Class Review by Orlando Chaves

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December 5, 2012 · by fslatheoriesmaucaldasb2012 · in Personal Reflections. ·

 

MY (E)MERGING THEORY: RUBIK-CUBE SHAPED TESOL “TEACHERESE”

Orlando Chaves

  Professional teaching is nurtured by both experience (craftsmanship being its product) and study (professional knowledge being its product). To begin, let me straightly state my very first principle for teaching: Teaching is shaped by one’s views of the subject matter, its learning, and the teaching itself. Accordingly, language teaching, in general, including particularly the teaching of L2 and TESOL, is rooted on the teacher’s view on language, language learning, and (language) teaching.
My view of the language is that it is a bio-psycho-social-historical thinking and communication device product of evolution and rooted deeply into animal cognition and the communication of living beings. It is a human universal innate faculty that is realized in a particular communication code –a language-, which is developed and learned within a particular cultural group. A language is in turn real-ized in speech or tongue, which real-izes itself in geographic and social varieties (dialects and accents, acro-, meso-, and basi-lects). A language is a system of systems that cover formal (phonetic, phonologic, morphologic, syntactic, and semantic structures) and functional aspects (sociolinguistic, and pragmatic functioning of the language). Speech varieties are actualized, according to individual ways of expression or idiolect, in the form of register in particular communicative situations. It should be apparent that my view is not just juxtaposition of linguistic views that have developed historically, but an attempt of reconciling them in a unitary conceptual body.
Furthermore, my view of learning has followed the same aggregationist-synthetic procedure. Learning starts with perception, goes to sensation, to attention, to linking to prior schemata, to reflection, to consciousness, to abstraction. It begins as something purely biological in the individual, a matter of paced maturation and development, triggered and fueled by social interaction and individual activity. That is to say, learning has biological and social roots and –like language- despite being an individual reality it is also a social and cultural fact. Behaviorism, innatism, interactionism and a social-cultural perspective do not oppose so much in my view; rather, they complement each other, each underlining a particular aspect the other views do not probably highlight that much. Learning takes all what those theories have stated about it. It takes an individual with all his cognition, emotions, and personality; it also takes a context that situates the matter for learning and provides meaning and sense to it, and it takes a process of action and interaction, to construct it too. Language learning, as any other learning, follows those patterns.
Language learning is a mainly practical process. It is like learning how to walk, or how to drive a bicycle, a motorcycle or a car; it is like learning how to swim; you can be instructed but all you really need is practice; instruction, in practical learning, will never be enough. Simple imitation will never lead to real learning; only real practice will make real, understanding and enduring learning. However, in the case of F/SL, learning can also be theoretically grounded, i.e. in this case formal instruction is central, especially in the case of foreign languages. As language is made for thinking and communication, a second or foreign language will only be learnt from comprehension and use. Practical, in “practical learning”, means individual and social action: comprehension and communication. “Practical” implies knowledge, skill, ability, competence, too.
Finally, my view of teaching. Teachers can be born, but they have to be made; teaching has evolved –like the rest of human knowledge- from an intuitive and empiricist practice into a professional knowledgeable and reflective expertise. Teaching requires pedagogy (a sense of principles and goals, foundations and teleology of education), didactics (as know-how of teaching) and methodology/methods (as skill in classroom communication and conduction).
To conclude, my view of language teaching. It is grounded on the aforementioned views about language, language learning, and teaching. It is a principled or professional practice that does not claim universal validity, for languages, individuals, situations, and classrooms vary. There is only one language, THE language, but many realizations of it, languages; there is only one Human Being, but innumerable persons. I don’t teach what cannot be taught because it is innate, the language; I teach a language. Language teaching must be practical, i.e., communicative, as languages are practical devices for thinking and communication. My students at school are not linguistics students, they are language learners; I do not teach the description of the language; I teach through and for communication. Language teaching is meaning-centered, for you cannot learn anything you don’t understand. It means rote repetition and drilling are out of question. Comprehensive reading and listening, lots of meaningful i+1 input, lots of ZDP interactive practice, lots of productive effort, lots of self-, peer-, and teacher-corrective feedback. The secret, if any, to language learning is lots of sustained willing (conscious or not) effort, which is attainable if adequate motivation is present. In the (language) classroom, it means that motivating topics, activities, materials and classroom arrangements draw students’ interest, which begets their willing and engaged action that leads to learning, while reducing disruptive behaviors due to boredom or lack of interest or comprehension.

