Modul

e1

Rev
iewofTheor
iesofLanguageAcquisi
ti
on,Pr
inci
plesofTeachi
ngandNeedsof
Lear
ners

Lear
ningCont
entandAct
ivi
ti
es

•Aftert aki
ng majorsubject
sand professi
onaleducat
ion subj
ect
si ntheprevi
ous
semesters,recal
lasmuchasy oucanabouttheconcept
sandknowl edgeyoulear
ned
onthef oll
owingtopi
cs.Wr i
teTRUEifthestatementi
scorrectandFALSEifitisnot
.
Expl
aineachofy ouranswer.

1.Languagelear
ningf
ocusesont
hedev
elopmentofspeaki
ngandwr
it
ing,
li
steni
ngand
readi
ngskil
l
s.

TRUE.Speaki ngandwr i
ti
ng,listeni
ngandr eadi
ngskil
l
sar etheFour(4)fundament al
skil
lsinlanguagelear
ning.Ther earelear
nerswhoaregoodinwrit
ingbutnotconf i
dent
i
nspeaki ng.Also,t
herearelearnerswhoar egoodinr
eadingcomprehensi
onbutcannot
focusi nlist
ening.Thesef undament alski
ll
sneedt obedev el
opedi nthel anguage
l
earning.

2.Lear
ner
slear
nthel
anguageandhowt
ousei
tthr
oughcommuni
cat
ion.

FALSE.Lear ner
shavet o undergo theprocessofaccumul ati
ng knowledgeoft he
feat
ures,suchasvocabul
aryandgr ammarofal anguage,andthestructuresandform
ofwords.Though,communicatingwi tht
eachersandclassmatesalsohelpt hel
earners
tobecooper ati
vebutiti
sj ustanor malpartoflearni
ng.Mor eover
,learnersneedt o
spendmostoft hei
rti
metoexpl i
cit
lylear
nthelanguage.

3.Mat
hemat
icsi
sanexampl
eofl
ear
ningnotacqui
sit
ion.

TRUE.It'
snotli
kewear eborninthi
swor l
dalreadyknowledgeabl
eenoughabouti deas
thatcanonl
ybel earnifwetrytolearn.Mathemat i
csshouldebelearned,andweneed
tospendourtimegoi ngtoschooltostudy
.Evenf oragenius-
typelear
nerwillt
aketi
me
tostudyMathematics.

4.Languageacqui
si
ti
onandl
ear
ningi
sanact
ivepr
ocesst
hatbegi
nsatbi
rt
hand
thr
oughoutl
i
fe.

TRUE.Si
ncechi
ldr
enareborni
nthi
sworl
dwit
haninnateabi
l
itytolearn,
theyar
eablet
o
devel
opthel
anguageasti
megoesby.Fr
om l
ear
ninginf
ormallanguageatthei
rpr
imar
y
l
evel,theprocessconti
nuesunti
ltheyreachatrightagewheretheyar
efi
nall
yableto
understandrul
es,feat
uresandstruct
uresoflanguage.From bi
rt
handthr
oughoutli
fe,
l
anguageacqui si
ti
onandlear
ningarether
egiventhevari
ousstages.

5.Successf
ulacqui
si
ti
onandl earni
ngofsecondl
anguagei
nvol
veexpl
i
citt
eachi
ngof
l
ingui
sti
cfeatur
esofalanguage.

TRUE.Teacherneedst ointroduceli
nguisti
cfeat
urestot hel
earnersbecauset heirf
ir
st
l
anguageisfardiff
erentfrom thetargetforei
gnlanguage.Thoughi twouldbeeasyf or
l
earnersto who havet hesamef i
rstlanguageandsecondl anguage,buti tworks
dif
ferentf
orthosewhohav enativelanguage.Grammar ,str
ucturesofl anguage,and
for
m ofwor dsneedt obemast ered.Insomenat i
velanguage,v er
busuallycomes
beforethenouni nasent ence,whichisdi f
fer
enttof orei
gnl anguage.Slangwor ds
mat t
erstoo,knowing the f ormali
ty ofconstructi
ng sentences using the second
l
anguage.Pronunci
ati
onoft hewordsandaccentsomehowmat tertoo.

6.Nat
ivi
sttheoryi
sbasedont
hepr
emi
set
hatwel
ear
nlanguaget
hroughi
nter
act
ion
wit
hotherspeaker
s.

