(Sáng kiến kinh nghiệm) first and second language acquisition implications for ELT

VINH PHUC EDUCATION AND TRAINING SERVICE NGO GIA TU HIGH SCHOOL REPORT ON RESEARCH Research on: FIRST AND SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION IMPLICATIONS FOR ELT By: Nguyen Thi Viet Ha Research code: 12.61… Vinh Phuc, January, 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATION PART I : INTRODUCTION Rationale for choosing the study Research Scope of the study Targeted level of the study Date applied for implementing the study Methods Knowledge, skill standards and competence development PART II: DEVELOPMENT I LITERATURE REVIEW I Second Language Acquisition I Theories of Language Acquisition I 2.1 Behaviourism I 2.2 Cognitivism I 2.3 Constructivism I Comparisons between Behaviourism and Constructivism I.3 Similarities I.3 Differences II IMPLICATIONS FOR ELT ( Lesson Plan) II.1 Grammar Teaching II.1.1 Grammar Teaching based on Behaviourism II.1.2 Grammar Teaching based on Constructivism II.2 Findings PART III : CONCLUSION List of Participants REFERENCES LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS SLA: Second Language Acquisition ZPD: zone of proximal development FL: Foreign Language PPP: presentation, practice, production Page 1 1 1 2 3 3 10 10 10 13 18 18 20 25 34 36 PART I: INTRODUCTION Rationale Nowadays English has become an international language in the world Teaching and learning English play an important part in integration, cooperation and development among the countries Vietnam is not an exception of this process It can be denied that understanding the theories and researches relating to second language acquisition is very important for teachers in their teaching process The ideas drawn from researches and theories in second language acquisition are also valuable in helping teachers to evaluate claims made by proponents of various language teaching methods With the limitation of this paper, I would like to introduce to Vietnamese teachers (1) three theories of the second language acquisition: Bahaviorisim, Cognitivism, Constructivism; (2) Comparisons between Behaviourism and Constructivism; and offer some (3) Implications for teaching English grammar teaching to Vietnamese learners as a second language Research: Name of the research: First and second language acquisition implications for ELT Author: - Full name: Nguyen Thi Viet Ha - Address: Ngo Gia Tu High School, Lap Thach, VinhPhuc - Phone number: 0989342656 - Email: viethangt78@gmail.com Research investor: Nguyen Thi Viet Ha Scope of the study This study focuses on: Three theories of the second language acquisition: Bahaviorisim, Cognitivism, Constructivism; Comparisons between Behaviourism and Constructivism; Implications for teaching English grammar to Vietnamese learners as a second language Targeted levels of the study Pre-intermediate (students at grade 10) Date applied for implementing the study: - Academic year 2019-2020, first applied on October 2, 2019 Methods - Investigate the theories, provide a general description of the study - Practical applications in teaching Knowledge and skill standards and students’ competence development 7.1 Knowledge - Three theories of the second language acquisition: Bahaviorisim, Cognitivism, Constructivism; - Comparisons between Behaviourism and Constructivism; 7.2 Skills - Apply theories of the second language acquisition in English language teaching - Apply knowledge in real life 7.3 Competence Development - Improve teaching methods for teachers - Develop students’ ability in mastering English - Develop students’ ability to interact with others - Develop students’ ability to apply their knowledge in real situations in life PART II: DEVELOPMENT I LITERATURE REVIEW I Second Language Acquisition (SLA) Nina Spada and Patsy M Lightbown (2010) stated that second language acquisition research focuses on the developing knowledge and use of a language by children and adults who already know at least one other language Second language acquisition (SLA) is a process in which a second language is learned or acquired, in addition to having a first language I.2 Theories of Second Language Acquisition (Psychological Perspectives ) I.2.1 Behaviourism Behaviourism had a great effect on the teaching of second and foreign language between the 1940s and the 1970s It was influenced by the development of the audio-lingual method There were some researchers studying this theory such as Ivan Pavlov, Edward Thorndike, John B Watson, B.F Skinner , but B.F Skinner, a leading American psychologist of the twentieth century – and perhaps even the greatest psychologists in the world , is considered the father of Behaviorism B.F Skinner ( 1904-1990) The theory states that instruction is to elicit the desired response from the learner who is presented with a target structure Students who are passive will receive information memorized dialogues and sentence patterns by heart Learning is a process of ‘conditioning’ in an environment of stimulus, rewards and punishments It is lecture - based and highly structured The teacher is responsible for students learning The theory indicates that speech is important because it is the first medium that the child masters Skills