In this post I'm returning to a subject which is so important for language teachers, and one I have written about before in a historical context here . Implicit language learning refers to how we acquire a language naturally and unconsciously, without explicitly studying grammar rules, doing exercises or memorising vocabulary. Historically, different language has been used to distinguish between implicit and explicit learning. Researchers and educators have contrasted, for example: Informal vs formal learning Naturalistic vs classroom learning Acquisition vs learning (Krashen) Spontaneous vs studial (H.E. Palmer) Knowing how vs knowing that (declarative vs procedural knowledge) These terms broadly reflect a long-standing attempt to distinguish between language development that occurs through meaningful exposure and communication, and language knowledge that develops through structured instruction and conscious study. I'm going to throw a pebble in the water at this point by s...
One subscriber to my site requested more reading aloud resources for the new GCSE. Now, you can have a debate about whether it's right to have a read aloud section in the Speaking test — overall I'm not in favour — but it's here for now and Foundation students will find it a challenge, much more so in French than Spanish or German, for the obvious reasons. (Is this fair??) High-flying GCSE French candidates will find the read aloud a breeze, as long as they don't overthink it. By Y11, the strongest students have already mastered a good level of pronunciation and can read off the page with confidence. So teachers need not spend much time on this element in the run-up to Speaking tests. Foundation candidates may, however, benefit from targeted, last-minute help. And when you look at the challenges of reading aloud in French, it's no wonder many struggle. So whereas many students read aloud well, having picked up the skills largely implicitly, with some explicit focus ...