Summary and Reflection: Week 12

Tuesday

Announcement
: Brownbag and HATESOL Workshop on Thursday (8th), Writing Workshop on Friday (9th), and Special SLS Talk on the next Monday (12th)

Discussion on Myths about L2 learning (suggested by the SLS 650 class, fall 2007)
: We had a discussion as pair-work and then as whole-class, keeping in mind: “Which one sounds completely false/true?”

▪ Myth 1: Intrinsic motivation is better than extrinsic motivation.

Generally we (including many researchers) believe that intrinsic motivation helps language learning better than extrinsic motivation, but extrinsically motivated students had better results than those intrinsically motivated in some studies. Also, it seems to be hard to decide whether learners have intrinsic or extrinsic motivation simply based on their self-report. Keep in mind that motivation can change.

▪ Myth 2: Language learners cannot acquire the native-like language fluency and accuracy until they live in the foreign county where people speak the target language.

One student told a story about a Japanese lady who was so good at using English without having any experiences abroad and without having any favor of using English (actually she was forced to use that language). This suggests that such other conditions as affect or efforts could be also important for successful language learning.

▪ Myth 3: Learners can dramatically improve their language skill in the second language context.
A story of a female who had got several harassments and cultural shocks in the second language context and eventually stopped learning a language was told by Dr. Ortega. Even though this is not a usual case, it at least tells us that simply staying in the second language context does not guarantee successful language learning.

▪ Myth 4: Making a lot of mistakes help you learn the target language.

We have heard that Dr. Norris said that trying to be accurate would help learn a language. However, Dr. Ortega said that trying not to make mistakes and trying to be accurate would not help you learn a language better and accuracy be a result of learning. Well, we can make mistakes. We do not need to be afraid of making mistakes a lot. The important thing is that we should learn from our mistakes and try not to make the same mistakes again.

▪ Myth 5: Talking with native speakers help you learn the target language rather than talking with non-native speakers.

It was generally agreed that it would depend on the proficiency level of learners. Some competent users might get benefits from talking with native speakers. One student also mentioned that we could learn an accent while talking with native speakers.

I would like to list other popular ideas introduced by Lightbown and Spada (2006). I believe that thinking about these myths contribute to a better understanding of SLA and directing where you go as a language learner, teacher, or researcher.

1. Language are learned mainly through imitation.
2. Parents usually correct young children when they make grammatical errors.
3. Highly intelligent people are good language learners
4. The best predictor of success in second language acquisition is motivation.
5. The earlier a second language is introduced in school programmes, the greater the likelihood of success in learning.
6. Most of mistakes that second language learners make are due to interference from their first language.
7. The best way to learn new vocabulary is through reading.
8. It is essential for learners to be able to pronounce all the individual sounds in the second language.
9. Once learners know roughly 1,000 words and the basic structure of a second language, they can easily participate in conversations with native speakers.
10. Teachers should present grammatical rules one at a time, and learners should practice examples of each one before going on to anther.
11. Teachers should teach simple language structures before complex ones.
12. Learners’ errors should be corrected as soon as they are made in order to prevent the formation of bad habits.
13. Teachers should use materials that expose students only to language structures they have already been taught.
14. When learners are allowed to interact freely (for example, in group or pair activities), they copy each other’s mistakes.
15. Students learn what they are taught.
16. Teachers should respond to students’ errors by correctly rephrasing what they have said rather than by explicitly pointing out the error.
17. Students can learn both language and academic content (for example, science and history) simultaneously in classes where the subjects matter is taught in their second language.

Aslo, I would like to introduce one private language school I used to work as a teacher and an academic supervisor. While hearing about the school, you can find some myths we have been talking about in class. (The following excepts are from my paper done in other class)