are taught in a specific order: Listening- Speaking- then Reading / Writing In the process, teachers present a small part of language as a stimulus, learners repeat or substitute.This is reinforced by the teacher The learner develops habits through repeating habits Learning a language is considered as the process of acquiring a set of suitable mechanical habits I 2.2 Cognitivism Studied by Jean Piaget, Stephen Krashen and Chomsky, Cognitive psychology focuses on how the people think and learn The cognitive processes are related to learning and how the learner is engaged in the learning process Jean Piaget ( 1896-1980) Stephen Krashen ( 1941) Noam Chomsky ( 1928) The learner plays an active part in the process of learning The teacher helps learners organize new information for later recall Learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their current/past knowledge The learner selects and transforms information, constructs hypotheses, and makes decisions, relying on a cognitive structure to so Krashen’s model Krashen’s model is based on hypotheses: - Acquisition/learning hypothesis: Krashen indicates that learning and acquisition are two distinguishing processes We “acquire” the second language as the same way that children pick up their mother tongue – with no conscious attention to language form - Monitor hypothesis: Acquisition is more important than learning as the role of the latter is only to monitor what one says and writes in the second language - The natural order hypothesis: There is a natural order of morpheme acquisition that applies to second language acquisition - The input hypothesis: The process provides learners with comprehensible input- language which they can understand and which is just above the learners’ level of competence - The affective filter hypothesis: It is also called ‘affective filter’ in which the learners must be positive and motivated acquire input Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive Development Sensorimotor Stage (birth - years): actions become more intentional and integrated into patterns, there is an increased awareness of self and surroundings Preoperational Thought Stage (2 - years): development of language and conceptual thought occurs Concrete Operations Stage (7 - 10 years): increased ability to apply logical thought to concrete problems, thinking is still primarily related to immediate experience Formal Operations Stage (10 years on): ability to apply logic to a variety of problems; higher order thinking occurs Implications for teaching Piaget states that children learn effectively through interacting in meaningful ways with the world around them “Authentic and real” experience is very useful for learners to acquire the second language I Constructivism Constructivism is influenced by the study of Jean Piaget and Jerome Bruner, Lev Vygotsky According to constructivism, learning is a process in which the learner actively constructs or builds new ideas or concepts Cognitive Constructivism – Piaget Piaget indicated that we have been actively related to the learning process since we were born We learn things from our experiences but it is various at different stages of our lives Cognitive development occurs through a sequence of successive qualitative changes in cognitive structures Social constructivism – Vygostky Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) Vygotsky’s theory indicates that knowledge is co-constructed and that individuals learn from one another Learners engage in the learning process with the assistance of other people Cognitive development, including language development, is a result of social interactions Zone of proximal development is the gap between what a child knows and is able to alone and what the child can with help In this zone a child is able to solve problems on their own with the help of others In the classroom: Teachers should give tasks which are too difficult for the child to alone but possible with the help of adults and more skilled peers Students can learn problem solving skills through this type of tasks I Comparisons between Behaviourism and Constructivism I 3.1 Similarities between Behaviourism and Constructivism Both theories require the internal and external conditions for learning to take place These conditions are verbal information, cognitive strategies, intellectual skills and motor skills Both constructivism and behaviorism are theories of learning and relating to explain how a student learns and acquires knowledge They both have a direct influence on the methods used to pass information to learners both in the traditional classroom and in web basing on instructions laid out Both theories try to define the role of a learner in an educational system Both theories try to explain the manner in which this structuring, presentation, and implementation of learning materials are executed I Differences between Behaviourism and Constructivism Learning Theories Characteristics Behaviourism B.F Skinner Constructivism Jean Piaget Founders and Ivan Pavlov, Jerome Bruner proponents Edward Thorndike, Lev Vygotsky Learning John B Watson -Stimulus-Response- -Communication, Interaction procedure Reinforcement Test-Teach-Test PPP - Constructing one’s