Philippines

Principles of Language Teaching

November 11, 2022

ALDRIN L. APOLONIO, PhD

Lecturer, Preparatory Studies Department (English)
University of Technology and Applied Sciences (UTAS)
Shinas, Sultanate of Oman
 INPUT
PROCESS OUTPUT
• Language Acquisition
Theories Analysis of the Principles of
• Neuroscience theories Language Teaching
• Principles in Language
Teaching
 HOW CAN
WE MAKE
OUR
STUDENTS
LEARN THE
LANGUAGE?
LEARNING
BLOOM’ S EDUCATIONAL TAXONOMIES
How do we
learn a
language?
How do we
teach a
language?
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION THEORIES
How do we learn a language?
THE BEHAVIORIST
APPROACH (Skinner)
(operant conditioning)
THE BEHAVIORIST APPROACH

We learn…

a.Rewards/Reinforcement
b.Contrastive Analysis
c.Imitation/Repetition
Rewards/Reinforcement

Brown argues that human beings are universally driven to act by

the anticipation of some sort of tangible or intangible reward.

Brown, H. D. (2001). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy. White Plains, NY:
Longman.
How do we teach?

1.Be careful when learners become too dependent on the

rewards and not on the intrinsic desire to learn.
2.Advice students to help one another in learning the
language.
3.Point out to the students the long term benefits of
learning English.
Contrastive Analysis = This is comparing points in which
two languages are similar or different.
Contrastive Analysis = This is comparing points in which
two languages are similar or different.
How do we teach?
Contrastive Analysis also makes it possible to know
the interference of the first language (L1) in the
learning of the target language (TL).
The Native language effect (interference)

The native language of learners strongly influences the acquisition

of the target language system.
Implications to teaching
a. Explain that the errors are normal for language learners but
provide appropriate feedback by acquainting the learner with
the native language cause of the error.
b.Not everything in the native language will cause the error.
c. Explain that the students should minimize resorting to
translation from L1 to L2.
Imitation/Repetition Krashen (1987, 1988)
Acquisition-Learning hypothesis

ACQUISITION = is the product of a

subconscious process very similar to
the process children undergo when
they acquire their first language.

Learners are concentrated not in the form of their

utterances, but in the communicative act.
Krashen, Stephen D. Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. Prentice-Hall International, 1987.
Krashen, Stephen D. Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning. Prentice-Hall International, 1988.
• cope up with
• With regards to
• Hoping for your kind
consideration.
• It is (I, me).
• “th”
• “f” vs. “p”
• more better
• most fastest
• equipments
• personnels
• open/close the light
• have it xeroxed
• fall in line (stand in a queue/line up/make a line)
• taken cared of (taken care of)
• fill up a form (fill-out)
• stand up/sit down
• Experiential learning is the process of learning by
doing, connecting theories and knowledge to real-
world situations.
• The learner is an active participant in the educational
process, and learning is achieved through a
continuous cycle of inquiry, reflection, analysis and
synthesis (Bartle, 2015).
• Task-based learning is an approach to language
learning where learners are given interactive tasks to
complete.
Implications to teaching
1.The class begins with the language systems
(grammar, phonology, discourse, etc. )
2.Large portions of the course are focused on the
“use” of the language.
3.Automaticity is not gained overnight.
4. When talking to toddlers, adults should pronounce
English words properly.
5. Learning is habit forming. Constant repetitions or
drills should be a constant part of the lesson.
 THE COGNITIVE THEORY

Psychologists and psycholinguistics viewed second

language learning as:

1. The acquisition of a COMPLEX COGNITIVE SKILL

2. The process of automatization
3. The process of restructuring
4. The process of gradual mastering

Natural Order of Acquisition (Krashen)

1. The acquisition of a COMPLEX COGNITIVE SKILL
(individual differences)
2. The process of automatization = Practice
3. The process of restructuring = old to new
materials/simple to more complex exercises
4. The process of gradual mastering = Language
learning takes time.
Complex Cogntiive Skill

This describes how students acquire knowledge. In

teaching, language learning is not the same for every
learner.

Piaget’s in his theory of cognitive

development says that progressive
reorganization of mental
processes results from biological
maturation and environmental
experience.
Jean Piaget
Meaningful Experience

This is integrating “new information” into “existing structures and

memory systems” and the resulting associative links create stronger
retention.

IMPROVE
NEW LESSON
RETENTION

EXISTING
KNOWLEDGE
Brain Target 3: :“Big Picture” Concepts/Concept Mapping
Hardiman, M. (2012). The Brain-Targeted Teaching Model for 21st Century Schools. Corwin Press

“patterning”
familiar
New New
Neuroscientists
stimuli meaning
unfamiliar
New
information

Constructivism is based on the premise that we

construct learning new ideas based on our own
prior knowledge and experiences.
• Constructivism can be traced back to educational
psychology in the work of Jean Piaget (1896–1980).
He identified the theory of cognitive development.
Piaget focused on how humans make meaning in
relation to the interaction between their experiences
and their ideas.
• Learning is unique to the individual learner. Students
adapt their models of understanding either by
reflecting on prior theories or resolving
misconceptions.
Implications to teaching

