SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING v Contexts for Language Learning

SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING

v Contexts for Language Learning A) A young child learning a first language B) A child learning a second language in day care or on the playground C) Adolescents taking a foreign language class in their own country D) An adult immigrant with limited or disrupted education working in a second language environment and having no opportunity to go to language classes.

1. Do they already know at least one language? 2. Are they cognitively mature? Are they able to engage in problem solving, deduction, and complex memory tasks? 3. How well developed is their metalinguistics awareness? Can the define a word, say what sounds make up that word, or state a rule such as ‘add an –s to form the plural’?

4. How extensive is their general knowledge of the world? Can they guess what a second language speaker is saying? 5. Are they likely to be anxious about making mistakes and concerned about sounding “silly” when speaking the language? 6. Does the learning environment allow them to be silent in the early staged of learning, or they expected to speak from the beginning?

7. Do they have plenty of time available for language learning, plenty of contact with proficient speakers of the language? 8. Do they frequently receive corrective feedback when they make errors in grammar or pronunciation, or do listeners usually overlook these errors and pay attention to the meaning? 9. Do they receive corrective feedback when their meaning is not clear, when they use the wrong word, or when they say something inappropriate or impolite?

10. Is modified input available? Do the other speaker adapt their speech so that learners can understand?

v. How Languages are learned, Patsy M. Lightbown and Nina Spada, Oxford handbook for language teacher. Third edition. (2006)