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In this article, researchers presented the following tenet regarding Processability Theory, "learners can acquire only those linguistic forms and functions which he or she can process’ (Pienemann, 2011b: 27). In the data set, there are clear developmental stages for L2 acquisition from lemma, to verb tenses, to number agreement, to plural and tense agreement to subject-verb agreement. I see evidence of these morphosyntactic structures in the classroom as L2 learners are negotiating written and oral meaning making.

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In the talk by Mitsutomi (interested in SLA) and Kirjavainen (interest in native language acquisition), the researchers are collaborating in their expertise to collect data regarding:

How are languages acquired after a L1?

What goes into making a classroom to be most successful of L2?

Clearly these are pertinent questions for EAL teachers. What I found interesting about their talk are some key issues for SLA.

1) Opportunities for originality:  As students "negotiate for meaning" (Long 1996), they work to to say something that is original and not rehearsed.

2) Awareness: As students learn, they need to be able to "notice the gap" (Swain, 1985) between where they are and what they need. I think this is where KAL and metalanguage in classrooms becomes critical. Students need be able to say, "Okay, I can speak in the present, I need to work on past tense."

3) Feelings: Students need to feel safe and comfortable making mistakes. Interlanguage, or student's "homegrown grammar" is how students learn to produce something they are trying to say. Resisting "perfect" language means that errors must happen and may happen for a long time.

Mitsutomi and Kirjavainen say, "students need contact with the language. They need to create original thoughts with the language to make meaning. Ultimately, they need to reach the level where they can negotiate meaning in unpredictable situations."

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The Input-Interaction-Output Model stressed the importance of input acquisition and processing of L2 linguistic components through negotiated interaction. I think this makes sense for the classroom environment, especially when we consider the stages that L2 learners go through in SLA.  I'm learning that the intake, integration, and interaction stages play an important role in SLA in light of Krashen's Hypthoseis and Gass's stress on negotiated interaction.

Thinking about the different stages also helped to clarify the teacher's role in the process of SLA. During the intake stage, ‘the learner notices incoming data in line with individual affective, attitudinal, and linguistic filters as ‘the vital stage between receiving information through input and forming grammar’ (P. 44).  As an EAL teacher, this seems to connect to how we develop the language environment in the classroom, ensure comprehensible input, and create safe spaces for mistakes. Then, the ‘integration’ stage is where the linguistic rules of the target language are shaped and strengthened. Here is where I think form-focused instruction supports students in noticing, producing, and reflecting on errors or approximations. Lastly, the interaction stage is where L2 learners are negotiating meaning. When interaction takes place in the classroom, teachers facilitate learners' language elaboration and clarification.

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"Hence, formal and informal language learning are interwoven, acting as the two axes of language fluency."  This is according to the Ghazali's article: "First Vs Second Language Acquisition." This bolsters the push-in, asset-based approach to language learning. Language learners must be left in a language-rich environment where they are not only exposed to CALP but also where they can practice a lot of BICS!

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"Hence, formal and informal language learning are interwoven, acting as the two axes of language fluency."  This is according to the Ghazali's article: "First Vs Second Language Acquisition." This bolsters the push-in, asset-based approach to language learning. Language learners must be left in a language-rich environment where they are not only exposed to CALP but also where they can practice a lot of BICS!

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Again Ghazali's article states: "Do children learn languages better than adults do? Most linguists believe this is the case." Again, as an EAL teacher this is a nice reminder to get!

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Again Ghazali's article states: "Do children learn languages better than adults do? Most linguists believe this is the case." Again, as an EAL teacher this is a nice reminder to get!

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One piece of new terminology I have come across in my reading was the: "Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH), which may lead to adult resistance of language learning. According to the CPH, adults no longer have the same plasticity as children that would enable them to cope with new mental activities." So the CPH seems to be the special period of time frame which is THE best for learning a language.

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One piece of new terminology I have come across in my reading was the: "Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH), which may lead to adult resistance of language learning. According to the CPH, adults no longer have the same plasticity as children that would enable them to cope with new mental activities." So the CPH seems to be the special period of time frame which is THE best for learning a language.

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Svetlana: I think I know that adults and children have different systems involved in language acquisition: until puberty, children possess the innate abstract system that has to do with language acquisition, it is biologically natural for them as all other cognitive skills develop. Adults rely on their skills and problem-solving abilities that are not suited to dealing with the abstract formal grammatical system which underlies language.