1.Include activities that appeal to the students’ interests,

academic goals, and career goals.
2.Associate students’ background knowledge to new
topic or information.
3.Avoid to much rote memory.
 ACCULTURATION AND PIDGINIZATION THEORY
• Acculturation has been typically defined as the
process of acquisition of cultural aspects of a
dominant culture by members of nondominant
cultures.
• Pidginization is a linguistic process that occurs when
people who do not speak the same language come
into contact.
• Pidgin is a grammatically simplified means of
communication that develops between two or more
groups of people that do not have a language in
common.
Important Principles of Teaching
1. Acculturation = The learner must, as much as possible, come
CLOSE to the target language. (Comprehensible Input,
Krashen)
2. Social Distance/Pidginization = When people who do not
speak the same language come into contact, it is important
for the teacher to point out the errors in the target language.
It is also important that the learner joins a group using the
same target language.
3. Psychological Distance = These are the different affective
factors that concern the individual in learning the language
like language shock, culture shock, feeling silly, etc.
(Affective Filter, Krashen)
On culture…

a. The teacher discusses the cross-cultural differences and

emphasizes that no culture is “better” than another.
b.The teacher includes some activities that illustrate the
connection between language and culture.
c. The teacher screens or chooses the materials that may be
culturally offensive.
d.The teacher discusses the students’ own culture and determine
which part of the culture restricts them from learning the
target language.
Language ego

As human beings learn to use an L2, they also develop a

new mode of thinking, feeling, and acting – a second
identity. Their new ‘language ego’ can feel fragile, silly and
sometimes humiliated when lacking words or suitable
grammar structures. Thus it is necessary to overtly display
a supportive attitude to our students.
Self-confidence

Learners’ belief that they are capable of accomplishing a task is a factor in

their eventual success in attaining the task.

Implications to teaching
a. The teacher gives ample verbal
and non-verbal assurances to the
students.
b.The teacher sequences
techniques or activities from
easy to difficult.
Implications to teaching

a. Overtly display a supportive attitude to your students.

b.Knowledge of students’ abilities. (who to call…)
Interlanguage
An interlanguage is a type of speech or writing developed by
people during the process of learning a new language, when the
learner is starting to gain proficiency in the new, or “target,”
language but has not mastered it.

L2 learners, go through a systematic developmental process as they

progress to full competence in L2. This means, for example, that at
some point, a good deal of what an L2 learner says or comprehend
may be logically correct, but from the point of view of the native
speaker’s competence, it’s incorrect. Teachers should allow
learners to progress through such systematic stages of acquisition.
 letters sounds words sentences discourse

Implications to teaching

a. Teachers need to exercise some tolerance for certain

interlanguage forms that may arise out of a student’s logical
development process.
b.Don’t make student feel stupid because of an interlanguage error.
c. Committing mistakes in language acquisition is normal.
d.As the ability of the students improve, try to get them to self-
correct.
e.Point out mistakes with kindness and empathy.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs
Intrinsic Motivation
However, the most powerful rewards are those that are intrinsically
motivated within the learner. Brown adds that if all learners were
intrinsically motivated to perform all classroom tasks, we might not even
need teachers.
Risk-Taking

Successful language learners must be willing to become “gamblers” to

attempt to produce and to interpret language that is a bit beyond their
absolute certainty.
Implications to teaching
a. The teacher creates an atmosphere that
encourages students to try out
language, to venture a response and
not to wait for someone else to
volunteer language.
b. The teacher provides reasonable
challenges in the classroom – not too
easy and not too hard.
c. The teachers respond to
students’ risky attempts
with positive affirmation,
praising them for trying
while at the same time
warmly but firmly attending
to their language.
Strategic investment

Successful mastery of L2 will also be due to a learner’s own personal

investment of time, effort, and attention to L2.

Implications to teaching
a. Recognize and deal with the wide variety of styles and strategies that
learners bring to the learning process.
b. Understand the need for attention to each separate individual in the
classroom.
Gardner’s 7
Intelligences
 THE MONITOR THEORY (Krashen, 1970’s)

a. ACQUISITION versus LEARNING

Acquisition is the “subconscious” (nonformal) learning

of the target language. Learning is the “conscious”
(formal) study of the TL.

Teaching: The rules of the language must be learned.

But the learner should practice using the language
outside of the classroom.
b.The Monitor Hypothesis = The knowledge of the rules
of the language acts as a “monitor” or “editor” while
using the target language.

grammar/rules
(monitor/editor)

communication
Teaching: The explicit teaching of the rules of grammar
is necessary.

ERROR versus MISTAKE

An ERROR cannot be self-corrected while MISTAKES

can be self-corrected.
Communicative Competence
Ferdinand de Saussure
Langue = denotes a system of
internalized, shared rules governing a
national language’s vocabulary,
grammar, and sound system.

Parole = designates actual oral and

written communication by a member or
members of a particular speech
community.
Saussure, F. (1916). Course in general linguistics. Published by Ch. Bally and A.
Sechehaye, Paris, Payot
 Chomsky (1965) = “linguistic competence”

vCompetence = innate linguistic

knowledge that allows a person to match
sounds and meanings; rules of language;
ideal speaker and listener’s knowledge of
the language
v Performance = involves limitations of
memory, attention, and articulation

Chomsky, Noam. (1965). Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
 v Communicative competence is a
term coined by Dell Hymes in 1966
in reaction to Noam Chomsky’s
(1965) notion of “linguistic
competence”.

vCommunicative competence is
“both (tacit) knowledge and
Hymes, Dell
(ability for) use” of the language.
(Hymes, 1972, p. 282)
Components of Communicative Competence

1 Linguistic Grammar and pronunciation

Competence

Sociolinguistic Appropriate use of the language

2
Competence (culture)

3 Discourse
essays, paragraphs, reports,
Competence
research

4 Strategic
Competence How to sustain a conversation

Canale, M. (1983). From Communicative Competence to Communicative Language Pedagogy. In J.

C. Richard, & R. W. Schmidt (Eds.), Language and Communication (pp. 2-14). London: Longman.