Teaching English
3. TEFL as a transdisciplinary project
Nancy Grimm – Michael Meyer – Laurenz Volkmann
0. Table of contents
1. Definition and link disciplines
2. Language acquisition and learning
in Psychology and Linguistics
2.1 Behaviorism: feeding the parrot
2.2 Nativism: genes, genes, genes
2.3 Cognitivism: the mind as processor
2.4 Constructivism: the creative mind
2.5 Sociolinguistic, Sociocultural, and
Interactionist Approaches: the social
agent
3. Recommended Reading
4. Acknowledgments
Chapter 3: TEFL as a transdisciplinary project
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Discuss:
What does education mean to
you? Think about the roles of
teachers and learners, and
the processes of teaching and
learning. Jot down your ideas
related to the cartoon.
Chapter 3: TEFL as a transdisciplinary project
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Discuss:
Compare your ideas to the
concepts of learning and
teaching in the story.
Imagine how the story will
continue and discuss your
ideas with your peers.
Chapter 3: TEFL as a transdisciplinary project
In Japan at the time of the Samurai, a
boy leaves home in search of a teacher.
After three days of walking in the hills,
he finds a Zen master in his hermitage
and politely asks whether the master
would accept him as his disciple. The
master remains silent, prepares tea,
gives the boy a bowl, and pours the tea.
He keeps on pouring when the bowl is
full and the hot tea scalds the boy’s
fingers. ‘Master, what are you doing?’
‘This,’ says the Zen master, ‘is the first
lesson.’
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1. Definition and link disciplines
Educational
Studies
TEFL
Anglophone
Literary,
Cultural, and
Media Studies
1. Definition and link disciplines
Linguistics
5
1. Definition and link
disciplines
Individual cultivation, Bildung
1. Definition and link disciplines
 Personal growth: the cultivation of
language, values, aesthetic taste, and
judgment; coping with complexity and
uncertainty
 Reflection on and control of one’s emotions,
thoughts, and actions
 Relativization of the self, insight into one’s
limitations, being able to see the world
through others’ eyes, and valuing both self
and other
 Orientation: insight into the systematic and
historical relationships of social, cultural,
economic, and historical phenomena
 Action: emancipation, independence, and
responsibility
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1. Definition and link
disciplines
Goals and kinds of learning
1. Definition and link disciplines
 Cognitive learning aims at (1) knowledge
such as the acquisition, integration, and
recall of information and (2) skills of
reasoning such as analysis,
interpretation, and critical evaluation.
 Affective and ethical learning means a
change in feelings, attitudes, and
disposition, for example developing
empathy, self-confidence, and
responsibility.
 Acquiring psychomotor skills goes
beyond practical skills in the Arts or
Physical Education and comprises
attendance, participation, effort, etc.,
which contribute to efficient work habits.
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2. Language acquisition
and learning in
Psychology and Linguistics
Beliefs about learning a
language
2. Language acquisition and learning in Psychology and Linguistics
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2. Language acquisition
and learning in
Psychology and Linguistics
Beliefs about learning a
language
2. Language acquisition and learning in Psychology and Linguistics
9
2. Language acquisition and learning in Psychology and Linguistics
 Language acquisition (Spracherwerb): developing implicit knowledge in
a subconscious way vs. language learning: explicit and conscious
appropriation of language items and rules
 Difference between natural and instructional setting
adapted from Lightbown & Spada 2006: 110-12
2. Language acquisition and learning in Psychology and Linguistics
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2. Language acquisition
and learning in
Psychology and Linguistics
Approaches to language
acquisition
 The Empiricist (Behaviorist) Approach
 learning based on the experience and
imitation of the language used in the
learner’s environment
 The Nativist Approach
 a specific genetic or innate capacity
enables language acquisition
 Cognitive, Social, or Radical
Constructivist Approaches
 language learning a result of the
individual’s interaction with the world
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2.1 Behaviorism: feeding the parrot
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 Audiolingual Method (1950s-1960s)
2.1 Behaviorism:
feeding the parrot
 pattern drills effective for acquiring fluency, accuracy
 no explicit grammar teaching (detrimental to fluency)
 Empirical evidence
 very young children imitate frequent and basic
language patterns
Discussion
 however, they do not simply parrot input but select
what they imitate
 Contrastive Hypothesis:
 some errors caused by interference from L1 (to be
prevented by pattern drills in FL)
 false friends, different adverb positions in German and
English
 however, imitation or interference cannot fully explain
that learners with different native languages display
similar errors in the beginning of SLA
 Behaviorism over-estimates imitation
 disregards other factors: aptitude, insight, motivation,
comprehensive educational goals.
