Stages of questions
3. Implications for teaching
Problem-solving LC tasks; Multiple exposures; Various posttest assessments to evaluate;
Rich native-input, formal instruction; Supportive networks; Meaningful intake and opportunities for communicative interaction; Language learning process + particular needs
4.references
Flege, J. E., & Liu, S. (2001). THE EFFECT OF EXPERIENCE ON
ADULTS'ACQUISITION OF A SECOND LANGUAGE. Studies in second language acquisition, 23(04), 527-552
Johnson, D. (2001) An Annotated Bibliography of Second Language Acquisition in Adult English Language Learners. National Center for Adult ESL Literacy Education (NCLE)
Kleinmann, H. H. (1982). External influences and their Neutralization in Second Language Acquisition: A Look at Adult Indochinese Refugees*. TESOL Quarterly, 16(2), 239- 244
Leow, R. P. (1998). The effects of amount and type of exposure on adult learners' L2 development in SLA. The Modern Language Journal, 82(1), 49-68
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Rothman, J., & Guijarro-Fuentes, P. (2010). Input quality matters: some comments on input type and age-effects in adult SLA. Applied linguistics, amq004
Schumann, J. H. (1974). The implications of interlanguage, pidginization and creolization for the study of adult second language acquisition. Tesol Quarterly, 145-152.
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176 Midterm Paper
EDUC 7500 Mengfei Liu
The Four Leading Questions
Halfway through the learning, my ideas and perspectives of language teaching have evolved and been enriched by our course reading and class discussions. In a nutshell, there are four basic questions that are essential and fascinated for me in this domain: (1) Do we focus on grammar or communication (form or meaning) in a lesson? (2) Do we teach grammar explicitly by presentation and explanation or implicitly by just being exposed to language? (3) Is the focus on students’ input or output of language? (4) Do students learn language deductively or inductively?
I used to believe that communication and meaning should be the core of a lesson and children are able to obtain the language themselves especially at a very young age with an adequate amount of exposure and multiple chances to use it. Informed by this course, I realize the significant role linguistic form plays, which is the most fundamental component for constituting the nature of a language. In addition, second language learners will still be confused about some part of the language and unable to produce it accurately if the learning takes place without explaining and summarizing. Input and output involve a great number of key cognitive processes like perceiving, interpreting, assigning meaning, modifying and internalizing, so that they are both indispensable in a complete process of language acquirement and development. Deductive and inductive approaches can be employed alternatively as the former trains students’ capacity of applying knowledge and the later offers them the space of selecting target information and discovering rules. Therefore, the two features in each of the four questions all benefit language instruction and acquisition in a particular manner.
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My Understanding of the Methods
Below, I will present my own interpretation and understanding of how the main teaching principles and strategies act in language instruction.
Structured Grammar-Focused Task as the Effective Model
Among the methods and techniques we have covered, structured grammar-focused task stands out as an example of a comparatively well balance of meaning and form, explicitness and implicitness, input and output and deductive and inductive approaches. I would regard it as an extended and updated version of processing instruction, which strengthens the meaning-form connection by drawing learners’ attention to the form part since their initial focus is often on the meaning. Other than underscoring such connection, a grammar form is designed as the task content and put into a meaningful context in a
structured grammar-focused task (Nassaji & Fotos, 2011). Processing instruction targets at the input stage and often follows a deductive path with explicit information and explanation before relevant activities. On the other hand, in structured grammar-focused task, the target grammar point is presented implicitly or explicitly as the task content (Nassaji & Fotos, 2011), which contains many inductive activities like “discovering the rules” of certain grammar phenomena. Learners will not only comprehend the information and negotiate meanings, but also utilize the target form in real communicative situations.
Not all the forms are proper to be selected as the tasks, and we have to consider a range of factors before making a decision. Problematicity is one of them which refers to the cause, feature and severity of the problem with certain linguistic structure, and learnability, which means the ability of integrating the structure into one’s bigger linguistic system, also has an impact on the selection (Ellis, 1995). Apart from these two, students’ levels of language skills and other conceptual knowledge, purposes for learning and learning styles should also be taken into account. Characters of the language, for instance, the frequency of
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178 language use, complexity of the language construct and the nature of grammar concept are also influential. Other elements include allocation of time and learning settings. It seems impossible and fairly difficult to evaluate all the factors above, thus teachers can select the most essential ones depending on the specific goals of a lesson and the student group.
