Summary_PLLT_chapter 1

 

Chapter 1. Language, Learning, and Teaching

 

Questions about SLA

1) Learner Characteristics (Who?)

: ethnic, linguistic, religious heritage, native languages, levels of education, socioeconomic characteristics, intellectual capacities…..

2) Linguistic Factors (What?)

: differences between L1/L2, linguistic system of L2

3) Learning Processes (How?)

: mental, intellectual, emotional, and physical processes

3) Age and Acquisition (When?)

: children vs. adults, the younger, the better?

4) Classroom Instruction 

: various methodological approaches, textbooks, materials, teacher styles, instructional factors, time 

5) Context (Where?)

: ESL vs. EFL, sociopolitical conditions, language policy

6) Purpose (Why?)

: reasons to acquire the second language, motivation level

 

Rejoicing in Our Defeats

• Asking the right questions is more valuable than processing storehouses of knowledge
• Answers must be framed in a context that can vary from one learner  to another, and from one moment to another
• Eclectic, enlightened, and cautious approach 

 

Language?

1. is systematic
2. uses arbitrary symbols
3. uses symbols that are primarily vocal but may also be visual 
4. uses symbols that have conventionalized meanings 
5. is used for communication 
6. operates in a speech community 
7. essentially human, but not limited to humans
8. has universal characteristics

 

Learning and Teaching

1) learning: ‘acquiring knowledge of a subject or skill by study, experience, or instruction’

    Learning is: 

• Acquisition or “adding”
• The retention of information or skills
• The involvement of active, conscious focus, and subconscious attention 
• The application of active, conscious focus and subconscious attention
• Relatively permanent but subject to forgetting 
• The result of practice, perhaps reinforced practice 
• A change in behavior

 

2) teaching: guiding and facilitating learning, enabling a person to learn, and setting the conditions for learning

Three perspectives on second language acquisition

 

Structural Linguistics and Behavioral Psychology (1940~50)

• Structural or descriptive linguistics
• describe human languages and identifies their structural characteristics
• language can differ from each other without limit
• examine only overtly observable data ( ignore any mentalistic theorizing)
• can be dismantled into small pieces or units that could be described scientifically, contrasted and add up

 

Generative Linguistics and Cognitive Psychology

generative-transformational linguistics (1960s) -Noam Chomsky

• descriptive adequacy + explanatory level of adequacy
•  “principled basis, independent of any particular language, for the selection of the descriptively adequate grammar of each language”
•  Ferdinand de Saussure (1916) : parole (≒ performance)/ langue (≒ competence or underlying and unobservable language ability) 
•  focus on the importance of the underlying (and nonobservable) levels of meaning and thought

Cognitive psychologist

•  meaning, understanding, knowing were significant data
•  discover underlying motivations nad deeper structures of human behavior by a rational approach

 

Constructivism: A Multidisciplinary Approach

 integration of linguistic, psychological, and sociological paradigms

emphasis on social interaction and discovery or construction of meaning

• Cognitive constructivism

• Piaget: active role for students in their own learning
•  “learning is a developmental process that involves change, self-generation, and construction , each building on prior learning experiences”

 

• Social constructivism

•  Lev Vygotsky
• emphasis on the importance of social interaction and cooperative learning
• “ children’s thinking and meaning-making is socially constructed and emerges out of their social interactions with their environment”
• ZPD (zone of proximal development): the distance between learners’ existing developmental state and their potential development
• rejected the notion of predetermined stages and social interaction was foundational in cognitive development
• conversational discourse, sociocultural factors in learning, and interactionist theories

 Table 1.2 Three perspectives on second lanlguage acquisition

School of Thought	Typical Themes
Structural Linguistics/ Behavioral Psychology	Description, Observable performance, Empiricism, Scientific method, Conditioning, Reinforcement
Generative Linguistics/ Cognitive Psychology	Acquisition, Innateness, Language competence, Deep Structure, Interlanguage, Systematicity, Variability
Constructivism	Interactive discourse, Sociocultural factors, Construction of identity, ZPD, Cooperative learning, Discovery learning

 

	Behaviorism (1940s & 1950s)	Cognitivism (1960s & 1970s)	Constructivism (1980s ~  )
Psycho- logy	Behavioristic approach	Cognitive, rational approach	Functional, humanistic, constructive approach
Linguistics	Structural or descriptive	Generative-transformational
Key concepts	∙ scientific method: S-R-R ∙ habit formation: imitation, repetition ∙ focus on language form	∙ mental activities: meaning, understanding,  Knowing ∙ acquiring language rule ∙ focus on language form	∙ social interaction ∙ communicative competence ∙ focus on language functions ∙ ZPD(Zone of proximal development)
Theoretical hypothesis	Skinner’s operant conditioning	Chomsky’s innateness hypothesis	Long’s interaction hypothesis
Classroom technique	Rote learning ∙Pattern drilling: repetition, structural, substitutional drills, backward build-up, chain	Meaningful learning ∙ Advance organizer	Cooperative learning ∙ jigsaw  ∙ functional syllabus: informing, agreeing, apologizing requesting, promising
Methods	ALM(Audiolingual Method)	Cognitive code learning Form-focused instruction	CLT(Communicative language teaching): learner-centered, interactive learning, whole language approach, content-based, task-based instruction
Data analysis	Contrastive analysis	Error analysis	Discourse analysis
Limitations	Learners’ creativity X	Language function X

Nineteen Centuries of Language Teaching

 

1) Classical method: focus on grammatical rules, memorization of vocabulary and grammatical forms, translation of texts, and performance of written exercises

 

2) Grammar translation method (GTM): ① focuses mainly on reading and writing ② uses authentic texts ③ much vocabulary is taught ④ encourages students to translate rather than ‘think’ in the target language ⑤ little or no attention to oral/aural communication

 

Language Teaching in the Twentieth Century

 

1) Direct method: ① emphasizes listening and speaking ② focuses on oral language as it is used by native speakers ③ classes are conducted in the target language ④ uses spontaneous conversations and explanations based on classroom objectives 

 

2) Audiolingual method (ALM): ① emphasizes listening and speaking ② focuses on oral language as it is used by native speakers ③ uses memorized dialogues and pattern drills ④ encourages students to internalize language patterns within little of no grammatical explanation ⑤ requires well-pronounced, grammatically correct, full-sentence responses from students

 

 

Reference)

- Brown, H. D.(2014). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (6th Edition), Pearson (지정도서)

- 고려대학교 교육대학원 영어교육 전공 영어교과교육론 서원화 교수님 (2022년 가을학기)