HABIT FORMATION OF LANGUAGE
LEARNING
WHAT IS ACTUALLY A HABIT
FORMATION IN LANGUAGE LEARNING?
Habit formation was defined by contemporary foreign language educators as the "production of linguistics responses to stimuli by imitation and repetition in pattern drill" (Rivers, 2001).
Habit is a pattern of behaviour that is regular and which has become almost automatic as a result of repetition. Linguists and
psychologists disagree about how much habit formation is involved in language learning.
The behaviourists hold that language
acquisition is a product of habit formation.
WHO DEFINED LEARNING AS HABIT FORMATION?
Behaviourism: Learning as habit formation.
The first coherent theory of learning. Based on the work of Pavlov.
The basic exercise technique of a behaviourist methodology is pattern practice. Particularly in the form of language laboratory drills.
THEORY OF ‘HF’
Learning is a mechanic process of habit formation and proceeds by means of the frequent reinforcement of a stimulus-
response sequence.
It provided the theoretical underpinning of the widely used audio lingual method
The method is based firstly on the behaviorist stimulus-response concept and secondly on assumption that second language learning should reflect and imitate the perceived process of mother tongue learning.
HOW ARE HABITS FORMED?
Habit formation is the process by which a behavior, through regular repetition,
becomes automatic or habitual.
This is modelled as an increase in
automaticity with number of repetitions up to an asymptote. This process of habit
formation can be slow.
Some perceptions:
Never translate
New language should always be dealt with in the sequence
Hear Speak Read Write
Frequent repetition is essential to effective learning
All errors must be immediately corrected
The basic technique of a
behaviorist methodology is pattern practice.
Particularly in the form of language laboratory drills.
Such drills are still used in
ESP
PIAGET’S THEORY ON LANGUAGE
LEARNING
WHO WAS JEAN PIAGET?
Born in August, 9 of 1896 in Neuchatel, Switzerland
Psychologist and Biologist identified stages of mental development
WHAT IS PIAGET'S THEORY OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT?
Piaget's theory describes the mental structures or
“schemas” of children as they develop from infants to adults. ...
Piaget's theory purports that children's language reflects the development of their logical thinking and reasoning skills in "periods" or stages, with each period having a specific name and age reference.
Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development
suggests that children move through four different stages of mental development. His theory focuses not only on understanding how children acquire
knowledge, but also on understanding the nature of intelligence.
Jean Piaget based his theory on the idea that children do not
think like adults.
He concluded that through their interactions with their
environment, children actively construct their own
understanding of the world.
FOUR STAGES OF PIAGET’S THEORY
Piaget separates the language acquisition into four stages:
1. Sensory-motor stage
2. Preoperational stage
3. The concrete operational stage
4. The formal operational stage
SENSORY-MOTOR STAGE
AGE: BIRTH - 2 YEARS OLD
The emphasis on movement and physical reactions. Language skills are basically
physical. In the process the baby hears its parents and learn how to imitate sounds
He described the sensory-motor period (from birth to 2 years) as the time when children use action schemas to "assimilate"
information about the world.
Example:
Opening their fingers, weaving their legs
THE PREOPERATIONAL STAGE
AGE: 2 – 7 YEARS OLD
The defining feature is egocentricity. He/she shows no
awareness of the possibility that others have a view point of their own. The child describe what he is doing even though you can see what he is doing.
Piaget observed that during this period (between the ages of 2 and 7 years), children’s language makes rapid progress.
The development of their mental schemas lets them quickly
"accommodate" new words and situations.
From using single words (for example, “milk”), they begin to construct simple sentences (for example, “mommy go out”).
Piaget's theory describes children’s language as “symbolic,”
allowing them to venture beyond the “here and now” and to talk about such things as the past, the future, people, feelings and events. During this time, children’s language often shows instances of what Piaget termed “animism” and “egocentrism.”
THE CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE
AGE: 7 – 12 YEARS OLD
Capable of using logic. Language used to refer specific or concrete facts, not mental concepts.
According to Piaget, some people stay in this stage for the remainder of their lives.
According to Piaget, children’s language development at this stage reveals the
movement of their thinking from immature to mature and from illogical to logical.
It is at this point that children's language starts to become "socialized," showing characteristics such as questions, answers, criticisms and
commands.
THE FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE
AGE: STARTS AT 12 YEARS OLD AT THE EARLIEST
Abstract reason and mental distinction
between someone’s self and an idea he/she is considering. They can use language to
express and debate abstract theoretical concepts.
Example:
Explaining complex concepts as time, emotions, and consciousness in depth.
WHY IS PIAGET'S THEORY IMPORTANT?
Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive
development provides a framework for understanding how cognition, or thinking develops. ... So providing ample
opportunities for children to interact with the environment through all their senses allows them to gain a better understanding of the world around them.
VYGOTSKY THEORY OF LANGUAGE
LEARNING
VYGOTSKY’S THEORY OF LANGUAGE LEARNING
Language is a social context that is developed through social interactions.
According to Lev Vygotsky, a 20th century Soviet psychologist, language acquisition
involves not only a child’s exposure to words, but also an independent process of growth between thought and language.
Vygotsky influential theory of the “Zone of Proximal Development” asserts that teachers should consider a child prospective learning
power before trying to expand the child’s grasp of learning.
WHAT IS VYGOTSKY’S ZPD MEANT?
The zone of proximal development
(sometimes abbreviated ZPD), is the difference between what a learner can do without help and what he or she can do with help.
The zone of proximal development is an important concept in the fields of both
education and psychology. By understanding how the ZPD works, educators and
instructional designers can be better prepared to create instruction and learning programs that maximize the tools and resources
available to students.
ZPD VS SCAFFOLDING
Scaffolding is a term that sprung out of the concept of the ZPD. It refers to the help or
guidance from an adult or more competent peer to allow the child to work within the ZPD. Just as in a building project, the scaffolding is erected to
support the building process, but then removed when it is no longer needed.
Example of scaffolding:
If students are not at the reading level required to
understand a text being taught in a course, the teacher might use instructional scaffolding to incrementally improve their reading ability until they can read the required text independently and without assistance
Vygotsky theory of language is based on constructivist learning theory, which
contends that children acquire knowledge as a result of engaging in social experiences.
“Through social and interactions, older or more experience members of community
teach younger and less experience members of the community”, says Harry Daniels,
author of “Introduction to Vygotsky”.
According to Vygotsky, words are signals.
Rather than engage children in a primary signal system, in which objects are offered to merely as themselves, adult engage
children in a secondary signal system, in which words represent objects and ideas.
COGNITION
A child intellectual development is crucial to his language development.
By interacting with this environment, a child develops the ability to develop private, inner speech.
Inner speech is thinking in pure meanings; it is the link between the second signal system of the social world and the thought of the individual.
Through the development of inner speech, children straddle the divide between thought and language, eventually being able to
express their thoughts coherently to others.
DEVELOPMENT
The language learning process occurs as a result of ‘give and take’
Parents and teachers usher a child through a process of guided discovery, addressing her learning potential. Eventually children
internalize language skills.
As young leaners language experience
language development, they can “reflect better on their own thinking and behaviour and reach greater level of control,” says Adam Winsler
CONSIDERATIONS
Vygotsky constructivist language theory exist in opposition to Jean Piaget’s theory of
language acquisition.
According to Piaget, children construct knowledge about language through a
complex process of assimilation, stressing the inherent capability of child’s brain to adapt to simulation.
By contrast, Vygotsky stresses the social
nature of language learning, emphasizing the environment within which a child is raised.
VYGOTSKY’S VS PIAGET’S THEORY OF LANGUAGE LEARNING
Vygotsky believed that the child is a social being, and cognitive development is led by social interactions. Piaget, on the other hand, felt that the child was more independent and that
development was guided by self-centered, focused activities.
Unlike Piaget, Vygotsky believed that development can't be detached from social context while children can create
knowledge and lead their development. He also claimed that language plays an important role in cognitive development.
Piaget only viewed language as a plain milestone in development.
Vygotsky focuses more on being open to learn from others
whereas Piaget focuses more on concrete operational thought.
According to Vygotsky, where and how does cognitive
development occur? Vygotsky believed cognitive development occurs in social interaction and instruction via parents,
teachers, and other children.
HOW DO YOU APPLY LEV VYGOTSKY'S THEORY IN THE CLASSROOM?
Vygotsky's theory can be very beneficial in helping teachers to plan out their
instruction. It helps them to think the
through the knowledge and skills that their students are expected to master and
determine the order in which to teach those things.