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2.2 Nativism: genes, genes, genes
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1. Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis
2.2 Nativism: genes,
genes, genes
 students unconsciously acquire a FL rather than consciously
learn it
2. Natural Order Hypothesis
 students learn features of L2 in the same order as in L1
 plural -s before third person -s
Krashen: five hypotheses on
language learning
 ‘no+verb’ (*‘I no like.’) in negation before
‘auxiliary+negation+verb’ (‘I don’t like.’)
3. Monitor Hypothesis
 explicit learning of rules does not contribute to acquisition
4. Comprehensible Input Hypothesis
 input needs to be comprehensible if somewhat challenging =
a little above the level of the learners
 learners need a silent period in order to process input
5. Affective Filter Hypothesis
 supportive, anxiety-free learning atmosphere and learner
motivation relevant for input to get through to the student
 negative affect clogs the filter of language input
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How would you teach English if you followed
Krashen’s hypotheses?
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2.2 Nativism: genes,
genes, genes
Discussion
Comprehensible input:
listening &
speaking
Learnerorientation
Learning vs.
acquisition
?
2. Language acquisition and learning in Psychology and Linguistics
Affect:
positive
atmosphere
Disregards
social &
pragmatic
functions
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2.3 Cognitivism: the mind as processor - Piaget
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2.3 Cognitivism: the
mind as processor
Piaget's concept:
development leads to a
growing formation,
differentiation, and
coordination of schemata that
allow for a more sophisticated
understanding of
phenomena.
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2.3 Cognitivism: the mind as processor - Tomasello
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2.3 Cognitivism: the
mind as processor
 Usage-events: utterances in context
 Frequent repetitions of perceived patterns
 strengthen neuronal associations
 lead to cumulative learning and appropriate usage
 LA2 moves from simple to complex forms
Usage-based language
acquisition according to
Tomasello and Pienemann &
Keßler
1. A simple ‘no’ is placed before the verb (*‘I no like rice.’)
2. ‘No’ may alternate with ‘don’t’ (*‘He no/don’t like
rice.’)
3. The negation follows the auxiliary verb (*‘He don’t like
rice.’)
4. ‘Do’ is marked for tense, person, and number (‘He
doesn’t like rice.’)
Processability Hierarchy
Teachability Hypothesis
Errors
 necessary part of SLA
 basic feature of the learner’s ever-developing
Interlanguage
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*‘He have the ball getaked and to Sarah
gethrowed.’
Identify and explain the errors in the utterance above,
and suggest ways of developing the Interlanguage.
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2.3 Cognitivism: the
mind as processor
Guided instruction
 Meaningful language input
 Increasingly complex tasks that stimulate
cognitive processing
 Metalinguistic / metacognitive reflection
 raising awareness of language and of learning
processes
 Focus on form stages
 explicit feedback, periods of guided
instruction
 noticing the gap between input and one’s
own production
 noticing the gap between one’s own speech
and declarative knowledge
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2.3 Cognitivism: the
mind as processor
Discussion
 Critics
 non-interface position
 knowing how to communicate is unrelated to
knowing rules
 implicit learning in the sense of highfrequency exposure is effective without the
need of explicit (meta-)cognitive learning
 Defenders
 implicit learning alone insufficient for
successful language learning
 alternating focus on meaning and focus on
form
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2.4 Constructivism: the creative mind
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2.4 Constructivism:
the creative mind
 Teachers cannot teach anybody anything
in the sense of handing down knowledge
 Rather offer authentic material, tasks,
and support
Learner is a self-referential,
autonomous system.
Learning means adapting
actions, concepts, and
language in order to make
them viable.
 individual perturbation and reflection
 novice: trial and error, aims at processing
data
 advanced learner: searches for strategies that
work, aims at interpretation
 But: too much complexity and
uncertainty may frustrate learners
 resistance rather than personal interest and
effort
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2.4 Constructivism:
the creative mind
1
Levels of learning
• Constructing individual models of
reality based on experience
2
• Reconstructing social models of reality
in interaction with others and in
relation to the learner’s own models
3
• Critically deconstructing social models
of reality in order to reconstruct more
comprehensive and complex concepts
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2.4 Constructivism:
the creative mind
Discussion
 Learner-centered, holistic, and
action-based methods
 Emphasis on
 autonomy, attention, discovery, learning by
doing, involvement, meaningful interaction,
negotiation, reflection
 raise awareness of language, learning, and
culture
 Who is responsible for learning and
achievement?
 teachers?
 students?
