Blog Entry #6
Learning View | Acquisition View |
Conscious: We are aware we are learning | Subconscious: We are not aware we are acquiring |
It’s what happens in school when we study rules and grammar | It’s what happens in and out of school when we receive messages we understand |
Teaching Writing | |
Traditional Writing Classroom | Process Writing Classroom |
Goal: Learn how to produce a good piece of writing | Goal: Produce good writing and acquire knowledge of the writing process |
Method: Begin with the parts and build up to writing a whole text | Method: Begin with a message and develop the skills needed to produce the message |
Teacher directly instructs students in how to form letters, then words, then how to combine words into sentences, and then sentences into paragraphs | Teacher creates conditions for authentic written responses an then helps students express themselves in writing |
Approach to correctness: Writing product must be conventional from the beginning | Approach to correctness: Writing moves naturally from invention to convention |
The teacher corrects each piece of writing | Classmates and others, including the teacher, respond to drafts |
Teaching Language | |
Traditional Learning View | Current Acquisition View |
Goal: Teach language directly so students can produce correct language forms | Goal: Make language comprehensible so students can use language for different purposes |
Method: Break language into component parts and teach each part | Method: Use various techniques to make the linguistic input understandable |
Classroom activities: Students do drills and exercises to practice language | Classroom activities: Students use language in communicative situations |
Attitude toward errors: Teachers correct errors to help students develop good language habits | Attitude toward errors: Errors are natural, so teachers keep the focus on meaning and help students understand and express ideas |
Essential Linguistics p.48
Label each activity (L) for learning/word recognition or (A) for acquisition/sociopsycholinguistic view.
The students:
L look up words in the dictionary to write definitions
- In this case, the teacher is pre-teaching the vocabulary. Students are using the dictionary to copy definitions and are not making meaning of the words in context.
A make a Venn diagram to compare two stories
- When students compare two stories, they are constructing meaning for themselves; the teacher is not directly telling the students what they should be “getting” from the stories.
L practice sounding out words
- Students are using word parts when they are sounding them out.
L read in round-robin fashion
- Round-robin reading is a drill used to practice language. In the acquisition view of teaching language, the teacher would set up a more authentic scenario such as a conversation.
L correct peers when they make a mistake during reading
- Whether the student or the teacher is correcting errors during reading, this is the learning view of teaching language. In the Acquisition view, the teacher or student would focus on meaning, not error correction.
L identify words on a big book page that start with the same sound
- Students are identifying word parts and will be building up to reading whole words, then sentences.
L group cards with classmates’ names by a criterion on such as first or last letter
- Same as above.
A write rhyming poetry and then discuss different spellings for the same sound
- When students are creating an authentic piece or writing, this is teaching through the acquisition view. By discussing different spellings for the same sound, the student discovers phonemic awareness.
L ask the teacher how to spell any work they don’t know
- The learning view is practiced any time the teacher directly teaches a skill and does not allow for discovery.
A read a language experience story they have created with the teacher
- Again, here the students have been given the opportunity to create an authentic piece of writing. By reading the story with the teacher, the teacher has given the students a new access point to find their own mistakes.
L/A work in pairs to arrange words from a familiar chant into sentences
- Because the chant is familiar, this exercise could fall under the language view of learning, but the activity is more student-centered so it could be considered acquisition as students are making meaning of words by creating a context.
L divide words into syllables
- Students are identifying word parts and not necessarily making meaning as they read the words.
L on a worksheet, draw a line from each word to the picture that starts with the same
sound
sound
- Students are identifying word parts. They are not making meaning of the entire word.
A make alphabet books on different topics
- When students are creating an authentic piece of writing, learning is occurring through the acquisition view.
The teacher:
L preteaches vocabulary
- No thinking has to occur on the students’ parts. The words are not being taught in context.
A/L does a shared reading with a big book
- Depending on the objective of the lesson, this activity could be categorized as either acquisition or learning. If the teacher were asking students to predict what would happen next in the story, then this would be acquisition. If the teacher is simply asking students to identify beginning sounds on a page, then this is learning.
A makes sure that students read only books that fit their level
- When students are allowed to read books that are too high level, they cannot comprehend what they are reading.
L has students segment words into phonemes
- Students are identifying word parts and not necessarily making meaning as they read the words.
A writes words the students dictate for a story and has students help with the spelling of difficult words
- When teachers use a structure such as this, they are concerned with helping the students make meaning of their writing and teachers are not concerned with the students’ demonstration of proper conventions.
A asks students to look around the room and find words starting with a certain letter
- Students are using their background knowledge to identify items. The teacher is not directly telling students items in the room that begin with certain letters.
L uses decodable texts
- Decodable texts have many purposes such as identifying the parts of speech, sounding out words, and identifying beginning sounds. They are not used to measure student comprehension.
A sets aside time for SSR each day
- If students are reading books at their level, SSR time would be a time when students are making meaning of new, unfamiliar text.
A teaches Latin and Greek roots
- After teachers directly teach the Latin and Greek roots, the students use these word parts in other linguistic investigations.
A has students meet in literature circles
- Literature circles allow students to discuss their comprehension of a common story. Students also have opportunities to ask other students clarifying questions.
L conducts phonics drills
- Students are not making meaning of whole words. Nonsense words are often acceptable in these types of drills.
A chooses predictable texts
- Predictability allows for comprehension.
A teaches students different comprehension strategies
- Even though the teacher has directly taught the different strategies, students must select and apply the appropriate strategy in other linguistic investigations to comprehend text.
A does a picture walk of a new book
- A picture walk is a pre-reading strategy to help students make predictions, thus aiding in their comprehension of the story.
L uses a variety of worksheets to teach different skills
- Because the worksheets focus on skills, the teacher is focused on conventions.
Source:
Freeman, D. E. & Freeman, Y. S. (2004). Essential linguistics: What youneed to know to teach reading, ESL, spelling, phonics, and grammar.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
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