Language Concepts and Acquisition Flashcards
What is TESOL?
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages – a certification to teach English to English Language Learners.
TESOL is a broad term.
A subset of TESOL is TEFL, Teaching English as a Foreign Language. TEFL generally refers to teaching English in a non-English-speaking country.
What is NCATE/CAEP?
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) was a professional accreditor of teacher education programs in U.S. colleges and universities. In 2013 it merged with another professional accreditor, the Teacher Education Accreditation Council, to form the present-day accreditor the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). NCATE/CAEP were/are coalitions of many professional associations.
What are the 5 domains of TESOL standards?
Domain 1: Language Domain 2: Culture Domain 3: Instruction (Planning, Implementing, and Managing Instruction) Domain 4: Assessment Domain 5: Professionalism
Summarize TESOL Domain 1: Language
In Domain 1: Language, candidates know, understand, and use the major theories and research related to the structure and acquisition of language to help ELLs develop language and literacy and achieve in the content areas.
What are the two subdomains under Domain 1: Language?
1.a Language as a System
(Integrative System; Structure of Language)
1.b Language Acquisition and Development
What is phonology?
(The study of) the sound system of (a) language
= the study of how sounds are organized and used in natural language.
Includes such things as: the sounds that are part of a language and how they are pronounced; how sounds are put together and blended to create words; what sounds can be “neighbors”; how words consist of syllables; how words rhyme.
What is morphology?
The study of) the structure of words. The study of the meaningful parts of words and how they are put together (word formation).
Words are formed by putting together morphemes, for example: a base and affixes (prefixes and suffixes).
What is syntax?
The study of the structure of phrases, clauses, and sentences. The study of the way sentences are constructed and how they relate to each other.
Syntax can be learned by studying grammar rules and includes such things as word order in a phrase or sentence; agreement of person, number and tense; and subject/object forms (e.g. she/her).
What are semantics?
The study of the meaning of morphemes, words, phrases and sentences. It is also concerned with the way meanings change and develop.
In linguistics, semantics is studied apart from pragmatics.
What are pragmatics?
The study of appropriate language use, especially how context (time, place, social relationship) influences interpretation. The study of the effect of context on meaning. The study of aspects of meaning that are dependent on the context, the speaker (for example, the speaker’s goals), and the audience.
What is grammar?
The study of the structure or conventions of how parts of speech come together to form sentences.
What are mechanics?
The rules of written language such as capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.
What are rhetorical structures?
(Tentative) Use of linguistic tools involving patterns of sentences, sounds, and meanings to evoke a particular response from the listener or reader.
What are the four major types of rhetorical devices?
- Logos
- Pathos
- Ethos
- Kairos
What is logos, as a type of rhetorical device?
Attempting to persuade by the use of logic and reason. Examples: citing facts, statements from experts, and statistics.
What is pathos, as a type of rhetorical device?
Attempting to evoke emotions. Examples: attempts to evoke compassion or pity, but also attempts to evoke anger; attempts to use emotion to inspire action or response.
What is ethos, as a type of rhetorical device?
Attempting to convince on the basis of right or wrong (ethics), for example trying to persuade the audience that the speaker has the experience and judgment necessary to decide what’s right.
What is kairos, as a type of rhetorical device?
Attempting to convince on the basis of timeliness; that the time has come for a particular idea or action.
What is discourse?
A continuous stretch of speech or writing longer than a single sentence to express a thought, generally in a social context. The study of discourse includes social rules of conversation and writing style. (Spoken and written discourse are different.) The word is derived from the latin prefix dis- meaning “away” and the root word currere meaning “to run”.
What is SLA?
Second Language Acquisition
Note: This term is used to refer to the acquisition of an additional language, whether second, third, fourth, fifth, etc.
What is ESL?
English as a Second Language
Note: This term is used to refer to English as an additional language, whether second, third,, fourth, fifth, etc.
What is ELL?
English Language Learner
What is LEP?
Limited English Proficient
What is NES?
Native-English-Speaking
What are some personal and affective variables that affect language learning?
Prior formal education, age of arrival in the United States, stage of development, literacy level in the L1, motivation, personality. (And stress level?)
What is lexicon in linguistics?
One’s mental list of the words in a language, including information about the meaning, grammatical function, pronunciation.
OR
The knowledge that a native speaker has about a language. This includes information about
* the form and meanings of words and phrases
* lexical categorization (part of speech)
* the appropriate usage of words and phrases
* relationships between words and phrases, and
* categories of words and phrases.
In linguistics it typically does NOT include grammatical or phonological (pronunciation) rules. Both definitions were given in the Teaching English Learners course.
What are ELPS?
English Language Proficiency Standards
What are language registers?
Styles of language use dependent on situational context including the situation, subject/topic, purpose, and the relationships between the speakers, or between speaker/writer and audience. The language register affects the choice of vocabulary, sentence structure and grammar. Spoken registers involve different tones of voice.