Textual Enhancement and Interactional Feedback Work as Supplementary Tools Textual enhancement and interactional feedback work as supplementary tools to draw learners’ attention to the form in two phases of language acquisition respectively. By
supplementary I mean that they cannot stand alone without being used in conjunction with other sections of teaching such as explicit instruction, performance task, etc. The former enhances noticing as an external, positive (highlight the correct form) and implicit technique during input by increasing the perceptual salience, in other words, making certain features of the linguistic form more noticeable (Nassaji & Fotos, 2011). Interactional feedback brings about meaning negotiation (the attempts to comprehend others’ message and get their own message clear) during the interactional process. This promotes language learning in that it
“connects input, internal learner capacities, particularly selective attention, and output in productive ways” (Long, 1996, pp. 451–52).
An issue about interactional feedback is which errors of students should be corrected.
My own criteria for this stretch to several dimensions as demonstrated below (Figure 2.1) and the decision would be made upon a combination of these aspects (they may be weighed differently in different situations). Another issue is how to provide the feedback. As far as I am concerned, elicitations (not provide with the correct form and prompt to self-correct) (Nassaji, 2007a) should be used first if the student knows or has the clues of the correct form or if there is a necessity for self-repair and more meaning negotiation. Reformulations (rephrase and provide with the correct form) (Nassaji, 2007a) would be the alternative if elicitations do not work.
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Dimension of measurement Examples
setting a grammar-focused lesson, a communication-focused lesson, a general language lesson, daily communication
degree to hinder communication do not affect understanding (local errors), cause barriers for communication (global errors)
interlocutor talk to the teacher, to friends, to a partner during class exercise purpose pass an exam, receive vocational training, learn a grammar form,
learn communication, learn language in general cause of errors lack of necessary knowledge, performance error (like
nervousness), confusion caused by the native language Figure 2.1 Criteria for Errors to be Corrected
Learning Resources and Partners
Learning through discourse answers what kind resources and contexts can be provided. This approach views components of language (linguistic forms, pragmatic use, function) as a unified entity rather than separate parts and advocates moving beyond single sentences to put language in a larger contextualized environment, that is, to look at what is around the text in a broader scale (could be the interpersonal layer, the political layer, the psychological layer or the social layer). This notion is built on Halliday’s systematic
functional grammar (1978, 1984, 2004), which emphasizes the functional aspect of grammar, to be more exact, to choose grammar and express meaning in accordance with the content, intent, interlocutor relationship, psychological factors, and social factors in a particular context. One of the strategies I deem helpful and interesting is the corpus-based technique.
The relevant classroom activity can be an inductive one, letting students discover and conclude the rules of a target form from a sufficient number of discourse-level texts in a corpus or corpora.
Collaborative tasks point out the way in which students learn and whom they work with. Collaboration possesses its theoretical support from Vygotsky’ sociocultural theory (1978, 1986) that it mediates language learning, helps learners to accomplish what they cannot achieve independently and internalizes and consolidates knowledge. Although
cooperation and interaction has a number of merits, it does not always promote more learning
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180 than individual work. When there is a wide gap between students’ language proficiency and content knowledge repertoire levels (the scale and depth of the knowledge and the capacity to apply knowledge). The one with higher level may not gain as much as the collaborative activity might expect. The other problem is the imbalance in participation and contribution.
Some learners might be the “free riders”, devoting nothing and waiting for other group
members to generate the results. Some may dominate the whole discussion whereas some just listen and cannot voice their ideas. Elements such as learning styles, personalities,
motivation, engagement, available resources, time and equipment can also affect the effectiveness of collaborative tasks.
In brief, my ideal version of language instruction would be an inductive and implicit grammar-focused task with the target linguistic form (made conspicuous by devices such as textual enhancement and processing instruction if necessary) in meaningful contexts
(discourse level) at the beginning, in which students collaborate to discover the particular principles and rules, followed by a summative activity and explicit mini lesson. In the next period, students are expected to apply the knowledge they have learned in various exercises including independent work, collaborative work, communicative activity and written activity, followed by interactional feedback on their output either by the teacher or peers.
