Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can; there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did.❞
‒Sarah Caldwell-
‒Sarah Caldwell-
Dear,
I am here after a while. I am so busy in my school, I am busy with my private business (tranlsating and interpreting). I am so happy one to see that many people still do visit my blog. I am so glad that I can share everything with you and I have to say that I will share many rewarding things. Today, I will post a few things about learning the second language in the classroom. In this case, it is English because it is the second language in my country. My students start learning English from the third grade of primary school and they continue with it till the end of their university studies. I really like my students who are always ready to work and learn. They always want something new, so I try to do my best in order to meet their needs.
Second language learning in the classroom
Most people would agree that
learning a second language in a natural acquisition context or `on the street`
is not the same as learning in the classroom. Many believe that learning `on
the street` is more effective. Natural acquisition contexts should be understood
as those in which the learner is exposed to the language at work or in social
interaction. The traditional instruction environment is one where the language
is being taught to a group of second or foreign language itself. The teacher’s
goal is to see to it that students learn the vocabulary and grammatical rules
of the target language. The goal of learners in such courses is often to pass
an examination rather than to use the language for daily communicative
interaction. Supporters of communicative language teaching have argued that
language is not learned by the gradual accumulation of one item after another.
Five proposals for classroom teaching
Theories have been proposed for
the best way to learn a second language in the classroom. But the only way to
answer the question: ‘Which theoretical proposal holds the greatest promos for
improving language learning in classroom settings?’ is through the research
which specifically investigates relationship between teaching and learning. Both
formal and informal researches are needed. Formal research involves careful
control of the factors which may affect learning. It often uses large numbers
of teachers and learners.
Informal research often involves
small numbers, perhaps only one class with one teacher, and the emphasize here
is not on what is most general, but rather on what is particular about this
group or this teacher. For each proposal, a few relevant
studies will be presented, discussed and compared with one another.
These proposals are:
1) Get it right from the
beginning
2) Say what you mean and mean
what you say
3) Just listen
4) Teach what is teachable
5) Get it right in the end
Get it right in
the beginning
The `Get it right in the
beginning` proposal for second language teaching best describes the underlying
theory. It is the proposal which probably best describes the way in which most
of us were taught a second language in school. The behaviorist view of language
acquisition is in assuming that learners need to build up their language
knowledge gradually by practicing only correct forms. Teachers avoid letting
beginning learners speak freely because this would allow them to make errors. Here
are some examples:
S1: And uh, in the afternoon, uh,
I came home and, uh, uh, I uh, washing my dog.
T: I wash.
S1: My dog.
T: Every day you wash your dog.
S1:No.
S2: He doesn’t have dog.
S1: No, but we can say it.
Say what you mean
and mean what you say
This proposal emphasizes the
necessity for learners to have access to meaningful and comprehensible input
through conversational interactions with teachers and other students. When
students are given the opportunity to engage in conversations, they are
compelled to negotiate meaning, that is, to express and clarify their
intentions, thoughts, opinions and so on. The negotiation leads learners to
acquire the language forms-the words and grammatical structures-which carry the
meaning. The claim is that as learners work toward a mutual understanding in
the negotiation process, language acquisition is facilitated.
Example:
S: Me and Jo see, we don’t have
the same as hers.
T: That’s fine. Yeah, because
there’ll be different answers.
S: Why...uh, we do that with a
partner?
T: Simply so you can control.
Just listen
This proposal is based on the assumption that it is not
necessary to drill and memorize language forms in order to learn them. Here, the
emphasize is on providing comprehensible input through listening and/or reading
activities.
`Just listen` is one of the most
influential - and most controversial - approaches to second language teaching
because it not only holds that second language learners need not drill and
practice language in order to learn it. According to this view, it is enough to
hear and understand the target language. One way to do this is to provide
learners with a steady diet of listening and reading comprehension activities
with no (or very few) opportunities to speak or interact with the teacher or
other learners in the classroom.
Teach what is
teachable
The proposal referred to as
`Teach what is teachable` is one which has received increasing attention in
second language acquisition. Researchers supporting this view also claim that
certain other aspects of language-vocabulary, some grammatical features- can be
taught at any time. A learner’s success in learning these varational features
will depend on factors such as motivation, intelligence and quality of
instruction.
Get it right in
the end
`Get it right in the end` is
similar to the `teach what is teachable` proposal. Its proponents recognize a
role for instruction, but also assume that not everything has to be taught. This
proposal emphasizes the idea that some aspects of language must be taught. ‘Get
it right in the end’ also differs from ‘Just listen’ in that it is assumed that
learners will need some guidance in learning some specific features of the
target language. It is assumed that what learners learn when they are focusing
on language itself can lead to changes in their inter-language systems. The
supporters of this proposal will prevent learners from making errors. It is
sometimes necessary to draw learners` attention to their errors and to focus on
certain linguistic points.
Example:
S1: Make her shoes brown.
T: Wow, her shoes. Are those mom’s
shoes or dad’s shoes?
S1: Mom’s.
T: Mom’s. How do you know it is
mom’s?
S1: Because it’s her shoes.
I hope that some of you will find this rewarding for your work. If you have some questions and proposals, please feel free to contact me at: radepetricevic@yahoo.com.
Looking forward to hear from you.
Best regards,
Rade
