Teaching and learning in the language class

Tricia Hedge. Teaching and learning in the language class

Chapter 1: Learners and learning, classrooms and contexts

“Another language is another soul.” - Charles V.

1. What do we know about how languages are learned?

The nature of input

Research has confirmed that students can make a great deal of progress through exposure to comprehensible input without direct instructions. Studies have also shown, however, that students may reach a point from which they fail to make further progress on some features of the second language unless they also have access to guided instructions.

Stephen Krashen´s monitor model

The monitor model consists of the five hypotheses listed below.

1. Acquisition-learning hypothesis.

Acquisition is subconscious while learning is conscious.

We acquire as we are exposed to samples of the second language, but with no conscious attention to language learning. On the other hand, we learn through conscious attention and rule learning.

2. Monitor hypothesis.

The teacher monitors by correcting the learned sentences.

3. The natural order hypothesis.

The language features that are easiest to state “and thus to learn” are not necessarily the first to be acquired. (grammar). Ing form before singular s.

4. The input hypothesis.

Learning grammar and aspects of pronunciation, beyond the already learned. A new level.

5. Affective filter hypothesis.

A learner who is tense, anxious, or bored may “filter out” input, making it unavailable for acquisition. Your emotions influences your learning.

The process of intake

Intake refers to the ways in which learners process input and assimilate language to their interlanguage system. Learners will not process all the input available to them. Some of what they hear or read may not be understood, and some parts of input will receive more attention because, for various reasons, they seem more important or salient to the learner at a particular stage of development.

Even though the input is the same, we might hear it differently.

The intake can vary.

Teacher´s and student´s input/intake might mismatch.

The role of interaction in the classroom

Learners need practice in producing output using all the language resources they have already acquired. (M. Swain).

• Getting feedback from the teacher (reinforcement/encouraging).
• Group work
• Speaking
• Repeating
• Rephrasing
• Negotiation of meaning ~ talking in groups
• Interlanguage (the developing system of learning the language).
• Noticing the gap - noticing something that is not there (fill in the gap). Research what is missing.

Krashen says input is most important. Swain says you can't learn without output as well.

ELT  (English Language Teaching)

ELT is a principle which means that interaction pushes learners to produce more accurate and appropriate language, which itself provides input for other students.

The role of error

Error is an inevitable and positive part of the process. Errors are seen as reflections of a learner's stage of interlanguage development. (An indicator).

Error correction can have dubious value in the classroom, which is why it is important to be aware of:

• What, when and how to correct.
• Motivation (depriving/encouraging).
• Policy of error correction from teacher (rules).
• You grow from the mistakes you have made (progressing).
• In theory a never ending process!

Krashen : He thinks that correcting errors won't help - it will correct itself in the end.

Skinner : Behaviorism = learning from listening to others.

2. How do differences among learners affect learning processes and teaching procedures?

Learners differ in ways that need careful thought when making decisions about course content and methodology.

Three methods in particular have been used:

1. Self- report : responding to interview questions and questionnaires.
2. Self - observation : using diaries or immediate retrospective verbal reports.
3. Self - revelation : using think-aloud reports recorded on a cassette.

These three methods builds awareness of individual differences.

Awareness is developing in relation to...

• Aptitude

Having “flair” for language.

• Learning style

Global learner

Might predict or infer to get an overall understanding.

Analytic learner

Searches for small details and try to follow accurately the precise relationship between different parts of the text.

these characteristics are seen as aspects of cognitive style or learner style which can be generally defined as a characteristic and preferred way of approaching learning and processing information.

Culture learner

Culture has a strong influence on learning style because of;

Products

• Literature
• Folklore
• Art
• Music
• Artefacts

Ideas

• Beliefs
• Values
• Institutions

Behaviours

• Customs
• Habits
• Dress
• Foods
• Leisure
• Learning strategies

Techniques used by learners to deal with input, assimilate new language, store, retrieve and practise using it.

1. setting goals and objectives (such as finishing reading a short story by Friday).
2. Self-monitoring: identifying errors in understanding or producing the new language

• Affective factors of personality and motivation

Personality

1. Introverted learners will not speak up in the classroom and are more likely to work alone than in groups. Introverted learners are not willing to take risks if said risks will put them in the center of attention. They are very closed-in.
2. Extroverted learners are likely to be more successful, possibly because they are more assertive, more willing to experiment and take risks, and more able to make the social contacts they need to practise language.

They link to:

• The affective filter (Stephen Krashen) suggests that attitude, anxiety, competitiveness, and other emotional responses can help or hinder language learning.
• Anxiety (Macintyre and Gardner) relates to negative experiences in speaking activities. Negative feedback from other students or the teacher. Comparing yourself to others.
• Competition (Bailey) relates to withdrawal from the language-learning experience when the competition is overpowering. (Performance anxiety). Comparing grades. Advantages and disadvantages when one-up-ing each other. (outdo others).
• The desire to gain the teacher´s approval.

Motivation

• To be able to communicate with people (to gain friends from other countries)
• To be able to read english literature
• To have a better chance of employment, status and financial reward
• To find out more about the people, places, politics etc. of english speaking cultures.
• Parental pressure
• Leisure, fun, amusement (tourist)
• Television, internet
• Study (abroad)

3. What motivations do learners have for learning English?

• to be able to communicate with people (to gain friends from other countries)
• To be able to read english literature
• To have a better chance of employment, status and financial reward
• to find out more about the people, places, politics etc. of english speaking cultures.
• Parental pressure
• Television

What motivated us to learn English

• Tv
• Songs
• Celebrities
• Internet
• Pen-pals
• Games
• Books

4. What factors of context should teachers take into context?

We need to consider the characteristics of the learning situation. Most of these are outside the teacher’s control but they will bear heavily on decisions about choice of resources and classroom procedures.

1. Social factors

• Presence of english in the community

2. Educational factors

• Materials
• Hours available for teaching
• the schools policies (homework, grading, flexibility)
• The classroom
• resources in the classroom and in the institution
• cohesion among teachers (teamwork)
• Class size
• Whether classes are monolingual or multilingual

5. What roles can learners and teachers play in the language learning process?

Learners

ELT

• ELT is a principle which means that interaction pushes learners to produce more accurate and appropriate language, which itself provides input for other students.
• Contribute to the overall design of course content and the selection of learning procedures
• try making plans for solving class problems
• Take responsibility for their own successful learning by continuing their learning outside class (at home)

Teachers

• Controller (eliciting nationality words)
• Assessor (accuracy, the pronunciation)
• Corrector (correction of pronunciation)
• Organizer (giving instructions, initiating and monitoring)
• Prompter (helping students working together)
• Resources (if students need help with words and structure)

6. What roles can learning materials play in the classroom?

Textbook materials

• Places emphasis on the teaching process, but not necessarily good for the learning process.
• They can offer a grammatical and functional framework.
• They provide quality of presentation. Do not prevent a creative spinning-off in the classroom into all kinds of activity.

Design projects (4 meanings of the word culture).

• The aesthetic sense (art, literature, music, media etc)
• The sociological sense (“life and instructions” - the nature of family life, work, leisure, customs etc)
• The semantic sense (The conceptual system embodied in the language)
• The sociolinguistic sense (politeness conventions, the ways in which language is governed by issues of status or age in relationships and familiarity with rhetorical conventions in formal and informal letters, reports, and other written genres)