Major events/tools in EU language learning policies (Article 2 European Cultural

Convention):
Encourage the study by its own nationals of the languages, history and civilisation of the
other Contracting Parties and grant facilities to those Parties to promote such studies in
its territory.
Endeavor to promote the study of its language or languages, history and civilisation in
the territory of the other Contracting Parties and grant facilities to the nationals of those
Parties to pursue such studies in its territory.
Resolution 69:
The aim of language learning is to enable Europeans to communicate and co-operate
freely with each other whilst maintaining the full diversity and vitality of their languages
and cultures.
EU principal goals for language learning: plurilingualism and intercultural education:
Plurilingualism: Languages unite people, render other countries and their cultures
accessible, and strengthen intercultural understanding.
Intercultural education: In plurilingual and intercultural education, the intercultural
dimension (chiefly concerned with attitudes, dispositions, and perceptions of others and
otherness) is harder to evaluate using formal testing methods. It is thus desirable that
this intercultural awareness (at least) and this intercultural perception/reflection should
begin in primary school .
Cultural relativity: In general, culture as the fifth skill emphasizes the learner's ability to
perceive cultural difference (cultural awareness) both in themselves and others, and
understand cultural relativity and to, eventually, manage cultural difference
with openness and tolerance.
Cultural awareness: recognizing cultural differences, both our own (understanding that
we are each enculturated by where we live, who lives around us, etc) and others’ culture.
Recognizing cultural difference is the FIRST step towards moving from ethnocentric
perspectives to ethnorelative perspectives.
Big C and Little C culture:Culture is often separated into two general categories: "Big C"
culture and "Little c" culture. We all learned at least some "Big C" culture in our language
classes: Who are the great writers, artists, and musicians? What are the lasting, famous
works of art, music, and literature? What are the great moments in this culture's history?
"Little c" knowledge, things such as the features of daily life, popular culture, are more
transient and are about smaller, everyday details, like a bus ticket. Some Little C culture
may later become Big C culture.Heathcote & Bolton’sapproach (Culture as action and
values).
CEFR: levels
The CEFR is not language or context specific. It does not attempt to list specific language
features (grammatical rules, vocabulary, etc.) and cannot be used as a curriculum or
checklist of learning points. Users need to adapt its use to fit the language they are
working with and their specific context, As a leader in a new era in language teaching,
the CEFR is a valuable and innovative tool, which is neither normative nor dogmatic. The
CEFR is not a method but offers thoughts about various methodological options. It is
important not to confuse the rigor of the grids describing the CEFR levels, with the spirit of
the CEFR itself, which is both open and dynamic.
Descriptors:

Mediation (as part of changes in 2018 CEFR):

language when acting as a social agent (‘Mediation is when we use language to explain
something to someone who doesn’t fully understand it without our help). A key thing to
note here is that the CEFR doesn’t simply break things down into four skills of listening,
reading, speaking and writing. Instead it describes four ‘modes’ to better reflect how
communication occurs in real life.
CEFR for YL,
ELP (what is it, three parts):
1. to help learners give shape and coherence to their experience of learning and using
languages other than their first
language
2. to motivate learners by acknowledging their efforts to extend and diversify their
language skills at all levels
3. to provide a record of the linguistic and cultural skills they have acquired (to be
consulted, for example, when they are
moving to a higher learning level or seeking employment at home or abroad
Competency-based learning
The ability to do something successfully or efficiently
• Competence is a measure of both proven skills and proven knowledge.
• They define what the student “can do”.
• Communicative competences involve knowledge, skills and attitude.
• They are divided into different areas we have seen:
● Linguistic competence: It refers to the knowledge of the language itself, form and
meaning: spelling, grammar, vocab..
● Socio-linguistic competence: you learn the socio-cultural system and its
appropriate context of use or how to achieve your communicative goals and
intentions within social norms, etc
● Discourse competence at a more global level: language strategies such as how to
initiate a conversation, interrupting, checking, finishing. Discourse markers.
● Strategic competence: developing strategies to deal with difficulties when
practising L2 (asking for clarification,etc)
MODULE II

Behaviorism: emphasizing stimuli and responses, but ignoring the mental processes that
are involved in learning.
Four characteristics of behaviorism:
1) imitation, 2) practice, 3) reinforcement, and 4) habit formation
The L1 influence may not simply be a matter of the transfer of habits, but a more subtle
and complex process of
- identifying points of similarity,
- weighing the evidence in support of some particular feature,
and
- reflecting (though not necessarily consciously) about whether a
certain feature seems to ‘belong’ in the L2.
􏰀 By the 1970s, many researchers were convinced that behaviorism
and the CAH were inadequate explanations for SLA.

Innatism: innate LAD, based on innate human functioning.

Innatism: Universal Grammar
UG and Second Language Acquisition
1. Chomsky did NOT claim this for SLA BUT:
2. Some linguists say UG offers the best perspective to understand SLA: why L2 learners
eventually know more about the language than they could reasonably have learned
(creativity and generalization ability).
3. Other linguists argue that UG is not a good explanation for SLA, especially for learners
who have passed the critical age period.

Innatism: Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

􏰀 LAD (Chomsky)
1. Offers an explanation for where UG comes from.
2. Hypothetical tool/device in the brain that helps
children quickly learn and understand language.
3. Although there have been locations in the brain
identified as language processing areas, such as Broca's area and Wernicke's area, a
location corresponding to
the LAD has not been found.

