In Memory of Carlos Alfredo Yorio Carlos Alfredo Yorio June 19, 194o-January 23, 1989 This sectionisdedicatedtothememoryofCarlosAlfredo Yorio. Carlos made a profound contribution to the field ofsecond language teaching in Canada. HewasPresidentofTESLOntarioin 1976-77, OntarioRepresen tative to thefounding meetingofTESLCanadain 1977 and Second Vice PresidentofTESOLfrom 1978to 1980. Inadditiontohisactivities within theseprofessional associations, CarlosservedtheCanadianTESLcommu nity through numerous conferencepresentations andplenary addressesfor associations such as SPEAQ, TESL Ontario and TEAL. In his career at the University of Toronto, he was Coordinator of ESL Programmes, School ofContinuing Studies from 1973 to 1977, Academic Coordinator of the TESL Certificate Programme, Woodsworth College from 1973 to 1983andaprofessorintheDepartmentofLinguisticsfrom 1973to 1984. Carlos' publications are testimony to his significant and wide-ranging contribution to second language teaching and learning. In addition, some ofhis many friends, colleagues and students pay tribute to Carlos' enor mous influence on their professional and personal lives. 10 TESLCANADAJOURNAL!REVUETESLDUCANADA VOL. 6, NO.2, MARCH 1989. Publications 1971 "SomeSources ofReading Problems in Foreign Language Learn ers", LANGUAGE LEARNING, Vol. 22, No.2, pp. 107-115. 1972 Review ofReadingson English as aSecondLanguage, editedby K. Croft,LANGUAGELEARNING, Vol. 22, No.2, pp. 305-307. 1973 "The Generative Process ofIntonation", LINGUISTICS, No. 97, pp. 111-125. 1974 Review of Teaching English as a Second Language, by Robert and Frieda Politzer, LANGUAGE LEARNING, Vol. 24, No. I, pp. 151-153. 1975 "E.S.L. at the College Level", TESL TALK, Vol. VI, No.3, pp. 62-67. 1976 "Discussion of Explaining Sequence and Variation in Second Language Acquisition", LANGUAGE LEARNING, Special Issue No.4, Papers in Second Language Acquisition (Proceedings of the 6th Annual Conference on AppliedLinguistics, University of Michigan), pp. 59-63. 1976 TESL-A Selected AnnotatedBibliographyfor Teacher Training in Canada-I976. Published by the Ministry ofCulture and Rec reation, Citizenship Branch, Province ofOntario. 1976 Ingles Para Defenderse, in collaboration with Lillian Butovsky and John McHugh. Published by the Ministry of Culture and Recreation, Citizenship Branch, Province ofOntario (pp. 1-77) Note: Translated into Italian Primafrasi d'inglese (1979) 1977 ONTESOL 77-TeachingandLearningEnglish asaSecondLan guage: Trends in Research andPractice, edited with H. Douglas Brown and Ruth Crymes. TESOL, Georgetown University. 1978 The Teaching ofEnglish as a SecondLanguage in Ontario: Cur rent Issues and Problems, with J. Handscombe, B. Tonkin, M. Tyacke, and A. Wilson. Published by the TESL Association of Ontario. 1979 "Adult Views on Foreign Language Teaching Methods", with Joanne HarackHayne, OPTIONS, Educational Development#4, University ofToronto. Note: Translated into French to appear in Options nouvelles en didactique dufrancais langue etrangere, fonctionelles, sociolin guistiques, semiolinguistiques. Ed. by P.R. Leon and Jack Yashinsky; Marcel Didier, Canada, 1981. II CARLOS A. YORIO 1980 "The Teacher's Attitude Towardthe Student's Outputin the Sec ond Language Classroom", in Catesol Occasional Papers, #6, Fall 1980(pp. 1-8),CaliforniaAssociationofTeachersofEnglish to Speakers ofOther Languages. Note: Reprinted inTEAL OccasionalPapers, Vol. 5, 1981 under thetitle"TheTeachers' AttitudestoStudentErrors". (pp. 53-61), British ColumbiaAssociation ofTeachers ofEnglish as an Addi tional Language. Also reprinted in Pre-Service Training Project for Vocational Teachers oftheLimitedEnglish Speaking, Illinois OfficeofEdu cation, Department of Adult, Vocational and Technical Educa tion. 1980 "Conventionalized Language Forms and The Development of Communicative Competence",TESOL Quarterly, Vol. XIV, #4, pp. 433-442. Note: This paper was selected for inclusion as recommended reading in the Biomedical Information Service Bulletin of the University of Sheffield, England, Vol. 36, #2. 1980 Review ofBilingual, ESOLandForeignLanguageTeacherPrep aration: Models, Practices, Issues, ed. by J. Fanselow and R. Light(TESOL, 1977),CanadianModernLanguageReview, Vol. 36, #4, pp. 765-766. 