Teaching Foreign Languages Margarete Lazar

L1 Acquisition and L2 Learning I Perfect mastery Success guaranteed Little variation in degree of success and route L2 Adults unlikely to achieve mastery, children may Complete success is rare in adults Substantial variation in degree of success and route

L1 Acquisition and L2 Learning II Fossilisation unknown Clear intuition about correct grammar Explicit instruction not needed Correction rarely found Affective factors not so important L2 Fossilisation and backsliding common No clear grammar judgement Instruction is helpful. Correction is helpful and necessary. Affective factors play a major role

How to go about foreign language learning I Focus on Language - Grammar, Vocabulary, Pronunciation etc. Focus on the Learner – Learner Contributions, Learner Needs

How to go about foreign language learning II Linguistic approach – from the easy to the difficult Communicative approach – what do learners need in certain situations Holistic approach – learning from an authentic environment/text

Take home message There is no one absolutely RIGHT approach. Teachers are free to choose.