Factors and reasons that could be determinant in the language learning How old is the person?

Child / Adolescent / Adult

Why does the person need or want to learn this language?

School curriculum Advancement Emigration English for Specific Purposes Culture Other reasons

Other factors

Educational background

Behaviourism

Developed between the 1940s and the 1970s by Brooks and Lado. Development of audiolingual teaching materials:

Mimicry and memorization

Dialogues and patterns learned by heart

Language as formation of habits

According to the CAH (contrastive analysis hypothesis) first and target languages are similar. Opposition: innatism

Example

Basic conversation, ex: introduce yourself

Teacher: What is your name?

Student: My name is...... Repeatition of one word, ex: apple. Teacher: what is this? Student: This an apple

Use of Flashcards

Innatism

Noam Chomsky: biological determined process in the development period of the child. White: universal grammar to explain language acquisition of the target language.

Universal grammar: is a notion that there is an underlying set of characteristics that are true for all the languages. This characteristics are innate.
Opposition: could be the target language considered in the same way as the first language?

Krashens model

1970s

five hypothesis:

Acquisition-learning Monitor Natural order Input Affective filter

The learner improves with real-life practice Emphasis is on:

exposure/input not practice

Cognitivism

The student has to be active in the process of learning Connecting knowledge: new with prior Focuses on thinking and solving problems, concept formation Give tips on how to face some problems