Accomplished teaching of languages and cultures doesn’t happen by chance

Lesley HarbonHorwood Memorial

LectureAFMLTA Biennial

Conference CanberraJuly 2013

Language learning theory & practice

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Critical period hypothesis

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a number of notions

• the very first lesson• building language• teacher strategies• group work• materials• learning environment• the learners• testing …. and other notions

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the very first lesson

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What is your name?

My name is….

the very first lesson

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building language

• Kumaravadivelu (2006)–human language is well organized and crafted

• “The central core of language as a system consists of the phonological system that deals with the pattern of sound, the semantic system that deals with the meaning of words, and the syntactic system that deals with grammar”

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building language …. constructivism

• Fox (2001)

• Learning is an active process• Knowledge is constructed, rather than innate, or

passively absorbed• Effective learning of all knowledge occurs best

when socially constructed

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learning

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with

because of

alongside

what we built

• What is your name?• My name is…• What is your (older respected female) name?• What is your (older respected male) name?• What is your (younger child) name?• What is your (same age, familiar) name?

• and so on…10

the teacher

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the teacher included…

• the interlinked intercultural objectives of the NSW Languages Syllabus (2003)• using language•making linguistic connections•moving between cultures

• Stern (1992)• cognitive, affective and behavioural

components of culture teaching

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the teacher

• maximises learning opportunities

• minimises perceptual mismatches

• facilitates negotiated interaction

• promotes learner autonomy

• fosters language awareness

• activates intuitive heuristics

• contextualises linguistic input

• integrates language skills• ensures social relevance• raises cultural

consciousness

Kumaravadivelu (2003)

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Skehan (2006)

• “instruction does have an appreciable effect on performance; … explicit instruction produced larger gains than an implicit approach…”

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the teacher used pair and group work

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in group work I was hiding…

a teacher’s craft … a dance…

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exercises in the learning materials• practising sentences following the

models • dictionary/translation exercises• listening comprehension with the

accompanying CDRom• fill in the gap• complete the sentences• write a dialogue• translate into the other language• create questions from statements

and vice versa• unscramble

• changing the tense of a sentence• from a town map, write directions• answer giving opinion in full

sentences• describe the picture• true and false• write a letter• PLUS…• grammar rules and examples• vocabulary lists• bilingual word lists in back of book• dialogue translations on CDRom

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So (2007)

• “a single teaching method is unlikely to guarantee best results”

• “language teachers need to be flexible enough to adopt and/or adapt different teaching methods according to the demands of their immediate teaching context”

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the materials• The clean clothes are in

the cupboard• Is it true your buffalo has

disappeared?• We intend to eat our

fowls because they don’t lay eggs.

• Don’t annoy that goat.• Our family rarely quarrels.• Why isn’t my shirt ironed

yet?20

the learning environment

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the learners – personalities & moods

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competence (Canale, 1983)

• Grammatical competence• knowledge of lexus, morphology, syntax etc

• Sociolinguistic competence• utterances understood - different purposes etc?

• Discourse competence• how utterances/sentences strung together

• Strategic competence• verbal/nonverbal communication strategies for

when communication breaks down23

the test

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the test

• Section A – vocabulary• Section B – changing pronouns into possessive

pronouns• Section C – change statements into questions• Section D – solve maths problems in the TL• Section E – translate from TL to English• Section F – translate from English to TL

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an “ear for languages”

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Carroll in Skehan (2006)

• phonemic coding ability• analyzing sound to retain it

• grammatical sensitivity• identify functions of words in sentences

• inductive language learning ability• ability to take a sample and extrapolate

• associative memory• capacity to make links between items in

memory27

motivation among learners

• Gardner in Skehan (2006)• motivation in language learning• linguistic self-confidence• willingness to communicate• Dornyei’s (cited in Skehan, 2006) – action control theory– influences before, during and after a task– students reflect on their learning success

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the silent period

?

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Learning styles checklist

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the teaching / learning nexus

Experiencing the learning of another language

again … an opportunity to examine the

teaching/learning nexus from a close vantage

point… the opportunity to shift perspective…

this thought as a learner…

this thought as if I were a teacher31

my reflections on my learning

• “… how to clear the conceptual cobwebs and terminological bedbugs prevalent in the combinations, harmonies and discords between layers upon layers of theoretical principles, pedagogic practices… how to separate the trivial from the profound, the fashion from the substance, and the chaff from the grain in order to reach the heart of the matter…” (Kumaravadivelu, 2006, Introduction)

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my reflections on my learning

• “… how to clear the conceptual cobwebs and terminological bedbugs prevalent in the combinations, harmonies and discords between layers upon layers of theoretical principles, pedagogic practices… how to separate the trivial from the profound, the fashion from the substance, and the chaff from the grain in order to reach the heart of the matter…” (Kumaravadivelu, 2006, Introduction)

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Keep calm and…..

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the teaching learning nexus

Experiencing the learning of another language again

… an opportunity to examine the

teaching/learning nexus from a close vantage

point… the opportunity to shift perspective…

The learner in your head meets

the teacher in your heart.