The Review of Language Learning Processes - Coursework Example

Review of Language Learning Processes Student Name Course Tutor Date Introduction Language learning activities are activities aimed at promoting language understanding especially for second language learners. Proper language learning ensures that a student understands language input and is able to use that language in interaction. In language learning, interaction refers a social process of making meaning and interpretations. This allows active engagement using and interpreting ideas. Learning activities help students to use language in elaborating and exploring some areas associated with that language in different ways. Such areas include pronunciation, asking questions or presenting their ideas using the language (Myles 2014). This essay looks at “teaching unplugged” and “use of lexical cards” as English language learning activities and the social and cognitive aspects of learning processes involved in the two. Teaching unplugged Teaching unplugged refers to a method of teaching which aims at: use of conversation in teaching, non-use of external inputs such as text books or technological devices and allowing the students to drive the lesson content rather than having the teacher pre-plan it. This method is very effective because it entirely focuses on the language needs of the students. The fact that the method does not use external inputs, this helps to break the barriers that may prevail between the teacher and the students. For example the teacher sits openly with the students without any hiding and they work as a group. The teacher acts as the facilitator and the resource and not a director. The non-use of technology avoids waste of time on any technical difficulties that may arise from use of CDs or films on big screens (British Council 2012). Use of lexical cards Lexical cards are stocks of vocabularies of a particular language. These are used where in most cases, learners may know the meaning of a word but they may not know how the word can be used. This is because they do not know what words can be used together with others. This is called collocation. Collocation in language use is defined as grouping of words that appear together such that they convey a certain meaning while used together. With lexical cards, the learners write a word on one side and collocation on the other side, plus translation if the student didn’t know the meaning of the word. Several words are recorded on several cards and learners can carry them along and flip them over when they have free moments. They can also be used for revising by the learners (British Council 2012). Learning processes required In Teaching Unplugged, the main responsibility of the teacher is to provide support and guidance to the learners to help improve their proficiency. Therefore the learning process that is required in Teaching Unplugged is scaffolding. Scaffolding is defined as giving support to the learners that is geared towards their needs with the aim of helping them achieve their learning goals. In language teaching, scaffolding is where the teachers help the students to produce more complex languages on their own which they would not have managed in absence of teacher’s assistance (Stålbrandt 2007). A point reaches where the teacher becomes unnecessary and redundant. In a Teaching Unplugged classroom where the teacher does not dictate the content to be learnt, scaffolding is used to enable the language learners to construct their own content which is not from their teacher. This process will enable the language learners to participate in coming up with original-like models of the ideas that they intend to express in the language that they are learning. Scaffolding learning process is based on the assumption that learning takes place as a result of interaction between a more knowledgeable person and the learner, and that it’s a social process that requires interaction. Under the philosophy of Teaching Unplugged, conversation is the main pillar and therefore the authority of the teacher is passed to the learners. With the use of lexical cards as a learning activity, the learning process that is used is the negotiation of meaning. Negotiation is defined as a process where two speakers, a native and a non-native speaker, try to get a clear understanding of one another. This is used where the two speakers do not understand the lexical of a certain word. The two therefore create an opportunity to negotiate for the meaning allowing them to consider restructuring the words that caused loss of meaning. Negotiating for meaning is a learning process based on the concept that knowledge of a second language can be properly acquired through exposure to input that is comprehensible. This is input that is slightly beyond the current knowledge of the learner (Foster & Ohta 2005). Two students can use lexical cards to negotiate for meaning especially for words that collocate with each other. To help the students notice these words, the words are written in bold before or after the target word in the lexical card. The two learners already have part of the information and therefore each requires the other person’s part to complete the task. The two are first asked to write the word that matches the picture. They then exchange the cards that do not have the pictures (Foster & Ohta 2005). Lexical cards can be useful in directing the learners to negotiate for meaning in the following ways in the following steps. They start by exposing the learner to a large number of vocabularies. The teacher uses these vocabularies to create an environment where the vocabularies are repetitively used so as to encourage proper acquisition of them. The learner may be started on the less complex vocabularies that require shallow cognitive processing. Secondly, the cards can be used by the teacher to speed up the process of vocabulary acquisition. This is because the cards are self initiating tools that can promote learner autonomy. Thirdly, after the learners have acquired the vocabularies, they can proceed to negotiating the meaning of those