TOPIC 2. THEORIES ABOUT FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING.
INTERLANGUAGE. THE TREATMENT OF ERRORS
1. JUSTIFICATION
2. INTRODUCTION
3. THEORIES ABOUT FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING AND
LEARNING.
4. INTERLANGUAGE
5. ERROR ANALYSIS
6. METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH
7. CONCLUSION
8. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL RESOURCES
CANALE, M. ,From Communicative Competence to Communicative Language Pedagogy.
ELLIS, R. The Study of SLA.
HALLIDAY AND HASAN, Language, Context and Text.
KRASHEN, S. Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning.
SKINNER
1950
CHOMSKY
VYGOTSKY
1960
1978
KRASHEN
1982
SELINKER
1974
CORDER
1980
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Order of appearance in the topic.
Before I start developing the topic itself, I would like to present how I will structure my
exposition: Firstly, I will set the topic within the suitable legal framework, secondly, I will develop the
topic from an epistemological approach, then I will develop the topic from a pedagogical
perspective, to show how it can be integrated in the English classroom, within the appropriate
curriculum. Finally, I will finish my exposition by offering a conclusion and a bibliography.
At a national level, this topic is set within the legal framework established by Royal Decree
2017/2022 of March the 29th (LOMLOE). At a local level, it is Decree XXX that establishes the
Curriculum of Secondary Education in Catalonia. My exposition is going to be carried out
considering the mentioned legal framework.
1. JUSTIFICATION
This topic in question is quite relevant when teaching secondary and
baccalaureate
students since objective 9 of the CSE curriculum (Decree XXX) and objective F of the
Baccalaureate curriculum (Decree XXX) state that at the end of the stage, students should
understand and express themselves appropriately in one or more foreing languages, in the case of
CSE, and fluently, in the case of Baccalaureate. That means to be able to communicate in a
language other than their mother tongue.
That is why, as teachers and guides we will need to be acquainted with different foreign
language learning approaches to provide our students with the tools and feedback they need to
enrich their learning processes. This way our students will set the foundations to improve their
communication skills in a foreign language.
2. INTRODUCTION
This topic will deal with an overall view of the theories of language and learning acquisition,
together with the concept of ‘interlanguage’ and the tackle of error analysis and correction. If we
are to analyse the language theories of the last century, we must have in mind a clear meaning of
some concepts, which are vital to understanding what we are going to explain.
Firstly, it is very important to draw a difference between LEARNING and ACQUIRING a
language. According to Krashen and Terrel (1983), LEARNING is a process that people go
through consciously, whereas ACQUIRING refers to an unconscious process of getting to know the
language, a natural assimilation of the rules through the process of communication. Learning does
not always lead to acquisition. By developing this topic, we will discover why this might be true.
3. THEORIES OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND LANGUAGE LEARNING
In terms of learning a second foreign language, there are three MAIN linguistic trends
that explain how learning occurs and they are the following:
A) BEHAVIOURISM
B) COGNITIVISM
C) CONSTRUCTIVISM
BEHAVIOURISM (1950s) was introduced by Frederic Skinner, In his Verbal Behaviour.
1957. He was concerned with stimulus-response theories. Learning was based on a set of
mechanical habits which are formed through a process of imitation and repetition. Behaviourists
did not study introspection but only what they see. They considered behaviour to be the only way to
get reliable data about the learning process.
Differently, COGNITIVISM (1960s) claimed that learning a language could not only be based
on habit formation. Learners' production is not strictly conditioned by the input they receive;
imagination, creativity and individuality play an important role in language acquisition.
Thus, the learner plays an active role in their learning process. Noam Chomsky
introduced the notion of Universal Grammar, which was an innate mechanism produced by the
Language Acquisition Device (LAD), all human beings are endowed with when they are born.
Chomsky concluded that children are born with a specific innate ability to discover the rules of a
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language system by themselves.
However, Chomsky also claimed that there was a critical period (7-8 years old) beyond
which our ability to learn a language is significantly impaired, most people exhibit a decreasing
ability to learn a second language from the early teens onwards. Most of the concepts that will be
mentioned in this topic found its basis on this idea.
