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Universidad de Antioquia
Escuela de Idiomas
Master’s in Foreign Language Teaching and Learning
Principles of Second language Acquisition and Learning
March 14, 2012
Final exam
SANDRA MARCELA TRUJILLO PINO
cc. 43.603.936
ANSWER FOR QUESTION # 1.
Learning and acquiring a language entails a process that is affected by factors
like age, socio-cultural aspects, resources, space and time. You cannot expect
a student to learn the English language (L2) in the same way that a student
learns its first language (L1). Jonhoson , K. and Johnson, H (eds). (1999)
“Second language acquisition (SLA), like L1 acquisition, also proceeds in
broadly systematic stages”.
When you are teaching English to a Spanish speaker you need to take into
account certain important approaches that will influence the second language
learning and acquisition. These approaches include:
 Cognitive approach: Jonhoson , K. and Johnson, H (eds). (1999) “
(which argues that second language linguistic develops as the
result of learners applying general learning mechanisms to the
specific case of second language acquisition)”. It is important to
know what your student is good at: reading and writing or listening and
speaking, it is also essential to have a specific learning strategy and what
possible strategies are useful when correcting a student o giving
feedback.
 Socio-cultural approach: discrimination, social acceptance, social
background all of them affect the way students perceive things and react
to them. Diversity exists and it is advisable to create in the classroom a
balanced environment, where the students will feel comfortable and
confident in order to learn and acquire the language. The socio cultural
approach influences the cognitive approach, Jonhoson , K. and
Johnson, H (eds). (1999)” … knowledge’ of language is just one of
the results of more mental abilities which enable humans to
construct mental representation of the world. Knowledge of
language grows as the child’s mental abilities grow, this being the
effect of the child interacting with his or her environment (O’Grady,
1987). Thus, a student needs social interactions to develop and reinforce
the English language learning and acquisition. Therefore the classroom
is not the only place where students learn and acquire a language.
 Technological approach: Ian Tudor. (2003) “the technology of
language teaching as seen in approach, methodology, materials
and learning aids provide language educators with options from
which they can choose in setting up a course or planning a class”
(p 5). So, it is important to let the students know what they are going to
learn in class, what for they are going to learn, and how they are going to
learn in class. All the learning objects you are using in class, such as text
books, information and communication technology (ICT) for example
podcasts, videos, web pages, slices, and transparencies refers to
technological approach. This approach also include the methodology, the
way you use this technology, the way you interact with students in class,
how you evaluate them and what kind of feedback you would apply in
your class. Your objectives should be as clear as possible. Ian Tudor.
(2003) “Technology, however, offers a potential, but does not in
itself guarantee that a given result will be obtained, not in a
complex human activity like teaching, at least” (p 3) .
 Ecological approach: Ian Tudor. (2003) “The ecological perspective,
on the other hand, focuses attention on the various human and
contextual factors which influence the use and likely effectiveness
of this technology” (p 5). This approach involves the human and
contextual features, that is, you need to understand your student’s
personality (shy, quiet, naughty, passive), how he interacts in class with
other – social interaction or participation – what are his reasons for
learning English (motivation), what are his strengths or weaknesses skills
regarding the language learning and acquisition (reading and writing,
listening and speaking), what are his study techniques, how much he
invests in learning or if he does not see any investment in the English
language learning.
Taking into account teacher and student, the richer the input the richer the
output inside the class and outside the class. However, this is not a fixed rule
because, sometime we, as teachers, believe we are given the correct quantity
and quality of input, and because of that we expect a good output. But if we
want to fulfill this result, you should evaluate the way you teach.
You also need to know that the input you give in class is not enough; you
should consider what kind of input your student is receiving outside class, what
kind of affective filter the student has.
Grammar is not an isolated issue; it does not matter if the student uses a
structure that has not been taught in class, on the contrary, that is completely
valid and valued. Language is not an out-of-the-way process, taught in
segments. Instead, it should be taught according to student’s needs and social
context.
Communication is worthy more than grammar structures. On the process of
learning and acquiring the language, your student will acquire those tools
necessary for communicating.
Take your time and explore what is your student good at (reading and writing,
listening and speaking). Discover his likes and work with materials related to it.
You will create motivation on the student and he will see it as an investment.
