teachers' beliefs
and practices about language teaching and learning
while also highlighting multiple data sources thatprovide information that converges and diverges,
resulting in a more practical understanding of
LOTE instruction. The application of multiple data
sources to (LOTE) teacher education research ispromisinginprovidingclearerandmoreappropriate description of teachers and theirunderstanding of LOTE teaching. Surprisingly,
little has been discussed with regard to the mode ofinquiry within such teacher education research
focusing on teacher beliefs, perceptions, andthinking until more recently. Lee and Yarger (1996)
claim that in order to make comprehensive
investigations of teacher education acknowledging
the complexities of context, studies should entail
the use of multiple sources. Although the aspect oftriangulation has been argued for in the wider18

In fact, Williamson et al., urge the use of multiple
measures thereby making it possible to concentrateon the point at which a series of independent,
indirect, and perhaps weak indicators converge tominimise their separate errors and maximise theiroverall validity (see p. 82). More recently Denzin
and Lincoln (1994b), however, suggest that the useof multiple data sources (or triangulation) is analternative to validation and not a tool or a strategy
of validation. "However, the use of multiple
methods, or triangulation, reflects an attempt tosecureanin-depth

understanding

of

the

phenomenon in question. Objective reality cannever be captured" (p. 2). Moreover they contend
that multiple data sources add "rigor, breadth, anddepth" (p. 2) to studies. Mathison (1988) seems toconcur with this perspective and argues that "theuse of any single method, just like the view of any
single individual, will necessarily be subjective andVol. 24, No. 1, 1999

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

therefore biased" (p. 14). Therefore she places

Pajares, 1992) and have only gained prominence

value on triangulation where one constructs

lately (Richardson, 1996). In an important review

meaningful explanations of the results which mayof an educational issue, Pajares synthesised

be inconsistent or contradictory rather than offeringresearch on beliefs and argued that "teachers'a single proposition.

beliefs can and should become an important focus

Collecting data that tap teachers' perceptions ofcommunicative

language

behaviours

the

in

teachingclassroom

is

and

their

not

easy.

Organisational theorists such as March and Simon(1958)

suggestobservingthebehaviouroforganisation members, interviewing members of
the organisation, and examining documents that
describe standard operating procedures as ways todetermine the type of organizations and what
people do in them. Another organisational theorist,
Perrow (1986) concurs with these strategies but
relays reservations about implementing them. For
instance, he found observations took too much time
and were costly and, in using interviews fromindustrial organisation workers, he questioned theextent to which the answers he received were
accurate.

More

recently

Kleinsasser(1993)

investigated foreign language teachers' constructionof their organisation's technical culture using datafrom interviews, observations, and surveys. He
found participants in the study shared similar
information across the three data sets while the data
sets as a whole offered a more contextual
understandingofforeignlanguageteachers'

workplaces. Regardless of time or energy involved,
the quality of multiple data sets does offer a clearer
and more detailed description of that being studied.
As Pajares (1992) reminds researchers of thedimensions in studying beliefs: "it is also clear that,
if reasonable inferences about beliefs requireassessments of what individuals say. intend, and do,then teachers' verbal expressions, predispositions toaction, and teaching behaviours must all be
included in assessments of beliefs" (p. 327).
It is important to emphasise that studies on teacher
beliefs have been scarce (Clark & Peterson, 1986;

Vol. 24, No. 1, 1999

of education inquiry" (p. 307). Pajares addressed
numerous assumptions when studying teachers'
educational beliefs. Among them, he contended that
beliefs help individuals define and understand theworld and themselves, epistemological beliefs playa key role in knowledge interpretation andcognitive monitoring, and individuals' beliefs
strongly affect their behaviour (see pp. 324-326).
Moreover, Pajares argued that beliefs should be thefocus of teacher development programs because
beliefs drive actions and they influence howteachers learn to teach. Although Pajares readily
admitted the distinction between beliefs andknowledge was not clear, he used Nespor's (1987)
point "that beliefs are far more influential thanknowledge in determining how individuals organiseand define tasks and problems and are stronger
predictors of behaviour" (Pajares, 1992, p. 311).
Pajareswouldcontendthat

teachers'

decision-making is based on their beliefs and aligns
himself with Richardson's (1996) notion that "theteacher is seen as one who mediates ideas, andconstructs meaning and knowledge and acts uponthem" (p. 6). These views appear to contrast withtraditional ideas that teachers can be trained (or told
what to do) because teachers' decision-making
supposedly is based on knowledge and skills (e.g.,
Shulman, 1986; 1987) instead of beliefs andperceptions. Or as Richardson argues, "Teachers
make decisions on the basis of a personal sense ofwhat works, but without examining the beliefs
underlying a sense of 'working,' teachers may
perpetuate

practices

based

on

questionableassumptions and beliefs" (p. 6).
In summary, Pajares (1992) avoids defining beliefs
but discusses the nature of them, "Beliefs are

19

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

instrumental in defining tasks and selecting theJapanese LOTE teaching. Their majors variously

cognitive tools with which to interpret, plan, andrepresented the disciplines of biology, commerce,make decisions regarding such tasks, hence, theyeconomics, English, and music. Some of theseplay a critical role in defining behaviour andfinished short-term inservice programs concerningorganising knowledge and information" (p. 325). It

