THE PRACTICE OF ENGLISH

LANGUAGE TEACHING
ISSUES IN LANGUAGE LEARNING
 Are we born with an innate capability
to learn language?
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION VS LANGUAGE LEARNING
THEORY
Language Acquısıtıon:
• Subconcious process
• Without formal instruction
• Massive exposure
• Age limit: 6 years comprised
until puberty (Pinker, 1994)
• No or very low level of
abstraction
• Spontaneous capabilities
(Palmer)
Language Learning:
• Concious process
• Formal instruction
• Limited exposure to the
language
• Age limit: puberty
• Higher level of abstraction
• Studial capabilities
WHAT RESEARCH OFFERS?
The mind is a computer
Explicit and implicit knowledge
Language is forming habits
Language is communication
Language is grammar or vocabulary
The role of other languages (translation)
Learning is about people
THE MIND IS COMPUTER
 SKINNER’S EXPERIMENT

• A rat being placed in a box and it

should deal with pressing a bar to be
able to get food.
• Skinner concluded that human’s
language, just like a rat’s behaviour,
is driven by stimulus. This means
that our language ability depends on
the stimulus in our environment.
 NOAM CHOMSKY
 disagree with Skinner
 he thinks that language acquisition is innate.
 aside from the stimulus in environment
 He believed that every child has LAD (Language Acquisition
Device)
 UG (Universal Grammar)
 Innate learning mechanism enables a child to figure out how the
language works.
LAD:
a system of principles that
children are born with that helps
them learn language and
accounts for the order in which
children learn structures, and the
mistakes they make as they learn.
UG:
a linguistic theory that all human
languages are constructed on the
same pattern to help all normal
speakers acquire their native
language quickly and accurately.
 STEPHEN KRASHEN
Language ability is gained through acquisition rather than learning and that
learners acquire through input that is at the level just beyond their current
ability.
 THE INPUT
HYPOTHESIS
i+1
i= students’ level of comprehension
+1= just beyond that level
 THE MONITOR HYPOTHESIS

to know the rule

to focused on form
have time to monitor
 THE AFFECTIVE FILTER HYPOTHESIS

to spark interest

to reduce anxiety
to improve students’ self-esteem
motivation
 EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT KNOWLEDGE
Explicit is the acquisition of
concious knowledge and learners
are aware of that they have
learned something.

Implicit is the acquisition of unconscious knowledge. This means

that one learns to see the structural relations or syntax of a new
language subliminally.
THINKING ABOUT LANGUAGE

 Implicit teaching ( inductive approach)

Learner centered
Students take agency
 Explicit teaching(deductive approach)
Teacher centered
 GUIDED INSTRUCTION

 almost always done with small and purposeful groups composed.

 based on students’ performance on formative assessment.
 between students and the teacher as they begin to apply the
skill or strategy.
 the teacher’s active role in guided instruction, not just circulating
and assisting individual students.
 changing groups throughout the semester.
 DIRECT INSTRUCTION

• Explicit teaching of a skill-set using lectures of

demonstrations of the material, rather than
exploratory models such as inquiry-based
learning.
• Systematic
• Scaffolded/ No place for guess work or errors.
• Scaffolding- learning is best achieved through
the dinamic interaction.
 ACCORDING TO AN EXPERIMENT;
(IN SAUDI ARABIA)

 The first group’s exposure to the vocabulary was uninstructed and

incidental, whereas the second group were given instruction.
 The first group’s vocabulary acquisition results in lexical gains.
 However, the second group with direct instruction adds value to
the learning process and leads to greater learning.
 FOCUS ON FORM OR FOCUS ON FORMS
THEORY
Focus on form:
• Task-based language teaching
• Incidental and opportunistic
• Noticing (language intake)
(Richard Schmidt, 1990)
Focus on forms:
• Course books
• Language syllabus
• Grammar McNuggets (grammar that is
artificially packaged into bite sized –and
not very nutritious- chunks for the
purposes of teaching.)
• Traditional method in language classes.
 NOTICING HYPOTHESIS/ RICHARD SCHMIDT

