Language and Language Learning

and Teaching
What is language?
 Your view(s) of language
determines your way of teaching.

What is your view of language?

For me language is...
– a system of signs.
– a set of rules and principles.
– a system of conventional spoken or
written symbols.
– a set (finite or infinite) of sentences, each
finite in length and constructed out of a
finite set of elements.
– a matrix for the expression of thoughts.
– a social medium of expression.
– an instrument of social interaction.
– a weapon of empowerment and a tool
against oppression.
– a psychological tool used to solve
problems.
What are the common views on
language?

What are the common views on

language learning?
Language is a system of structures
Language is a linguistic system made
up of various subsystems:
the
system of
sounds

The
system of
language

the the
system system
of grammar of words
 Learning a language is to learn its…
vocabulary and structural rules.
Syntactic system (phrases &
sentences)
Morphological/Lexical system
(morphemes & words)
Phonological system (Phonemes )

Structural view
Language is a linguistic system as well as
a means for doing things
Learners learn a language in order to do
things with it (use it)
Learners learn a language through using
it
Instruction focused on the functions and
notions of language

Functional view
Language is a communicative tool to
maintain social relations.
Language is the reflection of cultures
Learners need to know the rules of a
language and where, when and how it
is appropriate to use them.
Instruction on cultures and focus on
appropriateness of speech
Two things are needed for communication:

 Rules of language form

(grammar & vocabulary)

 Rules of language use in a context

Is it appropriate to use this language
item in this context?

Interactional view
Views Language Language learning
Structural Language is a to learn these structural items. .
linguistic system * vocabulary and grammar
made up of structural (sentence patterns)
rules and vocabulary.

Functional Language is a to know how to combine the

linguistic system as grammatical rules and the
well as a means for vocabulary to express notions that
doing things (to be perform the functions.
used in real life).
•communicative categories
•communicative ability (to be able to
communicate)
Interactional Language is a not only to know the grammar and
communicative tool vocabulary of the language, but also
to maintain social to know the rules for using them in a
relations.
whole range of communicative
contexts.
•to communicate appropriately
(communicative strategies, cultural
awareness, etc.)
What are the common views on
language learning?
Process-oriented theories are
concerned with how the mind
processes new information, such
as habit formation, induction,
making inference, hypothesis
testing and generalization.
 Condition-oriented theories
emphasize the nature of the human
and physical context in which
language learning takes place, such
as the number of students, what kind
of input learners receive, and the
learning atmosphere.
Process-oriented
theories

Behaviorism
Condition-oriented
theories

Cognitivism

Constructivism

Social-constructivism
Behaviorism Pavlov Imitation & External
Skinner repetition factors
(S-R-R)

• Representatives: Pavlov, Skinner.

• Behaviorist view of language and learning.
• All complex forms of behaviors can be learned by
Stimulus-Response-Reinforcement.
• Language is a form of behavior.
• Language can be learned as animals are trained to respond
to stimuli (by mechanical drills such as imitation &
repetition).
• Influence (Audio-Lingual Method).
• ‘Listen and repeat’ drilling activities are the most
important classroom activities.
• Mistakes are immediately corrected and correct
utterances are immediately praised.
Ivan Pavlov: S-R
(1849-1936)
B. F. Skinner: S-R-R
(1904 - 1990)
Cognitivism Chomsky Thinking Internal
(creativity) factors

• Representative: Chomsky
• Cognitive view of language and learning
• Influence: Natural Approach
• If all language is learned by imitation and
repetition, how can a child produce a
sentence that has never been said by others
before?
• “Olha o desenho que eu fazi”;
• “Vamos lá no pintinheiro?”
• “Eu não sabo não.
• Language is not a form of behaviour. It is an
intricate (complicated) rule-based system.
(Language is rule-governed)
Cognitivism

•Children must have an inborn faculty for

language acquisition.
•Language Acquisition Device (LAD).
•There are a finite number of grammatical
rules in the system and with knowledge of
these rules an infinite number of sentences
can be produced. (Language is generative)
• Influence of cognitive theory
•Learners should be allowed to create their
own sentences based on their understanding
of certain rules (creativity).
 Input
(Language Data)

Output
Language (Language Produced
Acquisition by the Learner)
Device (LAD)
Noam Chomsky
(1928--)
Constructivism Piaget Personal Interaction
Dewey construction
Bruner

• Representatives: Piaget, Bruner, Dewey.