Japanese language and LOTE instruction while

becomes apparent that beliefs can only be inferredalready teaching. Among the nine non-nativefrom what teachers say and do, but appear to be

Japanese speaking teachers, seven had lived in

critical in both developing and improving teacher

Japan between one and two years, one teacher

practices.

bestayed for six years, and one teacher made four

understood through what teachers say and do, it

trips to Japan, lasting two to three weeks per visit.

becomes even more salient to develop various

Most of the teachers who did not receive formal

sources that document teachers' speech and actions

academic

to better clarify and explain beliefs of teachers withexperiences overseas in the target language culture.

regard to their teaching. It is suggested here that

In addition, eight of the ten teachers taught other

employing multiple data sources helps better

subjects such as English (three), mathematics (one),

examine and provide meaningful explanations ofsocial sciences (one), history and social education

Japanese teachers' beliefs about communicative(one), music (one), and sport (table tennis, one).

And

because beliefs

need

to

language teaching (CLT) while allowing for a more

preparation

taughtJapaneseafter

complex examination of the variables involved in

THE MULTIPLE DATA SOURCES
Interview. An open-ended interview protocol wasunderstanding inservice teachers' knowledge anddeveloped by the researchers to get teachers to talkactions.

about their language teaching and communicative
language teaching, in particular. After an initial

THE PARTICIPANTS

pilot interview of the questions (using teachers not
Ten state (public) school teachers of Japanese(including one native Japanese speaker) in ten
different state high schools in a large Australian
metropolitan area participated in the study. The
teachers' Japanese language teaching experiences
ranged from eight months to thirteen years: half ofthem had between 8 months and six years
experience, the other half had six to thirteen years
experience.

used in the study and graduate students in Applied
Linguistic courses), modifications were required
due to the number of questions asked, the lack ofthorough responses to some of the questions, andsome questions being unclear. Consequently, theresearchers developed and refined 20 questions
following Spradley's (1979) descriptive questions
so that the respondent would display "perspectives
and moral forms" (p. 107). A standardised protocol

As for the participants' formal preparation, four

was established to focus on certain issues following(including the native Japanese speaker) completed a

Spradley's

Postgraduate Diploma in Education (one yearquestions were agreed upon, and two more pilot

course) and one held a Master of Arts in Appliedinterviews were conducted to test the type of data

Linguistics.

the

Three

teachers

holdingtherecommendations.

questionsproduced.

Twelve

Then,

with

major

minor

Postgraduate Diploma in Education degree majoredmodifications of wording, the final interview

in Japanese for their undergraduate studies, while

protocol was completed. All ten interviews were

the native Japanese speaker majored in French. The

transcribed and analysed. Each interview wasrest of the teachers started to teach Japanese

conducted in English except with the one native

without any academic preparation in formal

Japanese speaking teacher, which was recorded and

20Vol. 24, No. 1, 1999

Australian Journal of Teacher Educationtranscribed in Japanese, and subsequently translated

Savignon warned FLAST was not meant to be

to English by one of the researchers.

scored, she also proposed that "The answers

Observation.

Classroom

observations

wereconducted after the interviews. The researcher wasusually seated at the back of the classroom,occasionally moving around the class. Field notes
documented the procedure of each lesson on the
spot. Adhering to Silverman's (1993) warning to
avoid early generalisations, focus was on what wasobservable: setting, participants, events, acts, andgestures (Glesne & Peshkin, 1992). In addition, allnotes were subsequently reviewed and expanded indetail on the same day following the observations
to include further information (Glesne & Peshkin,teachers give will depend on their interpretation of
the questions as well as on their second language
learning and teaching, experiences. A comparisonof responses, however, will reveal the differences in
attitudeamongteachers

working

together,presumably toward similar goals" (p. 122). It was
precisely these differences of interpretation andtheir comparison with interview and observation
data that could further reveal and better delineateteachers' attitudes to communicative language
teaching among a group of professional language
teachers.

1992; Spradley, 1979). Observations of Japanese

Naturally, there are disadvantages to each of theclass lessons were completed two to three times indata sources. As mentioned previously, however,each of eight of the Japanese language teachers.

triangulation can be used to help alleviate some of

Two teachers requested not to be observed.

them. Moreover, it is important to remember that

Moreover, two teachers wanted to use the nativewith the interviews, the participants reacted to theJapanese speaker researcher as a native informant

questions at the time they were presented, they did

so a typical class session was not observed.

not receive them prior to the interview. Here

However, the interactions in these particular classes

interest centred on how the teachers talked about

were recorded as participant observations where thethe issues from their initial reactions. Also

others were as observer only. A total of twenty

important to note is that the researchers inclassroom observations offered evidence aboutdeveloping the research questions for this study did

Japanese language instruction.

