The Tapestry program, edited by Rebecca Oxford and Robin Scarcella (1994), is designed for students of English as a second language (ESL) at postsecondary institutions in North America.  The underlying assumption is that this group of ESL learners need and want to learn English for academic/career reasons principally but also for social and personal reasons (p. vii).  In the preface, (one for instructors and also one for students) there is an extensive discussion of what types of English language skills and related cultural abilities will be cultivated in order to promote active and empowered learners, a new concept for many ESL learners.  For instance, students will be expected to use self-evaluation/diagnosis strategies both individually and cooperatively, thus taking a much more hands-on approach to learning English.  Implied is the stance that the instructor is facilitator of learning activities in which students will become more active, responsible and motivated to persistently work on processes to develop all of their English skills at varying degrees. 

In addition, there is an emphasis on students being made aware of, and the use of, a wide range of learning strategies organized under six broad categories woven throughout the text (e.g., forming concepts, remembering new material, managing your learning, understanding and using emotions, and overcoming limitations) (p. viii).  A multitude of learning styles and cultural perspectives is also assumed to be prevalent in any ESL class and are therefore accommodated through a range of different materials and activities.

Authentic written and audio texts are used throughout the book and when combined with what the author suggests is meaningful communication enhance and elaborate on themes and tasks assumed to be both relevant and interesting to ESL learners, featuring such themes as: survival in the educational system, political changes, and protection of the environment.  The texts in the series themselves highlight one or two skills, but are said to provide a multi-skill approach designed to support and strengthen overall language development.  And, while grammar is present in all volumes, there is also a separate text/workbook to deal with grammar topics.

            In the volume entitled, “Tapestry:  Power Through the Written Word,” by Robin C. Scarcella (1994), English composition is the primary skill focus which is to be developed mainly for the high-intermediate ESL learner (p. xi).  There are four chapters that organize students’ attention around the abstract concept of power: Personal Power, Power through Force, Power and the Environment, and Power through the Written Word.  Each lesson chapter contains an introduction, three related lessons, an essay, and self-evaluation activities.

The introduction focuses learners on their own needs and wants through the completion of surveys and cooperative learning activities.  For each of the three readings in the lesson, for example, there are pre-reading, while reading, and post-reading activities which guide the learner into, through, and beyond text content.  The readings themselves represent a variety of genres and sources, as do the listening sections used to accompany each chapter.  The audiotaped stories and essays provide multiple exposures (and fodder for journal entries/responses) in order to recycle topics represented in the aforementioned readings.  Grammar explanations are kept to a minimum, but are briefly outlined using student samples to illustrate and practice key points.  Rhetorical style and features such as: cohesive devices, guidelines for specific writing of summaries, reports, narratives, letters, compare-contrast essays, etc. are also explicitly taught along with the traditional techniques for writing introductory paragraphs, body and conclusions using organizing tools such as outlines.  Essay assignments combined with real essays written by ESL learners at roughly the same level of ability as the textbook audience, give relevance and samples to follow, and also provide practice in peer and self-editing techniques.

            The text’s main strengths are principles embodied in what Murphy and Stoller (2001) call sustained content language teaching (SCLT).  There is an, “extended study of unified content [issues of power at the micro and macro levels], the exploration of information from multiple print and nonprint sources [newspaper articles, magazine spreads, speeches, essays, etc.], diverse viewpoints [journalists, laymen/women, political activists, students, etc.] to facilitate critical thinking, extensive reading, and many opportunities for comparison, contrast, synthesis, and evaluation [cooperative learning activities, quick writes, learning logs, journal entries, essays, letters, etc.]” (p. 3).   As mentioned earlier, scaffolding of key vocabulary (both specific and academic), along with successful language learning strategies is readily apparent in each lesson of the text.  The author’s consistent focus on the theme of power could thus be explored at various degrees and from various angles, lending itself easily to more elaboration or to a discovery of new unexplored issues related to students’ interests and/or needs.

The text also followed all of Ackerman’s (1990) guidelines for a thematic approach.  The first, which states that the concepts identified are not merely related to the subjects, but are important to them (p. 27), could be seen in the topic of lesson three entitled: Can Women Be Powerful? This was part of the larger chapter umbrella theme devoted to the discussion of personal power, which also had topics discussing what is power and who is powerful.   Taken another way, the concept of women being powerful would probably be of interest and relevance to ESL learners from varying contexts who wish to understand what are the roles and stereotypes about women and power in North American culture today.  This satisfies another of Ackerman’s guidelines: that the unit has the power to develop a sensibility incorporating and transcending those of the component subjects (p. 29).  In addition, the mere exploration of the concept of women’s power in North American society will also help to develop what Ackerman calls “desirable intellectual dispositions” (p. 30).  If ESL students come from a background where women do not have the same kinds of power as seen in this society, their horizons can be broadened and their ideas can be compared/contrasted in the various opportunities for class discussion, and writing/response activities.  Another of Ackerman’s guidelines emphasizes that the thematic approach should enhance the learning of discipline-based concepts (p. 27).  In the same section on women and power, students are guided to practice writing a persuasive essay after having read one written in 1971 by Judy Syfers called, “Why I Want a Wife.”  Students are directed back to the text to look for lexical cohesiveness through various strategies (e.g., identifying the repetitive key vocabulary, the use of related vocabulary words and using different words to say the same thing.)  Further, students are taught explicit paragraph transitions (again, students are directed to analyze the Syfers text), along with organizational guidelines for a persuasive essay.  A very handy tool is the boxed “useful expressions” to make students’ writing have a formal academic quality (e.g., students are directed to use chunks of words like: I support/I reject the idea that, I am certain that, Undoubtedly, etc.) (p. 60).   Hence, the text’s thoughtful adherence to the selection of topics within a broader theme, the identification of important content area concepts, the identification and practice of skills and strategies necessary for academic English success, underpin and link the materials seen within.

            One caution for those who may wish to use this book would be to consider the audience of ESL learners and their backgrounds.   The combination of assuming the learner will be active rather than passive, and the underlying philosophical agenda seen in the theme of power, may make some ESL learners hesitant and wary of the book’s underlying messages.  This is not a conservative text, and instructors may have some difficulty in getting students to believe in both the process of learner-centered instruction and the fact that North American students are expected to discuss and debate (with both their peers and the instructor) on heady matters that are complex, yielding no easy right/wrong positions, when students may not have had much experience in these types of activities beforehand.   However, these hurdles are by no means insurmountable, and are for all practical purposes necessary to overcome if learners are to genuinely participate and succeed in a university setting.

            All in all, this text navigated the difficult territory of providing a balance between language and content instruction that seems both relevant to students’ needs and motivating for students’ continued efforts to learn academic English skills.  The text’s materials and activities were cognitively engaging/interesting and demanding, while at the same time focusing students on genuine academic/personal language in meaningful ways.  Depending on the ESL learner audience, some modifications will have to be made to get students to buy-in to the learner-centered approach, as well as to enable them to feel comfortable sharing out ideas on such tension-filled topics.  Both students and their instructors however will find this text to be a wonderful point de départ on teaching academic content and language, while also providing a unique opportunity to learn valuable cultural perspectives.

References

Ackerman, D. B.  (1990).  Intellectual and practical criteria for successful curriculum integration.  In H. H. Jacobs (Ed.), Interdisciplinary curriculum: Design and implementation (pp. 25-37). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Murphy, J. M., & Stoller, F. L. (Eds).  (2001). TESOL Journal, 10.  Special Issue:  Sustained-content language teaching: An emerging definition.

Scarcella, R. C. (1994).  Power through the written word.  Boston, MA:  Heinle & Heinle.