PLLT Chapter.1 summary

Summary - CHAPTER1. Language, Learning, and Teaching


It takes a long time to learn a second Language and it is a complex process. Many variables are involved in this process. Learning and teaching are not separated. They are closely related.

Current Issues in Second Language.
Many questions are raised as current issues in second language acquisition. These questions depend on who, what, how, when, where, why.
*Who?
“who” means that learner’s and teacher’s cultural and personal background can have an effect on learner’s success of mastering a foreign language and on teacher’s ability to enable learners to achieve that acquisition. However, the most important thing is how they interact with each other.
*What?
Teachers should speak and understand a language well but they also should have the technical knowledge such as its words and sentences.
*How?
Questions about the way of teaching are also raised.
*When?
Some questions about when and how long is appropriate are also current issues.
*Where?
The views about where the second language is learned can affect the learner.
*Why?
Some issues are related to this kind of questions : why learners attempt to acquire the second language?, what are their purposes?

Language
Many people can define “The Language” differently according to their background. However, there are 8 definitions from consolidation of a number of definitions.1. Language is a systematic.
2, Language is a set of arbitrary symbols.
3. those symbols are primarily vocal, but may also visual.
4, the symbols have conventionalized meanings to which they refer.
5. Language is used for communication
6. Language operates in a speech community or culture.
7. Language is essentially human, although possibly not limited to humans.
8. Language is acquired by all people in much the same way ; language and language learning both have universal characteristics.

Learning and Teaching
Definitions of learning and teaching can be also differently defined. They are closely related.
1. Learning is acquisition
2. Learning is retention of information or skill
3. Retention implies storage systems, memory, cognitive organization.
4. Learning involves active, conscious focus on and acting upon events outside and inside the organization.
5. Learning is relatively permanent but subject to forgetting
6. Learning involves some form of practice, perhaps reinforced practice
7. Learning is a chance in behavior.
Schools of Thought in Second Language Acquisition
There are three different schools of thought in second language acquisition

Structuralism / Behaviorism.
Only publicly observable responses could be dealt with in structuralism. A behavioristic paradigm also focused on publicly observed responses. Only scientific and objective method was adhered to, and therefore mentalistic method such as consciousness and intuition was regarded as illegitimate domains of inquiry. Typical behavioristic models were classic and operant conditioning, rote verbal learning, instrumental learning, discrimination learning and other empirical approaches to studying human behavior.

Rationalism and Cognitive Psychology
Noam Chomsky had an influence on the generative- transformational school of linguistics. The generative linguist was interested both in achieving the level of description adequacy and in arriving at an explanatory level of adequacy in the study of language. Saussure claimed that there was a difference between Parole and Langue.(Chomsky called them each performance and competence)
Cognitive psychologists tried to find out underlying motivations and deeper structures of human behavior by using a rational approach.

Constructivism
Constructivism is defined as an emphasis on active processes of construction, attention to texts as a means of gaining insights into those processes, and an interest in the nature of knowledge and its variations, including the nature of knowledge associated with membership in a particular group. There are two constructivists; Piaget and Vygotsky. While Piaget stressed the importance of individual cognitive development as a relatively solitary act, Vygotsky maintained that social interaction was foundational in cognitive development and rejected the notion of predetermined stages,

Language Teaching and Methodology
In the 20th century, a new teaching method seemed to emerge almost every quarter of a century. Communicative language teaching has recently gained a lot of popularity. However, no method is perfect because every learner, teacher, and learner-teacher relationship is unique.