Sunday, April 27, 2014

What are the benefits of the formal and natural language environments? Can your students become bilingual in these evironments?


What are the benefits of the formal and natural language environments? Can your students become bilingual in these evironments?

When dealing with the pros and cons of formal and natural language environments, and if students can become bilinguals, one needs to think of the learners who are sitting in class, their age group(s), and their learning preferences.
A formal language environment can be quite beneficial and profitable for adult learners, but not for young and very young learners. Adult learners, whose mother tongue have been consolidated, start creating what Selinker called “interlanguage” in 1972 (Cook 1993). The interlanguage is the student’s external attempts to speak the second language. This interlanguage is constantly shaped up and changed by instruction (teacher’s guidance) in order to avoid transfers from the first language as stated in 1957 by Lado (Cook 1993) and interference as pointed out in 1953 by Weinreich (Cook 1993). But some kind of formal instruction with (very) young learners can prove fruitless since their cognitive development is just on its way and not fully developed.
In the case of a natural environment, it looks like it fits the young learners better rather than the adults. Tracy Terrell, along with Stephen Krashen (1983) came up with the methodology they called “The Natural Approach” aimed at helping learners acquire the language in more natural contexts. But, the method has not been that successful with adult learners who need to quench their desire to know more about the rules governing language and social interactions.
Learners can become bilinguals in any of the two learning environments but with very distinctive differences. Adult learners, based on Weinreich’s studies dating 1953 (Cook 1993), will probably become coordinate bilinguals or compound bilinguals. On the other hand, children who are simultaneously learning two languages are bound to become subordintate bilinguals, the closest it can be to having a linguistic mastery in both languages. 


Cook, V. (1993). Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition. Hampshire: Palgrave-Macmillan

Krashen, S. & Terrell, T. (1983). The Natural Approach. Oxford: Pergamon Press



? To fully comprehend the scope of this teaching reflections, it is highly advisable that the following topics must be expanded further:
·         Formal language environments in SLA
·         Lado’s transfers in ELL
·         Selinker’s interlanguage in ELL
·         The Natural Approach



Professor Jonathan Acuña-Solano
ELT Trainer, Instructor & Curriculum Developer based in Costa Rica
Active NCTE – Costa Rica Member
Resource Teacher & Curricular Developer at CCCN
Senior ELT Instructor at Universidad Latina, Costa Rica, since 1998
Contact Information:
Twitter @jonacuso
Email: jonacuso@gmail.com




Article published on Sunday, May 4, 2014

How to quote this blog entry:

Acuña, J. (2014, April 27). What are the benefits of the formal and natural language environments? Can your students become bilinguals in these environments? Retrieved from Reflective Online Teaching Website: http://reflective-online-teaching.blogspot.com/2014/04/what-are-benefits-of-formal-and-natural.html



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Can Foreign Language Teachers Effectively Teach a Language if they do not Know Something about the Relationship Between Language and Cognition?


Can Foreign Language Teachers Effectively Teach a Language if they do not Know Something about the Relationship Between Language and Cognition?

Comprehending the intrinsic and intimate relationship between language, teaching and cognition is highly valued and important to teach a foreign language more effectively. Getting to know the cognitive development of learners at different moments in their academic lives can have a positive, effective impact on one’s teaching.
The more we know about language and cognition, the better we can teach a foreign language. Being a teaching professional mostly working with adult learners, understanding how their minds are wired to ask questions about how syntactical or lexical structures function is important. Many adult learners need to have explanations to bette “monitor” themselves in the use of those structures when speaking, rading, writing, or even listening. Understanding Krashen’s theory of the monitor, i. e., makes me a better equipped and effective teacher who can provide an enriched cognitive ground for my learners.
Likewise, comprehending learners’ abilities or disabilities in phonemic production depending on their age (and cognitive development) can help me to better teach the phonology of the target language. Once we understand the importance of puberty in language development, we can envision how far students can get in the accent acquisition they will develop: The younger the student is, the closest native diction s/he will acquire. Additionally, puberty will also mark how much “trouble” students will have in managing certain syntactical structures.
To conclude, foreign language teachers can teach a language much more effectively if they understand the relationship between language and the learners’ cognitive development. And since ther is always room for improvement, learning a bit more about this relationship can make us a more round-up professional.


? To fully comprehend the scope of this teaching reflections, it is highly advisable that the following topics must be expanded further:
·         Krashen’s Monitor Theory
·         Adult Cognitive Development in ELT
·         Puberty in Language Development
·         Pronunciation and Cognitive Development


Professor Jonathan Acuña-Solano
ELT Trainer, Instructor & Curriculum Developer based in Costa Rica
Active NCTE – Costa Rica Member
Resource Teacher & Curricular Developer at CCCN
Senior ELT Instructor at Universidad Latina, Costa Rica, since 1998
Contact Information:
Twitter @jonacuso
Email: jonacuso@gmail.com



Article published on Sunday, April 27, 2014
How to quote this blog entry:

Acuña, J. (2014, April 27). Can Foreign Language Teachers Effectively Teach a Language if they do not Know about the Relationship Between Language and Cognition? Retrieved from Reflective Online Teaching Website: http://reflective-online-teaching.blogspot.com/2014/04/can-foreign-language-teachers.html


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Sunday, April 20, 2014

Are Motivation and Culture Part of Language Learning?


Are Motivation and Culture Part of Language Learning?

