Foreign Languages Didactics I – Test structure

Creators Background / Origin Main Features Pedagogical implications / Methodological

/ implications
founders

Piaget Before Piaget’s work, the 1. Schemas: the basic building block of 1. Discovery learning – the idea that children learn
(Cognitiv common assumption in intelligent behavior – a way of organizing best through doing and actively exploring - was seen
e Jean psychology was that knowledge. as central to the transformation of the primary
develop Piaget children are merely less school curriculum.
2. Adaptation processes Assimilation: Which
ment) competent thinkers than
is using an existing schema to deal with a new 2. Children should not be taught certain concepts
adults. Piaget showed that
object or situation. until they have reached the appropriate stage of
young children think in
cognitive development.
strikingly different ways
Accommodation: This happens when the
compared to adults. 3. Assimilation and accommodation require an active
existing schema (knowledge) does not work,
learner, not a passive one, because problem-solving
He disagreed with the idea and needs to be changed to deal with a new skills cannot be taught, they must be discovered.
that intelligence was a fixed
object or situation.
trait, and regarded cognitive 4. Within the classroom learning should be student-
development as a process
Equilibration: Equilibrium occurs when a centered and accomplished through active discovery
which occurs due to learning. The role of the teacher is to facilitate
biological maturation and child's schemas can deal with most new
learning, rather than direct tuition. Therefore,
interaction with the information through assimilation.
teachers should encourage the following within the
environment. classroom:
3. Stages:
Sensorimotor stage (birth to age 2) The main
o Focus on the process of learning, rather than the
achievement during this stage is object
end product of it.
permanence - knowing that an object still
o Using active methods that require rediscovering or
exists, even if it is hidden.
reconstructing "truths."
Preoperational Stage (2-7 years) Young
o Using collaborative, as well as individual activities
children can think about things symbolically.
(so children can learn from each other).
This is the ability to make one thing - a word
 or an object - stand for something other than o Devising situations that present useful problems,
itself. and create disequilibrium in the child.

Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years) The o Evaluate the level of the child's development so
child can work things out internally in their suitable tasks can be set.
head (rather than physically try things out in
the real world).

Children can conserve number (age 6), mass

(age 7), and weight (age 9). Conservation is
the understanding that something stays the
same in quantity even though its appearance
changes.

Formal Operations Stage (11 years-

adolescence and adulthood) During this time,
people develop the ability to think about
abstract concepts, and logically test
hypotheses.

Vygotsky Vygotsky developed a -Culture: It determines the type of cognitive -The MKO establishes opportunities for children to
(Cognitiv Lev sociocultural approach to strategy we develop. So that, the tools of learn with the teacher and the more skilled peers
e Vygotsky cognitive development. He intellectual adaptation vary from one culture -Reciprocal teaching: Students may become the
develop developed his theories at to another. teacher in this method. Emphasis in summarizing,
ment) around the same time as -Social interaction: Individual development questioning, clarifying, and predicting
Piaget, so that, his theories cannot be understood without reference to -Scaffolding: The student learn step by step
are an answer for those social and cultural context. Higher mental acquiring tools to go from what is known, to what is
believes which said processes have their origin in social not known, and that way, he will be capable to face
intelligence was just an CI processes. the new challenges in order to reach what at the
fact. -The More Knowledgeable Other (MKO): beginning was far from his comfort zone
Learning happens through social interaction -Collaborative learning and apprenticeships
He thinks learning is a
 process with no single with a skillful tutor (parent, teacher, or
principle (differently from partner) who provides verbal instructions and
Piaget’s theory). models behavior.
-The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD):
He says that individual
The teacher help the child to attain a higher
development cannot be
level. To go from what I can do now, and
understood without
what I can do with help, to what I cannot do.
reference to the social and
-Learning is the Internalisation of knowledge
cultural context, and that
done through social interaction
the whole learning has its
origin in social processes.

Bruner Jerome •Cognitive science originally •The outcome of cognitive development is •The aim of education should be to create
(Cognitiv Bruner grew out of researchers' thinking. autonomous learners who can construct their own
e discontent with the knowledge. (i.e., learning to learn).
develop behavioral and •Learning is an active process in which
ment) experimental approaches in learners construct new ideas or concepts •A child (of any age) is capable of understanding
the early twentieth century. based upon their current/past knowledge. complex information: 'Any subject can be taught
By integrating findings in effectively to any child at any stage of
various fields, they now • Spiral Curriculum: This method involves development.'
understand how the human information being structured so that complex
mind develops and works ideas can be taught at a simplified level first, •The task of the instructor is to translate
from diverse and richer and then re-visited at more complex levels information to be learned into a format appropriate
perspectives. later on. to the learner’s current state of understanding.

