In my experience modern language teachers are not terribly interested in theories of language acquisition; they prefer practical ideas and solutions for the classroom. They eagerly grab the latest games, realia, worksheets or lesson plans to stimulate their classes and/or themselves. This is entirely understandable, because teachers are pragmatic and, in any case, aren't too sure about how second languages are acquired. Who can be sure what works best? So the best solution is to use, from experience, what you think works.
I believe, however, that language teachers should have some theoretical underpinnings to their practice, even if there is no certainty about what happens in the brain. One applied linguist who always seemed certain about how languages are picked up is Stephen Krashen. I studied him in the 1980s and have always been influenced by his model of second language acquisition, even though I have some issues with it. I have just come across two talks he gave back in 1982, just after he published his seminal works Second Language Learning and Second language Acquisition (1981) and Principles and Practice in Second language Acquisition (1982), both available to read online.
The two videos last nearly half an hour in total, but if you have time, I recommend them. They will make you think, they may make you object (e.g. at about 12m 20 into the first video!) and they may even influence how you teach.
One thing that strikes me is how fresh the ideas still seem and how little we have moved on since the 1980s. See what you think.
I believe, however, that language teachers should have some theoretical underpinnings to their practice, even if there is no certainty about what happens in the brain. One applied linguist who always seemed certain about how languages are picked up is Stephen Krashen. I studied him in the 1980s and have always been influenced by his model of second language acquisition, even though I have some issues with it. I have just come across two talks he gave back in 1982, just after he published his seminal works Second Language Learning and Second language Acquisition (1981) and Principles and Practice in Second language Acquisition (1982), both available to read online.
The two videos last nearly half an hour in total, but if you have time, I recommend them. They will make you think, they may make you object (e.g. at about 12m 20 into the first video!) and they may even influence how you teach.
One thing that strikes me is how fresh the ideas still seem and how little we have moved on since the 1980s. See what you think.
Steve, really enjoyed these videos: very clear and almost intuitively correct.
ReplyDeleteSteve, really enjoyed these videos: very understandable and almost intuitively correct.
ReplyDelete