To close, I wished to say that I have come up with a more or less consolidated personal theory of S/FL teaching, for which I am indebted to so many authors from so many schools of thought through history that it would take really long to list here. Mine is just an amalgamated remake of concepts I have been inherited. I have given this emerging personal perspective the form of a Rubik cube. First a cube has six sides. You can think of each side as one facet of learning (individual and social cognitive, affective, personality, intelligence factors). Each side can in turn be seen as made up of various constituents: cognition embeds reflection, analysis, synthesis, perception… The emotional side can include a variety of feelings and emotions from negative to positive ones like anxiety, inhibition, risk-taking, It means each of the six sides of the cube are composite, complex.   From a different perspective, the three axes can represent the basic dimensions involved in language and learning: let’s make the vertical axis the biological bases, while the horizontal left-to-right or across axis represents society (including culture and history in it) and the horizontal bottom-to-front or depth axis represents the individual, the learner. Other aspects can be considered in the cube: corner points, edges, diagonal lines, respectively representing the confluence of adjacent aspects and cross-sectional aspects within and across the sides and side components. The complexity of a cube like the one representing this perspective can be illustrated by means of the illustrations accompanying the text here (taken from Google images, all of them). It is noteworthy to say that I like the Rubik cube this perspective implies a number of combinations present simultaneously at different moments. My idea is not to “solve” the puzzle by means of a solution in which each side is of a uniform color. Instead, I want to emphasize the complexity that having any given combination on each side implies when referring it to language learning and teaching.

To learn more, please visit http://fsltheoriesmaucaldasb2012.wordpress.com/

Pyramid Theories for Oral Development

Jorge Enrique Arango and Jhonatan Vela

 

It is our intention throughout this paper to collect different views from various authors, cover during our course in Theories of First and Second Language Acquisition, which may enhance and channel our research proposal for our master degree. 

Firstly, it is appropriate to summarize what our research proposal is about. We have titled our work the following: “Mini-Project and Debate Based Learning to Improve the Audio-oral Skill of Undergraduate Students” which focuses on implementing strategies, in order to ameliorate the audio-oral skill in fourth semester students from the Modern Languages program at the University of Quindío.

Among some of the different theories reviewed we have considered the following, which could enrich our research proposal: the affective filter by Krashen, the acculturation approach by Schuman, the collaborative work by Hawkins (2001) and the Output Hypothesis by Merryl Swain (1985).

Schuman (1986, cited in McLaughlin, 1987; Ellis, 1994) has put forward the Acculturation Theory to account for second language acquisition development in natural settings. He defines acculturation as the process of becoming adapted to a new culture and his claim is that contact with the target language and culture is crucial. The process of acculturation requires both social and psychological adaptation. Learning the appropriate linguistic habits to function within the target language group is one part of this process. Acculturation is determined by the degree of social and psychological ‘distance’ between the learner and the target-language culture. According to this hypothesis, the greater contact with L2 speakers and culture takes place, the more acquisition occurs. It is appropriate then to think according to Schuman that debates and projects are viable to enhance the verbal production in our students since they will approximate them with the target language as well as with its culture.

The role of the teacher is to direct action within school activity in a manner appropriate to the learner’s level of development, the cultural and social environment (Daniels, 1996). On the other hand, Hawkins (2001) states: “It can also be suggested that teachers promote teacher-student interaction or peer-interaction. It is via this kind of interaction that knowledge very gradually gets built” (page 374).  This is possible through the use of collaborative activities such as pair work or group work where students are required to negotiate meaning.  This view presents us with another reason to validate our proposal in the case specifically with projects since the idea is to create groups that will accomplish tasks together and therefore, group work will play a great role in this case.

At the same time, according to the Interaction Hypothesis stated by Krashen, projects are a powerful interactive motor, which allows learners to convey meaning and receive negative evidence that drives apprentices to negotiate the real or correct structure of the language. That is to say, when students are to create or build their own projects, they must communicate in the target language, interconnect ideas and exchange information, which results on feedback from one another and sometimes it is possible that they get to receive even more input from their own discussers. In fact, the way we acquire a language is through interaction and in our country to interact with a native person is uncommon, since we do not have that high percentage of foreigners. So, in order to master the language and speak, students first need a lot of input at the initial stage. According to Krashen, Input is one the most important aspects to acquire a language; but at the end of the day, interaction must be implemented in order to foster the language, to communicate and projects and debates are a source of both. Through projects and debates students first have contact with the input provided by teachers and classmates, then interaction is a requisite, a need to achieve the objective. Plus, the enjoyment of developing meaningful activities that bring lots of fun to everyone in the class.

Stephen Krashen (1982) also states that second language learner should be exposed to the target language as much as possible and that the lack of comprehensible input will cause the language learner to be held up in his development (Ellis, 1994; McLaughlin, 1987).  That is precisely what we intend to focus on, by implementing activities that require the learner constantly to do research on various controversial issues that will enable him/her to become a critical thinker and therefore their input will maintain active.  At the same time, realizing these types of activities will present a great opportunity for the learners to gain confidence and increase their self-esteem, as well as to lower their affective filter, consequently decreasing their inhibition, which could impeach their process of learning.

What about an argumentative debate based on controversial issues to enhance comprehensible output? As stated by Merryl Swain (1985) the comprehensible Output is the facilitating effect of comprehensible speech or production on language learning when the learner notices the gap between his production and the knowledge he has of the target language, which then triggers his efforts to modify and correct his production or output, learning while doing it. Subsequently, a controversial debate will have students giving points of view, ideas and arguments to support a position. It is to say that this kind of activity encourages students to talk, to interact and comprehend the difference between what he produces and what he knows.        

