Unit 1  Language and Learning
1. Language:” Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.”

5. The language learning theory underlying an approach or method usually answers two questions:
1) What are the psycholinguistic and cognitive processes involved in language learning?
2) What are the conditions that need to be met in order for these learning processes to be activated?
6.1) Process-oriented theories are concerned with how the mind processes new information, such as habit formation, induction, making inference, hypothesis testing and generalization.
2) Condition-oriented theories emphasize the nature of the human and physical context in which language learning takes place, such as the number of students, what kind of input learners receive, and the learning atmosphere.
2. Three views of language
Structural view: language as a linguistic system
The functional view: discoursea linguistic system but also as a means for doing things.
The interactional view:a communicative tool
3. Four Language Learning Theories
1Behaviorist theory
A stimulus-response theory of psychology
Audio-lingual method
Cognitive theory
Language as an intricate rule-based system
Language competence (knowledge of language system)
Constructivist theory
The learner constructs meaning based on his/her own experiences and what is already known.
Socio-constructivist theory
“Zone of Proximal Development” (ZPD); scaffolding
Emphasizing interaction and engagement with TL in a social context
4. What makes a good language teacher
professional competence
Ethic devotion: warm-hearted, caring, enthusiastic, hardworking, well-prepared
Professional qualities: resourceful, well-informed, professionally-trained, authoritative, disciplined, accurate, creative
Personal styles: patient, attentive, flexible, humorous, dynamic, intuitive
5. How can one become a good language teacher
Wallace’s (1991) ‘reflective model
Stage 1: language development
Stage 2: learning, practice, reflection
Goal: professional competence
Unit 2 Communicative Principles and Activities
1. The ultimate goal of foreign language teaching is to enable the students to use the fo
reign language in work or life when necessary.
1. The goal of CLT is to develop students’ communicative competence.
2. What is communicative compentence?
3. Try to list some of its components and their implication to teaching.
Communicative compentence refers to both the knowledge about the language and the knowledge about how to use the language appropriately in communicative situations. According to Hedge, it includes five components.
Linguistic competence --- knowledge of the language itself, its form and meaning
Pragmatic competence --- the appropriate use of language in social context
Discourse competence --- one’s ability to create coherent written text or conversation and the ability to understand them (ability to express or to understand a topic logically and coherently by effectively employing or comprehending the cohesive markers used in the dis
course /ability to initiate, develop, enter, interrupt, check, or confirm in a conversation)
Strategic competence --- strategies one employs when there is communication breakdown due to lack of resources
Fluency---- one’s ability to ‘link units of speech together with facility and without strain or inappropriate slowness or undue hesitation
4.Implications for teaching and learning:
Linguistic competence
  Teachers need to help learners
----achieve accuracy in the grammatical forms of the language;
----pronounce the forms accurately;
----use stress, rhythm, and intonation to express meaning;
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---build a range of vocabulary;
----learn the script and spelling rules;
----achieve accuracy in syntax and word formation.
Pragmatic competence
  Teachers need to help learners
---learn the relationship between grammatical forms and functions;
---use stress and intonation to express attitude and emotion;
---learn the scale of formality;
---understand and use emotive tone;
---use the grammatical rules of language;
---select language forms appropriate to topic, listener, or setting, etc.
Discourse competence
Teachers need to help learners
----take longer turns, use discourse markers and open and close conversations;

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