considerQuestionnaire. The Foreign Language Attitude
Survey for Teachers (FLAST) located in Savignon(1983)

wasadaptedtouncover

individual

differences and overall general attitude, which
would give additional information that the othertwo data sources may have overlooked or ignored.
FLAST contains 50 questions about language
teaching and learning. A couple of questions weremodified to adapt specifically to Japanese language
teaching. FLAST uses a Likert-type scale, whichranges from strongly disagree to strongly agree.
Questionnaires returned by nine of the ten teachers
were analysed using descriptive statistics (means
andstandard

deviations)

from

the

personalcomputer program StatView (1993). AlthoughVol. 24, No. 1, 1999

questionsfromaprevious

study

concerning mathematics preservice teachers (Foss& Kleinsasser, 1996). The observations did have toconsider the issue of "observer's paradox" (Stubbs,
1983), but it is important to remember that theobserver probably did shape, in part, the particularlessons observed. 'Me lesson could have been
shaped either negatively or positively and only alongitudinal study would help uncover the mannerin which the observation leaned. Nonetheless, theteachers were anxious in being observed and it was
through discussions that two or three visits werearranged with each of those who agreed to beobserved. In research, it is important to take into
consideration the participant's wishes. These wishes
were followed. The questionnaire was used because

21Australian Journal of Teacher Education

it already existed in the literature. Instead ofplayers are" (p. 59). The intent of this paper is todeveloping and devising a new one, we selected

document the "things" in the game LOTE teachers

one that had been available since, at least, 1983.

think are "functionally relevant" concerning CLT

We used the questionnaire for descriptive data tousing the various components of the multiple data

show how this group of teachers revealed theirsources to begin answering the two researchunderstandings about (communicative) language

questions given at the at the paper's beginning.

teaching. Finally, it is important to reiterate Denzin

Next, the three data sources, presented separately,and Lincoln's (1994b) point made above thatoffer functionally relevant things in understanding

multiple data sources do not necessarily have tocommunicative LOTE teaching.

prove validation but that triangulation "reflects anphenomenon in question. Objective reality canJAPANESE LOTE TEACHERS' INTERVIEWRESPONSES
A general tendency within the interview data

never be captured" (p. 2). The traditional notions ofamong all participants was the fact that CLT

reliability and validity are not necessarily the final

seemed to be an evolving "work in progress" andmeasures of all research efficacy. Discussion of thissuch a stance foreshadowed the incomplete

and other important issues within the qualitative

understandings of what CLT was or could be by theand quantitative research debate can be found inteachers in this study. One teacher eloquently

Eisner and Peshkin (1990). As Eisner (1991)

summarised the notion that CLT was not yet

eloquently reminds:

established, giving valuable insight into how many

attempt to secure an in-depth understanding of the

Indeed, I believe it is far more liberating to live in a
world

with

many

different

paradigms

andof the teachers felt about CLT in general when
asked, "How do you define CILT'?"procedures than in one with a single official

It's a difficult question. Well, I suppose theversionit.

definition of CLT method has not been established

Verificationists are right to worry about the validity

yet. There are some varieties such as task based ...

of claims; they are wrong to claim that the road tosome rigid scholars suggest not using English intruth is the sole property of their party. (p. 48)

class. So, I am at a loss what CLT is. I think

Analysis.

of

In

the

truth

the

main

or

how

to

qualitative,findinductive

approaches were used to analyse the data (seeGlesne & Peshkin, 1992). Data were perused andtrends,categories,

andclassifications

weredeveloped for each source using procedures

language teaching should be related to students'
experiences and interests, which create naturalsituations for them to speak. I suppose it isimportant, but 1 don't know whether it iscommunicative or not. (Teacher J)

suggested by Glaser and Strauss' (1967) constant

Although individuals held varying ideas of CLT,

comparative method and other similar procedurethey had difficulty in giving clear definitions or

descriptions or analysis suggestions from more

examples of CLT, and as a group held fragmented,

recent publications (e.g., Foss & Kleinsasser, 1996;

if not vague and unclear, perceptions. NonethelessKleinsasser, 1993). Erickson (1977) suggested that,the interview data suggested four main ideas that

"Qualitative research seeks to tell us what the gamedefined these participants' conceptions about CLT.

is: what attributes of 'things' in the game are(1) CLT is learning to communicate in the targetfunctionally relevant to playing the game, what

language (L2); (2) CLT uses mainly speaking andappropriate relations among things there are in thelistening;game, and what the game related purposes of the

instruction;

22

(3)
(4)

CLT
CLT

involves
uses

littlegrammar(time-consuming)Vol. 24, No. 1, 1999

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

activities. Overall, these four main ideas were

My understanding of CLT is that ,you teach so thatdeveloped through these Japanese LOTE teachers'

students hear it and so that they speak it. 1 would

voices.

try it, where it's possible to teach something new by

Almost all teachers globally defined CLT aslearning to communicate with other people using
the target language. A few of them specifically
added using it for real purposes. In general,teachers relayed their sentiments as Teachers H andF did:

actually speaking. Now that’s very, very easy inyear eight and nine and even year ten, butsometimes in year eleven and twelve. 1 don't thinkthat is always possible. But as far as possible, 1teach it communicatively. (Teacher E)
Quite a few teachers understood CLT as not