Krashen's monitor model

Krashen’s “monitor model” has been very influential in supporting communicative
language teaching (CLT), which focuses on using language for and for accomplishing
, rather than on learning rules.
-Krashen’s hypotheses are intuitively appealing,
but they are also hard to test.

Information processing
Cognitive psychologists working in this model:
1. compare language acquisition to the capacities of computers for storing, integrating,
and retrieving information.
2. do not think that humans have a language-specific module (i.e. LAD) in the brain.
3. do not assume that ‘acquisition’ and ‘learning’ are distinct mental processes.
4. see L2 acquisition as the building up of knowledge that can eventually be called on
automatically for speaking and understanding (i.e., general theories of learning can
account for SLA).

Connectionism
More importance on the role of the environment (the input it gives) than on any specific
innate knowledge.
a. What is innate is simply the ability to learn, not any specifically linguistic principles.
2. Focuses on association between stimulus and response
3. Learners frequently encounter specific linguistic features in
the input and features occur together.
4. From input comes both evidence of language units and the
rules of language.
5. Learners extract these patterns, to make rules.

Learners gradually build up their knowledge of language through exposure to the

thousand of instances of the linguistic features they hear or see.
2. Eventually, learners develop stronger mental ‘connections’ between the elements they
have learned; one situational or linguistic element will activate the other(s.
a. Evidence says much of the language we use in ordinary conversation is predictable or
formulaic. Language is often learned in chunks larger than single words.
b. One teaching strategy that has emerged from this:
teach language in chunks.

The Competition Model

◎ Assumes that all linguistic performance involves “mapping” between external form
and internal function.
◉ auditory properties (how it sounds)
◉ : semantic properties (its meaning)
◎ Learning the system of form-function mapping is basic for L1
acquisition.
◉ By detecting cues in language input associated with a particular function, and by
recognizing what weight to assign each possible (the cues compete for strength)

Input Processing
(VanPatten, 2004)
- Learners have limited processing capacity and cannot pay attention to form and
meaning at the same time.
- They tend to give priority to meaning. When the context in which they hear a sentence
helps
them make sense of it, they do not notice details of the language form.

The Noticing Hypothesis (Schmidt, 1990, 2001)

- Nothing is learned unless it has been noticed.

- Noticing does not itself result in acquisition, but it is the
essential starting point.
- L2 learners could not begin to acquire a language
feature until they had become aware of it in the input.
􏰀 -Anecdote: Lía and “for to buy”
􏰀 Whether learners must be aware that they are
“noticing” something in the input in order to acquire
linguistic feature is considered debatable.

The Sociocultural Perspective

Remember Vygotsky?
-Sociocultural theory: Language development takes place in the
social interactions between individuals.
-Speaking (and writing) as productive skills mediate thinking.
-Zone of proximal development (ZPD): when there is support from interaction with an
interlocutor, the learner is capable of performing at a higher level.
-L2 learners advance to higher levels of linguistic knowledge when they collaborate and
interact with speakers of the L2 who are more knowledgeable than they are.
The Interaction Hypothesis
◎ SLA takes place through conversational interaction.
◎ Long (1983) argued that modified interaction is the
necessary mechanism for making language
comprehensible.
◎ What learners need is not necessarily simplification of the
linguistic forms but rather an opportunity to interact with other speakers, working
together to reach mutual comprehension.
◎ Research shows that native speakers consistently modify their speech in sustained
conversation with non-native speakers.
 MODULE 4 DIDACTIC II

Methodology vs approach:
Approach: A set of assumptions dealing with the nature of language, learning, and
teaching. An approach is the level at which assumptions and beliefs about language
and language learning are specified.
Method: An overall plan for systematic presentation of language based upon a
selected approach. Method is the level at which theory is put into practice and at
which choices are made about the particular skills to be taught, the content to be
taught, and the order in which the content will be presented.

WHY ONE?
You will sometimes hear debates like: Communicative Language Teaching, one of the
things we will see soon, is not a methodology, but an approach. This is because it
emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of study but there is
not a really comprehensive practical, step-by-step way to implement it.

CHARACTERISTICS OF AND ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

The Grammar-Translation Method

Much traditional language teaching in schools worldwide used to be done in this
way, and it is still the predominant classroom method in some cultures. The teacher
rarely uses the target language. Students spend a lot of time reading texts,
translating them, doing exercises and tests, and writing essays. There is relatively
little focus on speaking and listening skills.
AD:
● Translation is the easiest and shortest way of explaining the meaning of words
and phrases.
● Learners have no difficulties understanding the lesson as it is carried out in
the mother tongue.
● It is a labor-saving method as the teacher carries out everything in the mother
tongue

DIS:
● The translation of sentences or texts can be sometimes misleading.
● The method focuses on grammar at the level of each sentence, that is,
● Speaking or any kind of spontaneous creative output was missing
from the curriculum.
● Students do not have an active role in the classroom.
● The main focus is on reading and writing (not speaking and listening
● skills.)
● Very little attention is paid to real communication.
● Very little attention is paid to motivating content.
● Some sentences can be perfectly grammatical, but they may convey
● no meaning at all.
● Grammar is not absolute and fixed. Grammar rules may change.

The Direct Method

The Direct Method, also called the Natural Method, appeared as an answer to the
problems of the Grammar Translation Method. It is a method for teaching foreign
languages that uses the target language, discarding any use of L1 in the classroom.
The idea was that foreign language teaching must be carried out in the same way
people learn their mother tongue.

