Assignment - ATL

SUBJECT ASSIGNMENT:
APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE IN THE CLASSROOM CONTEXT

Student: Yuri Paola Infante Tejada

Group: 2017-06
Date: May 7th/2018

Subject: Approaches to Language in the Classroom Context/ FP001

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 Assignment - ATL

INDEX

1. Introduction ……………………………………………………………………page 3
2. Contextualization ……….………………………………………….…...…....page 4
3. Language Generalizations ………………………………………..……….. page 5
3.1 Lexical use and students assumptions………………………..……….page 6
4. Learners individual factors and L2 acquiring process….….………...…....page 7
5. Language approaches and interlanguage………………………………….page
6. Conclusions and recommendations …………….………..……..………….page 15
7. Bibliography ………………………………………….………………………..page 16

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1. Introduction

Nowadays, it can be considered how the acquisition of a second language is

increasing and how most people are trying to learn the second language in an early
age pretending to facilitate the process. The process of learning a second language
involves significant language approaches and individual factors - such as: the learning
environment, the compulsory and competitive language education, the process
development and the institution’s program, and so forth. - That may affect the learning
process and its outcome, presenting some students’ needs –Interlanguage issues- that
need to be found, analyzed and overcome properly (Falout, 2012).

Furthermore, for a second language adequate acquisition there is a wide range

of different methodologies directed by direct and communicative approaches, which
have been used over the years, their effectiveness inside the classroom context relies
on the type of class the teacher is dealing with, the student’s level and interlanguage
notion, an active learning process, the class purpose, and the level of engagement to
the teaching-learning process. Harmer (1998) states three main factors that a language
classes involve: study, active and engage. However, their order, importance and role in
the class depends on the methods used and also on each learner’s interlanguage
development on the L2.

A second language acquisition based on the classroom context currently

depends on classes which main protagonist is communication but also grammar
learning. Most language institutes and classes nowadays would rather say that their
methodology is primarily “communicative”, despite the fact of still applying direct
grammar- translation and audiolingual method into their classrooms (Bowen, n.d;
Richards, 2006). Consequently, a correct approach to a second language learning in
classroom tries to be consistent to the active learning process, active communication,
and input on natural language use (Krashen, 2009), leading learners to use the
language in a meaningful context, and so that acquire language to be used lively and
coherently.

Nevertheless, the traditional grammatical approach is still being applied in

classrooms, in order to introduce grammar to new learners and yet to intermediate
level in order to give a syllabus with purpose (Bowen, n.d; Richards, 2006). Thereupon
language classroom may present cases where generalization on language,
misspelling, grammar mistakes, interlanguage fossilization and perhaps pidginization

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become a common problem in L2 context due to a lack of space, appropriate language

approach, learners’ awareness of their own interlanguage process and an effective
language input.

Bearing the above in mind, this essay is intended to analyze and understand
the causes of these cases mentioned before to boost students’ interlanguage process
and overcome generalization errors that students keep making despite their previous
knowledge, context, and interest on the language taught.

2. Contextualization

Firstly, in order to analyze the causes of language generalizations, which stand

for learners assumptions on grammar, spelling, and language use; it is relevant to
appraise the next data:

SUBJECT’S BACKGROUND

Native Languages: Mixed.

Target Language: English.

Background Information: Intermediate level, students on an

intensive course.

Data
DATA:Source: student compositions.

Soccer is the most common sporting.

America refused continual supported our military request.

When he was 7 years old, he went schooling.

About two hours driving eastern from Bangkok.

After finished my college studied, I went to my country.

Doctors have the right to removed it from him.

Regarding this information, it can be appreciated an instance of language
There is a night for asleep.
generalization effects on their learning process. Despite of students level being an
Moreover
intermediate it may lead
one, learners to conflicting.
still present different cases of word-form errors, sentence
structure errors, gerunds
I am not going tomisplacing
get marriedand verb
when from
I will errors leading
graduation the students to take
school.

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 Assignment - ATL

wrong assumptions to a correct language use just because they have heard those
constructions before, but they do not know exactly how to place them based on the
tense and sentence context.