CONSTRUCTIVISM (1970s) was based on Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories. It was a
reaction to Cognitivism and Behaviourism. Constructivist theories explain how children
reconstruct the system of their target language(s) given their emergent social-cognitive
abilities, and their growing experience with the ambient language usage. Therefore, every
individual constructs their own perspective of the world depending on individual experience
and cultural background, which means this is relative and cannot be taken for granted.
Derived from the constructivist-humanist approach, Krashen distinguished between
acquisition (unconscious process) and learning (conscious process) and introduced his 5
HYPOTHESES on foreign language acquisition.
1. Acquisition-learning hypothesis: in which he depicted the difference between learning
(conscious process) and acquisition (unconscious process).
2. Monitor Hypothesis: states that conscious learning monitors the process, controlling and
correcting the linguistic production of the learnt system.
3. Natural Order Hypothesis: establishes that grammatical structures are acquired in a
predictable order. Learners commit similar errors during the acquisition process.
4. Input Hypothesis: it holds that information is better understood when it is close to the
learner’s level, but the best conditions are given when the information is a bit over the
current knowledge. (Vigotky’s ZPD+1)
5. Affective Filter Hypothesis: variables such as attitude, motivation, anxiety, and
self-confidence may facilitate or hamper the learning process. Absence of motivation or poor
self-esteem may block the process of integration of new information.
Having already tackled the general background of theories about language acquisition, I
might start building the basis to understanding our students' learning process and maybe to
develop the strategies or methodologies that might fram their needs. Thus, it is now crucial to
introduce Selinker’s revealing concept of “Interlanguage”.
4. INTERLANGUAGE
Interlanguage is a term coined by Larry Selinker in the 70’s to refer to the language
system created by someone who is in the process of learning a foreign language.
Interlanguage is neither the system of the L1 (mother tongue) nor the system of the L2 (target
language) and varies according to the learner’s evolving system of language rules.
Selinker’s article “Interlanguage'' (1972) identified five central processes that exist in a
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latent psychological structure for second language learning. These processes are
responsible for the development of interlanguage systems:
1.
language transfer e.g “Is raining” instead of “it is raining”.
2.
overgeneralization e.g drinked or goed instead of drank or went.
3. Transfer of training takes place when the learner applies rules learned from instructors or
textbooks and some errors result. eg inversion in questions. ‘asked me where do I live ‘
instead of ‘He asked me where I lived.’
4. Strategies of communication to resolve communication problems e.g giving a description
instead of the exact word. E)
5. Strategies of learning are used to master the language. e.g mnemonics to remember
vocabulary or flashcards, they could result in error. All these five psycholinguistic processes
could affect the construction of interlanguages.
Together with the term ‘Interlanguage’ Selinker coined the concept of ‘fossilisation’.
Fossilization refers to those incorrect linguistic features which have become a permanent part of a
learner’s production. (i.e. features that identify a foreign accent). Therefore, Fossilization is the
process of deviation from native speakers’ proficiency.
Supporting the Interlanguage existence, a large number of studies have shown that
children actually do construct their own rule system and that they go through similar stages
in acquiring grammatical rules, from the data they encounter and that they gradually adapt these
rules in the direction of the target language.
Therefore, errors need not be seen as evidence of the learner‘s developing system. In
language learning, learner’s errors are caused by several different processes such as:
1) borrowing patterns from the mother tongue
2) extending patterns from the target language;
3) expressing meanings using the words and grammar which are already known.
Unlike behaviourists views, which consider error as a sign of non-learning, but the contrary.
Selinker’s theory considered that errors were no longer a sign of faulty production, but a
source of progress and processing.
Error analysis then became a way of investigating the processes underlying the learner’s
production, thus errors were treated as evidence of the active contribution of the learner to
acquisition. Let us see, then what error analysis consists of.
5. ERROR ANALYSIS
In SLA theories, errors are signals of progression. Corder (1981) introduced the concept
of error analysis in the 80’s. Corder introduced the difference between mistakes (punctual, do not
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affect communication, due to lack of attention, anxiety, motivation) and errors (systematic, affect
communication, due to lack of competence). Error impedes communication by grammatical error or
inappropriateness to the context.
5.1. CONCEPT OF ERROR
Updating Corder’s theory, errors have been classified by J. Richard et al. (2002) into two
categories. The Interlingual Error and the Intralingual Error, those two elements refer respectively
to the negative influence of both the speaker's native language, and the target language itself.