AD:
● It is a “natural” method which teaches language like the L1 (as much as
possible)
● Only the target language is used and the learning is contextualized.
● Its emphasis on speech made it more attractive for those who have needs of
real
● communication in the target language.
● It was one of the first methods to introduce the teaching of vocabulary through
● realia.
● It teaches the language and NOT about the language

DIS:
● Hard to do in public education where the constraints of budget,
● classroom size, time, and teacher background made such a method difficult to
use.
● Imbalance with other skills, reading, writing.
● It’s very demanding on a teacher's work and requires a high proficiency or
native level of English.
● Time - consuming in creating real life situations.
● Slow learners can struggle with this method.
Audio-lingual
It was based on behaviorism: Stimulus–response feedback.

● Skinner theorized that parents or other caretakers hear a child say something
that sounds like a word in their language, they reward the child with praise
and attention. The child repeats words and combinations of words that are
praised and then learns language.
● Theorists believed that languages were made up of a series of habits, and that
if learners could develop all these habits, they would speak the language well.
● This method came as a result of the need for American soldiers who were to
travel overseas to communicate in foreign languages during the Second World
War. They needed to learn language for determined situations, FAST.

The teaching techniques rely mostly on:

● Repetition: first time, no print
● Inflection: after repetition, teacher adds a few words and it is repeated
● Replacement: One word is replaced by another
● Restatement: rephrasing of a known statement to address it to another person
● Completion: Repetition minus a word
● Contraction: A single word stands for a phrase or clause
● Transformation: a sentence is transformed by making it negative, etc.
● Integration: Two separate sentences are made into 1.

AD:

● Language is learned in chunks, phrases

● Controlled environment
● Focus on speaking (pronunciation only)
● Can be fun at first and EASY to do.
● Can be used with small and big groups

DIS:

● The behaviorist approach to learning is now discredited.

● It does not pay sufficient attention to communicative competence.
● Only language form is considered while meaning is neglected.
 ● Equal importance is not given to all four skills.
● It is a teacher-dominated method.
● No “natural” spontaneous communication
● Boring, not motivating after time
● Limited to determined contexts
● Differences between natural and audio-lingual methods

Silent way

● It was created by Caleb Gattegno (1911–1988), who was one of the most
influential and prolific mathematics educators of the 20th century. He is best
known for his innovative approaches to teaching and learning mathematics,
foreign languages and reading.
● Teacher’s silence is a tool to get student’s autonomy and active participation. It
reflects changes in educational philosophy at the time.
● Pronunciation is fundamental and is taught through sound-color charts.
● Color charts are also used for working on sentence structure and spelling.
● Often used when speed of learning and accuracy is preferred
● Rarely taught but principles have been influential, especially in pronunciation
● Teachers should concentrate on how students learn, not on how to teach
● Imitation and drill are not the primary means by which students learn
● Learning consists of trial and error, deliberate experimentation, suspending
judgment, and revising conclusions
● In learning, learners draw on everything that they already know, especially
their native language
● The teacher must not interfere with the learning process

The teaching techniques rely mostly on:

● Teacher is silent 90% of the time.
a. Can MOUTH words
b. Speakly is usually only done once for a given word
● S speak from the beginning, and 90% of the time
a. Encourages peer correction, and self correction (T is silent)
b. Use of cooperation by peers
● Specialized teaching materials: CUISENAIRE RODS and sound charts
a. Each color represents one sound, stress of tapping equivalent to word stress
b. 12 word charts, around 500 everyday words
 ● Grammar is taught inductivelyÇ

AD:
● Student centered
● Student interaction is very central
● Self-correction
● Focus on speaking

DIS:
● Can be frustrating for some (unmotivating)
● A bit abstract and esoteric
● Other skills are ignored.
● Not communicative or focused on spontaneous language production
● Specialized materials and training
● May be hard to do with large groups
● Time-consuming?
● Not natural (not interactive between T S)
● Extremely rigid

CLT

Communicative Language Teaching APPROACH

● It’s based on cognitive psychology, as well as Hymes ideas of communication
as an interaction of various competences.
● It seeks to bring students beyond grammar and translation, but recognizes
there is a difference between learning an L1 and L2
● An ideal language speaker needs not only to know the structure of sentences
of a language correctly, but also the use of these sentences in a specific social
context appropriately. Accuracy and fluency become key words
● The target language is a vehicle for classroom communication, not just the
object of study, while some use of the students’ native language is permitted.
● Focuses on social interaction and meaningfulness.
● Teacher as facilitator (student-centered).

CLT techniques
● Students are expected to use the language a great deal through
communicative activities, for example:
❖ Information gap activities or games which are important and there is always a
purpose.
● The grammar and vocabulary that students learn follow from the function,
situational context, and the roles of the interlocutors’ pragmatic competence.
● The students’ errors may not be corrected when an activity is working on
fluency, but returned to at a later point. Errors are a natural outcome of the
learning process.
● The teacher is a co-communicator, he may interact with students in
establishing and promoting communication between and along the students
● Students interact a great deal with one another in various ways: pairs, triads,
small groups and whole groups.

AD:
● More like “real” communication (meaning, interaction).
● Student-centered
● Active participation in L2 by student

DIS:
● Can feel artificial at times to “create” meaning
● Shy students may have more trouble.
● At times accuracy has been ignored in favor of fluency.