Not all the students are equal, not all of them learn in the same way, at the
same speed and with the same tools, not all the students in class are
homogenous; bear in mind that diversity exists in class and bear in mind that
“language is constructive”, all the approaches contribute to it. So, now that you
know what are the different approaches you have to face when teaching the
English language take your time and think about how can you take advantage
of the learning approaches. Remember: your learning tasks should be clearly
enough and attractive to students.
ANSWER FOR QUESTION # 2.
I would change teacher a. “An American young girl with no teaching degree,
but she has taught in China, Iran, Morocco and the Czech Republic” and
teacher c. “Colombian lawyer who lived in the U.K for 20 years and taught
Spanish there for 5 years.”
The American girl teacher:
Argument 1: not every American English speaking person is qualified to teach,
even though this girl has some experience in teaching, she does not have the
preparation and teaching background required for this profession. Teaching is
more than repeating list of words in class, explaining grammar structure,
teaching English books out of context of the social need of the student and
society. Students’ affective filter matters because they express themselves with
confidence or non confidence depending on the way they are treated in class.
This treatment also depends on the social, economical and geographical
background of the student. In addition to this, if the teacher does not realize that
students need motivation to learn the language, and view this process of
learning and acquiring a language as an investment, as a result, students will
just learn English from books without any purpose. Bonny Norton, (1995), “I
have suggested that even when learners have a high affective filter; it is
their investment in the target language that will lead them to speak. This
investment, in turn, must be understood in relation to the multiple,
changing, and contradictories identities of languages learners” (p 26). So,
if the teacher does not know that all these factors will affect the way students
learn, it would be difficult for the teacher and for the student to accomplish a
goal, which in this case is to learn and acquire the English language.
Argument 2: in the process of language learning and acquisition the teacher
needs to know what are the possible learning strategies he/she can teach
students when facing a problem (with a student or with the whole group).
Madeline E. Ehrman, betty Lou Leaver, Rebecca L. Oxford, (2003) “in the
language learning field, virtually all definitions of strategies imply
conscious movement toward a language goal (Bialystock, 1990; Oxford,
1990, 1996). A well orchestrated set of strategies used is called strategy
chain (Oxford, 2001), i.e., a set of interlocking, related, and mutually
supportive strategies” (p 316). Hence, if the teacher do not know the
strategies, it will be difficult for her to tackle problems of learning and
acquisition.
Among the main learning strategies are: Madeline E. Ehrman, Betty Lou
Leaver, Rebecca L. Oxford, (2003) “Cognitive strategies, metacognitive
strategies, memory-related strategies, compensatory strategies, affective
strategies, social strategies” (p 316-317).
Argument 3: She is out of our social context, she will not understand the
importance of the ecological approach, so it would be difficult for her to identify
what are the students’ necessities in our society and basically she will be apart
from what are some of the possible needs that students have in the context of
the social background.
I would change teacher c. “A Colombian lawyer who lived in the U.K for 20
years and taught Spanish there for 5 years”.
Argument 1: He has been out of social and cultural context for so much time.
Things, people, society and culture evolve and change. English and Spanish
entails different process of learning and acquisition, so, teaching English or
Spanish will require different treatment. Ian Tudor, (2002) “An ecological
approach, on the other hand, focuses in the first instance on local realities
– what language learning and teaching mean to local participation in the
full context of their lives, within but also beyond the classroom. An
ecological approach to pedagogical decision making therefore entails
studying situations “locally”, in their own terms, and working towards
situational
(Elliot,
1993)
or
local
(Freeman,
2000;
Tudor,
2202)
understanding” (p 8).
Argument 2: Lack of teaching background formation. It is not just speaking
English what is necessary to be an English teacher, it is to be aware of the
context that learning and acquiring a language imply. Ian Tudor, (2002) (p 9)
“Finally, it is very important to focus on the dynamics of teaching-learning
situations” (Tudor, 2001)
Argument 3: His field of study is very specific. Hence, he will probably tend to
teach according to his background formation. This represents a problem
because class content should fulfill students’ social context and their needs. As
a result the teacher will teach a language without context, he will not think about
students’ needs and motivation. Students need to know strategies that allow
them to tackle language problems. This teacher probably would not even take
into account students learning context and society needs.