Finally, as it is stated in the document “Comparing and Contrasting First and Second language Acquisition: Implications for Language Teachers” (Conclusions, page 162): “L1 and L2 acquisition are quite complicated processes…the teacher should understand that the phenomena in L1 and L2 acquisition are interacting, none of them being solely explanatory. So teachers should not base their teaching on just a single claim or factor involved in language acquisition. They should rather understand, analyze, synthesize and even criticize before trying to implement any of the suggestions made for teaching”.  That is precisely what our intention is about to analyze several theories and approaches; we will dare to apply some of them in our context with the firm desire of achieving the expected results.

“…the meaning of ‘negotiating meaning’ needs to be extended beyond the usual sense of simply ‘getting one’s message across.’ Simply getting one’s message across can and does occur with grammatically deviant forms and sociolinguistically inappropriate language. Negotiating meaning needs to incorporate the notion of being pushed toward the delivery of a message that is not only conveyed, but that is conveyed precisely, coherently, and appropriately. Being ‘pushed’ in output…is a concept parallel to that of the i +1 of comprehensible input. Indeed, one might call this the ‘comprehensible output’ hypothesis.” (Swain, 1985, 248-9).

To read more about our work please visit http://jonathanvela.tumblr.com/ 

                                                                   http://kike61.tumblr.com/

·         Hawkins, B. (2001). Supporting second language children’s content learning and language development in K-5. In M.

·         Krashen, Stephen D.  Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning.  Prentice-Hall International, 1988.

·         Krashen, S. (1982). Theory versus practice in language training. In R. W. Blair (Ed.), Innovative approaches to language teaching (pp. 15-24). Rowley, MA: Newburry House Publishers.

·         Schumann, J. (1978). The acculturation model for second-language acquisition. In R. Gringas (Ed.), Second language acquisition and foreign language teaching (pp. 27-50). Washington, DC; Center for Applied Linguistics.

·         Swain, M. (1985). Communicative Competence: Some Roles of Comprehensible

Input and Comprehensible Output in its Development. In S. Gass & C. Madden

(Eds.), Input in Second Language Acquisition. Rowley, MA.: Newbury House.

“How to Master Succesfully Any Language of the World”.

By: Jorge Enrique Arango C.

There are as many languages as a variety of courses to learn and master them in the world.  It is my intention to provide my own thoughts and views based on the the book: “ How to Master Successfully Any Language of the World”. Firstly, the author poses three questions which I consider crucial when the apprentice desires to learn a second language:

     1. Why do you need to learn the language ?

     2. How are you going to use the language you have learnt?

     3. You have learned the language, what happens next?

It is of the foremost importance to ask oneself  the above questions; therefore by answering each one, and be satisfied with the responses then the learning becomes meaningful and the motivation will be the engine to maintain and reach the intended objective. Secondly, I do consider that the strategies (techniques) that the author suggested to learn a language are sound, and adequate for the process, though, I would like to focus on three of them which seem to me important enough to comment on each one:

 1.     Practice: as the author accordingly mentions it: “You get what you practice”.“Language is not a science, it is a skill and like any other skill to be developed, it should  be practiced”.   No doubt about that,  without a constant practice of the target language it will not only  take longer to master it, but the motivation could at the same time decrease.  Therefore, it is an aspect that cannot be overlooked.

2.     Memorizing: It is quite worrisome that nowadays,  language teachers and language texts do not emphasize the need to memorize words or phrases in the target language, they certainly do omit the important role that this exercise does in learning a second language.  On the contrary, the author in this text does recommend to memorize certain words in second language especially those which tend to be similar in our native language (true cognates)

3.      Culture:  The cultural component may not be left aside and the author certainly does not. The learning of a language must include a vast knowledge of the culture, expressions, costumes, idioms and the like that reflect a particular society.

To sum up, I dare to say that text is worthwhile and consistent for  the purpose  of learning a language.  I do recommend it to anyone interested in this field.

To read more about our work please visit   http://kike61.tumblr.com/

                                                                

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I am interested in  finding  out about How the implementation of mini-projects and debates would affect the students cognitive factors and enhance the listening and speaking skills through critical thinking?” 

Cognitive Factors 

 

A Conscious Environment

      “Jonathan please come here and explain why in this argumentative activity you criticize the government this way. You are supposed to present viewpoints, statistics and facts not to express your disagreement with our politicians.” It was a common telling-off for me in one of my language class. In fact, I will never forget how my professor wanted my classmates and I to think not further than what was heard or seen in our environment. We could not express our opinions or ideas because it was assumed to go against the rules. Thank God some of us love to think different and fight for our right to argue and that is the main reason why today we must allow our students to think critically. Educators must help learners to develop their ability to interact, without pushing them of course, to communicate through the language and express spoken and written meanings.  Students´ imagination and verbal intelligence cannot be cut by restricting their thoughts.