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Criteria for EXCEEDS for this week's task...

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Criteria for EXCEEDS for this week's task...

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Group members gather information on second language acquisition theories with an emphasis on past and current explanatory paradigms to express ideas in a group KLEWS Chart. Participants specifically select different readings and viewings (if possible) in order to gather diverse ideas.

Participants’ wonderings are directly related to this week’s TESOL standard. References are cited.

All participant entries are easily identifiable within the KLEWS chart.

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I am wondering if the theories of innatism versus behaviourism is simply "nature versus nurture" but  packaged differently!? 

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I am wondering if the theories of innatism versus behaviourism is simply "nature versus nurture" but  packaged differently!? 

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Svetlana: Dual-focussed learning environment - integrating language with non-language content; used in European countries, "predecessor" of CLIL approach.

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I think there is a lot of sense, in Krashen's 4 stages of Language learning: A. The Silent Phase (Pre-production). B. The Early-Production stage. C. The Speech Emergence stage. D. The Intermediate Fluency stage.

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I think there is a lot of sense, in Krashen's 4 stages of Language learning: A. The Silent Phase (Pre-production). B. The Early-Production stage. C. The Speech Emergence stage. D. The Intermediate Fluency stage.

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Language is learned over time and can take some people many years to learn a language.
There will be a silent period for SLA at the beginning as the person starts to acquire information.
When learning a new language the volume and speed of speech will not help the learner comprehend any faster.
I think I know that motivation in learning a language plays a huge role in SLA

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Krashen, S. (2010). Language acquisition,

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Krashen, S. (2010). Language acquisition,

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Comprehensible input with Low Anxiety environment is the way to SLA.
What a powerful quote this was!

TALKING is NOT practicing. There has to be so much more that goes into the acquisition

While not all kids will learn a language at the same pace due to the affective filter, we can use different scaffolds to get input into the brain.

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Krashen, S. (2010). Language acquisition,

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Krashen, S. (2010). Language acquisition,

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Listen to the story of a Japanese girl living next to him. "It took the girl 5 months to say a word". She was listening and picking out comprehensible input! We need to remember this as teachers.

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What are some strategies in class to make sure this doesn't happen? How can we support students so that they anxiety stays low and we don't force a child to put the block up?

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I think I know that there are a number of different theories of SLA and that they have developed over time. I think that perhaps no one theory has universal appeal or approval and that teachers tend to use a 'blend' of elements form different theories without even realising it. I think I know that there is a lack of understanding about how the different theories have come about and how we have ended up where we currently are in our thinking about SLA.

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Svetlana: "READING GIVES YOU LANGUAGE!" It is the major source of vocabulary, grammar, spelling and writing plus positive habits of mind. (S. Krashen, Webinar for British Council)

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Svetlana: In his webinar for BC, S. Krashen gives an exampe of a boy whose parents spoke Cantonese at home, but the boy grew up being fluent in Mandarin, because from childhood he was fascinated to watch animated movies in Mandarin, which provided visuals and his babysitter translated things at times. That was his "comprehensible input".

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Svetlana: I like S. Krashen's "compelling comprehensible input" referring to material being not only comprehensible, but also interesting to lower the affective filter and motivate.

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Svetlana: Having worked as a SEN teacher for a couple of years, I wonder whether there are strategies to motivate ELLs with dyslexia - they are bright kids and they notice quite early that their reading skills are very different; text-to-speech and speech-to-text devices are limited to Google's voice typing in grade 2 and listening to texts if that option is available (Epic! has some texts and we also use RAZ-KIDS), I do feel this is not enough. I guess it's not a language acquisition question as such, just something that has been on my mind for quite some time.

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Maybe I'm old fashioned but I think a lot of the tenets of Skinner's behaviourist approach make sense to me. Methodologies like: repetition, substitution drills, and praising desired behaviour truly work with children! Methodologies like these have a very practical place in language learning. The constructivist approach which puts forth that "everyone constructs meaning in their own way" also jumped out at me! Each person is different. How, what and how much each person learns is unique to each individual! 

