Our Essential Questions to answer from Chapter 2
¨What is the difference between learning a
language and acquiring a language?
¨Is written language acquired naturally or
learned consciously?
¨Can people acquire a second language?
Guided Notes:
Summary: There are
two views of how people develop literacy. The first, the idea that a language
is learned, focused on traditional methods of teaching. The second view, that of language acquisition, centers around
the belief that language is acquired and focused around activities that foster
the development of meaning. The following chart summarizes to two views:
Two views of Foreign Language Development:
Traditional Learning View
|
Current Acquisition View
|
Goal:
to teach students how to speak and understand the language
|
Goal:
help students use language for different purposes
|
Method:
break language up into parts-
-
pronunciation
-
grammar
-
vocabulary
|
Method:
use various techniques while providing students will multiple
examples of language input
-
reading a menu
-
reading a newspaper
|
Classroom activities:
Students do drills to practice language
|
Classroom activities:
teacher uses gestures, pictures, and real objects to help students
acquire language
-
Teacher reads a book to class and students use
language to summarize the book
|
Attitude toward errors:
Teachers correct to help students develop correct language skills
|
Attitude toward errors:
accepts errors as natural and focuses on helping students gain
meaning and express ideas
-
help students learn to express themselves even
if they do not know the exact word to use
-
Example: teacher could help student use
circumlocution to talk around a word they have not yet acquired using words
they already know.
|
Two Views of
Reading (p. 24 – 29)
1) word
recognition view – written language must be learned
main task of reading =
identify words, connect text to oral word bank. ex: sound out letters, words,
recognize
goal:
“recoding” from written to oral language (not decoding,
which is finding meaning)
method:
phonics rules and sight words (flash cards)
breaking words down into parts (prefix, root, suffix) - structural analysis
practice:
preteaching of vocabulary words by providing definitions
regular reading aloud and helping students with difficult
words or supplying difficult words
2)
Sociopsycholinguistic View – innate ability that is acquired
main task of reading =
use background knowledge and cues from three linguistic systems to understand
goal:
focus more on making meaning, not identifying individual
words
graphophonics (letters and sounds) syntax (role in sentence) semantics (meaning)
1) sample the text (read)
2) predict what will come next
3) make inferences, confirm or disconfirm predictions, integrate
new information
*readers will construct different meanings based on their
background knowledge and purpose for reading
method:
combine letters and sounds (graphopohonics) with other
sources of information: background knowledge, syntax, semantics
practice:
read extensively to acquire vocabulary in a variety of
contexts (see the word several times to understand word forms, role in
sentence, formal or informal, AND meaning)
silent reading, individually using reading strategies
(like?)
ex: read comprehensible and interesting texts (picture
books) so that students gradually learn to make connections b/w oral reading
and print à
built up knowledge that allows independent reading
Two
Views of Writing (p.29 – 32)
traditional classroom: break writing into
parts, teach each part, cohesiveness and structure important,
begins with the parts à
whole
goal
learn how to produce a good piece of writing
method
begin with parts and build up to writing a whole text
clearly defined structure of writing
practice
directly instruct formation of letters, words, sentences,
paragraphs (essays)
correct each piece of writing
given topic, complete response in limited time (writing
test)
process classroom:
more time on process of writing, content more important to organization and
conventions (although those will eventually catch up) ex: invention –>
convention
begins with the message
goal
produce good writing and acquire knowledge of writing
process
method
begin with the message -- > skills to produce message
practice
create conditions for authentic written response – many
different writing contexts (letters, lists, stories)
writing on a regular basis, and regular reading as input
needed for written output
mini-lessons on expression
natural move from invention to convention (ideas to
organization and mechanics)
classmates and teachers respond to drafts
Critical Period
Vocabulary
Comprehensible input- students should be able to
understand the essence of what is being said and presented to them.
Fossilization- the presence of certain kinds
of errors that persist in the speech of adult second language learners.
Lateralization- Language being centered in the
left side of the brain in older people and both ways with younger kids
Important
Facts
-
Children
are better language learners than adults
-
There is a critical period during which
language can be acquired. Once past the
developmental period people are not able to acquire a Second language
Examples
-Adults have more
language to learn when acquiring a second language. When adults go to countries and they have to
work and usually get a chance to speak
their native language.
-As a result children receive
more comprehensible input in that
second language than adults do.
-The
three most common explanations as to why most, adults speak a second language
with a foreign accent are based on neurological factors, cognitive factors and
affective factors.
- Neurological factors- Intellectual, logical
and analytic functions on the left hemisphere.
The right hemisphere is the social and emotional needs. Lateralization begins at age 2.
-Children
who acquire the language before puberty do not have an accent.
-Critical
period for the acquisition of phonology is the period prior to changes in the
brain associated with laterization.
Cognitive
Factors
-Older
learners use cognitive processes to analyze language as a result, they have
more difficulty acquiring a language ,
particularly nuances of pronunciation.
Affective
Factors
-Adults
are more self-conscious than children and may feel in competent when learning a
new language therefore developing an accent.
-examples
- nervousness
-ego
-having a negative attitude of
people who speak that language.
Chapter 2 – Written
and Second Language Acquisition
Pg 35 -40
The Monitor Hypothesis:
·
Helps explain the role of learning in the
process of language acquisition
·
Rules of language can be used to monitor spoken
or written output
·
Most people monitor their speech in formal
situations like speeches
·
However, in the flow of rapid conversation, they
don’t have time to monitor the pronunciation and grammar mistakes
·
The more a speaker thinks about the message, the
less the speaker can concentrate on the language and vice versa
·
Spoken language is more difficult to monitor
than written language
·
More focus on form may interrupt the flow of
their ideas
The Input and Output Hypothesis:
·
A teacher should make the input comprehensible
·
Student acquire language when they receive input
that is slightly beyond their current level
·
The input should not be either below or at their
current level . It should not be too much beyond their level
·
Different students will acquire different parts
of language depending on their current level
·
Teachers can use pictures, gestures, tone of
voice and hands- on activities to make the input more comprehensible
·
Students need more opportunities to produce
comprehensible output as well
·
Good acquirers use different strategies both to
understand a second language and also to make themselves understood
The Affective Filter
Hypothesis
·
Affective factors such as nervousness, boredom,
and anxiety influence language by serving as a kind of filter to block out
incoming messages and prevent language acquisition.
·
Student cannot acquire language that never
reaches the language acquisition device
·
Language is acquired in a natural setting where
meaningful and relevant comprehension takes place
Schumann’s Theory of Second
Language Acquisition
·
Social factors help to explain the rate of
acquisition
·
Psychological factors can create psychological
distance which when combined with social distance helps explain a slow rate of
acquisition
·
Social distance limits opportunities for
students to receive the comprehensible input needed for acquisition
·
Psychological distance serves to raise the
affective filter and prevent input from reaching the language acquisition
device
Greedy gobblers grabbed the gravy. 
