1.

Definitions of applied linguistics:

AILA – International Association for Applied Linguistics – “an interdisciplinary field of
research and practice dealing with practical problems of language and
communication”
Applied Linguistics (journal) – “the study of language and language-related problems in
specific situations in which people use and learn languages”
Chris Brumfit (eminent applied linguistic) – “applied linguistics is the theoretical and
empirical investigation of real-world problems in which language is a central
issue”
2. Language teaching methodology:
The traditional focus of the research in the area of language teaching methodology was
based on teaching with the main emphasis on reading, writing, listening and
speaking in a second or foreign language. Up until 1950s, the most common
approach to language teaching was through the study of grammar rules,
followed by exercises involving translation. Since then, there has been a
general move towards the use of methods that attempt to create a more
genuine need for communication in the language classroom, thus (in theory,
at least) making the learning process more natural. Many of these types of
methods come under the umbrella heading of the Communicative Approach to
language teaching. Then linguists used numerous of devices in order to record and
observe classes so they would be able to find new method of TFL. Also, the
experts conduct research about the learner’s congition: strategies and learning
syles, the role of memory and mental schemes, differences between students’
mother tongue and language they learn etc. just for the purpose of making
teaching more effective.
3. Syllabus and materials design
Research into syllabus and materials design is another key component of language
teaching research. The researchers are interested in which way and order the
learning material should be presented to the learner. Four widely-used syllabus
types are:
● The grammatical/structural syllabus (the most popular) – focus is on the
ordering of grammatical structures from the simplest to the most complex.
Grammar and vocabulary tend to be treated as separate phenomena and
the language presented tends to be somewhat artificial.
● The notional/functional syllabus – ordered in such a way the syllabus
designer deems to be relevant for the students. Functions are the
“communicative purposes” for which language is used and notions are the
context in in which these functional communicative acts take place.
● The lexical syllabus – have vocabulary rather than grammar as their
organizing principle
● Content-based instruction and the task-based syllabus – /
 4. Language testing
Work in the area of language testing is an important aspect of research into how languages are
taught and learned. The focus here is on how a learner’s language ability can be assessed.
A distinction is generally drawn here between achievement testing (which sets out to
establish whether learners have met a set of pre-determined linguistic skills which they
were specifically taught in class) and proficiency testing (which sets out to establish
whether learners have reached an independent “level” of the target language, at which
they can be expected to perform in a variety of situations). How do different types of tests
(such as dictations, gap-fill tests and oral examinations) measure different types of
language ability?
5. Language for specific purposes (LSP)
Languages for Specific Purposes (LSP) looks at the features of different types of language with
a view to teaching learners who are going to have to use these specific types of language
in their everyday lives. The groups of people who use specific types of language for a
common purpose are sometime referred to as discourse communities, and the aim of
researchers in the area of LSP is to investigate how teachers can best help students to
enter these communities. Sub-branch of LSP is English for Academic Purposes (EAP),
whose aim is to help prepare international students for study at English-speaking
universities. Researchers in this area study the types of language that are used in lectures,
seminars and written papers across the range of disciplines that are offered at universities
where English is the medium of instruction. Another branch is Business English,
endeavors to describe the major business genres (business correspondence, meetings,
negotiations etc.)
6. Applied Lingustics: a broader perspective
● Sociolingustics – looks at the relationship between language and society. The
focus is on variation in the way people use language as well as on language
change. How people use language to create and maintain social structures and
hierarchies. The language one speaks, the accent one has, the ways in which
people change their accent (or even their language) whe speaking to different
people in different social situations all come under the microscope of the
sociolingust.
● Pragmatics – the study of meaning in context “hidden messages”
● Psycholinguistics – How does our brain organize the words that it stores?
How does it access them so quickly? How do we understand sentences and
texts
● Discourse Analysis
● Corpus Linguistics
● Language policy and planning – this subfield of applied linguistics looks at
the way language is controlled at international, national and local levels. At
the international level it looks at the spread of English around the world and
analyses the socio-economic and political causes and consequences of this. At
 the national level it looks at the role of official languages in maintaining
national identity and explores the relationship between official and minority
languages. (immigrants, schools). At local level, the focus might be on the
ways in which power relations are established and maintained within an
organization through the use of language.
● Forensic Linguistics – studies the relationship between language and the law.
Forensic linguists look at how language is used in the legal process, focusing
on the discourse of the police, lawyers, judges and legal documents, and
courtroom interaction. Refers to the examination of linguistic evidence in
court. To dispute authorship of written texts and where the issues may be
plagiarism. They also study cases where inaccurate translations of statements
made by non-native speakers have led to miscarriages of justice.
● Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) – has developed into a distinct branch of
applied linguistic research that adopts an explicitly political stance towards the
analysis of the relationship between language and society.
● Translation Studies – Researchers in translation studies study the choices
that people make when translating from one language to another. There is
often a trade-off between achieving loyalty to the original text and achieving
naturalness in the target language, and translators will make choices
depending on the target audience of the translated document, as well as for
their own personal or ideological reasons. (right hand man) – might be
translated as a “person” if there are strong feminists sentiments.
● Lexicography – is the practice of compiling dictionaries, and lexicographers
are the specialist authors who carry out the process of dictionary compilation.
In applied linguistics, however, the field of lexicography is also understood as
including investigations of the decisions that lexicographer make when
compiling dictionaries, and on the look-up strategies that dictionary users
deploy when consulting them.
7. Quantitative data

Quantitative data provide a broad-brush overview of general trends and relationships.

They can tell us, for example, that there are overall differences between groups of people
in terms of their linguistic behavior and/or ability but they tell us very little about the
individuals within our study. – they provide a partial data

Choosing a representative sample

When applied linguists collect quantitative data they usually carry out their research on
a particular sample of language users or learners and try to extrapolate from their finding
to make claims about language users or learners more generally. However, it is important
to bear in mind that whatever findings we obtain in our research only really apply to the
particular group of people studied, at the time they were studied and in the particular
 circumstances in which they were studied. However, there are measures that we can take
in our research design that allow us to generalize beyond the group of participants with
whom we conducted our study. In order to assess the generalizability of our findings, we
need to consider three factors:

● Our target population

● Our sample
● The representativeness of that sample

The target population refers to the group of people that we want to make a claim about.
There are several ways of making a sample more representative of the target population.
One is to make it as large as possible. The closer the sample is in size to the target
population, the more reliable predictor it is likely to be of the behavior of that population
is a whole. If quantitative study aims to make comparisons between two groups of
people, one would expect to have a minimum of 30 participants in each group, giving a
total of 60 participants. If however, we wanted to investigate statistical relationships
between a large number of variables we would need t a much larger group. (statistical
analysis);(there are also graphs, percentages, numbers, charts etc.) – The term variables
simply means “things that we are looking at and attempting to measure” so it could
include a wide range of phenomena such as “speaking ability, rest performance, level of
motivation and so on”. There are other ways of ensuring that the sample we use is
representative of our target population.

