SLAminilesson

1. Using formulaic language to learn
toc

L1, L2, IL: not just grammar and mistakes

Learner has own grammar: interlanguage: predictable sequences, inbuilt grammar We know this, because route does not change according to first language or environment (all learners of French make same mistakes, and adult learners make same mistakes as kids)

e.g., question formation formulaic utterance, then error, then correct again: U-shaped learning So if you try to teach questions on Day 1, you're working against the kid's inbuilt learning machine.

The inbuilt learning machine will eventually learn questions, but not until pronouns, auxiliaries etc have been sorted out. You can help by providing input which helps them learn formulaic utterances, but don't teach grammar let learning be implicit, gradually unpack

2. Implicit and explicit learning
don't just teach grammar

How do people learn languages? Different views over past century: behaviorism: learn by imitation with feedback from teacher (parent) cognitivism: UG - implicit learning - we have inbuilt language acquisition device, all we need is input (but immersion) interactionist models - we do have mechanisms for learning, but they are the same as for other activities. We need not only input, but also interaction, feedback to allow reflection

In the classroom, this means focus on form, input enhancement, reflection
 * recursive learning, functional, task-based curricula
 * implicit and explicit learning

3. complexity of language:
don't just correct mistakes

acquisition will stop before mastery, can't get near it in one hour a day, language is complex, isolated error correction is usually ineffective

SO focus on meaning, learners can understand more in meaningful context and more than they can produce

give opportunities for input, output and interaction

4. language use
//don't teach language, use language//

knowing a language doesn't mean being able to use it in interaction

assessment should include free as well as controlled production

can understand more in context