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THE RELATION BETWEEN LANGUAGE AND OTHER AREAS OF KNOWLEDGE By Helda Alicia Hidalgo Dávila It is interesting noticing that the pedagogy of Languages is a multidisciplinary area thanks to its varied nature. When teaching a language, the teacher should be aware of the variety of relations a language implies in society. For instance, a language is related to society and culture by means of the uses language is put to. That is why it is necessary knowing not only the language that is going to be taught but also the areas that influenced the uses that language is put to in a specific context and how it is used. The task of a teacher, therefore, is knowing about what else can be implied in the teaching process of a native and a foreign language. This article gives the opportunity for students and teachers of languages to know the concepts that should be managed to understand the jargon of language pedagogy as well as the relation of language and other disciplines that intervene with languages. CONCEPTS IN LANGUAGE PEDAGOGY: Some concepts people involved in language learning should know are those that relate to some kind of concept that has to do with the use of language. These concepts refer to language: First language: A definition of this concept is provided by Davis (2003) who argues that a first language is that language a human being learns because he/she listens to it from the moment that person is born. He adds that this first language of a person is what provides the identity in society of that specific person. In other words this language gives a person a sociolinguistic identity. Synonyms of this term are: native language, mother tongue, primary language, stronger language. Any of these expressions can be found in the texts related to language when talking to the language a person first acquires in life. Another term that can be found in the pedagogy of languages is Second Language which is defined as a language learned after the first language. It can also be considered an auxiliary language and can be used as a lingua franca (Hyltenstam, 1992). Synonyms of this term are: non-native language, foreign language, secondary language, and weaker language. The text usually use these terms in reference to the language that is learned once an individual already has acquired one language as his/her native. It is also important to consider the point of view of Stern (1983) who indicates that these terms above show a “subjective relationship” between a language and the group of people who speak them. Two other important terms are Acquisition and Learning. These terms are referred to in relation to language, therefore, we get language acquisition and language learning. A definition of Language Acquisition corresponds to the one provided in Bates et al. (1998) who refer to language acquisition as the study of the processes through which humans acquire language. Language learning refers to the formal process by which people knows a language. For instance, students in classrooms usually learn a language and they acquire the language in the community where it is spoken. This is the common differentiation authors have established between these two terms (Pinker, 1994). It is interesting how Stern establishes the relations between the terms and the context in which the terms are used. Not only he provides a definition of the term but also relates it to something else. Another example is the relation he makes between the terms: Standard language, regional language, national language, official language, modern language, classical language. This set of terms, according to Stern, refers to a social relation to a group. Stern says they refer to a geographical distribution, to a social function, to political status, to origin, to type of importance of a language that is used widely to communicate. With these differentiations in mind, it is possible to argue that as part of the definition of these terms, their use in society and learning is fundamental to comprehend the texts that derive not only from research in education but also from other areas of human science that deal with language to some extent. Another important language to know before developing research is the language of Acronyms. The literature of research in language pedagogy is full of acronyms that express a whole set of information. The following set of acronyms is easy found in language literature and research: L1 = First language L2 = Second language SL = Second language FL = Foreign language SLA = Second language acquisition FLL = Foreign language learning Other set of acronyms deal with the associations and styles in language study. Here we have: FLA = Foreign Language Association ALA = Applied Linguistics Association MLA = Modern Language Association APA = American Psychology Association ASOCOPI = Asociación Colombiana de Profesores de Inglés AAAL = American Association of Applied Linguistics EAP = English for Academic Purposes EFL = English as a Foreign Language ESOL = English as a Second or Other Language TEFL = Teaching English as a Foreign Language TESOL = Teaching English as a Second or Other Languages A very important term in research in languages corresponds to the definition of the word research itself. Research is defined as: 1- “Research is our key to the copious treasure chest of our past, the key to our historical, cultural, political, theological and scientific heritage. When you begin research, consider your good fortune in having an opportunity to unlock the distant past as well as to assimilate the findings of recent weeks and days”( Todd, M., 2001) This definition let us see research as a way to know about the past as a means to study the findings that have been made through time until our own days. With this definition in mind it is possible to establish relationships between past and present events to come to conclusions and provide suggestions for the future. 