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This was the scary one for me – sounds like the thing I’m least familiar with, or, at this point, am least able to substantiate in my teaching. But here it goes.
The standard states that I up-to-date on current theories and research about language acquisition so that I can combine language and culture (it never goes away!) in a way that creates purposeful and meaningful learning experiences. It says I should understand several things about language learning: it takes time, it is usually learned in predictable patterns but at different rates, students initially absorb more info than they can reproduce (the “silent period”), and students rely on their knowledge of English to learn Spanish. I should also know and recognize common errors made – when they will work themselves out and when to re-teach – and when we’ve progressed to positive evidence that students are learning new skills.
So those are the basics. Among these predictable patterns, of course, there are other influential factors that may change things. This is where I incorporate what I know about language learning with what I know about the students from standard 1 into my differentiated instruction to reach all students (really these are all just a tangled, very repetitious web). And in doing sow, it states that my students must acquire competencies in “various components of linguistic systems.” Time to slow down and think about what these all are.
Grammatical: the way sentences are constructed
Lexical: the words that make up the sentences
Phonological: the sounds the make up the words (speech)
Orthographic: the letters that spell the words (writing)
Semantic: the meanings of words
Pragmatic: the context of the language in a larger setting
Discourse: combining all those sentences together
Just like starting at the beginning of the puzzle and working all the way through to the end. Moving on.
Another list: My teaching of language should move through a continuum of standards-based, content-based, and proficiency-based instruction. Standards-based means I’m teaching a skill – so they complete the activity by listening to native speakers, by speaking themselves or by writing in the past tense, etc. The content-based part is the actual material that is being taught – the new vocabulary they are listening to – and the proficiency-based result is the next activity where they begin to show their comprehension of the new material.
And finally, to help them learn all these things in all these ways, I must remember that language acquisition is both a constructive and interactive process. They may learn from me, from each other, from a text or on their own. I should encourage them to use the language as much as possible, even when errors occur.
Another breakdown:
- I know the research and theories of language acquisition (I don’t, but I will!)
- I am familiar with the general process of language learning
- I know how to accomodate for differences in that process
- I provide a variety of positive, culture-based experiences for students to negotiate new information and expand their capacities in a variety of settings
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