De La Salle Araneta University

College of Education

CONTENT AND PEDAGOGY FOR THE MOTHER TONGUE

Module 3. Language Development and Second Language

Name: Valen Claire P. Mallillin Date: August 25, 2020

Years & Section: BEEd3 Professor: Dr. Tony Zamora

APPLICATION

Activity 1. Answer the following.

1. Explain the two major theories on second language acquisition.

♣ The first major theory is Lenneberg’s Critical Period Hypothesis. The critical
period hypothesis holds that first language acquisition must occur before cerebral
lateralization is complete, at about the age of puberty. One prediction of this hypothesis
is that second language acquisition will be relatively fast, successful, and qualitatively
similar to first language only if it occurs before the age of puberty. It has four key
elements. First is the clearly specified beginning and endpoints for the period. Second is
the well-defined decline in L2 acquisition at the end of the period. Third is evidence of
qualitative differences in learning between acquisition within and outside the critical
period. And the fourth is robustness to environmental variation inside the critical
period.

♣ The second major theory is about Krashen’s Natural Approach to Second

Language Acquisition is developed by Dr. Stephen Krashen together with Tracy Terrel. It
is a language teaching approach which claims that language learning is a reproduction of
the way humans naturally acquire their native language. The approach adheres to a
communicative approach to language teaching and rejects earlier methods such as the
audiolingual method and the situational language teaching approach which Krashen and
Terrell believe are not based on “actual theories of language acquisition but theories of
the structure of language.” There are 5 hypotheses that outline the Natural Approach
Theory namely; the acquisition/learning hypothesis, the natural order hypothesis, the
input hypothesis, the monitor hypothesis, and the affective filter hypothesis.
 2. Compare Cummin’s Interdependence Hypothesis and Krashen’s Natural Approach.

CUMMIN
● Common Underlying Proficiency (CUP)
language may appear to have different surface
structures but their deep structures are common;
hence proficiency in the first language leads to
proficiency in the second language.
Two principal continua of 2nd language
development:
● Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS)
describes the development of conversational
fluency
● Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency
(CALP) describes the use of language in
decontextualized academic situations.
KRASHEN
Five Hypothesis in his “Natural Approach”
♥ The Acquisition/Learning Hypothesis describes
that adults have 2 different ways of developing
competence in second language.
a) Language acquisition occurs
subconsciously. While it is
happening, we are not aware
that it is happening.
b) Language learning, on the other
hand, is a conscious effort.
♥ The Natural Order Hypothesis. This explains
that we acquire, not learn, the parts of a language
or grammatical structures in a predictable
progression.

♥ The Input Hypothesis. It explains that language

learners acquire a language by receiving
comprehensible input that is an input slightly
higher than their current level of proficiency.

♥ The Monitor Hypothesis. The “monitor” is

conscious learning process which learners attend
to form, figure out rules and are generally aware
of their own process.

♥ The Affective Filter Hypothesis. It reflects the

personal attitude of the learner as well as
their attitude about their environment.

3. Analyze the MTB-MLE curriculum in the Philippines against the first and second
language acquisition theories.

♣ There are guiding principles that the Mother Tongue Curriculum in the
Philippines follow listed on the table below:

PRINCIPLES EXPLANATION
Principle 1. Known to the unknown 1.1 Learning requires meaning. We learn when we
use what we already know to help us understand
what is new.
1.2 Second language learners use what they know in
their own language to help develop other
languages. This positive transfer effect has been
found to be significant in reading.
Principle 2. Language and Academic Students with well-developed skills in their first
Development language have been shown to acquire additional
languages more easily and fully and that, in turn, has a
positive impact on

Principle 3. Cognitive Development
Principle 4. Discovery Learning
Principle 5. Active Learning
Principle 6. Meaning and Accuracy
Principle 7. Language Learning/Language
Transfer
Principle 8. Affective component: Valuing the
home language/culture
academic achievement.
3.1 Students who use their multilingual skills have
been shown to develop both cognitive flexibility and
divergent thinking.
3.2 Higher Order Thinking Skills
When we truly learn something, we can explain it,
apply it, analyze it, evaluate it, and use it to create
new ideas and information.
We learn when someone who already understands the
new idea or task helps us to “discover” the new idea
and then use it meaningfully.
5.1 Peer interaction. Children learn best through peer
interactions in which they work together creatively to
solve problems.
5.2 Second language active learning. Young children
gain confidence in learning a new language when they
begin with “hear-see-do” (Total Physical Response)
activities.
5.3 Purposeful Talk. Talking helps us make sense of
new ideas and information.
Successful language learning involves hearing,
speaking, reading and writing activities that focus on
both meaning and accuracy.
7.1 We learn a new language best when the learning
process is non-threatening and meaningful and when
we can take “small steps” that help us gain confidence
in our
ability to use the language meaningfully.
7.2 Research in second-language acquisition indicates
that it takes a minimum of 2 years to learn basic
communicative skills in a second language when
society supports
that learning. It takes five years or more to learn
enough L2 for learning complex academic concepts.
7.3 “Errors” are a normal part of second-language
learning. Second language learners benefit from
opportunities to receive feedback in a respectful and
encouraging way. It
is helpful when teachers respond first to the content
of what the student is saying or writing… focusing on
one or two errors at a time.
8.1 Valuing students with talents in their home
language more powerfully enables learning than just
valuing learners of English whose home language is
irrelevant to
academic success.
8.2 The classroom environment
Children from ethno-linguistic language groups thrive
in a welcoming environment in which teachers and
peers value them as a positive presence in the
classroom and the
school; encourage their use of their L1; provide books,
visual representations, and concrete objects that
reflect their backgrounds and interests.
4. Create a proto-type corpos-based framework to transition Mother Tongue to Filipino
to English for the Philippines.

English
(Universal Language)

Filipino
(National Language)

Mother Tongue
(Native Languge)