Course goals/objectives [I wish I could’ve found the course objectives on Moodle (if they were there, they were hiding). One reason it took me so long to get to this is I never had time to dig through old papers to find them!] Elka was outstanding in clearly presenting expectations and objectives, and I never…
This is the best article I’ve read so far in our SLA class: incredibly clear, concise, engaging… and on a topic so potentially deadly, no less. At the same time, the author didn’t compromise her academic integrity. She begins with a survey of definitions of grammar, and then presents the following as a working definition…
English as a Lingua Franca by Ginna Allison — October, 2009 It has often been said that language is inextricably linked with culture. But what can one say about a single language — in this case, English — spoken natively or secondarily by people from scores of different cultures? In such a situation, there is no…
Selinker and Lamendella (1978) defined fossilization as a permanent cessation of IL learning before the learner has attained TL norms at all levels of linguistic structure and in all discourse domains in spite of the learner’s positive ability, opportunity, and motivation to learn and acculturate into target society. ____ From Second Language Research (publication); Reconceptualizing…
In Zimbabwe: “Let’s we go.” Solution is to expand the contraction. Ishmael learned vocabulary first, and later grammatical terms. Tatiana: she knows the rules but not the exceptions and usage so she feels that native speakers are the better teachers. But I think we’re not as good as knowing the rules, but only the usage.…
Rate my participation in the group on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest. Even before our first meeting I resolved to know as much about the subject matter as possible. What role did I take in the group? I took several: sometimes leader and organizer, sometimes listener and follower. I…
Given that our brains are hard-wired differently, in a true democratic classroom we should… Be attentive to each student’s behavior to get a sense of their nature, and then figure out how we can adapt our lesson to be inclusive of all learning types. Use a full spectrum of learning techniques — e.g. inductive and…
Myers-Briggs [Isabel] Type Indicator Uses a four-letter symbol to represent your personality type, and to suggest occupations best suited to you. Used in a variety of settings: big biz (organizational behavior & team-building), schools… From Wikipedia… Based on CG Jung’s psychological types theory Wikipedia: “a psychometric questionnaire designed to measure psychological preferences in how people…
This is the outline for the second half of our class presentation we gave on October 2 on pragmatics. Before break: ask class to consider a cross-cultural pragmatics challenge. [GINNA] SLIDE: What Are Cross-Cultural Pragmatics? [10:00] Objective: As we transition from intra-cultural to cross-cultural perspective, refresh memories about meaning of pragmatics. SLIDE: “The study of…
Cultural Globalization & Language Education This article by Kumaravadivelu (SJSU) explores nativist undercurrents in language acquisition which have infiltrated Ln teaching. According to Wikipedia, nativism is rooted in Chomsky’s theory of innate and universal grammar. But this article uses them term in what seems to me more of an ethnocentric way, with a definite negative…
Dear Eleni and Molly, Hello, daughters young and slightly less young. I’m writing you (and cc’ing my teacher, Elka) as an assignment for my second language acquisition (SLA) class. I am to describe some of what I’ve learned here at SIT thus far. I’m still eligible for a passing grade if you don’t e-mail me…
Following is Elka’s handout about Lev Vygotsgy. Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (1896 –1934) Here is the information used in the various segments of our class on Vygotsky. It was my objective for this class to re-constructe, with you help, the social, intellectual, and cultural climate in Vygotsky’s Soviet Russia that influenced his views on education. I…
I don’t recall Elka having ever stated the fundamental rules of courtesy that we kept using during our colloquia in orientation, unless she referenced them once on the first day, in passing. I may have grown immune to hearing it by then. The Recorder When we arrived in class we found that Elka had laid…
Something I learned / explored further / found interesting, valuable, important: I learned that “shortcuts” is traditional teacherese for ways to get the brain to make connections that otherwise might be harder/take longer. Using patterns is the example she gave. David suggested mnemonic devices like homonyms can help. Minimal pairs, colocations. I want to find…
Elka’s Teaching Tips Pay attention to transitions during class, from topic to topic. She writes on the board before class the main things we’ll discuss and goes over them verbally at the start of class. She uses the recorder to silence us at the end of a work group session. Have people work in threes…
Semiotic: related to the study of signs and symbols and their use and interpretation Negotiation of meaning: the process by which a piece of language that was not comprehensible becomes comprehensible as a result of discussion Sustained acquisition: long-term language learning Ecological view of language: Affordance: “a reciprocal relationship between an organism and a particular…
Definitions of Pragmatics “The study of meaning in context.” — McCarthy, 1991 “The study of speaker and hearer meaning created in their joint actions that include both linguistic and nonlinguistic signals in the context of socioculturally organized activities.”— LoCastro, 2006 “The study of language from the point of view of users, especially of the choices…
Instrumental factors for successful L1 Music Rhythm/Cadence Rhyme Multiple sources of input (the more the merrier) Comprehensible input L1 factors that can be applied to L2 Positive evidence Social contact Understanding of social context (language/norms) Low affective filter (uninhibited in interaction) Family environment (number of siblings, family members, support, encouragement) How to take advantage of…
Some instrumental factors in L1 Learning Interaction of child and context Input Comprehension Repetition and modeling Turn-taking Ability to distinguish between “self” and “other,” means and ends, cause and effect (semantics?) Low affective filter Ability to distinguish sounds in their environment, between “speech” and “other,” and later between happy, angry, friendly sounds. Practicing melody, rhythm,…
Interesting Issues 1. “Linguistic competence develops by stages. Observations of children in different language areas of the world reveal that the stages are similar — possibly universal. Some of the stages last for a short time; others remain longer.” [The source got eaten by my computer when I downloaded it but, if needed, I can…
