ELT 1 Module 1

Language Teaching and Learning
Republic of the Philippines

Municipality of Altavas
ALTAVAS COLLEGE
Altavas, Aklan
1st Semester, Academic Year 2021-2022
PRINCIPLES AND THEORIES OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND LEARNING
Course Description:
This course provides an avenue for the pre-service English teachers to examine and
demonstrate content knowledge on the principles, factors, and contexts of language
acquisition and learning based on theories and research findings. Moreover, this course
enables them to explore and analyze the relationship of language learning principles and
theories to classroom practice. They are expected to create a Language Acquisition
Model/Framework integrating the relationship of language acquisition and learning with
the view of improving language instruction.
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Module 1: Language Teaching and Learning
Module 1
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
 Define language and learning
 Explain how the different school of thoughts enhance understanding of language acquisition
DISCUSSION
WHAT IS LANGUAGE?
Composite definitions of LANGUAGE

1. Language is systematic.
2. Language is a set of arbitrary symbols. Those symbols are primarily vocal, but may also
be visual. The symbols have conventionalized meaning to which they refer.
3. Language is used for communication.
4. Language operates in a speech community or culture.
5. Language is essentially human, although possibly not limited to humans.
6. Language is acquired by all people in much the same way. Language and language
learning both have universal characteristics.
1
Composite Definitions of LEARNING

1. Learning is acquisition or “getting.”
2. Learning is retention of information or skill. Retention implies storage systems, memory,
and cognitive organization.
3. Learning involves active, conscious focus on and acting upon events outside or inside the
organism.
4. Learning is relatively permanent but subject for forgetting.
5. Learning involves some form of practice, perhaps reinforced practice.
6. Learning is a change in behavior.
SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
 Structural Linguistics and Behavioral Psychology (1940s and 1950s)

-advocates: Leonard Bloomfield, Edward Sapir, Charles Hockett, Charles Fries
-prided itself in a rigorous application of scientific observations of human languages.
-investigated only “publicly observable responses”
-typical behavioral models were classical and operant conditioning, rote verbal learning,
instrumental learning, discrimination learning, and other empirical approaches.
-structural linguist’s axiom: “Language can differ from each other without limit, and that
no preconceptions could apply across languages.”
 Generative Linguistics and Cognitive Psychology (1960s to 1980s)

-generative-transformational linguistics emerged through the influence of Module Noam 2
Chomsky.
-interested not only in descriptive adequacy but also in arriving at an explanatory level of
adequacy in the study of language
-sought to discover underlying motivations and deeper structures of human behavior by
using a rational approach.
 Constructivism: A Multidisciplanary Approach

-advocates: Jean Piaget and Lev Vygostsky
-In the cognitive version of constructivism, emphasis is placed on the importance of
learners constructing their own representation of reality.
-“Learners must individually discover and transform complex information if they are to
make it their own.” – Piaget
-Social constructivism emphasizes the importance of social interaction and cooperative
learning in constructing both cognitive and emotional images of reality.
-“Children’s thinking and meaning-making is socially constructed and emerges out of their
social interactions with their environment.” - Vygotsky
All three of the historical positions described must be seen as important in creating balanced
descriptions of second language acquisition. Table 1.1 summarizes concepts and approaches
described in the three perspectives above.
2
Table 1.1 Schools of thought in second language acquisition

Time Frame Schools of Thought Typical Themes
Early 1900s and 1940s Structural Linguistics and Description
and 1950s Behavioral Psychology Observable performance
Scientific method
Empiricism
Surface structure
Conditioning
Reinforcement
1960s, 1970s, and 1980s Generative Linguistics and Generative linguistics
Cognitive Psychology Acquisition, innateness
Interlanguage
Systematicity
Universal grammar
Competence
Deep structure
1980s, 1990s, and 2000s Constructivism Interactive discourse
Sociocultural variables
Cooperative learning
Discovery learning
Construction of meaning
Interlanguage variability
NINETEENTH CENTURY LANGUAGE TEACHING

 Classical Method (later known as Grammar Translation Method)- focus on 3
Module
grammatical rules, memorization of vocabulary and of various declensions and
conjugations, translations of texts, doing written exercises.
Major Characteristics of Grammar Translation Method

1. Classes taught in the mother tongue; little use of L2
2. Much vocabulary taught in the form of lists of isolated words
3. Elaborate explanations of the intricacies of grammar
4. Reading of difficult classical texts begun early
5. Texts treated as exercises in grammatical analysis
6. Occasional drills and exercises in translating sentences from L1 to L2
7. Little or no attention to pronunciation
LANGUAGE TEACHING IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

 Audiolingual Method (ALM) – borrowing tenets from Direct Method, overemphasized on
oral production drills
 Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) – is an eclectic blend of the contributions or
previous methods into the best of what a teacher can provide in authentic uses of second
language in the classroom.
EVALUATION
Directions: Answer the following questions.
3
1. Write your own “25-words-or-less” definition of language learning/acquisition. (10 pts)
2. In the discussion of constructivism as a school of thought, Vygotsky is cited as a major

influence in our understanding of constructivism, especially social constructivism. Restate
Vygotsky’s philosophy in your own words and offer some classroom examples of Vygotsky’s
theories in action. (10 pts)
3. At the end of this lesson, 20th century language teaching methodology is described as one
that evolved into an approach rather than a specific accepted method, with the Direct
Method and Audiolingual Method cited as examples of the latter. What is the difference
between approach and method? Describe classroom examples of each. (15 pts)
Reference:
https://epdf.tips_principles-of-language-learning-and-teaching-5th-e.pdf
Prepared by:
Ms. Kristine F. Cantilero
Instructor
Module 4
- End of Module 1 -

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Language Teaching and Learning

Republic of the Philippines

PRINCIPLES AND THEORIES OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND LEARNING

Module 1: Language Teaching and Learning

Composite definitions of LANGUAGE

Composite Definitions of LEARNING

SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

 Structural Linguistics and Behavioral Psychology (1940s and 1950s)

 Generative Linguistics and Cognitive Psychology (1960s to 1980s)

 Constructivism: A Multidisciplanary Approach

Table 1.1 Schools of thought in second language acquisition

NINETEENTH CENTURY LANGUAGE TEACHING

Major Characteristics of Grammar Translation Method

LANGUAGE TEACHING IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

1. Write your own “25-words-or-less” definition of language learning/acquisition. (10 pts)

2. In the discussion of constructivism as a school of thought, Vygotsky is cited as a major

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