PRINCIPLES AND THEORIES OF LANGUAGE

ACQUISITION AND LEARNING

PROFESSOR: IDA GAURAN-TUDY, PHD

Miss Stephany, a language teacher,
is newly hired in the institution.
And, she is assigned in tertiary
level particularly in English
language program. Since she is
new and has no experience yet,
she is not confident as to what to
do to effectively teach her
students.

Question: What are her

considerations in language
teaching?
 Develop his/her
own understanding
nd
of 2 language
learning and
teaching

Before stepping into the second language classroom

◼ It is essential for students to be knowledgeable of how second
language is acquired so that they can continually grow
independently (Krashen, 1982, 2009).
THE RELATIONSHIP OF THEORY TO PRACTICE
SOURCE: KRASHEN (1982, 2009)
 A. THREE APPROACHES TO METHOD

1. Theory of Second Language Acquisition

2. Applied Linguistics Research
3. Ideas and Intuitions from Experience
 1. THEORY OF SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Second language acquisition theory can be viewed as a part of "theoretical linguistics", i.e.
it can be studied and developed without regard to practical application.
 WHAT IS A THEORY?

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WHAT IS A THEORY?

◼ consists of a set of hypotheses

◼ predict new data

In other words, hypotheses are not summaries or categories for existing data and
observations, but must pass the test of accounting for new data. If our current
hypotheses are able to predict new events, they survive. If they fail, even once, they
must be altered. If these alterations cause fundamental changes in the original
generalizations, the hypotheses may have to be totally abandoned.
 Interaction Hypothesis by Long (1996)

Language acquisition is strongly facilitated by the use of the target language in interaction.
Monitor Model by Krashen

The monitor is a component of an L2 learner’s language processing device that uses knowledge gained from
language learning to observe and regulate the learner’s own L2 production, checking for accuracy and adjusting
language production when necessary.
 OTHER IMPORTANT THEORIES

◼ Language Expectancy Theory Output Hypothesis

“When language that is unexpected “Small amounts of meaningful
or vivid is used ,then it is often output are important to language
remembered more because the learning because the experience of
listener thinks about it more.” producing the language leads to
more effective processing of
input.”
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2. APPLIED LINGUISTICS RESEARCH
is aimed at solving practical, real problems that confront society.

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example: experiments that compare teaching methods

◼ Quite simply, a group of students is taught a foreign language using method A (e.g. audio-lingual), and
another group is taught the same language using method B (e.g. grammar-translation).
The results of such an experiment would certainly be of interest to theoreticians, since a particular theory
might predict that students studying using one method would do better than students using another.
The experiment itself, however, is designed for practical ends, i.e. to decide which method we should use in
our schools.
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3. IDEAS AND INTUITIONS FROM EXPERIENCE

◼ It relies, rather, on the insights and observations of experienced language teachers and students of
foreign languages.
It consists of "ideas that work" , introspections by language
students (e.g. "diary studies"), and other informal observations.
B. INTERACTIONS AMONG APPROACHES TO
PRACTICE
QUESTION:
IN WHAT WAYS ARE THOSE THREE APPROACHES
INTERRELATED TO ONE ANOTHER?
Figure 1.1 illustrates this ideal world, with information flowing between all three areas
that influence language teaching methodology.

Second
Applied Ideas and
language
linguistics Intuitions
acquisition
research
theory

Language
teaching
practice
FIG. 1.2. ACTUAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEORY, APPLIED
LINGUISTICS RESEARCH, IDEAS AND INTUITIONS AND LANGUAGE
TEACHING PRACTICE.
Second
Applied Ideas and
language
linguistics Intuitions
acquisition
research
theory

Language
teaching
practice
Read silently the succeeding paragraphs. Then point out
significant learning insights.
We have, in the past, gone straight from theory to practice, and it simply has not worked.

Some well-known examples of this approach include the direct application of the principles of
behaviorist psychology in the classroom, known as the audio-lingual method. Theoreticians
insisted that dialogue and pattern drill were "the way" to teach language, and recommended
techniques that felt wrong to many teachers and students. A more recent "application of theory"
was what may be called the "applied transformational grammar" movement, which featured
materials directly based on current work in theoretical syntax and phonology. Applied TG did
not significantly advance language teaching, for reasons that will become clear as we proceed. Its
only tangible effect, perhaps, was that it needlessly made many teachers feel unprepared because
they had not been trained in the latest version of transformational theory. (Lest the reader get the
wrong impression, my personal view is that transformational-generative grammar, and the
progress it stimulated in formal linguistics, should be recognized as an extremely important
contribution, and easily outdid previous theories of linguistic structure. My point here is that it
does not necessarily follow that second language methods and materials should be based directly
on TG.)
These two theories, then, failed. The first, behaviorist theory,
failed to apply successfully to language teaching because it
was, simply, not a theory of language acquisition. The
second, TG, failed because it was a theory of the product,
the adult's competence, and not a theory of how the adult
got that competence. It is not a theory of the process of
language acquisition.
Questions:

◼ What insights have you learned? WhatTeacher:

is the implication of these
Ida Gauran-Tudy, PhD to language teaching?
C. WHAT THE THREE APPROACHES HAVE TO SAY ABOUT METHOD

Language acquisition does not require extensive use of conscious

grammatical rules, and does not require tedious drill.

It does not occur overnight, however, real language acquisition

develops slowly, and speaking skills emerge significantly later than
listening skills, even when conditions are perfect.

The best methods are therefore those that supply "comprehensible

input" in low anxiety situations, containing messages that students
really want to hear.