Principles of Language Teaching

Tamalea Violina

Principles of Language Teaching/ Reading Report Chapter 3 1 September 2021

Teaching by Principles

In Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (Brown 2000), I note that the last two
decades of research produced a complex storehouse of information on second language
acquisition and teaching. We'll now take a broad, sweeping look at twelve overarching
principles of second language learning that interact with sound practice and on which your
teaching can be based. These principles from the core of an approach to language teaching,
as in the previous chapter. It may be helpful for you, as you are reading, to check referenced
sections of PLLT (Brown 2000) to refresh your memory of certain terms and background
information.

The first set of principles "cognitive" because they relate mainly to mental and intellectual
functions. The cognitive principles are automaticity (efficient second language leaming
involves a timely movement of the control of a few language forms into the automatic
processing of a relatively unlimited number of language forms), meaningful learning (will lead
toward better long-term retention than rote learning), the anticipation of reward (human
beings are universally driven to act or "behave by the anticipation of some sort of reward -
tangibele or intangible, short term or long term that will ensue as a result of the behavior),
instrinsic motivation (the most powerful rewards are those that are intrinsically motivated
within the learner), and strategic investment (successful mastery of seond language will be
due to a large extent to a learner's own personal "investment" of time, effort, and attention to
the second language in the form of an individualized battery of strategies for comprehending
and producing the language). The second principle is affective principles. Here we look at
feelings about self, about relationships in a community of learners, and about the emotional
ties between language and culture. Affective principles are language ego (as

Principles of Language Teaching

human beings learn to use a second language, they also develop a new mode of thinking,
feeling, and acting - a second identity), self-confidence (learners' belief that they indeed are
fully capable of accomplishing a task is at least partially a factor in their eventual success in
attaining the task), risk-taking (they must become "gamblers" in the game f language, to
attempt ot poduce and to interpret language), and the language-culture connection
(whenever you teach a language, you also teach a complex system of cultural customs,
values, and ways of thinking, feeling and acting). The last category of principles of language
and teaching centers on language itself and on how learners deal with these complex
linguistic systems. The native language effect (the native language of learners exerts a
strong influence on the acquisition of the target language system), interlanguage, and
communicative competence. Reflection:

There are several principles that can help teachers in teaching students. With three
principles in teaching, "cognitive, affective, and linguistic", teachers can find out what
teaching principles should be used to help students in teaching. Because each student has
different characteristics in learning, therefore there is teaching using principles. So it is very
important also to have principles in teaching. Because it really helps the teachers in teaching
the students. Like in cognitive principles, when students learn, they need to understand that
learning is meaningful. So they can study seriously too and can get good grades. In
affective, students need to have high confidence when learning a second language.
Because of self-confidence, then learning can run well. Teachers students, boh will feel the
luck.

Principles of Second Language Learning and Teaching

김미영

Weekly Reflection: Chapter3 Age and Acquisition. Many people believe that children are
superior to adult as language learners. Do you feel that children are inherently superior that
is, are they biologically better suited to language learning? Support your position with
appropriate theories and research findings presented in chapter3..

The Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) clams that a critical time for second language(L2)
acquisition occurs around puberty, after that people seem to be relatively difficult to acquire
L2. This has led some to assume, incorrectly, that by the age of twelve or thirteen you are
significantly less capable of successful second language learning. Neurological research
found that as human brain matures, certain functions are differentiated or fixed, to the left
hemisphere of the brain and certain other functions to the right hemisphere. In these areas,
the left side of the brain appears language, logics intellectual, logical, and analytical features,
while right side of the brain appears emotion, space, visual social, and socio-related
features. Thomas Scovel suggested that the malleability of accomplishment of lateralization
makes it difficult for second language learners to acquire nativelike accent, pronunciation.
According to Scovel, foreign accents after puberty may be a genetic leftover. Walsh& Diller
also claimed except accent other parts of a second language are learned at different age.
However, many researchers are focusing on that communicative factor is much more crucial
than accent. Now days, they highlight the difference between child and adult considering
other factors; Universal grammar, instructional aspects, and contextual and
sociopsychological aspects treated in the research about age and acquisition. As one
Become adults, the left hemisphere that is related to intellectual, analytic, and logical
function becomes more dominant than right hemisphere that is related to emotional function.
In cognitive considerations, Young children aren't "aware" that they are acquiring a
language. Piaget suggested A process of moving from stated of disequilibrium where a
person doesn't know or is uncertain about something to disequilibrium where he or she
knows and clears the suspicion. Children who are indifferent to contradiction don't feel
disequilibrium. But as he mature intellectually, he is aware ambiguities and concerns with
contradiction. Ausubel made a distinction between rote and meaningful learning in the
cognitive domain. Ausbel insisted that meaningful learning that are acquired by anchoring
and relating new items and experiences to knowledge that exists in the cognitive framework.
So meaningful learning not rote learning, mechanistic learning, is really important to learn
something. Children acquire a language in untutored learning and adults acquire a language
in classroom

learning. As a result, the difference between language acquisition of children and that of
adult is educational environment where meaningful learning can happen or not, not age
itself.