FALSE.BasedonChomsky '
sclai
mi nNati
vistt
heory,chi
ldr
enarebornwithani nnate
abil
i
tytol ear
n,oruniver
salgr
ammarareal r
eadyembeddedi nt
heirbr
ainthus,l
earning
thelanguageoccurs.Hetermedthi
saslanguageacquisi
ti
ondev
ice(LAD).

ACTIVI
TYA.DoaTr ueorFal
ser
ati
onal
i
zat
ionagai
n.Whet
hety
ouransweri
sTr
ueor
Fal
se,expl
ainy
ourchoi
ce.

1.Anexampleofl
anguageacqui
sit
iont
hroughbehav
iour
istt
heor
yiswhenamot
heri
s
const
ant
lyi
nter
act
ingwit
hherbaby.

TRUE.I
nbehav i
ouri
sttheory,ababyi snotalr
eadycapabl
eenoughtointeractwit
hhis
mother
,ratherhecanpr oducev owelsounds,cryandsmil
e,andbubblemeani ngl
ess
wordseffor
tlessl
yandnat ural
ly.Thisconti
nueuntilt
hebabycanfi
nall
yr esponseli
ke
'
ma-ma',asthemot heri
sconst antl
yinter
act
ingwithhi
m.

2.Languageacqui
sit
ioni
slar
gel
ydependentoni
nnat
eabi
l
ityofaper
son.

FALSE.Innateabil
it
ytolear
nalsomatterinl
anguageacqui
sit
ion.Howev er
,ther
ear e
var
iousprocessthatachi
ldneedst
oundergot
oacquiret
helanguage,andoneoft hose
i
sinter
acti
on.Int
eracti
oni
sahugefact
orforachil
dtodevel
opthelanguage.

3.I
nputhy
pot
hesi
siswhenaGr
ade7st
udentexposedt
oal
i
ter
aryt
extt
hati
ssl
i
ght
ly
compl
i
cat
edandbestf
itt
oteacht
oGr
ade8.

FALSE.I
nputhypothesisst
atesthatl
earnersmuststudyli
terarytextt
hatbestfi
ttothei
r
l
evelofcompetence,andnotont heotherwayaround.Engaginginstepbysteplear
ning
wil
lmakeiteasi
erforthem tol
ear nt
helanguage,unt
ilt
heycant akecomplicat
edsteps.

4.High self
-conf
idence,good moti
v at
ion,and hi
gh anxi
etyl
evelar
evar
iabl
es f
or
successf
ulsecondlanguageacqui
sit
ion.

FALSE.St udent
swithhighsel f-
confidenceal waysspeakandshar etheirthoughtsand
i
deasi nwhi chi
thelpenhancet heirspeakingskill
.Selfconfi
denceamongst udent
sare
buil
twhen bei ng mot i
vated and suppor t
ed by t heirparents,teachers,and ev en
cl
assmat es and fri
ends.Howev er,st udents who hav e high anxietyl evelcannot
fl
awlessl
yat tai
nsuccessfulsecondl anguageacqui sit
ionforar easont hattheyaretoo
anxi
oust ospeak,cooperate,andtheyar eafraidofj
udgementi ftheyf
ail whichpullt
hei
r
sel
f-est
eem down.

5.Contextoflanguagelearni
ngandt eachi
ngi
nGener
ati
onZi
ncl
udesl
ear
ner
swhoar
e
mult
i-
taskersandt hesebenefi
cial
forthem.

TRUE.Gener ati
onZ l ear nersbei ng multi-
taskersknow how t o accompl ishvar i
ous
acti
v i
ti
esont i
me.Knowi ngt hatt heyar etech-savvy
,learningi nformat i
onsar ej
ustone
cli
ck away .Theyar e sel f-
directed and i ndepentlearner s.Si nce technologyis an
essentialpartoftheirl
ife,theyar ev eryopent osocialrelationshipinwhi chi
tcanhi ghl
y
helpthem doi ngallthet askst heyar eupt o,giventhatt heypr eferexper i
menti
ng,and
engagingi nactualactivi
tiesr athert hanbeingt ol
dand/ orjusti magi newhatar eont he
teacher'slectures.Theirv i
sionsar epoint ed on what '
sahead oft hem,whi l
eal so
focusingont hepr esent.Hav ingat eacherwhoi sbestfittot heirlearningneeds,those
factorsment i
onedwi llundeni ablyleadthem t osuccess.

