Published By Melissa (1507042035)
When
we heard the word language, perhaps most of us will think that language is the
tools or the symbols which is used for communication with one another. You
might have come up with this definition because we know that we used language
to communicate with one another. But only a few of us know or study about how the
process of the language learning.
Some
questions are emerged when we talk about how the process of the language
learning. Where does the learning take place? How can a person ensure success
in language learning? And maybe one of the question which is emerged is ‘What
are the strategies does the learner use?' These are some questions which will be
answered by the writer in this paper.
In
order to find the answers of those questions, we must ascertain the core and
the fundamental issues to be discussed: defining the focus of our inquiry.
Since this paper discuss about Language Skills Learning and learning couldn’t
be separated with teaching. So, let’s try to define those two terms first;
learning and teaching.
Learning
and teaching is two terms which cannot be defined apart because we know that
learning is the process of getting and acquiring knowledge or new informations
consciously by study, experience or instruction (Kimble and Garmezy 1963 :
133). Similary, teaching, which is implied in the first definition of learning
maybe define as transferring the knowledge, giving an instruction and guiding
in the study of something to the learner.
The Four Basic Language Skills
When
we learn a language, there are four skills that we need for complete communication.
When we learn language, we are generally taught and assessed in terms of the
‘four skills’: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Listening and reading
are known as ‘receptive’ skills while speaking and writing are known as
‘productive’ skills. And in the case of being success to learn language, all
language learners will need to develop their skills in each of these areas. Not
only that, the person’s prior knowledge, attitudes, personality, learning
styles, skills and motivation, to mention a few, are all factors related to the
eventual outcome of the language study.
A
further importance for ensuring the learner to be success in learning language
is the consciousness of the teacher to find a good teaching style, the
classroom techniques and know the principles of teaching. We can say that not
only the learner need to develop their skills in each of those four areas but
the teachers also need to find their appropriate techniques of teaching the
students.
As
a teacher of language, we must be able to know about our students and how the
way they learn. Because as we know a teacher is one of a basic need for a
learner. As the writer clarified in the first chapter that teaching activity
cannot be apart from learning activity.
Following
these circumstances, we will roll out some principles of language teaching and
learning. In some cases the principles will be expanded so that you can try to
put them into practice if you wish. We outline eight principles that apply our
best understandings of research on both effective teaching and learning for
school-age learners and specific knowledge about how language is most
efficiently acquired and best taught. Indeed, the purpose of this paper is to
present a variety of principles, some of which may be new to you, and to
encourage you to experiment with them.
Active Engagement
Learners
play enjoyable, engaging, active roles in the learning experience. Language and
literacy development are facilitated by a comfortable atmosphere—not only one
that values, encourages, and celebrates efforts but also one that provides the
appropriate level of challenge to motivate and engage learners (Cummins, 2007;
Guthrie et al., 2004; Jensen, 1998; Sprenger, 1999; Krashen, 2003). When active
engagement is practiced, language is learned while doing something with it, not
just learning it.
Cultural Relevance
Classrooms
respect and incorporate the cultures of learners in the class while helping
them to understand the new culture of the community, the school, and the
classroom. Teachers play the most important role in determining the quality and
quantity of participation of the learners in their classrooms. When teachers
develop a climate of trust, understand children’s social and cultural needs,
and involving them as a model, can include English learners in classroom
conversations and activities as important members of the classroom learning
communities, the learners’ active involvement in the classroom and their
learning show improvement (Yoon, 2007).
Creating
a culturally responsive and culturally relevant classroom goes beyond “parental
involvement” and requires thoughtfulness and effort on the part of teachers to
learn about students’ cultures from students themselves, families, community
members, and library and Internet resources; to value and include what learners
bring to the classroom from their cultures; and to take into account the
different world views represented in the classroom.
Collaboration
Learners
develop and practice language in collaboration with one another and with
teachers. As language is a tool for meaning-making, and communication and
thinking are developed through using language to accomplish things (Vygotsky,
1986), and as learning cooperatively has been shown to be effective at
improving learning (Kessler, 1991; Slavin, 1995). So instruction should be
organized to facilitate interaction and collaboration. Learning should provide
two-way experiences through which learners solve problems, negotiate meaning,
and demonstrate what they have learned.
Learning Strategies
Learners
use a variety of language and learning strategies to expand learning beyond the
classroom and to become independent, lifelong learners. Learning strategies
(also called learner strategies) (Chamot & O’Malley, 1996; Nunan, 1996;
Oxford, 1996; Lessard-Clouston, 1997) are steps taken by learners to enhance
their learning and develop their language competence. These strategies can be
observable behaviors, steps, or techniques, such as SQ3R (survey, question,
read, recite, review) (Robinson, 1970), a reading strategy, or mental
practices, such as visualization or positive thinking. Although learners do use
strategies unconsciously, the focus in teaching learning strategies is to bring
them to the learners’ attention and make them consciously part of the learners’
repertoire. Learning strategies allow learners to control and direct their own
learning. These strategies also expand the role of language teachers beyond
teaching language to that of helping learners develop their own strategies.
