Contents
Piaget (1972) Stages of Cognitive Development 2
COMMUNICATIVE STRATEGIES 2
Lexical Approach: 3
Learning styles and strategies 4
Rubin's (1987) Classification of Language Learning Strategies 4
Summary of the Fundamental Difference Hypothesis (FDH) Bley-Vroman 1988 6
Communicative competence 7
Bachman Strategic competence 7
Learning Styles by Willing 1987 7
Competition Model Ellis 7
Pied-piping 8
Intelligence 8
Age of Acquisition 9
Parallel Distributed Processing Models 9
TYPES OF BILINGUALISLM: 9
BILINGUAL BEHAVIOUR 9
Adaptive Control of Thought (Anderson) 10
Acquisition of negatives 10
Nativization model & Operating Principles 10
T’s questions 10
Implicit vs Explicit Knowledge 11
USAGE and USE 11
Types of motivation 11
Gardner's Seven Intelligences 11
Tarone Capability Continuum 12
Bachman’s Communicative Language Ability 12
Formal instruction 12
Accessibility Hierarchy 13
Markedness Differential Hypothesis Eckman 13
5 Cognitive processes Selinker 13
Mediation Theory – response to behaviourism 13
Klein Lerners’ four tasks 13
INTERLANGUAGE 13
ZPD Zone of Proximal Development – 14
Vygotsky McLaughlin’s Attention-Processing Model 14
Krashen’s IHypothesises 14
ORDER OF MORPHEME ACQUISITION L1/L2 15
Bialystok’s Model 15
Poverty of Stimulus = Mentalist =Chomsky 15
Accommodation Theory 15
BICS/CALP 16
STAGES OF INTERLANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT 16
Independence/Dependence Descriptions 17
Global Vs Analytic 17
Language learning aptitude 18
Humanistic Approach 18
Types of Feedback 18
Typology of errors 18
TYPES OF MEMORY 18
Briggs-Myers “Type indicator” based on jung’s “Character Typology” 19
Piaget's stage theory describes the cognitive development of children. Cognitive development involves changes in cognitive process and abilities. In Piaget's view, early cognitive development involves processes based upon actions and later progresses into changes in mental operations.
Key Concepts
Schemas - A schema describes both the mental and physical actions involved in understanding and knowing. Schemas are categories of knowledge that help us to interpret and understand the world.
In Piaget's view, a schema includes both a category of knowledge and the process of obtaining that knowledge. As experiences happen, this new information is used to modify, add to, or change previously existing schemas.
For example, a child may have a schema about a type of animal, such as a dog. If the child's sole experience has been with small dogs, a child might believe that all dogs are small, furry, and have four legs. Suppose then that the child encounters a very large dog. The child will take in this new information, modifying the previously existing schema to include this new information.
Assimilation - The process of taking in new information into our previously existing schema's is known as assimilation. The process is somewhat subjective, because we tend to modify experience or information somewhat to fit in with our preexisting beliefs. In the example above, seeing a dog and labeling it "dog" is an example of assimilating the animal into the child's dog schema.
Accommodation - Another part of adaptation involves changing or altering our existing schemas in light of new information, a process known as accommodation. Accommodation involves altering existing schemas, or ideas, as a result of new information or new experiences. New schemas may also be developed during this process.
Equilibration - Piaget believed that all children try to strike a balance between assimilation and accommodation, which is achieved through a mechanism Piaget called equilibration. As children progress through the stages of cognitive development, it is important to maintain a balance between applying previous knowledge (assimilation) and changing behavior to account for new knowledge (accommodation). Equilibration helps explain how children are able to move from one stage of thought into the next.