Nevertheless, it is very baffling how these students adapted the same errors
when their L1 is different from each other. English language assumptions may be
inferred despite the mother tongue, and leads to an overgeneralization of this language
due to its worldwide use (Richards, 1974 in Funiber, n.d.; p17). Subsequently, to
understand this overgeneralization issue, students’ lexical use on the L1 and L2,
together with their language assumptions, individual factors and interlanguage
awareness are going to be discussed throughout this document regarding this previous
data as an example.

3. Language Generalizations
Generalization in this context is understood as a language construction made
on the surface of its structure, which in most cases depends on the person’s
conception and inference of their mother language (Goldberg 2006). This concept is
related to second language learners owing to the interlanguage existed between the L1
and L2 the person possess. When this learner is constructing language structures in L2
everything that the L1 involves –lexicon, language distribution, sentence construction,
everyday speech and words systematization- affects its acquisition, thus
generalizations that are used frequently, become errors and may cause interlanguage
fossilization (Ellis, 1997).

Based on the data treated above it can be stated that the generalization
presented is on suffixes and prefixes –suffix a used on asleep-. There is a lack of
consciousness when using the gerund suffix in order to create whether it is a noun, a
verb or a participle adjective, consequently the learners showed in this exercise the
distinction between learning and acquiring; they apply the ing/ed suffixes because they
learnt it before, but did not acquire its actual use, they did not go from the explicit to the
implicit when applying this form (Krashen, 2009). Besides, word construction on
suffixes, a case of overuse is clearly depicted. Being gerunds a common verbal form
for students it is identified as a case of regularization and misinformation of a grammar
form (Ellis, 1997).

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In a broader perspective it can be said that there is a case of overgeneralization

on the point from 1 to 6; where 1 and 3 are on the gerund use, 2, 5 and 6 a case of
regularization of a common verb form in past tense whereas 4, 7, 8 and 9 result to be a
misuse on lexical chunks perhaps caused by a transfer of training issue or even a
global simplification.

3.1 Lexical use and students assumptions

In this respect Lexical use and students assumptions due to regularization could
be seen as the cause for this errors taking place, anyhow it is relevant to analyze each
point to understand why these assumptions where believed to be correct on first place.
zation
Overgenerali-

Regularization
misused
Lexical chunks
Activity data Error analysis

Soccer is the most common sporting.
America refused continual supported
our military request.
When he was 7 years old, he went
schooling.
About two hours driving eastern from
Bangkok.
After finished my college studied, I
x There are two possibilities for this.
Firstly, student assumed that in
order to create a noun ing suffix
must be used (e.g. sailing, fishing,
housing). On the other hand, the
student overgeneralized ing as the
correct suffix to from this kind of
activities (e.g. swimming, running,
jogging, bowling, etc).
x x The student seemed to confuse the
use of word constructions due to a
regularization of a common suffix
like ED. Students tend to associate
ed with past tense without bearing
ed as a participle form for
adjectives. Besides, there’s an
overgeneralization by taking
support as a verb adding the suffix
and omitting the actual verb –
refused-.
x There a misinformation grammar
error here. The student could have
learnt about verbs followed by
gerunds and tried to apply this rule
here. However, schooling is a noun
and its ing form not possible in this
context. Furthermore, go is not a
verb that can be followed by a
gerund, instead it will need the use
of to followed by a noun.
x
x x

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went to my country.
Doctors have the right to removed it x x
from him.
There is a night for asleep. x
Moreover it may lead to conflicting. x
I am not going to get married when I will x
graduation the school.

4. Learners individual factors and L2 acquiring process….….………...…....page

5. Language approaches and interlanguage………………………………….page
6. Conclusions and recommendations …………….………..……..………….page 15
Bibliography ………………………………………….………………………..

Assignment instructions:
See the data collected below and answer the following questions:
1. Work out an IL generalization that might account for the forms in
boldface. Give your reasons for postulating this generalization.
2. What strategy/strategies do you think these learners have come up with
regarding lexical use?
3. What additional information, if any, would you like to have from these
learners to test your hypothesis?
4. How do these tests and results relate to the concepts studied in this
subject?

Do not answer the questions one by one, but address all of them in essay form.