2- Research is an endeavour to study or obtain knowledge through the use of a systematic approach with the intent of clarification. This includes activities which attempt to discover new facts, information, or new applications of existing knowledge. http://www.nwtresearch.com/licence/definition.aspx This definition makes emphasis in the task or work that needs to be done in order to find something new in relation to existing knowledge. Therefore, it is possible to argue that the basis for any research has to do with what already exist in the different areas of knowledge. Pure investigation can happen in laboratory settings where scientists find new knowledge. Nevertheless, the research that is developed at the level of a research class is the application of the knowledge that already exists. 3- “Research is any original and systematic investigation undertaken in order to increase knowledge and understanding and to establish facts and principles. It comprises the creation of ideas and generation of knowledge that lead to new and substantial improved insights and/or the development of new materials, devices, products and processes. It should have the potential to produce results that are sufficiently relevant to increase knowledge. Good reflective inquiry produces theories and hypotheses and benefits any intellectual attempt to analyze facts and phenomena. This search for individual facts or data requires an open-ended question for which there is no ready answer. Data are gathered through experiments, surveys or other methodologies”. http://www.nipissingu.ca/research/downloads/DefnofResearchforwebsite.doc This definition of research is the definition by which a council of research from the Nipissing University regulates investigation inside the university. This definition makes emphasis in the production of new elements of knowledge. Therefore, pure scientific research can be implied. The research process to be developed in the pedagogy of languages at the Linguistics and Languages Department at Universidad de Nariño, can be understood as the process by which students try to solve a problem found in their immediate educational environment at the different levels of education. To solve this problem, students should develop a case study and provide some suggestions for the way in which the study contributes to solve the problem in some way. Another definition to consider before starting a research process in the pedagogy of languages is the one related to theory. The word theory has been assigned two meanings. One meaning corresponds to the definition that applies to pure science and the other one corresponds to human sciences. Observe the two following definitions of the words that refer to science: “A theory, in the scientific sense of the word, is an analytic structure designed to explain a set of empirical observations. A scientific theory does two things: 1. it identifies this set of distinct observations as a class of phenomena, and 2. makes assertions about the underlying reality that brings about or affects this class.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory As it can be understood from the definition above, a theory in science applies to facts that fall into a specific category, and as such becomes an assertion of the observations developed by scientists. It is also possible to say that scientists are able to test the theory in all of the cases that form part of the specific set. Another definition of theory in science goes further to cover repetition of facts that are observed and have gone some kind of experimentation providing the same results after each repetition of the experimentation process. “A scientific theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiment. Such fact-supported theories are not "guesses" but reliable accounts of the real world (Popper, 1963)”. The theory of biological evolution is more than "just a theory." It is as factual an explanation of the universe as the atomic theory of matter or the germ theory of disease. Our understanding of gravity is still a work in progress. But the phenomenon of gravity, like evolution, is an accepted fact.” It is also possible to find a definition of the word theory in relation to humanities. “Theories whose subject matter consists not in empirical data, but rather in ideas are in the realm of philosophical theories as contrasted with scientific theories. At least some of the elementary theorems of a philosophical theory are statements whose truth cannot necessarily be scientifically tested through empirical observation.” (Popper, 1963). There is an intrinsic relation between theory and research. According to Stern (1983) they are totally related. Any research should be backed up by an existing theory which represents a congruent body of knowledge. At the same time this existing theory makes it possible the development of further research. Research can also be tied to questions and hypotheses. These questions and hypotheses are an integral part of inquiry that directs research in the process of getting date to confirm theories. In this sense, it is also possible to relate language pedagogy and theory. Teaching a language is a process that has been supported by theory and hypotheses that can be verified by the research process. Any research in language teaching should start making reference to theory in the field. It is common to see that research in languages starts citing the theory that is behind general pedagogy, learning psychology, second language acquisition and even sociology. For example, in the case a student wants to develop research in the use of communicative strategies for developing listening comprehension in children 7 and 8 years of age, it is a good idea to start reviewing the