6.Whenalearnerr
eachespuber
typeri
od(
cri
ti
calper
iodhy
pot
hesi
s),
languagel
ear
ning
becomespassiv
eandtendstopause.

TRUE.Pubert
yper i
odamongl earnersusuallystartattheageof11and12.I nt hi
s
per
iod,l
ear
nersexperi
enceseriesofphy si
calchanges,soastheirl
ear
ningdev el
opment .
Asi
def r
om beinginanew env ir
onmentwher etheymeetnew people,learnersatt hi
s
per
iodareshyandmor el
ikelyuncomf ort
able.Thatiswhypar ent
sandev ent eachers,
havetoalwayshighl
ymot ivatethem,maki ngt hem under
standthatfai
lurei spartof
l
earni
ngandast ar
ttoasuccessf ull
anguagel ear
ning.
AssessmentTasks.

1.Wri
tea1-2paragraphsy
nthesi
zingt
hev
ari
oust
heor
iesonl
anguageacqui
sit
ionand
l
earni
ngdi
scussedinthemodule.

Nativi
stt heor yproposedbyChomsky ,andhecl aimedt hatchildr
enareborni nthi
s
wor l
di nwhi chuni ver
salgrammarar ealreadyimbeddedi nt hei
rbrai
nandt hattheir
abil
it
yt ol earni sinnat
et hus,languageacqui si
tionoccur s.Ont heotherhand,B.F
Skinnercl aimsi nBehav i
our i
sttheorythatababyst ar
tsfrom imit
ati
ngandadapt i
ng
whati sbei ngfedt ohim.InInter
actioni
sttheoryaspopul ar
izedbyJeromeBrunerandis
grounded f rom the Socio-Cult
uralTheor yofLeyVy gotsky,itsaysthatlanguage
acquisiti
onoccur samongchi l
drenwhi l
ei nt
eractingwi t
hadul tsasnew wor dsare
i
ntroducedt ot hem.Thoughi tmightbeconf usi
ngt othem atfir
stbutwil
lsurel
ybea
partoft heirdailyconver
sati
on.

TheInteractionisttheoryissomehowconnect edt oNativi

stt heor yi
nawayt hatchil
dren
abil
it
yt olearni sinnate,andlanguageacqui sit
ionwilloccuri ft heyinter
actwithadults
orotherpeopl easnewwor dswi l
lbei nt
roducedt othem.Knowi ngchi l
dren,t
heywoul d
alwayst endt or ai
sequest i
onsoutofcur iousit
ywhi chr esultsf orthem tolearnmor e
aboutt henat i
velanguage,andt hiswi l
lsoonbeapar toft heirdailyli
fe.Asf orthe
Behaviouristtheory,chil
drenlear
nt hr
oughi mitati
ngtheirt eacher s,
parents,si
bli
ngsand
othermember soft hefamily.Thei
rlearningpr ocessar eonl ylimitedonwhati sbeing
fedtot hem t hus,thefamilyshouldtakegoodcar eoft heirchildrenandbev erycareful
i
nev erywor dt heysaybecausei twill
soonhav eabigi mpactt ot hem astheygrow.

2.Whatconclusion can you draw fr

om the pr
inci
ples and needs ofl
ear
ner
si n
devel
opi
ngmaterial
sforlanguagelear
ning?Howwilly
ouappl yyourrev
iewoft
heor
ies
andneedsofl
earnerswheny ouwrit
eyourmater
ial
?

Thef i
rstIam goingt oconsi derinwr i
ti
ngmat eri
alismyl earners'abili
tyt olearn.Asa
futur
et eacher,Ishallexpectt hatmyl ear
nersar e composed off astl earners,in
moder ate,
andslowl earners.Iwillassurethattheinstr
ucti
onI'l
lgiveisf ai
randequalt o
everyone.From thetheor i
esofl anguageacqui si
ti
onwher eNat i
v i
st,Interact
ionist,and
Behav i
ouri
sttheoryexisted,sayst hatchildhasani nnateabil
it
yt olearn,asl earningis
i
nev i
tabl
e,subconsciousanduni versal
.Also,fr
om Interact
ioni
sttheoryst atesthatchi l
d
l
ear nthelanguaget hroughi nteracti
ngwi thadults.Asf orthebehav i
our i
stt heoryis
whenachi l
disablet oimi t
atepeopl ejustbyhowt heyspeakandact .Thi saregui des
formet ohandlemyst udent s,i
nconnect iontoKrashen'sfi
v emainhy potheses.