● Robust sampling technique –

● Random sampling – random ESL students (with different language programs)
from all over the country without knowing their background (very rare)
● Systematic sampling – every fifth student on the class register, for example.
● Stratified sampling – 10 beginner, 10 intermediate, 10 advanced (strata)
● Quota sampling – similar number of different types of participants, but there is
no hierarchy.
● Opportunity sampling – conducting the research with whatever participants
happen to be available. (beneficial in many ways)
● Snowball sampling – a researcher sends an email with a questionnaire to a few
close friends and asks them to forward it to anyone they know who might be
interested. (the group of people gets bigger and bigger in a random manner and
thus “snowball” analogy)
8. Questionnaire
Questionnaire is a document filled out in writing (or electronically) by the informant. When
designing a questionnaire, the researcher needs to bear in mind that it will never provide
direct information about people’s behavior. It will only provide information about what
they think about their behavior. Other problems with questionnaires include the fact that
when completing questionnaires, people sometimes try to write what they think the
 researcher wants to hear, rather than what they actually think. To get in-depth answers it
is necessary to use interview techniques, classroom observations or other types of
data triangulation. There is temptation to add lots of demographic questions about the
participant’s name, age, background and so on. But is this always really necessary?
Problems: anonymity (1)-positive and negative side, lots of biographical info (2).
Before administering questionnaire it is also important to make it clear to the participants
what is going to be with the findings. Also, the questionnaire needs to be tested out on a
smaller group first (pilot study) if planning to conduct main study. When putting
together a questionnaire, it is also important to think about the different question types
that will be used. The two main types are: open-ended questions (not good in large
number-ppl get bored) and fixed-response questions (series of answers that have been
pre-selected by the researcher). In open-ended questions, there is no control over what the
respondent writes. In fixed-response questions, the answers are pre-selected and the
respondent is forced to choose between a set of options that may not correspond closely
to his or her own thoughts. Common form of fixed-response question is the Likert Scale.
(also T/F, Yes/No, Multiple choice, Semantic differential, Ranking)
What to avoid:
● Complicated/ambiguous questions – Grammar should be taught only as a means
to an end and not as end in itself
● Questions that contain 2 or more parts – Learning a new language can be difficult
and I like it that way.
● Double negatives – I don’t like it when the teacher makes the class interesting
● Useless questions – I like it when the teacher makes the class interesting
● Loaded questions/leading questions – Why do people think that the X accent is
unpleasant

9. Qualitative data

Qualitative research is more usually interested in providing detailed descriptions of smaller

groups of individuals. Qualitative research tends to answer questions about how and why,
rather than what. The aim of qualitative research is to find individuals who can provide rich
and varied data that shed new or interesting light on the phenomenon under investigation.
The qualitative researcher is interested in detailed, thick descriptions of smaller data sets and
in comparison to qualitative research, subjectivity is top priority. Qualitative data are
sometimes used to complement quantitative findings by means of illustration and deepening
the analysis, incorporating complexity and thus providing a more realistic way of seeing
things. One of the methods of collecting qualitative data is interview. Three main kinds of
interview tend to be used in applied linguistic research: structured, unstructured and semi-
structured. In structured interviews the interviewer organizes the content and procedures
in advance and then has little freedom to make modifications. Unstructured interviews have
more flexibility and freedom. Semi-structured have some of the characteristics of both and
are thus a sort of halfway house.

Attitudes, reported behaviour, language used (non-standard accents, dialects, slang)

Direct (explicit) vs. indirect (inexplicit) approach ???????

10. Case study

Case studies are in-depth analyses of individual cases designed to provide answers to a
certain research question. – Ehrman (1996) (2. Hendaut p.73) case study of a
student….Myers study etc..Several types of data ? Longitudinal research – where you
observe the individual change over time and the focus is on comparisons of the individual’s
performance on a sequence of occasions.

11. Observation

Another type of qualitative research is observation. It can be simply defined as watching and
recording how participants behave and interact in certain situations. Observers may or may
not be part of the action. There are two types of observation: non-participant observation
and participant observation. Non participant observation requires the researcher to
quietly observe what is going on in a particular situation, without being involved in the
situation herself or himself. This type of data collection strategy is particularly useful for
projects that aim to find out how language teaching classrooms work. It can produce data that
are both qualitative and quantitative. – Matsumoto’s classroom observation (2009). This
type of research is also used to check effectiveness of language teacher training program.
Participant observation is closely related to ethnographic research, this approach has its
origins in anthropology and was originally used to investigate the behavior and
characteristics of particular cultures. (researcher immersing him or herself totally in the
culture under examination, living in the community and using this experience to provide very
richly detailed data about how the members of the culture behave on a day-to-day basis.

12. Experiments

Language is a complicated phenomenon and sometimes its occurrence in natural settings

does not enable you to see what is going on. Certain kinds of research questions are best
answered by creating an artificial situation, where you compare what happens when one
specific detail (“variable”) is changed, while everything else remains constant. Therefore,
experiments are normally conducted on groups of similar subjects, rather than on single
individuals, in the hope that the pooled results will be representative of the wider population.
The skill in running experiments lies in making sure that everything except the variable being
 investigated remains as similar as possible. For instance, two groups of subjects should be
compatible and treated the same way. (p.145 handout 2)

13. Focus group ??????????????

14. The behaviorist position (1st language acquisition)

Traditional behaviorists believed that language learning is simply a matter of imitation and habit
formation. Children imitate the sounds and patterns which they hear around them and
receive positive reinforcement (which could take the form of praise or just successful
communication) for doing so. Thus encouraged by their environment, they continue to
imitate and practice these sounds and patterns until they form “habits” of correct
language use. According to this view, the quality and quantity of the language which the
child hears, as well as the consistency of the reinforcement offered by other in the
environment, should have an effect on the child’s success in language learning. The
behaviourist view imitation and practice as primary processes in language development.
Imitation: Word for word repetition of all or part of someone else’s utterance.
Practice: Repetitive manipulation of form.
STIMULUS – RESPONSE - REINFORCEMENT
15. The innatist position (1st language acquisition)

The linguist Noah Chomsky claims that children are biologically programmed for
language and that language develops in the child in just the same way that other
biological functions develop. For Chomsky, language acquisition is very similar to the
development of walking. The environment makes a basic contribution – in this case, the
availability of people who speak to the child. The child, or rather, the child’s biological
endowment, will do the rest. Chomsky’s logical problem of language acquisition – refers
to the fact that children come to know more about the structure of their language than
they could reasonably be expected to learn on the basis of the samples of language which
they hear (mothers not giving enough or any response/feedback). He claims that children
are born with special ability to discover for themselves the underlying rules of a language
system. LAD (Language acquisition device) – this device was often described as an
imaginary “black box” which is thought to contain all and only the principles which are
universal to all human languages. For the LAD to work, the child needs access only to
samples of the natural language. The language samples work as a trigger to activate the
device. Once it is activated, the child is able to discover the structure of the language to
be learned by matching the innate knowledge of basic grammatical relationships to the
structures of the particular language in the environment. – UG (Universal Grammar).
“The critical period hypothesis” is a specific time and limited period during which
language can be learned. (right time for acquiring language). (CPH). There are two
 versions of the CPH. The strong version and the weak version. The strong version is
that children must acquire their first language by puberty or they will never be able to
learn from subsequent exposure. The weak version is that language learning will be more
difficult and incomplete after puberty. (Natural experiments: Victor and Genie handout 3
p.11) – (Deaf signers p.15 h3)

The interactionist position is that language develops as a result of the complex interplay
between the uniquely human characteristics of the child and the environment in which the
child develops. Unlike the innatists, the interactionists claim that language which is
modified to suit the capability of the learner is a crucial element in the language
acquisition process. Caretaker talk (“motherese”) from the interactionists perspective
have studied the speech directed to children. We are all familier with the way adults
typically modify the way they speak when addressing little children. In English, the
caretaker talk involves slower rate of speech, higher pitch, more varied intonations,
shorter and simpler sentence patterns. Furthermore, topics of conversation are often
limited to the child’s immediate environment, the “here and now”. Adults often repeat the
content of a child’s utterance, but they do so with a grammatically correct sentence.

