UNIT 12 : DIFFERENCES BETWEEN L1 AND L2 LEARNING

In this unit, I learned some of the differences between first language (L1) and second language (L2) learning. These differences are classified taking into account the learners ‘age, ways of learning and the context that they are learning in. First, regarding to learners´ age. When learning a firs language, generally we pick it up when we are babies listening to our parents using the language. It occurs at the same time we develop our cognitive skills. Then it continues through the years of childhood and improves into adolescence. On the other hand, when learning a second language, it can start when we are adults or in primary or secondary school when our cognitive skills are not yet developed. Second, regarding to context. People usually learn a first language by lots of exposure and interaction with people who speak the same language (native speakers) specially their parents. On the contrary, in a second language learning, learners are often taught grammar with little exposure to language since it can only be hear in the classroom which most of times is about 2 hours a week.  Moreover, when learning a first language there is strong motivation for doing it because we feel the need to communicate, we can play and experiment the language. Whereas in a second language our motivation can vary: strong, little or no motivation because the teacher only uses controlled practice activities and corrects mistakes all time. Third, regarding to ways of learning. In the first language, learners learn by talking about things that are presented in their surrounded while second language learners talk about topics that are mentioned in a book. Furthermore, first language learners receive a lot of encouragement and praise when using language which do not always occur with second language learners since some teachers do not treat all students equally, some of them receive more encouragement and praise than others.  I consider this is important to be aware of because we, as teachers, need to understand that learning a first language and a second language are two different processes.  When learning a second language we have to promote exposure because learners need to use language as much as possible to learn it. What I can do in this situation is to bring to the class authentic materials such as articles from magazines, movies, songs, etc. Thus, my students will notice how language is used in real life situations similar to that of first language. In addition, I can encourage interaction in the class by promoting group presentations in which learners help each other with language, it should be done depending on the student learning style, or designing responsibilities to each student. To sum up, the differences between learning a first language and a second one has goes from the age, ways of learning, and the context in which it is learned. The teacher´s task is to promote activities that are similar to those we acquire learning a first language. 

There are some links below that I consider useful and have more information related to this topic.

* Vivian Cook, V.(2010). The Relationship between Fist and Second  Language Learning. Retrieved from http://homepage.ntlworld.com/vivian.c/Writings/Papers/L1&L22008.htm

* Al Ghazali, F.(2006). First Language Acquisition Vs Second Language Learning: What Is the Difference?. The University of Birmingham. Retrieved from http://usir.salford.ac.uk/22469/1/First_Language_Acquisition_Vs_Second_Language_Learning.pdf  

More books that  you can read:

^* Clarke, E.V. (2003), First Language Acquisition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

*Cook, V.J. (2008), Second Language Learning and Language Teaching. 4th edition. London: Hodder Educational.

UNIT 11: THE ROLE OF ERROR

Mistakes are part of the language learning process; to identify the type of mistakes, why they occur, and the role they play in language learning is part of the teacher´s task. This is what this unit mainly talks about. Mistakes are useful because they help learners to experiment language and see what they know and do not in order to continue improving. There are two kinds of mistakes, the ones who occur because of learner´s lack of knowledge; they are called errors. Second, the ones who occur because of the learner´s laziness or tiredness, they are called slips. It is important that the teacher identifies the kind of mistake in order to proceed appropriately without affecting learner´s confidence. The reasons why second language learners make mistakes are mainly two: first, because of first language interference. Learners tend to transfer certain words, grammatical structures or sounds that are familiar in their first language into the second language (L2). This prevent from communicating successfully since they are completely different in both languages. Another reason is due to developmental errors, which occur during the language learning process. These errors are common to all learners, including native speakers. One example is when learners overgeneralize a rule; it means they apply a rule too widely. For instance, when they add “s”  to all modal verbs when they are conjugating the third person of singular. The good thing of these errors is that they disappear with time while learners develop in their learning process. Nevertheless, there are some errors which  are fossilized because they were not treated at the right time becoming difficult to avoid by the learner. For example: the pronunciation of the word “answer”, the learner pronounce it as: /ˈɑːnswər/  instead of /ˈɑːnsər/. In my point of view, I  think mistakes should be allowed into the language classroom because they not only help learners to realize of their mistakes  and improve, but also they help teachers to see what learners have learned or what kind of help they need in order to look for new strategies. In addition, it is essential to think carefully about whether, when, and how to correct these mistakes. For example, if I notice that a student who never participates, try to say a sentence which has not been correctly formulated, I will avoid correction since confidence could be affected. However, if I notice that a student tends to make the same mistake over and over, I will try to act immediately to help him/her to avoid that mistake. I can use different strategies like: finger correction, reformulation or simply using that mistake for explaining to the whole class. As a conclusion, we have to see errors as a natural part of the learning process and take the best advantage of them, trying to identify their type, the reasons why they occurred and how to help our learners overcome them.

Here I post two youtube videos you can watch to get more information about this topic.

