Second Language Acquisition

Second Language Acquisition

1. BICS: Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills

   • CALP: Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency
     • Jim Cummins
     • Academic language that typically takes longer to gain fluency.
     • Classroom: once the conversational aspects are mastered, allow them to start doing the reading and writing assignments. Start asking them to defend their thinking and how they came to their conclusions. Have them start to participate in the classroom discussions.
   • Conversational language that students become initially fluent.
   • Classroom: Make students fluent in the basic conversational skills. Ask them yes/no questions. Emphasis spelling and phonics to begin with and then eventually build on this.

2. Universal Grammar

   • Stephen Krashen
   • The student's primary language plays an important role. Students can learn through visual and through the messages of comprehensible input.
     • Classroom: Instead of repeating words slowly and loudly to the students, give them a visual aide. We could do this by having illustrations throughout the classroom with the English word and the word the students is familiar with.

3. Behaviorism

   • B.F. Skinner
   • This indicates that students learn language, as well as other aspects of behavior, by habit.
   • Classroom: students need to practice before they become fluent. By being part of the classroom and the lessons, we can tech them the correct usage of the words and the correct context. Having students memorize certain vocabulary words won't help them become knowledgeable about the language. We need students to become acclimated to the language by being an active participant with the discussions in class.

4. Social Interation

   • S. Gass
   • Students use their conversational interactions to help them learn more about a second language.
     • Classroom: Instead of splitting up the ESL students and the English language speaking students, have them interact with each other. We could allow the ESL students practice their fluency once they become acclimated. They could lead a discussion in what he experienced before coming to the US. Maybe then we could incorporate other students to tell the differences or what they thought was interesting and have the ESL students feel like they are a part of the clssroom

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