own - Through positive / negative knowledge of the world reinforcement and punishment through past experiences and - Imitation/repetition/ group interaction -Communication, Interaction rote learning - Focused on the learner’s role - Focused on observable, in their own learning measurable behaviors - Teacher - centered - Act as facilitator / guide / - Encourage motivation consultant - Identify errors in behavior - Identify errors in beliefs/ - Appreciate rewards and understanding punishment - Develop process/ sequence of Learners’ role - Passive responding to learning - Student-centered Context environmental stimuli FL classroom - Information constructor FL classroom with Emphasis Teacher’s role communicative situations/ Input Modified/ constituent parts Extrinsic / rewards and natural context authentic Intrinsic / integrative/ Motivation Age punishment Younger is better communicative Age is flexible Children can imitate sounds easily Factors influence Nature of reward, - Engagement, participation, learning Role of memory punishment, stimuli - Memorize , repeating habits social, cultural interaction - Prior knowledge remixed to and experiences- rewards and current context punishments are the most influential Bad, should be avoided Mistakes are seen as a good The representative Audio- lingualism sign of learning Task-based techniques/ Implicit grammar Communicative Methods Technology Educational software can be Interactive - Group work, PowerPoint Support used to assess the students project activities encourage Mistake students to work together and combine their knowledge in Advantages/ Easy for T to control learning process Able to communicate Strength Easy to remember the input Active learners Disadvantages/ (modified/broken) Rote learning Fossilization Drawbacks Implications to Passive learners Children can feel safe if Scaffold Ss to avoid ELT Audio - lingualism is applied fossilization during their beginning stage Ss should be exposed to reallife communicative situations II IMPLICATIONS OF SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION TO ELT II 1.Implications in grammar teaching II.1.1 Grammar Teaching based on Behaviourism Lesson: Future plans using “going to”- UNIT 2: English 10 Time: Objectives: 30 mins Use “going to” + infinitive to talk about future plans Structures: "What are you going to (this/next weekend / during the summer)?" "I’m (not) going to…", Procedure Time/Stages Presentation Activities Structure: Introduce "going to” + Verb(infinitive) Interactions (10 minutes) - Teacher gives the structure of “be going to” for future Whole class plans ( +) S + am/ is /are + going to + V(infi) - I am going to visit the museum this weekend - He / She is going to visit the museum this weekend - You/ We / They are going to visit the museum this Whole class weekend (-) S + am/ is /are + not + going to + V(infi) - I am not going to visit the museum go this weekend - He / She is not( =isn’t) going to visit the museum this Whole class weekend - You/ We / They are not (= aren’t) going to visit the museum this weekend ( ?) Am/ Is /Are + S + going to + V(infi) ? Yes, S + am/is/are No, S + am/is/are +not - Are you going to visit the museum this weekend? Yes, I am / No, I am not - Is he going to visit the museum this weekend? Yes, he is / No, he isn’t - Are they going to visit the museum go this weekend? Yes, they are / No, they aren’t ( ?) ( Question Words) + am/ is /are + S + going to + V(infi) ? - What are you going to this weekend ? I am going to visit the museum - Where is he going to go this weekend ? 10 Whole class He is going to go to the beach Use - Teacher introduce the use : - to talk about future plans and intentions Usually the decision about the future plans has already been made - She is going to eat out this weekend We use be going to to predict something that we think is certain to happen or which we have evidence for now - The cloud is black It is going to rain - Teacher asks students to give more examples basing on the structure provided Activity Complete the correct form of the verb tobe I …… going to my homework Practice What ……you going to on Sunday ? (18 minutes) My friends …… going to come Individually She …… going to read comic books … your teacher going to buy a car ? Activity : Make negative sentences using tobe going to She ………………………….sleep You ……………………go home Individually We ……………………… make the beds John ………………………cry The children ………………………play Activity : Match Don’t forget your a They are going to have a umbrella I am hungry My friends drink b You are going to be late are c I’m going to buy her a thirsty present Hurry up ! d It’s going to rain It’s grandmother’s e I’m going to make a birthday on Sunday sandwich 11 Individually Revise the form and the use of to be going to Homework (2 minutes) II.1.2.Grammar Teaching based on Constructivism Lesson: Future plans using “going to” Time: Objectives: Structures: 45 mins Use “going to” + infinitive to talk about future plans "What are you going to (this/next weekend / during the summer)?" "I’m (not) going to…", Procedure Time/Stages (5 minutes) Activities Activity Introduce the actions vocabulary: play game Interactions - Divide students into groups of or 4, sitting around a table - Keep a card and say out the verb on the card (e.g kicking a Group work ball, hitting a tennis ball, throwing a basketball, etc for the “play a sport” card) until someone shouts out the correct answer - Students in turns say out the verb The student who can guess the answer gets a point Continue with the next student until all the cards have been used up The student with the most points will be the winner Activity Introduce "going to” + V(infinitive) - Teacher writes on the board “This weekend” Take one of the cards from the groups and write the words from it on the board, e.g “go shopping” Point to yourself and say you are going to visit the museum this weekend and the phrases on the (7 minutes) board, say “Yes” Put a check mark (✓) next to the activity Whole class Call some students and ask, “go shopping?” and elicit “yes” or “no” Next, write “I am going to” on the board Say “This weekend, I am going to go shopping” 12 Point to one of the students who said yes, and ask “What are you going to this weekend?” Make sure the student answers “This weekend, I am going to go shopping” Next, ask a student who said no and elicit “This weekend, I am not going to go shopping” Write “I am not going to” on the board Write two more activities (e.g “eat out” and “sleep a lot”) on the board and ask students to say the structure Next, on the right-side of the board write “During the summer”, write two actions on the board and ask students to continue to speak out the structures Activity Practice saying future plans - Ask students to work in groups, use different cards and say (6 minutes) sentences, such as: During the summer, I am going to stay at home This weekend, I am not going to the theatre etc Teacher goes around to observe and asks each student to say one sentence Group work Activity “Wh” questions Teacher helps students extend their conversations by (6 minutes) introducing questions Stick photos of people on either side of board Ask students to make up a conversation basing on 13 the model -Teacher gives structure by drawing a speech bubble from the left person: What _ you _do this weekend? Fill in the missing words :What are you going to this weekend? Whole class Then from the right person photo draw another speech bubble: I _ go shopping Students write the missing words I am going to go shopping Now continue the conversation Draw a large speech bubble from the left person photo and write: Oh really? Who _ you with? Where _ you _? When _ you _? Why _ you ? What _ you _ ? Ask students to write down the text from the board on their notebooks and ask them to work in pairs to fill in the blanks – Then, call some students to go to the board and fill in the blanks Ask students to work with the partner to write their own answers to the questions in their notebooks Teacher goes around the class asking everyone for their answers and writing one example below each question Activity Play the “What are you going to …? True or False” board game Asks students into work in groups of 2-3 around a table and 14 Pair work gives out the game boards, instruction sheets Explains the game before students start playing the game - T goes round and gives help when necessary (6 minutes) - When students all have finished, asks one student each group to present what they are talking about Group work Activity Make “School Summer Plans" This activity is aimed to reinforce the new structures with a fun story Ask students to work in groups of fours to make a plan for their summer holiday Name Nam Tuan Mai Linh (8 minutes) Plans - play tennis - join an English speaking club -read book - take part in a volunteer group Teacher: "Nam, what are you going to during the summer Group work vacation?”, asks Tuan." What you think Nam is going to do? Students: He is going to play tennis! Teacher: Ok, asks Nam, “ Is it right ? Nam : Yes, I am going to play tennis Teacher: Tuan, You were right, well done! - Students note down their plan on the table Continue the conversation After making plans, ask students to go round to ask the other students about their plan for the summer holiday and note down Activity Talk about Summer holiday Plan - Ask students to work in groups of four to report about their summer holiday plan and their friends’ plans - Teacher calls some students to present in front of the class - Write about your summer holiday plan 15 Group work (7 minutes) Homework Whole class ( minute) II.2 Findings After applying Constructivism Theory in teaching grammar lesson to students, from my observations, I found that students are more motivated and become more active in learning process They are able to relate the information they learnt in the classroom to their life They can remix their prior knowledge and their own experience to current context Students have opportunities to develop their social skills, support each other’s learning process and value each other’s opinion and input through pair work and group work activities Instead of receiving knowledge passively through teacher’s lectures and memorization, they can actively engage in learning process They have more chances to communicate, interact and cooperate with others As a result, it is hoped that they can acquire language in natural way and