Nature of Language Learning - Report Example

Materials Development Name of the Student Name of the University Materials Development Introduction Language is defined as the communication of thoughts and feelings using a system of arbitrary signals, for instance, voice, sounds, gestures or written symbols. Such a system consists of rules for combining its components, namely words and is used by a set of people, nation or any other distinct community or culture. It is basically a system of signs, symbols, gestures, words and rules for communication (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 2000). Language is the most important tool for communication. It is also a tool that helps forge friendships, cultural ties and economic relationships. Language has also been described as something that shapes thoughts and emotions and helps determine an individual’s perception of reality. Kilgour (1999), says that according to linguist Edward Sapir, “language is not only a vehicle for the expression of thoughts, perceptions, sentiments, and values characteristic of a community; it also represents a fundamental expression of social identity.” Kilgour is also of the opinion that language is knowledge and in the world today knowledge is a key factor in competitiveness. This paper will take the case of English as a second language to be taught to young students, born to first generation immigrants from a variety of South-East Asian countries, namely, China, Japan, Indonesia and Korea. These ethnic groups have heavy use for the English language for everyday communication and interaction with people from other backgrounds and ethnicity. Kilgour also gives his opinion on the importance of the English language. He says that knowledge of the English language is one of the most important tools available to children and since it is one of the international languages, it is a critical tool of communication between countries, cultural groups, various companies and organizations and communities and friends. It forms the most important link between people from different countries and cultures. Teaching Material The main aim of this paper is to develop a teaching material that will suit the needs of a group of second language learners and how that material can be utilized and the part it plays in a lesson or unit of work. Teaching materials play a very important role when teaching language. There is however a distinct difference between a teaching resource and a teaching material. Almost anything can be a teaching resource, namely, a newspaper, an announcement, junk mail, e-mail, pictures, video and audio clippings etc. What changes a resource into a teaching material, are the instructions for use that go along with it in a particular context (Module 5). Teaching materials is a combination of resources and the instructions for use. It is often referred to as value-added resources. There are several important purposes of teaching materials. Firstly, they provide understandable input and bring an output by encouraging language use. It aids in the development of specific skills, motivates individuals to learn and develops autonomy by developing various coping strategies. The teaching material that will be used in this paper to teach English as a second language for young students from different ethnic backgrounds will be Picture Description. Picture description is one of the most effective teaching materials that will encourage use of language, increase autonomy, develop speaking and grammar skills and motivates students to use language to a great extent. Picture description is also an ideal teaching material for developing student vocabulary and provides valuable insights for students about the target culture. According to Miller (2007), the primary objective of picture description is to help students to understand questions, learn to respond appropriately, learn to relate aural cues to visual information, to reinforce and assess vocabulary knowledge. In addition to the above picture description will also increase the ability of learners to make everyday conversations to get their work done or to get from one place to the next. Picture Description will be one of the many lessons or units of work that will be used to teach English as a second language to students with ethnic backgrounds. This lesson or unit comes in the intermediate stage of learning, where students have obtained a sound understanding of some basics of the English language. Each student will be given a picture and the subject can range from inanimate objects to groups of people, market scenes, natural scenery, products available in stores etc. The student is expected to describe the picture to the best of his knowledge. The activity will be an interactive session between the student and the teacher with fellow students being the audience who will listen and learn. Questions will be asked to prod students and encourage them to use the different figures of speech, tenses etc., and showcase their knowledge of the language. To get them started they will first be asked what they see in the picture given to them. They will be encouraged to use locations and directions to describe the picture. Questions such as where or on which side they see a particular object or visual will be asked to encourage the use of directions and locations. They will be asked to describe an action that they can see in the picture through the use of accurate verbs. Questions such as, ‘What is the man or woman doing in the picture?’ etc will be asked, to encourage correct description. Students will also be asked to use description words, namely adjectives to describe a particular aspect of the picture that they have been given. Teachers or instructors will then ask the students to give their opinion on the picture or any aspect of the picture. Following this, the students will be asked to write a short story or describe an incident based on the picture in the past tense. Lesson Plan The Lesson Plan for this module will follow a simple yet effective structure. The lesson plan will consist of five stages each with a unique purpose. According to Beare (2006), this lesson plan format is popular as students have many chances to learn concepts, have plenty of time to practice and it moves from teacher-centered instruction to student-centered learning. The first stage is the warm-up stage. A warm-up activity is the best way to gain students attention and interest and get them motivated for the class. The warm-up activity can be anything from telling a short story to asking questions. This lesson plan will start with a series of quick and easy questions on the previous day’s lesson. This warm-up activity will not only gain student’s attention, it will also act as a recall session for the lessons that have already been learnt. The next stage is the Presentation stage. Presentation can take on a variety of forms. This stage is a teacher-centered instruction stage wherein the teacher makes the presentation of the main theme of objective of the lesson. In this lesson plan, the presentation stage will describe the activity involved to the students, the main objectives and an overview of the grammar involved in the same. The third stage is the Controlled practice stage and this stage provides students with direct feedback on their comprehension of the language and its nuances. This stage involves an activity that will help students focus on the main task. Picture Description activity will play a very vital role in this stage of the lesson plan. Since it is an interactive session between the students and teachers, it will provide immediate feedback to the students. The next stage is the Free Practice stage. This stage integrates focus structure, vocabulary and functional language into the students’ overall language use. Students will be asked to write the short story or incident related to the picture in the past tense in this stage of the lesson plan. Students must be given a free rein to integrate their skills and learn from their mistakes. The last stage is the feedback stage. This stage allows students to