Chapter 4 theoretical basis of language teaching

Theoretical Basis of Foreign

Language Teaching

Major views on language

�Structural view: Language is a linguistic system made up of various

subsystems:phonology,morphology,lexicology and syntax. To learn a language is to learn its vocabulary

and structural rules.

�Functional view: Language is a linguistic system as well as a means for doing things. Learners learn a

language in order to be able to do things with it (use it). To perform functions,learners need to know how

to combine the grammatical rules and the vocabulary to express notions that perform the functions.

�Interactional view: Language is a communicative tool to build up and maintain social relations between

people.Learners need to know the rules of a language and where, when and how it is appropriate to use

them.

Linguistic background of Structuralism

Ferdinand de Saussure –
1857-1913, Swiss linguist

founder of modern linguistics

the structural study of language

the arbitrary relationship of the
linguistic sign to that which it signifies.

American Structuralism

LEONARD BLOOMFIELD (1887-1949)

One of America's foremost scientific linguists,
concerned with theoretical, descriptive, and applied
aspects of his field

Language (1933) is regarded as the classic text of
structural linguistics, also called structuralism.

� Founder of Transformational-Generative

Grammar

� Language is a behavior dominated by rules

� Regularity and creativity are two important

characteristics of language

American Structuralism

Noam Chomsky

Cognitive approach

� Language is not a form of behavior, it is an

intricate rule-based system

� There a finite number of grammatical rules in

the system and with a knowledge of these an

infinite number of sentences can be provided

Noam Chomsky

American Structuralism

Michael H. Long

Diane Larsen-Freeman

Multiple Choice

美国结构主义语言学家最初的研究对象是什么？

• A. 英语

• B. 印欧系语言

• C. 美洲印第安人的口头语言

• D. 亚洲语言

Multiple Choice

美国结构主义语言学家认为，语言学习中的困难和错误主要是由于什么原因造成的？

• A. 学习方法不当

• B. 教材不适合

• C. 母语的干扰和影响

• D. 学习者的智力问题

Multiple Choice

乔姆斯基的转换生成语法 (Transformational Generative Grammar, TG) 主张：

• A. 语言是一种随机行为，不受规则的支配。

• B. 语言是一种行为，受规则的支配，并可以用有限的基本的语言单位去构造无限数量的句子。

• C. 语言是一种行为，但不受任何规则的支配。

• D. 语言是一种行为，只受文化和习惯的支配。

Multiple Choice

乔姆斯基认为儿童之所以能够习得语言，而动物不能学会人类的语言的原因是：

• A. 儿童有更强的模仿能力。

• B. 儿童具有与生俱来的语言习得机制 (language acquisition device, LAD)

• C. 动物的大脑结构与人类不同

• D. 儿童接触的语言结构更为简单

Functional view

Language as a means of doing things

Learners need to know how to combine the
grammatical rules and vocabulary to express
notions that perform the functions

Learners learn a language in order to be able to do
things with it

Michael Halliday

Communicative competence include both the

knowledge about the language and the

knowledge about how to use the language

appropriately in communicative situations

Interactional view

Dell Hymes

John Austin’s speech act theory

“Asking a question is an example of what
Austin called an illocutionary act”.

John Austin

Our language does not only describe reality but
that it can be used to perform acts.

Major views on language learning

● Behaviorist approach

● Cognitive approach

● Constructivist approach

● Socio-constructivist approach

Behaviorist approach

• Watson initiated psychological formula: S--R

• Behaviorist theory of language learning was

initiated by Skinner

• Language is a form of behavior

• It can be learned the same way as an animal is

trained to respond to the stimulus

B.F. Skinner

John B. Watson

� Audio-lingual method is deeply influenced by behaviorist

approach

� The idea of this method is that language is learned by constant

repetition and reinforcement of the teacher

� Mistakes are immediately corrected and correct utterances are

immediately praised

Behaviorist approach

Dropdown

In the past century, language teaching and learning practice have been influenced by three different views of language: the ​

Select answer

view（结构的） , the ​

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view（功能的） and the ​

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view（交互的）.​

Dropdown

听说法是受到​

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主义影响的教学法

Constructivist approach

� Learning is a process in which the learner constructs meaning

based on what he/she learns and what he/she already knows.

� Education is used to develop the mind, not just to rote recall

what is learned

Jean Piadget

John Dewey

Socio-constructivist approach

� Socio-constructivist theory represented by Lev

Vygotsky emphasizes that interaction and
engagement with the target language in a
social context based on the concept of “Zone of
Proximal Development” and “Scaffolding”

Lev Vygotsky

Labelling

请帮忙给这位语言学家或教育家贴上标签

Drag labels to their correct position on the image

功能学派代表

结构主义者

语言功能的双重地位提出者

英国语言学家

美国学者

Stephen Krashen’s major theories

Stephen D. Krashen (born May 14, 1941) is an

American linguist, educational researcher and

activist, who is Emeritus Professor of Education at

the University of Southern California.

Stephen Krashen

The Monitor Model

• An approach to second language learning proposed by

Krashen (1977).

• Five interrelated hypotheses:

– The acquisition/learning hypothesis.
– The monitor hypothesis.
– The natural order hypothesis .
– The input hypothesis.
– The affective filter hypothesis.

The acquisition/learning hypothesis

� We ‘acquire’ language through exposure to what we understand

� Similar to L1 learning: naturally and without being aware

� We ‘learn’ language through conscious attention form and rule

learning

� More language is ‘acquired’ than ‘learned’

The Input Hypothesis

• Some key claims:

– Acquisition happens when the learner is exposed to language that is

slightly above his/her current level

– Formula is “i+1”
“i” is what is already known, 1 is slightly above

• The nature of i+1

– Varies from culture to culture for L1
– L2 learners get it from teacher talk, foreigner talk, or interlanguage talk

The Affective Filter Hypothesis

• An affective filter (AF) subconsciously screens incoming

language based on learner's motives, needs, attitudes
and emotional states.

