View Content #26288

By Julie Sykes, CASLS Director

With varying personalities, preferences, backgrounds, and perceptions of the world, it is not surprising that there are many ways of using language. Most of the time, those choices propel us forward and create instances of meaningful communication. Other times, they result in miscommunications and conflict.  Part of our job as language teachers is to ensure learners have the tools they need to make those choices on their own. Subjectivity, defined by Ishihara and Tarone (2009) as a dynamic approach to learners’ identity and informed choice-making, refers to learners’ ability to articulate why they made the choices they did. Learners might, for example, explain why they made an extended apology to meet their interlocutors’ expectations (i.e., I chose to apologize a lot because I wanted to be sure they knew I was really sorry, even if the spill seemed minor to me) or might be an explicit, and intentionally diverge from expectations (i.e., I didn’t apologize because I didn’t think it was a big deal. Why do we apologize for everything?).  Regardless of the choices they make, the ability to distinguish subjectivity from lack of knowledge is critical for communicative success and the measurement of learners’ abilities. A couple of tips for dealing with subjectivity in the classroom:

1. Evaluate the skill, not the choice. As you allow learners to make informed choices, they may make language choices that make you want to cringe or correct. However, if they are able to articulate the intended impact of those choices, it is fundamental to recognize that as skilled pragmatic behavior. In the apologies example above, a learner might say, “I know I should apologize, and if I did, I would do it this way. However, I am mad and do not want to.” This often represents sophisticated pragmatic behavior and should be evaluated as such.
2. Offer many opportunities to practice. As we teach models, examples, and patterns, it can be helpful for learners to embed examples of subjectivity. For example, using characters that might consciously diverge from the norm.  Questions like, What do you think someone who is angry might do? Or someone who wants to be funny? While it is important not to stereotype all people, gaining insight into individual choice can be very helpful for learners when developing their own subjectivity.