AnintroductiontoForeignLanguageLearningandTeaching.docx

AnintroductiontoForeignLanguageLearningandTeaching.docx

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AnintroductiontoForeignLanguageLearningandTeaching

AnintroductiontoForeignLanguageLearningandTeaching

AnIntroductiontoForeignLanguageLearning

andTeaching

ThissemesterIreadabookcalledAnIntroductiontoForeign

LanguageLearningandTeaching.ItiswrittenbytheKeithJohnson,

publishedbyPearsonEducationLimited.ItisverysimilartothebookMiss.Leirecommendedforus.Generallyspeaking,itisaveryenlightenedbookforus.

Thereportconsistsoftwoparts.First,therestatementofthebook.Inmyopinion,theprocedureofretellingisalsoachanceformetofurtherunderstandtheideainthisbook.Then,Iwillgivemyownthoughtaboutthisbook.

1.TheThemeandStructureaboutThisBook

Thisbookiscomposedof15units.TheyareUnit1fivelearnersandfivemethods;Unit2whatistheretolearn;Unit3someviewsoflanguageandlanguagelearning;Unit4learnersandtheirerrors;Unit5acquisition:

somecharacteristics;Unit6Acquisition:

sometheories;Unit7learningandacquisitionagain;Unit8individuallanguagelearners:

somedifferences;Unit9goodlanguagelearnersandwhattheydo;Unit10languageteaching:

abriskwalkthroughrecenttimes;Unit11context;Unit12plans;Unit13waysandmeans;Unit14skills;Unit15Tests.

However,these15unitscanbedividedinto3parts.Part1,fromUnit1toUnit3,isaboutthebackgroundknowledge.Part2,fromUnit4toUnit

9,isaboutlearning.Part3,fromUnit10toUnit15,isaboutTeaching.

1.1BackgroundKnowledge

Firstofall,Part1,backgroundknowledge.Whatexactlyisinvolvedinlearningaforeignlanguage?

Whatistheretolearn?

Questionsliketheonesaboveneedtobeapproachedintwostages.Firstly,wewillidentifywhatdifferenttypesofknowledgeandskillareinvolvedinusingalanguage.Thiswillinvolvetheareasalreadymentioned-likepronunciation,vocabularyandgrammar-aswellassomelessobviousones.Theresultofthisstageofinquirywillbealistofallthelevelsonwhichalanguagecanbeanalyzed:

thelevelsinwhichthedisciplineoflinguisticsisconcernedwith.

Butdescribingthesedifferentlevelsofknowledgeandskillonlyhalf-answeroutquestions.Thisisbecausenoteverythinginvolvedinusingalanguageneedstobelearnedafreshbythelearner.Thesecondstageofinquiryaskstheextenttowhichmasteryoftheselevelsinvolvesnewlearning.OnewayoffindingoutwhataparticularlearnerwillfindeasyordifficultintheFListoundertakeacomparisonofFLandL1,inordertoidentifysimilaritiesanddifferences.

Intheauthor’sopinion,theforeignlearnermusthavethreecompetence.First,systemiccompetence,itcoversknowledgeandskillrelatedtowaythelanguageworksasasystem.Thisinvolvesmanydifferentlevels,includingpronunciationaswellasgrammar.Second,sociolinguistic

competence,whichincludestherulesofuseandrulesofdiscourse.Third,thestrategiccompetence-as“verbalandnon-verbalcommunication

strategiesthatmaybecalledintoactiontocompensateforbreakdownsincommunication”

1.2Learning

AnFLlearner’slanguageisperhapsnevermoreinterestingthanwhenshegetsthingswrong.Ladowasinterestedinwhatmadesomethingseasyforlearnersandotherthingsdifficult.Hebelievedthatbycomparingthenativelanguage（itsstructure,itssounds,itslexis）andthetargetlanguage,wewouldbeabletofindoutabouteaseanddifficultyoflearning,andthisbeliefwasakindofmanifestoforwhatcametobecalledthe“contrastiveanalysis（CA）hypothesis”.Hereisaclear

statementofit,“thoseelementsthataresimilartothelearner’snative

languagewillbesimpleforhim,andthoseareathataredifferentwillbedifficult”.

TheearlydaysofCAwereheadyone,anditwasbelievedthatcomparingnativeandtargetlanguageswouldtellyoualmosteverythingyouneededtoknownasthestrongCAhypothesis.

ThenWardhaughdevelopedtheweakCAhypothesis.ItsaysthatCAmayhelpusidentifyandexplainsomelearnererrorsoncetheyhaveoccurred.Butthehypothesisis“weak”becauseitdoesnotclaimany

predictivepowerforCA,toforeseeerrorswithanycertaintyinadvance.

Learnererrorsplayanimportantpartinunderstandingtheprocessesofforeign-languagelearning.TheCAhypothesishasholditsmomentatthecenteroftheappliedlinguisticstageand,althoughitmaynotcontinuetoholdthatposition.

Totalklearning,itisnecessarytotalkaboutthedifferencebetweentheconcept“acquisition”and“learning”.StephenKrashendescribes

acquisitionasa“natural”one,wherethereisno“consciousfocusingon

linguisticforms”.Itiswhatwehavealreadyinformallycalledtheprocessof“pickingup”alanguage,justasyoudoifyougoandliveinthe

target-languageenvironment.IndeedKrashensaysthattheminimalconditionforacquisitiontooccuris“participationinnatural

communicationsituations”.

