EDU 344 + EDU 612
Fall 2019
5 Psycholinguistic ?? to think about
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Language Competence
(Bachman’s Framework)
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Organizational Competence
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Pragmatic Competence
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Pragmatic Competence
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Language Teaching Approaches
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Pre-Twentieth Century Trends
The field of EFL/ESL has undergone many
changes over the years.
Language teaching vacillated between two
types of approaches:
getting learners to use a language
(to speak & understand it)
getting learners to analyze a language
(learn its grammatical rules)
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Pre Twentieth Century Trends
In 1631 & 1658 Johann Amos Comenius used the following
techniques to teach language:
Use imitation instead of rules to teach a language
Have your students repeat after you
Use a limited vocabulary initially
Help your students practice reading & speaking
Teach language through pictures to make it more
meaningful
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Pre-Twentieth Century Trends
Rationale:
More than 60% of the world population nowadays is
multilingual
This is becoming the norm & not the exception
Second language learning & teaching is important.
At the time being, English is one of the most widely used
language in the world
However, more than 500 years ago, the dominant
language was Latin (it was used for commerce, religion,
education, politics, etc.).
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Pre-Twentieth Century Trends
In 1890, the scholars who established the International
Phonetic Association made some of the first truly
scientific contributions to language teaching when they
advocated principles such as the following:
The spoken form of a language is primary & should be
taught first
The findings of phonetics should be applied to language
teaching
Language teachers must have solid training in phonetics
Learners should be given phonetic training to establish good
speech habits.
(The work of these phoneticians focused on the
teaching of pronunciation & oral skills)
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20th Century Approach to Language
Teaching
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Grammar Translation
Or the Classical Method was first used in the teaching of classical
languages, Latin and Greek.
Instruction is given in the native language of the students
There is little use of the target language for communication
Focus is on the form & inflection of words
There is early reading of difficult texts
A typical exercise is to translate sentences from one language to
another
The teacher does not have to be able to speak the target language
Reading & writing are the major focus
Accuracy is emphasized
Grammar is taught deductively
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Direct
No use of the mother tongue is permitted
Lessons begin with dialogues & anecdotes in a modern
conversational style
Actions & pictures are used to make meanings clear
Grammar is learned inductively
Literal texts are read for pleasure & are not analyzed inductively
The teacher must be a native speaker or have native like
proficiency in the target language
Both listening & speaking were taught
Correct pronunciation & grammar were emphasized
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Strategies: Direct Method
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Reading
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Audiolingualism
Lessons begin with dialogues
Mimicry & memorization are used
Grammatical structures & sequenced & rules are taught
inductively
Skills are sequenced: listening, speaking, reading, but writing is
postponed
Pronunciation is stressed from the beginning
Vocabulary is severely limited in the early stages
A great effort is made to prevent learners’ errors
Language is manipulated without regard to meaning in context
The teacher must be proficient only in the structures, vocabulary,
etc. s/he is teaching since everything else is carefully controlled.
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Oral Situational
The spoken language is primary
All language material is practiced orally before being
presented in written form
Only the target language should be used in the
classroom
Efforts are made so that the most general & useful
vocabulary items are presented
Grammatical structures are graded from simple to
complex
New lexical & grammatical items are introduced &
practiced situationally
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Cognitive
Language learning is viewed as rule acquisition not habit formation
Instruction is often individualized; learners are responsible for their own
learning
Language must be taught, but it can be taught deductively (rules than
practice) & /or inductively
Pronunciation is de-emphasized.
The four skills are important
Vocabulary instruction is important specially at the intermediate &
advanced level
Errors are viewed as inevitable to be used constructively in the learning
process
The teacher is expected to have good general proficiency in the target
language as well as an ability to analyze the target language
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Affective Humanistic
Respect is emphasized for the individual & for his/her feelings
Communication that is meaningful to the learner is emphasized
Instruction involves much work in pairs or small groups
Class atmosphere is viewed as more important than materials or
methods
Peer support & interaction are viewed as necessary for learning
Learning a foreign language is viewed as a self-realization
experience
The teacher is a counselor or facilitator
The teacher should be proficient in the target & the student’s
native languages.
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Comprehension Based
Listening comprehension is very important. It is viewed as the basic
skill that will allow other skills to develop spontaneously
Learners should begin by listening to meaningful speech & by
responding nonverbally in meaningful ways before they produce any
language themselves
Learners should not speak until they feel ready to do so
Learners progress by being exposed to meaningful input that is just one
step beyond their level of competence
Rule learning may help learners monitor what they do, but it will aid
their acquisition or spontaneous use of the target language
Error correction is seen as unnecessary & perhaps counterproductive
If the teacher is not native or near native speaker, appropriate materials
must be available to provide the appropriate input for the learners.
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Communicative
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT): A set
of beliefs which included not only a re-examination
of what aspects of language to teach but also a
shift in emphasis on how to teach!
The goal of language teaching is learner ability to
communicate in the target language
The content of a language course will include
semantic notions & social functions & not only
linguistic structures
Learners work in groups or pairs to transfer meanings
in situations in which one person has information that
the other(s) lack.
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Communicative (2)
Learners often engage in role play or dramatization to adjust
their use of the target language to different social contexts.
Classroom materials & activities are often authentic to reflect
real-life situations & demands.
Skills are integrated from the beginning
The teacher’s role is to facilitate communication & only
secondarily to correct errors
The teacher should be able to use the target language fluently &
appropriately
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The Communicative Continuum
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Implications for Teachers
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Comprehension Level
Language is best taught when it is used to transmit
message not when it is explicitly taught for language
learning.
Whatever helps comprehension is important in the
classroom
The classroom is a very good place for language
acquisition specially at the beginning/intermediate level
Classroom discussion should be interesting
Make students interested in message not in form
(universal appeals, oneself)
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Speaking Level
Speaking is not absolutely essential for language
acquisition (as long as the teacher is giving input it is OK
for the student not to speak)
We acquire from what we hear, read, understand not
what we say. Spoken fluency will emerge on its own.
Sometimes we are in a hurry to teach, use them with
short dialogues routines; help them speak. Memory
work is very important (much like running). It helps with
the speaking process (auto dictation later on). Make
sure the passage is worthwhile memorizing.
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Grammar Level
Grammar has a limited role, but it does
exist. It should not interfere with
communication.
Use the monitor only in writing and
prepared speech.
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