Issues in language learning

II
Overview
• To sum up
• The influence of L1
• Motivation in SLA Images retrieved from:
appadvice.com; udemy.com;
pinterest.com
• Misunderstandings about teaching language learners
Revision
• Do the kahoot quiz to see what you remember from last week 
To summarise
• Younger is better:
a) For some aspects of language – e.g. pronounciation
b) Possibly for motivation – but the conditions have to be right!
c) Benefits like interculturalism, tolerance etc. – but again, the
conditions need to be right
d) IF the transitions between e.g. primary/secondary schools make
sense

What does that mean for us?

To summarise
• As teachers, we need to make sure they get the best out of their early
learning experience!
Let’s look at another statement….
• Most of the mistakes which second language learners make are due
to interference from their first language.
• Many errors from L1 – but other sources, too – e.g. overgeneralization
of rules
• This happens in L1, too – children say „went” but when they learn the
–ed rule, they suddenly start saying „goed”  this is evidence of the
learners’ efforts to discover the structure of the target language!
• Not necessarily bad transfer – knowledge of multiple languages also
has a positive effect

Image retrieved from:

clipart.emal
The influence of L1 on the L2
• The “Competition Model” of linguistic performance – a theory that
explains how L1 learning may affect L2 development (Bates &
MacWhinney, 1989):
• different languages have different ways of carrying meaning, and the
particular ways in which a language encodes meaning act as “cues” to
interpreting the meaning of what is said (e.g. word order in English);
The influence of L1 on the L2
• All levels of L can provide cues – lexis, morphology (word endings or
prefixes) and phonology (the sound system of a L).
• Children become sensitive to the reliability of cues in their L1 from
early infancy; they learn to pay attention to particular cues which hold
useful information for meaning.
• Later, they will transfer these L1 strategies to make sense of L2
sentences, trying to find information in similar places.
The influence of L1 on the L2
• Interlanguage
• The language system of L2 learners – reflects the evolving system of
rules, results from a variety of processes (e.g. L1 transfer,
overgeneralization etc.)
• Sometimes we progress in some areas, but stagnate in others –
interlanguage in the phase between L1 and L2
• Fossilization – when we aren’t moving forward in a specifc aspect of
learning
(Nordquist, 2020)
Let’s look at another statement…
• The most important predictor of success in second language
acquisition is motivation.

• Definitely importaint, but not always the most important

• Extrinsic – comes from outside the learners (e.g. need to pass an
exam)
• Intrinsic – passion for learning, sense of competence while
performing challenging tasks (Oxford, 2013 in Harmer, 2015)

Image retrieved from:

clipart.emal
Motivation in SLA
• What (or who) do you think affects motivation for young learners?
How does motivation change with age? Think about 1st graders and
4th/5th/6th graders (etc.)
• Is motivation the sole responsibility of the teacher? What can/can’t
teachers do about it?

Image retrieved from:

flaticon.com
Motivation in SLA
• Attitudes of families to learning – if language learning is not
interesting to the family, strong personal feelings are needed to
counter this
• Younger students – natural curiosity which affects initial motivation –
with age this is affected by previous learing experiences
• The teacher – this changes with age 
• The students’ peers – the power of the group
• With age - less influence from the teacher/family
Motivation in SLA
• Is motivation the sole responsibility of the teacher?
• Defnitely not, but there is a lot teacher can do
• Btw, what are affective factors?
• Emotional factors which influence learning, either in a positive or
negative way
• We can influence this by using activities and methods which foster
self-esteem – shaping learners’ beliefs about how successful they are!
• We can establish good classroom rapport, take a personal interest
Motivation in SLA
• Our expectations need to be just right – not too low, not too high
• Our task is to make sure that students can do what we ask them to do -
we’ll talk about this later – Vygotsky & ZPD

• What is learner autonomy?

• Our goal should be for our students to become autonomous learners –
even young learners should take some responsibility for their learning
• E.g. being able to assess their own progress, figure out what they need
to work on
Think about this…
• Two common misunderstandings about teaching children (Cameron,
2001)
1. Teaching children is straightforward
2. Children only need to learn simple language

Image retrieved from:

flaticon.com
Children only need to learn simple language
This is connected to the following statements:
Teachers should teach simple language structures before complex ones.

Teachers should use materials that expose students to only those

language structures they have already been taught.

Teachers should present grammatical rules one at a time, and learners

should practice examples of each one before going to another.
Children only need to learn simple language
• Children can always do more than we think they can – huge learning
potential we have to exploit in the classroom
• Lots of kids are exposed to English outside the classroom – know
most of the vocabulary, want to speak in English – a part of the global
community of English language users – we shouldn’t ignore them!
Children only need to learn simple language
• In FLT, syllabuses for primary children should include a broad
discourse and lexis, some more complex grammatical categories (not
only Simple Present & Present Continuous) = with an early start
children will arrive in secondary classrooms with much higher and
more diverse levels of the FL (there is enough time to introduce
changes as the child changes and grows).
Children only need to learn simple language
• Children need more than “simple” language in terms of:
• A) more complex topics: e.g. dinosaurs and evolution, difficult topics
like how computers work, abstract ones (pollution of the
environment);
• B) language structures: L1 development is built out of a lexical base,
and the grammar emerges from lexical and communicative
development = children use “difficult” structures in their L1 as part of
their lexical repertoires.
So, what about exposure?
• Appropriate exposure = comprehensible input = input from which
leanrers can actually learn
• But – learners can understand the general meaning of texts that
contain vocabulary and grammar they’ve never learnt about
• Exposure that is too limited – loss of motivation
• Very important – students need to develop strategies for dealing with
‘authentic’ materials – we want them to prepare for language use
outside the classroom
So, what about exposure?
• Is language learning linear? Do students learn something that they’re
taught and that’s it?
• No (sadly ) – we learn and we forget – language development is not
just adding one rule (e.g. grammar) after another – „…process of
integrating new language forms and patterns into an existing
interlanguage, readjusting an restructuring until all pieces fit.”
(Lightbown & Spada, 2006, pg. 189)
• When it comes to simple/complex forms – again, no use in restricting
exposure – learners benefit from different modifications which
include paraphrasing, repetition etc…
Teaching children is straightforward
• children: a less complicated view of the world than older children and
adults, BUT it does not imply that teaching them is simple!
• the teachers of children (primary teachers): highly skilled +
understand how children make sense of the world and how they learn
+ skills of analysing learning tasks and of using language to teach new
ideas;
 SKILLS IN MANAGING
LANGUAGE KNOWLEDGE
CHILDREN AND KEEPING
THEM ON TASK

LANGUAGE
TEACHER

LANGUAGE LEARNING
LANGUAGE TEACHING
KNOWLEDGE
KNOWLEDGE
 Information
about students

Pshycological factors
Schemata
Cognitive style Personal needs Social factors
Affective factor

Language
teacher

Selection of Presentation of Creation of the

material material learning
environment
References
• Cameron, L. (2001). Teaching languages to young learners. Ernst Klett
Sprachen.
• Harmer, J. (2015) The practice of English language teaching. Pearson.
• Lightbown, P.M. & Spada, N. (2006). How languages are learned (3rd
edition). Oxford University Press.
• Nordquist, Richard. (2020). Interlanguage Definition and Examples.
Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-interlanguage-
1691074