• The silent period

– Time when the acquired system is developing;
– Learners not ready to generate language yet
– Early language production is a combination of L1 syntactic rules and

L2 vocabulary repaired by the monitor

Question

In Krashen’s Input Hypothesis, output plays no role in L2
acquisition. Do you agree? Does output play no role in L2
acquisition?

1. In Krashen’s Monitor Model of second language
development, learning is not conscious and does not occur
in formal situations or through formal grammatical rules,
while acquisition is a conscious process marked by the
presence of error correction and rule isolation.

Check-up exercises: fill in the blanks

F

Match

请将以下的假设与其相应的描述进行匹配：

• 习得和学得假设

• 自然顺序假设

• 输入假设

• 监察假设

• 情感过滤假设

E. 语言习得是一种自然的方式，是觉察不到的过程，而学得是指有意识地学习语言规则

A. 语言是按一定的、可以预示的顺序习得的，一种语言的语法规则或结构有其特定的次

B. 人们只要接收到足够且可以理解的语言输入，就可以习得语言。说的练习对习得来讲

C. 有意识的学得只能起到监察的作用，这种监察作用可以发生在写或说之前或之后。

D. 心理或情感因素，如动机、信心和忧虑程度，对外语学习有影响。这些因素可以调节

• E. 语言习得是一种自然的方式，是觉察不到的过程，而学得是指有意识地学习语言规则

• A. 语言是按一定的、可以预示的顺序习得的，一种语言的语法规则或结构有其特定的次

• B. 人们只要接收到足够且可以理解的语言输入，就可以习得语言。说的练习对习得来讲

• C. 有意识的学得只能起到监察的作用，这种监察作用可以发生在写或说之前或之后。

• D. 心理或情感因素，如动机、信心和忧虑程度，对外语学习有影响。这些因素可以调节

Drag and Drop

以下哪些观点是学者们对克拉申的监察模式提出的质疑？​ ​

Placeholder

​ ​

Placeholder

​ ​

Placeholder

​ ​

Placeholder

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

A. 习得和学得两者都没有明确的定义，难以判断在某种情况下哪一个在起作用。

B. 学得不仅有监察作用，还可以有理解作用。

C. 自然顺序假设可能犯了过度概括的错误。

D. “可理解的语言输入”没有确切的定义，使得输入假设难以检验。

E. 克拉申的第二语言习得理论已经完美，不需要进一步探讨。

Open Ended

你认为学习语言只接触大量的可理解的语言输入就可以学会吗？需要语言输出吗？

Swain (1985) studied immersion programs
---In an immersion school, subjects such as
science and mathematics are taught in the L2,
rather than the L2 itself is taught

She found that:
� In an immersion program, there is a plenty of

comprehensible input

� Students in immersion program were fluent in

their L2, but they did not achieve a high level
of grammar accuracy

Merrill Swain

The Output Hypothesis

� ‘Output’ is language produced by the learner

� When learners make efforts to ensure that their output is

comprehensible, for example, pushed output, acquisition

may be fostered

The Output Hypothesis

Contrastive Analysis

▪Behaviorist psychology

▪Structural linguistics

▪The late 1950s

“…is a way of comparing languages in order to determine
potential errors for the ultimate purpose of isolating what
needs to be learned and what does not need to be learned in
a second language learning situation..” (Gass & Selinker
1994:59)

Contrastive Analysis

Larry Selinker

Susan Gass

Robert Lado

Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis

▪ “the most effective materials are those that are based upon a scientific

description of the language to be learned, carefully compared with a
parallel description of the native language of the learner”. (Fries, 1945)

▪ Elements that are similar the NL will be easy to the leaner whereas those

that are different will be difficult. (Lado, 1957)
o What constitutes ‘difference’ and therefore difficulty as to

form, meaning and distribution?

o https://lado.edu/ourfamily/#about-lado

Error Analysis and Interlanguage

An error is a form in learner language that is inaccurate, meaning
it is different from the forms used by competent speakers of the
target language. For example, a learner of Spanish might say
"Juana es *bueno," which is not what competent speakers of
Spanish would say. The accurate form should be "buena."

Error analysis is a method used to document the errors that
appear in learner language, determine whether those errors are
systematic, and (if possible) explain what caused them. Native
speakers of the target language (TL) who listen to learner
language probably find learners' errors very noticeable, although,
as we shall see, accuracy is just one feature of learner language.

Error Analysis and Interlanguage

Open Ended

既然中介语是外语学习过程中学习者在某一时间内使用的语言，它介于母语和目的语之间，你认为有必要去纠正学习者在交际中（口头或笔头）出现的错误吗？

Views on language

Structural view: language as a
linguistic system and subsystems

Functional view: language as
a means of doing things

Interactional view: language
as a communicative tool to build up
and maintain social relations

Saussure/
Larsen-Freeman & Long

Halliday /
Johnson & Marrow

Hymes : communicative
competence

Learners need to learn these
structural items so as to
understand and produce language

Learners need to know how to
combine the grammatical rules
and vocabulary to express notions
that perform the functions

Learners need to know the rules for
using the grammar and vocabulary in
a whole range of communicative
context

Each language has a finite
number of such structural items
(phonology, morphology & syntax)

Learners learn a language in
order to be able to do things
with it

To know how to do what you want to do
involves also knowing whether it is
appropriate to do, and where, when
and how it is appropriate to do it, and
learn how langue is used in different
speech context

Audiolingual approach: combined with
the stimulus –response principles of
behavioristic psychology
Communicative approach

Communicative approach:TBLT,CLT

Who

What

Why

How