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2.4 Constructivism:
the creative mind
Discussion
Learning by
doing &
reflection
Learnercentered &
holistic
Viability
&
testing?
2. Language acquisition and learning in Psychology and Linguistics
Awareness of
language,
learning, &
culture
Autonomy
&
responsibility?
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How would a constructivist explain the process of
learning and teaching in the story of the boy and the
Zen master at the beginning of this presentation?
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2.5 Sociolinguistic, Sociocultural, and Interactionist Approaches: the social agent
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2.5 Sociolinguistic,
Sociocultural, and
Interactionist Approaches:
the social agent
Sociolinguistic Approaches
 Larger learning agenda of developing voice, agency,
empathy, and respect
 Connection between language, society, ideology, and
power
 teaching normative standards is ambivalent
 Teaching one standard language as a global tool of
empowerment neglects the values of different varieties
and different groups in a multicultural world.
 recognition and teaching of linguistic diversity
 mutual understanding of and mediating between various
groups
 class, ethnicity, gender
 In teaching
 listening comprehension exercises with recordings of
speakers from different social and ethnic backgrounds
 presenting social issues from different perspectives
 reading about intercultural encounters in literature
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2.5 Sociolinguistic,
Sociocultural, and
Interactionist Approaches:
the social agent
Sociocultural Approaches
 Gradual development of the learner from a dependent
infant to an autonomous social agent
 language emerges in social interaction between
caretakers and children
 thinking is internalized, dialogic speech
 motherese
 a simplified, highly repetitive language, at a slower pace
 teacherese
 scaffolding language and support according to learners’
needs
 involving children in personal interaction
 Zone of proximal development (Vygotsky)
 challenging learners a little above their current level
 solving problems with a teacher or a more advanced
peer
 co-constructing knowledge in collaboration with an
interlocutor
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2.5 Sociolinguistic,
Sociocultural, and
Interactionist Approaches:
the social agent
Interactionist Approaches
 Achieving mutual comprehension among
speakers of different language levels
 Interactionist Hypothesis (Long)
 in case of comprehension problems learners
and L2 speakers need to negotiate meaning:
 interlocutors need to express, comprehend,
and adjust utterances in order to offer and
receive comprehensible input
 gesture, checking comprehension,
paraphrasing, requesting clarification
 Producing comprehensible output (Swain)
 furthers language development
 learners have to focus on content and form in
order to be understood
 more advanced speakers give corrective
feedback
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3.1 Psycholinguistic basics
Instructivism
Teachers
 Control input and practice
 Model speaker / sage on the stage
 Role of authority
 passing on knowledge
 explicit explanations
 IRE: initiation
– response
– evaluation
2. Language acquisition and learning in Psychology and Linguistics
Constructivism
Teachers
 Address learners’ needs, differences
 Rich, varied, challenging input
 Facilitator / guide by the side
 individual learning processes
and interaction
 Negotiation of meaning and focus on
form when needed
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Which approach fits which classroom
situation depicted in the cartoon from
the beginning of the presentation?
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Recommended reading
Gass, Susan M. & Alison Mackey, eds. (2012). The Routledge Handbook
of Second Language Acquisition. London et al.: Routledge.
Hattie, John (2009 ). Visible Learning: A Synthesis of over 800 MetaAnalyses Relating to Achievement. London et al.: Routledge.
Lightbown, Patsy M. & Nina Spada (2006). How Languages Are
Learned. 3rd ed. Oxford et al.: Oxford University Press.
Roche, Jörg (2013). Fremdsprachenerwerb – Fremdsprachendidaktik.
3rd ed. Tuebingen et al.: Francke.
Chapter 3: TEFL as a transdisciplinary project
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Acknowledgments
The cartoons at the beginning of each ppt were designed by Frollein Motte, 2014. If not otherwise
indicated, the copyright of the figures lies with the authors. The complete titles of the sources can
be found in the references to the units unless given below. All of the websites were checked on 10
September 2014.
 Slide 10: Second language acquisition: natural vs. instructional setting, adapted from Lightbown &
Spada 2006, 110-12
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