CLIL: Content and Language Integrated Learning

● Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is an approach, born of CLT,

where students learn a subject and a second language at the same time. A
science course, for example, can be taught to students in English and they will
not only learn about science, but they will also gain relevant vocabulary and
language skills.
● It’s important to note that CLIL is not a means of simplifying content or
reteaching something students already know in a new language. CLIL courses
should truly integrate the language and content in order to be successful – and
success is determined when both the subject matter and language is learned.

AD:
 ● Many teachers see CLIL as a more natural way to learn a language; when a
subject is taught in that language there is a reason to learn both at the same
time. And as students have a real context to learn the language in, they are
often more motivated to do so, as they can only get the most of the content if
they understand the language around it.
● CLIL classes add an extra dimension to the class and engage students, which
is especially advantageous in situations where students are unenthusiastic
about learning a language. Do you agree?
● CLIL also promotes a deeper level of assimilation – as students are repeatedly
exposed to similar language and language functions and they need to
produce and recall information in their second language.
● The advantage is that multiple subjects can be taught in English, so that
students’ exposure to the language is increased, meaning their language
acquisition is faster.

DIS:

● Students may lack linguistic competence to follow the contents. • Not all
students feel motivated to learn a FL.
● It’s very demanding on teachers, the need to have very well trained teachers in
FL and area of studying.
● If it’s not well implemented, students may end up confused and they may not
learn content or language properly.
● The language involved in some subjects may not be very relevant or motivating
for pupils, especially in primary education.
● Teachers may not have high enough levels to teach like this.
● Success may be circuitous (already academically high-performing students
get pushed more easily into CLIL, those students often have extracurricular
English etc (Bruton, 2011).

Suggestopedia

Suggestopedia is a teaching method developed by the Bulgarian psychotherapist

Georgi Lozanov. It is used mostly to learn foreign languages. The theory applied
positive suggestions in teaching when it was developed in the 1970s. Suggestopedia
is a portmanteau of the words "suggestion" and "pedagogy".
 ● Target language and L1 present
● Teacher-centred (authority, students as passive)
● Bright, cheerful classrooms with comfortable chairs
● Soothing background music
● Positive suggestion and negative "de-suggestion" by teacher
● New identities for learners with TL names and new occupations
● Printed TL dialogues with MT translation, vocabulary and grammar notes
● Reading of dialogues by teacher, rhythm and intonation matched to music
● Reading of dialogues by learners just before sleeping and on rising
(homework)
● Not based on any language learning research
● Peripheral learning

Suggestopedia: phases

● Deciphering: The teacher introduces the grammar and vocabulary of the

content. In most materials the foreign-language text is on the left half of the
page with a translation on the right half, i.e. meanings are conveyed via the L1
● Concert session (active and passive): In the active session, the teacher reads
the text at a normal speed, sometimes intoning some words, and the students
follow. In the passive session, the students relax and listen to the teacher
reading the text calmly. Baroque music is played in the background.
● Elaboration: The students finish off what they have learned with dramas,
songs, and games.

Suggestopedia: activities

● Classroom activities based on dialogues, including Q&A, games and songs

● Memorization of vocabulary pairs
● Reading dialogues after listening
● Imitation
● Role play
● Visualizations while listening

AD:
● Low affective filter may be present
● Easy introduction (passive, you are read to)
 ● Relaxing, may be enjoyable

DIS:

● It can be boring (unmotivating)

● Students do not have an active role in the classroom.
● It’s been accused of being pseudoscience
● Passive role of students (infantilization)

Community language learning CLL

A method based around use of the learners´first language and with teacher help in
mediating. It aims to lower anxiety and allow students to communicate in a more
genuine war than is typically possible in classrooms.

Community Language Learning (CLL) is a teaching method developed in the 1970s in

the USA by Jesuit priest, psychologist and educator Charles Curran. Drawing on
principles of counseling therapy then prevalent, CLL emphasizes the importance of
the learners themselves by calling them "clients" and letting them design lesson
content. The teacher plays the part of "counselor", while the learners are encouraged
to work together, interacting and helping each other personally in a supportive
community. The method, which aims to alleviate the anxiety and threat so often felt by
language learners, is sometimes described as "counseling learning".

● target language/mother tongue

● teacher/learner-centred
● counselling role for teacher; client roles for learners
● in-a-circle seating for learners
● recorder inside circle and teacher outside
● TL dialogue generated learner by learner (helped as necessary by teacher)
● recorded dialogue transcribed by teacher on board
● analysis of dialogue by learners
● dialogue used in follow-up sessions for other activities
● movement for learners from total dependence to growing autonomy
● L1 very present,
● Translation L1-L2 by teacher
Class STAGES
● Stage 1- Reflection
● Stage 2 - Recorded conversation
● Stage 3 - Discussion
● Stage 4 - Transcription
● Stage 5 - Language analysis

1. Translation. Learners form a small circle. A learner whispers a message or

meaning he or she wants to express, the teacher translates it into (and may interpret
it in) the target language, and the learner repeats the teach er's translation.
2. Group Work. Learners may engage in various group tasks, such as
small-group discussion of a topic, preparing a conversation, preparing a sum mary of
a topic for presentation to another group, preparing a story that will be presented to
the teacher and the rest of the class.
3. Recording. Students record conversations in the target language.
4. Transcription. Students transcribe utterances and conversations they have
recorded for practice and analysis of linguistic forms.
5. Analysis. Students analyze and study transcriptions of target language sen
tences in order to focus on particular lexical usage or on the application of particular
grammarrules.