•In the 1960s, Jerome •Three modes of representation depending •Curriculum should be organized in a spiral manner
Bruner developed his on the age of the child: so that the student continually builds upon what
theory of cognitive they have already learned.
development. He suggested •Enactive (0-1 years)
that intellectual ability (action-based)
 developed in stages through
step-by-step changes in •Iconic (1-6 yrs)
how the mind is used. (image-based)

•Symbolic
(7-onwards)
(language-based)

Audio its roots come from world •Drills are used to teach structured patterns. •It has a strong emphasis on pronunciation.
Lingual 1.Charles war II and the necessity of
•New material is presented in dialog form. •Quickly responses but meaningless in most cases.
Method Fries understanding the U.S
enemies languages. •Dependency on mimicry and memorization •It helps to learn basic vocabulary.
2. Therefore, this method is a of set of phrases. •The role of context and knowledge was ignored by
Nelson combination of the army •Sizeable use of tapes, language labs and repetition and memorization.
Brooks programs used in the U.S, visual aids. It is still in use today as part of individual lessons
aural-oral procedures and
•Great importance attached to rather than as the main focus of the course. Some
the behaviourist
pronunciation. activities are:
psychology.
•Successful responses are immediately •Practical pronunciation and articulation.
reinforced. •Structural drilling.
•Manipulate language and disregard content. •Dialogue practices.

Commun Community Language - It is important to establish a mutual The focus is on vocabulary, pronunciation patterns
ity Learning (CLL) is one of the relationship between the learner and the and some grammar points that are derived from the
Language CHARLES ‘designer’ methods of teacher in order to create a safe learning student-generated language. As language is for
Learning CURRAN language acquisition that environment; students tend to learn more communication, the materials need to be authentic
arose in the 1970’s and effectively when they feel secure. and should allow students to express their desires,
forms part of the -Language is for communication. wants, beliefs, opinions and ideas easily.
Humanistic Approach of -The teacher stands behind the students in
language learning. order to facilitate the learning process. In CLL, there is no place for a formal evaluation of a
-Learners need to know the limits of a written or oral exam, unless the school requires a
It’s based on counseling teaching activity so that they feel more formative evaluation at the end of the course;
techniques that alleviate: secure. however, learners are encouraged to evaluate
anxiety, Fears, Personal and -As the teacher and the learners are whole themselves through alternative assessment
language problems a person persons, they can share learning experiences, techniques such as writing a paragraph, oral
encounters in the learning thus getting to know one another and interviews, presentations, role plays and so on.
of foreign languages. building a sense of community.
-Considering that each learner is unique, the Role of the Teacher:
teacher, as a counselor, values the learners -Facilitate learning and help students with what
and their ideas. they want to say.
- create and maintain a safe and non-threatening
Ø Maximum 12 students sit in a circle, learning environment by becoming supportive
there is a small portable tape recorder. and encouraging them to take part in the
The teacher stands outside the circle. learning activities
Ø When a student has decided they want - Most of the roles can be: counselor, translator,
to say something in the foreign language, imitator, mentor, human computer, creator of
they call the teacher over and whisper safe environment, motivator, friend, expert,
what they want to say, in their mother facilitator, organizer, conductor, orchestra
language. leader, and actor.
Ø The student attempts to repeat the
utterance, with encouragement from the Role of the Students :
teacher and the utterance is recorded by
the student. -Students, like infants, are totally dependent on the
Ø The teacher replays the recording, and teacher.
transcribes it on the board. This is
followed by analysis, and questions from -In the second stage, they begin to establish their
students. own self-affirmation and independence by using
Ø In a subsequent session, the teacher simple expressions and phrases.
may suggest activities springing from the
-They begin to understand others directly in the
dialogue, and little by little the students
target language.
spin a web of language.
 -Students begin to function independently with
limited knowledge of the foreign language.

-The independent stage, is one in which they refine

their understanding of register, as well as
grammatically correct language use.