Learner characteristics:
Knowledge of a language (language transfer)
Cognitive considerations (maturity, metalinguistic awareness, world knowledge)
Affective considerations
Learning conditions
Modified input (caretaker talk /motherese (L1) / foreigner/teacher talk (L2)
Exposure to L2; error-correction

16. Second language acquisition (foreword)

All second language learners, regardless of age, have by definition already acquired at least one
language. This prior knowledge may be an advantage in the sense that the learner has an
idea of how languages work. On the other hand, as we shall see, knowledge of other
languages can also lean learners to make incorrect guesses about how the second
language works and this may cause errors which a learner of a first language would not
make. The first learner does not have the cognitive maturity, metalinguistic awareness, or
world knowledge. Younger learners in second language learning environments are
allowed to be silent until they are ready to speak, while older learners are often forced to
speak – to meet the requirements of a classroom or to carry out everyday tasks such as
shopping, medical visits, or job interviews. – Modified input – a condition which appears to
be common to learners of all ages. This adjusted speech style is called caretaker talk for first
languages, and foreign talk or teacher talk for second languages. Most people who interact
regularly with language learners seem to have an intuitive sense of what adjustments are needed
to help learners understand. In informal second language acquisition, errors which do not
interfere with meaning are usually overlooked. Most people would feel they were being impolite
 if they interrupted and corrected someone who was trying to have a conversation with them.
They “may” correct if particular word was used or when the listener doesn’t understand what the
speaker was trying to say.

17. Behaviorism (2nd language acquisition)

According to all behaviorists, all learning, whether verbal or non-verbal takes place through the
same underlying process, habit formation. Learners receive linguistic input from speakers
in their environment, and positive reinforcement for their correct repetitions and
imitations. As a result, habits are formed. Because language development is described as
the acquisition of a set of habits, it is assumed that a person learning a second language
start off with the habits associated with the first language. These habits interfere with
those needed for second language speech, and new habits must be formed. (Lado 1964).
For the behaviorist, errors are seen as first language habits interfering with the acquisition
of second language habits. This psychological learning theory has often been linked to
the contrastive analysis hypothesis (CAH). The CAH predicts that where there are
similarities between the two languages, the learner will acquire target language structures
with ease; where there are differences, the learner will have difficulty.

18. Cognitive theory: a new psychological approach

Cognitive psychologists tend to see second language acquisition as the building up of

knowledge systems that can eventually be called on automatically for speaking and
understanding. At first, learners have to pay attention to any aspect of the language which
they are trying to understand and produce. Gradually, through experience and practice
learners become able to use certain parts of their knowledge so quickly and automatically
that they are not even aware that they are doing it. This frees them to focus on other
aspects of the language which, in turn, gradually become automatic (McLaughlin 1987).
Cognitive psychologists have also investigated a phenomenon they call “restructuring”.
This refers to the observation that sometimes things which we know and use
automatically may not be explainable in terms of a gradual build-up of automaticity
through practice. They seem rather to be based on the interaction of knowledge we
already have, or on the acquisition of new knowledge which – without extensive practice
– somehow “fits” into an existing system and may, in fact, “restructure” this system.
19. Creative construction theory
Creative construction hypothesis – similar to Chomsky’s innatist ideas, in this theory learners are
thought to “construct” internal representations of the language being learned. One may
think of these internal representations as mental pictures of the target language. The
internal representations are thought to develop, in predictable stages, in the direction of
the full second language system. The learner need not actually speak or write in order to
acquire language, internal processing strategies operate on language input without any
 direct dependence on the learner actually producing the language. Stephen Krashen
(1982) has developed an overall theory of second language acquisition which attempts to
bring together research findings from a number of diverse areas. Five central hypotheses
constitute his “monitor model”
● The acquisition-learning hypothesis – there are two ways for adult second
language learners to approach learning a second language: they may “acquire” it
or they may “learn” it – we acquire as we engage in meaningful interaction in the
second language (more subconscious), while we learn via conscious process (in
classroom for example).
● The monitor hypothesis – acquired system acts to initiate the speaker’s
utterances and is responsible for fluency and intuitive judgements about
correctness. The learned system on the other hand, acts only as an editor or
“monitor” making minor changes and polishing what the acquired system has
produced (knowing the rules only polishes what’s been acquired and
communication should be in the focus of language teaching).
● The natural order hypothesis – this hypothesis states that we acquire the rules
of a language in a predictable sequence – some rules are acquired early while
others are acquired late. (rules don’t have to be easier in order to acquire them
first – “natural order” – morphemes).
● The input hypothesis – Krashen asserts that we acquire language in only one
way – by receiving comprehensive input that is, by understanding messages. If the
input contains forms and structures just beyond the learner’s current level of
competence in the language, then both comprehension and acquisition will occur.
● The affective filter hypothesis – The “affective filter” is an imaginary barrier
which prevents learners from using input which is available in the environment.
“Affect” refers to such things as motives, needs attitudes, and emotional states. A
learner who is tense, angry, anxious or bored will screen out input, making it
unavailable for acquisition. Depending on learner’s state of mind or disposition,
the filter limits what is noticed and what is acquired.

20. Interactionist view (2nd language acquisition)

Interactionists claim that a crucial element in the language acquisition process is the modified
input that learners are exposed to and the way in which native speakers interact in
conversations with learners. Proponents of the interactionist view such as Michael Long
agree with Krashen that comprehensible input is necessary for language acquisition.
However, they are more concerned with the question of how input is made
comprehensible. For long and others, modified interaction must be necessary for
language acquisition. This relationship has been summarized as follows:
● Interactional modification makes input comprehensible
● Comprehensible input promotes acquisition; therefore
● Interactional modification promotes acquisition
Long argues that there are no cases of beginning-level learners acquiring a second language from
native-speaker talk which has not been modified in some way. In fact, research shows that native
speakers consistently modify they speech in sustained conversation with non-native speakers.
Examples:

● Comprehension check – efforts by the native speaker to determine that the learner
understands (for example, “The bus leaves at 6:30. Do you understand?)
● Clarification requests – efforts to get the learner to clarify something which has not
been understood (for example “Could you say that again?”)
● Self-repetition or paraphrase – the native speaker repeats his or her sentence either
partially or in its entirety. (For example, “She got lost on her way home from school. She
was walking home from school. She got lost.”)

