Current TESL issues (Teaching English as a Second Language) in an interactive fashion enriched with distinctive keywords and tags and comment forms to discuss the issues
Connectionism Connectionism originated in the relativity well-established notion in psychology of ‘parallel processing. This was advanced by the work of the ‘parallel distributed processing’ (PDP) group held by Rumelhart and McClelland. The term “connectionism” refers in general to a form of cognitive modeling wherein cognitive processing is represented in terms that can be implemented by …
Content-based Instruction (CBI) Content-based Instruction (CBI), according to Brinton (2003), is the integration of content learning with language teaching aims. More specifically, it refers to the concurrent study of language and subject matter, with the form and sequence of language presentation dictated by content material. Such an approach contrasts sharply with many practices in which …
Recast Recast is another form of feedback, though they are less direct and more subtle than other forms of feedback. A recast is a reformulation of an incorrect utterance that maintains the original meaning of the utterance where the NS reformulates the NNS’s incorrect utterances. Recasts are complex, for instance, is it a partial recast? …
Behaviorism Behaviorism Empirical studies were primarily descriptive and totally objective in nature. In the late 1960s and 1970s, a growing consensus was reached that behaviourist theories of L2 learning were inadequate. L2 learners, like L1 learners, were credited with a ‘built-in-syllabus’, which guided their progress. According to the behaviourist hypothesis, the mind of the newborn …
Sensitive Period Hypothesis Sensitive Period Hypothesis in comparison to Critical Period Hypothesis The review can show that variation in studies and findings with regard to the age groups considered, nature of the pronunciation tests, and length and type of exposure to the second language. One conclusion drawn is that cerebral lateralization is likely to be …
Declarative Knowledge Declarative knowledge is the same as explicit or controlled knowledge, whereas procedural knowledge is the same is implicit or uncontrolled knowledge. Internalised rules and memorised chunks of the language constitute the ‘what’ of the learner’s system or declarative knowledge (McLaughlin, 1987). Ellis believes that declarative rules can have top-down influences on perception, in …
Inter-group Theory Inter-group Theory Giles and Byrne identified a number of factors that contribute to a group’s ‘ethnolinguistic vitality’—the key construct in the theory. They then discussed the conditions under which subordinate group members (e.g. immigrants or members of an ethnic minority) are most likely to acquire native-like proficiency in the dominant group’s language. These …
Humanistic Language Learning Humanistic Language Learning The best introduction to humanistic learning within language education is Stevick (1997, as cited in Nunan, 2003). He believes that particular classroom techniques matter less than establishing the right emotional climate for the learners. According to Stevick (1990), among different language methods and approaches, Community Language Learning (CLL) seems …
Interaction Hypothesis Interaction Hypothesis Long’s Interaction Hypothesis, especially the updated version, claims that learners do need to pay conscious attention to form in order to benefit from negotiated interaction. The origins of Long’s Interaction Hypothesis lies partly in Hatch’s work on discourse analysis and L2 acquisition and partly in Krashen’s Input Hypothesis. Hatch claims that …
Output Hypothesis Output Hypothesis Swain’s Comprehensible Output Hypothesis emphasises the importance of consciousness, both in terms of learners’ noticing gaps in their interlanguage and developing metalinguistic awareness. The comprehensible output hypothesis constitutes an important addition to work on the role of interaction in L2 acquisition. In other words, output contributes to acquisition. It is in …