The Sensorimotor Stage
The Preoperational Stage
The Concrete Operational Stage
The Formal Operational Stage
Characteristics of the Sensorimotor Stage:
The first stage of Piaget’s theory lasts from birth to approximately age two and is centered on the infant trying to make sense of the world. During the sensorimotor stage, an infant’s knowledge of the world is limited to their sensory perceptions and motor activities. Behaviors are limited to simple motor responses caused by sensory stimuli. Children utilize skills and abilities they were born with, such as looking, sucking, grasping, and listening, to learn more about the environment.
Object Permanence:
According to Piaget, the development of object permanence is one of the most important accomplishments at the sensorimotor stage of development. Object permanence is a child's understanding that objects continue to exist even though they cannot be seen or heard.
Substages of the Sensorimotor Stage:
Reflexes (0-1 month):
Primary Circular Reactions (1-4 months):
Secondary Circular Reactions (4-8 months):
Coordination of Reactions (8-12 months):
Tertiary Circular Reactions (12-18 months):
Early Representational Thought (18-24 months):
Characteristics of the Preoperational Stage:
The preoperational stage occurs between ages two and six. Language development is one of the hallmarks of this period. Piaget noted that children in this stage do not yet understand concrete logic, cannot mentally manipulate information, and are unable to take the point of view of other people, which he termed egocentrism.
During the preoperational stage, children also become increasingly adept at using symbols, as evidenced by the increase in playing and pretending. For example, a child is able to use an object to represent something else, such as pretending a broom is a horse. Role playing also becomes important during the preoperational stage. Children often play the roles of "mommy," "daddy," "doctor" and many others.
Characteristics of Concrete Operations:
The concrete operational stage begins around age seven and continues until approximately age eleven. During this time, children gain a better understanding of mental operations. Children begin thinking logically about concrete events, but have difficulty understanding abstract or hypothetical concepts.
Characteristics of the Formal Operational Stage:
The formal operational stage begins at approximately age twelve to and lasts into adulthood. During this time, people develop the ability to think about abstract concepts. Skills such as logical thought, deductive reasoning, and systematic planning also emerge during this stage.
A communication strategy is a systematic technique employed by a speaker to express his [or her] meaning when faced with some difficulty.
Avoidance or Reduction Strategies
Message abandonment‑leaving a message unfinished because of language difficulties.
§ Topic avoidance‑avoiding topic areas or concepts which pose language difficulties.
Achievement or Compensatory Strategies
Circumlocution‑‑‑describing or exemplifying the target object or action (e.g., the thing you open bottles with for corkscrew).
Approximation‑using an alternative term which expresses the meaning of the target lexical item as closely as possible (e.g., ship for sail boat).
Use of all-purpose words‑extending a general, empty lexical item to contexts where specific words are lacking (e.g., the overuse of thing, stuff, make, do, as well as using words like thingie, what‑do‑you‑call‑it.
Word‑coinage‑‑creating a non-existing L2 word based on a supposed rule (e.g., vegetarianist for vegetarian).
Use of nonlinguistic means‑mime, gesture, facial expression, or sound imitation.
Literal translation‑translating literally a lexical item, an idiom, a compound word or structure from Ll to L2.
Foreignizing‑using a Ll word by adjusting it to L2 phonologically (i.e., with a L2 pronunciation) and/or morphologically (e.g., adding to it a L2 suffix).
Code switching‑using a Ll word with Ll pronunciation or a L3 word with L3 pronunciation in L2.
Appeal for help‑turning to the conversation partner for help either directly (e.g., What do you call ... ) or indirectly (e.g., rising intonation, pause, eye contact, puzzled expression).
Stalling or Time‑gaining Strategies
Use of fillers/hesitation devices‑using filling words or gambits to fill pauses and to gain time to think (e.g., well, now let me see, as a matter of fact).
What are chunks?
“…a unit of memory organisation, formed by bringing together a set of already formed chunks in memory and welding them together into a larger unit. (Newall, 124-125)
Two assumptions about chunking
(1) People chunk at a constant rate: every time they get more experience, they build additional chunks
(2) Performance on the task is faster, the more chunks that have been built that are relevant to the task. (Ellis, p. 126)
How to know if a phrase is a chunk…
-Institutionalization: degree to which a word is conventionalized in the language: does it reoccur as a unit?
