The theory that had most impact on my understanding of the process of language acquisition, development and learning was the Acquisition/Learning Hypothesis. The Acquisition/Learning hypothesis was developed by Stephen Krashen. According to the textbook, he is a seminal researches in the innastis tradition, who developed five hypotheses about second language acquisition. All these hypotheses are relevant to educating English Language Learners and how they learn. The Acquisition/Learning hypothesis really made most sense to me and I was able to relate to it. It really helped me understand the process of acquiring a language and how different it can be from learning.
1. In the beginning of the semester, I did not really understood the hypothesis of Krashen. Based the article (Gulzar, M. A., Gulnaz, F., & Ijaz, A, 2014) there is two systems, “the acquired system” and “the learned system.” The acquired system works similar to the process of acquisition of the first language. When you learned your first language, you were not aware of how the surroundings were influencing you to talk. The learned system has formal instructions, and it involves a conscious process.
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Language has a big role when it comes to all the cultures, but it can be in different ways as well. It really depends on the background of the student their approach to language. Acquiring/Learning hypothesis really gives you the chance to approach the students in a way that they will feel comfortable. Even though they might not notice, through repetition, visuals and hand gestures, you are helping them acquire the language without disrespecting them culturally. Being relevant and familiar is also a great way to help the students. When doing a lesson, be aware of their background and tie the lesson up with something they are already familiar with. Helping them acquire and learns a language also requires you to challenge them in a way that they feel like they are capable of doing great and being
Teaching world languages is a very specific, extensive field, and it should be noted that the texts presented here are only a small sample of what is available. Though it has long been known that language, culture and identity are interwoven, and extensive research to this effect has been presented, there exists an enduring trend to teach language solely as language. The texts presented within this annotated bibliography make it obvious that, as language is the main conveyer of culture, opportunities are being missed to help students develop their cultural understanding, and thus, their own identities, through the acquisition of second, or subsequent, languages.
Students’ background will determine as well the abilities of students, parents’ level of education and origin will enhance students’ language skills or will limit them; once the students arrive at school if the teacher promotes the interaction within children through lesson activities that target the competence of language, students learn from other students. If the cultural diversity is promoted in the classroom by the educator, all the students’ cultures will be linked to the curriculum, and the language development plus a cultural enrichment will diminish the opportunity for students to fall
First version of their hypothesis is about human beings remarkable ability in language acquisition in their early life. In this hypothesis they predict that people's ability to acquire languages will be fade or decrease with maturity if they do not practice in early life. Whereas, they will have an active ability to acquire languages if they practice in their early life. The second version of their hypothesis is that human beings will completely or partially lose their available ability to acquire languages as time went by with maturity.
In order to design and perform lessons based on such perspective, teachers have to identify possible funds of knowledge which enhance and support students learning. Later, the funds of knowledge should be incorporated into the curriculum. In relation to my college students, it might be difficult to implement this perspective since ethnographic observation requires students and their family to be observed at home. However, there are certain activities I have done in my courses, especially in the Sociolinguistics course, in which my students use their funds of knowledge in a certain way. For instance, my students usually share memories related to language about their relatives and friends who live in another state when discussing regional dialects. They do the same when discussing language features according to age and gender. Most of my students are multilingual; they speak at least three languages, Spanish, and other two languages as a foreign language. So, they share examples related to the themes and their experience about speaking a certain language. In addition, my students usually bring examples of the language practices discussed in class. They obtained such examples from the tv programs, books, and magazines they use for entertainment. Undeniably, these activities allow students to value everyday practices and to perceive changes in their own
Besides, accordingly with what we saw in class the other day “distinguishing between language and culture is synonymous with distinguishing between “linguistically formed culture (language) and non-linguistically formed culture (culture)” (Risager 2006:6) , and this distinction affected both the generic and the differential level. Thus, we conclude that language and culture are generally interwoven and inseparable, although we can establish differences between them. Hence, applying the close relationship of language and culture to language teaching, we could claim that “language teaching must inevitably be accompanied by teaching about cultural phenomena in the countries where the target language is
The behaviorist theory of language acquisition believe that children are born with the ability to learn, but must be taught language, by means of constant repetition and positive (or negative) reinforcement by an adult. They believe children use a “trial and error” approach to learn system or language etiquette needed to be used in their environment.