21. A good language learner: (nije bitno (valjda))

● is a willing and accurate guesser
● constantly looks for patterns in the language
● enjoys grammar exercises
● has an above-average IQ
● has good academic skills
● has a good self-image and lots of confidence
● analyses his/her own speech and the speech of others
● practices as often as possible
● is willing to make mistakes

22. Research on learner characteristics

When researchers are interested in finding out whether an individual factor such as
motivation affects second language learning, they usually select a group of learners and give
them a questionnaire to measure the type and degree of motivation. The test and the
questionnaire are both scored and the researcher investigates whether a learner with a high
score on the proficiency test is also more likely to have a high score on the motivation
questionnaire. If this is the case, the researcher usually concludes that high levels of
motivation are correlated with success in language learning. The first problem is that it is not
possible to directly observe and measure qualities such as aptitude, motivation, extroversion
or even intelligence. In motivation questionnaires, learners are often asked whether they
willingly seek out opportunities to use their second language with native speakers and if so,
how often they do this. (p. 35 h 4) (p. 36 proficiency test – motivated students – less
motivated students)
 23. L2 Proficiency – Cummins
In his early work, Cummins distinguished two types of proficiency. Basic interpersonal
communication skills (BICS) are the skills required for oral fluency and sociolinguistic
appropriateness. They are “basic” in the sense that they develop naturally as a result of
exposure to a language through communication. Cognitive/academic language
proficiency (CALP) consists of the linguistic knowledge and literacy skills required for
academic work.
24. Intelligence
Many studies using a variety of IQ tests and different methods of assessing language learning
have found that intelligence levels were a good means of predicting how successful a
learner would be at language learning. By some studies, intelligence was highly related to
performance on reading, dictation, and writing tasks and not on listening comprehension
and free oral production tasks. These findings suggest that intelligence is more related to
those second language skills which are used in the formal study of the language, but that
intelligence is much less likely to influence the way in which oral communication skills
are developed.
25. Aptitude
Aptitude is natural ability to do something. (Lorraine Obler (1989) p.37 CJ study h4). The
“aptitude” factor has been investigated most intensively by researchers who are interested
in developing test which can predict how successful language learner will be. The most
widely used aptitude tests are the Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT) and
Pimsleur Language Apttitude Battery (PLAB). Both tests measure characteristics such
as:
● The ability to identify and memorize new sounds
● The ability to understand how words function grammatically in sentences
● The ability to figure out grammatical rules from L2 samples
● Memory for new words

It is thought that learners will be more successful if they have these abilities. It is not
clear what the abilities are that constitute aptitude.

26. Personality
A number of personality characteristics have been proposed as likely to affect second language
learning, but it has not been easy to demonstrate their effects in empirical studies. It is
often argued that an extroverted person is well-suited to language learning. However,
research does not always support this conclusion. Although some studies have found that
success in language learning is highly related to learners’ scores on some characteristics
often associated with extroversion seuch as assertiveness and adventurousness, others
have found that successful language learners do not get high scores on measures of
extroversion. Another aspect of personality which has been studied is inhibition. It has
 been suggested that inhibition discourages risk-taking which is necessary for progress in
language learning. (p.38 h4 Personality – effects of small doses of alcohol on
pronunciation). Several other personality characteristics such as self-esteem, empathy,
dominance, talkativeness, and responsiveness, have also been studied. – the research does
not show a clearly defined relationship between personality and second language
acquisition. Personality variables seem to be consistently related to the communicative
ability, but not to the grammatical accuracy.
● GLOBAL self-esteem – the assessment of self-worth over a period of time and across a
number of situations; relatively stable in a mature adult
● SITUATIONAL (specific) self-esteem – one’s self-appraisals in particular life situations
(at work, at home, social interactions, etc.) or on certain traits (intelligence,
communicative ability, etc.)
● TASK self-esteem – a particular task in a specific situation (e.g. geography, writing, a
special classroom exercise)

Anxiety - It is associated with feelings of uneasiness, frustration, self-doubt,

apprehension or worry. 3 types of anxiety:

● TRAIT anxiety – a more permanent predisposition, some people are generally

anxious about a lot of things
● STATE anxiety – connected to some particular event or act
In a language classroom we have: communication apprehension, fear of negative social
evaluation and test anxiety
● Debilitative and facilitative anxiety – harmful and helpful.

Extraversion and introversion

Extraversion and introversion stereotypes – gregarious people, life of the party vs.
quiet and reserved people?

Extroverts: they need to receive ego enhancement from other ppl; not necessarily loud-
mouthed and talkative

Introverts: they derive a sense of wholeness and fulfillment within themselves; an inner
strength of character

Extroverts are not necessarily good language learners, although extraversion may help
develop the oral communicative competence, but not listening, reading and writing.

27. Motivation
Motivation is probably the most frequently used catch-all term for explaning the success or
failure of virtually any complex task. It is easy to assume that success or failure of
virtually any complex task. It is easy to assume that success in any task is due simply to
the fact that someone is “motivated”. It is easy in second language learning to claim that
a learner will be successful with the proper motivation.
Characteristics of motivated learners:
● Positive task orientation – the S wants to tackle a task and has confidence in
his/her success
● Ego-involvement – it’s important for the S to succeed in his/her learning to
promote his/her (positive) self-image
● Need for achievement – the need to achieve something, to overcome difficulties
● High aspirations – the S is ambitious, wants to get good grades, goes for
demanding challenges
● Goal orientation – the S is very aware of the goals of learning and directs his/her
attention towards achieving them
● Perseverance – investing effort in learning, not being discouraged by setbacks
● Tolerance of ambiguity – the S is not frustrated by temporary lack of
understanding or confusion.

Motivation is something that can, like self-esteem, be global, situational, or task-

oriented. Motivation is also typically examined in terms of the intrinsic and extrinsic
(types) motives of the learner. Those who learn for their own self-perceived needs
and goals are intrinsically motivated, and those who pursue a goal only to receive an
external reward from someone else are extrinsically motivated.

One of the best-known and historically significant studies of motivation in second

language learning was carried out by Robert Gardner and Wallace Lambert (1972).
Motivation was examined as a factor of a number of different kinds of attitudes. Two
different clusters of attitudes divided into two basic types of what Gardner and
 Lambert at that time identified as “instrumental” and “integrative” motivation. The
instrumental side of the dichotomy referred to acquiring a language as a means for
attaining instrumental goals: furthering a career, reading technical material,
translation, and so forth. The integrative side described learners who wished to
integrate themselves into the culture of the second language group and become
involved in social interchange in that group. In 1972, instrumentality and
integrativeness were referred to as types of motivation. A number of years later,
Gardner and MacIntyre (1991) more appropriately referred to the dichotomy as a case
of orientation. That is depending whether a learner’s context or orientation was 1)
academic or career-related (instrumental), or 2) socially or culturally oriented
(integrative), different needs might be fulfilled in learning a foreign language.

● Global: overall orientation towards the learning of L2

● Situational: varies according to the situation in which learning takes place (the
classroom, the environment, etc.)
● Task: for performing particular learning tasks (Brown, 1987)

(also types xd)

Intrinsically motivated activities are ones for which there is no apparent rewards
except the activity itself. (competence and self-determination). Extrinsically
motivated behaviors, on the other hand, are carried out in anticipation of a reward
from outside and beyond the self. Typical extrinsic rewards are money, prizes, grades.

