Learning theories
Name the four learning theories we studied.
Behaviourism, Innatism, Constructivism, Sociointeractionism.
What is the Difference between second language, foreign language and additional language?
A second language is used in the learner's environment, a foreign language is not commonly used locally, and an additional language is any language learned beyond the first, emphasizing inclusion and multilingualism.
What are the three concepts of the postmethod learner's autonomy?
Academic, social and liberatory.
What is Critical Literacy?
Critical literacy refers to an educational approach that aims at promoting critical thinking.
What is Critical Applied Linguistics?
Critical Applied Linguistics is a field of study that investigates how language is connected to power and social inequalities. It seeks to understand and question how the ways we speak, write, and communicate can reinforce or challenge injustice, promoting a more conscious, inclusive, and transformative education.
What learning theory underlies the Audiolingual method?
Behaviourism
An approach is a philosophy or set of beliefs about how learning occurs, while a method is the specific way that philosophy is put into practice in the classroom.
What is the teacher's role in Postmethod Pedagogy?
The teacher's role is to act as a facilitator or mediator, guiding students through contextually relevant and reflective learning experiences that empower both teachers and learners to adapt to diverse educational settings.
How does critical literacy differ from traditional literacy?
While traditional literacy focuses on reading and understanding texts, critical literacy emphasizes questioning and analyzing the social, political, and cultural implications within those texts.
Transgressive Linguistics and Linguística Indisciplinar
What is the Zone Of Proximal Development and Scaffolding?
ZPD represents skills that are emerging but not yet fully developed and identifies what students are ready to learn;
Scaffolding refers to temporary support provided to a learner until they can perform a task indenpendently.
What is the Affective filter, concept from the Natural Approach?
It refers to the emotional barriers—such as anxiety, lack of motivation, or low self-confidence—that can block language input from being effectively processed and acquired by the learner.
What are the three parameters of postmethod pedagogy and what do they refer to?
The three parameters of postmethod pedagogy—particularity, practicality, and possibility—emphasize context-sensitive teaching, the integration of theory and practice, and the empowerment of learners and teachers through critical awareness.
What is the difference between Critical reading and Critical literacy?
Critical reading focuses on analyzing and evaluating the content and structure of a text, while critical literacy involves questioning the social, cultural, and political contexts that shape the text and its meanings.
Why is Critical Applied Linguistics trasdisciplinary?
Critical Applied Linguistics is considered transdisciplinary because, as a social science, it problematizes language use in broader contexts—both inside and outside of school—by addressing how linguistic exchanges shape identities such as sexuality, race, and gender, thus requiring dialogue with multiple fields of knowledge.
Innatism argues that knowledge and language ability are inborn, while Sociointeractionism claims they develop through social interaction and cultural context.
The Direct Method emphasizes speaking and listening through immersion in the target language without translation, while the Communicative Approach focuses on meaningful interaction and real-life communication to develop language competence across all skills.
What is the main principle of postmethod pedagogy in language teaching?
The main principle of postmethod pedagogy is that there is no single, fixed teaching method; instead, teachers are encouraged to adapt their approach based on the specific context, learner needs, and available resources.
How can Critical Literacy be applied?
Critical literacy can be applied by encouraging readers to analyze texts for underlying biases, power dynamics, and social injustices, while questioning societal norms and fostering a deeper understanding of diverse perspectives.
How does Critical Applied Linguistics challenge traditional research paradigms and knowledge production?
Critical Applied Linguistics challenges traditional paradigms by emphasizing locally situated, context-specific problems, rejecting universalist narratives, centering the subjectivity and intersubjectivity of both researchers and participants, and valuing qualitative approaches that account for identity, ideology, and the complex social dynamics embedded in language practices.