Stephen Krashen's Theory
The Acquisition-Learning distinction is the most important of all the hypotheses in Krashen's theory and the most widely known and influential among linguists and language practitioners. According to Krashen there are two independent systems of second language performance: 'the acquired system' and 'the learned system'. The 'acquired system' or 'acquisition' is the product of a subconscious process very similar to the process children undergo when they acquire their first language. It requires meaningful interaction in the target language - natural communication - in which speakers are concentrated not in the form of their utterances, but in the communicative act. Retrieved from: http://www.sk.com.br/sk-krash.html This is a model of language learning first proposed by Barry McLaughlin in 1983. It argues that learning an L2 involves moving from controlled to automatic processing via practice.
"Second language learning is viewed as the acquisition of a complex cognitive skill. To learn a second language is to learn a skill because various aspects of the task must be practised and integrated into fluent performance. This requires the automatization of component sub-skills…As performance improves, there is a constant restructuring as learners simplify, unify and gain increasing control over their internal representations. These two notions – automatization and restructuring – are central to cognitive theory." McLaughlin 1987: 133-134 Retrieved from: http://eal360.co.uk/big-ideas-of-sla/information-processing-model/ |
Communicative Language Teaching
In class, we discussed the advantages of CLT and some criticism about the technique. However, I still want to include that in my teaching philosophy since it emphasizes on
Krashen’s theory + McLaughlin’s theory Most people think McLaughlin’s theory will be boring when it applies to actual classroom. However, I think based on my experience, McLaughlin’s theory is a faster way to help students improve their English for academic purposes. In addition, I was fascinated by Krashen’s theory so I am looking forward to using the combination of both theories. I would have different task-based assignment that’s adopted from Krashen’s theory and McLaughlin’s theory. So students can improve not only their reading and writing, but also speaking and listening. Meaningful learning In the lecture, I really enjoyed the principles of meaningful learning, which are A) Activate background knowledge (schemata), B) Connect new knowledge to background knowledge (subsumption) and C) Organize new knowledge. That’s why I want to include that in my teaching philosophy. From my perspective, if students can’t relate to you or you can’t active their background knowledge, it will be a struggle for both the teacher and the students. Furthermore, students may have trouble communicating their needs with teacher since they might feel like they don’t have any common language with him or her. As a teacher, I don’t want to see my students memorizing all these vocabularies and at the end of the day, they didn’t know what they are reading or speaking. |