They are generally oriented toward solving problems and can involve many
aspects of language to be learned beyond the cognitive.
Differentiation
Learning
activities accommodate different language, cognitive levels and incorporate
many dimensions of learning: different learning styles, intelligences. All
learners are not the same: they have different native intelligence, learned
intelligence, learning styles. Including English learners in a grade-level
classroom expands the differences by adding different language backgrounds,
educational levels, cultural experiences, experiences of culture change, and
sometimes the trauma of war, famine, or poverty. When learners are limited in
their comprehension of English, providing input through other means—pictures,
gestures, sounds, movement, graphics—helps provide them the “hook” they need to
be included in the classroom conversation.
Prior Knowledge
Teachers
help learners use their prior knowledge of language, content, and the world to
develop new language and increase learning. If we already know a lot about a
topic—global warming, for example—we will find television programs, lectures,
or written materials on global warming much easier to follow. If a student has
learned a lot about a topic in his home language, it is easier to develop new
language about that topic. Prior knowledge or background knowledge is key to
comprehension for all learners (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2004), but
it is of particular importance for English learners. If learners are less
familiar with a topic and structures of the oral discussion or written text,
they will have more difficulty with comprehension (Upala et al., 2007; Carrell
& Eisterhold, 1988). Language difficulty increases with cognitive
difficulty, unfamiliarity, and lack of context. So, when developing language with
English learners, teachers must work to start where students are. This includes
finding out what students already know about a new topic and helping them to
make connections between what they already know and what they are learning. It
includes making connections between learners’ cultures and cultural knowledge
and the new culture of the school and the community. It also may include, at
beginning levels, selecting topics that learners are likely to be familiar
with, providing necessary background information on new topics in home
languages, preteaching key vocabulary to expand background knowledge before
studying a topic, or helping learners make connections between what they know
about language in their home language (L1) to uses of this knowledge in English
(L2). It also might include providing background information in L1 before
proceeding to study a theme or topic in L2. In a bilingual classroom, content
could be taught in two languages. In a monolingual classroom teachers
might, for example, have learners read or listen to a home language summary of
a text before they will be reading it in English.
Content Integration
Language
learning is integrated with meaningful, relevant, and useful content—generally
the same academic content and higher-order thinking skills that are appropriate
for the age and grade of learners. Teaching language along with age-appropriate
academic content has several advantages: it is efficient because two
goals—acquisition of language and content learning—are accomplished at once. It
is effective first because language is learned better when learners are doing
something purposeful and important to them—and learning the content for their
grade level is very important. It is also necessary because learners cannot
afford to take a year or two off from content learning while they develop
language: they will end up only further behind their peers. Content-based
language learning can happen in a variety of settings: in a pull-out English
language development (ELD) class (also called an ESL class), in which the
teacher introduces content through integrated themes (this is often used with
newcomers/ beginners); in a special section of a content class with a
grade-level teacher with training in teaching ELD who teaches the content
using approaches that make the content comprehensible to language learners and
promote language development (this is sometimes done in middle and high schools
with significant numbers of English learners); or in grade-level classes that
include both English proficient learners and English language learners
and in which teachers have training to attend to both content and language
needs of learners and to differentiate instruction to include learners at
different language and learning levels. These integrated models are used
because research findings have shown that they are the most effective at both
language learning and content learning for English learners (Cummins, 1986;
Thomas & Collier, 2003). Teachers can differentiate through adapting the
language, content, process, or product in classrooms (Tomlinson, 1999).
Clear, Appropriate Goals and
Feedback
Teachers
set and communicate attainable goals for learners and provide students
appropriate and consistent feedback on their progress in attaining these goals.
Setting clear goals helps both teachers and learners have a much greater chance
to attain those goals. Goals begin our curriculum, inform our curriculum, and
new, more advanced goals are the outcome of our curriculum. As John Dewey once
said, “Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another.” We want English
learners to attain the same high goals as their English-proficient peers, but
to do this, we must set the right goals—goals that comprise the next step
forward for individual learners. Learners want to do well, and will do much
better when they understand what is expected of them and when our expectations
are appropriate. We must establish clear language and content goals for
learners and provide them feedback on their progress toward those goals. We can
also, in developmentally appropriate ways, encourage learners to begin to
evaluate their own progress toward accomplishing goals to help them become
independent, self-motivated learners. We must determine intermediary steps
toward grade-level standards that are attainable at learners’ language level.
References:
Aebersold,
Jo Ann and Field, Mary Lee. 1997. From reader to reading teacher.: issues and strategies for second language
classrooms. Cambridge University Press Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/139.
Brown,
H. D. (2000). Principles of language
learning and teaching (4th ed.). New York: Longman. Retrieved from http://aeservices.net/English/Language-Learning-Mitsutomi.
Nunan, David. 1992. Collaborative Language
Learning mid Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved
from https://drive.google.com/file/