Language Learning is not just the learning or acquisition of a set of phonological and syntactical rules, which are important –of course-; language learning also depends on student motivation, student’s native culture, and their understanding of the target language culture linked to the target language.

Motivation is one of the pillars in language learning. Students can have different reasons to learnn a foreign language such as English. What if the job market demands aim at having employees with a “good” command of the language? In this particular case, students can be “extrinsically” motivated to learn the target languae to fulfill his/her future profile for a position and consequently get a better pay. And what about university students (or even high schoolers) who are looking for opportunities to get funded to study abroad in an English-speaking country or in an English-taught program? These other learners are also “extrinsically” moved to learn a second language.

Though extrinsic motivation can be a great driving force to have students learn a foreign language, intrinsic reasons to learn the target language are counted in. A desire to quench one’s thirst for knowledge for another language and a place where that language is spoken is as valid as trying to get a better pay to learn a second language. There are learners whose sole reason to learn English is to travel to the United States and be functional while finding their way around a city and doing business; others just want to see English as a means of communication when they travel to foreign countries where their mother tongue is not spoken. Intrinsic or extrinsic motivation can be great driving forces for students to learn a second language.


Culture, as pointed out in regards to motivation, cannot be “divorced” from language learning. Culture is an important ingredient in language learning that spice up the gaining of knowledge of the target language. Though learners may not be in favor of the target language culture, they need to understand that to acquire a “good” command of the second language implies their ability to deal with conversational events that require certain language (structures, lexical items, phonetics, etc.) and a set of rules that are culturally bounded. The lack of comprehension of these “issues” will definitely provoke cultural misuderstandings that can be embarrassing and misleading.


? To fully comprehend the scope of this teaching reflections, it is highly advisable that the following topics must be expanded further:
·         Extrinsic motivation in ELT
·         Intrinsic motivation in ELT
·         Bloom’s Taxonomy in ELT lesson planning
·         Learners’ feelings towards the target language


Professor Jonathan Acuña-Solano
ELT Trainer, Instructor & Curriculum Developer based in Costa Rica
Active NCTE – Costa Rica Member
Resource Teacher & Curricular Developer at CCCN
Senior ELT Instructor at Universidad Latina, Costa Rica, since 1998
Contact Information:
Twitter @jonacuso
Email: jonacuso@gmail.com




How to quote this blog entry:
Acuña, J. (2014, April 20). Are Motivation and Culture Part of Language Learning? Retrieved from Reflective Online Teaching Website: http://reflective-online-teaching.blogspot.com/2014/04/are-motivation-and-culture-part-of.html


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Sunday, April 13, 2014

How Important is it to Know your Students in Order to Promote Learning?


How Important is it to Know your Students in Order to Promote Learning?

As mentioned in a previous blog entry, in terms of lesson planning, learning is fully linked to a guided set of steps outlined and devised by a teacher. But does planning in itself guarantee the triggering of knowledge gaining (learning) among students? Well, a resounding “no” needs to be uttered since planning does not guarantee learning. For this reasion, knowing who is sitting down in class is a must: what s/he likes, what his/her learning styles are, how s/he feels about learning the target language, etc.

Human beings are very complex when learning comes around; there are certain activities during class time that we enjoy or that we simply do not like. A teacher should get to know –based on student behavior in class- what is liked and/or disliked by learners. The activities connected to the teacher’s learning goals can be “successful” or not if students’ attitudes are known beforehand. Though we teachers cannot please a whole class with tasks they fully enjoy, we can plan activities aiming at satisfying student learning preferences up to certain extend.

Part of knowing who is sitting in one’s class is connected to finding out what student learning preferences are. Even when students are not certain whay they do to prompt his or learning, the language teacher (or any teacher) has to be equipped with some sort of “simple” questionnaire to find out a bit more about the students’ learning styles. If this data become available, an instructor can plan learning experiences (as part of his/her lesson plan) whose outcome are grounded on Bloom’s Taxonomy (and its hierarchical thinking extension).

In addition to student learning preferences, getting to know how learners feel about the target language is tremendously important. In a university language teaching setting, students may walk into one’s classroom with no solid interest in the target language since English, i.e., is simply another subject they need to pass to fulfill his/her academic responisibilities for graduation. And perhaps the same teaching scenario is present in public high schools. Language schools, on the other hand, can have students whose motivation can be linked to work readiness or working position demands. By simply asking them why they want to learn the target language, teachers can get valuable information that can trigger student learning easily, moving them to achieve course learning goals and lesson learning objectives.

To sum up, knowing one’s students in order to promote learning is a must.

? To fully comprehend the scope of this teaching reflections, it is highly advisable that the following topics must be expanded further:
·         Effective lesson planning in ELT
·         Student learning preferences
·         Bloom’s Taxonomy in ELT lesson planning
·         Learners’ feelings towards the target language



Professor Jonathan Acuña-Solano
ELT Trainer, Instructor & Curriculum Developer based in Costa Rica
Active NCTE – Costa Rica Member
Resource Teacher & Curricular Developer at CCCN
Senior ELT Instructor at Universidad Latina, Costa Rica, since 1998
Contact Information:
Twitter @jonacuso
Email: jonacuso@gmail.com


Article published on Sunday, April 13, 2014

How to quote this blog entry:
Acuña, J. (2014, April 13). How Important is to Know your Students in Order to Promote Learning? Retrieved from Reflective Online Teaching Website: http://reflective-online-teaching.blogspot.com/2014/04/how-important-is-it-to-know-your.html



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