Said oujaani 2nd journal

MA linguistics
09003811
Session-journal of applied

Jan the fourteenth.

Behaviorism

The class-arrangement the professor does enable us to elicit to what extent can we,
trainees, impress each other and come out with what the real sense of behaviorism is,
and whether this theory can be actually applied in different schools /teaching
environments. By the end of the exercise, the professor defined the behaviorism that I
leant about as follow:
The concept of behaviorism is first introduced by J.B. Watson at the early 20 th century
has been around the educational circles for many years. Some of its philosophy has
been proven by other behaviorists to be very useful to educators in terms of behavior
modification techniques and the place they have in classroom management.
If one employs behaviorism in the classroom-sessions, it is more imperative to make it
be applied correctly. But, knowing that every theory is assumption based, Skinnerian
teachers would avoid the use of punishment by reinforcing certain classroom behaviors,
such as throwing focus on contingent misbehaviors via positive but empirical dealing
that can decrease or alter those behaviors to the point that serves the teaching process.
Thus the behaviorist classroom management techniques are often effective when
others are not. Behavioral teaching and learning focuses on skills that will be used later.
Behavioral learning does not usually demand that a learner be able to put the skills or
knowledge to use in a "real" or "authentic" situation. It is simply believed that the
learner will be able to do so because he/she has the correct knowledge or skills needed
for such a situation. The collapsing and easement of complex tasks into smaller, more
manageable sub-skills, such as the teaching of reading or mathematics, is very common
in American schools today. Behavioral instruction is primarily "teacher-centered" as
opposed to "learner-driven." The true behaviorist teacher believes that learning is
passive and that students must learn the correct response. The reinforcement for that
correct response must be swift and appropriate. Knowledge according to a behaviorist
teacher is a matter of remembering rather than acquiring information. Understanding
on the part of the learner would simply be a matter of recognizing already existing
patterns.
Consequently behaviorism as one of theories supporting the teaching-learning skills has
its drawbacks though it conducts applicable success. Thus the view of the behaviorist
psychologists has to be reinforced by a degree of “idealization” in leading such theory,
because the teaching-learning process is more than considering classical or operant
conditioning; it is a mental activity before it has been considered a behavioral exercise.
Said oujaani 3rd journal
MA TEFEL
09003811
Session-journal of General pedagogy

Jan 5th.

Continue of the previous session

Today’s session recapitulated Pavlov and Skinner practical theories. There were also
varied references to their successfulness by implying examples and making comparison
with other theories and what comes of the linkage between those theories of applying
teaching and management of classroom-reflexion or systemic feedbacks “behaviorism”.
To my point of view, both theorists who produced certain terms and gave those
definitions helped us realize how implication and application can work in teaching; as
such positive and negative punishment can reinforce the classroom effective role.
However these laboratory acts or terms would remain limit by means of their use of
drills as a top model of teaching or learning which can be only workable as an audio-
lingual method (I.e. the army method based on oral rehearsals and fixed repetitive
instruction); they never consider different uses of learning in acquiring an SL or other
subjects of mental activities. Behaviorism is a mechanical method of teaching; it relies
on substitution exercises, a book-knowledge fixed from A to Z, and a set habits or
repetitive behaviors to be replied in a classroom. And, because I do believe that learning
reinforces the acquisition of something yet the acquisition may not be even
accomplished without a certain level of learning, of here comes the role of reactions—
the use of mind—rather than it had been simple executions before any explanation.
Providing that the deductive and inductive teaching can sterilize learning if they are
misused or used more mechanically, I mean without clinging to the acquisition device
that Chomsky introduced the teaching-learning process would achieve poor results. So,
we as would-be teachers must still in mind that we have to be always creative and
effective with teaching. However we may not be able to deny that behaviorism is
beneficial up-to the extent that one learns the basis ( of FL or SL ) and a teacher
transfers them to his/her students, but behaviorism is confined to non-creativity in the
process of acquisition and learning.