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POPULAR IDEAS ABOUT LANGUAGE LEARNING REVISITED

1. Languages are learned mainly through imitation.

It is accepted that imitation has an important role in language learning; however we know that children can not learn languages mainly by imitating. Instead of that, they select certain words or structures which they will imitate. Also, they can create many sentences that they could not have heard before. For example, they can produce such a sentence: ‘I putted the plates on the table’. However, they can not hear this sentence in the classroom, so this example shows us that they comprehend the past form and overgeneralize it. That is to say, imitation can not explain some of the words which are created by children. Therefore, I don’t agree with this statement. I think imitation can be a good individual strategy for language learning. Especially pronunciation and intonation skills can be developed with careful listening and imitation at intermediate levels.

2. Parents usually correct young children when they make grammatical errors.

I think this statement is invalid for our country, because English is a foreign language in our country and I guess that many of the parents have too little information in not only grammar but also pronunciation and vocabulary of English. Therefore, they can not give corrective feedback to their students when they make any kind of mistakes. They only try to help their children while they are doing their homework, so this statement is not meaningful to me when we think about the educational backgrounds of families in our country.

3. Highly intelligent people are good language learners.

I know that intelligence is measured by IQ test and learners with high IQ tend to learn grammar rules and vocabulary items well. However, learning a language does not mean to know only grammar and vocabulary. Interactive language use is also essential in language learning. What I mean is that being intelligent is only one part of language learning. Actually, learners with a wide variety of intellectual abilities can be good learners for me, so I do not agree with this statement completely. In order to have good language learners, I think that as a teacher in the future I should create meaningful interaction in which learners use the language.

4. The best predictor of success in second language acquisition is motivation.

Of course, motivation has an undeniable role in language learning. However, we can not say that motivation is the best predictor of success. There are some other factors which affect the success such as learners’ ages, levels, backgrounds, attitudes toward the target languages and type of instruction. At this point, I know that I should contribute to students’ motivation to learn. I should create a supportive classroom environment for them, because motivation created by teachers in the classroom has a positive effect on successful language learning. By preparing enjoyful activities, I can make them engage in activities. This increases their motivation to learn and then it leads to success.

5. The earlier a second language is introduced in school programmes, the greater the likelihood of success in learning.

When I think about this statement in terms of pronunciation, I agree with this statement. However, I think that learners’ age is important issue. For example, in our country English language teaching begins in the fourth grade and I am not sure whether this age is appropriate for learning a language. Because I think that students should be enough mature to learn another language. From this point of view, I don’t agree with this statement. Briefly, I want to state that early start to language learning does not always mean greater success in learning.

6. Most of the mistakes that second language learners make are due to interference from their first language.

We know that learners generally make mistakes in second language learning because of the transfer of patterns from their native language. For example, for our country learners can say ‘make a breakfast’ instead of ‘have a breakfast’, because we say in Turkish ‘kahvaltı yapmak’. We can understand that learners can take their native language into consideration while producing such patterns. However, interference from first language isn’t the only reason of mistakes that learners make. Learners can make mistakes due to overgeneralization or overextension of target language. As a teacher, we should aware of these reasons and overcome them by using corrective feedback.

7. The best way to learn new vocabulary is through reading.

I agree with this statement because reading is the major source of vocabulary development. Especially, for foreign language learners like us, reading a variety of materials is essential for our word storage. By only this way we can see and learn different words in a contextualized way. However, I also think that just reading isn’t enough for effective vocabulary knowledge. Reading can be more beneficial in terms of vocabulary growth at intermediate levels, if we guide our students with instruction and help them develop good strategies for learning and remembering the words.

8. It is essential for learners to be able to pronounce all the individual sounds in the second language.

I agree with this statement to some extent. It is known that English is different pronounced from Turkish. There are different sounds in English such as /th/ and /w/ that do not exist in Turkish. Therefore, we should make our learners aware of these different sounds. Especially, at beginner levels, this can be very helpful for us in term of their sound discrimination. However, teaching the melody of language can be more useful for them. Instead of producing each individual sound separately, in time they can communicate fluently with the help of the knowledge of the target language melody.

9. Once learners know roughly 1,000 words and the basic structure of a second language, they can easily participate in conversations with native speakers.