theoretical assumptions about the learning stages of children who are 7 and 8 years of age, and also the theoretical basis related to second language acquisition on the input hypothesis. Another important theory to read about would be the linguistic theory about competence and performance. In this way the researcher relates theory and research. Stern (1983) argues in favor of the use of theory in research since a very well defined theory helps the researcher to understand language teaching and its relation to other disciplines. In this way, the researcher can identify that language teaching is immerse in the theory of education, social policy, national and international politics, linguistics, psychology, sociology and humanities. The idea of recurring to theory is that teaching and research becomes more meaningful and therefore more comprehensible in the processes that should be followed in both teaching practices and research findings. When focusing on language teaching, it is necessary for the student teacher to have some knowledge of the nature of language. In order to know about this nature of language, the teacher should ask about the view of language that is implicit in a theory of language teaching (Stern, 1983). To know about this concept, the teacher can recur to linguistics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics and the descriptions and analysis of particular languages. It is also important for the teacher to focus on the learner and the nature of language learning (Stern, 1983). For the teacher to acquire this knowledge, there are some disciplines that can help him/her such as: psychology, language acquisition (L1 and L2), and language use. In the same way, language teaching requires knowledge about the teacher and the process of language teaching. The subject matters that take the teachers to this knowledge are those related to education such as: pedagogy, language didactics, and TESOL. Apart from those discipline above, the teacher needs an understanding of the context in which learning and teaching take place. Here, three aspects need consideration. One aspect corresponds to the identification and analysis of the language. This aspect implies knowing about the first language of the student and the target language for the student. These two languages take place in a specific social, cultural and political contexts that have influence in the language learning process. The subject matters that give information about these contexts are: social sciences such as sociology, sociolinguistics, social psychology and cultural anthropology. A second aspect corresponds to the educational setting. It means, it is necessary to identify the role of the language in the educational system. It also means knowing about the place the language is assigned in the educational context. This knowledge is provided by subject matters such as education, pedagogy, sociology, and sociolinguistics. The third aspect corresponds to the language teaching background. This aspect has been forgotten in the language disciplines maybe due to the origin of this knowledge. This aspect implies knowing about the historical background of the language that is studied or taught. The history of language pedagogy is a very important knowledge for teachers and students of languages because this knowledge can provide them the basis for developing research and relating it to past experiences. The focus on the history of languages and language teaching and the state of the art of the language disciplines can provide this background knowledge. It is possible to come about with a list of disciplines that have an influence in language teaching and research and therefore should be considered when trying to get conclusions on research. A list adapted from Stern (1983) is presented in this section for consideration and complementation by the student who is interested in developing research in language pedagogy. Subject matters: History of Language Teaching Linguistics Sociology, sociolinguistics, anthropology Psychology, psycholinguistics, language acquisition Education At the practical level the following list of aspects can be considered for research: Methodology: Objectives Contents Procedures (Strategies, techniques, activities) Materials Evaluation Organization: Governmental planning Administration Primary, secondary, higher education Education of adults Education of language teachers Formal and informal education Also, the following topics can be addressed: - The language learner and language learning processes - The language teacher and teaching - The environmental context of language teaching and learning - The methodology and organization of language teaching - Language in general and specific language description - The culture related to the specific languages - The society in which every language takes place BIBLIOGRAPHY Bates, E., et al. (1998). "Innateness and emergentism". A companion to cognitive science (Oxford / Basil Blackwell): 590-601. Davis, A. (2003) The Native Speaker: Myth and Reality. New York: Multilingual Matters, Ltd Hyltenstam, K. (1992). Non-native Features of Near-native Speakers: On the Ultimate Attainment of Childhood L2 Learners. In R.J. Harris (Ed.), Cognitive Processing in Bilinguals (pp. 351–367). Amsterdam: North-Holland. Pinker, S. (1994). The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language. New York: Harper Collins. Popper, K. (1963), Conjectures and Refutations, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, UK, pp. 33–39. Reprinted in Theodore Schick, (2000), Readings in the Philosophy of Science, Mayfield Publishing Company, Mountain View, Calif., pp. 9–13. Stern, H. H. (1983). Fundamental Concepts of Language Teaching. Oxford University Press. Todd, M., (2001) In Defense of Jewish Social History. Jewish Social Studies, new ser., vol. 7, no. 3. pp. 52-67