+. Reflection and observation. Learners reflect and report on their experience of the
class, as a class or in groups. This usually consists of expressions of feelings - sense
of one another, reactions to silence, concern for something to say, etc.
+. Listening. Students listen to a monologue by the teacher involving ele ments they
might have elicited or overheard in class interactions.
+. Free conversation. Students engage in ´free conversation with' the teacher or with
other learners. This might include discussion of what they learned as well as feelings
they had about how they learned.

AD:

● Learners appreciate the autonomy CLL offers them and thrive on analysing
their own conversations.
● CLL works especially well with lower levels who are struggling to produce
spoken English.
 ● The class often becomes a real community, not just when using CLL but all of
the time.
● Students become much more aware of their peers, their strengths and
weaknesses and want to work as a team.
● Low affective filter

DIS:

● Lots of L1 present
● Slow or tedious
● In the beginning some learners find it difficult to speak on tape while others
might find that the conversation lacks spontaneity.
● Translation process can be difficult (not everything can be translated)
● Hard for big groups

Task-based learning approach

In a task-based lesson the teacher doesn't pre-determine what language will be

studied, the lesson is based around the completion of a central task and the language
studied is determined by what happens as the students complete it. The lesson
follows certain stages.

● Task-based language learning is an approach where the planning of learning

materials and teaching sessions are based around doing a meaningful task.
● In task-based learning, a lesson or unit is designed to help learners to
complete a task: for example; write a letter, make a reservation, plan a trip,
collaborate to design something, or hold a meeting.
● Learners learn by doing
● Language arises from need as they do tasks.

● Pre-task: The teacher introduces the topic and gives the students clear
instructions on what they will have to do at the task stage and might help the
students to recall some language that may be useful for the task. The pre-task
stage can also often include playing a recording of people doing the task. This
gives the students a clear model of what will be expected of them. The students
can take notes and spend time preparing for the task.
 ● Task: The students complete a task in pairs or groups using the language
resources that they have as the teacher monitors and offers encouragement.

● Planning: Students prepare a short oral or written report to tell the class what
happened during their task. They then practise what they are going to say in
their groups. Meanwhile the teacher is available for the students to ask for
advice to clear up any language questions they may have.
● Report : Students then report back to the class orally or read the written report.
The teacher chooses the order of when students will present their reports and
may give the students some quick feedback on the content. At this stage the
teacher may also play a recording of others doing the same task for the
students to compare.
● Analysis: The teacher then highlights relevant parts from the text of the
recording for the students to analyse. They may ask students to notice
interesting features within this text. The teacher can also highlight the
language that the students used during the report phase for analysis.
● Practice: Finally, the teacher selects language areas to practise based upon
the needs of the students and what emerged from the task and report phases.
The students then do practice activities to increase their confidence and make
a note of useful language.
AD:

● Students are free of language control. In all three stages they must use all their
language resources rather than just practising one pre-selected item.
● A natural context is developed from the students' experiences with the
language that is personalised and relevant to them.
● The students will have a much more varied exposure to language with TBL.
They will be exposed to a whole range of lexical phrases, collocations and
patterns as well as language forms.
● The language explored arises from the students' needs. This need dictates
what will be covered in the lesson rather than a decision made by the teacher
or the coursebook.
● It is a strong communicative approach where students spend a lot of time
communicating.
● It is enjoyable and motivating.

DIS:
 ● Little focus on accuracy
● Requires language from the beginning that many may not have yet in L2 (to do
task)
● Tasks may or may not be interesting to students (writing a letter, for example).
● It may be frustrating that the language forms taught (vocabulary, grammar,
etc), come at the end, not at the beginning when they needed it.
○ Relatedly, where is input? It comes at the end, but how helpful is it there?
● It may be that not much real language learning is taking place rather S are
practicing language they ALREADY know.
● Learning styles: more reflective, form-focused (they want to know about
grammar etc) as well as less confident learners may not do as well with TBL or
need more support.

The 3 Ps.

The Three Ps method - P- PRESENTATION P- PRACTICE P- PRODUCTION

The PPP method could be characterized as a common-sense approach to teaching as

it consists of 3 stages that most people who have learnt how to do anything will be
familiar with.
The first stage is the presentation of an aspect of language in a context that students
are familiar with, much the same way that a swimming instructor would demonstrate
a stroke outside the pool to beginners.
The second stage is practice, where students will be given an activity that gives them
plenty of opportunities to practice the new aspect of language and become familiar
with it whilst receiving limited and appropriate assistance from the teacher. To
continue with the analogy, the swimming instructor allowing the children to rehearse
the stroke in the pool whilst being close enough to give any support required and
plenty of encouragement.
The final stage is production where the students will use the language in context, in
an activity set up by the teacher who will be giving minimal assistance, like the
swimming instructor allowing his young charges to take their first few tentative
strokes on their own.

1. Quite easy for most new language teachers to grasp

2. Commonsensical to most learners, follows a basic learning pattern that is familiar.
3. Can be communicative (last stage)
4. Can be used for any new content you can isolate (vocabulary, grammar, even some
content)
5. Can be combined with other approaches, methodologies to some degree.

PRESENTATION

The first stage is the presentation of an aspect of language in a context that students
are familiar with, much the same way that a swimming instructor would demonstrate
a stroke outside the pool to beginners.