“G (pseudonym) is a private English institute established in June 2004. This business essentially targets elementary and middle school students, advertising that the program is formulated for the purpose of enhancing communicative language competence. Its motto is “learning English just like our mother tongue, Korean”. The primary mission of G is to provide genuine English education context, that is, to assist learners to acquire English while learning various English contents by means of innovative media.…. As for teachers, G does not hire any so-called native speakers. It says that this is because the contents per se of movies and books are the inspiring teachers and a human being teacher is just an assistant…When hired, all teachers are required to obtain a teacher education for a week. Not learning English itself, but they are mostly trained how to manipulate DVD players capably, to exploit various activities to get an attention of easily-bored students in the classroom, to support students to be on the right track of G Way such as English only policy or mimicking, to counsel with demanding parents, and to deal with other unexpected circumstances… Every classroom is equipped with a TV and DVD player, which are used throughout the class. There are two sections of the lesson: movie DVD class and book DVD class. In the first class, students watch 10-minute movie clip, do mimicking and do workbook like filling in the blanks as listening, answering the comprehension questions, and summarizing the story. In the second, students watch 10-minute book DVD, read after the storyteller, and do workbook just like doing in the first class. A teacher mostly exclaims exaggeratedly to boost the morale of the learners saying like “Let’s watch today’s exciting movie clip!” “Now, listen carefully and repeat aloud after the line!” “Excellent!” “Could you try to mimic one more time with the action?” “Great!” “What is the story about?” and the like. The teacher also relates a lot of game-like activities such as role-playing, doing puzzles, and musical chairs with class. Because of these roles, teachers in G often call themselves entertainers and guides. After the class, students do homework, which is watching 10-minute movie clip three times, reading aloud 10-minute passages of book DVD after the storyteller five times, and doing workbook with DVD…. Almost all of the children, excluding those who have experiences of having lived in an English speaking country for a while or prove substantial English proficiency, are directly stationed to the class in accordance with their age, not their level of English. G believes that low-level students can learn from high-level students, and the high-level students can also learn in some way while helping the low-level students if they study in the same class….”

SLRF 2007 Timetable
: We reviewed three dimensions affecting to L2 learning (multidimensionality); (a) Universal Influences like age, or L1; (b) Individual Differences like aptitude, and (c) Social Dimensions like identity or cultural social status. Then, we were directed to match each title of presentation shown in SLRF 2007 timetable with one of those dimensions. As Dr. Ortega said, it would be much better if we could see the abstract.

Thursday

“The Social Turn in SLA: Vygotskian theory & Identity”

▪ Facilitators: Emiko and Nick
▪ Articles: Lantolf & Thorne (2006), Norton & Toohey (2001), and Norton (2006)
▪ Concepts we covered:

Sociocultural Theory: a theory of learning and mental development, “the human mind is mediated”, a theory is predicated on understanding the importance of interaction between people for the formation of mental activities (Vygotsky, 1978)

Internalization: “Internalization is a negotiated process that reorganizes the relationship of the individual to her or his social environment and generally carries it into future performance”

Imitation: “ development based on collaboration and imitation is the source of all the specifically human characteristics of consciousness the develop in the child ”
The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD): the distance between what learner can do by himself or herself and what he or she can do with guidance from a teacher (adult) or a more capable peer

▪ Task 1(Right or Wrong?)
: We discussed the statements (sorry! I failed to get all statements) and figured out if they were right or wrong, with the help of the articles.

Statement 1: Language shapes the way we view and conceive the world.
One group said that the way of influencing is not unidirectional. It is rather bidirectional.
Well, as far as I know, there are many variations in Korean describing some colors like blue, read, yellow, white, or black, compared to other languages. Does this mean that those expressions might affect the way Korean view the world or Korean cultures/spirits might affect the way of expressing colors? (Is this overly generalized? :)

Statement 2: ZPD = Scaffolding?
As the article says, there are two misconceptions about ZPD. One is that ZPD is the same thing as scaffolding or assisted performance and the other is that it is similar to Krashen’s notion of i+1. Since scaffolding mainly concerns completion of a task with help of expert, there might be quite passive role of novice in expert-novice interactions. In ZPD, we may think that the goal will be helping the learner develop and be independent. While Krashen focuses on language and langauge device (comprehensible input), ZPD focuses on the learners themselves.

▪ Task 2 (Social Context and Language Learning)
: We had a discussion on four people (Jamal, Katie, Ravi, and Mike), considering the concepts mentioned in the articles (e.g., GLL, identity, community of practice, etc.)
What predictions can you make about the language learning process of these learners of English? What could make their learning easier/more difficult?
As a teacher and expert in SLA what advice would you give them?