• Constructivist view of language and learning
Jean Piaget
(1896 – 1980)
Piaget’s views and influence
 Learning is a personal construction
of knowledge to be learned based on
the learner’s previous experience.

Learner’s experience Learner’s

personal construction
Knowledge to be learned
 Receiving Processing Constructing
information information new meanings

Input Decoding (Listening/reading

(listening )
,
Relating what learners comprehension
reading)
already know with the output
received information
John Dewey
(1859-1952)
Dewey’s views and influence

 Learning by doing
 Teaching should be built
on learners’ experience
and engage learners in
learning activities.
Dewey’s views and influence

 Learning by doing
 Teachers need to design
environments and interact
with learners.
 Social- Vygotsky ZPD &
constructivism scaffolds Interaction

• Representative: Vygotsky
• Social-constructivist view of language and
learning
• Social-constructivist views of language and
language learning
Lev Vygosky
(1896-1934)
Social-constructivist views of
language and language learning

 Interaction and engagement

with the target language in a
social context is important.
 ZPD—Zone of Proximal
Development
Zone of Proximal Development
& scaffolding
Social-constructivist views of
language and language learning
 Scaffolding—learning is best
achieved through the dynamic
interaction between:
– the teacher and the learner
(question & explanation)
– the learners themselves.
Your view of language determines your
way of teaching.

Your view of language learning determines

your way of teaching.

Your view of language and language

learning determines your teaching
methods.

Your teaching method is a major factor to

determine whether you’ll succeed or not
in a given context.
 What method do you use in teaching a
foreign language?

Why is the study of language teaching methods

important?
 The study of approaches and methods
provides teachers with a view of how the field
of language teaching has evolved.
 They can be studied not as prescriptions for
how to teach but as a source of well-used
practices, which teachers can adapt or
implement on their own needs.
 Experience in using different teaching
approaches and methods can provide teachers
with basic teaching skills that they can later
add to or supplement as they develop teaching
experience.
 When teachers are exposed to methods and
asked to reflect on their principles and actively
engage with their techniques, they can become
clearer about why they do what they do. They
become aware of their own fundamental
assumptions, values and beliefs.
 By becoming clearer on where they stand,
teachers can choose to teach differently from
the way they were taught. They are able to see
why they are attracted to certain methods and
repelled by others.
 A knowledge of methods offers teachers
alternatives to what they currently think and
do. With a knowledge of various methods, they
are able to make choices that are informed, not
conditioned or imposed by authorities.
 It is part of the knowledge base of teaching.
With it teachers join a community of practice.
 A knowledge of methods helps expand a
teacher’s repertoire of techniques which,
presumably, helps them deal more effectively
with the unique qualities and particular
characteristics of their students.
 They can help teachers inquire into, and
perhaps transform, their understanding of the
teaching/learning process.
Approach, method and technique (Anthony, 1963).
Approach Method Technique
* A set of * A practical * It refers to the
assumptions or application of an practical
beliefs about approach. implementation of
language * An overall plan, activities within a
teaching/learning. level at which method.
* Theories about theory is put into * A specific task or
language. practice including activity that
* It is axiomatic and or not an orderly actually takes
describes the presentation of place in a
nature of the language material. classroom, i. e., a
subject matter. * While the approach strategy,
* An approach can is axiomatic, the procedure.
give rise to method is
different methods. procedural.
 Different theories about the nature of
language and how languages are learned
(the approach) imply different ways of
teaching language (the method) and
different methods make use of different
kinds of classroom activities (the
techniques)
 Approach, Design and Procedure
( Richards; Rodgers, 1986)