1980 ONTESOL 79TheLearnerinFocus, Editedwith K. Perkinsand J. Schachter. TESOL, Georgetown University. 1981 WHO DID IT? A Crime Reader for Students ofEnglish, with L.A. Morse. Prentice-Hall, New Jersey. 1981 "TeachingMethods, TheBrain, andotherSimpleMatters, orAre We Ready for Applied Neurolinguistics?" TESL TALK, Vol. 12, #'s 1 and 2, Ontario Ministry of Culture and Recreation, pp. 50-58. Note: Reprinted in Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics, Vol. 2, 1981, pp. 226-244. 1982 Review of IDIOMatically Speaking, edited by J. McConochie, E. Block, G. Brookes, andB. Gonzales, NYSESOLBEA, 1981, Idiom, 1982. 1984 "TheStateoftheArtinSecondLanguageTeachingandLearning: ALinguisticPerspective"inProceedingsofthe15thAnnualSym posium of the Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics, Autumn 1984, Vol. 6, #2, pp. 115-122. 12 TESLCANADAJOURNAL!REVUETESLDUCANADA VOL. 6. NO.2. MARCH 1989. 1985 Review of David Lightfoot's The Language Lottery: Toward a Biology ofGrammars (MIT Press, 1982) in The McGill Journal ofEducation, Winter 1985, Vol. 20, #1, pp. 92-93. 1985 "The ESL Reading Class: Reality or Unreality" in The Contexts ofReading, Hedley, C. andBaratta, T. (Eds.), Ablex Publishing, Norwood, N.J. (Chapter 10, pp. 151-164). 1985 "Prosodic Domains in ForeignerTalk Discourse" (with P. Avery and S. Ehrlich) inInputinSecondLanguageAcquisition, S. Gass and C. Madden (Eds.), Newbury House Publishers (Chapter 13, pp. 214-229). 1986 "Consumerismin SecondLanguageLearningandTeaching", The CanadianModernLanguageReview, Vol. 42, #3, pp. 668-687. 1986 "Creative Collaboration in Curricula" inProceedings ofthe Sym posium on Language andthe World ofWork in the 21stCentury, Department ofEducation, TheCommonwealthofMassachusetts, pp. 73-80. 1987 Introduction to The Teaching ofPronunciation by P. Avery and S. Ehrlich, Special Volume of TESL Talk, Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Culture, Ontario, Canada. (pp. 6-7). 1987 "An essential Bibliography for TESOL" in The TESOL Newslet ter, Special Anniversary Issue, edited by J. Haskell, TESOL, Washington, D.C. (Vol. XXI, #2). 1987 "Is it or Isn't it? The Duality ofParodic Crime Fiction" (with L. Paravisini) inComicCrime, ed. byE.F. Bargainnier, ThePopular Press, Bowling Green State University, (pp. 181-193). 1987 "Building Multiple Bridges: Eclecticism in LanguageTeaching", TESL CanadaJournal(Vol. 5, # 1, pp. 91-100) S. FraserUniver sity, B.C., Canada. Reprinted by the University of Saskatchewan (Division of Extension and Community Relations) for an Independent Study Teacher-training textbook (1988). Reprinted by Teaching andLearning English, EFL Teachers' Association, Cordoba, Argentina (Vol. 3, 1988, pp. 2-6). 1988 "Bilingual Education: Getting it all Together", Equity andExcel lence/School of Education Quarterly, The University of Mas sachusetts, (Issue 136, Vol. 23, #4, pp. 8-13). 1988 "Language Facilitation: A Way ofImproving the Odds" (with E. Klein and P. Enright) in Proceedings of the 1987 CUNY ESL Council Conference, ed. by L. Fox, CUNY. (Forthcoming). CARLOS A. YORIO 13 1988 "Idiomaticity as an IndicatorofSecondLanguage Proficiency" in Bilingualism Across the Life Span. ed. by K. Hyltenstam and L. Obler, Cambridge University Press (Forthcoming). 1989 "Discourse Structure and the Negotiation of Comprehensible Input" (with S. Ehrlich and P. Avery), Studies in Second Lan guage Acquisition. Vol. XI (Forthcoming). Tributes With Carlos, uniquely, I went through a period where it was hard for me to separate his personal being from his professional one. With most of our colleagues, splitting the persons and their professions is hardly a problem. I mean, I never confused the gangling anglophile down the hall with the Great Vowel Shift, or saw the pert stylistician in the photocopy room as an instanceofTemporalLinking. ButwithCarlos, Iwentthrough an academic year or two when, every time I saw him coming, I thought, Aha! the Perfect Monitor. The thought did not come to me out of nowhere. It was planted there by Carlos himself. It was a time-1979-80 or thereabouts, as I recall when Carlos's main research interests focussed on second-language accents. He was interested, naturally, in whethertheaccents ofadult ESL speakers could