Lightbown, P., & Spada, N. M. (2014). How languages are learned (4th ed.). Oxford [england: Oxford University Press. [Kindle Edition]
Language plays an important in our lives, for children this is a critical time for them to learn how they can use language to communicate effectively from the when they learn through school and into adulthood. While a child goes through school they are exposed to Standard English, but there are diversities that appear in the classroom for example culture plays a part in language development. Gee and Hayes (2011) stated that there are many things that language can be including; a set of rules, a cognitive experience, a social tool or an object, but overall language is something that changed based on culture and social context. Acknowledging and accepting diversity in the classroom in relation to language and language learning is important
For decades, foreign language teachers wandered in a scientific abyss. Until 1983, there had been little real research dealing with the ways in which someone acquires a second language. Teachers mostly used the audiolingual classroom model that had been in place for the past twenty years (or, even worse, the literally ancient grammatical translation model that had been used by civilizations millennia old). Clearly, language teaching methodology was in a poor situation. In 1983, however, Krashen published the results of an unprecedented body of research and paved the way for a revolution in our field. His five-point hypothesis focused on the difference between the acquisition of and the learning of a second language. Krashen has his detractors, of course, not the least of whom are American school districts, which have been reluctant to implement his teachings. Most experts agree, however, that his ideas are the most meritorious of the theories in circulation now, and schools that refuse to incorporate them are doing their students a disservice.
English is the main language that students wants to learn because it considers as the international language and it will help the students to communicate and express their ideas freely without any barriers, and this will help them to obtain many career opportunities. Learning the language will also allow students to make a long-lasting friendship with a person from a different culture that speaks a different language. According to Benny lewis, who is multilingual : “ I’d bet that at least once in your life, you’ve felt a pang of regret during an encounter with someone from a different culture, when you realised how the experience could be enriched by knowing that person’s language ” (Benny Lewis,
With the products-practices-perspectives are dynamic aspects of Culture that I can embrace to renew outdated language workroom into more appealing, student-centered settings where my learners are enthusiastically involved in the cultural learning process. When I plan for cultural incorporation within lessons, I must be wise to design instruction with culture as a foundation for a learning unit which offers the most interconnection and consistency between culture and language, and it enhances instructional time. A student can determine or figure out the new culture using a wide selection of practical sources such as films, anecdotes, songs, newspapers, radio and ethnic regions virtual tours to engage in the social knowledge that can be obtained without ever going out of the educational setting. Despite the fact that it is no substitute for individual cultural involvements, the above point out approaches, procedures and tools should be employed to facilitate learners’ cultural knowledge, to improve discussion skills, to enhance the intellectual importance of the language and to effortlessly let my apprentices discuss how the culture is portrayed. Cultural experience can happen during one-on-one communication with intrinsic speakers and trips to the areas where the language is spoken. As a result of giving them as many tangible, realistic experiences as possible, they can expand their
Another theory is Vygotsky’s (1978) theory. In his theory which is called the sociocultural theory, it is believed that language learning is a social activity and is mediated by language. He believes that learning occurs when an expert of the language assists the learner by using language and
The culture associated with the language is what affects the person. If a language is very different from your own, it may give you some insight into another culture and another way of life. Culture affects the person’s acquisition of knowledge. Values and tradition may limit the person in acquiring the higher level of knowledge.
According to Steinberg (1993: xi), there are three major parts of studying in psycholinguistics; first language acquisition, language and mind, and second language learning. First language acquisition concerns the acquisition process of children in the first language. Language and mind, concern everything which is connected to the relation of language and mind, how language is used, language structures and human brain. Meanwhile, second language learning concerns people in inquiring the second
Language acquisition requires meaningful interaction in the target language with natural communication while children are acquiring the foreign language. Children usually concerned with message which they are conveying and understand not with the form of utterances. These utterances are initiated by the acquired systems and the fluency of language is based on what we have ‘picked up’ through active communication. Both formal knowledge and conscious learning of the second language learning may be alternate to the output of the system, sometimes before and sometimes after the