Outofthemat er
ial
,Iwil
lgiveanacti
vi
tythatwi
llal
l
owmystudent
stoi
nter
actwi
ththei
r
chosengroups,sothattheycanbrai
n-st
orm,communi
cat
e,gai
nknowl
edgeandref
lect
,
andj ustal lowi ngt hem t o speaknat ural l
y.Si ncei ti ssai dt hatunder standingt he
messageandgi vi
ngf eedbackshowshow l anguageacqui sitionoccur s,t hrought his,I
am abl etot estt heirspeaki ngandl i
steni ngski ll
s,andseei ft heyl earnedornot ,and
mosti mpor tantly,Iam abl et ogett hem f reef rom t heircomf ortzonewher eshy ness,
l
ow sel f
-est eem,andhi ghanxi etyleveli sol at ethem f rom t her ealwor ld.Of tent imes,
student scannott rulyl earnwhent het eacheri st oost rict.Inst ead,t hispul lthem down,
theybecomepassi veandunconf ident.Theyar eaf rai dofj udgementandf ai
luret hati s
whyt heyt endt opauseandt oj ustkeept hei ri deaswi ththem.Thesef act orsmi ghtl ead
them t oment alill
nessi fnotsoonpr ev ent ed.Lear ner swhoar ehav i
ngahar dt ime
under standi ngt hel essonsdonotal way sr eflectont hei rlear ningski l
l.Somet imes, they
areexper ienci ngper sonalpr obl ems,f ami l
ymat ters,andf inance.Thi si swher et he
teacher '
sr esponsi bili
tiesar et est ed.Asmuchaswewantt of ocusonourt argetwor k,
wecan' tdenyt hatpar tofourr esponsi bilit
iesi st ot akecar eofourl ear ners,givent hat
wear et hei rsecondmot her.Toav oidthesenegat ivef actors, Iwi llwor konhowt omake
myst udent scomf or t
abl eoft heenv ironmentt heyar ein,t ohi ghlymot i
vatet hem,
all
owi ngt hem t omakeer rorsandmaket hem under standt hatt hosear epar toflear ning
progress.Al so,f orme,t eachi ngef f
ect ivenesscannotbeseenonhow di ffi
cul tmy
i
nstruct ions Igi v et o myst udent s ar e.Seei ng myst udent s hav ing a har dt ime
under standi ngmyl essonsi snotsomet hingt obepr oudof .Iwi lli
nst eadgi vel iterary
textst hatar eeasyt ounder standandf itont heirlev elofcompet ence,aswel lasi tcan
encour agemyst udent st opar ti
cipatewi thoutf eel i
ngner v ousandpr essur ed.Si nceI
andmyst udent sar epr oduct sof21stcent ur yski ll
s, Iwi l
lneedt oi nvolvet echnol ogyas
huget oolsi nmyt eachi ngst r
at egies.Dependi ngonmyst udent s'needsandt ohow I
canpossi blygett heirf ullattent ion,Imi ghtbeabl et oshowv i
deocl i
ps,v i
sualar ts,shor t
mov ies, nov els,comi csser i
esandot heral ter nat i
ves.

We,teacher
s,ar
enotonlyf
ocusi
ngont eachingourl
earner
ssuchl
i
terar
ytext
s,rat
her
weal soserveasaguidethatwil
lassistthem inchoosi
ngtheri
ghtpathtowards
success.

REFLECTI
ON:
Wri
tey
ouri
nsi
ght
sabouty
ourl
ear
ningexper
iencesy
ouhadi
nthi
slesson.

I
nt hi
slesson,Il earnedhowt hesetheori
esoflanguageacqui si
ti
onandl earni
ngmat ter
themosti nteachingthelanguage(secondlanguage) .From theseguide,Ihavegained
muchknowl edgelikestr
ategiesIshall
applyinteachingmyst udentsinthenearf ut
ure.I
alsol earnedt hatasat eacher,wemustnotusei nstruct
ionsbasedonourper sonal
i
nt erest.Instead,wemustal waysconsiderourlearners'vari
ousneedsl ike,whereand
howwoul dtheylearnbest.