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7/26/2019 Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (Longman) Chapter 1: Language learning and teaching
1/10
xii
f reface
6.
Journal
guidelines for
a
language learning experience.
l have
always recon1n1ended
that
the inforn1ation in a book like this
is
besr
internalized if the
reader
is
concurrently
taking a
course
in a foreign lan
guage. At
the
enJ of each
chapter
in lhis eition is a new secrion that
offers c assroon1-tested journal-wTting guidelines for the
reader either
to reflect on a current experience learning another language orto take
a retrospective look
ata
previous foreign language learning experience.
Jn
both
cases,
the
reader is askell to apply conceprs and consf1ucts anti
models to
a
personal
experience
learning
a
foreign language.
7.
Rcvised end-of-cl1apter
In
tl1e Classroon1 vig:nettes.
As
in
the
Third
Edition,
these
vignetres provide informarion
on
various pcdagog
ical applicatons anJ implications of second language rt:search.
The
first
four vignettes describe a historical progression of language-teaching
rr1ethods; the other chapters
7/26/2019 Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (Longman) Chapter 1: Language learning and teaching
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CURRENT ISSUES
IN
SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
What?
How?
Current
issues in secon
7/26/2019 Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (Longman) Chapter 1: Language learning and teaching
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4 0/APTER 1 Langudge, Learning
and
Tr::,ichin:;
And
you
can hone the global questions
into
finer, suhtler questions, vvhici1
in itself
is an ilnportant task, for often heing
able
ro ask
the
right quesrions
is more
valuable
t.han possessing storehouses of kno"\vledge.
Tho1nas Kuhn (1970) referred ro "norn1al scence
as
a prOCL".:ss of
puzzle solving
in which
part of the task of thc scicntist,
in
this case the
reacher, is to discover the ph:ccs and then to fit thc pieces togerher. Son1e
of the pieccs
of
the
language learning
puzzle
havc
beco1nc
-..vell
estab
lbhed. Others
are not yet
discovered,
and
the careful defining
of questions
vvill
lead
to finding
those
pieces.
We can rhen
undertake the task
of fitring
the pieces together into
a "paradig1n"
an interlocking design,
a theory of
second language acquisition.
That
theory,
like a jigsaw puzzle, nceds to be coherent and unified. Jf
only
one
point
of vicvv is
taken-if you look
al
only
one
facet
of
second
lan
guage
learning and
teaching-you \\-'ili
derive
an
incon1p ete,
partial
tht:ory.
The second
langtiage
teacher, with eyes
vvkte open
to
the total picture,
neecls
to form an
integrated
understanding of the many aspects
of
the
process of second language learning.
In order to begin to
ask
further questions and to find answers to sorne
of those
questions,
vve
111u.sr
first address a fundan1ental concern in
prohlen1-posing:
defining
or Jelin1iting
the focus of
our inquiry.
Since
this:
book
is about
language, learning, and teaching, let's see
what
happens
\Vhen
wc try
to
"
7/26/2019 Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (Longman) Chapter 1: Language learning and teaching
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6 CHAPTfR 1 Language Learning ind Tt-aching
2. Thc sy1nolic naturc
of
language; the
relationship
betv.'een
languagc anJ reality; the philosophy of l;;inguage; thc history of
language.
3.
Phonelic::.;
phonology; writing
systems; kinesics,
proxemics, and
other
"paralinguistic" features of language.
4. Seni.cu-1Ucs; languagc and
cogaitiun;
psycholinguistics.
5.
Cu1nrnunication
.systt:rr1s; spcakcr-hearer
interaction; sentcnce
prucc.ssil1g.
6. DialecLlvgy; ~ u c i u l i n g u i s t i c s ; Janguage and culture; bilingualism
and second
Ianguage acquisitio.n.
7. I-Iuman language and nonhtunan co1nmunication;
the
physiology
of
language.
8. Language universab; first tanguage acquisition.
Serivus
;inJ extensive thinking about these eight topics involves a
com
plex journcy through
a labyrinth
of lingubtic
science-a rnazc
that
con
tinues
to
be n>..:gutia.:d. Yet the language
teacher needs to
kn.ow
something
about tls syste1n
of
conununication
that we
call language. Can foreign lan
guage teachcrs cffectively teach a language if they do not know, even in gen
eral, sornething about the
relationship
between
ianguage
and
cognition,
-..vriting
systems,
nonvcrbal
communication, sociolinguistics. and
first lan
guage
acqubition?
And if
the second
language
learner
is
being asked
to
be
successful in
acquiring
a system
of
communication of such vast con1plexty,
isn't
it fea;:.onable
that the
teacher have
awareness
ofwhat the
con1ponents
of that system :'re?
Y'our undcrstanJing of the con1ponents of
language
determines to a
large
extent hoy;;- you teach
a language. If, for ex:unple,
you believe that
nonverbal cu1nn1unicatlon is a key to successful
second language
learning,
you v:ill devotc son1e attention to nonverbal systen1s and
cues.
If you per
ceive languagc as a phcnun1enon that can be
7/26/2019 Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (Longman) Chapter 1: Language learning and teaching
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CHAPTEN i
Language Learning
and
Teaching
choose
to
present copious rules
anct paradigms
to your students rather
than let then1 "discover"
those rules
inductively.
A.n
extended definition-or theory-of teaching \Yill
spell
out
gov-
erning principies for choosing certain n1ethods and techniques. A theory
of teaching,
in harn1ony
with
your integrate understan
7/26/2019 Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (Longman) Chapter 1: Language learning and teaching
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1 O
CHAPTER
l Lan;uage earning ami /eaching
seiection
of
the descriptively adequate gramn1ar of each language"
(Chomsky 1964: 63).
Early
sec n ; ; ; but
they wcre fa.r n1ore
interested in
a more
ultin1ate
quesdon
1
iiihy:_
\- '{7h;1t
underlyU1g
rcasvns,
gcnetic and cnvironmcntal fac
tors, and circun1stance::. caused a particular event?
If
you
\\'ere
to nbse1-ve so1neone walk into yottr house, pick upa
chair
an PTER-1
Language Learning and 7eaching 11
thc physical Jescription of the perS(Jfi, the time of day, the size of the chair,
the ilnpact
of
the chair, and
so
forth. Another set of questions vvould ask
why
the person
did what
he
di
7/26/2019 Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (Longman) Chapter 1: Language learning and teaching
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1 2 CH-\PTER 1 Language Learning ind
eaching
Researchers stuclying first and second language acquisirion have
demonstrated
constructivist
perspectives through studies of conversa
tionll discourse, sociocultural factors in
learning, an
7/26/2019 Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (Longman) Chapter 1: Language learning and teaching
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14
Cl-fAlTER 1 Language Lcarning and Teaching
nicative competence
and for explanations
of the
interactive process
of
lan
guage. The language
teaching
p.rofes::,ion responded
to
these theorctical
trends
\Vith approacbe::i and techniques
that
ha ve
stressed
thc itnportance
of self-esteem,
of
::iluJenls cooperatively icarning together,
of
developing
individual strategics for
success,
and above ali
of
focusing
on
the
co1nmu
nicative
process in language learning.-Toclay
the
term
"comn1tucative
lan
guage
teaching" is a by 'or
7/26/2019 Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (Longman) Chapter 1: Language learning and teaching
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16
CHAPTER
J
language,
Learniflg
and Teaching
7.
Often the on y dri ls are exercises in translating dlscon
nected sentences
from the
target language into the mother
tangue.
8.
Little
ar no attention is given to
pronunciation.
t
is
remarkab e, in one sense, that
this method
has been so
stal
wart among many competing models. t does virtually
nothing
to
enhance a student's commu nicative ab lity in the language. t is
"remembered with
distaste by thousands
of
school earners,
for
whom foreign language learning meant a tedious experience of
n1emorizing endless lists of unusable grammar rules and vocabu ary
and
attempting to
produce perfect translations
of
sti ted or
literary
prose" (Richards & Rodgers
1986:
4).
In another
sense, however,
one can understand why Grammar Translation is so popular.
t
regui_ees
f_ew_ ~ p e c i a l i z e d
_skills on the part
of t e a ~ ~ ~ r s .
Tests
of
gramma-ruleS
a d of translations
are easy
to coStuct
and can be
objectively scored. Many standardized tests
of foreign
languages still
do
not attempt to tap
lnto communicative abilities,
so students
have
Htt e motivation to go beyond grammar analogies,
translations,
and
rote
exerclses. And it is sometmes successful
fn
leading a student
toward
a reading knowledge of a second language. But,
as
Richards
and Rodgers (1986: 5) pointed out, "it has no advocates. t s a
method far which there is no theory. There-ls o literature
that
offers
a
rationale or
justificatlon
far it or that attempts to
relate
it to
issues
n inguistics, psychology, or educational theory." s we continue
to
examine theoretical principies in this book,
I
think
we
will under
stand
more
fu y
the
"theorylessness"
of the Grammar
Translation
Method.
TOPICS AND QUESTIONS FOR
STUDY
AND DISCUSSION
Note:
Items
listed belovv
are
coded for either individual 0
work,
group/pair
(G)
work,
or
whole-class (C) discussion, as suggestions
to
the instructor
on
how
to incorporare
the
topics and questions into a class session.
l (G)
In
the
first paragraph
of
this
chapter,
second
language learning is
described as a
c o m ~ o l e x
long-term
effort
that requires n1uch
of
the
learner.
ln
small
groups
of
three to
five,
share
your own
experiences
in
learning,
or
attempting ro learn, a foreign language.
Describe your
own
(a) co1nmitment, (b) involvement,and (e) etfort
to
learn.This discussion
should introduce you to a variety of patterns of learning.
2. (C:) Look at
the
nvo
7/26/2019 Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (Longman) Chapter 1: Language learning and teaching
10/10
18 Cl-IAPIER
l Language Learning
nd
Teaching
A nun1ber o,{ rej'erences 'lvere n1ade In this c/Japter to tr c lds n
research on app ied linguistics and 51.J 1. 17.Jesr? thrce it(fornzatue
boohs o j ] e r j l u 1 h e r j ) e r s j > e c t i v e ~
on
the
tJree 1 1 1 c ~ o r
scbouls
oj.thought
descrihcd here, and re Luritten in a user-jj-iendly s(vle.
Annual Revieiv o/
AjJplied Lingustics, published by
Cambridge
University
Press.
G ~ o 1 n J r e h t > n s i v e
and
currellf
n)Ur111c1tion on uorious subj"i:elds
o}
interest zuthin lVhat is hroac (y
ternied
'apjJ ied
lingu
istics
..
is t l Cl
il-
able through
this
annuctl y j)lthlishecl
journal.
Thon1as Kuhn. 1970. The
Structure
of Scientific Rez,.olutions. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
This classic tt'ork descrihes
thc
lVCLYing
and ll'Olling
q
scle1tt((ic
tre11ds
througb bisto1y.
Jt helps
une to
tuzden>tand SlA
research
trends
in a conte.\t
o)-
other
scientific
dsciplines.
Bro\vn, H. Douglas. 2000. Teaching b_y Principles:An
Interactive Approach
to Language Pedagogy. Second E
Recommended