     Coming back to my student time, my story gets worst. All my family and I are from Medellin Antioquia and we have a very particular and known accent; so when I had a presentation, some of my professors were always pushing me to avoid the “Paisa” accent in English. To be honest, it was a pain in the neck for me since it was really difficult to speak English without my remarked Spanish accent. Sometimes I felt like dropping off, even more when grades were low and classmates were not too willing to work with me. Then, teachers must understand that students are all distinctive and there are different aspects, which affect their background. We have to respect the “Biological timetable”.    

     All in all, professors have to be aware that students are all different, learn different, have different abilities and spend certain time to start producing. They are not robots programmed to go the same speed or memorize thousands of words by heart. On the contrary, they are human beings who need an appropriate environment to learn, motivation to go further and time to master the information. Learners need to associate topics with real life situations to enhance their long-term memory.

     In conclusion, a conscious teacher and a comfortable environment are the most powerful aspects to enrich students’ cognitive factors.  

 To read more about our work please visit http://jonathanvela.tumblr.com/

How can applied linguistics help a teacher become a better professional?

 Sandra Liliana Ramos Aristizabal

Teaching a language is a big responsibility. We as teachers should have the required knowledge to provide our students with the necessary tools that enable them to communicate their ideas and express their opinions. 

According to some authors, teachers should have language knowledge useful in their role as educators to be able to help their students with any problem they could confront when learning a language. Applied linguistic can also be useful to analyze students´ progress in their learning process and to identify appropriate learning and teaching points. 

 Being a teacher is not only to give students knowledge about a specific issue. When teaching  language educators need to be prepared to answer any question from learners,  so we must be aware of applied linguistics. That is, to know about some fields such as syntax, semantics, morphology, phonetics  and how they operate in the learning of a new language. Teachers will not explain  concepts about the fields of linguistics to their beginner  students, but if they are able to help overcoming the learners´ difficulties taking into account those aspects of applied linguistics, the results will be better than those expected.

To read more, please visit my site at   http://salira.tumblr.com/

Cardonism wreaks havoc in Wikipedia by Diego Cardona

Cardonism (Taken from Wikipedia)

(This theory does not exist yet. It seeks to give a clear perspective of the author’s point of view towards language learning and teaching)
Cardonism is a second language acquisition theory and an approach to education that lays emphasis on the ways that people successfully acquire  foreign languages, achieving high levels of proficiency. This method was first designed by professor Diego Cardona by studying arduously first and second language acquisition theories and psychology principals. Professor Cardona then selected reliable and valid features of the most important theories as to create an approach that can take advantage of the power and capacity of  the human brain. Cardonism is usually divided into three stages by most of the current researchers: pupils’ early production, pupils’ interaction period, and pupils’ language maintenance.

Pupils’ Early Production

Cardona apparently supported Chomsky’s principle in the sense that every human comes to birth with a universal grammar prepackaged in the brain. Accordingly, Cardona states “Every human being that is born with no pathological conditions, is able to acquire any language in the world; any.”Apart from this, Diego’s theory suggests to first reinforce learners’ first language literacy skills before instructing them in a foreign language, as the Linguistic Cording Differences Hypothesis already claimed.

Cardona is recognized as well for being a current promoter of the natural order  and input hypothesis, stated by the American linguist Stephen Krashen. Cardonism strongly asserts that students learn a language in a predictable order and such order must be known by language tutors as to foster learning in the classroom.

Pupils’ Interaction Period

Cardona also picked some features from Vygotsky’s cultural-historical psychology. His particular approach points that pupils can only reach high levels of proficiency by interacting through language. For such purpose, teachers may include within their instruction real life interaction tasks, as well as activities that demand the same skills people use in their native language. For instance, listening to the radio, watching TV, reading a book, writing a letter, answering a phone call, etc.  It is believed that Cardona also encourages the communicative approach, but in an interview with the magazine Science he replied “There is no research work that indicates there is a better approach than other, it would be a huge mistake to just believe such bias”.
The belief that innatism and social interaction make language possible in a human being is attributed to Cardona as well. He has also expressed his agreement with Jerome Bruner proposal that social interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of cognition in general and language in particular.



Pupils’ language maintenance


Professor Cardona has pointed that achieving a competent level in a foreign language is not enough to maintain a language learning process alive. Instead, Cardonism theory proposes that there is always a step forward to reach. Indeed, he tenaciously suggests that the best way to keep improving one’s competence in any language (including the native one) is by carrying out tasks that demand a greater cognitive and linguistic skills different from the ones already acquired. In other words, after a language learner can write easily an e-mail in the target language, then he should go further and write an essay or a column stating his point of view towards something. In case that this learner  does not attempt to make even more difficult tasks, his foreign language would not progress and will be located into a zone that is called “comfort zone”. This zone consists of the section in which students feel comfortable with what they know about the language, and do not hesitate to learn more as they do not find it necessary. According to Diego, the language users that are located in this zone “lose” progressively their language skills such as vocabulary repertoire, and fluency.

