From Input to Output: Five Implications for Teaching

By -

From Input to Output: Five Implications for Teaching

 Image result for teaching

Despite the evidence that explicit grammar instruction does not facilitate linguistic growth, especially in a second language, L2 instructors continue to devote an entire lesson to teaching grammar rules. Conveniently ignoring the fact that natural languages are acquired by being exposed to Primary Linguistic Data (PLD) and by speaking it, language classes are taught in artificial settings where teachers carry out decontextualized interactions with a hidden grammar agenda. Not surprisingly, most second language learners do not achieve native-like oral proficiency because of excessive focus on grammar instruction.

In his book, From Input to Intake: A Teacher's Guide to Second Language Acquisition, Bill Van Patten argues, and I agree, that learner production must be meaning-based whereby L2 students negotiate meaning with their peers and the instructor. If grammar must be taught, it should be contextualized. Van Patten suggests five implications for teaching a second language:

  1. The more input, the better (the more meaning-based the class, the better) Language teaching curricula that incorporate input as much as possible are curricula that encourage language acquisition. The more curricula strive to put communication at the center of lessons, which means that meaning becomes central rather than form, the more those curricula are likely to provide optimal input. Immersion and content-based instruction are two ways to incorporate input into a language-teaching curriculum.

  1. The more interaction, the better. Interactions with a hidden grammatical agenda. Teachers insisting on ‘teaching’ while ‘talking.’ Students figure out that the purpose is not to converse, but to produce a certain grammatical structure. Interaction eventually degenerates into silence. Classroom in which interactions truly focus on meaning and are level-appropriate for learners will foster acquisition because students help to manage the input.

  1. All learner production should be meaning-based, or communicative. Production should be for the purpose of expressing some kind of meaning. When production is required, it should be communicative in nature.

  1. Focus on form (or grammar instruction) should be meaning-based and tied to input or communication. Drilling, filling in blanks with the correct verb form, transforming sentences, using slash sentences for practicing agreement, and performing other strictly form-focused tasks should be long gone. Research shows that such activities do not promote acquisition. Concern for accuracy has been replaced by a concern for noticing things in the input. Michael Sharwood Smith’s term Input Enhancement captures best how teachers might direct efforts at getting learners to acquire formal aspects of language. A focus on form should happen through 1. A communicative interchange or 2. Through some kind of comprehension task.

  1. We should watch out for what we expect of learners: We shouldn’t expect learners to produce what they can’t produce. The initial stages of should be comprehension-oriented. Basic language courses should push students to their limits in understanding and interpreting language. We should be mindful that the goals of fluency and strong output abilities are end products of acquisition. The question to consider is this: Should production be the goal of every class hour we teach?
An English language program whose curricular objectives are developing second language learners' communicative abilities with the goal of acquiring (not just learning) the target language must consider these implications for teaching. With these guidelines in mind, an English language teacher can explore a wide range of materials and teaching practices that facilitate the learner's linguistic growth. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Schumann’s Acculturation Model

By -
Image
Schumann's Acculturation Model Consider how these social and psychological factors affect the extent of the learner’s capacity to learn his or her second language (L2).   Schumann asserts that the more distance created between the L2 learner and his or her target language (TL) culture by such factors, the less contact s/he will have with the TL culture and thus the lower will his or her expected L2 proficiency be. Furthermore, he considers the social factors to be the prime influences; the psychological factors come into play and become the deciding factors only in situations where the combined social factors create neither positive nor negative circumstances for the learner.   Which outcomes of each of these factors make for a bad learning situation and which ones for a good learning situation? Consider as many as apply to your group’s learner testimonial. Social Distance Factors Social dominance : Is the learner’s native group dominant to, equal to, or subor...
Keep reading

English Pronunciation for Turkish Speakers

By -
Image
Areas of Difficulty for Turkish Speakers Consonants: I.    /t/ & /d/: When Turkish speakers of English pronounce these alveolar consonants, they touch the back of their upper teeth with the tip of their tongue. Instead, try to form a constriction by touching your alveolar ridge (the area behind your upper teeth) with the tip of your tongue. Pronounce these sounds in different phonological environments such as word-initial, medial, and final position and in consonant clusters. tiresome      little      brat       staple    burst     crest                  totalitarianism automatic    trickster            cattle     dental    tirade    tardy     training technique    tangle...
Keep reading

Knowing a Word

By -
Image
Knowing a Word   Fluent native speakers intuitively know how to use a lexical item in the appropriate context. They can even determine meaning of an unfamiliar word when it is written or spoken. However, second language learners may not understand what constitutes knowledge of vocabulary. This post delineates the various strands of vocabulary non-native speakers need to acquire to become highly proficient in writing and speaking in their second language.  1. Word meaning:  Knowing a word entails understanding it when it is written and/or spoken by      others in formal contexts. Native speakers do this readily without asking for clarification, but      second language learners need to acquire this tacit knowledge of vocabulary.  2. Recall: A fluent speaker of a language can recall a word when it is needed in writing or in speech.     S/he can incorporate the needed word while speaking without looking it up...
Keep reading