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Interlingual error is caused by the interference of the native language L1 whereby the
learner tends to use their linguistic knowledge of L1 on some Linguistic features in the target
language, however, it often leads to making errors. (She them see= ella les veu)
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Intralingual error is an error that takes place due to a particular misuse of a particular rule
of the target language, it puts the target language into focus. Intralingual errors can be of
the following types:
1. Overgeneralizations: in linguistics, overgeneralizations error occur when the speaker
applies a grammatical rule in cases where it doesn’t apply. E.g. (Tooth == Tooths rather than
teeth) and (he goes == he goed rather than went).
2. Simplifications: they result from learners producing simpler linguistic forms than those
found in the target language, in other words, learners attempt to be linguistically creative
and produce their own poetic sentences/utterances. This kind of error is committed through
both omission and addition of some linguistic elements at the level of either the spelling or
grammar. (i.e. no (= know) * dout (= doubt) * weit (weight)/ We wait ^ the bus all the time.
3. Developmental errors: this kind of errors is somehow part of the overgeneralizations, (this
later is subtitled into Natural and developmental learning stage errors), D.E are results of
normal pattern of development, such as (come = comed) and (break = breaked),
4. Induced errors: as known as transfer of training, errors caused by misleading teaching
examples, teachers, sometimes, unconditionally, explain a rule without highlighting the
exceptions or the intended message they would want to convey. i.e. ‘’ the cat is at the table ‘’
instead of the cat is under the table.
5. Errors of avoidance: these errors occur when the learner fails to apply certain target
language rules just because they are thought of to be too difficult.
6. Errors of overproduction: in the early stages of language learning, learners are supposed
to have not yet acquired and accumulated a satisfied linguistic knowledge which can enable
them to use the finite rules of the target language in order to produce infinite structures,
most of the time, beginners overproduce, in such a way, they frequently repeat a particular
structure.
Error analysis has also identified the stages to analyse error production, which are identifying:
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finding the error (kind of error),
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finding the sources of error (why did it happen?);
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deciding how serious the error is (what should be the priorities for remedial work?
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correcting the error (what to do to correct the error in the classroom/learner?)
5.2. TREATMENT OF ERRORS
Teachers should use a polite correction, not to frighten the student. Following Tedick and
Golari (1998), the process of correction should follow the following rules (known as ERCER
corrective feedback):
1. Explicit correction. Clearly indicating that the student's utterance was incorrect,
the teacher provides the correct form.
2. Recast. Without directly indicating that the student's utterance was incorrect, the
teacher implicitly reformulates the student's error, or provides the correction.
3. Clarification request. By using phrases like "Excuse me?" or "I don't understand," the
teacher indicates that the message has not been understood or that the student's
utterance contained some kind of mistake and that a repetition or a reformulation is
required.
4. Elicitation. The teacher directly elicits the correct form from the student by
asking questions (e.g., "How do we say that in French?"), by pausing to allow the
student to complete the teacher's utterance (e.g., "It's a. ") or by asking students
to reformulate the utterance (e.g., "Say that again."). Elicitation questions differ
from questions that are defined as metalinguistic clues in that they require more
than a yes/no response.
5. Repetition. The teacher repeats the student's error and adjusts intonation to
draw the student's attention to it.
Some other ways of letting students overcome the error properly can be avoiding red for
correction; using a correction code, so students can understand error nature and correct their own
Teachers must also distinguish between class stages to focus on either accuracy or
fluency in every case. During the stages of presentation, controlled practice or feedback on form,
the importance is on accuracy, whereas during free practice and feedback on content, the focus is
on fluency. Therefore, the error correction formulae might vary.
ASSESSMENT AS LEARNING AND ERROR TREATMENT
Following CEFR criteria, assessment as learning can be applied as a tool to prevent
errors, as it fosters metaknowledge, meaning that learners are aware of their learning process
throughout all the learning stages of the teaching session.
Therefore, in the introductory phase, the teacher provides them with tools to check
previous knowledge (eliciting questions, quizzes) and presents the why and how of the session.
During the input and controlled practice stage, the teacher uses questioning as feedback and
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facilitates checking lists, assessment grids or mind maps that will guide the students’
comprehension and performance. Finally, during the reflection phase, students can get hold of
grids, checking lists or quizzes as well as self-assessment and co-assessment grids or peer
assessment activities, to check on their performances and learn from individual and collective
errors. Thus the understanding of the nature of error is guaranteed throughout all the stages.