1. Attention in the Classroom: T makes the target language interesting to the students.
(familiar or interesting context etc). T engages to keep their interest.
2. Perception and Grading of Language: presentation is well organized, clear. Colors,
etc. Connect ideas, no ambiguity in images, try not to overload images must be
helpful to the content being presented. Links should be clear through the presentation
and gestures, facial expressions etc. Language used should be GRADED and
language used should be relevant and necessary to the content. Use clear body
language
3. Target Language Understanding: The learners must be able to understand the
meaning of the material. T should check for comprehension in context (not Y/N
answers simply.
4. Short-term Memory in the Classroom: Ss will have to retain the information from the
presentation and use it later when we give them an opportunity to practice then
produce it on their own. We need to consider that different learners will remember the
material in different ways: seen, heard, associated with a physical movement etc. We
need to make sure our presentation has something to enable all these types of
learners to retain the information.

PRACTICE

Practice can roughly be defined as the rehearsal of certain behaviors with the
objective of consolidating learning and improving performance. Some of the
characteristics of an effective language practice are:

1. Practice validity: rehearse the skill and content you presented, nothing more.
2. Volume/quantity: Give each S a number of opportunities to practice the new
language/content (worksheets, various types of exercise, etc). I like to do two practice
rounds in two different ways.
3. Error correction: Errors should be corrected here as it is an accuracy orientated
exercise in practice.
4. Success Orientation: the activity should reenforce what was learned in
presentation, which stretches them but is also one they CAN complete based just on
what was learned in Presentation. Instructions should be clear and unambiguous (it
should be clear what they have to do). Teacher should monitor actively here,
correcting, offering help, etc.

PRODUCTION

The students have now had the target language presented to them clearly and have
had an opportunity to practice it in a controlled environment. Now we are asking them
to PRODUCE that language/content (not simple read it, etc) with minimal assistance
from T (as opposed to Practice stage where T monitored, helped etc).
As with the practice stage, we have to initiate an activity that allows them
opportunities to use the target language in the classroom in a more autonomous way.
In fact, the characteristics of a production stage activity are quite similar to the
practice stage with one key difference and that is, student autonomy.
For production we should keep these in mind:

1. Volume/quantity: Again, try to give as many opportunities as possible, so not

necessarily S talking to T, but S to S (so more students talk at once, etc).
2. Production validity: we should initiate an activity that allows the students to
produce the target language that we presented to them and not a variation on it
(although this is not strictly true with higher level students.
3. Production contextualization: The activity should simulate a real–life situation
where they (the students) may use the target language.
4. Student Autonomy: we should have them try to do this as independently as
possible, not looking up answers etc as they go or looking to visual references
(erasing from the board anything they can read or copy at this stage from Practice.
5. Instructions: should be clear, etc
6. Feedback/ correction errors: we should monitor and offer encouragement, but
corrections should be minimal since we are focusing on fluency in production. Uses
gestures where possible and to motivate them to self-correct.
DIS:
It all sounds quite logical but teachers who use this method will soon identify
problems with it:
● Students can give the impression that they are comfortable with the new
language as they are producing it accurately in the class. Often though a few
lessons later, students will either not be able to produce the language correctly
or even won't produce it at all.
● Students will often produce the language but overuse the target structure so
that it sounds completely unnatural.
● Students may not produce the target language during the free practice stage
because they find they are able to use existing language resources to
complete the task.
 MODULE 4 MOTIVATION

Views on motivation: Know about TWO of the following:

Operant conditioning (behaviorism)

“Focuses almost completely on what can be directly seen or heard about a person’s
behavior, and has relatively few comments about what may lie behind (or “underneath” or
“inside”) the behavior” (Lumen, n.d.). Behavior is operant and is influenced by
conditioning (rewards, etc).

We should be cautious in considering only behaviorist perspectives. People are not

robots, and extrinsic reinforcement can backfire. See disadvantages in Lumen.

Goals

These affect achievement in education. Mastery-performance goals are different (see

Dweck later for mindsets on this).

Mastery: learning enjoyment

Performance: trying to please others (more extrinsic, shorter-lived motivation).

Related to performance are also failure avoidance goals which are destructive.

Interests

”The challenge for teachers is therefore to draw on and encourage students’ interest as
much as possible, and thus keep the required effort within reasonable bounds—neither
too hard nor too easy” (Lumen, n.d.).

1. Situational vs personal interests

Situational: these are created by the immediate situation (class, grade, etc) anr are
temporary.

Personal: more permanent S preferences.

Note that extrinsic and intrinsic motivation is related to this.

Note that T can stimulate situation interest to try to create more lasting personal interest
later.

Some strategies:
-Include surprises or counter-intuitive information (but don’t mislead or distract them. It
should be relevant)

-relate new material to S prior experiences

-Encourage S to respond to new material ACTIVELY

Self-efficacy

S’s motives are also affected by specific beliefs about the student’s personal capacities,
their ability to effect change in their environments.

Their self-efficacy will affect:

-their choice of tasks (easy and uninteresting, or more challenging and more interesting.
-how long they persist in doing tasks.

-their response to failure or setbacks (See Dweck on more of this)

Self-efficacy: learned helplessness

If a person’s sense of self-efficacy is very low, he or she can develop learned

helplessness, a perception of complete lack of control in mastering a task. The attitude is
similar to depression, a pervasive feeling of apathy and a belief that effort makes no
difference and does not lead to success.

