Málfríður - 15.10.2011, Blaðsíða 6

Obviously it’s vocabulary and word usage because
word usage in movies isn’t correct. It’s usually
some sort of slang and so on that’s used nowadays.
It’s not old language, language that used to be used,
old words, difficult words. You learn them here … I
like knowing them.
Improved reading skills are also important: “…we’re
put in groups and discuss what’s happening in the
book, and why, and what the author is trying to say
and I find it very exciting to sort of read between the
lines like this…” Soffía, the singer, has had help with
her pronunciation, for which she is grateful, since pro-
nunciation “always has to be correct so that you can
sing correctly”. Others, however, are aware of a more
general improvement in the language:
I mean, you’re obviously learning something new
all the time….it’s like going on to the next course.
It’s always harder and harder and more complicat-
ed and obviously you just learn more and more.
There are, however, students who claim they have
learned little at secondary school. One believes that it
is only his spelling that has improved in English class-
es, another fears not understanding “scientific terms”
when he goes to university. It would seem that, despite
participants’ positive self-assessment, for some self-
confidence in English may not extend to the spoken
language and in-class tasks may not be effective:
And perhaps there really should have been [more
speaking practice] but there were so many students
who are shy about it that it’s difficult to make peo-
ple do something that they aren’t really ready to do.
Apart from language proficiency there is new knowl-
edge on various topics gained in English classes. Birna
says, for example, that “by reading an article I’ve been
introduced to other topics that I wouldn’t have oth-
erwise, and I like that a lot”. Students are introduced
to fiction that they might not choose to read them-
selves and, as curious as it sounds, English even helps
in learning French since “if you know the words in
English then you know what they mean in French”.
Both study and social skills are gained in English
classes. Continual assessment courses where “you
have to keep on going steadily over the semester”
teach perseverance. Group work, which for one stu-
dent who had been bullied at primary school was the
most enjoyable thing about English classes, strength-
ens social skills because “it’s less pressure instead of
having to do it all by yourself”.
A key-person in the classroom in the eyes of partici-
pants is the teacher. His or her responsibility involves
not only selecting course material and explaining new
ideas but also being entertaining: “What was most fun?
so they get to know new friends too.” One student who
sings in a band has gained stage confidence through
making presentations in class:
…it’s very useful…especially for example when I’m
performing at a concert. I’ve really had this prob-
lem, when I was younger I got so stressed out that I
shook and couldn’t do anything. And this helps me
a lot because we’re always performing, every other
week, when we’ve done a project that we present….
I just find it very useful.
Some course material is interesting, whether the mate-
rial is new or not. Birna, for example, found it relevant
to read “…an article about medicine, which I’m very
interested in because I’m going to study medicine…”.
Unfortunately, not all class work involves learning,
because “…if you’re not interested in the books, then
of course it’s rather difficult to read them”. Grammar
tasks and other “ordinary tasks” are, on the whole,
dismissed as boring and not useful. Compulsory tasks
lacking choice seem to have least relevance to students’
lives: “something you no way want to read about,
camels in Australia or some other rubbish”; “absolute
garbage…didn’t make any sense”; and “…Pride and
Prejudice…it wasn’t much fun”.
A final point in this theme is that some students are
able to take responsibility for their own learning. Jón,
for example, is pro-active about not understanding
course material in English: “I got Dad to help me, he’s
an English teacher at primary school.” Although stu-
dents seem to want to base tasks on their own hobbies
when possible, some are able to accept the compromise
of working on a wide range of topics since “…I mean,
what I find boring someone else may find very inter-
esting, so [the teachers] can’t just take one thing”.
The Learning Self
A second significant area of relevance to students of
English studies at secondary school concerns learning,
be it improvement in English proficiency, new knowl-
edge on a variety of topics, or study and social skills.
In terms of improved proficiency in English, the
practical relevance of vocabulary expansion seems to
rank high in the minds of students: “… gaining this
vocabulary has helped me enormously in understand-
ing more than before and being able to express myself
better…”. Specifically, vocabulary gains at school are
linked to an improved understanding of register and
appropriateness:
…if you’re not in English and just play computer
games then maybe you only understand the English
in computer games, not necessarily the vocabulary
connected with something else. …
6 MÁLFRÍÐUR