Students can communicate, if you encourage them

involving grammar, or any type of language
structure. Although some teachers did not directly

to communicate. (Teacher H)

mention grammar usage, many alluded to the
I would hope that I could teach students how toproblem of how, if at all, to include grammar:

communicate both orally and in a written form sothat I would expect them to hold a conversation at

Another issue in LOTE learning and teaching isthat "Is communicative teaching good? " Because

the best of their ability. (Teacher- F)

people have taken it so far to the point of theSome teachers in their responses particularly
focused on the "realness" of communication.

banning of grammar teaching or of the banning ofdrilling, of the banning of all little parts. You have

The main thing for us, that is, it's teaching andto do at some points, to learn Hiragana [Japaneselearning real language for real purposes, so as

syllabary], you have to write out over and over

opposed to, maybe, learning all of the conjugations

after practice. But in communicative language, youof the verb or something. Rather, you actually learn

think, "I can't do it. It's not communicative. " Soreal language that you can actually use. (Teacher

that’s the burden. So when I was first teachingC)grammar, it had very little, very little place. We did

It’s teaching language that can be used by students
in real life, in real life-like situations. It's used forreal purposes. There must be some need tocommunicate in order to be able to challenge thestudents

touse

languagecommunicatively.

(Teacher D)

lots of talking, lots of reading and writing andlistening, but not so much grammar Which is the
mistakeof,Ithink,

part

of

the

flow

in

communicative teaching. I almost expected thatstudents would pick it up. They would somehow
work it out without me saying "wo' is the object... "It would work if you guess. Sometimes I still do

A second trend from the data revealed that several
teachers held a view that CLT relied extensively on
the skills of speaking and listening. The following
quotes represented the general view:that. (Teacher C).
I think that [the] writing test is the main worry. It isthe big worry, because it takes us a lot of time.
Actually, this is the big problem with CLT because

The goal of the teaching is that at the end of

our tests have to be communicative, too. So welearning the language, people can actually talk in

can't have a grammar test. We can't have a testthespeaker's

where you have to do multiple choice. No, we can't.

understand[ing] what they're saying and be[ing]We can't do that at all So what we have to do isable to communicate their ideas rather than justtrying authentic materials for students to read.

being able to read and write. (Teacher. B)(Teacher F).

language

withVol. 24, No. 1, 1999

thenative23

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The final notion evidenced in the interview data

individuals held varying conceptions of CLT, as awas that CLT used activities that must be fun, andgroup, they had difficulty giving definitions of CLT

almost all teachers admitted that preparing suchand held four main conceptions. Moreover, theirentertaining activities was time intensive. Teacher

conceptions of CLT appeared to be related in many

C commented that teachers felt they were failing ifcases to their personal teaching experiences. In thethe class did not include fun elements:

next section just how they used these conceptions

It's from CLT or I’m not sure where it comes from.
But there is an understanding that as LOTE
teachers we must have our classes, must be fun,they must be entertaining, and so [we] play lots ofgames and kill ourselves trying to entertain ourstudents. If they are not, if it is not entertaining, we
feel like we're failing. And students also [sayl,"That's boring, Miss. " And you think., of course,
everything has some boring, bad, some notinteresting parts, right? So that’s another part.
(Teacher C)
Although Teacher A initially used CLT activities
when he started teaching, he gave up using (hembecause it was time-consuming..

and experiences in their own classrooms isreviewed.
JAPANESE LOTE TEACHER’S PRACTICE
THROUGH OBSERVATIONSRegardless of theoretical leaning, pedagogicalcontent knowledge, or practical insight, theJapanese LOTE teachers in this investigation
continued to teach no matter what challenges ordifficulties they had to face. Just how did they
actually teach in classrooms? How did they actually
use communicative activities? How did theseteachers' classrooms reflect CLT?
Surprisingly there were few interactions among
students seen in the observed classrooms. Manyobservation findings contradicted the information

My understanding of communicative teaching is, I

given by the teachers during the interviews. For

suppose, teaching in a way rather than just learn

example, although most teachers acknowledged

grammar or translate from one language to anotherusing

It involves using learning activities where thesimulations, and so on, classes observed for thisstudents are actually engaged in communicating

study were heavily teacher- fronted, grammar waswith other people, of course, usually within classpresented without any context clues, and few

group ... In that way, I suppose, they are supposed

students interacted with each other. Most Japanese

to learn how to use the language more easily thanteachers used English extensively to explain

just to try grammatical translation to learning...

grammatical points and give instructions. They

But I have not really used them very much. Well, it's

readily allowed students to answer in English, only

time consuming. Of course, it's so much easier. toa few teachers trying to integrate culture into theiruse [a] textbook. It would be nicer if it was alessons.

textbook with a lot of communicative learning

traditional practice tendencies, while a very small

activities in it. To be always making every, week forminority used innovative practices. The following

every lesson to make activities in it, it's very time

selected examples typically portray what was seen

consuming and just wonder 1 don't have that muchin the Japanese language classrooms.