Increasing intrinsic motivation in learners:

● Arousing learner interest in task:

● Varied topics and tasks
● Visuals
● Tension and challenge
● Entertainment
● Information gap
● Personalisation

28.
Learning styles
An area of research which has received a lot of attention in many areas of education is the issue
of learning styles. This research suggests that different learners approach a task with a
different set of skills and preferred strategies. Three groups of learning styles:
● Visual (see it)
● Auditory (aural) (they need to hear something once or twice to know it)
 ● Kinesthetic (do it) (they need to live the new knowledge in ways that involve
them more completely)

When learners are given some freedom to choose their preferred way of learning, they
will do better than those who forced themselves to learn in environments where a
learning style does not suit them is imposed as the only way to learn.

29. Age of acquisition

It has been widely observed that children from immigrant families actually speak the language of
their new community with native-like fluency. Their parents rarely achieve such high
levels of mastery of the new language. Adult second language learners may become very
capable of communicating successfully in the language, but there will always be
differences of accent, word choice, or grammatical features which set them apart from
native speakers or from speakers who began learning the language while they were very
young. (explanation for this may be CPH). One of the difficulties in making the
comparison is that the conditions for language learning are often very different. Younger
learners in informal language learning environments usually have more time to devote to
learning language. They often have more opportunities to hear and use the language in
environments where they do not experience strong pressure to speak fluently and
accurately from the very beginning. On the other hand, older learners are often in
situations which demand much more complex language and the expression of much more
complicated ideas (embarrassed, forced to learn etc.) (Patkowski p.43 h4)
30. Learner attitudes
Learners manifest different attitudes towards:
● The target language
● Target language speakers
● The target-language culture
● The social value of learning the L2
● Particular uses of the target language
● Themselves as members of their own culture

Learner attitudes have an impact on the level of L2 proficiency achieved by individual

learners and are themselves influenced by this success. Thus, learners with positive
attitudes, who experience success, will have these attitudes reinforced. Similarly,
learners’ negative attitudes may be strengthened by lack of success. We will also find
cases of learners who begin with positive attitudes but who, for one reason or another,
experience inadequate learning opportunities, fail to progress as they expected, and,
consequently, become more negative in their outlook.

Baker (1988) discusses the main characteristics of attitudes:

 ● Attitudes are cognitive (i.e. capable of being thought about) and affective (i.e.e
have feeling and emotions attached to them)
● Attitudes are dimensional rather than bipolar – they vary in degree of
favorability/unfavorability
● Attitudes predispose a person to act in a certain way, but the relationship between
attitudes and actions is not a strong one
● Attitudes are learnt, not inherited or genetically endowed
● Attitudes tend to persist but they can be modified by experience

Attitudes have been measured both indirectly and directly. An example of indirect
measurement is the Semantic Differential Technique. This presents learners with a
series of antonyms (for example, useful-useless, ugly-beautiful) and asks them to
evaluate a given phenomenon. (for example, a language or a speaker’s accent) on
each dimension. Direct measurement of attitudes usually involves self-report
questionnaires. (social desirability). These often take the form of a series of
statements to which the learners respond on a five-point scale (for example strongly
agree to strongly disagree)

31. Social class

An individual’s social class is typically determined by means of a composite measure that takes
account of income, level of education and occupation. It is customary to distinguish four
groups: lower class, working class, lower middle class, and upper middle class. Children
from middle-class homes regularly ou+
tperformed those from lower and working class homes. There were also class-related differences
in the learners’ attitudes. Working class children tended to drop French after their second
year in secondary school, while middle-class children were likely to continue.
Olhstain, Shohamy, Kemp, and Chatow (1990) investigated the levels of proficiency in L2
English reached by 196 grade 7 learners in Israel. The learners were divided into an
“advantaged” and a “disadvantaged” group on the basis of socio-economic status. It was
found that the two groups differeded significantly in L1(Hebrew) cognitive academic
level proficiency (CALP) and that a number of measures of this correlated significantly
with L2 English achievement.. One interpretation of this result was that the “advantaged”
children were better at learning English in a classroom setting because they had a more
developed L1 CALP.
Ethnic identity
There is a general consensus that ethnic identity can exert a profound influence on L2 learning.
This influence can take three possible forms, corresponding to normative, socio-
psychological, and socio-structural views of the relationship. Research based on a
normative view of the relationship between ethnic identity and L2 learning seeks to
establish to what extent membership of a particular ethnic group affects L2 achievement.
A key concept here is that of the “distance” between the cultures of the native and target
languages, the idea being that the more distant the two cultures are, the more difficult L2
learning is and, therefore, the lower the achievement levels. A socio-psychological view
of the relationship between ethnic identity and L2 proficiency emphasizes the ole of
attitudes. The attitudes that learners hold towards the learning of a particular L2 reflect
the intersection of their views about their own ethnic identity and those about the target-
language culture. Lambert (1974) distinguishes additive and subtractive bilingualism.
In the former learners maintain their L1, adding the L2 to their linguistic repertoire. In
such cases, learners may become balanced bilinguals. This is likely to occur when
learners have a positive view of their own ethnic identity and of the target-language
culture. In the case of subtractive bilingualism learners replace their L1 with the L2,
failing to develop full competence in their mother tongue or, in some cases, actually
losing competence that has already been acquired. This arises when learners have a low
estimation of their own ethnic identity and wish to assimilate into the target-language
culture. When learners have negative attitudes towards both their own culture and that of
the target language, semilingualism may result. That is, the learners may fail to develop
ful proficiency in either language. Monolingualism (i.e. failure to acquire the L2) is
associated with a strong ethnic identity and negative attitudes towards the target-language
culture. A socio-structural view of the relationship between attitudes and L2 learning is
evident in work which has examined the effect that ethnic identity has on the interactions
between members of different ethnic groups. (p.209 h4 Howard Giles interethnic
comunication)

Methodology

What is a method? About four decades ago Edward Anthony (1963) gave us a definition
that has admirably withstood the test of time. His concept of “method” was the second of
three hierarchical elements, namely approach, method, and technique. An approach,
according to Anthony, was a set of assumptions dealing with the nature of language,
learning and teaching (theoretical positions/beliefs about the nature of language, language
 learning&teaching). Method was described as an overall plan for systematic presentation
of language based upon a selected approach. (overall plan/classroom specifications for
accomplishing linguistic objectives (e.g. teacher role, materials)). Techniques were the
specific activities manifested in the classroom that were consistent with a method and
therefore were in harmony with an approach as well (procedures/tasks/activities/
exercises for realising lesson objectives).