Ts can encourage students’ self-efficacy by:

-Guide S to build a history of successes

-Let’s them see how others master similar tasks (modelling etc)

-Being aware of affective factors and recognizing them.

Self-determination (intrinsic/extrinsic)

SD theory is related to Maslow’s theory of our NEEDS as humans, which later influence
our choices and thus activities.

Deci & Ryan (2000) list three human needs:

● autonomy—the need to feel free of external constraints on behavior

● competence—the need to feel capable or skilled

● relatedness—the need to feel connected or involved with others.

Intrinsic motivation is key (though we all experience both types in different amounts in
different moments). “We might enjoy teaching, for example, but also do this job partly to
receive a paycheck. To its credit, self-determination theory also relies on a list of basic
human needs—autonomy, competence, and relatedness—that relate comfortably with
some of the larger purposes of education.”

INTRINSIC EXTRINSIC

▪ Preference for challenge ▪ Preference for easy work

▪ Curiosity/interest ▪ Pleasing teacher/getting grades

▪ Independent mastery ▪ Dependence on teacher in figuring out

problems

▪ Independent judgment Reliance on a teacher’s judgment about

what to do

▪ Internal criteria for success ▪ External criteria for success

First need: self-determination and sense

of increasing competence

and this:

Attributions

Attributions are perceptions about the causes of success and failure. These are also
related to Dweck’s mindsets.

ATTRIBUTION THEORIES (HEIDER, 1958): WHY DO I FAIL, AND WHY DO I SUCCEED?

▪ We seek cause and effect…

1. Internal Attribution:The process of assigning the cause of behavior to some internal

characteristic, rather than to outside forces. When we explain the behavior of others we
look for enduring internal attributions, such as personality traits. For example, we
attribute the behavior of a person to their personality, motives or beliefs.
2. External Attribution: The process of assigning the cause of behavior to some situation
or event outside a person's control rather than to some internal characteristic. When we
try to explain our own behavior we tend to make external attributions, such as situational
or environment features.

Attributions are classified along three causal dimensions:

1. locus of control (two poles: internal vs. external)

2. stability (do causes change over time or not?)

3. controllability (causes one can control such as skills vs. causes one cannot control such
as luck, others’ actions, etc.)

Attribution theories in EFL

Sahinkarakas, 2011. YL internal and unstable factors, with listening to the teacher and
doing homework being the most significant.

Fielden & Rico, 2018. Vocational EFL students showed internal attributions for errors,
external attributions for improvements (T, etc). (lose/lose!)

Integrative vs instrumental motivation:

Motivation to learn a language is defined by Gardner as “the desire to learn a language,
the motivation intensity, and attitudes towards learning such language”.
▪ Instrumental Orientation:the reason to learn a language lies in external goals such as
passing exams, financial rewards, a career or gaining promotion.
▪ Integrative Orientation:the reason to learn a language lies in the wish to identify with
the culture of speakers of that language. Confidence and friendship are other important
motivating factors.
We all have both BUT higher integrative motivation has been shown to be one of the best
predictors of success for language learning.

L2 selves:
Related to integrative motivation: L2 Selves
The ideal L2 self is an image of oneself as a proficient L2 speaker. Motivation to learn an
L2 will be the result of efforts to reduce the disparity between one's actual and ideal self.
Ought-to L2 self consists of beliefs a person has about what is expected of us and
avoidance of negative outcomes. Feared L2 Self is the sort of negative outcomes we
might fear.
Fixed and growth mindsets by Dweck (goals, view of effort, reaction to failure/setbacks,
and ESPECIALLY GROWTH-MINDED FEEDBACK (praise).

Fixed mindset: Intelligence is a fixed trait. You can’t change it

Growth mindset: You can grow your intelligence through effort.

Growth Mindset and Achievement

● Decades of research show a powerful relationship between mindset and achievement.

● Students’ beliefs about intelligence and learning impact:

- Motivation
- Academic behaviors (e.g., studying and seeking help)
- Responses to challenges and setbacks
- Academic achievement

Goals

Looking smart is most important: “The main thing I want when I do my school work is to
show how good I am at it."

Learning is most important: “It’s much more important for me to learn things in my
classes than it is to get the best grades.

Effort is negative:

“If you have to work very hard you must not be very smart."

Effort is positive:

“The harder you work at something, the better you’ll be at it.

Helpless

“I would spend less time on this subject from now on.”

“I would try not to take this subject ever again.”

Resilient

“I would work harder in this class from now on.”

“I would spend more time studying for the tests.

Growth Mindset Feedback

Don’t Focus On:

○ Qualities commonly interpreted as stable, like talent or intelligence.

○ Talking about what they ARE perceived to BE.

Do Focus On:

○ Effort and strategies used

○ Talking about what they DID/ARE DOING.

“I like how you tried a new way to solve that.”

○ Abilities improving over time with practice

“You’ve been practicing and I can see it’s paying off.”

○ Mistakes and being challenged as necessary part of learning

“Mistakes help us:– being challenged is when the brain grows most.”
Mistakes/slips vs. systematic errors.
Mistakes or Slips:
Students use the correct form, and make the slip due to carelessness, tiredness, distraction,
inattentiveness, etc. Students can usually correct these kinds of mistakes themselves.
Systematic errors:
Students make a genuine mistake because they don't actually know the correct form. The
error is made due to factors such as trying to produce something which has not been fully
learnt or learnt incorrectly, interference from L1, mistaken beliefs about the L2 rules.
Students are not usually able to self-correct errors.

