Contextualizing College ESL Classroom Praxis: A Participatory Approach to Effective Instruction (review)

In Contextualizing College ESL Classroom Praxis, Lawrence Berlin tackles the thorny concern that confronts all language teachers: What is effective language instruction? Berlin's thorough investigation of this complex issue is based on extensive case-study research that explored effective language teaching in the multicultural ESL classrooms of four university teachers. Berlin's model for effective language instruction, or classroom praxis, brings together theory and practice. The model's theoretical framework and participatory approach to instruction are described in the first three chapters. Berlin's approach makes the learning process more meaningful for students from diverse racial, ethnic, linguistic, and political backgrounds; it is based on Dewey's notion that students' prior experience is to be valued and on Freire's critical pedagogy, that seeks to establish safe classrooms where every student's voice is heard. Teachers execute a variety of roles determined by the dynamic nature of a class as the needs of students and circumstances change. They base their decisions on their own theories of language and of language learning, as well as those of their students. Berlin presents an overview [End Page 431 of different twentieth-century orientations toward language teaching, but he finds them problematic because they pay insufficient attention to the myriad of ESL classroom variables.

In chapters 4 and 5, beliefs about effective language instruction are explored through observation, as well as through discussions, with four teachers and several of their students. Although the four teachers have different backgrounds, experiences, skills, and gifts, each places the student at the heart of his or her teaching. They do this through open, meaningful dialogue about expectations and what is happening in the classroom and why. Through this sharing process, teacher and students work together to discover what needs to be learned and the best way to learn it. A solid grounding in the theory and practice of language pedagogy helps these teachers to make choices based on their understanding of student needs and expectations.

Chapters 6, 7, and 8 provide an analysis of the functions that define effective language teaching: pedagogical, environmental, and societal. The model is presented in chapters 9 and 10. Effective language teaching depends on meeting students' expectations in each functional area. The term pedagogical function refers to teachers' praxis, as qualified professionals, in meeting expectations in the ever-changing multicultural classroom. Effective teachers not only teach language skills but also address students' cognitive, emotional, and psychosocial classroom needs. The environmental function is to find a balance. Balance is needed between teaching and learning, in student-teacher relationships, and in addressing and resolving disparities. The teacher's pedagogical skills and natural gifts provide the tools required to recognize, diagnose, and respond to learner differences within the class and beyond. The societal function involves making connections between what occurs in the classroom and what is needed to meet future language requirements.

This book's major strength is the way Berlin models the very approaches he advocates for use in the ESL classroom. The book is about classroom praxis, 'the place where theory and practice come together' (p. 6). The model is firmly grounded in theory; Berlin's participatory approach is based on the communicative approach to language teaching and the principles of critical pedagogy and multicultural education. Each is described, as are the processes of teaching and learning, the historical orientations to language teaching, and the factors that affect second language acquisition. The four teachers discuss their own teaching practice, illustrating, through personal experience, how having a firm theoretical foundation supports and benefits teaching and allows them to tailor their pedagogy to student needs. The voices of students, too, are heard as they comment on teacher effectiveness. Berlin contends that students must speak for themselves if there is to be a better understanding of their needs, interests, and experience.

Berlin models effective teaching. Each chapter begins with questions for reflection and discussion as readers focus on their beliefs and listen to the ideas of others...