be improved and, if so, how. He was also interested in why ESL speakers had accents in the first place. There was a corollary to the 'why' question. Carlos wanted to know why he himself, as an adult ESL speaker, had no-well, almost no accent. Since our discussions of these matters took place not in lecture halls or language labs but in coffee shops and corridors, I mainly heard aboutthe corollary. He seemedtobeengaged, Ioncetoldhim, inresearch designed to let the world know why he spoke English so well. I meant it facetiously, but he thought that was a pretty good way to put it. Putthat way, it seems solipsistic. Itdoes, however, generalize. He was not the only adult speaker whose English bore little trace ofits secondar iness, althoughthey arefew. Exceptwhenhewasexcited, theonlydetect able features ofhis accent were occasional, and very slight, tensing of [I] and occasional nasality of some vowels. If you didn't know in advance 14 TESLCANADAJOURNAL/REVUETESLDUCANADA VOL. 6, NO.2, MARCH 1989. that he was a native speaker ofSpanish, you would probably never have guessed from these clues that he was not a native speaker of English. When he got excited-as one time at adepartmental meeting, when some issue that I have now forgotten caused him to jump up and down on the spot while expostulating at top speed for aboutfive minutes-more ofthe vowels tensed and nasalised, and his intonation tended to stay level at phrasal junctures. But most ofthe time he was unaccented, and that was a source ofpride for him. Aroundthissametime, hetravelledtoseveralfar-flungplacestopresent a lecture about ESL accents in which the punch-line was his admission at the end that his own (lackof) accentcast doubt upon many ofthe theories he had just been discussing. Carlos particularly liked to bring two concepts to bear on the question of ESL accents. One was monitoring. He was convinced that one ofthe crucial ways in which ESL speakers varied was in the degree ofon-line correcting they exercised while speaking. He was convinced that the "monitor" existed as part of the language faculty, that speakers could strengthen their monitoring capacity, and that teachers of ESL should develop the methods for doing so. He also maintained, ofcourse, that he himselfwas the Perfect Monitor. Theotherconcepthe liked to invoke was Harry Whitaker'sautomatiza tion, the hypothesis that certain complex behaviourpatterns, ifperformed early and often, may become neurologically imprinted as automatic reflexes. Because automatization happens young, adults who mastered Chopin etudes, triple gainers, or English allophony as children always perform them better than adults who learn them as adults. Iargued that the two concepts seemed incompatible, that no amount of monitoring could compensate for skills so complex that they had to be automatized. Carlos scoffed at my naIvete, declaring that the monitor was precisely the adult mechanism that made up for missed automatization. Automatization is pre-conscious, but developing the monitor, he said, takes conscious effort., It can be done. Monitoring can not only be improved, itcan be perfected. He offeredhimself, ofcourse, as the prime exhibit. The Perfect Monitor was only a minor episode in the two decades that I knew Carlos. (I met him first at the LSA Institute in 1969, before either of us arrived at the University of Toronto.) But it seems to me it was characteristic ofCarlos as an ~cademic-a prototype ofwhat he did best. Although researchers are no closernow than they were then to finding out anything empirical about either monitoring or automatization, which is to say that our reasons for believing that they exist remain intuitive, perhaps even esthetic, Carlos believed in both of them quite passionately. They 'felt' right to him; he considered them part of his 'experience'. He had a CARLOS A. YORIO 15 personal stake in them. Over coffee in the old departmental lounge, he would espouse them not as interesting hypotheses but as facts oflife-his life, ifnotyours. Intheclassroom,heconveyedthosepersonalizedconvic tions about them to his students. ESL accents and the role ofmonitoring were not merely casual entries on his course outline. They were real things, personal things he lived with and cared about. And