time to spend on it. Because I have other subjects
and another class to teach, too. (Teacher A)
The interviews revealed in broad strokes what CLT

role-play,In

games,

short,

mostsurvey,teachers

group-work,

displayed

Traditional practice. For instance, teacher I started
her lesson for year 12 with a Kanji (Chinesecharacters) quiz:meant to these ten Japanese teachers. Although24Vol. 24, No. 1, 1999

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

At the beginning, she handed out quiz sheets toshe asked for volunteers. Students were shy. So sheeveryone. She gave students ten minutes toasked two pairs to perform the skit without looking

complete the quiz. While students were working on

at the textbook.. The rest of the class helped thethe quiz, she wrote grammatical points on theperformers when they got stuck. The bell rang, andboard. After the quiz. she started to explain the

she told the students that they would practice thegrammar (passive form) by using English sentences

skit more next time. (Teacher B)

as examples. Then, she explained it with Japanese
sentences. While she explained verb conjunctions,students wrote them down in their notebooks. After
that, she showed verb cards and made students say
passive forms. It was like drills.

Teacher B mentioned in her interview that she had
difficulty with how to motivate junior students andmanageclassroom

discipline.

Althoughshe

acknowledged that "in year 10 and 11 and 12 by thestudents who have chosen to do the subject, my

Then, she asked students to open the textbooks, andteaching method is totally different. 1 do lots ofthey did exercises which transformed active

questionnaires, lots of games, and lot of moresentences into passive ones. She called on each

discussion,

student individually and let them answer Finally,

traditional practices. Teacher D completed a lesson

she asked students to create their own sentences by,for grade eight consisting of 27 students. Ibis

using passive form. After a fee, minutes, the bell

instructor was the only one who used computers

rang. (Teacher I)

during observed lessons of the eight teachers. She

This was her lesson. There was little interaction
between the teacher and the students, not tomention among the students. Grammar points wererole-play”…-shereliedhere

onalso used picture cards to learn vocabulary.
Unfortunately, there were few, if any, interactions
between students seen in her classroom.

explained deductively without any context clues,

Students came into the class in a line. First, thefollowed by mechanical exercises in textbooks.

teacher showed picture cards. Students responded

Teacher B completed a lesson with year 10.
Although she attempted to use role-play, it turned
out to be a dialogue memorisation task in reality.
Overall, she relied extensively on traditional
practice:to them with Japanese words. She showed about ten
cards. These words (places) were used in the next
exercise. After she introduced the sentence pattern(time and places) on the blackboard, students weretold to make ten sentences to describe their Sunday
activities from morning to evening. The teacher

Students came in the classroom in a line. First, shereviewed the grammar structure (potential form) on
the blackboard. She asked a yes/no question toindividual students. Then, she introduced Kanji
using cards. Students read several cards, each time
the teacher showed it to them several times. After
that, she told the students to open the textbook.
They did translation exercises. Site asked individual
students to answer them. Then, she asked two
students to read the short model conversation. She
asked another pair to read it. She gave the student

walked around while tire students worked on it.
Then, she asked several students individually to tellwhat they wrote. Those who did well were allowed
to use the computers to learn Japanese syllabaryand basic grammar There were a total of fivecomputers in the classroom (each computer
allowed for two students to use it together). She
checked the rest of the students’ work individually.
When there were no more computers available, she
gave

the

students

small

picture

cards

for

vocabulary learning. (Teacher D)

five minutes to practice the skit in pairs. After that,Vol. 24, No. 1, 1999

25

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Innovative practice. In contrast to the traditional

First, the teacher checked the homework andpractices mentioned, two teachers used student-

reviewed the key expressions that were related to

student interactions and made students use thethe topic "illness. " One key expression was

language for real purposes. They also attempted toreviewed briefly on the blackboard. Then, she

use Japanese as much as possible. Teacher E's

introduced Kanji for some key words such as

lesson with year nine gave insight into this practice:

medicine, hospital, and illness by using mnemonics.

First, she reviewed some Kanji. They were
numbers. She held cards and asked each student toread it. The student picked up the card. She told
the student in Japanese to show the card to
everyone. Others repeated the number She tried
several cards,. All these words were related to the
topic restaurant. Their, she showed a Japanese
teacup, a sake cup, and other things asking
questions in Japanese. Students answered inJapanese. She checked the homework. Those who
did not do the homework stood up, and they weretold to come back to the classroom during thelunchtime to show the homework. Then, they didtranslation exercises from the textbook. After giving
instruction for the next homework, she gave
students 10 minutes to prepare for the role play (atthe Japanese restaurant) in groups of 3 to 4. One isa waiter/waitress, and the others are customers.
She walked around the class and sometimes
answered students questions. Their, four groups
performed in front of the class. Three groups
mainly followed model dialogue, but the last group
was interesting because they did not follow themodel dialogue. They made the class laugh. She
gave some comments on their performance - " Welldone " and a little tip about how to order at aJapanese restaurant. (Teacher E)