To learn more about this breakthrough and other interesting topics, do not hesitate to visit my site at 

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About research

Last class some colleagues shared very interesting research questions that could lead to fabulous research studies. However, a word of caution here might be worth adding! beware:

Once an advisor has been assigned to your research study, you will experiment what desperation is. Change this, change that, include this, exclude that, emphasis on this, do not repeat that and so on. The only solution you will find to end up your thesis will be following every single instruction and feedback your instructor gives to you. Research advisors kill researchers’ creativity and innovation.
It should not be that way.

My own experience learning Slovak

" I could gladly express from my experience that we teachers are constantly researchers and scientists; we are always observing our classroom, introducing some changes, evaluating and assessing our students and ourselves, and we are craftsmen modeling the people of the future. "    Maria Eugenia Guapacha

Developing cognitive skills requires addressing a variety of tasks    such as the metacognitive skill strategies used by learners, everyone has his own way to process information and reflect about his learning process. Solving - problem skills, not all the students develop the same strategies to get into a solution. Intelligence, it is demonstrated that some learners present higher levels of understanding and intelligence than others. Memory, association and connection seen as abilities to retain information. Interest and curiosity flow out from intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to learning. Risk taking, it is an overriding impulse that helps students to learn and experiment emotions. And finally, the learning styles that are the varied ways students like and are more feasible for them to approach learning.

My own experience learning Slovak

 

Since I finished my B.A. program in foreign languages, I had not had the chance to learn a new language by my own. I had thought that learning more languages were not necessary for I speak three languages that I consider enough for me to communicate and use them as a cultural and professional tool. Nowadays that perspective has changed!

In the light of my Masters assignments and challenging new discoveries and learning, I was required to undertake a new learning experience, that one of learning Slovak language. I only had 15 days to try by myself some things of this foreign language.

Fifteen days passed very fast and I had to face a known and overwhelming experience in that session of the masters’ class. We had a Slovakian teacher just right in front of us speaking in Slovak almost for an hour. My mind and memories came back immediately 12 years ago when I received my first English class at the university with a teacher who did not stop speaking in English.  At school I always had a good performance in the English class and I considered myself as a good student in this subject, but where was everything that I had learnt at school and why was not I able to understand just a little thing of what the teacher said?

Now I can answer the question. One reason is that in that time I thought that I knew English because of the fact that I was able to read and somehow to write it but I had never been exposed to that language before, at this moment I know that to be competent and to master a language, it is not enough to read it and to understand it, but also to listen and to speak it.

Coming back to the Slovakian experience, although I did not feel the same frustration that I felt in the first class at the university, I had a strange feeling. I was really motivated because I had studied Slovak on line by myself (this time I knew that I had to foster the four skills and I had developed new strategies for learning a language) however I felt  a little bit “puzzled” because I did not understand a word of what she said. Some minutes later she started by asking basic information, I felt a relief because finally I could understand something, that was the information that I had been studying during those days. Those short minutes were exciting, but once she turned to another task, that excitement vanished. I started nodding and saying yes to everything she asked, similar to the first experience. I seemed too dumb trying to figure out what she meant to do.

The teacher tried to do her best to encourage us and to make us understand but all her efforts were not successful. We just pretended to understand, except at the moment of proving our understanding by following her commands. We, or at least me, guessed all the time. Despite of all the emotions that day, it was a nice practice.

Now, my intention within this article is to share the aspects and strategies involved in this experience.

CONTEXT OR SETTING

We all were English teachers, experts in understanding foreign languages learning. In my case I knew that that was the beginning of learning another language. The fact of being an English teacher helped me to understand that process; nevertheless, it did not mean to get all Slovakian speech because I had never had the chance to get exposed to authentic listening and speaking models. 

METHODS USED BY THE TEACHER

The teacher used Slovakian, her native language, all the time. She used different strategies to make herself be understood. She tried by all means that we could understand through TPR exercises, drawings on the board, miming, and overall interaction and use of language in context. I received a lot of input but, unfortunately, it was not comprehensible.

MY FEELINGS

I experienced a mixture of feelings: excitement, anxiety, happiness, frustration and so on. I was excited because it was the first time I was listening to a Slovakian native speaker and I enjoyed listening to that mysterious and exquisite language, its words, sounds, pronunciation, accent, rhythm, etc., also excitement because I wanted to show that I had been studying and practicing that language and I wanted to interact and share my scarce knowledge with others. I felt anxious when I did not understand any word different from the basic things I could learn by my own. And happiness because of the new experience and reflections related to the learning process with my students. We felt almost the same feelings they experience when learning English with us and when some of them are not good at languages.

INTERACTION

I was in an environment in which I felt comfortable; interacting with my classmates, we all had the same opportunities and advantages to learn. I was not shy or afraid of making mistakes because we all were under the same conditions. Maybe some of them with a little bit more practice than others, but no one had any disadvantage. The interaction was the clue to have an effective learning.

