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

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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

Can Foreign Language Teachers Effectively Teach a Language if they do not Know Something.pdf by Jonathan Acuña