METHOD
Approach Design Procedure
* refers to the beliefs * level in which * concerns the
and theories about objectives, syllabus, techniques and
language, language and content are practices employed
learning and determined, and in in the classroom as
teaching that which objectives, the consequences of
underlie a method roles of teachers, particular
learners and approaches and
instructional designs.
materials are
specified
 The Audio-lingual method
 Approach
 Theory of language
 The Structural view of language is the view
behind the Audio-lingual method. Particular
emphasis was laid on mastering the building
blocks of language and learning the rules for
combining them.
 Theory of learning
 Behaviorism, including the following
principles:
– language learning is habit-formation
– mistakes are bad and should be avoided, as they
make bad habits
– language skills are learned more effectively if they
are presented orally first, then in written form
– analogy is a better foundation for language learning
than analysis
– the meanings of words can be learned only in a
linguistic and cultural context
 Design
 Objectives
 Here are some of the objectives of the audio-lingual
method:
– accurate pronunciation and grammar
– ability to respond quickly and accurately in speech
situations
– knowledge of sufficient vocabulary to use with grammar
patterns.
 The syllabus
– Audiolingualism uses a structural syllabus
 Types of learning techniques and activities
– dialogues
– drills
 Procedure
 Here is a typical procedure in an audio-lingual
course:
– Students hear a model dialogue
– Students repeat each line of the dialogue
– Certain key words or phrases may be changed in
the dialogue
– Key structures from the dialogue serve as the basis
for pattern drills of different kinds.
– The students practice substitutions in the pattern
drills.
 Total Physical Response
 Approach
 Theory of language
 Asher does not directly address his view of
language but Richards and Rodgers state that
the labeling and ordering of classroom
activities seem to be build on the Structural
view of language
 Theory of learning
 Asher's language learning theories seem similar
to those of other behavioral psychologists.
There are some principles he elaborates:
– Second language learning is parallel to first
language learning and should reflect the same
naturalistic processes;
– Listening should develop before speaking;
– Children respond physically to spoken language,
and adult learners learn better if they do that too;
– Once listening comprehension has been developed,
speech develops naturally and effortlessly out of it;
– Adults should use right-brain motor activities,
while the left hemisphere watches and learns;
– Delaying speech reduces stress.
 Design
 Objectives
 Here are some of the objectives of Total Physical
Response
– Teaching oral proficiency at a beginning level
– Using comprehension as a means to speaking
– Using action-based drills in the imperative form
 The syllabus
 TPR uses a sentence-based grammatical
syllabus.
 Types of learning techniques and activities
 Activities where a command is given in the
imperative and the students obey the command
are the main ones in TPR.
 Procedure
 Asher gives step-by step accounts of how to use
TPR for English or other languages.
Communicative language teaching
 Communicative language teaching began in Britain in
the 1960s as a replacement to the earlier structural
approach, called Situational Language Teaching.
 This was partly in response to Chomsky's criticisms of
structural theories of language and partly based on the
theories of British functional linguistis, such as Firth
and Halliday, as well as American sociolinguists, such
as Hymes , Gumperz and Labov and the writings of
Austin and Searle on speech acts.
 Approach
 Theory of language
 The Functional view of language is the primary one
behind the Communicative Approach, as well as the
Interactional View.
 Theory of learning
 Not a great deal has been written about the learning
theory behind the communicative approach, but here
are some principles that may be inferred:
– activities that involve real communication promote learning
– activities in which language is used for carrying out
meaningful tasks promote learning
– language that is meaningful to the learner promotes learning
 Design
 Objectives
 Here are some of the objectives of
Communicative Language Teaching:
– students will learn to use languge as a means of
expression
– students will use language as a means of expressing
values and judgments
– students will learn to express the functions that best
meet their own communication needs.
 The syllabus
 Communicative language teaching often uses a
functional-notional syllabus.
 Types of learning techniques and activities
 Communicative language teaching uses almost
any activity that engages learners in authentic
communication.
 Littewood, however has distinguished two
major activity types:
– functional communication activities: ones aimed at
developing certain language skills and functions,
but which involve communication
 – social interaction activities, such as conversation
and discussion sessions, dialogues and role plays
 Procedure
 It is difficult to summarize the procedure in
communicative classes because of the wide
variety of activities used.
 References
– Richards, Jack C. and Theodore S. Rodgers.
Approaches and methods in language teaching: A
description and analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. 1986.
– www.nse.cn/nse/jp/08110308.ppt
– www.deu.edu.tr/.../Birimler/.../History_of_Language_
Teaching.ppt
– 210.46.96.21/jpsystem2/UploadFile/20085192327156
11.ppt
– http://www.sil.org/lingualinks/languagelearning/Ways
ToApproachLanguageLearning/contents.htm