Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition - Essay Example

?Part One A. Error correction 1) I'd like some information about s. 2) Nouns are grouped into countable and non-countable nouns. Count nouns refer to things that you can count separately. They can be singular or plural - for example, one woman, three questions, two bags, nine pens. Non-count nouns refer to things that you cannot separately. Non-countable nouns do not take plural forms. Also, we do not use ‘a’ or ‘an’ with non-count nouns. – for example, advice, equipment, money, homework, knowledge, furniture, luggage, rice. There is an example of how to use non-countable noun: Let me give you some advice (not an advice). In this question, 'information' is a non-countable noun, so it does not take plural form, so we need ‘information’. 2. 1) I walk and then take the subway 2) Jack asked about 'every day'. It is a general fact (rountine), so we have to use simple present tense verbs instead of present progressive tense. In general, simple present tense is used for events or situations that exist always, usually, and habitually. We also use the simple present to narrate events in sequence. On the other hand, present progressive tense is used for actions (verbs) that are in progress during a particular time, so actions are still taking place and have not ended yet. The tenses say that an action being before, is in progress during, and contiues after another time or action. In this case, Jack uses ‘every day’ which refers to habitual action – rountine -, so we need ‘walk’ and ‘take’. 3. 1) It was such a good movie. Or It was so good. 2) ‘Such’ is used when the object being talked about comes after the adjective; hence, ‘such’, followed by a or an, is used before an adjective and noun – for example, such a long time, such a good idea, such a nice guy, such a wonderful day (such+ adjective + noun). When we use ‘such’ with a plural countable noun, we don’t use ‘a’ or ‘an’ after ‘such’. There is an example, I like Tom and Ann. They are such nice people (such+adjective+plural countable noun). In the first correction, the adjective is ‘good’ whereas the object is ‘movie’. For this reason, ‘good’ must come before ‘movie’; hence, we have to use ‘such a good movie (such + adjective+ noun), not ‘so a good movie’ When we use ‘so’, we do not mention the object being talked about. This is because it is presumed that the listener knows what is being talked about. Therefore, ‘so’ is used before an adjective or an adverb without a noun. – for example, so big, so hot, so beautiful, so wonderful (so+adjective), so slowly, so carefully, so quickly (so+adverb). There is an other example: I like Tom and Ann. They are so nice. This is why in the second correction, ‘so’ was used without bring the object, ‘movie’; hense, we use ‘so good’. 4. 1) Can you lend me $10? 2) ‘Borrow’ means to take something from someone. If we borrow something from somebody, we take it with their permission and promise to return it in due course. There is an example: I usually borrow books which I want to read from the library. In this case, if we want to use ‘borrow’, we have to use ‘Can I borrow $10 from you?’ On the other hand, ‘lend’ means to give something to someone. If you lend somebody something, or lend something to somebody, then you give them something of yours for a limited period of time. There is an example: She lent her car to John. or She lent John her car. In this case, if we want to use ‘lend’, we have to say ‘Can you lend me $10?’ or ‘Can you lend $10 to me?’ Differences in meaning 1. In the first sentence, the word 'alone' is a state of being. It suggersts that there is no one else with her in the room. Since it does not comment on her feeling,, we do not know whether she is happy or sad about it. One may be alone but not necessarily lonely. However, the word 'lonely' is a state of feeling. Therefore, ‘She is lonely’ means she is unhappy, unwanted and sad. She can be lonely whether or not she is alone or with other people. To teach it, I would show two picture. the first would be a woman reading a book in her room, and there are no one except her. This person would be shown smiling; signifying that she is following the story, enjoying it and happy about it. For the second sentence, I would have a picture of many people around a table in the room. They would look happy except a woman - one of them- who looks sad and unhappy. This second picture would show that the woman may be with other people but still be lonely. I hope these two examples would show how different they are between alone and lonely. 2. These two sentences are all about asking for the time. The sentences will give us the same results. However, the second sentence is more polite and formal way to ask the question. Besides, in the first sentence, the listener would answer like ‘It is two o’clock.’, whereas in the second sentence, the listener answer would answer like ‘No, I don’t mind. It’s two o’clock.’ Unlike Americans, Koreans use a term of respect when someone meets the seniors or the first meeting. Verb endings and the choice of nouns, adjectives or pronouns depend on the relative status of the speaker or writer to the listener or reader. Therefore, these sentences can be easily understood to Koreans, since they always consider their speaking in formal and informal way. To teach it, I would use a role-play. I would make two different groups: In one group, their relationship is very close and they have a fun. In the other group, they are on a business meeting. After I set up, I would ask each group that which sentence would be proper for the occasion. I hope these role-play in two different situations would show and practice how students can use formal and informal English language. ***** In other point of view, there is no ‘now’ in the first sentence. For this reason, the speaker would ask about a general time in the future. It could be that the hearer has told the questioner about upcoming event. There is an example: A: “The party is coming off this week” B: “Really? It is going to be cool! Then, what time is it? 3. These two sentences are all conditional sentences. However, these sentences are a shift in verb tense. We call the first sentence as real (or factual) conditional sentence. Real conditionals are sentences that describe situations that occur regularly or are likely or possible in the future. Since speaker uses the simple present(become) in the if clause and the future with will in the result clause in the first sentence, it is in future-time situation., For this reason, the first sentence shows that the speaker might still be in a race for presidency or still has the chance of becoming a president. On the other hand, we call the second sentence as unreal conditionals sentence. Unreal conditionals are sentences that describe situations that are untrue, unlikely, or impossible in the present or the past. Especially, this sentence is past unreal conditional since the speaker uses the past perfect (had become) in the if clause and would have past participle (would have lowered) in the result clause. For this reason, the second sentence shows that the speaker has already lost the presidency race. To teach it, I would use a role-play. I would give two different situations: one is before presidency election and the other is after presidency election. It can implicate different time phrase. In the first sentence, a candidate still campaigning (before the election) would say, “If I become the president, I’ll lower taxes.” In the second instance however, a candidate who just lost the elections after the announcement of the results and being interviewed by the media would say, “if I had become president, I would have lowered taxes.” I hope this role-play would show how different time phrase of the two sentences. Part Two Write a minimum of 100 words about what you think constitutes a good language lesson, based on your experiences. I think that practice constitute a good language lesson. Practice as used here comes in two major forms, which are providing enough room for learners to practice in the classroom whiles lesson is going on and the student practicing after classroom lessons. As a matter of fact, beginners learn best by practicing. For this reason, when there is the presence of practice, which is devoid of ridicule and insults for mistakes made, students are likely to put off their best. There is a saying that mistakes teach us what not to do the next time round. For this reason, there should be enough practice that makes room for mistakes to be corrected. In my personal language learning experience, when I learned English first in middle school, I had to memorize everything in our text book without practicing, and then I had to take a test. When I got wrong, teachers embarrassed me. As this educational process was repeated, I lost interest in learning English. Although I studied hard to get a good grade, it was not effective to learn English language, since I just studied English with my hands not my all senses. As a result, even though I learned English for almost 10 years in Korea, I was not good at speaking or listening. Practicing in language learning must come with all four aspects of language learning including reading, listening, writing and speaking. Reiterating how practice would lead to the acquisition various forms of language, Krashen (1981) states that “real language acquisition develops slowly, and speaking skills emerge significantly later than listening skills, even when conditions are perfect.” As researcher try to make language lessons easier and more interesting, they propound the task-based approach to language learning. It is good to note that enough practice in language lessons establishes the underlying factors for task-based approach to language learning. REFERENCE LIST Krashen, S D. 1981. Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. English Language Teaching series. London: Prentice-Hall International (UK) Ltd. Read More