Hello, everyone!
I want to share you a video to know and to reflect on some issues about language learning.
Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh8QlfYLUO0
I am still thinking about the statement which appears at the end of the the video. What do you think? We will never speak perfectly a second language as "natives"? Are we too old?
Have a good day.
According to what I read: Hall (2011), and Pages 12 to 20 of the Guidelines (1999): I would like to propose a couple of questions related with Methods and Approaches and Language Acquisition:
ResponderEliminarWhy is it important for a teacher to know how to use a wide variety of methods and approaches?
How to make classes more effective taking into account that sometimes we have to teach groups of more than 50 students?
How to integrate the target language with the native language of the student?
And, finally, I would like to propose a question from Nation, 2011, p. 64: In what ways do you think first language acquisition and second language learning might be different? In what ways might they be similar?
Hello, Stephanie.
EliminarI think different methods and approaches are strongly related to our type of student, his / her personality, learning style, age, etc; Also, by this same line, we would think about our method with a big group based on a general feature of our group. It is important to know our students and attract their attention also, when we work with adult students.
In your last question you ask about the relation between first language acquisition and second language learning, according to Krashen (1982), there is a difference between "Language acquisition" and "Language Learning"; Language acquisition is a process similar to the way children develop ability in their first language. Language acquisition is a subconscious process, it is kind of intuitive; Language learning, on the other hand, refers to conscious knowledge of a second language, in other word, learning is related to knowing the language, know about grammar and rules.
Some second language theorists, says Krashen, gave assumed that children acquire, while adults can only learn. The acquisition-learning Krashen hypothesis claims, however, that adults also acquire, that the ability to "pick-up" languages does not disappear at puberty, it does not mean that adults will always be able to achieve native-like levels in A second language, it means that adults can access the same natural language acquisition device that children use.
An example of that difference is the "error correction", it has little or no effect on subconscious acquisition, but is thought to be useful for conscious learning.
(Natalia Arcila)
There are some things we need to know about to answer that question. The first one is the biological and fisiological part of our bodies. After considering that we will see that our brain has some special caractheristics at a very special ages, but it is not the only factor to look a. The second one is the context of the person and how inmerged he has been in it. And the third one it is the knowledge he has gotten trough his life of the language, because he or she could not know a lot about it, but of course he or she knows some words. And then we have your question, and since my way of view, well, yes It doesn't matter how much we try as older as we get our brain will become softer which will make the understanding of reality and of course learning a bit harder (or worse).
ResponderEliminarI am strongly agree with you César. There are some aspects that influence the second language acquisition process such as the context, sometimes we use to think that living in an English speaker contexts is easier to learn the language, but that is not always true because other intrinsic aspects can interfere in the process.In my opinion, motivation is the key for learning whatever we want to, never is to late to learn. Moreover, as the language is something incomplete, human beings are, thus, we don't need to be worry about learning "perfectly" a second language, neither natives do.
EliminarIt is possible,it all depends on your will, and dedication, but it is going to be difficult, because your time to learn basically ended years ago, so people should search for strategies to make learning easier.
ResponderEliminarMaybe we don't have the same abilities that we used to have when we were children to acquire a second language but beyond of our natural develop as a cognitive beings we got the opportunity of being persistence to conquer the things that we are looking for. Even when the time is running out for our existence we know that every single moment of dedication, ambition or hope makes sense inside our singularity. The only thing that can be an obstacle is the fear to do no be sure of what we want.
ResponderEliminarGreetings, everyone. As far as I am concerned, the only theoretical support for such claim is Chomsky's hypothesis of a language acquisition device which is only accesible during the initial cognitive development stages of a language speaker (a so-called critical period with a variable age span depending on the author of preference). According to that, some researchers as Mayberry and Lock have found, as empirical evidence from their studies on SLA, that the only language aspect that is actually proven to differ between younger and older learners is that most of the first ones can easily attain a native L2 accent, by contrast to most of the second ones, whose fixed L1 neuromuscular functions of pronunciation tend to interfere in their identification and replication of the particular L2 natives speech sounds.
ResponderEliminarHowever, we have to take into account that accent is not just a matter of cognitive processes, but also has to do with speakers' sense of cultural identity and their motivation for learning the L2. As follows, conversational modification strategies for interactions between native and non-native L2 speakers (comprehension checks, confirmation, clarification requests and repetition), as Hall (2011) states, can definitely pave the way for those who are actually willing to be fully proficient in the target language, independently of their age and suppossed brain plasticity.
The brain is a very complex structure and I believe that pretending to have it well known is a very fast paced decision. Saying languages cannot be perfected by adults is around the edge of adults being unable to acquire language. People will never stop hearing and acquiring things through a language. If one does not become a pro in a language is because one did not make an effort to do so.
ResponderEliminar