I will keep teacher b. A man from Namibia with a teaching degree in English. To
be a teacher needs preparation, devotion, time, knowledge, comprise, sense of
responsibility, awareness of the social context that we face in our culture.
ANSWER FOR QUESTION # 3
I would not register my son in that daycare center, because the first years of
contact and family interactions are very important for a child. So, if a child is
exposed to English instead of Spanish the first years, he (my son) will probably
develop a language more than the other. Jonhson, K. and Johnson, H. (eds)
(1999) “First language (LI) acquisition is characteristically rapid. Most
structures for the target language are acquired within the five years of life
(Fry, 1977) (although vocabulary and the acquisition of some structures
may continue into later years). LI acquisition is successful: children end
up having the same grammatical knowledge (more or less) as the speaker
around them” The child will face difficult situation regarding communication
with other people inside the family and out of the family. The communication
with other children will probably be limited and his affective filter will be affected
by negative sentiments. Jonhson, K. and Johnson, H. (eds) (1999) “four to
six months after that combination of both lexical and functional words
(determiners, auxiliaries, tense markers, etc.) start appearing, and from
then on the length of the child’s utterance increases until by around 5
year of age the child is using language as complex as that of mature
native speaker”. If he is not understood, he will be discriminated, put aside by
its supposed friends. Thus, I think that everything has its moment. What would
happen in school especially in the main stream classes? He would become a
low track child with problems not only in communication but also his
performance in the main stream classes would not be the best. Judy Sharkey
and Carolyn Layzer (Summer, 2000) “They attempted to attend to the
affective needs of their students, which most educators would agree is
important in learning. However, focusing on the affective needs of
students to the exclusion of their cognitive needs has negative
consequences” (361). This is due to the fact that the child will have problems
understanding Spanish language. His comprehension and performance will be
limited. Judy Sharkey and Carolyn Layzer (Summer, 2000) “The
consequences. One consequence of students’ limited interaction in their
mainstream classes is that access to academic resources and success
was impeded” (364).
ANSWER QUESTION # 4
I would design a “Tour by the school”. With this activity the students will have
the opportunity not only to learn profession but also they will learn and acquire
information regarding this topic. Students will have the possibility to learn about
professions, places, duties, people description. Students will think what a good
profession would be for them.
Before beginning the tour I would recommend to familiarize the students with
professions. This could be done using a video song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4FQvNUb5AY&feature=related video song
After this, explain the students what the next step is: “Tour by the school”.
Use posters with the name of the places and possible professions in the school.
Prepare these posters in advance.
The tour will include the commonest places for children in the school: the
entrance, reception desk, the principal’s office, the church, the teacher’s room,
the theater, the cafeteria and the yard.
In every place the students will identify: the place and the profession. The also
will name the people who is in that job and describe that person. The last places
to visit in the tour will be the cafeteria and the yard. In the cafeteria the children
will have the opportunity to share a candy an the yard to play for a while. In
these two last places the children will also talk about their favorite snack and
their favorite toy to play.
The last activities would be in the classroom. They will have sheets of paper to
draw and name the places visited in the tour, an express the feeling about the
activity. And report this to the class, like in a gallery. And then, they will have
two assignments for the next class.
1. Complete a worksheet on professions.
http://english4kids.com/worksheets/matching/jobs%20and%20place%20match.pdf
2. A crossword puzzle. But in this activity the children will only look for the
profession he/she would like to perform.
http://www.esltower.com/VOCABSHEETS/jobs/jobsearch.pdf
In the next class, they will share with the rest of the class the profession he
choose in the crossword puzzle.
Judy Sharkey and Carolyn Layzer. (Summer, 2000) “Given the theoretical
belief that learning is a socially mediated activity, we adhere to the
proposition that SLA is facilitated by opportunities for L2 learners to
interact with speakers (native or nonnative) and use the L2 in meaningful
ways (Spolsky, 1989)” (p361).
The interactions among student and the context around them are important,
because they will interact in the context surrounded by them and they will have
the opportunity to interchange information with their classmates and have social
interaction and participation. Jane Zuengler and Elizabeth R. Miller (2006)
“the linguistic forms used in these contexts and their social significance
affect how learners come to understand and use language”(40).