Second edition

l.i learning
f.2 learning (in the classroom}
Context and ways of learning	s By exposure to and picking up language, hearing the language around him/her all the time, e By learning a lot of language in chunks.	& Sometimes through exposure but often by being taught specific language items. * Often by focusing on structures and individual words.
	By wanting and needing to communicate, i.e. with strong motivation. Through interaction with family.	With strong, little or no motivation to communicate. Through interaction with a teacher and sometimes with classmates.
	® By talking about things present in their surroundings, and by doing things. s By listening to and taking in language for many months before using it (silent period). « By playing and experimenting with new language.	Often by talking about life outside the classroom. з Often by needing to produce language soon after it has been taught. Often by using language in controlled practice activities and being corrected. Sometimes by playing and experimenting with new language.
	e By having lots of opportunities to experiment with language.	® The learner is not exposed to the L2 very much - often no more than about three hours per week.
	a By getting lots of praise and encouragement for using the language.	s Teachers vary in the amount of praise or encouragement they give learners. » The learner may receive little individual attention from the teacher, and not interact much.
	* By hearing simplified speech.	* Teachers usually simplify the language they use.
	* By rarely being corrected. Instead people often reformulate what the child has said.	з Teachers often correct learners. Learners are often asked to produce correct language. They may or may not be given opportunities to make mistakes and experiment.

It is not always easy to describe L2 learning in the classroom because it happens in different ways in different classrooms. The description in the table above may not be true of alf classrooms.
L2 learning sometimes takes place outside the classroom when children or adults pick up language. In this situation, L2 learning is more similar to LI learning, except that the learner often does not get as much exposure to the language as the LI learner, and may not be so motivated to learn.
Another big difference between LI and L2 learning is that LI learning is nearly always fully successful, while L2 learning varies a lot in how successful it is.


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Unit 12 Differences between Li and L2 learning

и Key„concepts and the language teaching classroom
Read these tips and tick the ones which are most important for you.
9 How we teach learners language will depend a lot on what age they are. The younger they are the more they benefit from learning language in the same ways as LI learners learn, i.e. through exposure, interaction and learning through doing. Older learners with more developed cognitive abilities are able to and can sometimes benefit from also focusing on the form of language in a more abstract {less specific, not concrete) or general way.
@ Motivation is necessary for successful language learning, but learners may not he very motivated, so teachers can make use of strategies to motivate their students.
@ Learners are different from one another (in learning style, age, personality, etc.). Some may like to analyse language, for example; some may hate doing that. Some may love to take risks and communicate, others may prefer not to make mistakes, ft is useful for teachers to find out about their learners' learning styles, learning needs and expectations, and match their teaching to them. Teachers can do this by varying their teaching style, approaches, materials, topics, method of correction, etc.
© Some learners may find a silent period useful, but some learners, especially adults, may not, as they expect; to use the language straight away.
© Exposure to language is important for learning. We can encourage learners to use English as much as possible in their out-of-class time. They could, for example, listen to radio programmes or songs, read books or magazines, use websites, download podcasts, make English-speaking friends, talk to tourists, write emails to English-speaking penfriends, etc.
© Interaction is a way of learning. Pair and group work or class presentations are a way of encouraging interaction.
© We can try to simplify our language to a level that: learners can learn from, and avoid correcting them too much. They need to build up their fluency, motivation and confidence, and have opportunities to pick up language and experiment with It.
© In the classroom, praising learners can be very motivating. Younger learners, especially, respond welt to praise. We can also try to give learners as much individual attention as possible and interact with them on a small group or individual level.
Sec Units 9, ц and Ц for factors affecting 1.2 learning, and Unit 18 for approaches to language teaching.





1 Look: at these two pictures. What differences that influence language learning can you imagine between the two language learning situations? Think of at least five.





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Module i

2. 
   Here are three learners. Look at the list below. Which ways do you think would
   

help them learn English





Miriam is 7. She has just started learning English at school for 3 hours a week. She is from Tunisia.





Santiago is 13. He is in his second year of English at secondary school in Argentina. He doesn't like learning English. He finds it boring and irrelevant to him.





Bao is 33 and is from Vietnam, He learnt English at secondary school hut has not studied it since. He needs to learn to speak English for his new job as a hotel manager.


A Watching DVDs, playing games in English, miming English songs В Using English to play games in the classroom C Doing lots of extra homework D Using websites to chat online E Studying grammar books F Dоing 1 ots of commtinicative activities G Learning through interesting topics И Chatting to foreign tourists





Think about these teachers' comments. Which do you agree with and why?

1. 
   My learners get exposure to English when they listen to me. That: should be enough for them.
   
2. 
   Grammar is a quicker way of learning than exposure. It works well with older learners.
   
3. 
   When you just expose your learners to English, you have no idea if they're learning or not.
   

f Look at a unit in your coursebook. Find some activities which encourage interaction, exposure to language, focus on form or motivation.

2. 
   Look at these websites Cm’ articles on differences between LI and L2 learning or how to teach different age groups: http://www.eltforum.com
   

the 'methodology archive' in http://www.onestopenglish.com http://www.teaehingengiish.org.uk/


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Unit 12 Differences between Li and 12 learning

-3 Watch a young child you know who is learning their hrst language. Make notes in your Teacher Portfolio on the similarities and differences between how they learn their LI and how your students learn L2. Can you learn anything useful for your teaching from this?

4. 
   Do you know the meaning of these terms: linguistic, proficiency? Check their meaning in the TKT Glossaiy.
   
5. 
   Look at 'English teachers and their English' at: hi tp://wwvv. Cambridge, org./elt/tkt
   

TKT practice task 12 (See page 245 for answers)
For questions 1-5, choose the best option (A, В or C) to complete each statement about L1 or L2 learning. ¹


1 L1 learners’ friends and family
A often correct the learners’ mistakes.
В often reformulate the learners’ mistakes.
C often discuss the learners’ mistakes with them.

2. 
   L1 learners’ motivation to learn their first language
   

A is part of their wish to communicate.
В varies according to their personalities.
C comes from their wish to learn school subjects.

2. 
   L1 learners’ long silent period helps them
   

A avoid making mistakes.
В produce complex grammatical structures.
C become familiar with language patterns.

2. 
   Some L2 learners prefer formal language learning to acquisition because A they have an analytical learning style.
   

В they like taking risks.
C they learn well autonomously.

2. 
   L2 learners’ errors
   

A are always very similar to those made by L1 learners.
В can sometimes fossilise.
C need to be corrected immediately.


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visual	the learner learns best through watching and looking
auditory	the learner learns best through listening and hearing
kinaesthetic	the learner learns best through being physical, while moving or touching things
group	the learner learns best through working with others
individual	the learner learns best through working alone
reflective	the learner learns best when given time to consider choices
impulsive	the learner learns best when able to respond immediately
analytic	the learner learns best when given the opportunity to analyse things
autonomous	the learner likes to decide what he/she learns and how to learn

You can see from these descriptions how learners with different learning styles learn in different ways, and need to be taught in different ways. We must remember, though, that learners may not fall exactly into any one category of learning style as they may have several styles. It's also true that different cultures may use some learning styles more than others and that learners may change or develop their learning styles.