Next, she added some other expressions thatpatients would often use by using handouts withpictures on them. She asked students, "How would
you say, when.... ? " Students answered in Japanesechorally and individually, picking up appropriate
new expressions. After that, she gave students ten
minutes to prepare for the role-play between adoctor and a patient. There were no model skits.
She went around the class to help some students.
But most students seemed comfortable and workedon their original skits. Mow it was time for actingout the skit. The students did not hesitate to be
involved as they all seemed to be used to role play.
Each of the five pairs performed in front of theclass. They really enjoyed it. Finally, the teacher
gave some feedback about useful words andexpressions to supplement the lesson. (Teacher H)
Summary of Japanese LOTE teacher
practices.
The observation data showed reluctance on the partof most teachers to promote CLT activities.
Althoughmanyteachers

reportedusing

communicative activities such as role-play, games,
survey, etc., they were rarely observed. Also, there
were few observed student-student interactions inmost of the classrooms. Only two teacher., actuallyused role-play, of any type, while most relied on
traditional practices: teacher-fronted, repetition,

Although she used role-play, it was used to practicetranslation, explicit grammar presentation, practice

grammaticallittlefrom the textbook, and little or no L2 use or culture

opportunities for genuine communication except in

integration. It appeared as though these eightthe last group's unexpected ones.

particular Japanese LOTE teachers as a grouppatterns,

and

there

were

Teacher H attempted to involve students in freeconversation. This was her year eleven lesson.

preferredorganised,classrooms

insteadofstructured,traditional

negotiated,

involved,communicative, learning and acquisition-enrichedenvironments.

26

Vol. 24, No. 1, 1999

Australian Journal of Teacher Education(12),

QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONSES
Teachers' general attitudes toward

languageteaching and learning were further uncovered
through the use of a questionnaire. The analysis,
surprisingly,

showedatendency

towardcommunication skills alongside traditional issues.
The data analysis from the questionnaire further
compounded the interview and observation data
revealing teachers had some sense of CLT-, butsuch views were rarely prevalent in the interview
data and conspicuously absent, on the whole, in theobservation data. Nonetheless, the questionnaire
database perhaps provided information concerningteachers' passive knowledge of CLT, highlightingsome evidence concerning their knowledge about
CLT. Responses from teachers concerning thevarious items gave an additional perspective to thetotal data set, further expanding understanding withregard to beliefs, knowledge, and practice. In thenext paragraphs, those items that teachers agreed
with (mean 3.6 or above), disagreed with (mean 2.4
or below), and declared uncertainty with (meanbetween 2.4 and 3.6) revealed another part of theseparticipants' understandings and offered additional"game

pieces"tobetterdeveloppractical

understandings of teachers' CLT. Table 1 lists those
items on the questionnaire that teachers agreed
with, Table 2 lists those items that teachers
disagreed with, and Table 3 lists those uncertain

and

that

masteringgrammarofthesecond/foreign language was a prerequisite todeveloping oral communication skills (2). In
particular, they reported putting more importanceon oral communication skills: participants agreed
that students unable to read well still could be
successful in learning to communicate (35), thatteaching listening and speaking preceded reading
and writing (24), that most language classes did notprovide enough opportunity for the development of
conversation skills (50), and second language
acquisition was successful when based on an oral
approach (11); they disagreed that the study ofliterature and the refinement of written grammar
and translation skills be concentrated in theupper-level sequences of second level language
instruction ( 13). They strongly agreed that errors
should he accepted as a natural part of language
acquisition (46). They preferred integrating culture
and language (19), emphasising that gestures andkinetics should be taught and evaluated as a part ofsecond language acquisition (5), while the Japanese
LOTE teachers disagreed that cultural contrasts andlanguage skills be taught and tested separately (29).
They thought simulation should be used to teachconversation skills (item 36) and language learning
should be fun (item 48). They disagreed, as agroup, that most proficiency goals set for highschool students were unrealistic.

items. All three tables give a mean score and astandard deviation for each item.
The results can be interpreted as follows. The
teachers' surveys emphasised communication skills
over linguistic accuracy: they agreed that grammartranslation

wasinappropriateindeveloping

communication skills (1), linguistic accuracy did
not need to necessarily be present when one
exchanged ideas spontaneously in a second/foreign
language (49), and disagreed that students needed
to answer in complete sentences (42), that primary
importance was placed on the linguistic accuracy ofstudents' responses in the second/foreign language
Vol. 24, No. 1, 199927

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Table
1
No.
46
19
23
1
48
35
36
4

49
3
38
47
25
39
24
50
5
43
45
11
32
17

28

Agreed Upon Items (mean 3.6 or above) Item

Mean

SD

When a student makes syntactical errors, this should be acceptedby the teacher as a natural and inevitable part of language
acquisition
One cannot teach language without teaching the culture.
Learning a second language requires much self-discipline.
The grammar- translation approach to second language learning
is not effective in developing oral communication skills.
Language learning should be fun.
Students who do not read well can still be successful in learning
to communicate in a second language.
Simulated real-life situations should be used to teachconversation skills.
Generally the student's motivation to continue language study is
directly related to his or her success in actually learning to speak
the language.

