Zhong Caishun Curriculum and Methodology Foreign Language Teaching Lecture 1 Introduction

A dual objective  About the teaching reality you are going to be involved in your future profession (what to learn)  About the learning process we are involved in this course (what to do)

Who learns what and how? whowhathow primary secondary Teacher candidates Curriculum& methodology Learn by doing English learners English language Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism

We teach who we are. A survey How would it be if you became a teacher now?  What do you think you can confidently accomplish?  What may make you feel powerless or fearful?

Curriculum and methodology  Curriculum is concerned with all factors involved in school teaching and learning.  Methodology is about the way of participation in the life of learning.

curriculum Different levels  National  regional  Institutional  course Course syllabus

How to learn Survey

English learners Native language learners vs. Foreign language learners

Language is…  A collection of symbols  A system  A habit  A means to an end  A natural activity  ….  How would you order them in priority sequence?

Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.

Linguistic approaches Schools of linguistic theory Concepts of language structuralismAn abstract system Generative transformationalism An instance of Universal Grammar functionalismSocial semiotics sociolinguisticsA function of social categories pragmaticsAn Act, instance of use, or game

Structuralism Language is a linguistic system made up of various subsystems: phonology, morphology, lexicology and syntactics. To learn a language is to learn its vocabulary and structural rules. Ferdiand de Saussure ( ) Linguistic views and language learning

Categories of linguistic analysis

Functionalism Language is a linguistic system as well as a means for doing things. Learners learn a language in order to be able to do things with it (use it). To perform functions, learners need to know how to combine the grammatical rules and the vocabulary to express notions that perform the functions.

Functional-Notional syllabus  Greeting  Asking for information  Making suggestions  Ordering food  Telling story  Describing feeling and emotions

Sociolinguistics Language is a communicative tool to build up and maintain social relations between people. Learners need to know the rules of a language and where, when and how it is appropriate to use them. William Labov

Sociolinguistics and Language education  Standard variety  Language planning and policy  Language appropriacy in terms gender, social setting, class, addressee.

Look at the textbook page on the right. Think about possible teaching aims in relation to the different views of language

Reflection Please reflect on your middle school English teachers’ classroom teaching and try to think about how they understand the nature of language.

What is learning?

Behaviorism Behaviorism is an approach to psychology that arose out of the ideas of early learning theorists who attempted to explain all learning in terms of some form of conditioning.

Ivan Pavlov ( ) S-R

A nineteenth century Russian Ivan Pavlov’s experiments with dogs and other animals A response (e.g. salivation) generated by one stimulus (e.g. food) can be produced by introducing a second stimulus (e.g. a bell) at the same time. This is known as S-R (Stimulus-Response) theory or classical conditioning.

B. F. Skinner ( ) S-R-R

A mid-twentieth-century American B. F. Skinner response reinforcement habit formation stimulus

Language is seen as a behavior to be taught. A small part of the foreign language, such as a structural pattern, is presented as a stimulus, to which the learners responds, for example, by repetition or substitution. This is followed by reinforcement by the teacher, based on 100 percent success. Learning a language is seen as acquiring a set of appropriate mechanical habits, and errors are frowned upon as reinforcing ‘bad habits’.

The role of the teacher is to develop in learners good language habits, which is done mainly by pattern drills, memorization of dialogues or choral repetition of structural patterns. Audiolingualism 听说法

In contrast to behaviorism, cognitive psychology is concerned with the way in which the human mind thinks and learns. Cognitive psychologists are therefore interested in the mental processes that are involved in learning. Textbook PP5-6 Cognitive theory

Noam Chomsky ( ) Thinking (creativity) Internal factors Cognitivism

Cognitive view of language and learning If all language is learned by imitation and repetition, how can a child produce a sentence that has never been said by others before? Language is a rule-based system and with a knowledge of the finite rules (language competence), infinite sentences can be produced

Cognitive view of Language learning Learners should be allowed to create their own sentences based on their understanding of certain rules (creativity)

In a cognitive approach, the learner is seen as an active participant in the learning process, using various mental strategies in order to sort out the system of the language to be learned.

Constructivism Cognitive constructivism Social constructivism

Representatives of Cognitive Constructivism  Jean Piaget (1896 – 1980)

Piaget’s views and influence Learning is a personal construction of knowledge to be learned based on the learner’s previous experience.

Representatives of Constructivism  John Dewey

Dewey’s views and influence Learning by doing Teaching should be built on learners’ experience and engage learners in learning activities. Teachers need to design environments and interact with learners.

Representative of Socio- constructivism  Lev Vygotsky Learning is a process of cognitive development through internalization of ideas encountered in the sociocultural realm.

Social-constructivist views of language and language learning Interaction and engagement with the target language in a social context is important. ZPD—Zone of Proximal Development Scaffolding—learning is best achieved through the dynamic interaction between the teacher and the learner (question & explanation) the learners (a more capable peer’s support)

Zone of Proximal Development It is the term used to refer to the layer of skill or knowledge which is just beyond that which the learner is currently capable of coping. Working together with another person, either an adult or a more competent peer at a level that is just above a learner’s present capabilities is the best way for the learner to move into the next layer.

Children’ two levels of intellectual development Actual development level Level of potential development Zone of Proximal Development ga p

Scaffolding

The term was developed as a metaphor to describe the type of assistance offered by a teacher or peer to support learning. In the process of scaffolding, the teacher helps the student master a task or concept that the student is initially unable to grasp independently. The teacher offers assistance with only those skills that are beyond the student’s capability.

Learning objectives Object regulated Other regulated Self regulated

A summary BehaviorismPavlov Skinner Imitation & repetition (S-R-R) External factors CognitivismChomskyThinking (creativity) Internal factors ConstructivismPiaget Bruner Dewey Personal construction Interaction Social- constructivism VygotskyZPD & scaffolding

Krashen’s Five hypotheses : 1. The acquisition-learning distinction (Learning and acquisition are separate processes.) Learning Hypotheses in SLA (see Johnson Chapter 6) Acquisition refers to the natural assimilation of language rules through using language for communication.

The only real difference is in terms of the environments in which acquisition is what happens when you go and live in the target-language country, while learning is what happens in classrooms. Learning refers to the formal study of language rules and is a conscious process.

2. The natural order hypothesis (There is a natural order of language acquisition that applies to FL acquisition.) The natural order, as defined by Krashen, consists of listening to a great deal of meaningful language input, then speaking, then reading to a great deal of meaningful input, and then writing, which is formally taught.

3. The monitor hypothesis (Acquisition is more ‘important’ than learning. The main role of learning is a secondary one: to monitor what we say and write in the FL.) Johnson’s book p91.

4. The input hypothesis (The most important thing to provide with is ‘comprehensible input’.) Comprehensible input: i+l i– the acquirer’s present level of competence i+l– the level immediately following i as i+l Johnson’s book P93

5. The affective filter hypothesis (Learners need the right ‘affect’ for acquisition to take place.)

Swain’s output hypothesis Noticing function Hypothesis testing function Metalinguistic function

Exercises  Analyze an English textbook in terms of its underlying linguistic as well as learning theoryan English textbook

Questions for next week What teaching methods do you know? How can we implement those methods?

Thank you!