Theories of Language Learning
This idea from Krashen states that acquisition only occurs when learners receive i+1 language from another source
Input hypothesis
Name the C that should be addressed in each and every language lesson
Communication
A Chinese teacher brings an actual restaurant menu from Beijing into class instead of a menu created specifically for Chinese learners. What type of text is this?
Authentic Material
Is this a task: Students work in pairs. Each has different information about three apartments. They ask each other questions to get the missing information and then decide which apartment is best for a family.
Yes!
Students learn about the water cycle in Spanish, sequencing and explaining its steps using the present tense and transition words. Which teaching method is being used?
Content-Based Instruction (CBI)
This idea from Krashen states that language acquisition must occur in a context where anxiety is low in order for the learner to notice the input
Affective Filter hypothesis
What the 5 Cs stand for.
Communication, Cultures, Comparisons, Connections, Communities
Put the five major ACTFL proficiency levels in order from lowest to highest.
Novice → Intermediate → Advanced → Superior → Distinguished
Identify 2 traits that make an activity a Task
Meaning: Is the primary focus on communicating meaning?; Gap of information: Is there a gap of information that learners can only bridge through communication?; Choice: Can learners choose the linguistic and non-linguistic resources necessary to complete the task?; Outcome: Is there a clear outcome beyond simply practicing or producing the correct language form?
This approach incorporates all other approaches according to the creative planning of the teacher
eclecticism
This idea from Swain states that input is a necessary but insufficient condition for language development
Output hypothesis
In many communities, a child's birthday party includes extended family, neighbors, and friends of all ages because celebrations are seen as belonging to the whole community. Is this idea a product, practice, or perspective?
Perspective. It's about the underlying value or belief, not the object (the piñata) or the behavior (breaking it).
Instead of explaining a grammar rule first, a teacher gives students several examples in context and asks them to identify the pattern and formulate the rule themselves. Which approach to grammar instruction is this?
Inductive grammar approach
The teacher gives students ten pictures and requires them to describe each one using “He/She is ___ing.” Why would this NOT be considered a true task? why?
Meaning: ❌ The primary focus is producing the correct grammatical form, not communicating meaning; Information gap: ❌ There is no missing information that students need to communicate to obtain; Choice: ❌ Students do not choose their linguistic resources; they are required to use “He/She is ___ing.”; Outcome: ❌ There is no outcome beyond correctly producing/practicing the target form.
Students repeatedly listen to and imitate a dialogue, then practice the same sentence patterns through drills and repetition. Which teaching method is this?
The Audiolingual Method.
Two distinctive ways of categorizing theories of language learning.
Cognitivist versus sociocultural
A student writes an email to a pen pal in Mexico, who writes back with questions, and the exchange continues over several days. What mode of communication is this?
Interpersonal. It's written, but it's a two-way exchange where meaning is negotiated, so it isn't presentational.
A student knows the rules for forming the French passé composé but cannot use it spontaneously in conversation. According to Krashen, this illustrates the difference between which two processes?
The student demonstrates learning but not yet acquisition
True/False: In a meaning-focused activity, the teacher does not try to control the specific language learners produce, and success is judged primarily by whether they communicate successfully
True
This method often has students orally practice targeted language structures in pairs.
Communicative Language Teaching
Identify the differences between the cognitivist hypotheses of language learning of Krashen, Long, and Swain.
Krashen = input; Long = interaction; Swain = output
What are the two Standards associated with the Connections C
Interdisciplinarity and use of authentic materials.
What is the key difference between performance and proficiency in language learning?
Performance is what a learner can do with practiced language in familiar contexts, while proficiency is what a learner can do spontaneously with language in unrehearsed contexts.
put these three types of focus in the typical order of a meaning-based approach: focus on form, focus on language, focus on meaning.
Focus on meaning → focus on language → focus on form
In a pure content-based curriculum, students are assessed on this
Content