ULUDAG UNIVERSITY ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

DEPARTMENT

AYLİN AYDIN

LANGUAGE AND

LANGUAGE LEARNING

1. Language teaching is teaching language

A language is many things; it is a system, a code, a set of conventions , a means of communication etc.

Language is a complex phenomenon; it can be viewed as many different things.

Language is a system

The teacher who understands language as a system will see the necessity for activities which lead to understanding.

Language is a habit

Many pieces of language are learned in quite large holes.

The emphasis is not on understanding, but on the ability to respond automatically.

The teacher who sees language as a habit will see the necessity for repetition and intensive oral practice.

Language is a set of conventions

Social conventions vary from country to country.

Using the social conventions of one country in another may lead to embarrassment, confusion or misunderstanding.

The teacher who sees language as a set of conventions will see the necessity of contrasting the conventions of the language with the student’s own language and society.

Language is a means of communication

Language is used by one person to another in order to communicate a message. Teachers who recognise as communication will see the necessity for interesting texts, individualised teaching, pair work etc.

Language is a means to an end

Language is not used for its own sake; it is used for a purpose – to convey information or emotion, to help the memory in note taking, to entertain a play, to explore feelings and understanding in poetry.

The teacher who recognizes language as a means to an end will see the necessity for looking at why particular pieces of language are useful.

Language is a natural activity

People who study language sometimes talk about language like behavior. It is language often found in older textbooks or heard in too may classrooms.

English is not in England

There is a temptation for many teachers to tell about what they know about Britain should form part of their English lesson.

But teachers should remember they are primarily teaching language, not culture.

Language is not a syllabus

School systems either have an explicit syllabus, often structurally arranged, or a syllabus which is defined by an examination system.

This doesn’t mean that English can be identified with the examination syllabus. As far as it should be the students’ needs and the real nature of language.

English is not ‘’my’’ English Native teachers have a tendency to believe that because they say it , a language ,tem could be taught to students.

Non native teachers have a tendency to believe that because they know something, their students also need to know it.

But language teaching is about ‘’selection’’.

English is not an aesthetic experience

There are lots of students studying English for specific purposes. Such students are hardly likely to be encouraged.

So, there are 2 decisive criteria:

1. Is this going to help these ss to achieve their objectives?

2. Does the activity reflect the nature of language?

2. Languages are different

Languages are different in the obvious sense.For example:

a table (in English) ett bord (in Swedish) ein tisch (in German)

Here are some more examples:

Finnish doesn’t use prepositions.Russian doesn’t possess articles.Pronouns are frequently omitted in

spoken Italian.

In general, students tend to assume that the language they are learning behaves similarly to their own native language. But languages are different.

3. Language is what, how, and why

What (vocabulary and structures) How (pronunciation, stress, intonation) Why (function)

Note :

Structures are frequently not equivalent from language to language.

For example: English frequently indicates doubt by a rising intonation at the end of a verb phrase; this is not true in many other languages.

4. Level is a complex idea

Students learning a foreign language follows a syllabus. The syllabus lists and sequences the structures the students need to know.

Be careful that the syllabus shouldn’t be based only on structure.

Here are some of the factors which make language difficult :

The occurence of a lot of words the reader or listener doesn’t know.Reading text which is written in complex rather simple sentences.Reading a text written in a particular style – newspaper headlines, official letters etc.Listening to a non-standard or unfamiliar accent.The destiny of new language or new ideas.The lenght of the text, either written or spoken.

5. Natural language has a place in all courses

There is opportunity to provide a natural and interesting basis for language learning at all levels by introducing authentic material.

It is important to pre-select and arrange the materials for textbooks. If students are ever to use the language outside the classroom, pre-selection in not possible.

Real material show students that what

they are learning is useful outside the classroom.

a foreign language is not something real; it is a subject on the timetable three times week, a strange intellectual game played with one of the teachers.

It is good to introduce something real into the classroom.

6. Knowing the language is not enough

Every classroom activity should have a specific purpose. All natural language use has a purpose – to give information, to express emotion, to advance an argument etc.

Classroom activities should be planned so that they do have a real, natural communicative purpose.

7. Most language skills can be divided into

sub-skills

As we know, level depends on more than the structures used.

It depends on the length of the text and the difficulty of the task. One of the skills of

language teaching, is to help students by breaking down large tasks into smaller, more detailed, tasks and selecting the correct length of text.

The ability to use a language, both

receptively and productively, implies an understanding of the structure of small units as phrases, and large units as chapters.

The general problem of understanding the text can be broken down into a sequence of more specific problems.

