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1 Principles and Theories of Language Acquisition and Learning

The document discusses the relationship between theory, applied linguistics research, and ideas/intuitions from experience in shaping language teaching practices. It states that these three approaches should inform each other, but in reality often do not. Specifically, it provides examples where theories of language acquisition failed when directly applied to teaching without consideration for practical constraints. The key insights are that theories must be able to predict new data and account for the process of language acquisition, not just describe end products, in order to successfully influence teaching practices.

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Kyle Marks
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1K views19 pages

1 Principles and Theories of Language Acquisition and Learning

The document discusses the relationship between theory, applied linguistics research, and ideas/intuitions from experience in shaping language teaching practices. It states that these three approaches should inform each other, but in reality often do not. Specifically, it provides examples where theories of language acquisition failed when directly applied to teaching without consideration for practical constraints. The key insights are that theories must be able to predict new data and account for the process of language acquisition, not just describe end products, in order to successfully influence teaching practices.

Uploaded by

Kyle Marks
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Principles and Theories of

Language Acquisition and


Learning
Professor: Ida Gauran-Tudy, PhD
SOURCE: Krashen (1982, 2009)
 It is essential for students to be knowledgeable of how second language is acquired so
that they can continually grow independently (Krashen, 1982, 2009).
THE RELATIONSHIP OF THEORY
TO PRACTICE
A. Three Approaches to Method

1. Theory of Second Language Acquisition


2. Applied Linguistics Research
3. Ideas and Intuitions from Experience
1. Theory of Second Language Acquisition

 Second language acquisition theory can be viewed as a part of "theoretical linguistics",


i.e. it can be studied and developed without regard to practical application.
As is the case with any scientific theory, it consists of a set of hypotheses, or generalizations,
that are consistent with experimental data. These hypotheses can be arrived at using any of
a variety of means (a brilliant insight, a dream, etc.). They must, however, be able to predict
new data. In other words, hypotheses are not summaries or categories for existing data and
observations, but must pass the test of accounting for new data. If our current hypotheses are
able to predict new events, they survive. If they fail, even once, they must be altered. If these
alterations cause fundamental changes in the original generalizations, the hypotheses may
have to be totally abandoned.
2. Applied Linguistics Research

 is aimed at solving practical, real problems that confront society.


example: experiments that compare
teaching methods

 Quite simply, a group of students is taught a foreign language using method A (e.g.
audio-lingual), and another group is taught the same language using method B (e.g.
grammar-translation).
The results of such an experiment would certainly be of interest to theoreticians, since a
particular theory might predict that students studying using one method would do better
than students using another.
The experiment itself, however, is designed for practical ends, i.e. to decide which method we
should use in our schools.
3. Ideas and Intuitions from Experience

 It relies, rather, on the insights and observations of experienced language teachers and
students of foreign languages.
 It consists of "ideas that work" , introspections by language students (e.g. "diary studies"),
and other informal observations.
B. Interactions Among Approaches
to Practice
Question:
In what ways are those three
approaches interrelated to one
another?
Figure 1.1 illustrates this ideal world, with information flowing
between all three areas that influence language teaching
methodology.

Second
Applied Ideas and
language
linguistics Intuitions
acquisition
research
theory

Language
teaching
practice
Fig. 1.2. Actual relationship beween theory, applied
linguistics research, ideas and intuitions and language
teaching practice.

Second
Applied Ideas and
language
linguistics Intuitions
acquisition
research
theory

Language
teaching
practice
Read silently the succeeding
paragraphs. Then point out
significant learning insights.
We have, in the past, gone straight from theory to practice, and it simply has not
worked.

Some well-known examples of this approach include the direct application of the principles of
behaviorist psychology in the classroom, known as the audio-lingual method. Theoreticians
insisted that dialogue and pattern drill were "the way" to teach language, and recommended
techniques that felt wrong to many teachers and students. A more recent "application of theory"
was what may be called the "applied transformational grammar" movement, which featured
materials directly based on current work in theoretical syntax and phonology. Applied TG did not
significantly advance language teaching, for reasons that will become clear as we proceed. Its
only tangible effect, perhaps, was that it needlessly made many teachers feel unprepared because
they had not been trained in the latest version of transformational theory. (Lest the reader get the
wrong impression, my personal view is that transformational-generative grammar, and the
progress it stimulated in formal linguistics, should be recognized as an extremely important
contribution, and easily outdid previous theories of linguistic structure. My point here is that it
does not necessarily follow that second language methods and materials should be based directly
on TG.)
These two theories, then, failed. The first, behaviorist theory,
failed to apply successfully to language teaching because it
was, simply, not a theory of language acquisition. The
second, TG, failed because it was a theory of the
product, the adult's competence, and not a
theory of how the adult got that competence. It is
not a theory of the process of language
acquisition.
What insights have you
learned?

What are the implications of


these in language teaching?
C. What the Three Approaches Have to Say
About Method

Language acquisition does not require extensive use of conscious


grammatical rules, and does not require tedious drill.

It does not occur overnight, however, real language acquisition develops


slowly, and speaking skills emerge significantly later than listening
skills, even when conditions are perfect.

The best methods are therefore those that supply "comprehensible input"
in low anxiety situations, containing messages that students really want
to hear.

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