All this forms part of the learning to learn competence, establishing the error as an
essential part of the learning process and transforming it from a former negative concept to
a renewed and necessary (positive) tool. Now that the error conception has been turned into a
positive feature, as it is considered a learning tool, learners should no longer be afraid of errors or
mistakes, as "If I err, it is just because I am learning".
6. METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH
Throughout the following lines, I will give account of the applicability of this topic by setting
some classroom examples. Before doing so, though, I want to highlight that according to Hymes,
communicative approaches are the current basis of the teaching of foreign languages (FL). They
aim to develop communication competence (Hymes, 1966).
In that regard, FL Learners need to be given opportunities to take part in meaningful
interactions in a given context, with a clear purpose and, as much as possible, integrating the 4
language skills: listening (SC2), reading (SC4, speaking (SC3) and writing (SC5).
This example could be applied in any ESL classroom ranging from lower to higher
levels by adding more complex grammar content when necessary. It consists of a
communicative activity on the use of the past simple (was/were + verb +-ing). Students are
presented with the following situation (We project an image of a city map, so the buildings are
identified and a pet shop is placed among them)
The situation is this: the pet shop has been burgled and the police are looking for the
culprit and witnesses of the crime, of course. The whole class becomes suspects and they must
think of a convincing alibi (they must draw cinema/supermarket tickets, etc.).
As a warm-up activity, first it will be the teacher who will play the role of a police detective
and will randomly ask students the following: “what were you doing yesterday at 4 pm?” The
students must show their tickets/proof of actually being doing something else or just being
somewhere far from the pet shop “(I was shopping at the mall. Here’s my ticket”) After that, they
repeat the activity in pairs. first, one of them being the detective and then, being the suspect.
The activity covers Specific Competences SC2 (Listening comprehension) and SC3
(Speaking production), as well as activates SC9 (metaknowledge) since at the same time
students must focus on the good use of the language form (past continuous).
As they work in pairs, students make use of their CC5, Cross-curricular personal and
social competency, and have the chance to learn from and with others. If we asked students to
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film themselves while doing the activity, they will be making use of one of their Cross-curricular
competencies (CC4 - Digital Competency)
The activity could form part of the study of a literary work, inside a bigger project, where
detective novels are studied in the Spanish, Catalan and English class at the same time,
where the final product could be the writing of a short detective/mystery story.
In this case, the stories could be even built in groups and presented in the classroom.
(collaboratively through google docs and google slides, promoting the use of IT and again activating
CC4 (digital), CC5 (personal and social) and the related Specific ESL competencies)
The collaboration within other subject areas would allow students to frame a bigger picture
regarding the mentioned types of texts, their examples (i.e., Poe’s Black Cat story) and their
characteristics and making procedures. It would activate their SC9 again, but also SC7 (Literary
competency) and SC4 (Written comprehension) and finally SC5 (Written production).
We must not forget that as teachers, we must provide students with valid assessment
methods, such as oral feedback and formative assessment tools integrated in the classroom
(grids, checklists, correction codes, quizzes, etc.) and be sure that students understand procedures
and are fully aware of the assessment criteria applied to each of the tasks or activities covered in
class.
What is more, as pedagog Francesco Tonucci one said, “We are teaching students for
real life, so it is important to bring real situations and motivating topics to the classroom, taking into
account their interests and the context in which the lesson is performed.”
Therefore, by bringing real-life situations and by applying different methodologies, tools and
strategies into the classroom, we can scope our students’ different learning styles and
intelligences (Gardner) as well as enhance our students' language learning experience and
turn it into a holistic one within the curricular framework.
What is more, setting high
expectations, differentiation, and motivation will surely help learners deepen their English
language skills.
To finish with my description of the topic, I will provide a reflection on the topic in the form of
a conclusion.
7. CONCLUSION
Throughout this unit, we have seen the theories about foreign teaching and learning;
inter-language; and the treatment of errors.
It is sometimes necessary to focus on fluency and provide students with genuine
interactions in order to increase their learning of the foreign language.
Students need to have more than grammatical competence in order to be able to
communicate effectively in a language
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As the aim is for students to acquire communicative competence (Hymes, 1972), they
should be provided with strategies and techniques to overcome their communicative problems in
an attempt to make communication as real as possible in both formal and informal settings.
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