Understanding Cognitive Principles in Language Learning
Cognitive Principles: they relate to mental and intellectual functions.
1. Automaticity
Automaticity: is the ability to do things without occupying the mind, allowing it to become an automatic response pattern or habit. It is usually the result of learning, repetition, and practice.
*Overcoming our propensity to pay too much focal attention to the bits and pieces of language and to move language forms quickly to the periphery by using language in authentic contexts for meaningful purposes.* Grammatical
Read MoreHuman Language: Origins, Structure, and Meaning
The Origins of Language
Divine Source
The divine source theory posits that language is a gift from a deity. It suggests that a supernatural being gave language to humanity as a means of communication or as a fundamental aspect of human nature and consciousness.
Natural Sound Source
The natural sound source theory proposes that early human ancestors developed communication systems by mimicking sounds from their environment.
Social Interaction Source
The social interaction source theory suggests that as
Read MoreEssential ESL Teaching Terms and Classroom Activities
Key Terms for ESL Instruction
For Special Attention
Syllabus: A short-term plan for a semester, term, or course.
Content: The theme, topic, vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, etc., focuses of a lesson.
As many… as (one) can: The maximum number that one can manage.
Language skills: Usually listening, speaking, reading, writing; sometimes also grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation.
As much as possible: The maximum amount that one can manage.
Teacher’s room: Special room where teachers relax, talk, work,
Read MoreUnderstanding Child Language Development: From Crying to Speech
Understanding Child Language Development
What is Psycholinguistics?
Psycholinguistics is the study of language and speech as a window into the nature and structure of the human mind.
What is Developmental Psycholinguistics?
Developmental psycholinguistics examines how speech emerges over time and how children construct the complex structures of their mother tongue.
Crying: An Automatic, Iconic, and Symbolic Response
Crying is an automatic response to noxious stimuli, triggered by the autonomic nervous
Read MoreEffective Language Teaching Methods: A Comprehensive Analysis
Community Language Learning
Community Language Learning is a classic example of an affectively based method, based on Charles Curran’s (1972) Counseling-Learning model of education. Learners in a classroom are regarded not as a class but as a group in need of therapy and counseling. Success depends on the translation expertise of the counselor. However, the counselor-teacher could become too non-directive. Supportive but assertive direction from the counselor could strengthen the method.
- Theory of
Grammar: Understanding and Teaching Effectively
What is Grammar?
- Language users’ subconscious internal system
- Linguists’ attempt to codify or describe that system
- Sounds of language – Phonology
- Structure and form of words – Morphology
- Arrangement of words into larger units – Syntax
- Meanings of language – Semantics
- Functions of language and its use in context – Pragmatics
“Grammar is the business of taking a language to pieces, to see how it works.” – David Crystal
Grammar is the system of a language. People sometimes describe grammar as the “rules” of
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