1. Do you think how children learn their first languages is similar to how adults learn
their second or foreign languages? Why do you think so?
I think it's different. Because children learn English as their first language,
their mother tongue. Children will hear English from their parents when speaking. So
they are faster in absorbing what they hear and learning from what they observe.
Therefore they acquire language through a subconscious process and are not aware of
the grammar rules.
Meanwhile, adults learn their second language after learning the first language
or are fluent. SLAs are learning for personal or educational purposes. So, they learned
the second language actively and consciously through instruction or education. SLA
students also tend to have difficulty achieving the level of fluency as native speakers.
2. What is meant by behaviourist perspective in SLA? Please give examples in
classroom practices.
Behaviorists hypothesized that when children imitated the language produced
by those around them, their attempts to reproduce what they heard received 'positive
reinforcement' This could take the form of praise or just successful communication.
Thus encouraged by their environment, children would continue to imitate and
practice these sounds and patterns until they formed 'habits' of correct language use.
This theory gives importance to the environment as the source of everything the child
needs to learn.
An example of practice in the classroom is the teacher giving a conversation
material. Then the teacher practices the conversation. While students listen and pay
attention to how the teacher pronounces it. After that, the teacher asked the students to
repeat what the teacher did. The teacher then provides feedback according to the
student's abilities, but the teacher must also appreciate the students' efforts to produce
a second language.
3. What is meant by innatist perspective in SLA? Please give examples in classroom
practices.
The innatist perspective is related to Chomsky's hypothesis that all human
languages are based on innate universal principles. He concluded that children's
minds are not blank slates to be filled by imitating language they hear in the
environment. He hypothesized children are born with a specific innate ability to
discover the underlying rules of a language system based on the samples of a natural
language they are exposed to. Children know certain principles governing all
languages, referred to as UG (Universal Grammar). The primary focus of UG-based
SLA research is on competence, not performance.
An example of several hypotheses is that the teacher provides learning
material by slightly increasing the language beyond the student's ability level, i+1.
4. What is meant by cognitive perspective in SLA? Please give examples in classroom
practices.
Developmental and cognitive psychologists have focused on the interplay
between the innate learning ability of children and the environment in which they
develop. Psychologists have considerably more important to the environment than the
innatists though they also recognize a powerful learning mechanism in the human
their second or foreign languages? Why do you think so?
I think it's different. Because children learn English as their first language,
their mother tongue. Children will hear English from their parents when speaking. So
they are faster in absorbing what they hear and learning from what they observe.
Therefore they acquire language through a subconscious process and are not aware of
the grammar rules.
Meanwhile, adults learn their second language after learning the first language
or are fluent. SLAs are learning for personal or educational purposes. So, they learned
the second language actively and consciously through instruction or education. SLA
students also tend to have difficulty achieving the level of fluency as native speakers.
2. What is meant by behaviourist perspective in SLA? Please give examples in
classroom practices.
Behaviorists hypothesized that when children imitated the language produced
by those around them, their attempts to reproduce what they heard received 'positive
reinforcement' This could take the form of praise or just successful communication.
Thus encouraged by their environment, children would continue to imitate and
practice these sounds and patterns until they formed 'habits' of correct language use.
This theory gives importance to the environment as the source of everything the child
needs to learn.
An example of practice in the classroom is the teacher giving a conversation
material. Then the teacher practices the conversation. While students listen and pay
attention to how the teacher pronounces it. After that, the teacher asked the students to
repeat what the teacher did. The teacher then provides feedback according to the
student's abilities, but the teacher must also appreciate the students' efforts to produce
a second language.
3. What is meant by innatist perspective in SLA? Please give examples in classroom
practices.
The innatist perspective is related to Chomsky's hypothesis that all human
languages are based on innate universal principles. He concluded that children's
minds are not blank slates to be filled by imitating language they hear in the
environment. He hypothesized children are born with a specific innate ability to
discover the underlying rules of a language system based on the samples of a natural
language they are exposed to. Children know certain principles governing all
languages, referred to as UG (Universal Grammar). The primary focus of UG-based
SLA research is on competence, not performance.
An example of several hypotheses is that the teacher provides learning
material by slightly increasing the language beyond the student's ability level, i+1.
4. What is meant by cognitive perspective in SLA? Please give examples in classroom
practices.
Developmental and cognitive psychologists have focused on the interplay
between the innate learning ability of children and the environment in which they
develop. Psychologists have considerably more important to the environment than the
innatists though they also recognize a powerful learning mechanism in the human