I don’t agree with this statement, because knowing basic words and structures of English doesn’t mean that we can participate in conversations with native speakers. Pragmatic features of the target language are also important while communicating with native speakers. For example, even if our sentences or words are correct, communication breakdown or misunderstandings can occur in interaction due to insufficient knowledge of pragmatic. Therefore, as a teacher in the future, I will pay attention to these features of English and help my students to focus their attention on such things as how to respect, apologize or make requests.

10. Teachers should present grammatical rules one at a time and learners should practice examples of each one before going to another.

I don’t agree with this idea because we should take developmental stages into consideration. We know that all learners can’t learn grammatical rules at the same time. While we doing practices of certain grammatical rules, students may not understand the topic well. Furthermore, effective learning isn’t the learning of one rule after another. Doing isolated presentation and practice of one structure at a time doesn’t provide learners with an opportunity to discover how different language features compare and contrast in normal language use. Without opportunities to continue hearing, seeing and using them, the knowledge of the language features can not be long-lasting. Therefore, with interesting activities, we should provide opportunities for our learners to discover and practice the language.

11. Teachers should teach simple structures before complex ones.

We know that certain language structures are learned before others regardless of their presentation. I mean that some of the complex structures can be learned before some of the simple ones, so I don’t agree with this statement. For example, our students may learn third person singular ‘-s’ which is more complex to learn before the possessive ‘s’. That is, language structures aren’t taught necessarily in an order, because developmental sequences may affect the learning of students. Therefore, we shouldn’t restrict our learners’ exposure to the simple structures and should integrate the simple ones with the complex ones in our teaching life.

12. Learners’ errors should be corrected as soon as they are made in order to prevent the formation of bad habits.

I agree with this statement to some extent. For example, if our focus is on accuracy, we can make immediate correction to prevent mispronunciation of words. I think immediate correction for accuracy can be useful especially at beginner and elementary levels. However, if fluency is more important, immediate correction can not be appropriate for the learners in terms of their motivation to speak.

13. Teachers should use materials that exposed students only to language structures they have already been taught.

According to Krashen’s I+1 hypothesis, we should give our students input which are beyond their current level. I agree with this hypothesis, because I think that students need to be exposed to a variety of forms and structures they haven’t learned. For example, if we use a reading passage which consists of the learned words, students may not be eager to read and may lose their motivation. Instead of that, we can give these forms and structures by using real material. By this way, we can prepare our students language use outside the classroom. That is, I can conclude that real materials including a great variety of new forms and structures promote learning.

14. When learners are allowed to interact freely (for example, in group or pair activities), they copy each other’s mistakes.

I think this situation changes according to students’ level and age. For example, at elementary levels, students may copy each other’s mistakes in group work. They may make same mistakes. However, I think that upper levels like intermediate levels don’t copy each other’s mistakes and group or pair work at these levels can be very useful. Because it is known that they don’t produce any errors in their speech when talking to learners at similar levels of proficiency. All in all, I think that group and pair work is a valuable addition to the variety of activities that encourage and promote learning. It plays an important role in learning.

15. Students learn what they are taught.

All of us know that students don’t learn everything they are taught. There are some reasons which affect this situation. For example, some aspects of the target language develop according to natural sequences of development. Learners may learn certain language features when they are developmentally ready. Also, teaching methods and techniques have an important role in students’ learning. Furthermore, learners can learn a great deal that no one ever teaches them. They use their own learning mechanism to discover the language structures. In brief, students learn much more than they are taught.

16. Teachers should respond to students’ errors by correctly rephrasing what they have said rather than by explicitly pointing out the error.

I agree with this statement to some extent. I think that if students’ errors are corrected by rephrasing, they are likely to think that this is the confirmation of meaning rather than correction of form. For this reason, I don’t want to use this correction type for the students at elementary levels. Instead of that, I prefer to use metalinguistic feedback. On the other hand, I can respond intermediate students’ errors by correctly rephrasing, because this type of correction, referred to as ‘recasts’ don’t interrupt the flow of interaction and don’t make students embarrassed.

17. Students can learn both language and academic content (for example, science and history) simultaneously in classes where the subject matter is taught in their second language.

I agree with this statement because I know that students have more opportunity to spend more time in contact with the language thanks to content-based instruction. As this type of instruction creates a genuine and immediate need to learn the language, students may be more motivated. Also, they can see more varieties of vocabulary and structures. However, I think that it isn’t necessary to teach both language and content simultaneously as English is a foreign language in our country. To me, the focus should be on the language because students can’t hear the language outside the classroom.

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