Assignment 10/11 /2013: APA Journal #2
Xu Guohong
Reading Chapter 2“ Explaining Second Language Learning” is quite eye opening on the language teaching field, the valuable theories and the relevant research is playing a primary role in directing the language teaching practice effectively
I agree with the point “that a second language learner is different from a very young child acquiring a first language.” Also“ the learners’ characteristics and the learning condition is very important to the language acquisition”. Comparing with the adult and children learning a second language., the cognitive differences affect the learning process significantly.
Observing my adult students learning a second language, I found that those students major in science and electronics were good at summarizing the key points of what they were learning and organizing the language knowledge systematically. But they were stressful and shy to use the learning language to express themselves. It usually needs a great effort to conduct the classroom interaction. In the other hand, my 6- year- old nephew learning English simply by watching video was able to utterance the limited vocabulary and blend into the first language in daily life unintentionally. When I asked the kid questions in English, he answered my questions shortly without hesitation. He was able to understand the series stories since he has been watching more than100 episodes. I was wondering if he was exposed to the English environment, how long it would take to convert his intake into output to merge into the community? And owever, he speaks English with a strong Chinese accent. Would this accent be removed if adequate learning condition is provided for him.? Will he be able to correct himself by interacting with the native speakers? Will his accent be fossilized? I am interested to do further observation since he is in the similar situation as Jim’s mentioned in Chapter 1 ( the importance of interaction).
I also agreed with the theory that “ a person learning a second language would start off with the habit formed in the first language and that these habits would interfere with the new ones needed for the second language.” I did notice that students intake the second language features easily when the second language features are similar with the first language. For example , both Chinese and English have the same basic sentence structures as SP, SPO and SP+IO+DO etc. It is apparently helpful for the students to acquire the language sense by drawing upon the similarities in classroom setting at the earlier stages. Since Chinese has strict word order to form the sentences,. Chinese students tend to put the English words one by one to form the English sentences in the way Chinese sentences are formed no matter in written or speaking. For example,
a. We will send B64-SQTA5306+P1/1000pcs to MCG and ask they help us to send to MCL.
b.. We run out B76-01-67 and we ask MCG to help us, but they also short it too. Can you please sent it to us asap?
c. Optimistic, self-confidence, hard, steady work, perseverance, honest and reliable, serious, there is a strong sense of responsibility and team spirit.(乐观,自信,工作努力,执着,诚实可靠,认真,有强烈的责任感和团队精神.)
This typical straightforward word by word translation or permutation from Chinese to English is the common mistake that Chinese students tend to make.
While the English tenses are difficult for most of them to get used to due to the varied formation. So it needs reinforcing and correcting over and over again before the language habits are formed correctly, especially passive voice using in the present perfect progressive tense and the present perfect tense were often confused them greatly.
(have/has done (present perfect tense) + be done ( passive) = have/has been done). It seemed that students were searching the similarities all the time automatically through the acquisition process. Obviously they were using the Chinese language processing system to process English and even to interpret English with Chinese concepts , which causes misconceptions in some ways. It is not easy to get rid of this interference effectively in the formal confined classroom settings. So it is critical for the teachers to focus on the language by creating effective interaction activities inside and outside the classroom. Also using authentic input and making good use of public facilities like TV, broadcast, movies etc. will enhance the acquisition of the language.
Learning about interaction hypothesis that interaction is the essential condition for second language acquisition, I was revisiting .the traditional teaching process conducting in China and realized the function of the conversation was a very critical means to facilitate language learning from different aspects The interaction hypothesis and Krasben’s monitor model provides us significant guidance such as how language are processed in learners’ brain, how interaction facilitated learning, and the emphasis on practicing is the key for acquisition etc. which are the critical elements that I missed in English teaching before.
The different theories described in Chapter 2 gave me a wide and deep view of how second language are developed and engaged me in critical thinking about the updated teaching philosophy. Yet it is really a challenge for a teacher to create the language learning condition both in and out of the classroom to approach the teaching goal effectively base on different learners characteristics.