BACKGROUND TO LANGUAGE LEARNING
Exposure to language means being in contact with language by hearing it or reading it. We can learn another language through exposure to it. We can learn a language without realising we are learning it and without studying it, in the same way that children learn their mother tongue. Learners can get exposure to language outside the classroom by watching movies in English and reading books or magazines in English.
Pick up a language is to learn a language without studying it, just by hearing and/or reading and then using it. This is the way we learn our first language.
Motivation refers to feelings of interest and excitement which make us want to do something and help us continue doing it. Learners who are highly motivated and want to learn English are more likely to be successful.
Demotivate means to make someone lose motivation. Learners can become demotivated if they feel a lack of progress. While unmotivated learners are those without motivation since the beginning; having no motivation. Learners who do not see a reason for learning a particular subject can be unmotivated.
Interaction is two-way communication between listener and speaker, or reader and text. Interactive strategies are the ways used, especially in speaking, to keep people involved and interested in what is said or to keep communication going, e.g. eye contact, use of gestures, functions such as repeating, asking for clarification.
Silent period is the time when learners who are beginning to learn a first (or second) language prefer to listen (or read) before producing the language; e.g. babies have a silent period when they listen to their parents before starting to try to speak themselves.
To praise means to tell someone they have done well, e.g. That ’s excellent. Well done!
To simplify speech is to make something easier. Simplifying language or tasks is a common scaffolding strategy, for example.
Correction refers to teachers helping learners to make what they write or say better or right. Some strategies are:
Echo correction – When learners make a mistake, the teacher repeats the mistake with rising intonation encouraging learners to correct themselves, e.g.
Learner: He don’t like it.
Teacher: He don’t like it. Don’t?
Learner: He doesn’t like it.
Finger correction – A way of drawing attention to where a learner has made a mistake. The teacher counts out the words a learner has said on her fingers. The fingers represent words and the teacher can show clearly in which word (finger) the mistake was made. A teacher may use finger correction to show that a mistake has been made with word or sentence stress, word order, grammar, pronunciation of sounds etc.
Peer correction – When learners correct each other’s mistakes, perhaps with some help from the teacher. Self-correction – When learners correct language mistakes they have made, perhaps with some help from the teacher.
Native speaker is someone who has spoken a particular language since they were a baby, rather than having learned it as a child or adult. For example, someone whose first language is English is a native speaker of English. On the other hand, we have the non-native speakers.
Utterance is a complete unit of speech in spoken language. An utterance can be shorter than a sentence, e.g. A: When’s he coming? B: Tomorrow. C: Oh!
‘When’s he coming?’ is an utterance and ‘Tomorrow’ and ‘Oh’ are both utterances.
To clarify is to make clear what you mean, e.g. to repeat something using clearer words or say something again in a clearer way. Clarification of the language is when teachers focus on form, meaning and pronunciation in a lesson to help learners understand the use and rules of target language. For example, showing learners that the past perfect is made of had + the past participle, that it’s used for an earlier past action and telling them that had can be written ’d is clarifying language.
L1 is the learner’s mother tongue or first language; e.g. if the first language a learner learned as a baby is Spanish then the learner’s L1 is Spanish. See mother tongue, native speaker, target language.
L2 is the learner’s second language. For example, for a Spanish person who learned English as an adult, English is their L2, Spanish is their L1. See mother tongue, native speaker, target language.
Mother tongue is the very first language that you learn as a baby, which is usually the language spoken to you by your parents. Also called L1 or first language. We learn our mother tongue in a different way from the way we learn a second language.
Personalisation is when a teacher helps learners to connect new words, topics, texts or grammar to their own life; e.g. the teacher shows learners a picture of people swimming in the sea and asks the learners if they can swim; if they like swimming; if they have ever swum in the sea. Personalisation makes language more meaningful and keeps learners motivated.