4.6

0.53

4.5
4.4
4.4

1.07
0.53
1.13

4.2
4.2

0.44
0.67

4.2

0.67

4.0

0.87

One can exchange ideas spontaneously in a foreign language
without having linguistic accuracy.
When a foreign language structure differs from a native
language, sometimes extensive repetitions, simple and varied,
are needed to form the new habit.
If language teachers used all the audiovisual equipment,materials, and techniques the experts say they should, there
would be not time for eating and sleeping, much less teaching.
If L I teachers taught grammar as they should, it would be easierfor us to teach a second language.
Pattern practice can provide meaningful context for learning to
use the target language.
All students, regardless of previous academic success andpreparation, should be encouraged, and given the opportunity, tostudy a foreign language.
The teaching of listening and speaking skills should precede
reading and writing.
Most language classes do not provide enough opportunity for thedevelopment of conversation skills.
Gestures and other kinetics should be taught and evaluated as anintegral part of language acquisition.
Pattern practice is an effective learning technique.
The establishment of new language habits requires extensive,well-planned practice on a limited body of vocabulary andsentence patterns.
Second language acquisition is most successful when based onan oral approach.
Cultural information should be given in the target
language as much as possible.
Dialogue memorisation is an effective techniquein the process of learning a second language.

4.0

0.71

3.9

0.60

3.9

0.99

3,8

0.67

3.8

0.97

3.7

1.66

3.7

1.41

3.7

1.23

3.7

0.71

3.6
3.6

1.19
1.24

3.6

0.88

3.6

1.13

3.6

1.13

Vol. 24, No. 1, 1999

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Table 2
No.
10
9
27
18
6
2
12
34
29
13
42
16

Disagreed Upon Items (mean 2.4 or below) Item Mean and SD
Most proficiency goals set for high school students are unrealistic.
German and French are harder to learn than Spanish.
The language lab is more beneficial for beginning language students thanforstudents at advanced levels.
One problem with emphasising oral competence is that there is noobjective means of testing such competence.
A good foreign-language teacher does not need audiovisuals to build an
effective program.
Mastering the grammar of a second language is a prerequisite todeveloping oral communication skills.
It is of primary importance that student responses in the target language
be linguistically accurate.
Second language acquisition is not and probably never will be relevant tothe average Australian student.
Cultural contrasts and language skills are best taught and tested
separately.
Upper-level sequences of secondary school language instruction
should concentrate on the study of literature and the refinement of written
grammar and translation skills.
Students should answer a question posed in the foreign language with acomplete sentence.
Ideally, the study of Latin should precede the study of a modern foreign
language.

Vol. 24, No. 1, 1999

2.4, 0.88
2.4, 1.13
2.4, 0.74
2.2, 0.97
2.2, 0.83
2.1, 1.05
1.9, 1.05
1.9, 1.36
1.9, 0.93
1.8, 0.97
1.7, 0.50
1.3, 0.46

29

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Table 3
No.
40
7
15
20
21
41
37
26
8
30
33
22
31
28
14
44

In

general,Uncertain Items (Mean Between 2.4 and 3.6) Item

Mean, SD

Foreign- language teachers need not be fluent themselves to begin to
teach
Individualizing instruction is really not feasible in foreign language
classes.
Taped lessons generally lose student interest.
The teaching of cultural material in a second language course does notnecessarily increase student motivation to learn to speak the language.
An effective technique for teaching sound discrimination of a second
language is to contrast minimal pairs.
One of our problems in teaching a second language is that we try to
make learning "fun" and "a game."
To learn a second language, one must begin at an early age.
The culture content of a language course should be geared to contrasting
contemporary lifestyles and ways of doing things.
It is important for students to learn rules of grammar.
The ability to speak a language is innate; therefore, everyone capable of
speaking a first language should be capable of speaking a second.
The language laboratory is an invaluable aid for teaching and learning asecond language.
The language lab is most effective if used every day.
Students should master dialogues orally before reading them.
want to work.
The sound system of the foreign language should be taught separately
and at the beginning of the first sequence of instruction
Students who have problems with English should not take foreign
language classes.

3.4, 0.88

thetendencies

realisedin

3.4, 1.19
3.3, 0.71
3.2, 1.39
3.1, 0.60
3.1, 1.05
3.1, 1.05
3.0, 0.82
3.0, 1.12
3.0, 1.50
3.0, 1.00
2.9, 0.84
2.9, 0.99
2.8, 1.09
2.7, 1.66
2.7, 1.66

thestill relying on mechanical exercises. In addition,questionnaire indicated a more favourable attitude

other items indicated that teachers were busy (38),(if not more complete understanding) toward CLT

had difficulties in teaching grammar because Ll

ideals, particularly those found in the scholarly

teachers did not teach grammar as they should (47),

literature. In fact, about half the items that wereandclearly

motivation as crucial to their learning successagreed and disagreed with indicatedfavouritism emphasising communication skills or
CLT tendencies, with about one third leaning
toward traditional practices, and the rest concerning
general items such as motivation, discipline, andteacher preparation time. Furthermore, out ofthirteen items more strongly agreed and disagreed
with (above 4.0 and below 2.0), the majority of theitems showed tendencies supporting CLT issues(e.g., items 1, 13, 12, 19, 29, 34, 35, 36, 42, 46, 48).
Nonetheless, it is interesting to note, when it cameto specific teaching strategies, these Japaneseteachers still favoured repetition, pattern practices,and dialogue memorisation (items 3, 25, 43,45, 17).
Such results portrayed these current teachers a-s

30

considered

students'

self-discipline

and(items 23, 4).
Uncertainty prevailed in sixteen of the items withthese Japanese LOTE teachers. Teachers appeared
to be unsure about elements in both traditional andcommunicative

language

instruction.

