Standard 5.a.
ESL Research and History
This pilot study serves as the preliminary step to furthering research in the field of SLA and EFL/ESL instruction of pragmatic knowledge. In particular, the study explores various theories relating to speech acts and specifically the speech act of requesting. Moreover, the study analyzes various instructional methods that have been used to improve students’ pragmatic knowledge of speech acts. This study uses an instructional method designed to draw students’ attention to the pragmatic features of requesting—based on Bardovi-Harlig and Vellenga (2012)—and an aural discourse completion task for production on Japanese EFL learners from a university in Northern Japan. The instructional sessions were completed via Zoom. A native English speaker and Japanese speaker control groups were also tested. The former consisted of my Composition/Rhetoric students at Colorado State University (CSU). The latter consisted of students from the same university as the Japanese EFL learners.
Standard 5.b.
Professional Development, Partnerships, and Advocacy
The work in this section focuses on professional and community development projects. The reflection on my undergraduate research study demonstrates my initial step into the role of a professional researcher and the foundation of my interest in teaching EFL/ESL. Moreover, this reflection serves as a commentary on my growth in understanding the research process and the various steps involved in that journey. This foundation has proven to be invaluable during my graduate degree continuation in the TEFL/TESL department at CSU.
The volunteer experience reflection offers insight into my experiences both through professional institutions and personal pursuits in the realm of conversation partners. The webinar & workshop reflection relays my experiences participating in online webinars and workshops hosted at Colorado State University. Continuing to improve your education and practices as an instructor embodies one of the key steps in being a responsible educator focused on providing the best instruction to your students, and this reflection communicates my efforts to continuously improve my instructional skills and methods. These reflections may be found by navigating to the corresponding page.