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Maybe I'm old fashioned but I think a lot of the tenets of Skinner's behaviourist approach make sense to me. Methodologies like: repetition, substitution drills, and praising desired behaviour truly work with children! Methodologies like these have a very practical place in language learning. The constructivist approach which puts forth that "everyone constructs meaning in their own way" also jumped out at me! Each person is different. How, what and how much each person learns is unique to each individual! 

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Johnson, M. (2016). Second language acquisition theories,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMdseB-EB8Y (16:14)

Stephen Krashen

Krashen, S. (2010). Language acquisition,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiTsduRreug&t=42s (15:24)

Friedrichsen, A. (2020). Second language acquisition and what it means for teacher instruction,
Master’s Thesis, pp. 1-34.
The Douglass FIR Group (2016). A transdisciplinary framework for SLA in a multilingual world,
The Modern Language Journal, 16, pp. 19-47

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Language learning is a process in which multiple variables are interwoven, affecting on how learners acquire the language. Thus, they are gradually enriching their self-contained linguistic system (Hasan et
al., n.d.), inheriting small chunks of language and building up to their linguistic repertoire.

Although various theoretical fields argue about which forms language is acquired, I support the idea of perceiving students as active learners who not only receive input but are frequently processing and producing the language.

Additionally, I sustain the hypothesis that considers learners' idiosyncrasies in terms of intrinsic aspects of acquiring a new language (i.e., motives, emotional states, cognitive styles. and learning abilities) as well as the interrelation between language learning and the context as it is the primary form of acquisition when in relation with the cognoscible object of knowledge and the self.

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The input hypothesis considers that acquiring language is a result of comprehending messages, which distinguishes it from theoretical approaches that reiterate the relevance of the language output (i.e., producing language. Krashen, 2010 & de Graff et al., 2007).

In this sense, the form of the input, whether qualitative or quantitative, is determinative to language acquisition and modes of comprehension, in which meaningful learning situations are provided to facilitate interaction, process-making, and an effective output through a set of strategies that lead to learning the language.

Al Ghazali (2006) argues that despite the methodologies adopted by teachers to facilitate language learning, whether focused on metalinguistic instruction or a focus on communication skills, the affective domain also converges into several aspects that determine how language is acquired and what is being understood. Similarly, Krashen (2010) concluded that success in language acquisition is correlated to motivation, needs, self-confidence, and anxiety, therefore, the focus is on the message being conveyed in a low-anxiety setting, where learners feel encouraged and safe to comprehend the input and produce the language.

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Krashen (2010) states that anything that makes language comprehensible, visuals, knowledge of the world, realia, etc. leads to language acquisition, that is consistent and meaningful input strategically scaffolded into the Language Acquisition Device (LAD).

In the excerpt, the aforementioned author provides two lessons in German, and the second one is supported by the Input Hypothesis as it stimulates the induction and deduction of the language being processed.

Apart from being an EAL Grade 5 teacher, I teach Portuguese to learners who are acquiring Portuguese as an additional language, and hence I could notice these different variables exert influence on how language is acquired.

Now, I feel more confident to use Portuguese as the primary language of instruction, being attentive to the understanding of the message that is being conveyed. Moreover, I am recurring to a set of instructional practices that lead to a low-anxiety environment where learners feel safe to make attempts to interact in a foreign language.

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Comprehensible Input or the Input Hypothesis - the acquisition of language through the understanding of what is being said or read in a particular context (Krashen, 2010).

Language Acquisition Device (LAD) or Universal Grammar (UG) - The innatist approach considers that we, biologically, can discover and comprehend the set of rules of a language system (Al Ghazali, 2006).

Output Production - It refers to the language being produced both orally and in writing (Al Ghazali, 2006).

Language Anxiety - It defines the fear of using the new language based on the discouragement of being evaluated or criticized by the output production (Al Ghazali, 2006).

The four language learning abilities stated by Ellis (1007 apud Al Ghazali (2006).

Phonemic Coding Ability - The ability to identify and memorize new sounds.

Grammatical Sensitivity - The learner deduces grammatical features through multiple exposures.

Inductive Learning Ability - The understanding of the function of words in sentences,

Rote-learning Ability - The ability to acquire new words.

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I am wondering how effective is to speak in an additional language with beginners as they are being initially exposed to the language. For instance, I have a student who is learning English for the first time after years and still finds challenging to understand command words and short phrases. I tend to go back and forth with both languages; however, I still did not find the balance between this fine line between using the L1 and inputting the new language into the LAD.