his students got caught up in his enthusiasm, and learned betterbecause ofit-learned indelibly, in some cases. I'm surethat, like me, more than afew ofthose studentsrememberhimas, amongmanyotherthings, thePerfectMonitor. J.K. Chambers University ofToronto I first met Carlos at the ELI at Michigan in the early 70's. Those ofus who worked at the ELI in those days were quite a closely knit "family." We knew each otherwell and respected and loved each other. Carlos was a central part ofthat family: lively, creative, outspoken; and wherever he was, you would find people around him laughing-seeing the humorous side ofthings. I always enjoyed Carlos's dry humour. I don't know how many times I was caught off guard by his tongue-in-cheek comments! One time he sent me a paper he had written on the humour of language leaming-a side oflearning that we both have always appreciated. He reminded us in the paperofthe importanceoflaughing with-notat-ourstudents as they do outrageous things with language. Carlos practiced what he preached! The profession will miss Carlos. Here was a person who, from his professional startatMichigan, tohis workinToronto, to hisrecent leader ship in New York, constantly gave of himself. He was an idea person, always planting seeds of ideas in people's minds and then challenging them to carry those ideas out. He was a teacher whose empathy with graduate students inspired them to greater achievements. He served in numerous capacities in TESL Canada and TESOL, always efficiently, kindly, selflessly. Carlos touched many ofus in his stay here in this life. Because ofhim our profession is stronger, we are more honest with each other, and we can laugh with each other a little more. Thank you, Carlos! H. Douglas Brown San Francisco State University Sitting in my first faculty meeting of the ELI in the north university building ofthe University ofMichigan 17 years ago, I had no inkling that the handsome, urbane, impeccably dressed young man, who stood up and 16 TESLCANADAJOURNAL/REVUETESLDUCANADA VOL. 6. NO.2. MARCH 1989. spoke so articulately about a subject I can now no longer recall, would tum out to be my lifelong friend. Carlos impressed me then and has continuedto leave an imprinton me. I have admired his teaching (he made English Sentence Structure cometo life!), his enthusiasm for teaching and learning (which neverfailed to fuel my own), his insights into theory building and his ability to apply theory to practice, and his skillful administrative and organizational abilities. He has been one ofmy models ofdedication and commitment to ourfield of second language teaching. But what I appreciate most ofall has been his friendship, which he manifested in numerous ways overthe years, despite the time and distance that have intervened since those early days in graduateschool. IshallmissseeingCarlos, enjoying(sometimessuffering) his distinctive sense of humour, and the boisterous give and take of our conversations, but he will remain forever a significant part ofmy life. Rita Wong San Francisco State University Carlos Yorio was agreatfriend and awonderful professional colleague. Whenever I was working on a new project or had an idea that I wanted to explore, Carlos was always there, offering notonly his interest butalso his unfailing insight and support. He had a refreshingly pragmatic way of blending theory and practice, and I was continually impressed with how much he knew about so many things. His enthusiasm and energy were infectious, and his commitment to excellence never wavered. His passing is a great loss to all of us. I miss him. Barry P. Taylor San Francisco State University Carlos was my mentor, the one who modelled for me what being a teacher and a professional was all about. Let me give you an example. When I was making a career shift from ESL to the museum field in the late 1970's, Iwentthrough aparticularly difficultperiod. Icouldnotseem to get that all importantfirstjob in my newly-chosen profession. Discour aged, I confided in Carlos, "I feel I have no talent." He immediately replied, "Oh, you have a little talent." This, of course, was the exact combination ofsympathy and criticism needed to sting me into proving I had more than a little talent. Shortly afterwards, I