-Fixedness: degree to which it is frozen as a sequence of words. Does it inflect in predictable ways? They rocked the boat not they rocked the boats, on the other hand not on another hand or a different hand.
-Non-compositionality: degree to which it cannot be interpreted on a word-by-word basis, but has a specialized unitary meaning: kicks the bucket, of course. (Moon, pp. 44-45)
Types of Chunks
-Compounds (words)-tape recorder, bookshelf
-Phrasal verbs: come, get, go, put, take + off, in, on , down (polywords)
-Idioms: multi-word items which are not the sum of their parts—spill the beans, kick the bucket, have an ax to grind (Fixed collocations, Institutionalized utterances)
-Fixed phrases: of course, at least, in fact, by far, how do you do, excuse me ( Polywords)
-Prefabs: lexical phrases—the thing/fact/point is, that reminds me, I’m a great believer in (Institutionalized utterances, Sentence Frames) (Moon, pp. 44-45)
Why Teach Chunks
Lexical phrases may be treated as wholes..[and] as such, they are stored in the lexicon as unanalyzed chunks like words. Being ready-made, they are easily retrieved.
Lexical phrases prove highly motivating by developing fluency at very early stages and thus promote a sense of achievement.
Lexical phrases are not dead ends. Some (not all) are analyzable by the rules of grammar. Therefore, they are dual in nature.
Lexical phrases may be used to maintain a conversation, change the topic, make a request, greet …
They functional features of lexical phrases offer learners the possibility of expressing the same function in increasingly more difficult ways by expanding an initial formula.
Lexical phrases let speakers overcome memory and processing constraints since they are stored as wholes and are readily accessible. If I were you…
Easy to acquire:(a) occur very frequently, so recycled.(b) context-bound; have situational meaning. (Porto, pp. 22-23)
Some of Michael Lewis’ key principles
Language consists of grammaticalized lexis, not lexicalized grammar.
The grammar / vocabulary dichotomy is invalid; much language consists of multi-word chunks.
A central element of language teaching is raising students’ awareness of, and developing their ability to ‘chunk’ language successfully.
Although structural patterns are acknowledged as useful, lexical and metaphorical patterning are accorded appropriate status. (Lewis, 1993, vi-vii).
Functions:
The communicative purpose of the users of the language.
How language is used.
Usually expressed as gerunds: introducing, apologizing, asking directions, requesting
Can-Do Statements:
What a student “can do” at a particular level as described by the Common European Framework: CEF.
Noticing:
If learners pay attention to the form and meaning of certain language structures in input, this will contribute to the internalization of the rule.
How do we l learn new lexis in our native language?
Encourage students to NOTICE language
“involves the intake both of meaning and form, and it takes time for learners to progress from initial recognition to the point where they can internalize the underlying [form].” (Blastone)
Awareness:
Paying deliberate attention can help Ss notice the gap between their performance and that of native speakers
Can give salience to a feature…more noticeable later
Main objective=help learners notice for themselves how language is used. (Islam, Timmis)
Conclusion: Helping your student with speaking:
(1) Start with “can-do” statements / theme of unit.
(2) What functions do the students need to be able to do this?
(3) What language (chunks) represents this function at the students’ level?
(4) What communication strategies will help the student produce the language?
(5) How can I present the chunks I’ve chosen so the student notices them?
(6) How can I support the student by repeating the chunks throughout the lesson to facilitate awareness?
Rubin, who pionered much of the work in the field of strategies, makes the distinction between strategies contributing directly to learning and those contributing indirectly to learning. According to Rubin, there are three types of strategies used by learners that contribute directly or indirectly to language learning. These are:
Learning Strategies
Communication Strategies
Social Strategies
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