Learning,ontheotherhand,isaconsciousprocess,anditusuallytakesplaceinthelanguageclassroom.ForKrashenitisparticularlymarkedbytwocharacteristics.First,thereiserrorcorrection.Whenlearnersmakemistakes,itisnormalfortheclassroomteachertodrawexplicitattentiontothem,andtocorrecttheerrors.Asweshallseelater,withsomeexceptionsparentsdonotusuallydothis.Thesecondcharacteristiciswhatitisnormalforalessontofocusononelanguagepoint.

Afterdistinguishingtheconceptof“acquisition”and“learning”,there

isatheoryaboutthesecondlanguageacquisition-Schumann’s

AcculturationTheory.

WehavealreadyseenmorethanoncethatattitudestowardssocietyareimportantinFLLearning.TheAmericanappliedlinguistJohnSchumann’sAcculturationtheoryplacessocialconsiderationsatitscenter.Hisfocusisalmostexclusivelyonthosewhoareacquiringaforeignlanguageinthetarget-languageenvironment,likeSpanishL1speakerslivingintheUnitedStates,orEnglishL1speakersexposedtoArabicinSaudiArabia.ThetheoryclaimsthattheimportantfactorinFLlearningsuccessisthelearner’sviewoftheL1speakerandtheirsociety,andheraspirationsregardingbecomingamemberofthatgroup-howmuchshewantsto“belike”theFLspeakers,to“beapartof”theFLsociety.

Thenextimportantissueis“fossilization”,itisusedtodescribewhat

happenswhenalearner’sFLdevelopmentgrindstoahalt.Twothingsarenoteworthyaboutthelearners’progressovertime.Thefirstisthatbythe

endofthetenmonths,allexceptAlbertohadgonewellbeyondthe“putting-no-in-the-sentence”solution,andhadacquiredtherudimentsof

theEnglishnegationsystem.Thisfactisnoteworthybecauseitsuggeststhat,iflefttotheirownresources,somelearnerswillindeedprogress.JustlikeL1acquirers,theyareableto“growoutof”theirmistakesand

movetowardsmasteryofthelanguage.Itisafactthathashighlythought-provokingimplicationsfortheattitudeoflanguageteacherstowardslearnererrors.

ThesecondnoteworthypointrelatestoAlberto.Hewastheexception

totherule.Hemadenoprogressarall,andfinishedashestarted.Somelearnersseemtoreachastagebeyondwhichtheyfailtoprogress.Stabilizationoferroneousformsoccurs,andfossilizationsetsin.

FossilizationisaphenomenonofgreatinterestbothtoFLacquisitionresearchersandtolanguageteachers.Thereasonsareratherobvious:

ifwecanfindoutwhyfossilizationoccursnotonlywillunderstandtheprocessesofforeign-languageacquisitionbetter,butwemayevenbeabletodosomethingtopreventitsoccurrence.

Acommonviewoffossilizationisthatwhenthelanguagealearnerhasacquiredissufficienttomeetherneeds.Inthesecircumstancesthereis,quitesimply,noreasonforthelearner’slanguagetocontinueprogress

towardsthe“norm”.

SchumannusesthecommunicativedistinctiontoexplainwhybothpidginsandFLlearnersfossilize.Itiscommonlythecase,henotes,thatpidginsareusedmainlyforthecommunicativefunction,whiletheL1isgenerallyreservedfortheintegrative.Becausetheyaredesignedtofulfillsucharestrictedfunction,Schumannargues,pidginsareasdevelopedastheyneedtobe;further“sophistication”isunnecessary.SimilarlywithFL

learners,wheretheyareusingtheFLforsimplecommunicativepurposes,earlyfossilizationislikelytooccur.Where,ontheotherhand,thelearnerwishesinsomewaytointegratewiththespeakersoftheFL,tobeconsideredasoneofthem,thenthereisamotivationforfossilizedforms

tobereplacedbythestandardones.Schumannusesthetermacculturatetoexpresshiscentralidea:

itisthattheoccurrenceorotherwiseoffossilizationwilldependonthedegreetowhichthelearnerwishestoacculturatetotheFLlanguageandsociety.

Schumann’stheoryattemptstoidentifythefactorswhichwillenableustopredictwhetherfossilizationwilloccurinthelanguageofaparticularlearnerorgroupoflearners.Hisfactorsaredividedintotwobroadcategories:

socialandpsychologicaldistance.OnepossiblecriticismisthatitisnotalwaysstraightforwardwhateachfactorwillpredictregardingFLacquisition.

1.3Teaching

Therearetwoprocessesimportantinthemasteringofaforeignlanguage-declarativizationandproceduralization.Thispartisabouthowwe,teachersmighthelplearnerswiththeseprocesses.

Twocharacteristicscanbeassociatedwiththegoodpresentationofnewlanguage.Oneofthemisclarity.Thelanguagepointyouareconveyingtoyourlearnersneedsbetoclear.Thesecondoneismemorability.Forthepointtoremaininthelearners’heads,itneedstobe

presentedinamemorableway.

Onewayifconveyinginformationaboutlangu