* Peggy, M.(2013). Interlanguage and Error Analysis. Retrieved from
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrnYsi6sG8w 

* De Mado's, J.(2014). Error in Language Acquisition. Michigan.Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdtfVVx-ZaE

UNIT 10: EXPOSURE AND FOCUS TO FORM

   

In this unit, what I learned was about the different ways through which we can learn a foreign language. They are by exposure, interacting, and focusing on form. When I say exposure, I refer to pick up a language automatically and without realizing; the same process that follow babies when learning their first language. The same should occur when learning a foreign language; students need to be exposed to the language. For example, hearing or reading a wide variety of language that should be neither too easy nor too difficult for their level. Thus, they will be able to work out unconsciously about the meaning and the form of the language. In addition,   learners need time to acquire language something called the silent period, before they will be able to use the language. The second step of this process is make learners use language to interact. This means that all language that they have acquired during the silent period needs to be put into practice through interaction either with their own classmates or with the teacher. The thing is that they have to try to use the language to express themselves and make their meaning clear to others. In this process, of course there will appear some inconvenience and error, but this is an important part of interacting because it will help them to explore the language by choosing different words and grammatical structures until they will be able to communicate successfully. The third step is encouraging students to focus on form. This help them not only to concentrate on meaning, but also in important features such as punctuation, spelling or pronunciation. They will make students use the language more accurate and understandable. For doing this is important to consider learners´ age, learning styles and learning experience. How to apply this in the classroom is the big question? According to my own teaching language perspective, I think that the three processes should go together little by little since each one depends on each other. For instance, I can start by providing my students some reading materials where they will analyze how the texts are constructed, the kind of language used, etc.  It means  to make then acquire as much language as possible, then I can continue by encouraging them  to create role plays in which they will apply all language get from the reading, and finally I can ask them to focus on certain vocabulary or grammatical structures such as: the correct use of regular and irregular verbs.  Another example, I can bring some recordings of stories, so students will hear many times for getting language, then they will interact with their partners about the main and specific ideas of the stories, and after that I can make them focus on pronunciation such as the ending sound of plural forms (/s/,/z/;/Iz/).  As a conclusion, learning a foreign language needs to follow a process which requires time and perseverance by the learner and should be done along the teacher´s help. 

There are some links below that I consider useful and have more information related to this topic.

ü  Himmele, P & Himmele, W. (2009).ncreasing Exposure to Academic Language by Speaking It.Alexandria, VA:ASCD. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/ascd-express/vol5/505-himmele.aspx

ü  Larsson, P.( 2011). Exposure to English outside the Classroom.Swetzeland . Retrieved from https://dspace.mah.se/bitstream/handle/2043/12177/T9,%20Final%20Dissertation,%20Fraser%20MacLeod%20and%20Pia%20Larsson.pdf?sequence=2

We can also read this book.

1.    Schulz, R.(2009). Focus on Form in the Foreign Language Classroom: Students' and Teachers' Views on Error Correction and the Role of Grammar. U.S.

UNIT 9: MOTIVATION

We started the second part of TKT Course with the topic about motivation, which is consider as an essential part of the language learning process. When we talk about motivation, we refer to all those feelings and desires that students have for learning a foreign language, which will help them to continue or not in the learning process. For teachers, it is not an easy task to promote motivation in the classroom since every student  has a different interest or purpose for studying it, either because they are interested in the target language culture, or  they think it is useful for getting a job. Whichever would be the reason the teacher´s task is try to find out those reasons because they are part of feeling motivated. On the other hand, this motivation does not come just from the learner, it also must come from teachers since they can influence significantly in the language learning process. For example, a simple gesture or smile can make a difference in your English class because it will transmit motivation to your students. Remember that they get everything from the teacher. If he or she comes in a good mood, with the desire of working, the learners will project the same. On the contrary, if the teacher comes to the class with no desire to work and very stressed out, students will feel unwilling to work and demotivated. Indeed, what I would do for making my students feel  motivated is by giving them positive feedback and praise because it will help to build self-confidence. When they hear positive comments about their tasks by the teacher, it will make them feel proud of themselves and want to continue learning more and more. At the same time, if they get a praise for doing something it will encourage them to do it fast and with energy. For example, I can say “If you finish the task, you can go home”, so it will motivate them to do their task. Similarly, there are other strategies I can use for motivating my students such as selecting interesting topics and tasks, for example if I know that most of my students are interested about a certain singer/actor,  I can bring them some videos with information about them. Another way is by encouraging creativity because when the teacher let their imagination fly they feel that their ideas are important for others. Finally, I can do a needs analysis about the learner´s needs in  order to prepare activities that help them to be successful like the others. Therefore, creating motivation in the classroom is not easy for teachers since it requires time and strategies; however, our task is to help students love learning language.

There are some  links below that I consider useful and have more information related to this topic:

 

*Schulten, K.(2012).Helping Students Motivate Themselves.U.S. Retrieved from

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/09/guest-post-helping-students-motivate-themselves/?_r=0 

*Plevin, R.(2013). Student Engagement And Motivation Tips - HOW to engage your students. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWRSRtdkrag