Second Language Acquisition Essays (Examples)

These people are also, reportedly, more creative, and also excellent at problem solving. One Moroccan individual was injured in an accident, she was a bi-lingual, and she could speak both French and Arabic before the accident. During her recovery, she found to her amazement, tat she could speak French one day but not Arabic, and one day, Arabic and not French. After three months, she could speak both fluently.

Today, with the increasing advent of globalization in every sphere of life, it must be stated that almost everyone has something to say about it. While a businessman may feel that the world markets would open up as a direct consequence of globalization, some others may feel that since globalization would only serve to, eventually, widen the already wide gap between the rich and the poor of the world, it may not be such a nice thing, after all. However, the…

" (Collier, 1995) Academic work through the progression of each grade brings expansion to the vocabulary, sociolinguistic, and discourse dimensions to the language higher cognition. Academic knowledge and development "transfer from the first language to the second language" (Collier, 1994) making it more efficient that academic work is developed through the first language of the student with teaching of the second language occurring during other times of the school day and through "meaningful academic content." (Collier, 1994) the fourth component in Collier's model is the component of cognition which, according to the work of Collier "has been mostly neglected by second language educators in the U.S. " (1994) These four components are so closely inter-dependent that "if one is developed to the neglect of another, this may be detrimental to a student's overall growth and future success." (Collier, 1994) Research has shown that development, both in terms of cognition and…

The Natural Order hypothesis posits that there is a "natural order" that is predictable when it comes to acquiring grammatical structures. The Input hypothesis is completely in relation to the Acquisition hypothesis and it is especially vital to the understanding of how one learns a second language. Krashen (1997) believes that "if a learner is at a stage 'i', then acquisition takes place when he/she is exposed to 'Comprehensible Input' that belongs to level 'i' plus 1" (1997). This means that if students are at different levels, they can learn, essentially, from those who are more proficient.

The fifth and final hypothesis, Affective Filter, has to do with Krashen's belief that a number of "affective variables" play a role, though not a fundamental one, in second language acquisition. Some of these variables, according to Krashen, could be positive self-image, confidence or lack of confidence, low or high motivation, etc. The…

Second Language Acquisition

Advantages and Disadvantages of ringing up Children ilingually

Much of the debate on bilingual education is wasteful, ironic, hypocritical, and regressive. It is wasteful because instead of directing attention to sound educational practices, it has led to advocating specific "models" based solely on what language should be used for what purpose. It is ironic because most attacks on bilingual education arise from an unfounded apprehension that English will be abandoned in the United Kingdom, whereas, in fact, the rest of the world doubts the opposite; the lure of English and attention in European traditions are seen by non-English-speaking countries as a danger to their own languages and traditions. It is hypocritical for the reason that most challengers of using languages other than English for teaching furthermore want to endorse foreign language requirements for high school commencement. Additionally, it is regressive and xenophobic since the rest of the…

The illustrations found within the pages of Dr. Seuss stories are also an attention grabber which help keep students focused and tie into the lessons of prepositions and vocabulary.

Another simple yet effective method of teaching English to ESL students is to utilize game playing strategies. Games are used in learning since birth, and for adults and kids alike, it is the best way to incorporate all the students together in the learning process. All students are encouraged t participate, which therefore raises the level of success for each individual student. Many studies have shown that students have the greatest success rate when they are more active in the learning process. Through game playing, the teacher gets the students motivated and interested in learning a second language. Tons of games can be turned into language teachers and be used to help instruct the vital lessons of the English language. Students…

The sociocultural perspective is based on the work of Vygotsky who asserted that the mechanism underlying development, including linguistic development, occurs through social interaction (Eun and Lim 17). Learning occurs when "an individual interacts with an interlocutor within his or her zone of proximal development (ZPD) -- that is, in a situation in which the learner is capable of performing at a higher level because there is support from an interlocutor" (Lightbown and Spada 47). Eun and Lim add that the developmental process is always initiated between people and only gradually moves into the individual's psychological plane (17). In other words, people develop through interactions with others that are conducted primarily be means of the linguistic system. According to Eun and Lim, the two key concepts of Vygotsky's theory are mediation and meaning (15). "Mediation refers to the process by which socially meaningful activities transform impulsive, unmediated, and natural behavior…

"

Stated to be indentified in this framework are three categories of knowledge that represent "key components in the process of cognitive appraisal" which are those of:

1) Person knowledge;

2) Task knowledge; and 3) Strategy knowledge.

Task knowledge is stated to "acknowledge the successes or failures in one's learning. Person knowledge is related to one's learning abilities and knowledge about internal and external factors that affect the success of failure in one's learning." (Vandergrift, et al., 2006) Finally, strategy knowledge "is useful for achieving learning goals and appears to have the greatest impact on learning by helping learners to choose the strategies that they use." (Vandergrift, et al., 2006) the following figure lists the three factor of metacognitive knowledge and examples from listening.

Metacognitive Knowledge and Examples from Listening

Source: Vandergrift, et al. (2006)

The work of Vandergrift, et al. (2006) states that metacognitive knowledge is "in essence...both self-reflection…

He have band-aid on the arm, the leg, the stomach. This boy cry in the arm of your mother.

Stage 2 -- Emergence; emergence of 'his' and 'her' with a preference for one of the forms.

For example: The mother is dressing her little boy, and she put her clothes, her pant, her coat, and then she finish.

Stage 3 -- Post-emergence; differentiated use of 'his' and 'her' but not correctly when the possessed object has gender.

For example: The girl fell on her bicycle. She look his father and cry.

Stage 4 -- Error free use of 'his' and 'her' in all contexts.

For example; The little girl with her dad play together. And the dad take his girl on his shoulder and he hurts his back (Lightbown and Spada 89-90).

In examining the developmental sequence of relative clauses, Lightbown and Spada (90) report a definitive sequence, presented below.…

ICT, SA, and Oral Practice in Second Language

Faculty's Name

Importance of ICT, SA and Oral Practice in Second Language Acquisition (Applied Linguistics)

Information Communication Technology (ICT) is one of the most attracted terminology in the field of education. This very concept has managed to bring a great deal of finesse in the traditional method of teaching. here ICT has now, a fundamental importance in the traditional methods of teaching, it has also managed to embark its worth in the learning of second languages and content and language integrated learning, by acting as a major tool in doing so.

As per UNESCO, "ICT is a scientific, technological and engineering discipline and management technique used in handling information, its application and association with social, economical and cultural matters." ith the very concept of ICT, treatment towards information has differed and evolved greatly. Now, the storage, manipulation, usage and dissemination of information…

Right from the Beginning

Lightbown and Spada present six proposals for teaching second and foreign language. The first of these is called "Get it right from the beginning" (138). This approach, known also as audiolingual teaching, was formed as a reaction to the grammar translation method. Lightbown and Spada (138) explain that with grammar translation, students translate a text line by line from the second language to their first language. Instruction under this method may also include comprehension questions (usually answered in the first language) and a focus on grammar instruction. However, instructors realized a need for oral practice which led to the development of the audiolingual method. According to Lightbown and Spada (138) the audiolingual method is based on the theories of behaviorism and contrastive analysis.

According to Second Language Acquisition, language instruction in the 1950s and 1960s followed the behaviorism theory. Language instruction under this theory is essentially…

Chinese Students

Introduction and Statement of Purpose

"A language achieves a genuinely global status when it develops a special role that is recognized in every country" (Crystal, 2003, p. 3). In China, English is a compulsory subject from the 3rd grade and designated as one of the primary subjects for national college entrance examinations, and deemed necessary for college students in securing their initial degrees at colleges and universities and a skill necessary for personal well being (He, 2002; Hu, 2202b; heng & Davidson, 2008). However, many students have not developed sufficient proficiencies and competencies in regard to English language use and usage to meet the challenges of not just securing his or her college education but the emerging and unrelenting challenges of globalization (Hu, 2000b; hu, 2003).

Background (Literature Review)

The development of English as a universal language has a history of prominent and rapid expansion that dates back…

Practices in Classroom Second Language Acquisition
1.Role-play a conversation between a travel agent and a tourist—Get it right in the end because ultimately the tourist wants the correct information and that may be difficult due to language barriers, so some struggle is expected.
2.Memorize a dialogue about buying airline tickets—Get it right in the end because ultimately the key is to get it memorized correctly.
3.Underline the past tense verbs while reading a story—Get it right in the beginning because this is an exercise that should be completed in the first go around. It could also be Just listen and read, because it focuses on reading and seeing.
4.Arrange illustrations in the correct sequence after listening to a story—Just listen and read because it focuses on listening to a story and then arranging the visual depictions in the right order.
5.Work with a partner to write a story based on…

Feedback in Instructed Second Language Acquisition
In the first case, the English speaker shortened the response to make it clearer. In the second case, the English speaker settled on one verb instead of two to make a clear response. In the third case, the English speaker used correct grammar to express a complete thought instead of attempting to stammer his way through a response.
The functions that these modifications serve in communication are that they make expressions clearer and more easily understandable. They provide clarification in each case.
This language behavior connects to what Gass et al. (2013) show in their article on second language acquisition, in which outputs act as a synthesis of integrated inputs. The modifications that the English speakers make fit into comprehended input for a language learner in the sense that they are meant to act as clarifications of thoughts that were poorly expressed the first…

Second language proficiency and academic achievement can be challenging to develop simultaneously. Krashen's (2010) work illustrates the various systems of learning, including the learning that takes place subconsciously and the learning that takes place more by rote methods. Likewise, Gottlieb (2006) differentiates between social and academic language proficiency and academic achievement for students. The acquisition of the language entails different cognitive processes than the acquisition of subject-specific knowledge. Educators armed with a more thorough understanding of academic versus language proficiency can better help their students succeed on both levels.

Krashen (2010) points out that each human being learns language in the same way. Individual differences may be important for current scientific paradigms, but for educators, a more universal approach will be far more helpful in creating a classroom environment and pedagogical approach that will be effective. After all, human biology is universal; so, too are the cognitive processes involved in…

The groups were distinguished by those who participated in language acquisition activities employing enhanced reading with word-based activities and those who participated in what the researcher called 'narrow reading,' which occurred without this supplementary instruction. The two groups were asked to retain the same scope of fifty selected vocabulary words. Min would find that those in the former group, denoted as the "RV" group, performed significantly better than those in the "NR" group. In interpretation, Min tells that "the results show that the RV group demonstrated significantly more knowledge about the target vocabulary than the NR group on the acquisition and retention tests. The researcher concludes that reading plus focused vocabulary exercises are more effective and efficient than the narrow reading approach in enhancing target vocabulary acquisition and retention among EFL secondary students." (Min, p. 75)

Min would go on to suggest that the value in this study rests in…

Theoretical Perspectives

Example of Checklist 1: Video 1: Story Time

Child's Name: Kyla

Date Observed: April 7th 2014

The teacher is reading a story on how to make a pumpkin pie

Please write down at least five eading Behaviors you expect to observe below:

eading Behaviors Observed:

(Please checkmark any behaviors/characteristics observed below)

Characteristic Present

Demonstrates what the teacher does like "pouring, Kicking"

Expresses herself in complete sentences

Can complete sentences with the teacher

Follows the teachers narration attentively

Can keep track of the story

Example of Anecdotal ecord:

Video 2: Sam eading Books

Purpose of the Observation Identified: Vocabulary level

Date of Observation

April 7th 2014

Name of Child:

Sam

Age of Child

From this activity, Sam reads two books about animals. In the first book, although not audible, one can hear him mentioning some animal names like elephant, frog, and crow. As he finishes the first book, he…

Language Diversity

Crawford begins the article by highlighting problems associated with second language instruction in American classrooms. According to the statistics cited most approaches used in these classrooms are inadequate to provide students with the necessary skills to communicate in the target language outside of the classroom. The reason for this is a lack of focus on communication skills, combined with an inflated focus on form rather than function. Despite efforts to improve upon this by methods such as the total immersion approach and the audiolingual method, results are still shown to be poor. Chomsky, Krashen and Cummins's theories are shown to have revolutionized language acquisition theories, and thus also language teaching methods. Furthermore Crawford shows that a child's inherent feelings about his or her own culture, and consequently about the culture represented by the target language, have a significant impact upon second language learning. It is then suggested that…

If language is like food, then the ingredients are its words; the cooking process is its grammar; the nutritional value is its semantics. Some sentences are simple staples like rice and beans. Others are primarily aesthetic, finely crafted, and honed over time like a French sauce. Like the ingredients in any dish, the words of a language depend largely on geography. At the same time, we borrow words from other cultures just as we may borrow ingredients from other cuisines. Spanglish is like fusion food. Some cooking processes are rigid, time-consuming, and complex like proper grammar; others are looser and more flexible like everyday speech. There are some dishes you would serve your mother and others that are too spicy for her. Some language is long-winded and without substance; some is meaty; some is so packed with goodness that you return it again and again.

Ascription to the rules of…

Further, it is in this stage that instructors have the ability to widen the instruction significantly to incorporate many activities that allow students to practice their new knowledge in a variety of different ways and with focus on a variety of different subject matters.

In viewing the basic theoretical and practical-use background of the Natural Approach of Language Teaching and Learning, one can understand that basic functions that allow students the ability to hone new skills in a non-threatening environment. However, despite significant praise in the teaching community regarding the success of the Natural Approach, the method's critics still exist. Due to this, it is crucial to understand the advantages as well as the disadvantages that exist when the Natural Approach is employed in a language learning environment, especially in dealing with English as a second language.

Advantages and Disadvantages

In beginning to understand the overall value of the Natural…

Language and Thinking

Language is the one aspect, which distinguishes human beings from lower species of life (Faccone et al. 2000). Sternberg (1999 as qtd in Faccone et al.) lists its properties as including communication, arbitrary symbolism, regular structure, structure at multiple levels, generation and production and dynamism. Sternberg assumes that language is most likely acquired naturally from the environment where a person is raised as an infant. The stages seem universal. The first is the cooing stage at two to four months. At this initial stage, an infant seems able to produce and possible phonemes or basic speech sounds. An infant's need to distinguish between phonemes of different languages gradually disappears around 8 months. This is when he recognizes the relationship between sound and meaning in his native language. This is how language begins to have importance to him. The findings of Sternberg's study reveal that human beings are…

Initiating joint attention related to activity in the frontal-cortical system, especially the left hemisphere and responding to joint attention to the parietal lobes. Heimann et al. (2006) found that that deferred imitation and joint attention both influence the development of language and communication skills in infancy. Deferred imitation at nine months was the strongest of the predictors of nonverbal communication at 14 months, but the predictive power increased significantly in situations when deferred imitation and joint attention were used together.

ecently studies have been conducted with other areas of cognitive behavior. For example, de Villiers (2007) has been looking at the association of language and what he calls Theory of Mind. Theory of Mind refers to the folk psychological theory humans use to predict and explain others' behavior on the basis of their internal workings: feelings, intentions, desires, attitudes, beliefs, knowledge and point-of-view. In other words, people have to create…

speaking in the target language is the expectation that a proficient speaker will sound like a native speaker. Is this an appropriate or realistic expectation?

Not a long while after the emergence of the subject of second language acquisition (SLA), which most of the scholars think came around the time of initial years of 1970s, there has been a need to develop ways by which to measure the development of the second language, aside from the usage of detailed homogeneous skill tests which were mostly appropriate to fulfill other objectives.

As per Freeman's (2009) information, the first declaration of this need was made by Kenji Hukuta (1976). Kenji Hakuta was concerned in knowing the path of his subject Ugusiu's English language development over a period of time. Besides the aforementioned practitioners, other L1 acquisition scholars had carried out for the pupils learning English as a national language. In the research…

Foreign Language Education in High School

The world has about 6,000 different languages, give or take a few. Linguists predict that at least half of those may have disappeared by the year 2050, which means languages are becoming extinct at twice the rate of endangered animals and four times the rate of endangered birds. Predictions are that a dozen languages may dominate the world of the future at best. (Ostler, 2002) For Americans, that's probably a good thing, since we are seemingly genetically engineered to maintain an appalling ignorance of other languages, and have narrowed down the choices we offer our young people to approximately one, Spanish, viewed by many to be the easiest foreign language to learn. It has been described in various places as having an 'impoverished vocabulary,' which means less work for Dick and Jane. The American education system so far is doing nothing to reverse the…

Knowledge and Learning and Teaching a Second Language:

Researchers have divided the skills necessary for the acquisition of second language comprehension, particularly in the reading area, into two general theories: bottom-up, text-based, psycholinguistic approaches or top-down, socially-oriented conceptual approaches. In each case, lack of second language comprehension is attributed to misunderstanding of some key variable of the approach. For example, bottom-up studies tend to trace miscomprehension to misunderstanding of grammar (syntax), vocabulary (semantics), or other textual aspects. Accordingly, comprehension from the bottom-up is a data-driven process (Carrell and Eisterhold, 1983).

In contrast, top-down studies primarily attribute miscomprehension to the lack of specific background knowledge or cultural familiarity that is necessary to understand the text. Top-down understanding is seen as a process that is driven by concepts (Carrell and Eisterhold, 1983). Goodman (1967) is credited with first recognizing this additional aspect to reading comprehension, although he did not use the term…

Vocabulary Acquisition in ESOL Students

English as foreign/second language (EFL/ESL) classrooms widely neglected the area of vocabulary, until lately. Grammar lessons are founded on a collection of rules having coherent structure, expected to be remembered or followed by students. However, the same doesn't hold true when it comes to vocabulary (Jeff, 2010). In the past few years, this area of English learning has gained importance as a necessary component to be learned by ESL students. It is believed by many to be just as crucial as reading, speaking, writing, and listening (Jeff, 2010). Work of different researchers state that knowledge of vocabulary aids language use, which in turn helps expand vocabulary knowledge, while knowledge about the world leads to increased language use and vocabulary knowledge (p. 6). The above contextualized outlook towards vocabulary learning will aid students in expanding their vocabulary by means of authentic communication (Jeff, 2010).

Of all…

Mathematics Instruction in English on ELL Second Grade Students

J. Elizabeth Estevez

Educ2205I-Content Research Seminar

Mathematics is a powerful tool for interpreting the world. Research has shown that for children to learn how to use mathematics to organize, understand, compare, and interpret their experiences, mathematics must be connected to their lives. Such connections help students to make sense of mathematics and view it as relevant. There has, however, been controversy with regard to children from non-English backgrounds and the best ways to get them to make those connections. Questions are raised regarding how to instruct these children who are referred to as English language learners (ELL's). Should they initially be taught in their native language with gradual exposure to English in language classes, or should they be immersed in English as early as possible. Based upon ideas presented in research studies and my own ideas as a former bilingual teacher,…

Language Policy and Planning

Language planning refers to the efforts that are deliberately undertaken to influence how languages functions, are structured or acquired or the variety of languages in a given country. It is often a government responsibility by non-governmental organizations have also come to be involved in this. Grass-roots organizations and also individuals have been involved in this. The goal of language planning differs depending on the country. However, it generally includes planning, decision making and possible changes which benefit the communications system of the country. Language planning or efforts to improve the communication in a country can also bring about certain social changes such as shift of language, assimilation and therefore provide a motivation which plans the function, structure and acquisition of languages Woolard & Gahng, 1990()

Decision making in language planning

There are four dominant language ideologies which motivate the decisions that are made regarding language planning.…

feature of language and why?

The most important key feature of any language is grammar. Grammar provides structure and meaning to sounds. Without a grammatical framework, it is unclear if a word is referring to a noun or an adjective; an adverb or a verb. Even a computer language must have a grammatical construction to be read and to be comprehensible. Many words between different languages sound very similar (such as Latin and Portuguese, for example) but without grammatical rules the distinctions in use between those sounds is unclear. Grammar also is part of the social 'situation' of a language. For a language to be effective, it cannot exist in a vacuum. "No commonly-spoken language is fixed. All languages change over time. What we call 'grammar' is simply a reflection of a language at a particular time" (What is grammar, 2014, English Club). Over time certain grammatical rules may become…

Language Development in Young Children

Early Childhood and Literacy

Language is a physical link of a child to his outside world. Language acquisition is essential for a child's social, physical and cognitive development. It plays a vital role in developing an individual who would be able to express himself adequately to his family, friends and the world around him. A vast majority of the children can develop linguistic skills effortlessly, whereas some have difficulty in developing these essential skills. They are slow to learn a language and eventually struggle with academic and literacy skills throughout their educational career. The first few years of a child's life are important and critical for their performance.

This project examines the issues related to language development in first two years of a child's life. It also discusses the importance of the language and the role linguistics play in preparing a child for his academic…

Thus, lessons can utilize elements learned from understand how the brain naturally learns a language to augment the student's ability to progress more efficiently in learning a second language later on in life. Lessons would produce the environment which calls on the same type of brain functions that were so crucial in language acquisition in early childhood. Thus, teaching can become an extension of pre-existing strategies the students have already used earlier on in their lives without even knowing it. This means lesson plans built on a structure that highlights the importance of language at the phonic level, as this is what the author asserts as the primary vehicle for language acquisition in young children.

Lightbrown & Spada (2006) also provide evidence which would back up Kuhl's claims in the text How Languages Are Learned. In their discussion of early language acquisition, Lightbrown & Spada (2006) explain how the child's…

Traditional Methods of Language Teaching

The paper discuses the various traditional methods of language teaching, namely:

Grammar Translation Method

The Audio-lingual Method

The Direct Method

The Silent Way

The Communicative Approach

Cognitive code learning

The Natural Approach

Behaviorist approach

Functional-Notional Approach and The task-based approach

The paper discusses each approach in details and describes its various chief principles and how it helps both teachers and students to teach, understand, learn, and practice all the skills they learn through these approaches.

Grammar Translation Method

This method involves the learner to spend a lot of time in understanding the language structure. Though both listening as well as speaking suffer because of it. However, grammar and vocabulary are being stressed throughout the teaching method.

The grammar translation method has been derived from traditional approaches to the teaching of Latin and Greek in the nineteenth century (Selected Lesson Plans). It was originally used to…

Many studies show that one should start foreign language studies as soon as possible, and the peak age of learning the second language is said to be on or before the child reaches the age of 10. After the baby is born, and eventually learned his/her native language, it now gradually starts having its full capacity to learn another or new language just by imitating and hearing his/her environment. The earlier he/she hears the accents and sound of another language, there is much more possibility that he/she will develop it. Added to this, if he/she is also given chance to be exposed in the language, and the opportunity to speak it, chances are that he/she will be able to speak it fluently. This way, the child would treat both the mother tongue and the foreign language equally (http://www.snn-rdr.ca/snn/2003apr/bilingual.html,2003).

One high school principal was quoted saying "A child has only one…

Also, student's vocabulary and formality of speech can and will differ in different social contexts, from school to home to the playground, as indeed does all human speech, as even teachers adopt a greater degree of formality speaking to the principal, to students, and also in their own homes.

hy teach standard speech at all? hat to do when certain patterns of speech, such as Black English, have different grammatical variations than standard written English? One approach is to stress contextual aspects of speech in education. (Chaika, 1994, p.299) It cannot be denied that job applicants and people are validated and valued differently, depending on how their speech coheres to Standard ritten English. Even dialect speakers are evaluated on a valuation gradient, as speakers with certain desirable accents, like a British accent for example, might be esteemed more than speakers with a traditionally Black or Spanish accent, unfairly. (Chaika, 1994,…

These different perspectives were based upon their language learning experiences from the past, their language proficiency, their current academic needs, and also their future career choices. To bridge the gap, the teachers engaged in dialogue with the students to determine the best ways to engage the students individually (Pazaver, and Wang 35).

In a study in the International Journal of English Studies, the authors used ELT materials in order build of a reliable instrument to help in the potential for the promotion of implicit and explicit components in ESL learning by students. The found that implicitness and explicitness were promoted equally by the ESL teaching units in three different textbooks (Criado Sanchez, Sanchez Perez, and Cantos Gomez 129). In an article in the journal of Applied Linguistics, .W. Schmidt analyzes issues that impact upon explicit learning modalities. He concludes that subliminal language learning is impossible. Also, he notes that it…

Age and Learning a New Language

hat is the ideal age for a person to be able to learn a new language? hat are the dynamics (besides age) that contribute to SLA? This paper delves into those subjects using scholarly articles as resources.

The Literature on Learning a New Language and Age

"…Early beginners, through their longer exposure to L2, reach the necessary competence levels in their two languages sooner to allow transfer in both directions…" (Djigunovic, 2010).

hy are very young students especially gifted to pick up new languages quickly? The scholarship shows that younger learners "…have no awkwardness or inhibitions with the new language" and don't get too upset when they make mistakes (Cenoz, 2003, p. 77). As to whether or not younger learners "…soak up new languages" simply because the soak up information like a sponge soaks up water, Cenoz has his doubts. Indeed studies show younger…

Also different cultures and different regions have their own peculiar requirements. For example, a method that works well in United States of America may not work that well in a country like Malaysia. "With regard to lexical ambiguity, the rich inflectional morphology of Italian makes it relatively easy to distinguish between nouns, verbs, and other grammatical classes. In contrast, the sparse grammatical morphology of English means that nouns, verbs, and other word classes often sound alike and must be disambiguated by context (the comb vs. To comb), or by prosodic cues (to record vs. The record)" (Bates, Devescovi & Wulfeck, 2001).

So the differences are stark. In Chinese context application of morphology becomes more difficult. In countries like Malaysia where different languages are spoken the application of just the method of morphology can not simply work In some countries where English is taught as a second language morphology is used…

Learning a language: Gaining fluency in a language to be free

The acquisition of language is never a culturally neutral process. When someone learns his or her first or even a second language, that individual also acquires a status in the eyes of the world, based upon how that language is perceived. The race of the speaker, his or her perceived level of education, gender, and race all interact with the stereotypes that exist in the gazer's mind. In Christine Marin's essay "Spanish Lessons," Marin chronicles how her unsteadiness in Spanish did not initially bother her, given the fact that she grew up in a society that prized whiteness. Gradually, as she grew older and her attitude towards her heritage changed, her lack of fluency in her native tongue became a burden. Similarly, Malcolm X was forced to grapple with his complex relationship with the English language. On one hand,…

The pogam pimaily suppots the local Chinese communities to maintain younge geneation's heitage backgound, and speading Chinese cultue in the U.S. The classes ae nomally held two to thee hous on weekends with Chinese language lessons and othe taditional cultual and at activities. Most students have high levels of oal poficiency in Chinese, but needed to enhance skills in liteacy. Chinese heitage schools ae mainly suppoted by two goups: the National Council of Associations of Chinese Language Schools (NCACLS) which is founded by Taiwan o Hong Kong immigant and heitage communities, and the Chinese School Association in the United States (CSAUS) that is connected with immigant and heitage communities fom mainland China. Accoding to Scott McGinnis's (2005) compiled statistics, the combined enollment of NCACLS and CSAUS was aound 150,000 in 2003. The numbe of students in the heitage schools is lage than in othe CFL pogams acoss the U.S.

Many…

Learning Problems vs Language Problems

The objective of this study is to examine how learning problems and language problems are related. Specifically considered will be the fact that when students who are learning English as their second language and who are experiencing academic or behavioral difficulties that the teacher and the school's problem-solving teams must examine whether these problems are related to learning a new language or whether the problems may be due to cognitive delays or developmental delay or disability.

The work of Fisher ( nd) entitled "Assessing English Language Learners for a Learning Disability or Language Issue" states that English language learners all "with learning disabilities...too often...fall through the cracks." (p.13) The reason stated for this is that these learners are often considered to be "slow English learners, or they may be in a school district that does not have enough resources to test them in their L1…

Action Research Proposal
The number of school-age English Language Learners in the state of Alberta is increasing at a fast pace. As these students begin studying, they experience a great deal of challenges, which can impact the acquisition and learning of the English language (New York University, 2018). In particular, one of the key challenges faced by these students is pronunciation. What is more, unlike mathematics, English language does not have a material set of rules or guideline as to what sound every letter of the alphabet signifies. For instance, the letter e can be pronounced as e, eh. In addition, the tenses of verbs can also hamper learning. Cultural differences also play a key role in acquisition of the English language (Wold, 2006). There have been deliberations regarding the most efficacious approaches of second language instruction. Picture seeing texts and hearing sounds that do not correspond with those that…

Inuktitut in Modern Inuit Communities in Northern Canada

The role of language in identity construction of the Inuit in Nunavik (Quebec, Canada), which nourishes the evolution of their ethno-territorial movement in the eastern Canadian Arctic, had been around since the 1970s. This paper is an analysis of the legal-political context of the Quebec State then enables the detachment of the cornerstones of its policy speech in general, and finally those with respect to the indigenous population, in particular to the Inuit language.

There are eight major Inuit communities: those of the LABADO, the UNGAVA, and the BAFFIN, of Iglulik, the CAIBOU, of Netsilik and Copper as well as the Inuit of the Western Arctic (which replaced MACKENZIE INUIT). There are five main dialects Inuit in Canada Inuvialuktun, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut and inuttut grouped under a single language, Inuktitut or Inuktitut. (McGrath 2007) At the last census, 70% of Inuit said they…

344).

In his seminal work, Second-Language Acquisition in Childhood, McLaughlin (1985) reports that early research into language acquisition by preschool children suggested that interference between languages is not as inevitable or universal as was once believed. "Contrastive analysis, in its traditional form, was not able to account for the vast majority of errors that second-language learners made; in fact, learners from quite different language backgrounds appeared to make the same types of mistakes in the target language," he adds (McLaughlin, 1985, p. 14).

Since these early studies into language acquisition, other studies have shown that transfer from the first language does take place in the speech of children from certain first-language backgrounds and at certain times during the learning process. Therefore, McLaughlin cautions that, "It is an exaggeration to say that transfer from the first language is minimal and unimportant. The acquisition of phonological, syntactic, and morphological structures in a…

Of these, twenty were of different first languages learning Hungarian and thirteen were of Hungarian as first language learning English." (P 8).

Based on this argument, age is not only the intrinsic factor that influences language acquisition. Typically, educational and maturational factors contribute to the language acquisition. With this claim, there could be a new hypothesis that reveal young= better and adult =better. Singleton (2005) conclusion on CPH is that

"Critical Period Hypothesis is misleading, since there is a vast amount of variation in the way in which the critical period for language acquisition is understood -- affecting all the parameters deemed to be theoretically significant and indeed also relating to the ways in which the purported critical period is interpreted in terms of its implications for L2 instruction."(P 269).

Conclusion

The study summarizes a research paper titled "The Critical Period Hypothesis: A coat of many colors" (Singleton, 2005). The…

Flashcards can, for example, be provided with words, and students can point to drawings of these items. For a written component, flashcards with simple pictures can be used to assess students' vocabulary development. For the intermediate stage, the oral component could include repeating relatively complicated sentences as accurately as possible. A written component can include an assessment such as question and answer sequences, where students are required to use full sentences. For the advanced stage, flash cards depicting a somewhat complicated scene can be used, requiring students to write a short narrative. For the oral component, an open-ended question and answer sequence can be used to assess students' fluency.

Particularly during the beginning and intermediate stages, talented students can be identified by means of consistently high scores, achieved within a short time. Students who need extra assistance can be identified when there is a consistent lack of achieving progress.

The…

gap for L2?

It is popularly thought that adults may be less capable than children or adolescents in mastering a second language. Investigation of studies, however, show that this may not be so clearly the case and that in fact language constraint of acquiring L2 may be as ore even more likely attributable to situational limitations. The following proposal draws up a literature review on the subject whilst elaborating with a proposed qualitative study that aims to test the hypothesis that situational rather than age factors may determine age characteristics of acquisition of L2.

It is well-known that a critical age exists for L1 acquisition and that beyond that it is much harder for the individual to learn / acquire the language (Marinova-Todd et al., 2000). Existence of this same situation for acquisition of L2, would necessitate that teachers / instructor prefer to teach L2 up to and rarely beyond…

People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom, by Lisa Delpit

Lisa Delpit's piece's first part entitled "Controversies Revisited" started off with an example of her point-of-view where there is language diversity in the classroom seen between white teachers and children of color. Through this experience, Delpit found that children may know that there is a difference in the codes of how people speak, they may not know how to properly express these codes or reproduce them, however they definitely know that they exists. Delpit stresses on page 48 that there is a need for educators to be sensitive about the codes in which they speak for the better learning facilitation of children from all sorts of different cultural backgrounds. Delpit stresses her main point that teachers need to be able to embrace the languages brought about by different students from all different cultures by giving them a way to express…

Furthermore, by actively engaging students in the multimedia development process, their critical thinking skills are put to good use, vocabulary retention is enhanced and students will likely enjoy the process far more than a traditional lecture format or simply reviewing what multimedia materials are provided by educators.

One of the overriding issues that emerged from this study was the fact that students were actively engaged in the educational material development process, but this did not mean that they were simply assigned a task and allowed the "muddle through" the process. ather, this approach required extensive planning and preparation on the part of the second language educator to provide the framework that was needed for the students to succeed. This process is more challenging than might be expected, and involves far more than just placing existing course content online or on a CD/DVD format. Consideration must be given to how the…

each Group of Students Who Have Never Learned

English before, what would you do during the first three weeks? What would be the characteristics of the things you intended to teach? If your students made mistakes, what would you do? If they refused to talk, what would you do?

First impressions are important in establishing a good relationship between teachers and students. Foreign students often come to the classroom with many fears. (Cary, 2000) herefore, it is very important that the teacher establish a friendly, enthusiastic atmosphere free of any negative vibes. (Samway, 1999) Even though the students are afraid, this can be eased by a friendly smile and pleasant small talk. his is especially important before giving any sort of assessment test, which should be given during the first class of the term as part of class orientation.

During the first three weeks, I would make an effort to…

Pragmatic Linguistic Awareness Motivation

Research Study Outline on Pragmalinguistic Awareness

A helpful one-line summary of the research study, indicating the topic area and including all the key concepts to be studied.

Takahashi tested eighty Japanese students with a noticing-the-gap activity after administering a motivation questionnaire and an L2 proficiency test, finding that pragmalinguistic awareness was correlated with motivation subscales, but not with proficiency.

Link to previous research: What the author (SATOMI TAKAHASHI) had done on this topic area and what he had found; unanswered questions that your research study plans to answer.

The role of attention in pragmalinguistics was introduced in Schmidt's Noticing Hypothesis, which claimed that learners have to notice L2 features in the input for subsequent development to occur in the L2. (Schmidt, 1990). Schmidt argues that noticing is central to SLA, and learners must first notice the surface structures of utterances inthe input to acquire virtually every…

general education SDAIE or Sheltered English lesson plan based on the approach described in the course Writing Effective Lesson Plan textbook in a content area of history based on both the California English Language Art Standards and English Language Development standards. This paper states appropriate goals and objectives, objectives, outcomes, rationale, describe content presentation methods, instructional strategies, learning activities, technology, assessment techniques and teaching materials.

Class Description

The lesson is for an 8th grade class of world history at the ABC School. There are a total of thirty students in the class and their ages range from 13-14 years. According to the information that has been provided by the cooperating teacher there are four are English learners in the class, three are re-designated English learners while two of the students have IEP's, from among these two one has auditory memory issues and the other has ADHD.

Class Background

All the…

" Shin (2006) Shin also states that the CMC literature "illustrates shifts of focus to different layers of context." Early on, research relating to CMC in language learning and teaching looked at the linguistic content of CMC text to examine how language learners could improve certain communication functions and learn linguistic figures through CMC activities (lake, 2000; Chun, 1994; Kern, 1995; Ortega, 1997; Pellettieri, 2000; Smith 2000, Sotlillo, 2000; Toyoda & Harrison, 2002, Tudini, 2003; Warschauer, 1996) Recent studies of "tellecollaborative projects have examined how language learners jointly construct the contexts of their CMC activities, as part of their focus on tensions among intercultural communication partners. (elz, 2003, 2003; Kramsch & Thorn, 2002; O'Dowd, 2003; Ware 2000, War & Kramsch, 2005) IN the study of Shin (2006) which was "informed by Ware's (2005) examination of a tellecollaborative communication project between American college students and German students" Shin (2006) looks into…

Constructivism in TESOL-1

ABEVIATIONS

EFL - The term is the main topic on which the paper is based upon (English as a foreign language). It does not refer to the student learning English language which is not his or her native language nor is it being spoken in their native country English is totally a foreign language.

ESL -- This refers to English as a second language. Students who learn English as a second language intend to use it in places where English is a native language and it ain't their first or native language..

ELF - The term does stand for English as a lingua franca

EAL - Stands for English as an additional language. The term (EAL) is only applicable to certain countries where English is just an extra language.

EAP -- In this specific study means English for academic purposes

EIL - The abbreviation stands for English…

Music on Vocabulary ompetence, Writing, Reading omprehension and Motivation in English Language Learning in High-School

EFFETIVENESS OF MUSI ON VOABULARY

The Effectiveness of Music on Vocabulary ompetence, Writing, Reading omprehension and Motivation in English Language Learning in High-School

Most English language learners in high schools show poor vocabulary competence. The main reason for this is the limited level of exposure to the language. It is generally understood and practically acknowledged that words form the basic unit of language structure. Therefore lack of sufficient vocabulary constrains students from effectively communicating and freely expressing their ideas.

