KEY CONCEPTS IN LANGUAGE TEACHING

Acquisition: Children acquire a languageUnconscious development of language skills

2nd Language LearningConscious learning applicationMirroring first language acquisition is natural.Acquisition in a natural way leads to fluency. Emphasis on accuracy is formal and difficult.

ACRONYMSACRONYM DEFINITION NOTES

EFL English as a foreign language Non-English speaking person is learning English in a non-English speaking country

ESL English as a second language Non-English speaking person is learning English in an English speaking country

ESOL English to speakers of other languages

Combination of EFL and ESL. Used in public school systems

TEFL Teaching English as a foreign language

Teaching English in a country where English is not the native language

TESOL Teachers of English to speakers of other languages

International organization and the study of principles and practices for teaching ESL

TOEFL Test of English as a foreign language

Used by US universities, colleges and workplaces to test language proficiency

TOEIC Test of English for International Communication

Used by businesses to test communication skills in English

IELTS International English Language Testing System

British test used to test English proficiency

LANGUAGE ACQUISITION Krashen's Five Hypotheses:

The Natural Order Hypothesis: “We acquire the rules of language in a predictable order'

TheAcquisition/ Learning Hypothesis “Adults have two distinctive ways of developing competences in second languages .. acquisition, that is by using language for real communication ... learning .. "knowing about" language' (Krashen & Terrell 1983)

The Monitor Hypothesis: ‘Conscious learning ... can only be used as a Monitor or an editor' (Krashen & Terrell 1983)

The Input Hypothesis‘: Humans acquire language in only one way - by understanding messages or by receiving "comprehensible input"'

TheAffective Filter Hypothesis‘: a mental block, caused by affective factors ... that prevents input from reaching the language acquisition device' (Krashen, 1985, p.100)

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/vivian.c/SLA/Krashen.htm

ACQUISITION AND LEARNING

ACQUISITION LEARNING

Implicit, unconscious Explicit, conscious

Informal situations Formal situations

Uses grammatical “feel” Uses grammatical rules

Depends on attitude Depends on aptitude

Stable order of acquisition Simple to complex order of learning

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/vivian.c/SLA/Krashen.htm

SUPPORT KRASHEN’S HYPOTHESIS

1. People speak to children acquiring their first language in special ways.

2. People speak to L2 learners in special ways.3. L2 learners often go through an initial Silent Period.4. The comparative success of younger and older learners reflects

provision of comprehensible input.5. The more comprehensible input ,the greater the L2 proficiency.6. Lack of comprehensible input delays language acquisition.7. Teaching methods work according to the extent that they use

comprehensible input.8. Immersion teaching is successful because it provides comprehensible

input.9. Bilingual programs succeed to the extent they provide

comprehensible input.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/vivian.c/SLA/Krashen.htm

MYTHS ABOUT 2ND LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING

The teacher must speak the language of the students. Anyone who speaks English can teach it. English majors can teach EFL. Students must learn grammar in order to speak a language.

It is the most important tool to being correct. Correcting students makes them learn better and more. The best way to learn a foreign language is to go to a foreign

country. The best way to learn a foreign language is to speak it. It is expected that you will make many mistakes while

learning. You are a foreigner; therefore, you will have a foreign accent. If you didn’t learn a foreign language as a child, you will

never be proficient in its grammar. Studying pronunciation is not important.

TEACHING ADULT LEARNERS Principles of adult learning include:

New knowledge has to be integrated with previous knowledge; which requires active learner participation.

Collaborative modes of teaching and learning enhance the self-concepts of those involved and result in more meaningful and effective learning.

Adult learning is facilitated when teaching activities promote question asking and answering, problem finding, and problem solving.

Adult skill learning is facilitated when individual learners can assess their own skills and strategies to discover inadequacies or limitations for themselves. (Dewar, 1996).

LEVELS OF PROFICIENCY Beginning levels (1-2): Survival English including doing the grocery shopping,

eating dinner in a restaurant, going to movies, and talking to friends. Basic conversational skills are possible.

Intermediate levels (3-4) : Students begin to reach “conversational fluency”.  They can understand most native English speakers and make themselves understood to most people in most situations.  They can understand movies, read newspapers and understand jokes.  They feel really good about their English progress and think they speak and understand English very well. They do, but there is more to learn.

Advanced levels (5-6): The last and longest step to proficiency.  Students learn to read and write. Communication depends on a large body of vocabulary. Students struggle to learn many advanced skills and often feel they have learned enough. Students will acquire and master these skills at different rates and it is often difficult to feel progress. .  Students recycle their knowledge, refine their abilities and practice skills in different ways and at their own changing level of increasing competence.

Levels depend on the amount of time students are exposed to the target language and how much time they dedicate to practicing what they are learning.