MY STRATEGIES

I am pleased to have learnt at least some personal information phrases, I can say hello and introduce myself in Slovak and I can prove it in all skills. As an English teacher I implemented varied strategies to start learning this language.

I took advantage of my good memory skills trying to remember the whole phrases and repeating them several times. I also used mnemonics by associating the pronunciation of words or phrases with some expressions in my native language, Spanish. I love studying grammar and practicing through exercises. Grammar helped me interpret the linguistic form and structures of Slovak and assisted me in writing exercises. Vocabulary was also a powerful tool, by increasing my lexicon I could form at least one sentence. Therefore I tried to learn as many words I could, related to personal information.

I also found an effective language online lesson that helped like, understand and learn this interesting language. This is the web site: https://sites.google.com/site/marekhlavac/slovak_lessons_beginner_overview

SOME CONCLUSIONS

Learning a foreign or second language requires discipline. The learner needs time to practice and go deeper into it, by learning and discovering cultural aspects besides of its structures. We also need to have a purpose or interest. In my case it was only an assignment and I did not have any other purpose to keep on learning, moreover I had no one to practice with, I am not planning to travel to that country, I have no chance to interact or to be exposed to it through radio stations or channels on TV.

Finally, that experience helped a lot to understand my students’ feelings and processes when learning English in the classroom. Not all of them are good at languages no matter all the efforts they make or I make. I understand that the starting point is difficult but they can go through with patient and having an effective learning and teaching process.

https://sites.google.com/site/marekhlavac/slovak_lessons_beginner_overview

Want to know more about my site? please visit 
 http://mariaeugeniaguapacha.blogspot.com/

Natural Design - Academic Instruction in English.

Johanna Muñoz Pineda

Being a second language learner has given me a lot understanding of what it is like to be in the position of many students that are now in the process of learning a second language. My own experiences and challenges as a second language learner have allowed me to realize that the  language acquisition process should go beyond communication and exposure.  In fact, Krashen’s theory of second language acquisition, which bases on Chomsky’s theory of linguistics affirms that people who live in an area where communication takes place in a second language seem to be able to pick up the language naturally and retain it . In addition to his acquisition/ learning hypothesis, Krashen developed several other hypothesis to account for how second languages are acquired. These include the Natural Order Hypothesis, the Monitor Hypothesis, the Input Hypothesis, and the Affective Filter Hypothesis, which we as language teachers should be aware of in order to help and guide our students in the process of learning another language.

         Personally, one of my biggest challenges as a English teacher is to provide the right tools and techniques to learn a language, I would like to create a mixture of two approaches that I think they could work perfectly for my students and these are sheltered content instruction and the natural approach which were proposed by Krashen(1985).  For instance, the first one is a program in which teachers simplify the language of content area instruction to make the content accessible for English language learners and the second one is a type of method to teach ESL to elementary students that emphasizes comprehensible input. This way, the combination of these approaches could create good conditions in the process of learning a new language, meeting the needs of second language learners, I would name this approach:  “ Natural Design - Academic Instruction in English.”  

 Finally, using my own experience and new models to help those who are now in the place where I was once. I was able to realize that my own experience as an English language learner would be useful to help these students who are struggling with the language now, in order to facilitate second language acquisition, developing academic English and academic concepts. Content-based language teaching is based on a theory of second language acquisition that holds that we acquire a second language when we receive comprehensible input in that language. If that input is focused on academic content, then students can acquire English, and they can develop the knowledge and skills of the different content areas at the same time.     

To read more, please visit my site at
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Who's driving the class bus? The Frankestein Solution

Oscar David Gómez Zúñiga

 A passenger is attempting to get on the bus, but the door does not open and he fights to be in. The bus driver is upset because he has not had a nice day so far. The bus driver drives so fast and nobody knows the direction he is taking. The bus stops five blocks ahead from the final destination and the passenger needs to take another bus to get back to his  initial destination.

The bus driver opens the door gently and takes the passenger to the place he needs to go. The bus driver controls perfectly the steering wheel and the speed of the bus. What’s more, the bus driver knows exactly where to stop and where to get the passenger off   the bus so they can arrive at their destination. 

Does this sound like a teacher and his students?

MY FRANKESTEIN METHOD.

When  we all hear the name of Frankenstein, we remember a legendary horror movie character. Well, in fact, we think of that huge and horrible monster created from old body parts by  scientist Victor Frankenstein and whose name was given to the creature due to his last name. Throughout the story unfolding in   this book, the scientist’s tranquility is interrupted by his creation whose shadow desperately chases him throughout all his life.

 

Monstrously awesome would be to have the perfect formula to teach a perfect class and apply all the methods and techniques successfully with our students. To know the secret regarding immortality  to escape from fossilization and be able to keep alive the knowledge inside us,… that would be incredible. Not to mention,  how wonderful it would be to have the power of being creatures formed from different and solid materials to struggle in any environment and come up victorious. Finally, to be shaped mentally and physically as rebellious creatures to fight against unfair situations concerning our context.