Total
Physical
Respons
e (TPR)

Suggesto Georgi It was originated in It helps students to learn in a more effective Students and teacher assume different roles.
pedia Lozanov the 1970s by Bulgarian way, since the ambiance and music have a Students have to be receptive as if they were
psychologist - educator positive influence on them. It is supposed to children, teachers need to be confident and
Georgi Lozanov. “suggest” students into learning. Students authoritarian. The classroom has to be decorated in
Lozanov took from “raja are not pushed at any moment, they have to order to induce the student in a relaxing
-yoga” (a kind of yoga) its feel relaxed all the time, in this way, the atmosphere, walls usually painted in bright colors
techniques for altering learning process will be effective. and decorated. Chairs have to be comfortable, and
states of consciousness there has to be reduced number of students in each
and concentration, and the classroom. There has to be a séance, divided in three
use of rhythmic breathing. parts, in which the teacher plays some music and the
From Soviet psychology he students read.
took the idea that
all students (the
academically gifted and the
ungifted) can learn a given
topic at the same level of
skill.
Neuro- It refers to a training -NLP is a set of beliefs, skills and behaviors Teachers and students should take into account that
Linguistic John philosophy and a set of that can help a person communicate more we experience the world through our five senses and
Program Grinder training techniques accurately, effectively and respectfully. represent it in our minds through our neurological
ming (psychol developed in the mid-1970s -It is the study of how interaction of your processes. So:
ogist) as an alternative form of brain(NEURO), your language(LINGUISTIC) -When learning something difficult use your
Richard therapy. and body produce patterns of preferred sense.
Bandler Grindler and Bandler were behavior(PROGRAMMING). -when learning something easy try to develop your
(student interested in how people -It is about how to run our brain in a weaker senses.
of influence each other and in productive way to consistently achieve the -We use the language to express ourselves and
linguistic how the behaviors of very results that we want. embody our beliefs about the world.
s) effective people could be -Understanding the influence of language on -If we change the way we speak, we also change our
duplicated. the brain allows you to use it to communicate behavior.
more effectively. -Programming part is concerned with training
ourselves to think, speak and act in a new and
positive way in order to release our potential.

Logical Michael It is a language method Lexical Approach: This approach believes learning activities:distinguish lexical phrases as
and Lewis published by Michael Lewis that “language consists of grammaticalized social interactions, necessary topics and discourse
Lexical in 1993 and it gives lexis, not lexicalized grammar.” devices.
Approac importance to the insight of The lexical approach is a way of analyzing and role of learners and teachers: -teacher talk is the
h the language lexicon. The teaching language based on the idea that it is major source of learner input in demonstrating how
objective: To change made up of lexical units rather than lexical phrases
grammar for lexis or grammatical structures. In his proposal lexis -the teachers role is to create an environment, in
collocations. plays the central role. which learners can operate effectively, they can
Chunks, minimal pairs, collocations, lexical identify lexical phrases and patterns
units are the specific characteristics of this -teacher needs to abandon the idea of teacher as
approach. knower and take the idea that the student is a
lexical:This approach is really ambitious discoverer.
because aim to realize a syllabus based on -students have to make use of computers to analyze
lexical rather than grammar. text data previously collected. Here the students
 -So the computer analyses of text program assumes, as well, the role of data analyst due to the
(cobuild) indicates that “the 700 most fact that he is constructing his or her own linguistic
frequent words of English account for around generalizations based on examination of large
70%of all English text” corpora of language samples taken from real life.
-Level 1 would aim to cover the most materials: tapes, concordance lines
frequent 700 words with their common procedure: Classroom procedure involve the use of
patterns and uses. activities that keep the attention of students on
course keep the attention in word patterns lexical collocations, that they enhance these
from the computer analysis. collocations and use them.
Teacher would reexamine their books for
collocations adding exercises that focus in lexical
phrases.
Also encourage students to discover collocations
themselves in the classroom and outside the
classroom.

This learning style refers to the ability to Strategies for students

The logical learning style is reason, solve problems, and learn using logical learners learn best when they're taught using
Logical Howard one of eight types of numbers, abstract visual information, and visual materials, computers, statistical and analytical
learning Gardner learning styles, or analysis of cause and effect relationships. programs, and hands-on projects. They prefer
style intelligences. Logical learners are typically methodical and structured, goal-oriented activities that are based on
Gardner’s theory inspired think in logical or linear order. They may be math reasoning and logic rather l. They may also
teachers, school leaders, adept at solving math problems in their enjoy creating graphs, charts, timelines, and
and special educators to heads and are drawn to logic puzzles and categorizing collections.
embrace the notion that games.
there are many ways to be
intelligent.