get better results in their study PART III: CONCLUSION There are four sections in this chapter The first section deals with conclusions The second section states some recommendations Following are some limitations of the present study The last section suggests some suggestions for further study Conclusions In brief, the three theories of second language acquisition ( Behaviourism, Cognitivism and Constructivism) play a very important part in teaching language as a second language 16 The writer hopes that understanding these theories of second language acquisition will give teachers insight into language teaching practice It may be very helpful in guiding teachers’ reflections about pedagogy Depending on particular students as well as particular teaching situations, teachers may evaluate existing textbooks and materials and adapt them in suitable ways which are more consistent with our understanding of how languages are learned to achieve better results on the ways of mastering English as a second language Recommendations As discussed in this study, understanding these theories can be useful for EFL teachers to teach their students English as a second language more effectively I have some recommendations as follows: First of all, teachers should spend time studying the theories and researches relating to second language acquisition as the ideas drawn from researches and theories in second language acquisition are also valuable in helping teachers to evaluate claims made by proponents of various language teaching methods Secondly, a teaching plan for a lesson should be well and thoroughly prepared The teacher must point out what he/ she intends to with the tasks Thirdly, after each lesson taught to students, a small survey or an informal interview may be helpful as it will help teachers measure the appropriateness of the teaching method Last but not least, depending on a specific situation of each class, the teacher can choose some suitable teaching methods based on the particular theory for the teaching plan Limitations of the study The study has gained some success in improving students’ English through applying the theories and researches relating to second language acquisition However, it still bears some limitations First of all, the whole research lasted for twelve weeks and the teaching plans were applied within four weeks merely with three lessons The results would be more reliable if the researcher had more time to study and experiment with more lessons 17 Secondly, within the scope of the study, the participants in the study were limited in a class with 40 students The researcher really wishes that she could conduct the research on a larger scale to produce better results Finally, the study would be more effective if the researcher were much better at academic language proficiency, and had more experience in carrying out the research Suggestions for further study This study is of small-scale with limited participants Therefore, a similar study with bigger scope of subjects at other classes might be conducted so as to get a fuller evaluation of the implications of the theories relating to second language acquisition in ELT Other studies on vocabulary teaching or skills as reading, listening and writing may be also helpful for EFL learners LIST OF PARTICIPANTS TAKING PART IN THE RESEARCH Number Name Address Scope/ Field English Class 10A4 Ngo Gia Tu High shool Apply theories of the second language 18 acquisition( Bahaviorisim, Cognitivism, Constructivism) in ELT Lập Thạch, ngày tháng năm 2020 Lập Thạch, ngày 10 tháng năm 2020 Hiệu trưởng Tác giả 19 Nguyễn Nhật Tuấn Nguyễn Thị Việt Hà REFERENCES Spada, Nina & Patsy M Lightbown 2010 Second Language Acquisition Skinner,B.F.(1957) Verbal Behavior New York: Appleton- Century-Crofis Lightbown , P.M and Spada, N (2013) How languages are Learned Oxford, OUP Douglas Krashen, S (1982) Principles and Practice in Second Language Language Acquisition New York ,Pergamon Press 20 Vygotsky, L S (1980) Mind in Society : The Development of Higher Psychological Processes Harvard University Press Ellis, Rod 1997 Second Langauage Acquisition Oxford: University Press Gass, S & Selinker, L (2008) Second language acquisition: An introductory course New York: Taylor & Francis Mitchell, R & Myles, M (2004) Second language learning theories (2nd ed.) New York: Hodder Arnold Kumaravadivelu, B (2006) Understanding language teaching From method to postmethod London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Anh Pham Lan (2019 ) Issues in ELT – First and Second language Acquisition, Implications for ELT Sources: www.eslkidstuff.com 21 ... grammar teaching to Vietnamese learners as a second language Research: Name of the research: First and second language acquisition implications for ELT Author: - Full name: Nguyen Thi Viet Ha... understanding the theories and researches relating to second language acquisition is very important for teachers in their teaching process The ideas drawn from researches and theories in second language. .. REVIEW I Second Language Acquisition (SLA) Nina Spada and Patsy M Lightbown (2010) stated that second language acquisition research focuses on the developing knowledge and use of a language by