ENGLISH 101 B- the principle of language

ENGLISH PPT

1. The Principles of Language Learning

2. A. Cognitive Principles 1. Anticipation of reward. Learners are motivated to perform by the thought of a reward, tangible or intangible, long or short-term. From B.F. Skinner’s operant conditioning theory, human beings are universally driven to act, or ‘behave’, by the anticipation of some sort of reward – tangible or intangible, short term or long term – that will ensue as a result of the behavior (Brown, 1994).

3. What are the implications of these to language teaching? Provide genuine praise, encouragement, and compliments. Remind students to compliment and support one another. Remind students of long-term rewards in learning the target language. Enable them to make noticeable progress on difficult tasks. For poorly motivated students, external rewards such as gold stars and stickers or issuing certain privileges may spark some interest. Infect them with your enthusiasm for language learning.

4. 2. Meaningful Learning. Providing a realistic context to the use of language is thought to lead to better long term retention, as opposed to rote learning. Students learn language faster by associating sounds, words, structures and discourse elements with that which is meaningful in their daily life. Here are some classroom implications: Make lessons meaningful by appealing to students’ interests, academic and career goals. Link new topic or concept to something the students know to make the topic meaningful. This was cited in MTB-MLE.

5. 3. Avoid the pitfalls of rote learning such as: Too much grammar explanation Too many abstract principles and theories Too much drilling and or memorization – thus the term “drill-to-kill” Activities whose purposes are not clear Activities that do not contribute to accomplishing the goals of the lesson, unit or course Techniques that are so mechanical or tricky that students get centered on the mechanics instead of the language or meanings (Brown, 1994). In other words, observe these Don’ts: Too much grammar explanation Abstract principles and theories Too many drills and memories Activities with unclear purposes Extraneous activities Distractions that take the focus off of meaning

6.   3. Automaticity. This is subconscious processing of language for fluency. It can only be achieved without overanalyzing or without giving too much attention to language forms. Automaticity is the road to fluency.  Here are some implications of this principle to the classroom (Brown, 2002): Automaticity isn’t gained overnight. You have to be patient with your students as you slowly help them to achieve fluency. Speaking the target language is like playing the guitar, if you do not practice it, you will forget it. Don’t overwhelm your students with grammar. It can block pathways to fluency. A large proportion of your lessons are focused on the use of language in genuine and natural context.

7. 4.   Strategic Investment. Success in learning is dependent on the time and effort learners spend in mastering the language. The methods that the learner employs to internalize and to perform in the language are even as important as the teacher’s methods or even more so considering that learning is an active process. Successful mastery of the 2 nd language will be due to large extent to the learner’s own personal “investment” of time, effort, and attention to the second language. Language teachers can help students by employing a variety of strategies that cater to students’ multiple intelligences and learning styles.

8. 5. Intrinsic Motivation . The most potent learning “rewards” to enhance performance are those that stem from the needs, wants and desires within the learner (Brown, 1994). Learning a new language itself is rewarding, therefore, extrinsic reward should not be necessary at all.

9. B. Linguistic Principles 1. Native Language Effect. A learner’s native language creates both facilitating and interfering on learning. Brown (1994) suggests some ways to counteract the interfering language effects. a. Acquaint the learner with the native language cause of the error. b. Help your students understand that not everything about their native language will cause error. c. Coax students into thinking directly in the target language and not to resort to translation as they comprehend and produce language.

10. B. Linguistic Principles 2. Communicative Competence. Fluency and use are just as important as accuracy and usage. Communicative goals are best achieved by giving due attention to language use and not just usage, to fluency and not just accuracy, to authenticate language and contexts, and to students’ eventual need to apply classroom learning to previously unrehearsed contexts in the real world” (Brown, 1994,p.69).