 

I compare my method with the story of Frankenstein because I notice that teachers have certain similarities with this creature. Teachers can be compared in real life with the scientist Victor Frankenstein in the way he works. He uses different old body parts to construct his masterpiece. The scientist uses the best and the most appropriate materials to construct his creation. However, it is not enough to  join the body parts because they are inert ones. Therefore, the scientist uses his intelligence and knowledge to put together all the elements and create life. I compared the scientist with teachers in the sense that teachers use many methods and techniques according the context. After having decided which techniques and methods are going to be used, the teachers use their skills to make those methods and techniques work to bring academic life in students. The theories studied in  the course second language acquisition can be related to the old body parts and the way we decide to use them according to our context.

 

Anatomically speaking about Frankenstein, I see Frankenstein as a strong, big and frightening. Teachers are strong and big as they learn and enrich their knowledge. The fact of being in contact with new processes of teaching and learning, make teachers bigger and stronger every time. The bigger and stronger teachers are, the better prepared they are to face new challenges in our current education.  I relate the word frightening when teachers look terrified at themselves because they notice that after a period of  time, they have not learnt anything at all. When this starts to happen, the big, strong and frightening creature begins to look like a harmless and weak being.

Finally, I mention that in the book it is stated that the scientist’s tranquility is interrupted by his creation whose shadow desperately chases him throughout all his life. I say that teachers’ tranquility is also interrupted by a shadow called technology. Teachers need to be constantly moving among theories, methods and approaches. The need of being updated constantly is a requirement that following us day after day. Teachers are in the need of knowing the latest advances in science regarding the brain, Neuroscience, linguistics, etc. To be updated allow teachers to investigate, experiment and innovate in class which most of the times ends up in great meaningful experiences that contribute to   humankind. The only way to escape  those shadows is bringing some light to teachers´ minds by  constantly treading on the road of knowledge.

 

Personally I say that my method is composed of every single part of the body of the creature. Every single body part has a particular function that works when is needed. So, depending on the movement my creature wants to make, the place where  he is, his physical and mental condition he has, he will decide how to act. In the same way all theories are important and I use them depending on the context where I am, so at that moment I will decide what  is best to teach my students in order for my students to  attain great results.

 

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ARE TEACHERS CRAFTSMEN OR SCIENTISTS? Carlos Hernando Gallego Arias

 

A quite controversial question. It just has a deep root from a personal perspective when we translate it into   Spanish (arte - sano) “healthy education” in English.   

Teachers as craftsmen create things out of the blue. Firstly by promoting values in students which might be reflected not only in attitudes but towards a whole development of behavior and personality. It means, craftsmen take advantage of raw materials to create masterpieces. In comparison to this; teachers must model human beings towards a natural desire of learning, creating in this way a masterpiece of their students.

But at the same time, the role of teachers as scientists could not be put aside, since it makes an important part of  education. This teachers` role is a never ending taks for them to look for new ways to improve the teaching and learning process. It might  perhaps be in a profound level,taking advantage of the avalaible sources provided by the environment which can help innovate and solve common daily problems.  It is possible to understand the relationship  among professions and although there are remarkable differences from different perspectives, it is also possible to discover remarkable similarities among them.

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THE MAZE METHOD

 

Lina Marcela Sánchez-Ríos

     

     In the traditional teaching methods, teachers explain concepts to the students with the help of chalks and blackboard, students make notes in their notebooks and then, they have to memorize them in order to pass the examination. On the other hand, in the modern teaching methods, there are a lot of modern gadgets which can be used for improving the teaching in the classroom, for example computers or laptops with wi-fi connection, LCD projectors and interactive blackboards. Both of them have its own pro and cons. However, it will be beneficial for our education system to combine both methods: traditional and modern for effective teaching as The Maze Method does.

      A maze is a tour puzzle and it is considered very difficult to solve because of its complex, confusing and ending pathways (many people thing to learn English is very difficult because of it structure, pronunciation, etc.) When people try to solve a maze, they can be frustrated or angry because of their incompetence (when people try to communicate in L2 they get irritated because they do not know some ways to do it - neither writing nor speaking ways). The problem is that people are always in a hurry and want to do things as fast as possible (an English institution which promise to learn English in ten days, for example). In those aspects, I consider teaching is like solving a maze. Nevertheless, can you imagine an English class in which students have specific tools to follow a path and find the objective without stress?

     As I said before, using the Maze method, teachers can teach the subject first through traditional methods and then can take the help of modern teaching methods for revising the subject. It means using the blackboard and LCD projectors simultaneously in a classroom. Teacher continues explaining the lesson using chalk and board, but now he shows videos or exercises online in order to clarify the lesson, vary the class and draw the attention of the students. However, the teacher is not the center of the class, students are. They participate during the explanation because they must be prepared for the topic before the class. Teacher encourages his students to explore and build their knowledge in order to contribute with the class. For instance, through debates or discussions about interesting topics, students can apply their existing knowledge and real-world experiences. It inspires students to follow their own path of knowledge and individual process. Vigotsky’s studies found that a student often accomplished new tasks while working in collaboration with an adult, but students have the opportunity to solve problems by their own criteria and to refine thinking and perform effectively.   Nevertheless, if students do not pay close attention to the instructions, they will be lost in a second as in a complex maze. For that, teachers have to create a perfect and positive environment where students feel themselves interesting and motivating.