vocabularies that are unknown to them during class discussions. This will lead them to learning more vocabularies as they listen to the follow speakers and also during the exchange. Finally when they are able to use the lexical cards to negotiate for meaning, the learners become more autonomous and can be able to enlarge their vocabulary on their own (British Council 2012). Difference between “teaching unplugged” and “use of lexical cards” as English language learning activities The main difference between these two English learning activities is that teaching Unplugged is an approach that uses the language that is produced by the learners as the starting point for teaching. Teachers using this method base their teaching on what the learner already knows and therefore seeks to advance that. That is why the teacher’s main role in this activity is to guide based on what has been produced by the learner. On the other hand, use of lexical cards aims to deepen the partial knowledge that the learners have in some vocabularies and help them to develop collocations for those words. Teaching Unplugged is unspecific and takes the direction that is dictated by the learners. The method does not use any external inputs and it is just a free learning environment. It focuses on any topic that the teacher thinks may elicit discussion from the students. This is different from lexical cards activity that uses simple technology of making the cards. The cards acts as an input that helps the learners expand their collocation knowledge with the vocabularies that they already know (Mueller 2011). In terms of the learning processes, teaching unplugged uses scaffolding while use of lexical cards uses negotiation for meaning. Scaffolding is a method that is used by the teachers to give guidance to the students while leading them to a more advanced level of thinking. It involves some form of discussion between the teacher and the learner as they seek to reach a higher level. On the other hand, lexical cards involves negotiation for meaning, a process that takes place between two learners as they brainstorm on various ways to expand their usage of vocabularies. Generally, scaffolding is a process where the teacher plays a very key role in guiding the learners so as to improve their knowledge, skills and confidence. This is a process where the teacher plays a key role in guidance unlike in negotiation for meaning which is a process between two learners. The teacher just plays he role of introducing vocabularies to the learners who on their own negotiate for more meanings and usage of those vocabularies (Foster & Ohta 2005). Scaffolding can be used for learners of different ages and culture and does not matter their L1. However, with lexical cards, the age of the learners must be considered as well as their L1 to ensure that they can be able to use the vocabularies to produce statements that are meaningful (University of Cambridge 2011). Role of the teacher in addressing learner's differences in language learning Suitable methods of addressing diversity among second language learners is evidenced by teacher’s showing awareness of the diverse learning needs of the learners. Effective communications with the learners and an inclusive environment are two important factors that a teacher should consider in addressing learners language diversity. Good communication is key in effective language teaching for both a large class and a small group of learners. Every time a teacher communicates with the learners, he/she conveys several messages to learners. The teacher must therefore be sure to use the right communication considering the appeal aspect that may impart the student. An inclusive environment is a learning environment where all the learners feel able and are actively participating in all aspects. Such an environment acknowledges and celebrates diversity as part of learners’ life. Such an environment promotes active learning where the learners play an active role in the learning process instead of being passive receivers of information. The teacher must therefore understand the learners’ differences and their diversity in culture so as to be able to create an inclusive environment that will enable to learners to meet high learning standards (Keller-Lally 2006). Conclusion Unlike other subjects, language learning requires well chosen learning activities especially where it is being taught as a second language. This is because it the learners must engage their cognitive aspects to be able to assimilate the new language to their culture and to what they already know. The teachers must therefore use suitable strategies bearing in mind the learning diversities that exist among the learners. List of References Stålbrandt, E 2007, Scaffolding as negotiation of meaning using digital educational material in school, Stockholm Institute of Education, retrieved from http://www.didaktikdesign.nu/learnit/publikationer/edman_stalbrandt/NFPF_Handout_ES.pdf British Council 2012, Resources for Trainers 3: Teaching Unplugged, retrieved from http://esol.britishcouncil.org/resources-trainers/resources-trainers-3-teaching-unplugged British Council 2012, Playing with lexical cards, retrieved from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/playing-lexical-cards Myles, F 2014, Second Language Acquisition (SLA) Research: Its significance for learning and teaching issues, retrieved from https://www.llas.ac.uk/resources/gpg/421 University of Cambridge 2011, Cambridge English for Delta Syllabus, Cambridge, UK. Keller-Lally, A 2006, Effect of Task-type and Group Size on Foreign Language Learner Output in Synchronous Computer-mediated Communication, ProQuest. Foster, P & Ohta, A 2005, Negotiation for Meaning and Peer Assistance in Second Language Classrooms, Applied Linguistics, 26/3: 402-430. Mueller, C 2011, English learners knowledge of prepositions: Collocational knowledge or knowledge based on meaning? Elsevier, Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/1080322/English_learners_knowledge_of_prepositions_Collocational_knowledge_or_knowledge_based_on_meaning Read More