The Grammar Translation Method

In the Western world, “foreign” language tlearning in schools was synonymous with the
learning of Latin or Greek. Latin was taught by means of what has been called the
Classical Method: focus on grammatical rules, memorization of vocabulary and of
various declensions and conjugations, translation of texts, written exercises.
As other languages began to be taught in educational institutions in the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries, the Classical Method was adopted as the chief means for teaching
foreign languages. Little thought was given to teaching someone how to speak the
language.
In the 19th century the Classical Method came to be known as the Grammar Translation
Method. The Grammar translation Method withstood attempts at the turn of the twentieth
century to “reform” language-teaching methodology and to this day it is practiced in too
many educational contexts. Prator and Celce-Murcia listed the major characteristics of
Grammar Translation:

● Literary language superior to spoken language

● Latin & Classical Greek > access to classical texts
● Aim: to understand literature in the target language (not to communicate);
translation; training mental dexterity;
● Teaching mainly in L1, teacher > authority
● Focus on form/accuracy/reading & writing/deductive application of rules
● Techniques: translation of a literary passage, reading comprehension,
antonyms/synonyms, fill-in-the-blanks, memorisation (list of words), composition

The Direct Method

The basic premise of the Direct Method was similar to that of Gouin’s Series Method (p.20 h5),
namely, that second language learning should be more like first language learning – lots of oral
interaction, spontaneous use of the language, no translation between first and second languages,
and little or no analysis of grammatical rules. It was most widely accepted in private language
schools where students were highly motivated and where native-speaking teachers could be
employed. The Direct Method did not take well in public education, where the constraints of
budget, classroom size, time, and teacher background made such a method difficult to use.
Moreover, the Direct Method was criticized for its weak theoretical foundations.

● Imitation of L1 acquisition
● Language of instruction: L2 (exclusively)
● Demonstration, visual aids (realia, pictures)
● Grammar is taught inductively
● Students speak as much as possible – everyday voc.
● Pronunciation – from the beginning
● Full sentences (Q&A sessions), self-correction
● Teacher directs, students less passive
● Techniques: reading aloud, Q&A, conversation practice, fill-in-the-blanks

Guidelines for L2 teaching:

● Never translate: demonstrate
● Never explain: act
● Never make a speech: ask questions
● Never imitate mistakes: correct
● Never speak with single words: use sentences
● Never speak too much: make students speak much
● Never use the book: use your lesson plan
● Never speak too slowly: speak normally
● Never be impatient: take it easy

The Audio-Lingual Method

WW2 broke out > courses for special, intensive languages that focused on aural/oral skills >
Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP)(Army Method). The army method came to be
known in the 1950s as the Audiolingual Method.

● Behaviourism – ‘to engender good habits in language learners by using the Stimulus-
Response-Reinforcement model’
● World War II (communication in FL – quickly!)
● Drills: grammatical sentence patterns (dialogues)–grammar induced from examples, TL
only
● Teacher – in control: providing a good model; banishing mistakes; providing positive
reinforcement
● Techniques: dialogue memorisation, repetition drill, chain drill, single/multiple-slot
substitution drill, transformation drill, complete the dialogue
Designer Methods (1970s)

-Community Language Learning

The class was perceived as a “group” – a group in need of certain therapy and counseling. The
social dynamics of such a group were of primary importatnce. In order for any learning to take
place, group members first needed to interact in an interpersonal relationship in which students
and teacher joined together to facilitate learning in a context of valuing each individual in the
group. In such a surrounding, each person lowered the defenses that prevent open interpersonal
communication. The anxiety caused by the educational context was lessened by means of the
supportive community. The teacher’s presence was not perceived as a threat, nor was it the
teacher’s purpose to impose limits and boundaries, but rather, as a true counselor, to center his or
her attention on the clients and their needs. (Japanese > English (p.26 h5)

● Charles Curran: Counselling-Learning Approach (whole-person learning – Ss’ feelings,

needs)
● Ss in a circle; choice what to say (L1) & practise
● T: language counsellor (‘skilful understander of the struggles Ss face’) – provides L2
translation
● Ss invited to comment on how they feel (sharing)
● Ss security (translation, activity description)
● Tape recording, transcription, reflective listening, Human Computer, group tasks

-Suggestopedia

● Georgi Lozanov (Bulgarian psychiatrist/educator)

● Remove (desuggest) psychological barriers to learning (pleasant atmosphere – baroque
music)
● Peripheral learning - posters
● Avoid repetition, learning is fun (dramatisation, singing, dancing, games, role play, fine
arts)
● Focus on voc; gr. explicitly but minimally (L1 ok)
● Teacher: authority (trust and respect); parent +suggestions (Ss: secure & confident);
child\

-The Silent Way

Like Suggestopedia, the Silent Way rested on more cognitive than affective arguments for its
theoretical sustenance. While Caleb Gattegno, its founder was said to be interested in a
humanistic approach to education, much of the silent way was characterized by a problem-
solving approach to learning. > Discovery Learning > Independence, autonomy and
responsibility > People had to cooperate with each other in the process of solving language
problems > the teacher was a stimulator > Cuisenaire rods > they are used for vocabulary. (p.29
h5)

● Caleb Gattegno: ‘Teaching should be subordinated to learning.’ – discovery learning

● Start from what students already know
● T: doesn’t model the language, gives cues
● Sound-colour charts, word charts, Cuisenaire rods, gestures, blackboard
● Ss follow the cues, discover and create language
● Self-correction, peer correction
● Pronunciation, structures

-Total Physical Response (TPR)

James Asher (1977), the developer of Total Physical Response (TPR)

Principles of child language acquisition were important
Motor activity is a right-brain function that should precede left-brain language processing

He was convinced that language classes were often the locus of too much anxiety, so he wished
to devise a method that was as stress-free as possible, where learners would not feel overy self-
conscious and defensive. Commands were an easy way to get learners to move about and to
loosen up: Open the window, Close the door, Stand up, Sit down, Puck up the book. Give it to
John and so on.

● Comprehension Approach (Natural Approach, Lexical Approach): TPR (James Asher)

● Meaning in L2 conveyed through actions
● Commands to direct behaviour
● Comprehension first
● Retention enhanced when Ss respond physically
● Ss begin to speak when ready (low anxiety)
● Role reversal, action sequence

Task-Based Language Teaching

Task-based teaching makes an important distinction between target tasks, which students must
accomplish beyond the classroom, and pedagogical tasks, which form the nucleus of the
classroom activity. Target tasks are not unlike the functions of language that are listen in
syllabuses; however, they are much more specific and more explicitly related to classroom
instructions. Pedagogical tasks include any of a series of techniques designed ultimately to teach
students to perform the target task; the climactic pedagogical task actually involves students in
some form of simulation of the target task itself (i.e. through a role-play simulation in which
certain roles are assigned to pairs of learners)

Classroom management

-involves decisions and actions. Classroom management areas include:

● Activities
- setting up activities
- giving instructions
- checking understanding of instructions
- monitoring activities
- timing activities
- bringing activities to an end
● Grouping and seating
- forming groups (singles, pairs, groups, mingle)
- arranging seating
- deciding where you will stand or sit
- reforming class as a whole group after activities
● Authority
- gathering and holding attention
- deciding who does what (ie answer a question, make a decision)
- establishing or relinquishing authority as appropriate
- getting someone to so something
● Critical moments
- starting the lesson
- dealing with unexpected problems
- maintaining appropriate discipline
- finishing the lesson
● Tools & techniques
- using the board/equipment/aids
- using gestures
- speaking clearly at an appropriate volume and speed
- use of silence
- grading complexity and grading quantity of language
● Working with students
- spreading your attention evenly
- using intuition to gauge students feelings
- eliciting honest feedback from students
- really listening to students
Classroom interaction

some common types of students grouping in the classroom include:

- whole class working together with you

- whole class moving around and mixing together as individuals (a mingle)
- small groups (three to eight people)
- pairs
- individual work
Students learn a lot of their language from what they hear you say, but it would be unsatisfactory
if your talk dominated the lesson to the exclusion of participation from as many learners as
possible.