      On the other hand, interaction is important in the Maze Method. According to Bruner, interactions among people play an important role in SLA because it builds the structure of the language - It focuses its attention in communication. In this case, teachers have to give the students the linguistic tools they need to learn a language – through movies, videos, music, chats or native people. In that way, students can only learn a language from someone who wants to communicate with them and become more familiar with the English language. Make mistakes is allowed in the Maze Method to avoid low self-esteem, anxiety, and others affective filters. Besides, if students learn that it is ok to make mistakes, they will be able to discover how to combine words and phrases to form full sentences and dialogues and they can be more participative and active.

      To sum up, the Maze method is an amazing way to change the English class, the use of traditional and modern methods permit teacher to improve their classes and motivate students to learn another language. Nowadays, students want to be surfing the web and not to be in front of a blackboard –although they need it, too.  Once you have in mind these, you become motivated by your progress and you start to see the benefits.

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INTANGIBLE EXCHANGE THEORY

Luz Adriana Cardona

This theory takes an important part in the SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION. “Intangible exchange process” is the concept that introduces this theory. It is based on several theories descriptions and how they finally exchange elements among their own concepts.  Nowadays, Education is flexible, creative, challenging, and complex.  It addresses a rapidly changing world filled with fantastic new problems as well as exciting new possibilities.  Fortunately, there is a growing group of teachers supporting this theory.

The principals are:

-      Behavior exchange. A new behavior reflects a new consequence. Learning is based on stimuli that improve what is needed. Rewards guide the reach of the goal; with this kind of stimuli better responses are obtained. A punishment directed in a meaningful form keeps the process to obtain positive effects. Skinner (1974)

-      Need exchange. This is an important principle, the concept of a Universal Grammar and its innate nature in the human condition. It makes reference to the human cognitive capacity. It is indispensable to achieve proficiency in a language acquisition. It is a human need. It is the human’s essence. Chomsky (1950)

-      Synonyms and antonyms exchange. When mental blocks happen, the information is not well processed but, if this filter decreases, the second language learning is optimal.

Low anxiety – higher relaxation.

Low motivation – higher motivation.

Low self esteem – self confidence.

These factors are very important for the conscious and subconscious language             learning. Krashen (1982)

-      Language to language exchange. The practice and learning exchange is seen in a conversation. It is a meaning negotiation (Gass 2007). Through this negotiation, the most competent interlocutor assesses his / her competences and it facilitates language learning in a higher level. Long (1996)

-      Grammar exchange. When we listen to other people, we perceive the sound and then the word. It drives us to the message itself. Pica (2006) “is it possible to acquire L2 grammatical competence through communication and content study?” Well, Noticing is a necessary condition for storage. Noticing is receiving and it avoids fossilizing grammar and pronunciation as well. Schmidt (1990)

-      Cooperation exchange. Knowledge is a process of interaction between a person and the environment in a social and cultural way. Every individual learns with others’ help. That is the maximum learning condition. We do not simple imitate other people, which indicates that we are conscious about what we are. Vigotsky (1978)

-      Oral and aural exchange.  “The communicative competence is addressed to a teacher’s capacity of establishing an effective and efficient pedagogical communication with his/her students while developing in his or her personality a flexible style, to obtain the wanted results in the students” Ortiz (1994). Students really enjoy talking in a social setting thus, the use of language in real situations enhance competence and performance. Bruner (1986)

This intangible exchange theory is useful because it leads to great achievements. This theory has a global model, based upon the needs of a globalized, high-tech society and how the necessary input activates the grammar notions to promote critical thinking. This is something that helps reflective autonomy in making decisions. Teachers model students to be more active in their learning process. Theory of learning emphasizes that the assimilation of knowledge by the learner should be the focus (Bruner, 1960).

When the information is related to understanding and production, the comprehensible input is necessary; it is because nobody processes information in the same way. Humans process information with amazing efficiency and often perform better than highly sophisticated machines at tasks such as problem solving and critical thinking (Halpern, 2003; Kuhn, 1999). All individuals experience severe limitations in how much mental activity they can engage in due to limited cognitive resources (Kane & Engle, 2002). 

Through language, we first know, then we develop and finally we create our reality. Language is the best psychological tool. It allows us to be conscious and control our actions. This theory attempts to address you to take into account some principles for second language teaching.

Did you know that there is filter in our perception organs for instance? Eyes when we   read and ears when we listen. This is an important part for a language acquisition.  If a teacher smiles, the students’ affective filter will decrease and it will let them feel more confident to participate. Overall, Krashen’s theory provides reinforcement for what most teachers already do in their classrooms: engage the students at an appropriate level and push them to acquire more knowledge.

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