did just that by getting my first curatorialjob. Thatto me wasCarlos, aconsummateteacherwho knew how to bring out the best in his students, colleagues and friends. I will miss him. Lynne Kurylo Royal Ontario Museum CARLOS A. YORIO 17 CARLOS ALFREDO YORIO SPECIAL. You knew it the first time you met him. Here was no ordinary person. You knew it when he walked into a room. Here was someone very special indeed. It was intangible . . but you knew it . . · . his bearing .. .. his demeanor . . · . his sharp observant eye . .. his crisp clean speech patterns . BUT MORE. The mind was special. Cutting through to the core ofan issue. Clear elucidator of complex arguments. Quick to question the unsubstantiated. Seeing patterns and relationships; It was energizing to match wits with him! BUT MORE. The heart was special. He touched the lives of so many many ofus . · . in sharing with us .. .. in challenging us . · . in supporting us " .. in warm and caring ways . He was a strong and steady advocate for students' needs. It was a pleasure to call him 'colleague'. BUT MORE. It was a privilege to call him 'friend'. Joan Morley University ofMichigan Carlos dressed in sober grey and dark blue, but I always think ofhim inglorious technicolour. Hisnon-verbalbehaviourwascolourfullyexpres sive, and his verbal even more so. Iwas tallerthan he was, buthe always seemed larger than life. Whether it was with a group of friends, or in a huge lecture hall, his charisma would attract the attention which he thoroughly deserved and enjoyed. Even though he never seemed to stand still, he was always close by when you needed him. (In fact, sometimes too close by my anglo-saxon rules ofspace. He taught me the meaningof proxemics!) 18 TESLCANADAJOURNAL/REVUETESLDUCANADA VOL. 6. NO.2. MARCH 1989 He also taught me about exotic drinks. We drank Champagne Mimosas in the Rockefeller Centre when I took my daughter to visit New York for the first time. We drank Tequila Sunrises inMexicoCity, and Strawberry Daquiris in Miami. It has just occurred to me that he still owes me one! As my academic mentor, he could stimulate and respond, theoretically challenge and provide practical reassurance, all in the same breath. From the day we met until our last telephone conversation, we had spirited arguments which helpedmeto view my ideasandthe ideasofothersmore honestly. Ourlastconversation was hilarious because, as he was critically analyzing some suggestions I had made about learning strategies, the dog next door apparently attacked his garbage, and he could see this from his window. The rest ofthe interaction was typically Carlos, flavoured with some verygraphic epithets, as he tried todecide whatwas more important to him: telling me why I was wrong or dismembering the dog. The dog won. Time spent with Carlos was delightful or infuriating but never boring. I shall miss him terribly and know that life will be more drab and grey without him in it. Marian Tyacke University ofToronto I was fortunate to have been among Carlos' earliest students and more so to have worked alongside him in the mid-seventies when he came to the School ofContinuing Studies at the University ofToronto. A kind and inspiring educator, he was concerned that his ESL teacher trainees become model ESL teachers. To this end, he was eagerto impart whathehadlearnednotonlyfrom booksbutfrom histeachingexperience. He impressed us with his enthusiasm-sometimes childlike-at hearing about classroom incidents which had some bearing on what he was teach ing even when they didn't seem to corroborate his theory. Perhaps this is one ofthe reasons he endearedhimselfto all his students. Carlos touched each ofus in someway and it will be along timebefore we come to grips with his death. His fond memory will always remain with us. Phyllis Amber Seneca College For me as 'student' it was first and foremost his teaching 'style'. A good lecturer, yes, but always seeming to be 'straining at the leash' to move away from the lectern and move among his students as if being physically closer to them he could more effectively make his point or reinforce his point. To follow Carlos with youreyes in aclassroommeant constantlyturning yourhead to catchhimashepacedbackandforth about the room. CARLOS A. YORIO 19