Nothing is learned unless it has been noticed.The Noticing Hypothesis can

help students to learn a language with strategies that include their interests so
they can notice and pay attention to all the details of the language.
Learners are quite capable of noticing language features for themselves.
 On an advertising billboard
 In a tv programme
 A newspaper
 Apps
 Games etc.
 LANGUAGE IS FORMING HABITS
BEHAVIORISM/SKINNER
• Language, as a behaviour, is set of habits acquired by
classical or operant conditioning and reinforcement.
• It is learned through association between a stimulus
and the following response.
• A verbal behaviour modified by the environment.
• Quality Repetition instead of memorization
• Positive reinforcement and mindful drilling.
• Iteration is more important than repetition.
 BEHAVIORISM THEORY

Conditioning is the result of:

stimulu response reinforcement

s
 DRILLS USED BY TEACHER IN SLA

• Gradually disappearing parts of lines that are being repeated.

• Asking students to write drill lines down.
• Using shouted dictation.
• Using chain drills.
• Using repetitive games like jokes, songs, poems, advertising
slogans.
• Real (authentic) communication context.
Language Is communIcatıon
DO YOU THINK LINGUISTIC PROFICIENCY IS SUFFICIENT
FOR COMMUNICATION?
 TEACHERS:
• prioritised grammar and translation.
Johannes COMENIUS:
• recommended using imitation instead of rules to teach a
language.
• With the arrival of direct method and audiolingualism,
speaking was mostly limited to repeating prescribed
langauge.
 Merill SWAIN:
• Comprehensible output (a clear echo of Krashen’s input)
pushes learners to process language more deeply(with
more mental effort ) than does input.
 NEGOTIATION
 Learner contribution to the learning process fosters involvement and responsibility
 Moving learner along the negotiating ladder.

 Make instruction goals clear to them.

 Allow learners to create their own goals .
 Encourage students to use L2 outside the classroom.
 Raise awareness of the learning process .
 Help learners to identify their own preferred styles and strategies.
 Encourage learner choice.
 Allow learners to generate their own tasks.
LANGUAGE IS GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY

 Coursebooks are based on mainly grammar structure and

vocabulary.
 From known to unkown.
 Natural order :
 learners produce single words
 string works together based on meaning and not syntax
 begin to identify elements that begin and end sentences.
 begin to identify diffferent elements within sentences and can
rearrange them to produce questions.
 WHEN YOU ARE READY
 Teaching can promote acquisition :teaching one step close to the
next form to be acquired (teachability hypothesis)-
pienemann,1998
 All learning is mediated by social interaction
 Learning is assisted performance(scaffolding)
 Successful scaffolding can occur when learners are in the zone of
Proximal Devolopment( ZPD)- lev Vygotsky,1920-1930
 THE ROLE OF OTHER LANGUAGES
(TRANSLATION)

Acknowledge the L1:

 ıt makes no sense to deny the importance of the
students’ L1 in their L2 learning.
 Making students relax.
 Having strees-free-own-language.
Use appropriate L1, L2 activities:
 using sensible activities increasing the benefits of
using the students’L1
Activities:
Translation exercises
Specific contrast between the two languages in areas
of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation or discourse.
Differentiate between levels:
 The more usage of L1 is the less understanding
of L2.
 İf needed, we can use L1 for rapport-
enhancement at lower levels.
Agree clear guideliness:
 Students need to know when mother tongue use
is productive and when it is not.
Use encouragement and persuation:
 We should encourage our students to try to
speak English and should tell the importance
of learning English.
 LEARNING IS ABOUT PEOPLE
 Learning is about or for people.
 This idea leads to humanistic approach.

Humanistic approach: Traditional approach:

 Students-centered  Teacher-centered
 Teacher-facilitator  Teacher-authority
 Students-responsible for their own learning  Teacher responsible for the learning
 Learning the language  Learning about the language
 Communication  Grammar rules
 Students-active role  Students- passive role
 Two-way communication  One-way communication
 Cooperative learning  Competitive learning
 N T IO N …
T T E
.

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