The experience of learning Slovak, an utterly different new language, made me
reflect on my role as an English teacher.
Something that any teacher should take
into consideration is that first
impressions are everything in the learning process. I am aware that teachers
must create an environment of understanding and trust in their first class, so
students feel less inhibited and can participate freely in the different tasks.
Returning to the Slovak class, the teacher took this aspect into account because
she was kind, recursive, and patient at the moment we did not get what we had
to do. The more pleasant the first class is, the better impression the students
will have in order to continue learning. Karle Ospina
THE TREASURE CHEST FOR A
FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHER
An Integrative Approach
Teaching a foreign language is a wonderful
and an endless adventure. It represents a long journey where teachers expect
not only to help their students achieve their academic goals, but also to have
the chance to enjoy their own job. First of all, they get ready with all the
tools they consider can be useful for their journey. For instance, they get
their linguistic competence as well as the methodology that best help their
students develop their competences. Then, they start looking for the activities
and materials that will contribute in the learning of the different topics.
Nevertheless, during the journey they realize that teaching is not that easy
and that it requires getting aware of other important issues. What they need is
to go in search of the TREASURE CHEST
that will help them get a handle on every situation related to the students and
their learning process. So, if you are a foreign language teacher you must find
this chest in order to come across with the eight spheres that contain
important teaching and learning insights.
Once the TREASURE CHEST is open, you will
find the first sphere containing an important aspect to have in mind in the
learning process: THE AFFECTIVE FACTORS. The affective states of the students
are the major factors intervening in language learning. On account of this,
teachers need to free their students from inhibitions so that they can freely
interact and use the language. This is possible if teachers build up trust and
understanding between themselves and their students. So, more positive than
negative feedback; more praise than criticism might be the first step. According
to Stephen Krashen (1982) and his AFFECTIVE FILTER HYPOTHESIS, affective
variables can act as a mental block, also termed AFFECTIVE FILTER, and prevent
comprehensible input to be absorbed. When the learner is unmotivated and lacks
confidence the affective filter goes up. When the learner is not anxious the
filter goes down. Adults are more likely to have a higher affective filter due
to events that occurred in adolescence. (Krashen, 1982).
After having found the first sphere, you
will see the second one. It contains the psychological theory called the BEHAVIORISTIC
APPROACH. This approach lies within
language acquisition is environmentally determined, that the environment
provides the learner with language, which acts as a stimulus, to which
the language learner responds. All learning is the establishment of habits as a
result of reinforcement and reward. When responses to stimuli are coherently
reinforced, then habit formation is established (Skinner, 1986). It is highly
probable that most foreign language teachers take account of this theory
because they usually implement new activities and techniques in their classes.
Thus, if the response of the students is positive, they continue implementing
those activities and techniques; otherwise, they will be discarded. In this
way, teachers identify what kind of stimulus they must provide for the benefit
of the learning.
The third sphere includes the
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY proposed by Lev Vigotsky who highlights the fundamental role
of social interaction in the development of cognition (Vigotsky, 1978). He
points out that individual development cannot be understood without reference
to the social and cultural context within which it is embedded. Therefore,
higher mental processes in the individual have their origin in social processes.
Another important aspect in this theory that facilitates and guides the
learning process is the fostering of the MKO (More Knowledgeable Other). It refers to someone who has a better understanding or
a higher ability level than the learner, with respect to a particular task,
process, or concept. In this case, teachers, adults, and peers can be very
helpful in the learning process, so as to assist the child in the developing of
their skills. Additionally, the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) is an
important principle in this theory and it is integrally related to the concept
of MKO. It refers to the difference between what a child can achieve
independently and what a child can achieve with guidance and encouragement from
a skilled partner. On account of this fact, teachers must promote collaborative
activities such as pair work and group work where less competent children
develop their skills with help from more skillful
peers.
UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR AND THE INNATENESS
HYPOTHESIS is enclosed in the fourth sphere. Noam Chomsky talks about the
existence in the human brain of a Language Acquisition Device. According to
this theory there are grammatical rules which are common to all human
languages, so language acquisition would be difficult or even impossible
without an innate grammar. It is a well known fact that, some languages have
certain grammatical features in common, namely nouns and verbs. In addition to
this, foreign language learners tend to deduce the rules of the foreign
language by resorting to their native language in order to communicate their
ideas. At this point teachers can assist their learners to understand the differences
between the first and the second language and that some structures are not the
same in both languages. Therefore, learners must be careful not to transfer all
messages from their first language to the second language because they might
commit some errors. The greater
the differences between the two languages, the more negative transfer can be
expected.
The fifth sphere is related to Jerome Bruner
and his CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY. His theoretical framework is based on the theme
that language development comes about when the social support network of the
child works in conjunction with innate mechanisms. This is what Brunner calls
Language Acquisition Support System (LASS). He also refers to the spiral curriculum that takes account of
how the most effective learning occurs. According to Brunner (1960) learning is
more successful with early exposure and subsequent scaffolding of more complex
concepts that occurs over earlier developing ones. Certainly, this concept of
scaffolding is really beneficial in the design of any curriculum, being that
teachers can decide what concepts must be introduced at the beginning of the
learning process and which ones at the end. Consequently, this process can
facilitate language learning in a more coherent way.
The sixth sphere brings the COMPREHENSIBLE
OUTPUT HYPOTHESIS. The originator of this hypothesis
is Merrill Swain (Swain, 1985) who claims that the way of acquiring a language
is not merely as simple as “understanding the message” as Krashen (1985) states
in his Input hypothesis. In other words, the development of the communicative
competence of the learner does not merely depend on comprehensible input: the
output of the learner has an independent and indispensable role to play. The
exposure to the target language plays an important role in this hypothesis because
the learner is “pushed” to communicate and to produce a comprehensible output
in order to be understood. It is probable that foreign language learners produce
incorrect utterances in the process of communicating with native speakers.
However, native speakers do not care about minor inaccuracies if the message is
understandable; they attend to meaning rather than form. Furthermore, through
the social practice learners can monitor their output and ask for
clarifications in order to improve their speech and overcome the gaps in the
communicative competence.
The seventh sphere keeps an important
aspect in foreign language learning: THE COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE. The learner
not only needs to get the structure of the language, but also to use the
language in a real life situation. Widdowson (1983) points out that a competent
language user should possess not only knowledge about the language, but also
the ability and skill to activate that knowledge in a communicative event. The
components of the communicative competence are grammatical, textual,
functional, and sociolinguistic and they are immersed in the following four abilities:
listening, reading, speaking, and writing.
Finally, the last sphere contains the
INTERACTION HYPOTHESIS. Michael Long (1996) claims that the development of
language proficiency is promoted face to face interaction and communication. In addition, this theory claims that the effectiveness
of comprehensible input is greatly increased when learners have to negotiate
for meaning. This occurs when there is a breakdown in communication
which interlocutors attempt to overcome. Thus, the participants in a conversation
resort to some strategies such as slowing down speech, requests for clarification,
and paraphrasing so that the interaction can progress.
As a result of having found the eight
spheres, you as an English teacher have a better understanding of what learning
a foreign language implies and the role you play in this process. If you take
these revelations into account, you will succeed in your teaching practice.
To read more, please visit http://karleospina.blogspot.com/
REFERENCES
·
Krashen, Stephen D. Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning.
Prentice-Hall International, 1982.
· Vygotsky, L.S. (1962). Thought
and Language. Cambridge MA: MIT Press.
· Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in
society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press.
·
Chomsky, Noam,
1986. Knowledge of language: its nature, origin and use.
· Praeger,
New York.
· Widdowson,
H. G. (1983). Learning Purpose and Language Use. Oxford:
OxfordUniversity Press.
·
Long, L. (1982).
Native Speaker/Non Native Speaker Conversation in the Second
Language Classroom.
In M. A. Clark & 1. Handscombe (Eds.), On TESOL
'82 (pp. 207-225).
Washington, D.C. U.S.: Teachers of English to Speakers
·
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.
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.
