POPULAR IDEAS ABOUT

LANGUAGE LEARNING
REVISITED

LIGHTBOWN, Patsy M & SPADA (2013), Nina. How

languages are learned. 4th ed. New York: Oxford.
University Press
Introduction

• Language learning
• Language acquisition
• Imitation
• Feedback on errors
• Early age best approaches
Languages are learned mainly
through imitation

• “Learners do not simply internalize a great list of imitated and

memorized sentences”.
• Imitation do have a role to play in language learning.
• Imitation can be an individual strategy in language learning.
• WARNING! It cannot be a universal characteristic of all language
learners.
• Imitation can be a great deal in developing pronunciation and
intonation
• BEGINERS tend to be slaves of imitation and rote memorization –
it can lead to a dead end!
• “They learn as they make the effort to needed to understand
and make themselves understood”.
Parents usually correct young children
when they make grammatical
mistakes

• Parents corrections can be related to their social,

linguistic and educational background.
• Normally it initiates during school age.
• Parents tend to focus on meaning rather than in form.
• Parents interfere in errors that directly get in the way of
communication.
• EVIDENCE! Without correcting feedback and guidance,
second language learners may persist in using certain
ungrammatical forms for years.
Highly intelligent people are
good language learners

• People that have good results in IQ tests probably will

do well in grammar rule and vocabulary tests too.
• It doesn’t mean that all the 4 abilities will be developed
as well as structures and etc.
• Communicative competence
• Language learning involves a great variety of skills and
abilities
• “What is essential is to find ways to engage the different
kinds of ability that students bring to the learning
environment”.
The best predictor of success in second
language acquisition is motivation

• Learners who want to learn tend to do better than the one

who don’t.
• Highly motivated learners find great challenge in learning a
language.
• Adults have a great deal of difficulty in achieve proficiency
and accuracy rather than children.
• Instruction
• Age
• Preferences
• Aptitude
• “Teachers have no influence over learners’ intrinsic
motivation for learning a second language”.
The earlier a second language is introduced in
school programmes, the greater the likelihood
of success in learning

• It depends on the learning context

• SLA for children who are bilingual should rely on
programs that promote the development of the
first language
• Older children benefit more from FL or SL
instruction because they already have the
foundation in their mother tongue
• All school programs should be based on realistic
estimates of how long it takes to learn a SL.
(p.164)
Most of the mistakes that 2nd language
learners make are due to their 1st language

• Not necessarily
• The learner can be building the language system
• Overgeneralization overextension of the target
language
• Interaction with people who make the same
mistakes.
Teachers should present grammatical rules
one at a time, and learners should practice
examples of each before going on to another

• Language learning is not simply linear in its

development (p. 165)
• Stages of development should be considered when
learning/assessing is to take place
• Isolated presentation and practice of one
structure at a time does not provide learners
with an opportunity to discover how different
language features compare and contrast in normal
language use (p. 166)
Teachers should teach simple language
structures before complex ones

• There are no thing such as simple language

structures
• Some of the complex structures can be acquired
before some of the simple ones
• Teachers should increase the complexity of their
language as learners proficiency increases.
(based on p.166)
• Teachers should also expose students to the
widest possible varieties of linguistic forms and
structures especially in FL settings. (also
based on p.166).
Learners errors should be corrected as they
are made in order to prevent the formation
of bad habits

• It depends
• Developmental pattern errors should be called to
the learners attention and explained, if they can
grasp it
• Children dont usually benefit from metacognitive
explanations
• Corrective feedback may not be as effective in
the cases when the student is not yet ready for
the given structure
• Correction of errors should be done in a punctual
yet gentle way in order to challenge the learner
to go on.