| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

Important Issues in Foreing Language Learning

Page history last edited by Daniel 12 years, 9 months ago

 

SUMMARY ABOUT MY ISSUE ''HOW CHILDREN THINK AND LEARN'': Daniel Álvarez

 

How Do Children Learn a Second Language?

In general, there are two ways in which children may learn a second language: simultaneously or sequentially (McLaughlin et al., 1995; Tabors, 2008).

 

Simultaneous Second Language Learning

Simultaneous learners include children under the age of 3 who are exposed to two languages at the same time. These children may include those who are exposed to one language by parents at home and another language by providers in their early childhood program. Simultaneous learners are also young children whose parents each speak separate languages to them at home (e.g., mother speaks Spanish to child, father speaks Chinese to child).   

 

Before 6 months of age, simultaneous learners learn both languages at similar rates and do not prefer one language over the other. This is because they build separate but equally strong language systems in their brains for each of the languages they hear. These separate systems allow children to learn more than one language without becoming confused. In fact, the pathways infants develop in their brains for each of the languages they hear are similar to the single pathway developed by children who are only exposed to English.

 

At 6 months, children begin to notice differences between languages and may begin to prefer the language they hear more. This means that parents must be careful to provide similar amounts of exposure to both languages; otherwise, children may begin to drop vocabulary of the language to which they are less exposed (Espinosa, 2008; Kuhl, 2004; Kuhl et al., 2006; Tabors, 2008).  

 

http://www.education.com/reference/article/how-children-learn-second-language/

 

SUMMARY ABOUT MY ISSUE ''HOW CHILDREN THINK AND LEARN'':

 

How Do Children Learn a Second Language?

In general, there are two ways in which children may learn a second language: simultaneously or sequentially (McLaughlin et al., 1995; Tabors, 2008).

 

Simultaneous Second Language Learning

Simultaneous learners include children under the age of 3 who are exposed to two languages at the same time. These children may include those who are exposed to one language by parents at home and another language by providers in their early childhood program. Simultaneous learners are also young children whose parents each speak separate languages to them at home (e.g., mother speaks Spanish to child, father speaks Chinese to child).   

 

Before 6 months of age, simultaneous learners learn both languages at similar rates and do not prefer one language over the other. This is because they build separate but equally strong language systems in their brains for each of the languages they hear. These separate systems allow children to learn more than one language without becoming confused. In fact, the pathways infants develop in their brains for each of the languages they hear are similar to the single pathway developed by children who are only exposed to English.

 

At 6 months, children begin to notice differences between languages and may begin to prefer the language they hear more. This means that parents must be careful to provide similar amounts of exposure to both languages; otherwise, children may begin to drop vocabulary of the language to which they are less exposed (Espinosa, 2008; Kuhl, 2004; Kuhl et al., 2006; Tabors, 2008).  

 

http://www.education.com/reference/article/how-children-learn-second-language/

 

BRUNER AND SCAFFOLDING 

Bruner describes scaffolding as a temporary support structure parents build around a child's quest to learn and comprehend new information. They often provide this type of assistance in day-to-day play interactions. Teachers commonly use instructional scaffolding with students of all ages.

 

Reference: http://esl.fis.edu/teachers/fis/scaffold/page1.htm

 

 

 

MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES THEORY (by Inés)

 

 

Developed by Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner in 1983 and subsequently refined, this theory states there are at least seven ways (“intelligences”) that people understand and perceive the world. These intelligences may not be exhaustive. Gardner lists the following:

 

  • Linguistic. The ability to use spoken or written words.
  • Logical-Mathematical. Inductive and deductive thinking and reasoning abilities, logic, as well as the use of numbers and abstract pattern recognition.
  • Visual-Spatial. The ability to mentally visualize objects and spatial dimensions.
  • Body-Kinesthetic. The wisdom of the body and the ability to control physical motion
  • Musical-Rhythmic. The ability to master music as well as rhythms, tones and beats.
  • Interpersonal. The ability to communicate effectively with other people and to be able to develop relationships.
  • Intrapersonal. The ability to understand one’s own emotions, motivations, inner states of being, and self-reflection.

 

Implications for Classrooms

 

The verbal-linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligences are the ones most frequently used in traditional school curricula. A more balanced curriculum that incorporates the arts, self-awareness, communication, and physical education may be useful in order to leverage the intelligences that some students may have.

 

 

Information taking from:

 

http://www.learning-theories.com/gardners-multiple-intelligences-theory.html 

 

 

 

VYGOTSKY 

 

Vygotsky's theory is based mainly on the socio-cultural learning of every individual and therefore in the context in which it develops.
 
Vygotsky considered learning as one of the fundamental mechanisms of development.
In his opinion, the best teaching is that forward to development.
In the learning model that provides the context is central. Social interaction becomes the engine of development.
Vygotsky introduced the concept of 'zone of proximal development' which is the distance between the actual developmental level and the level of potential development.
To determine this concept is to have two aspects: the importance of social context and the capacity for imitation.
Learning and development are two processes interact. Learning occurs more easily in group situations. The interaction with parents facilitates learning.

 

 

 

 

ACQUISITION OF LANGUAGE: A LITTLE EXPLANATION (MARÍA PÉREZ RUIZ)

 

There are four currents about the acquisition of language

1. Behaviorist view

     It explains that the children learn by imitation and repetition. The child looks the mouth, the tongue... of the adult to imitate. So, it´s very important the positive reinforcement and the praise.

 

2. Nativist view

     It explains that the child has all the features for acquisiting the language in his mind. These psycologists think that the motivation, the time, the age, the environment... aren´t important because the child has all the tools for starting to speak.

 

3. Cognitive Developmental view

     This theory says that the child needs the environment for learning. Furthermore, the devolpment and the age are essential for the acquisition of language.

 

4.  Social-Interactionist view

     This psycologist school exposes that the most important thing for the acquisition of language are the social interactions and the role of adult. If the adult helps the child, he will learn before that if the adult doesn´t pay attention.

     So, the people who are near the child are very influenced in his development.

 

 

Age and Second Language Learning

Children can learn a second language  much better than adults because there are a theory which believes in the children´s brain is more plastic. This theory is called  the Critical Period Hypothesis

 

The Influence of the First Language on the Second

 

Competition Model of Linguistic Performance speaks to us principally about that meaning is organises in a diferent way each language, for example:The word order in English is strict, which can´t be broken, but in latin languages admit changes.

 

On the other hand when we study another language we do not do it of the same way, because when we are children, we try to  pay attention to particular clues for see  useful information and when we grew up we use some strategies of our first language with the purpose to try to understand the second language. 

 

By: Sara Canal Díaz 

 

HOW TO CHILDREN THINK AND LEARN: Learning-centred Approach (Flavio Pérez)

 

The children centred in the learning (learning-centred): When the children learn is important three aspects:

 

1.- Interest and needs of the children.

2.- The importance to maximice the learning.

3.- We are informed about the physical, emotional, conceptual and educational children,s characteristics.

 

On the oter hand, is important to differentiate between the learning in the adults (focused on work and communication objetives) and the learning in childrens (focused on cultural learning and training, and emotions and needs of children).

 

The children needs a natural process to learn, base in this aspects:

 

1.- The young children: To develop the numeracy and literacy.

2.- In the pubrety: The learn to master complex grammatical expressions.

3.- With six years: The capability to develop symbolic thought.

 

Finally, is important for children that simulates experiences abuot learning and have opportunities to choose on actions, investigate, explore...

 

Comments (0)

You don't have permission to comment on this page.