Questões de Concurso Para prefeitura de patos de minas - mg

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The nature of approaches and methods in language teaching

        Although specific theories of the language may provide the basis for a particular teaching method, other methods derive primarily from a theory of language learning. A learning theory underlying an approach or method responds to two questions: (a) What are the psycholinguistic and cognitive processes involved in language learning? and (b) What are the conditions that need to be met in order for these learning processes to be activated? Learning theories associated with a method at the level of approach may emphasize either one or both of these dimensions. Process‐ oriented theories build on learning processes, such as habit formation, induction, inferencing, hypothesis testing, and generalization. Condition‐oriented theories emphasize the nature of the human and physical context in which language learning takes place.  

        Stephen D. Krashen’s Monitor Model of second language development (1981) is an example of a learning theory on which a method (the Natural Approach) has been built. At the level of process, Krashen distinguishes between acquisition and learning. Acquisition refers to the natural assimilation of language rules through using language for communication. Learning refers to the formal study of language rules and is a conscious process. Krashen’s theory also addresses the conditions necessary for the process of “acquisition” to take place. He describes these in terms of the type of “input” the learner receives. Input must be comprehensible, slightly above the learner’s present level of competence, interesting or relevant, not grammatically sequenced, in sufficient quantity, and experience in low‐anxiety contexts.

         Tracy Terrell’s Natural Approach (1977) is an example of a method derived primarily from a learning theory rather than from a particular view of language. Although the Natural approach is based on a learning theory that specifies both processes and conditions, the learning theory underlying such methods as Counseling‐Learning and the Silent Way addresses primarily the conditions held to be necessary for learning to take place without specifying what the learning processes themselves are presumed to be.

          Charles A. Curran in his writings on the Counseling‐Learning (1972), for example, focuses on the conditions necessary for successful learning. James Asher’s Total Physical Response (Asher 1977) is likewise a method that derives from a learning theory. Caleb Gattemo’s Silent Way (1972, 1976) is built around a theory of the conditions necessary for successful learning to be realized. Many of the techniques used in the method are designed to train learners to consciously use their intelligence to heighten learning potencial.

(Richards, Jack C. and Rodgers, Theodore S. Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, 2004. P. 22‐23. Adapted.)

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Communicative strategies

     As anyone who has tried to communicate in an L2 knows, learners frequently experience problems in saying what they want to say because of their inadequate knowledge. If learners do not know a word in the target language they may “borrow” a word from their L1 or use another target‐language word that is approximate in meaning, or try to paraphrase the meaning of the word, or even construct an entirely new word. These strategies, with the obvious exception of those that are L1 based, are also found in the language use of native speakers.

     There have been a number of attempts to construct psycholinguistic models to account for the use of communication strategies. Claus Faerch and Gabriele Kasper, for example, proposed a model of speech production which involves a planning and an execution phase. Communication strategies are seen as part of the planning phase.They are called upon when learners experience some kind of problem with an initial plan which prevents them from executing it. They can either abandon the initial plan and develop an enterily different one by means of reduction strategy (such as switching to a different topic) or try to maintain their original communicative goal by adopting some kind of achievement strategy (such as L1 borrowing).

      As Selinker has pointed out, communication strategies constitute one of the processes responsible for learner errors. We might expect, therefore, that the choice of communication strategies will reflect the learners’ stage of development. For example, learners might expect to switch from L1‐based strategies to L2‐based strategies as their knowledge of the L2 develops. It would also be interesting to discover whether the use of communication strategies has any effect on L2 acquisition. For example, do learners notice the gap more readily as a result of having to use a communication strategy? Or does successful use of a communication strategy obviate the need for learners to pick out the correct target‐language forms?  

(ELLIS, Rod. Second Language Acquisition. Oxford University, 1997. P.60‐61. Adapted.)  

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Communicative strategies

     As anyone who has tried to communicate in an L2 knows, learners frequently experience problems in saying what they want to say because of their inadequate knowledge. If learners do not know a word in the target language they may “borrow” a word from their L1 or use another target‐language word that is approximate in meaning, or try to paraphrase the meaning of the word, or even construct an entirely new word. These strategies, with the obvious exception of those that are L1 based, are also found in the language use of native speakers.

     There have been a number of attempts to construct psycholinguistic models to account for the use of communication strategies. Claus Faerch and Gabriele Kasper, for example, proposed a model of speech production which involves a planning and an execution phase. Communication strategies are seen as part of the planning phase.They are called upon when learners experience some kind of problem with an initial plan which prevents them from executing it. They can either abandon the initial plan and develop an enterily different one by means of reduction strategy (such as switching to a different topic) or try to maintain their original communicative goal by adopting some kind of achievement strategy (such as L1 borrowing).

      As Selinker has pointed out, communication strategies constitute one of the processes responsible for learner errors. We might expect, therefore, that the choice of communication strategies will reflect the learners’ stage of development. For example, learners might expect to switch from L1‐based strategies to L2‐based strategies as their knowledge of the L2 develops. It would also be interesting to discover whether the use of communication strategies has any effect on L2 acquisition. For example, do learners notice the gap more readily as a result of having to use a communication strategy? Or does successful use of a communication strategy obviate the need for learners to pick out the correct target‐language forms?  

(ELLIS, Rod. Second Language Acquisition. Oxford University, 1997. P.60‐61. Adapted.)