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My readings:

Al Ghazali, F. (2006). First language acquisition vs. second language learning: What is the difference, The Centre for English Language Studies, The University of Birmingham, pp. 1-18.

de Graaff et al, (2007). An observation tool for effective L2 pedagogy in content and language integrated learning (CLIL), International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, pp. 603-624.

My viewing:

Krashen, S. (2010). Language acquisition, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiTsduRreug&t=42s (15:24).

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I have learned that there is an enormous amount of cross-over between different SLA theories. I like some of the ideas put forward by Krashen, As a Learning Support teacher I have had the opportunity to work with international students with selective mutism so have some previous understanding of the silent phase. I have worked with a number of teachers that have confused this stage for SM (a mental health disorder) and wrongly label students. Revisiting this in the video was a reminder to me of how little teachers, and often specialist are aware of the basis of of the models we use in school. As a former ABA therapist, I am very aware fo the idea of 'drills' but was unaware of their use in respect to ELL teaching (the audiolingual method). I think the key thing that I have learned at the moment, and this will sound somewhat naive, but please remember that I am new to EAL teaching, is that there a number of different methods for teaching ELL's, all of which have some merit for me.

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Oh my goodness, so much. My key wondering at the moment is how to use my new knowledge of the different theories to better understand my stance with regard to how I think I can best support ELL's, without wanting to be too controversial on a CLIL course, I have been quite taken with Task-Based Language Teaching, but see so much overlap, wonder how i can use the 'best' bits of both to better service the ELL students in my grade/school.

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My new favourite word in the world (to sound super clever) is: Interlocutor - A person who takes part in a conversation. I have no idea why anyone would use that word, but hats off to them for doing so.

Communicative competence - the ability to achieve communicative goals in a socially
appropriate manner.

Discourse organisation - I get it, but I still can't really explain it :-)

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I read the book, Key Questions in Language Acquisition: An Introduction by Alessandro Benati, he provides evidence for SLA theories throughout the text.

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When reading the Buyl and Housen article, I encountered evidence of the stages learners go through to process L2 "morphosyntactic structures." When reading about "receptive learner data," I wondered if this is what Krashen is describing as "comprehensible input" meaning what students can take in and understand.

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morphosyntactic processor: our "grammar computer" - when when L2 students use information to make accurate judgements about the morphology of words in light of the syntactic structure of a sentence. I play ed basketball with two friend s. (past tense, plural)

interlanguage: “homemade” grammar in order to produce something you are trying to say (Mitsutomi)

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I liked the way this visual let us see that multilingual learners have many different structures that come together to help them thrive as learners.

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Svetlana:
Reading: De Graaf et al, (2007). An Observation Tool for Effective L2 Pedagogy in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, pp. 603-624.

Viewing: Webinar with Dr. Stephen Krashen, (2020), YouTube (1:10:50)

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Svetlana:
Compensation strategies - strategies, such as describing things in their own words, using gestures or body language, suggested by teachers to help students to keep on talking when they fail to express themselves in a correct way.

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Svetlana:
Five main indicators of effective CLIL (results of an observation study):
1. Teachers facilitate exposure to input at a (minimally) challenging level by selecting attractive materials and dapting texts as well as scaffolding by active use of body language and visual aids.
2. Teachers facilitate meaning-focused processing by stimulating learners to request new vocabulary, checking meaning, using corrective feedback on incorrect meaning identifications, and practicing through relevant speaking and writing assignments.
3. Teachers faciltate form-focused processing by giving examples, using clarification checks and requests and giving feedbcak (including peer feedback).
4. Teachers facilitate output production (working in groups, creative forms of oral and written output production, giving learners enough time for task completion.
5. Teachers facilitate the use of compensation strategies by stimulating students to overcome problems in language comprehension and production, scaffolding on-the-spot strategy use.
(De Graaf et al.)

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Svetlana: The researchers (De Graaf et al) saved video-clips with examples of effective CLIL teaching performance which they distributed among CLIL schools in the Netherlands.

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Svetlana: I start to come to the conclusion there isn't one effective universal SLA theory that "fits all". Learning depends on age, ability, personality, realtionships between students and teachers and many other factors.