LANGUAGE AWARENESS TEACHER GUSTAVO GÓMEZ PEÑA

Answer the questions What is awareness? What is language awareness? How do you acquire awareness?

Interest in current approaches Learner independence, learner autonomy, learning strategies, self-directed learning, self­ access, individualization

Explicit learner-centred approaches Cognitive sciences Studies in individual differences “Good language learner” research Humanistic approaches “Study skills” tradition Social changes and changes in the labour market. s.htm

AWARENESS State or ability to perceive, to feel, or to be conscious of events, objects or sensory patterns. More broadly, it is the state or quality of being aware of something. In biological psychology, awareness is defined as a human's or an animal's perception and cognitive reaction to a condition or event.consciousobjectspatternsbiological psychologyperceptioncognitive

Language Awareness explicit knowledge about language, and conscious perception and sensitivity in language learning, language teaching and language use. good knowledge about language, a conscious understanding of how languages work, of how people learn them and use them.

Language awareness (Cognitivist learning theory) As a prerequisite for the restructuring of the learner’s mental representation of the language, some degree of conscious awareness is necessary

Awereness-raising activities Explicit focus on the rules of the system Help learners uncover gaps in their knowledge

Attention: Pay attention, alert, interested, involved and curious- features of target skill Noticing: Conscious registering of the occurrence of some event. When do you notice things of language? - make connections - familiarity - absence of something - noticing the gap Understanding: no awareness without understanding, recognition of general rules, principles or patterns

THE CELLPHONE AGE Do you have a cellphone? Yes, No/Why? What functions does your cellphone provide?

electronic device mobile telephone text messaging data transmission accessories SMS Internet gaming, Bluetooth infrared camera photos video MP3 player radio GPS

Match the word with the correct meaning. a. indispensable __large inconvenient size b. the preserve of __be as good as c. Bulky__not noticing d. rival __suitable only for e. bemoan __very important f. oblivious __complain about

Why did you choose your particular cell phone? Does it have any functions that you never use? How do you think cellular phones will change in the coming years? Do you think you have good ‘cell phone manners’? Can you give any examples? In what places is cell phone usage banned? Do you agree with this?

Choose one of the following populations and design a cellphone for them

Consider Features Uses Restrictions Price Shape Population Advantages

NOW… Choose a topic and plan a set of activities to teach a specialized language

Raising awareness activities Activate background knowledge: brainstorm vocabulary (tyres, gears, brakes, saddles, frame) Check gist: asking general questions Check register: establish register variables (tenor), degree of formality Check details: provide a grid to fill, multiple choice questions, repeat recording as many times as necessary

Listen and read: hand out the transcript Resolve doubts: residual doubts about the topic and the reading Focus on language features: identifying, counting, classifying, matching, connecting, comparing and contrasting