TKT UNIT12- DIFFERENCES BETWEEN L1 & L2 LEARNING

Hello to you all.

For today we are talking about the differences between the first language and second language. We may think of many because we all have a first language but not everyone is interested in learning a second language. But let’s find out about some of these differences.

First Language:

• We learn it as babies and continue through our lives.
• We learn the language in our growth process.
• We are motivated to learn the language as we need to communicate.
• We learn it by exposure and picking it up, so by being hearing it all the time and live around it.
• We learn by interacting with our family, and also by talking, listening and playing with it.
• We get to practice and experiment with the language.
• We get to hear a simple speech, not to sophisticate.
• We get to speak in an incorrect way and no one will correct us.

<a href=”http://blaugh.com/2006/12/05/babys-first–language“…

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Second Language (in the classroom):

• Some learners start learning this second language in primary school or secondary school.
• Their attitudes towards learning a new language it is not fully developed.
• While adults may have goals and good expectations about this new language they will learn.
• Sometimes they can be exposed to the language but they will still need to learn structures and specific language items.
• They may have some motivation to communicate but they may do it with their teacher.
• Let’s consider that the learner is not exposed to the language more than 3 hours per week the most in schools.
• Teachers usually correct learners and use a short vocabulary or use of the language.
• Learners are not given the opportunity to make mistakes and experiment by themselves.

 

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Let’s not forget that these differences can be easier to handle if we motivate our students, if we personalize our teaching but the most important that we should do is to teach at our learner’s level. We must also focus on the form of the language and encourage the use of English outside the classroom.

TKT UNIT 11-THE ROLE OF ERROR

Hi everyone.

What is this role of error mean?

It is the focus on the mistakes learners make when they speak and write a foreign language, why to make them and the part this mistakes play in language learning.

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There are two reason of why this mistakes while learning a new language and this is:

1. The first reason is because the learner is influenced by his/her first language or mother tongue on the second language and this is called interference. Learners use sound patterns, lexis and grammatical structures from their own language.
2. The second reason is because they are constantly organizing and experimenting with the language, but these errors will often disappear.

Errors are part of a natural part of learning. I believe that while learning a second language, learning math or any other subject students have the right to be wrong and fix it or learn from their mistake, this is just part of their interlanguage. By having an error you realize that something was wrong so you work it out to make it right and here is when we really learn.

TKT UNIT 10- EXPOSURE OR FOCUS ON FORM? WHICH WAY OF LEARNING IS BETTER?

Hello to my readers.

Well I was wondering if it is better to learn by exposure or by focusing on form, and I get to the point that it depends on the age and the position you are staying on.

Why is this? This is because if you were born in USA or lived there as a child, you were exposed to the language by hearing it all around you without even studying it.

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But what if you went to USA already knowing your tongue language? Well in this case you had to focus on the form of the language for you to be able to understand how it is pronounced and written so that you can understand how to use it in a conversation and then interact.

 I mention interact because now in days experts say that in order to acquire a second language is necessary to interact with other people too. This will lead us to try to make ourselves clear and make sure our message reach the target in a successful communication.

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So at the end we need to pick up the language, interact with others and by focusing on form so we can approach the target language.

To make sure I don’t forget anything about this unit here are some extra important points:

• Translation method: focus only on grammar and translating texts.
• Structural Approach: focus only on learning and practicing structures.
• Communicative Approaches: focus on using language fluently in a communication.