The document discusses different methods for teaching language syntax. The audio-lingual method teaches sentence patterns by having students repeat specific words added to sentences, but students often learn without explicit grammar lessons and may understand the words. It is better for students to use surface structure to construct meaning rather than just imitate speech. Teachers who understand syntax can help students learn academic language structures that are rarely used in casual conversation.
The document discusses different methods for teaching language syntax. The audio-lingual method teaches sentence patterns by having students repeat specific words added to sentences, but students often learn without explicit grammar lessons and may understand the words. It is better for students to use surface structure to construct meaning rather than just imitate speech. Teachers who understand syntax can help students learn academic language structures that are rarely used in casual conversation.
The document discusses different methods for teaching language syntax. The audio-lingual method teaches sentence patterns by having students repeat specific words added to sentences, but students often learn without explicit grammar lessons and may understand the words. It is better for students to use surface structure to construct meaning rather than just imitate speech. Teachers who understand syntax can help students learn academic language structures that are rarely used in casual conversation.
To learn another language we must be aware of how language is structured, as we can
generate a vast amount of sentences even with only basic structures. The most used method for teaching is the audio-lingual in which we learn sentence patterns by adding specific words to a certain sentence, then the student must repeat that structure in order to remember it. This means that the ALM expects students to learn syntax without an explicit lesson to detail the instructions to them, so every specific grammar rule they have to revise is always implicit. However, students find it difficult to learn with this method, because the pattern was being practiced, but there wasnt a real reflection on the words as students didnt understand them. For example, the student could give a good answer to a question, but he didnt know what he said. It is also important to mention that we dont learn a language by imitating what other people say, but by using the surface structure to construct a meaning. This can be explained by how children develop rules for language, they produce sentences that they have never heard, and although they may be grammatically correct, they are facing an exception, and thats why they are sometimes wrong at the time of producing language. Whats more, it is important to state the role of the teacher. A teacher who understands syntax can help students to acquire academic language, due to some structures are almost never heard in casual talk, and only appear in academic texts.