Vocabulary competence is critical to developing reading comprehension skills. Lack of vocabulary development is detrimental to the development of metacognitive skill that is important in comprehending advanced texts. omprehension is a major component of development of vocabulary, reading to learn. Therefore, reading comprehension it is quite challenging for students lacking adequate knowledge of meaning of words.…

Learning that is imparted through an educational institution or training company within the workplace setting in known as Work-based learning (WL). WL is administered by an external teacher in professional capacity and supervised by an employee of the company where WL is imparted. An exhaustive literature review indicates that it was only after Moser report's shocking revelations, regarding lack of literacy, language, and numeracy skills in one out every five adults in ritain that U.K took expedited policy actions to introduce WL. WL is relevant for all adult and young learners and more pertinent for instruction of English as a second language (ESL). Since medium of interaction and business transactions in U.K is English, instruction of ESL is essential for empowering vast percentage of population that does not have requisite skills to compete in labor market due to lack of language skills. Increased use of computers and multimedia in teaching…

How Are Dual Immersion Programs Implemented?

Christian, Howard & Loeb (2000) describe how dual immersion programs are implemented and the effect that they have on students. The goal for these dual immersion programs is to develop a high level of proficiency in both the first and the second language, as well as grade level academic achievement and cross-cultural skills. Dual immersion programs are implemented according to the student population. The features and variations of the program depend on many factors, including local policy, the grade levels that are served, languages that are needed for instruction, and the time spent on each one.

Most dual immersion programs serve elementary level students, also, which is very limiting to the entrance of monolingual students after the third grade. That is due to the difficulty of students who need to catch up with bilingual competence after that grade. Students benefit from dual immersion programs,…

, notes at that there has been a "paucity of studies" on the effectiveness of video in teaching culture through foreign-language programs. Herron investigated whether students retain more ("little c") cultural "practices" or ("big C") cultural "products" by watching video in a second-language program (Herron, 1999, p. 522). Thirty-eight students were given a pretest before watching the 10 videos that were part of the French-language curriculum. Immediately afterward they were given a post-test. Interestingly, in terms of their evolving understanding of French culture, in 8 of the 10 total post-video quizzes, the students gave higher scores to their "little c" (understanding cultural practices) than to "big C" (cultural products). And 84.2% of the 38 students believed that the 10 videos showed "a lot or a vast amount" of little c (cultural practices in France) presented and 42.1% believed that "a lot or a vast amount" of big C (cultural products…

Dramatic eading for ESL

Differentiated eading with 10th Grade EFL Students

ESL literature is replete with studies focused on optimal learning environments and enhancements to student motivation (Lazaraton, 1886). Some of this literature parallels earlier work by linguists, psychologists (Harter, 1981), and educators (ichards & odgers, 2001), and early childhood researchers (Vygotsky, 1986) who specialize in language acquisition. Indeed, there is a plethora of anecdotal information about how to use visuals, games, music, and drama to increase ESL students' engagement in their learning. However, formal research about the effectiveness of drama as context for teaching English as a second language is not readily found in the literature.

This case study offers a discussion of the use of drama as part of a differentiated reading strategy to teach literature to 10th grade ESL students. Although the highlighted strategy is generally applicable, the literature used in this exercise is Of Mice and…

Communicative Approach

Applying the Communicative Approach to TESOL Classrooms

The communicative approach is a style of teaching language that focuses on interaction as the ultimate goal of study and also the means with which it is carried out (Mitchell, 1994; ichards & odgers, 2001). While some call it a teaching method, many argue that it is not a method but a broad approach (ichards & odgers, 2001). There are no clearly defined sets of practices that are used in the classroom in this approach, which encourages the students to speak to one another and interact in the language they are learning, overlooking issues such as incorrect grammar or other difficulties (Whong, 2011). While it may seem simplistic, it serves to help learners become much more comfortable interacting in a new language, as opposed to forcing them to study grammar rules and other guidelines before they can actually start to practice…

But in any case, a shortage of qualified bilingual teachers usually makes it impossible. For example, public schools in California enrolled recently arrived immigrants from 136 different countries in 1994, but bilingual teachers were certified in only 17 languages - 96% of them in Spanish. To the extent that LEP [ESL] children received help in other tongues, they received it almost entirely from teacher aides" (Crawford, 1997, "Babel' in the Schools"). A combined blend of immersion and resource support, or a transitional approach is often necessary from an administrative and logistical as well as an ideological point-of-view -- there are simply not enough teachers.

hat approach is best?

Beyond the rhetorical fury of those who are 'English Only' advocates, devout multiculturalists, or concerned parents, it is often hard to find unbiased, quality research about the outcomes of current programs and strategies. The most sophisticated evaluation study of different approaches was…

There were some interesting results in the answers obtained. First, all six participants were between the ages of 15 and 18 and 100% of them had started studying the English language in grade 5 at home in Iraq. Another observation is that 80% of the Iraqi students reported that they were a full grade level below in Australia; the remaining 20% were two grade levels behind his or her current educational pace in Iraq. This interesting fact demonstrates that the Iraqi school system is behind the Australian school system and the Iraqi learners will need further 2nd language training.

The fourth question delves into the educational background of the Iraqi students parents. A Muslim belief dictates many of the findings because Iraqi females often are not schooled and in some cases are illiterate. Sixty percent of the males have college level education, 40% of the males have a military or…