8. Hear, speak, read, write is a good sequence

There can be no absolute rules for the

“best order” for presentation of the four skills.

In general, for spelling is often confusing in English, the sequence above is usually best.

How people learn their own language

shows us the obvious priority of listening. Modern theoreticians make the distinction between language learning and language acquisition.

If this distinction is accepted it is obvious that listening has particular significance.

Without being strict about a sequence it

is helpful to follow the above.

9. Language learning is cyclical

Old fashioned syllabuses assumed that language learning was linear. It means that the structures of the language were presented in a single sequence.

Nowadays nobody believes language learning is linear; the same language item needs to be studied again and again throughout a course.

There are at least three reasons why this needs to be done:

Learners forget, so revision is necessary from time to time.

Additional uses of a structure need to be studied. E.g. Irregular past tense forms are needed in many conditional sentences.

As learners advance, they need to deepen their understanding.

The cyclical nature of language learning is not confined to structure; it relates to all areas of language learning.

A simple example is pronunciation.

There is no guarantee that, once students have produced a sound in the language correctly they will never mis-pronounce it again.

10. Language learning is used for different purposes in the classroom

Teachers should be aware of why they are using a particular piece of language in the lesson. If students are to use the language item it must be suitable for their active vocabulary.

The principle is that teachers need to be aware of the function of what they are saying. Otherwise,students will be exposed to unnecessary and confusing language.

11. Do not be afraid of the students’ mother tongue

There is a real danger in word-for-word translation but to ban the students’ mother tongue from the classroom is not a good idea.

However, there are considerable advantages to allowing both languages in the classroom. Permitting both languages usually ensures that much of the work is more interesting, and a higher standard of English is achieved.

It can also be useful :

If students need to discuss a difficulty with the teacher

If students are working in groups preparing or discussing material, it is not essential that the whole discussion takes place in English.

12. Motor skills need practice

Language learning involves skills of different types, and some of these skills are purely physical. E.g. Recognizing and making the distinction between /b/ and /p/ requires a lot of practice, if you are not familiar with these distinctions in your own language.

Students whose writing system does not use the same alphabet as English may have difficulties in the motor skills associated with writing.

13. Distinquish clearly between accuracy and fluency practices

Language learning has two distinct objectives:

Learning to use the language fluently as an effective means of communication

Using the language accurately

The student who makes too many mistakes will not communicate well. On the other hand, it is possible to communicate effectively even if the message contains too many formal errors.

Accuracy practices place the emphasis on language learning. Thus, they are not very exciting but are an important part of the learning process.

In fluency practices, teachers must not correct every mistake. They should encourage students to use all means to get their message across.

Teachers should also keep in mind a single distinction:

Is the emphasis of this activity on accuracy or fluency?

14. Interesting communicative tasks increase motivation

Communicative tasks enable students to use the language actively and develop the skills necessary to find a solution. These tasks may be of many different kinds.

For example: If there are tourists in your town, students can prepare a

questionnaire and interview people outside.Students can prepare a simple guide to their town or

region. If students are studying a particular area in another

subject, you can integrate the topic you are studying with what they are doing in. E.g. History or physics

They can use English language material from the library to gather information relevant to their other subjects.

Language Acquisition

Language acquisition is one of the central topics in cognitive science.

Language is the main vehicle by which we know about other people's thoughts.

Every time we speak we are revealing something about language, so the facts of language structure are easy to come by.

Nonetheless, learning a first language is something every child does successfully, in a matter of a few years and without the need for formal lessons.

Children acquire language quickly, and easily.

It happens automatically, whether their parents try to teach them or not.

Although parents don't teach their children to speak, they do perform an important role by talking to their children.

Children who are never spoken to will not acquire language.

Children acquire language through interaction — not only with their parents and other adults, but also with other children.

All normal children who grow up in

normal households, surrounded by

conversation, will acquire the language that is being

used around them.

And it is just as easy for a child to acquire two or more languages at the same time, as long as they are regularly interacting with speakers of those languages.

Children acquire meanings with the use of processes modeled by latent semantic analysis; that is, when they meet an unfamiliar word, children can use information in its context to correctly guess its rough area of meaning.

References

Pinker, S. (1995) An Invitation to Cognitive ScienceL. R. Gleitman, M. Liberman, and D. N. Osherson (Eds.),( 2nd Ed. Volume 1: Language). Cambridge, MA: MIT

Press.

Birner, B. (2005) Linguistic Society of America Language Acquisition Washington, DC 20036-6501

Chomsky, N. (1975). Reflections on Language. New York: Pantheon Books.