11. For language teachers, this means 1)give grammar attention but don’t neglect the other components of communicative competence (sociolinguistic, strategic, discourse competence); 2) use language that students will actually encounter in the real world and provide genuine techniques for the actual conveyance of the information not just rote techniques. In the lesson on MTB-MLE, we learned that we teach for fluency, accuracy and meaning not fluency nor accuracy only.  

12. 3. Interlanguage. In second language learning, learners manifest a systematic progression of acquisition of sounds and words and structures and discourse features. In the process of acquisition, learners need feedback (teacher, peer and self) to eliminate logic errors and achieve competence.

13. What does this imply for language teachers? Language teachers must strike a balance between positive and negative feedback. Avoid too much negative feedback to shut off students’ attempt at communication and too much positive cognitive feedback to reinforce and fossilize errors. When you point out interlanguage errors, assure students that these errors mean that their brain is in ‘language learning mode’.

14. C. Socio-affective Domain 1. Language-Culture Connection   Learning a language also involves learning a complex system of cultural customs, values and ways of thinking, feeling or acting (Brown, 2000).

15. C. Socio-affective Domain What are the implications of this to language teachers? 1)Discuss cultural differences emphasizing that no culture is better than another. 2) Consciously connect culture and language.

16. C. Socio-affective Domain 3) Include among your techniques certain activities or materials that illustrate the connection between language and culture. 4) Don’t be culturally offensive in the class. 5) Use appropriate language. Language appropriateness depends on:

17.   Setting of the communication Topic Relationship among the people communicating Knowing what the taboos are What politeness indices are used What the politically correct term would be for something How a specific attitude (authority, friendliness, courtesy) is expressed

18.   2. Self-confidence. This is self-esteem or “I can do it” principle. Success in learning a language requires that the learners believe that they can learn it (Brown, 1994). “Learners’ belief that they indeed are fully capable of accomplishing a task is at least partially a factor in their eventual success in attaining the task” (Brown, 1994, p.62). What should language teachers do?

19.   What should language teachers do? 1. Give ample verbal and non-verbal assurances to students. Affirming students’ ability helps a lot. 2) Sequence techniques from easier to difficult to build confidence. This means building confidence of students by beginning with what they can easily do then bringing them up to something that continuously challenges their ability. Brown (1994) claims that the “eventual success that learners attain in a task is at least partially a factor of their belief that they indeed are fully capable of accomplishing.”

20.   3. Risk-taking. Students who are self-confident take risks and accomplish more. Experimenting with language slightly ‘beyond’ what is certain or known promotes language development and growth. What can language teachers do to encourage both accuracy and risk taking? 1. C arefully sequence techniques to ensure learner success. 2) Create an atmosphere in the classroom that encourages students to try out language, venture a response. 3) Provide reasonable challenges. 4) Return students’ risky attempts with positive affirmation.

21.   4. Language Ego. Alexander Guiora , a researcher in personality variables in second language acquisition, defines language ego as “the identity a person develops in reference to the language he or she speaks.” Brown (2007) notes that “oneself-identity is inextricably bound up with one’s language, for it is in the communicative process… that such identifies are confirmed, shaped, and reshaped.” When students study a second language, they will experience a sense of inadequacy when they cannot pronounce words correctly. The experience is heightened if they have been monolingual all their life.

22.     The new language may sound funny and students laugh at funny pronunciation or mispronunciation during speaking tasks. Or students may feel silly or unable to learn the language and so do not participate in language activities. Or the students may perceive the learning of a second language to be tantamount to rendering their first language obsolete, an affront to their native-language-based egos (Brown, 1994).  

23. In these instances, what should the language teacher do? Brown (1994) suggests the following: 1. Display supportive attitude to students. Explain that confusion of developing that second self in the second culture is a normal and natural process. Patience and understanding on your part will also ease the process. Choice of technique needs to be cognitively challenging but not affectively overwhelming. 2. Considering learners’ language ego states, know whom to call on; whom to ask volunteer information; when to correct a student’s speech error; whom to place in small groups or pairs and how ‘tough’ you can be to a student.