Course: Qualitative and Quantitative Research

Tutor: Milly Muñoz

Date: July 13^th, 2018

The theory that I will use is the Natural Approach. It was developed by Tracy Terrill and Stephen Kashreen in 1983, and it was used to study the process of learning a language. This theory indicates that a person learns a language in a natural and subconscious way and its main aim is to develop the communicative skill so that students can communicate with native speakers. As applied to my study, this theory holds that I would expect my independent variable(s): Type of school (public: Capellania I.E.D, private: Cambridge school) (Cajicá), to influence or explain the dependent variable(s): second language acquisition and communicative competence; because according to the researches and their studies, children learn a language in a natural way and it is also unconscious, but when the students don't have the access to the same environments (curriculum, trained teachers, resources, materials, didactic approaches, methods and so on) it does not matter if they are the same age, they would have different language levels even for their native language, so this is why I think according to the theory and thinking about the variables, Public schools in Cajicá have a slower language acquisition and their communicative competence level is lower than private ones. The aim of this research is to define why and how can this be changed.

Tutor: Milly Muñoz

Date: July 10, 2018

Second Language Acquisition Theory Perspective

The theory that I will use is Second Language Acquisition Theory, developed by Stephen Krashen (University of Southern California) an expert in the field of linguistics, and it was used to study second language acquisition. This theory indicates on its Comprehension Hypothesis that we acquire language and develop literacy when we understand messages, that is, when we understand what we hear and what we read, when we receive “comprehensible input” (Krashen, 2003). As applied to my study, this theory holds that I would expect my independent variables of visiting a school library will potentially increase the desire of do “Free Voluntary Reading*” an extended hypothesis of the comprehensible input to this activity. to influence or explain the dependent variables when kids get familiar with variety book collections, their curiosity for reading gets stimulate, because wile being expose to various literary genders as well topics, kids visiting a library on the comfort of their school activities, develop the curiosity to read, thus stimulating, contributing to their language development doe the Free Voluntary Reading.   

. * “Free Voluntary” refers that the reader involved in that practice does it because he or she wants it. That free voluntary reader experiences a lot of pleasure and happiness by reading.

References

Krashen, S. (April, 2004). Paper presented at the RELC conference, Singapore. Free Voluntary 

Reading. Recovered from: http://www.sdkrashen.com/content/articles/singapore.pdf

Course: Qualitative and Quantitative Research

Tutor: Milly Muñoz

Date: July, 2018

The theory that I will use is the culture in a Foreign Language Teaching. It was developed by Jack Croft Richards and Richard W. Schmidt, and it was used to study the relationship between culture and acquisition or learning of a foreign language, moreover, the theory helps to design methods to teach a second or foreign language. This theory indicates that the Culture and the Language combine the discourse of a person, it means ways of talking, thinking, and behaving the reflect one’s social identity, and besides, there are two perspectives of culture: high culture of literature and arts, and small culture of attitudes, values, beliefs and everyday lifestyles. As applied to my study, this theory holds that I would expect my independent variable(s) Knowledge about culture to influence or explain the dependent variable(s) learning of a foreign language because according to the studies when learners have achieved a good level of knowledge about target culture this fact makes easier to the learning of a second or foreign language, because the relationship between both elements allows a better comprehension and use of the several dimensions of the target language.

Conclusion with the if-then logic: 

My theory is related to how the knowledge or learning of a culture of a target language in a learner influences directly in her/his acquisition.

The variables are the knowledge about target culture and the acquisition of the second or foreign language, where the dependent variable is the acquisition of a second language and the independent variable is knowledge of the target culture.    

if a learner has a high level of knowledge of the culture of the language that is been studying then, it is possible to increase the acquisition of that target language. 

Course: Qualitative and Quantitative Research

Tutor: Milly Muñoz

Date: July 9th, 2018

Theoretical Perspective

The theory that I will use is theory of mind. It was developed in the field of autism by Baron-Cohen, Leslie, and Frith, and it was used to study the autism problems. Theory of mind is the mental ability to understand mental states and the mental stage of other people. This deficit of theory of mind is referred to as mind blindness. The initial application of the term ‘theory of mind’ was first stated in the field of autism by Baron-Cohen, Leslie, and Frith, (1985) in their thesis they affirm that the basic psychological disorder of autism was precisely a deficit in the development of the theory of the mind in the capacity of metallization that is understood as the ability to "predict relationships between external states of events and internal mental states" (Frith, 1989, pp.176-157) for this reason the people with autism have a lot of difficulties to have interpersonal relations due to their inability to make inferences about the behavior of others, to understand that others have mental states different from their own and, also, by the absence of self-awareness of their own mental life. (Francesc Cuxart 2000, pg 68) 

According to (Stephen M. Edelson, Ph.D.) the theory of mind refers to the notion that many autistic individuals do not understand that other people have their own plans, thoughts, and points of view. Furthermore, it appears that they have difficulty understanding other people's beliefs, attitudes, and emotions. 

By not understanding that other people think differently than themselves, many autistic individuals may have problems relating socially and communicating to other people. That is, they may not be able to anticipate what others will say or do in various situations. In addition, they may have difficulty understanding that their peers or classmates even have thoughts and emotions, and may thus appear to be self-centered, eccentric, or uncaring.

As applied to my study, this theory holds that I would expect my independent variable(s) male and female people with autism  to influence or explain the dependent variable(s) performance on the Basic Emotion Recognition Task to identified if the male and female people with autism had deficits with theory of mind and find out if there is gender differences in theory of mind because people with autism are very smart and intelligent people doing very difficult task but they can have difficulties understanding mental states of other people looking they are not able to tell how people is feeling. The idea is to find out if there are more females than males or vice versa with that mentally ability, and show the difficulties that autism people have interacting with others and make social relations.


References

 

-          Cuxart F., (2000) el autismo aspectos descriptivos y terapéuticos. Retrieved from https://www.autisme.com/autisme/documentacio/documents/El%20autismo.pdf

 

-          Stephen M. (08-07-2018) Autism Research Institute. Theory of Mind. Retrieved from https://www.autism.com/understanding_theoryofmind

 

-          Frith U, Happe F. Autism: beyond “theory of mind” Retrieved from http://tarjomefa.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/TarjomeFa-F224-English.pdf

 

-          Teresa J. Foden & C. Anderson (16 02, 2011) Social skills interventions: getting to the core of autism Retrieved from: https://iancommunity.org/cs/what_do_we_know/social_skills_interventions

 

-          Stephenson J and Adams C., (17-02-2016)  The social communication experience of children with autism in mainstream school Retrieved from https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/files/50284846/Stephenson_and_Adams_2016.pdf

 

-          Frank J. Kelly A. (July-2008)Using Computer-Presented Social Stories and Video Models to Increase the Social Communication Skills of Children With High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders Retrieved from http://www.coping.us/images/Sansosti_Powell_2008_Social_Stories_Comm_Skills.pdf 

 

-          Yogi P. A Wealth of Free Psychology (May 25 2016)Retrieved from: http://psychyogi.org/baron-cohen-et-al-1997-autism-eyes-task/