Seating

Changing seating arrangements can help students interact with different people, change the focus
from you when appropriate and allow a range of different situations to be recreated within the
classroom, as well as simply adding variety to the predictability of sitting in the same place every
time.

Fixed, semi-fixed and large seating

You could ask your students to:

- turn around and sit backwards, working with people behind them
- sit on the ends of their row and work with people in the next row
- sit on their desks and talk with people nearby
- stand up, move around and returnt to a different seat
- stand in the aisle space between rows
- all come to the front to talk
Giving instuctions

In monolingual classes you have a choice: English, native language or some mixture of both.

- prerequisite: students undevided attention

- analyse the instructions beforehand
- sequence it in a sensible order
- use short sentences – 1 for each key piecec of info
- use simple language
- demonstrate rather than explain
- don’t say things that are obvious (i’m going to give you a piece of paper)
- don’t give instuctions that they don’t need to know at that point (what they’ll do after)
- silence, authoritative tone, gestures
- check that students have understood what to do
Monitoring

- The first 30 seconds: ’monitoring to check the mechanics’ – whether students have
understood the instuctions & are doing what they are supposed to
- Monitor actively (visible, resource, advice, correction)
- Participate (join a group/groups, alert to what others are doing)
- Monitor discretely (you want them to use their own resources)
- Vanish (get out of immediate eyeshot)
Gestures

Try to develop a range of gestures (and facial expressions) to save yourself repeating basic
instuctions and to increase opportunities for learner talk. Remember that learners will need to
learn the meaning of your gestures. For example ’pointing to the ground indicates the present’;
you must give the oral instuction a few times while also gesturing, they will soon associate the
gesture alone with that instuction.

Using the board

- Avoid teacher – writing times

- Write while students are working on other things
- Avoid blocking the view
- Organise different content (divide the board for different segments)
- Drawing stick people (drawing is extremely important)
- Pictionary challenge
Eliciting

- Students probably know a lot more than we may give them credit for
- Starting with what they know is a productive way to begin new work
- Involving people in question-and-answer movement towards new discoveries is often
more effective than simply giving ’lectures’
There are 3 steps to eliciting:

1. Convey a clear idea to the students, perhaps by using pictures, gestures or questions
2. Students then supply the appropriate language, information or ideas
3. Give them feedback
Advice when eliciting:

Students cannot guess what’s on your mind. Therefore you should:

- provide sufficient information / prepare questions

- avoid asking the obvious
- don’t stretch the eliciting out too long
- get them to repeat the right answer
How to prevent learning

Teacher talking time (TTT) – The more you talk, the less opportunity there is for the learners.
Allow them the time and the quiet they need. Don’t feel the need to fill every gap in a lesson.

Echo – When you echo, the learners soon learn that they don’t need to listen to anyone except
you, because they know you’ll repeat everything. This has a negative effect on interaction
patterns within the classroom.

Helpful sentence completion – You can be so desperate for a student to say what you want them
to say that you are already predicting the words the student will produce and eagerly wishing for
them to be said- so much so that you often find yourself adding tails to sentence after sentence.
People need to finish their own sentences. If students can’t complete the sentence themselves,
they need help – but help to produce their own sentence, using their own words and their own
ideas.

The running commentary – Don’t give a running commentary about the mechanics of past,
present and future activities. Tell students what they need to know – and stop.

Insufficient authority / over-politeness – You can undermine yourself by being too polite. Say
what you need to say without hiding it. If you want to stop an activity, say Stop now, please.
(instead of ’If you don’t mind, it would be very nice if you could just stop the activity if you feel
that’s okay). Feel your own natural authority and let it speak clearly.

Teacher’s physical presence

● Proximity: how close you want to stand to your students

● Appropriacy: how close you want to work with the students (sitting on the edge of the
desk, behind your desk, crouching down – pair work)
● Movement: motionless teachers bore students; if too much movement exhausting –
balance
● Contact: eye contact (’lighthouse technique’), listening and responding appropriately
Using your voice

● Audibility: the right balance between audibility and volume (quiet teacher – quiet class,
but inaudiable teacher – insufferable class)
● Variety: you should vary your voice, depending on the activity or type of lesson (one
voice for giving instructions and/or introducing a new topic, another for chatting
informally) – speaking quietly is more effecting than shouting, but also if you almost
never raise your voice, a dramatic shouct can sometimes be very effective
● Conservation: conserve your vocal energy

Three core teacher characteristics:

 ● Respect (a positive and non-judgemental regard for another person)
● Empathy (being able to see things form the other person’s perspective)
● Authenticity (being oneself without hiding behind job titles, roles or masks; being
vulnerable, human and honest)

Traditional teaching

It is often characterised by the teacher spending quite a lot of class time using the board to
explain things – as if ’transmitting’ knowledge to the class – with occasional questions to or from
the learners. After explanations, the students usually do some practive exercises to test whether
they have understood what they’ve been told. Teacher does most of the talking and is by far the
most active person. The student’s role is primarily to listen and concentrate and perhaps take
notes. In many cultures it represents the predominant mode of education.

Experimental learning

The process of learning involves five steps: do-recall-reflect-conclude-prepare

1. doing something
2. recalling what happened
3. reflecting on that
4. drawing conclusions from the reflection
5. using those conclusions to inform and prepare for future practical experiences
Three kinds of teacher:

● The explainer – knows the subject very well but has limited knowledge of teaching
methodology. This kind of teacher relies mainly on ’explaining’ or ’lecturing’ as a way of
conveying information to the students. The students are listening, perhaps occasionally
answering questions and making notes but are mostly not being personally involved or
challenged.
● The involver – knows the subject matter and is familiar with teaching methodology. She
is able to use appropriate teaching and organisational procedures and techniques to help
her students learn about the subject matter. This teacher is trying to involve the students
actively and puts great deal of effort into finding appropriate and interesting activitiees
that will do this.
● The enabler – confident enough to share control with the learners. Decisions made in her
classroom may often be shared or nagotiated. Sometimes this will involve her in less
traditional ’teaching’, she may become a ’guide’ or ’controller’ or a ’resouce of
information’ when needed. This teacher knows about the subject matter and about
methodology, but also has awarness of how individuals and groups are thinking and
 feeling within her class. She is building effective working relationships and a good
classroom atmosphere.