Gains from the Other Book
Larsen-Freeman and Anderson (2011) in their book present the teaching practices in a variety of second language classrooms. Each of them has unique features, beliefs, principles and techniques. The traditional grammar translation method is disapproved by many people nowadays but still has something we can take away from. For example, the appreciation and analysis of literature can be employed for students of higher levels of learning. Despite that the audio-lingual method concentrates on pronunciation and dialogues, students cannot grasp the language in real communicative contexts by relying on the repetitive pattern practice,
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habit formation and over-modeling of the teacher. What I have learned from the direct- method and the silent way are dual-way teacher-student interaction, being learning partner to students, generating students’ intrinsic initiative and own responsibility for learning and the special role silence can play. However, several principles in them sound reasonable but are not feasible in reality. Desuggestopedia and community language learning pay more attention to eliminating students’ negative feelings towards language learning and enhancing a sense of security. A qualified teacher should not only pass on knowledge and skills to students, but also care for their mental development and build a positive learning environment.
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182 References
Ellis, N. C. (1995). Consciousness in second language acquisition: A review of field studies and laboratory experiments. Language awareness, 4(3), 123-146.
Halliday, M. A. K. (1978). Language as social semiotic (p. 136). Arnold: London.
Halliday, M. A. (1984). Language as code and language as behaviour: a systemic-functional interpretation of the nature and ontogenesis of dialogue. The semiotics of culture and language, 1, 3-35.
Halliday, M. A. K., & Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (2004). An Introduction to Functional Grammar (3rd edn.) London: Arnold.
Larsen-Freeman, D., & Anderson, M. (2011). Techniques and principles in language teaching (thrid edition). Oxford University Press.
Long, M. H. (1996). The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition. Handbook of second language acquisition, 2(2), 413-468.
Nassaji, H. (2007). Elicitation and reformulation and their relationship with learner repair in dyadic interaction. Language learning, 57(4), 511-548.
Nassaji, H., & Fotos, S. S. (2011). Teaching grammar in second language classrooms:
Integrating form-focused instruction in communicative context. Routledge.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes.
Harvard university press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1986). Thought and language. MIT Press.
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Grammar Mini Lesson
Your NAME Mengfei Liu (Candice) DATE of your microteaching 09/17/2015 Planning:
1. Age: about 13 Grade: 7th grade
Class/course type: functional grammar lesson, a particular function of key modal verbs Setting (cultural, etc.): ESL students in the US with intermediate language proficiency, used to listening to English and able to communicate in English without many difficulties 2. Explain why you chose this topic: The function of modal verbs is very appropriate to be taught in a functional grammar lesson, in which students can experience and think where and how to use them in real communication. Besides, the target students are ESL in an English- speaking country, so it is very possible that they have already been exposed to the usage of these modal verbs from their own experiences (like listening to someone saying them when talking), which makes it less difficult for students to understand and practice the function.
3. Objective for this lesson: The student will learn the new function of asking for permission and making requests of several key modal verbs; students will think about how to properly use these words in daily conversations; students will find where these modal verbs can be used in authentic language materials (homework)
4. Lesson Method: discoursed-based teaching, direct method (explicit explanation of rules), textual enhancement
5. Materials Needed (list): paper forms, pieces of paper with key words and situations, pictures with colors
Teaching the lesson:
a) How will you introduce the lesson? Why did you choose this topic?
By reviewing the function of showing possibility from the previous class and then let them figure out a new function by listening to a story.
The function of modal verbs is very appropriate to be taught in a functional grammar lesson, in which students can experience and think where and how to use them in real
communication. Besides, the target students are ESL in an English-speaking country, so it is very possible that they have already been exposed to the usage of these modal verbs in their own experiences (like listening to someone saying them when talking), which makes it less difficult for students to understand and practice the function.
b) How will you explain the lesson objective?
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184 By telling them that they are going to learn a new function of these modal verbs and let them figure out the specific function by themselves; asking them what they have learned in the end; repeating the key words of the objective in conversations (like giving instructions, talking about the content) during the class
c) How will you explain the lesson procedure?
1. Brief review of what they have learned in the last class, and lead to a new function they are going to learn in this lesson.
2. Tell a story with pictures and let them pay attention to where and how the key words are used, and let them conclude the new function
3. Do individual work of putting marks in the proper situations of the modal verbs and then check the answers together (with explicit explanation)
4. Do pair work of creating conversations using the modal verbs based on the content, speakers and setting.
5. Ask students what they have learned in this class and assign homework.
d) How will you end the lesson?
By asking them what they have learned in this class and assign homework
e) How will you ask the students to reflect on the lesson?
By pair work of creating conversations and homework of finding how and why the functions of modal verbs are used in authentic language materials and presenting their ideas in class next time
f) How will you assess students?
Individuals: check the proper situations on the forms
Group: figuring out the new function, creating conversations using the modal verbs based on the content, speakers and setting.