Global vs. local errors.

Global errors: cause misunderstanding by the listener: they ate smoked worms. (They are
smoked eel).

Local error: do not cause misunderstanding as they only relate to a part of what was said,
and can be easily adjusted for: there are long trees on my street (...tall trees…).

Factors in learner errors.

Factors in learner errors:
Developmental error: they haven't gotten there yet.
Mislearning: learning something incorrectly.
Fossilization: mis learnt language becomes a habit and feels correct.
Language learnt as “chunks” and not analyzed

Categories for slips/mistakes and why they are made.

Grammar - mixing up tenses.
Register - using formal language in an informal context.
Lexis - confusion over words with similar meanings.
Pronunciation - confusing sounds of L1 & L2.
Misunderstanding what they hear - caused by difficulties in distinguishing sounds, words,
word boundaries in connected speech.
Spelling - writing words which have similar sounds but are spelt differently.

Why do we make mistakes/slips?

● Interlanguage. A stage in learning in which Ss mix elements of L1 structure, rules or
pronunciation with L2 when they use L2. This is constantly changing as learners
progress in L2 (By me a dog, I no come).
● Mother-tongue interference. Applying the rules of L1 to L2 (The news are good).
● Carelessness. Not paying attention (I’ll be in a minute, I am just wearing my coat. (I
am just putting my coat on) NB! This could be also due to tiredness or interlanguage.
● Translation. Converting from L1. This cause is very close to the Mother-tongue
interference category (e.g. using ‘please’ when you give someone something).
● Overgeneralization/over-application. Assuming a rule applies in all cases and
over-using it (How many childs have you got?).
 ● Tiredness. Feeling tired (e.g. missing out words, using simpler forms). Ss can correct
these when prompted.
● Anxiety. Feeling nervous (e.g. disjointed sentences).

- Making mistakes is a natural part of language learning.

- Mistakes play an important role in indicating to teachers the stage learners are at.
- Mistakes show needs for further teaching or study.
- Mistakes help teachers to advise learners on what to do to improve.

Speaking vs. writing errors.

Speaking. Affective factors involved: anxiety, etc.
We should not correct mistake/slips in the moment they occur in speaking activities when we
are focusing on fluency unless the slip/mistake is global, i.e, it impedes understanding by the
listener:
- Correct afterwards, in a positive, constructive way, the most important slips.
- Recast and elicit as caretakers do for L1 language learning.

Writing. This is more process oriented.

- Remember to correct what are mistakes and not errors (unless you need to advance
information in order to make something clear, and be explicit about what you are
doing).
- Consider a writing code to draw attention to forms.
- Writing code is only as effective as the opportunity to interpret it and rewrite.
- Writing is a process. It must have several stages.
Correcting for speaking: recasting (RER components) and writing errors (codes)
Speaking.
The RER of recasting:
React positively
Engage
Repeat

● How to correct.
- Recasting.
- Asking for clarification or repetition.
- Indicating doubt or confusion verbally. But, know when to stop. Humiliating
students has the opposite effect for self-correction.
- Indicating confusion and eliciting through nonverbal cues a retry.
- Imagine a student says in class: He were happy.
- Give an example of how to recast (RER) to give gentle feedback to correct this slip.
Important in all:
1. Encourage self-monitoring: the ability to check oneself and adjust.
2. Allow students an opportunity to finish well and have the last word to
themselves say the correct answer.
3. Consider affect and motivation throughout.
Writing.

WW Wrong word

WO Mistake in word order

SP Spelling mistake

V Verb used wrongly

P Wrong punctuation

X Extra word

? Meaning unclear

T Wrong tense

^ Something missing

PROS CONS
● Feedback tailored to individual ● Student training is required.
needs. ● Some students may find it not
● Students assume responsibility user-friendly.

The dos and don'ts of error correction (know 4, two of each).

Do Tell students what they got (Growth mindset) Praise is

right as well as what was very important for
wrong motivation and developing
self-confidence

Don´t Judge Students by the errors Errors are inevitable and

they make integral part of learning, so
there are no point in
deciding that learners are
“good” or “bad”

Don´t Correct all mistake during a If you do this you will

fluency activity interrupt the flow of activity.
Only correct them if the
error causes
miscommunication
Do Encourage students to
correct themselves. “Can
anyone help us?”
Don´t Discourage students from
correcting each other, as
long as they are kind and
constructive
Don´t Correct all learners in the
same way
Do Create a classroom
atmosphere where Ss feel
free to ask for help
Do See errors as useful
Do Anticipate the errors that
might occur when planning
a lesson
This is a good habit – the
more they can do this the
less dependent on the
teacher they will be and will
help them to analyze and
understand better
Students can learn a lot from
each other. Ss are often able
to explain things to each
other in a way they
understand better then when
teacher explains
Students may be at different
levels, have different
learning styles and work at
different paces. Teachers
need to consider when
students would benefit from
correction and when not
This helps self-confidence
and encourages students to
try things out for themselves
Teachers can learn about
their students through the
kinds of errors they make.
Errors can provide feedback
on the teacher’s work, and
may help her to plan or
adjust activities in future
lessons
A good teacher tries to
predict the types of errors a
particular activity may
throw up and then work out
strategies for dealing with
them. (e.g. pre-teaching the
vocabulary)