Teacher roles

Teacher should be able to adapt a number of different roles in the class, depending on what the
students are doing. If the teacher always acts as a controller, standing in front of the class,
dictating everything that happens and being the focus of attention, there will be little chance for
students to take much responsibility for their own learing.Sometimes, teacher needs to be a
prompter, encouraging students, pushing them to achieve more, feeding in a bit of information or
language to help them proceed. Sometimes teachers need to act as feedback providers (helping
students to evaluate their performance), or accessors (telling students how well they’ve done or
giving them grades). They need to be able to function as a resource (for language information)
or tutor (an advisor who responds to what the student is doing and advises them on what to do
next)

Teacher skills

● Managing classes – whatever activity teachers ask their students to be involved in, they
will have thought (or be able to carry out) procedures to make the activity successful.
They’ll know how to put students into groups, or when to start or finish and activity and
so on.
● Matching groups and tasks – Students will learn more successfully if they enjoy the
activities they are involved in and are interested or stimulated by the topics that teachers
bring to classroom. Many teachers have the experience of using an activity with two or
three groups and having considerable success only to find that it completely fails in the
next class. What such experiences clearly suggest is that teachers need to think carefully
about matching activities and topics to the different groups they teach.
● Variety – good teachers vary activities and topics over a period of time. Much of the
value of an activity resides in its freshness. Even when they use same activity types for
some reason, it is important to try to ensure that learner roles are not always the same.
Children become bored of doing the same things all the time.
Teacher knowledge

● The language system – Language teacher needs to know how language works (having a
knowledge of the grammatical system and understanding the lexical system). Students
have a right to expect that teachers can explain straightforward grammar concepts, to
demonstrate and pronounce words etc. If they’re not sure what the answer to a certain
question is, they need to be able to say things like ’I’ll have to check and bring you more
complete answer tomorrow’. Bringing the promised information will demonstrate the
teacher’s knowledge of the language and reference materials.
 ● Materials and resources – Teachers need to know about books and websites where
technical information is available. If teacher is using a coursebook, students expect
him/her to know how the materials work.
● Classroom equipment – there used to be only pen, board and chalk but now there are tape
recorders, the language laboratory, video machines, an overhead projector, computes,
data projectors and interactive whiteboard. Some teachers are more comfortable with
these various pieces of educational technology than others. However, students will expect
the teacher to know how to use the equipment that he/she has elected to use. Learning
how to use various types of equipment is major part of modern teaching training.
● Keeping up-to-date - a good way of learning about new activities and techniques is to
read the various teacher’s magazines and journals that are available. A lot can be learned
from attending seminars and teacher’s conferences.
Art or science?

Is teaching language an art or science? Some of the technical skills that are required of teachers
(how to do things, a constant attention to innovation..) need to be almost scientific in their rigour.
Yet teaching is an art too, it works when the relationship that is created between teacher and
students, and between students in a group is at its best. If teachers manage to establish a good
rapport (relationship between teacher and students) with a group, almost anything is possible.

Reasons for learning

Some students need English for Specific Purpose (ESP). Such students need to learn legal
language, the language of tourism, banking or nursing and so on. Business English is extremely
popular (students learn about how to operate in English in the business world). Some students
need English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in order to study at an English speaking university
or college or because they need to access English-language academic texts. General English is
learned for international communication and travel.

Differnet contexts for learning

Students of the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) is tend to be learning so that they can use
English when travelling or to communicate with other people who also speak English. English
as a Second Language (ESL) students are usually living in the target-language community.
Because there two are usually mixed up, the term English for Speakers of Other Languages
(ESOL) is used to describe both.

Schools and language schools – Students learn English in primary and secondary classrooms
around the world. They haven’t choosen to do learn it, but learn it because English is on the
curriculum. On the other hand, students choose to study English in private language schools and
they are usually better equipped than some government schools and they have smaller class
sizes.

Larger classes and one-to-one teaching – One-to-one teaching is a private session with just
student and a teacher while in larger classes teachers usually assign pairwork or groupwork so
the students have more chances for interaction than they would get with the whole-class
teaching. The size of the class will affect how we teach.

In-school and in-company – Teachers have to be aware of school policy and conform to syllabus
and curriculum decisions. There may be learning outcomes which students are expected to
achieve. But also, a number of companies offer language classes and expect teachers to go to the
company office or factory to teach. There the ’classroom’ may not be quite as appropriate as
those in schools.

Real and virtual learning environments – Some of the issues for both real and virtual learning
environmentsa are the same. Students need to be motivated and we still need to offer help. The
best virtual learning sites have online tutors who interact with their students vie email or online
chat forums. Virtual learning is significantly different from face-to-face classes; e.g. students can
attend lesson when they want rather than when lessons are timetabled; it no longer matters where
they are from because all they need is internet access. Benefit of the physical reality is having
teachers and students around you when you are learning so that you can see their expressions and
get messages from their gestures, tone of voice...

Learner differences

Age – Children (ages 2-14), Adolescents (12-17), Young Adults (16-20), Adults (20+)

Chidren – Children have short attention spans, they are physically active, egocentric and relate
new ideas to themselves, respond well to individual attention from the teacher, they are curious
and receptive to new ideas. Grammar rules and explanations are reduced to minimum. Games,
songs, shorter activities, visuals, realia are the most useful for teaching them sth.

Adolescents – have capacity for abstract thought, they are committed to things that interest them
but are also usually anxious and are searching for identity and self-esteem

Adults – have a wider range of life experiences and are usually more disciplined. They can
sustain motivation by perceiving long-term learning goals. They have affective filters.

Learning styles – All students respond to various stimuli but for most of them some
things stimulate them into learning more than other things do. The Neuro – Linguistic
Programming (NLP) model takes account of this by showing how some students are specially
influenced by visual stimuli (more likely to remember things after seeing them), some are
affected by auditory input (respond well to things they hear), and for some it is kinaestethic
activity (physical activity involved). Another variation is offered by the concept of Multiple
Intelligence which states that we all have a number of different intelligences (mathematical,
musical, interpersonal, spatial, emotional...) e.g. someone’s mathematical intelligence might be
highly developed but their musical intelligence less developed.

Levels – broadly speaking there are: beginners/false beginners; elementary; pre-

intermediate; intermediate; upper-intermediate; advanced and proficiency level. But three basic
distinctions to categorise learners are made: beginner, intermediate and advanced level.
Beginners are those who don’t know any English while false beginners are those that can’t really
use any English but actually know quite a lot. Their success is easy to see and it’s easy for
teacher to arange, but so is the failure. Some adult beginners find that language learning is more
stressful then they’ve expected and reluctantly give up. Intermediate suggests a basic
competence in speaking and writing and listening and reading. They have already achieved a lot
and daily progess is hard to recognise. The platoue effect is present and the teacher has to make
an attempt to show students that they still need to learn without being discouraged. Advanced
students are those whose level of English is competent, allowing them to read unsimplified
factual and fictional texts and communicate fluently.There is a danger of platoue effect as well so
teachers need to create classroom culture where students understand what still has to be done,
and need to provide good, clear evidence of progress. Teachers can make students focus on style
and perception rather than grammatical accuracy for example.

Educational and cultural background – Some children come from homes where
education is highly valued and where parental help is readily available. Other children, however,
may come from less supportive backgrounds where no such backup is on offer. They may have
different expectations of what teaching and learning involves. For example, some educational
cultures find learning by rote (memorising facts and figures) more attractive than learning by
doing (where students are involved in projectsand experimentation in order to arrive at
knowledge.