L2 Learning and teaching.docx

What do Linguistic, psychological, and social perspectives on SLA address? What questions does each address? What exactly does the L2 learner come to know? How does the learner acquire L2 knowledge? Why are some learners more successful than others? We would not consider the final state of L2 develo...

What do Linguistic, psychological, and social perspectives on SLA address? What questions does each address? What exactly does the L2 learner come to know? How does the learner acquire L2 knowledge? Why are some learners more successful than others? We would not consider the final state of L2 development to be completely “native”. Why so? What implications for L2 learning and teaching do our findings about SLA suggest? L2 Learning and teaching While there are some significant differences of opinion, and while there is much yet to discover, there is also much that we now know about SLA from simply exploring the basic what, how, and why questions that we have been considering through-out this book. Linguistic, psychological, and social perspectives on SLA all address these basic what, how, and why questions, but as we have seen through-out the chapters, they have each tended to focus primarily on one question over the others. For our chapter today, we will give greatest weight to linguistic contributions in answer to what, to psychological contributions in answer to how, and to social contributions in answer to why. What exactly does the L2 learner come to know? Page 184 How does the learner acquire L2 knowledge? Page 186 Why are some learners more successful than others? Page 187 Approaching near-native competence The judgment that L2 learners have approached or achieved “near-native” or “native-like” competence means that there is little or no perceptible difference between their language performance and that of native speakers. Because one’s L2 system is never exactly the same as the native speaker’s, most of us would not consider the final state of L2 development to be completely “native”, although we may allow for some rare exceptions. Implication for L2 learning and teaching Although we have seen that knowledge of L2 goes well beyond what can be consciously learned and taught, we have also seen that (unlike L1) L2 acquisition usually requires intentional effort, and that a number of individual and social factors strongly affect ultimate outcomes. We can not control most of these factors, but recognizing them can contribute to efficiency and effectiveness in second language development. As a starting point, our findings about SLA suggest the following general guidelines for L2 learning and teaching: Consider the goals that individuals and groups have for learning an additional language. Set priorities for learning/teaching that are compatible with those goals. Approach learning/teaching that are compatible with an appreciation of the multiple dimensions that are involved: linguistic, psychological, and social. Understand the potential strengths and limitation of particular learners and contexts for learning, and make use of them in adapting learning/teaching procedures. Be cautious in subscribing to any instructional approach which is narrowly focused or dogmatic. There is no one “best” way to learn or teach a second language. Recognize achievement in incremental progress. And be patient. Learning a language takes time