Learning processes required In Teaching Unplugged, the main responsibility of the teacher is to provide support and guidance to the learners to help improve their proficiency. Therefore the learning process that is required in Teaching Unplugged is scaffolding. Scaffolding is defined as giving support to the learners that is geared towards their needs with the aim of helping them achieve their learning goals. In language teaching, scaffolding is where the teachers help the students to produce more complex languages on their own which they would not have managed in absence of teacher’s assistance (Stålbrandt 2007).

A point reaches where the teacher becomes unnecessary and redundant. In a Teaching Unplugged classroom where the teacher does not dictate the content to be learnt, scaffolding is used to enable the language learners to construct their own content which is not from their teacher. This process will enable the language learners to participate in coming up with original-like models of the ideas that they intend to express in the language that they are learning. Scaffolding learning process is based on the assumption that learning takes place as a result of interaction between a more knowledgeable person and the learner, and that it’s a social process that requires interaction.

Under the philosophy of Teaching Unplugged, conversation is the main pillar and therefore the authority of the teacher is passed to the learners. With the use of lexical cards as a learning activity, the learning process that is used is the negotiation of meaning. Negotiation is defined as a process where two speakers, a native and a non-native speaker, try to get a clear understanding of one another. This is used where the two speakers do not understand the lexical of a certain word. The two therefore create an opportunity to negotiate for the meaning allowing them to consider restructuring the words that caused loss of meaning.

Negotiating for meaning is a learning process based on the concept that knowledge of a second language can be properly acquired through exposure to input that is comprehensible. This is input that is slightly beyond the current knowledge of the learner (Foster & Ohta 2005). Two students can use lexical cards to negotiate for meaning especially for words that collocate with each other. To help the students notice these words, the words are written in bold before or after the target word in the lexical card.

The two learners already have part of the information and therefore each requires the other person’s part to complete the task. The two are first asked to write the word that matches the picture. They then exchange the cards that do not have the pictures (Foster & Ohta 2005). Lexical cards can be useful in directing the learners to negotiate for meaning in the following ways in the following steps. They start by exposing the learner to a large number of vocabularies. The teacher uses these vocabularies to create an environment where the vocabularies are repetitively used so as to encourage proper acquisition of them.

The learner may be started on the less complex vocabularies that require shallow cognitive processing. Secondly, the cards can be used by the teacher to speed up the process of vocabulary acquisition. This is because the cards are self initiating tools that can promote learner autonomy. Thirdly, after the learners have acquired the vocabularies, they can proceed to negotiating the meaning of those vocabularies that are unknown to them during class discussions. This will lead them to learning more vocabularies as they listen to the follow speakers and also during the exchange.

Finally when they are able to use the lexical cards to negotiate for meaning, the learners become more autonomous and can be able to enlarge their vocabulary on their own (British Council 2012). Difference between “teaching unplugged” and “use of lexical cards” as English language learning activities The main difference between these two English learning activities is that teaching Unplugged is an approach that uses the language that is produced by the learners as the starting point for teaching.

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