With

traditional notions they were not certain whether
students should master dialogues orally before
reading them (3 1), if the sound system should betaught separately and at the beginning of instruction(14), and whether or not to contrast minimal pairs(21). With communicative language teachingnotions, the teachers were not sure of at least fourthings: if second language teachers needed to befluentthemselves

to

begin

teaching

forVol. 24, No. 1, 1999

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

communication (40), that one of their problems in

consider to what extent, if any, the national andsecond language teaching was to make learningstate support for CLT is actually manifested in"fun" and "a game" (4 1), if culture content should

teacher talk, knowledge, and action.

include contemporary lifestyles and ways of doing
things (26), and the relationship between theteaching of cultural material and student motivation
to learn to speak a second language (20). Moreglobally, the LOTE teachers sampled here neither
agreed nor disagreed that today's students would
take second languages because they do not want towork (28). that students who had problems with

Multiple meanings from multiple data sources truly
begin unravelling the nuance and subtlety of how
CLT manifests itself in realities. The converging
data seems to support the notion that CLT isdifficult and that there are individual conceptions
that

relay

many

personal

understandings.

Nonetheless, these participants seem to be dealing
with the ideas of CLT from various perspectives

English should not take a second language (44),and making do with what they perceive can be

and individualising second language instruction

accomplished. lliere seems to be agreement thatwas not feasible (7). Teachers were not sure if the

CLT is time-consuming and, particularly fromability to speak a language was innate (30) or if one

theobservation data, that order, silence, and getting

had to begin learning a second language at an early

thingsdone

supersede

any

other

type

of

age (37). Unsurprisingly, and in agreement with

instructional

manoeuvres.

The

interview

andinterview and observation data, the Japanese

questionnaire data do agree that there should be lessteachers in this sample were not sure if it wasemphasis on grammar, per se, while the interview

important for students to learn rules of grammar

and

(8).

traditional practices because of the perceived

In summary, teachers' overall attitude from thesurvey data provided additional and confounding

observationdata

highlight

relianceontime-consuming nature of CLT activities. Thus, it isclear that there are points of agreement.

evidence with interview and observation data,

The diverging data certainly point to tensions

which only further highlighted the difficulties andwithin these teachers' beliefs, knowledge, andissues that these teachers faced in their efforts topractices of CLT. Teachers have few definite ideas

understand and implement CLT.

and appear to be even more frightened about

DISCUSSION
Clearly, each data set taken individually gives only

attempting communicative language instruction.
The interview and observation evidence show little

a partial understanding of Japanese LOTE teachers'

regard for CLT, while the questionnaire data give

beliefs, knowledge, and practice. Taken together,some attention to it. Nonetheless, the confounding

the data sets illuminate the complexity of how tenelements found in this research suggest that these

Japanese LOTE teachers' beliefs, knowledge, andinservice teachers have to further develop theirpractice interact. Multiple data sources giveideas about communicative language teaching anddivergentandperhaps even about language teaching.

teachers'

communicative

convergent

information

language

about

instruction.

Moreover, it is interesting to note how the survey
results give some evidence of teachers' knowledgeof the literature, but interview and observation data
belie any such thorough understanding or action.,
regarding CLT. Likewise, it is important toVol. 24, No. 1, 1999

Moreover, it would appear the teachers in thissample have trouble matching their words (beliefs)
with action. If they believe CLT to be too time
consuming, why would they give credibility to it
through agreeing or disagreeing appropriately with
the items on the survey? If they believe what they31

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

marked on the survey, why wasn't adherence toin real classrooms. Projects such as this help tothose ideas manifested in the classroom? And if

better uncover teachers' understandings within their

they did believe they truly understood CLT, whyenvironments. If any type of inservice is to occur,

did they not reference any literature concerning

such information is needed to promote andwhat it was, what it meant, and whose idea(s) they

influence

followed?

policyMoreover, such data is needed to combat the

supported CLT, what did that mean to the teachers?

overreliance on theory and policy and to begin(It is interesting to note there was little, if any,codifying teachers' practice while documenting

reference to government policy in their interviews.)

their

One

Moreover,could

easilyif

government

considercomparingandcontrasting the teachers' understandings with thescholarly literature and finding little in common.
One could also analyse the observations using thegovernment guidelines, and there too find little incommon. Yet, by doing this, attention is paid to theliterature and government as being somehow more
relevant than teachers' practice. What about

secondbeliefs

andlanguageteaching

knowledge.

practice.

Regardlessofdiscipline or the macro or micro-level of study,
multiple data sources hold significant potential inunderstanding the complexity in which teacher
educators and teachers find themselves.
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