Visual *Neil.D. *Fleming came up with the *Information is presented visually. Strategies for Students
Learning Fleming idea for the VARK model *They prefer to work in a quiet room and *Using color for notes and vocabulary words.
while working as an alone. *Be sure to read the diagrams, maps.
inspector for the New *May not remember verbal instructions. *Use outlines and concept maps to organize your
Zealand education system; *Usually watch others when instructions are notes.
he noticed that some great given. *Study in solitude. You need to see things to
teachers were not reaching *Frequently daydream during the class if the remember them, and often, noise will distract you.
some students while other teacher turns around. Strategies for Teachers
poor teachers were. When *Prefers to do demonstrations rather than to *Give written instructions and expectations.
he moved to Lincoln tell, explain, or report on a subject. *Show your students how to complete a task instead
University he decided to *When trying to remember something, can of just telling your students how to complete a task.
investigate why this was. He often visualize a picture of it in his/her mind. *Show students how to make great vocabulary
created the VARK model *They remember better if information is flashcards.
which included for different given on mind maps with bright colors or *Use video and still images to enhance your
types of learning: -visual. using pictures. presentations.
-Aural *Provide written feedback on assignments.
-Read/ Written
-Kinesthetic Advantages
*They follow directions by instinct.
*They easily visualize objects.
*They are excellent organizer.
*Have a strong sense of color (color- oriented).
*Notice similarities and differences between objects
and people easily.
*They have a great memory.

Disadvantages
*Sometimes, they miss some of what is said.
*Visual learners are not really talkative.
*Normally, they only get the surface information.
*When they are listening to lectures their mind
usually tends to wonder.
*They may experiences difficulty in lecture-oriented
 classes.
*Memory can fail.

Verbal – Dr. Verbal-linguistic learning 1)Verbal-linguistically talented people -You can apply in class written projects, speech and
Linguistic Howard style, or intelligence, is one express themselves well and are usually good drama classes, debate, language classes, and
learning Gardner, of eight types of learning listeners with a well-developed memory for journalism.
professor styles defined in Howard material they've read and recall of spoken -Make everything more verbal.
of Gardner's theory of information.
educatio Multiple Intelligences The 2) They may enjoy learning new languages, Advantages:
n at theory of multiple memorizing tongue twisters, playing word · It can be applied to any form of
Harvard intelligences was developed games, and reading. 3)Verbal-linguistic communication
Universit in 1983. learners may have a harder time with hand- · Can be increased in complexity:
y. eye coordination or visual-spatial tasks. They · Basic
The traditional notion of may also find it difficult to interpret a visual · Comple
intelligence based on IQ presentation of information. For example, it · It is a skill that can improve over lifetime.
testing was limited. Instead, may be harder for verbal-linguistic learners to · Life skills (interviews, jobs, relationships)
Dr. Gardner proposed eight read a chart, interpret a graph, or understand Disadvantages:
different intelligences to a "mind-map." · Can be challeging to master speaking and
account for a broader range 4)Verbal-linguistic learners are often good at listening together.
of human potential in tests that build on the ability to quickly and · There’s room for miscommunication/
children and adults. accurately respond to spoken or written intepretation.
instructions.
Techniques:
It helps teachers, trainers, and employers to · Techniques that involve speaking and
adjust their teaching styles to fit the needs of writing.
different learners. · Use rhyme and rhythm in your assertions
where you can.
· Acronym mnemonics.
· When you read content aloud, make it
dramatic and varied.
· Try working with others and using role-
 playing.

Social /
Musical
learners

The Tracy The two authors decided to This method is based on naturalism -Do not care about grammar nor hard structures.
Natural Terrel write a book called “the principles (everything what happens in the -The more input teacher gives to students, the best
Approac natural approach” taking world is because forces and laws from nature for them to acquire the second language.
h into account the want them to be that way), which means that -The affective filters has to do a lot with this method.
Stephen experiences in the this method stands for acquire the second The lower, the better because students would take
Krashen classroom from Terrel language and not learn it. the input properly and take advantage from it to
(spanish teacher) and the Its main purpose is communication(at first, acquire the second language.
theory of second language reading and listening, speaking will emerge -Topics (grammar) has to be taught in a logical
acquisition from Krashen naturally). sequence.
(applied linguist)

Note: In pedagogical implications / methodological implications you can include elements like:
a. Teacher, students and materials’ roles
b. Advantages and disadvantages for learners
c. Procedure
d. Techniques
e. Any other element that you consider relevant in this item