gauge their understanding of their lesson topic. This will be done by asking quick questions at the end of the class. Role of Material in Teaching and Learning The learning material will contribute very effectively to the overall development of language skills of the students. The starting question on what they see in the picture tests their knowledge of forming correct sentences. Their description of locations and directions will aid in the development of day to day conversations. Description of actions will test their knowledge on verb usage and description of the persons or objects in the picture will give insight into their understanding of the use of adjectives. Asking their opinions on the picture will display their comprehension of grammatically correct sentences and the writing activity at the end describing short story or incident in the past tense will test their knowledge on the usage of tenses. Theory of Language/ Nature of Language I personally think that this material will be most effective in developing the proficiency of students as it follows the Direct method or approach to teaching a foreign language. This method was originally developed as a reaction to an earlier approach called the grammar translation approach, with a view to integrate more use of the target language in instruction. Lessons in this method usually begin with a dialogue using a conversational style in the target language; in this case it will be English. The mother tongue of students is never used and there is no room for translation. Materials in this lesson are first presented orally with actions or pictures (Kerper, 2008). This method has some basic principles. Firstly, classroom instruction is given only in the target language. Secondly, oral communication skills are built up through question- answer sessions and other interactive sessions between students and teachers. Thirdly, concrete vocabulary is taught through demonstrations, objects, picture etc. Abstract vocabulary was taught using association of ideas and correct pronunciation and grammar is given much importance (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p 12). Description of Learners & Their Needs The learners are from a variety of ethnic backgrounds from South-east Asia, namely China, Japan, Indonesia and Korea. They all children of first generation immigrants from the above mentioned countries. All of them are between the ages of 12 to 15 years and the student group consists of both boys and girls. Culturally they have different backgrounds although economically they hail from a relatively low income group. They have high necessity for learning the language for day to day interaction and for general acceptance in their new environment. Since they are immigrants they require knowledge and skill in the language to conduct their day to day business and for effective communication with other people. Nature of Language Language is said to be a system of sounds that have been developed and evolved over a period of time. One basic, underlying nature of language is that it has both structure and function, implying that it follows rules and at the same time is highly practical. Structure refers to language as a unique system of sounds that have meanings. Syntax is the sequence in which words are organized to form meaning. The structure of language is highly formal and never changes or changes very slowly. Most people are unaware of structure; they merely follow the rules of the language when using it. The function aspect of the language is concerned with how people use the language. The functional aspect of language is more oriented towards effective communication and do not give much importance to rules (Ellis, 1999, p 2). There are three primary views to learning language. The structural view of language is that language is a system of structurally elements that convey meaning and these elements include phonological elements, grammatical elements, grammatical operations and lexical functions. The communicative or functional view of language emphasizes that language is a vehicle for the expression of meaning; the semantic and communicative aspects of language are given more importance than grammatical characteristics. The interactional view of language says that language is a primary tool or the means for establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships and for performing social transactions (SIL International, 1999). Nature of Language Learning Now that it has been established that language is the most important and effective tool for communication, interaction and the establishment and maintenance of interpersonal relationships and performing social transactions, it is important to consider the nature of language learning. The nature of language learning is the nature of human thought and action as language is a tool to convey both these aspects of human nature. Motivation is the most important aspect of second language learning. The basic nature of language learning is motivation and aptitude to learn the language. Self determination is the key to motivation. Motivation can be Intrinsic motivation or Extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation refers to the motivation to engage in learning due to the pleasure and enjoyment derived out of the activity. Extrinsic motivation concerns motivated to engage in actions carried out to achieve some instrumental end, such as education, other benefits and costs. In this case if the reason for learning language is taken away and absent, then there is no more incentive to learn the language (Research Club in Language Learning, 2005). Hence motivation, self-determination and aptitude form the essential nature of language learning. Classroom Learning Environment The context in which this teaching material will be used is the classroom. The picture description activity will take place within 60 to 90 minutes of the class hour. Students may undertake and practice the same activity in home environments to continue overall development and improvement of communication. Furthermore the lesson plan used to deliver this teaching material is an all encompassing plan that is student-centric and engages effective interaction between students and teachers. It improves overall language skills of students addressing all aspects of their language and giving feedback to both the students and teachers on their levels of learning so far and future needs. Framework for Task-Based Learning Picture for the Activity References Ellis, D G (1999). From Language to Communication: LEA's communication series. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1999 Research Club in Language Learning (2005). Language learning, Volume 55: Best of Language learning series. Wiley-Blackwell, 2005. p 37 – 39 Richards, J C & Rodgers, T S (2001). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press, 2001. p 12 SIL International (1999). Three Views About the Nature of Language. SIL International Website. Retrieved September 8, 2009. http://www.sil.org/LinguaLinks/languagelearning/PrepareForLanguageLearning/ThreeViewsAboutTheNatureOfLang.htm Kerper, J (2008). Second Language Teaching Methods: Principles and Procedures. San Diego State University. Retrieved September 8, 2009. http://coe.sdsu.edu/people/jmora/almmethods.htm Kilgour, D (1999). The Importance of Language. Southern Alberta Heritage Language Association. Retrieved September 8, 2009. http://www.david-kilgour.com/mp/sahla.htm The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000). Language Definition. Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company. Beare, K (2006). Lesson Plan Format. About.com: English as II Language. Retrieved September 8, 2009. http://esl.about.com/od/esleflteachingtechnique/a/lesson_format.htm Miller, J C (2007). Picture-Based Activities for English Language Learning. CoTESOL Conference. Retrieved September 8, 2009. http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeadult/download/pdf/PictureBasedELL.pdf Module 5. Methods and Materials: Evaluating Materials. Second Language Curriculum Development. Read More