What is the cognitive approach to language acquisition?
An approach to language acquisition that emphasizes extemporaneous conversation, immersion, and other techniques intended to simulate the environment in which most people acquire their native language as children
What are phonics?
The study of the relationships between the speech sounds (phonemes) and the letters (graphemes) that represent them, in a language. It is also called decoding. It involves sounding out unknown words.
What are the three main types of phonics?
Analytic, Embedded, and Synthetic
What is analytic phonics?
A method of phonics instruction that starts with the whole word and analyzes it. It is used with the whole word method of reading instruction. Does not use blending.
What is analogy phonics?
A subset of analytic phonics that uses onset and rime to make analogies between different words.
What is embedded phonics?
A nonsystematic method of teaching phonics in the context of reading a story or when reading difficulties arise. It is used with the whole word method of reading instruction.
What is synthetic phonics?
A systematic method that begins by teaching the “code”: the sounds of the letters, then blending the letter sounds into words. Decodable stories are read. Reading and spelling are taught together.
What are morphemes?
The smallest meaningful spoken units of language. They can be one or more syllables. They can form an entire word or part of a word.
“Morphos” means “form or structure” in Greek; ‘eme’ means “an element or little piece of something.”
What are the two basic types of morphemes?
Free (independent) and bound (dependent)
What is an inflectional ending?
Definition: an ending that alters the grammatical function of a word, for example, making it plural or possessive or changing the verb tense.
Examples: -s, -es, -ing, -ed
What are syntactic classes?
Parts of speech such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives.
What are syntactic functions?
Purposes in a sentence such as subject and object.
What is a free morpheme?
A free morpheme can stand alone as a word.
Free morphemes are base words.
Base words that are free morphemes are called free bases.
Free morphemes can be content words or function words.
Some free morphemes can be combined with other free morphemes to form compound words.
Example: mail + box = mailbox.
Some free morphemes can be combined with affixes to form complex words.
Example: run + -ing => running
What is a bound morpheme?
A bound morpheme cannot stand alone as a word.
Examples:
Roots that cannot stand alone, such as -ject, are bound morphemes. They are called bound bases, and are combined with affixes to make a word.
Affixes such as pre- and -ing are also bound morphemes. They are combined with a base to make a word.
What are function words?
Words that form connections and relationships between the content words in a sentence, modifying the meanings of the main words. They may be:
Articles such as the, a, an
Pronouns such as he, she, his, her
Demonstrative Adjectives (or Pronouns) such as this, that, those, these
Auxiliary Verbs such as will, is, must, does
Quantifiers/Determiners/Pronouns such as some, many, few
Prepositions such as under, over, to, by
Conjunctions such as for, and, but, or
What are two types of bound morphemes?
Inflectional and Derivational
What are inflectional morphemes?
A type of bound morpheme that alters the grammatical function of a word. It may alter number, tense, mood, or inflection.
What are the main inflectional morphemes in English?
-s, -es, ‘s, s’, -er, -est, -ed, -ing, -en
What is a derivational morpheme?
A type of bound morpheme that changes a word’s semantic meaning, and can change its part of speech. Most are from Latin or Greek.
Examples:
re- + start = restart, to start again
kind + -ness = kindness, the condition of being kind
teach + -er = teacher – in this case -er is used as a derivational morpheme that changes the part of speech
What is semantic ambiguity?
When the same word can have more than one meaning, and the only way to identify the correct meaning is by context.
Example: My bank, where I deposit my paycheck, built a new branch on the bank of the river branch. In this example, “bank” and “branch” both have two different meanings, identified by context.
What are the five major language registers?
- Frozen or Static Register
- Formal or Academic Register
- Consultative Register
- Informal or Casual Register
- Intimate Register
What is the Frozen (Static) Register?
One of the five major language registers, it involves language that remains fixed (unchanged) over time, and is often recited by rote.
Examples: Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance or the Lord’s Prayer.
What is Formal (Academic) Register?
One of the five major language registers, it is used in professional, official, business, academic, and scientific communications. It is impersonal and nonemotional. It uses complete sentences and correct grammar. It avoids abbreviations, contractions, exaggeration, slang, idioms and clichés. It follows established conventions. In English it tends to use more words with Latin roots than informal register.
What is Consultative Register?
One of the five major language registers, it is used when speaking to a professional expert or superior from whom one is seeking advice, such as a doctor, lawyer, teacher, counselor, boss/supervisor. It is precise, respectful in tone and forms of address, and similar to formal register.
What is Informal (Casual) Register?`
One of the five major language registers, it is the conversational style of language used between friends. It allows expression of emotion, use of idiomatic expressions and slang, jokes, contractions and abbreviations. In English, Anglo-Saxon-root words are used more often than their Latin-root equivalents.
Teachers may sometimes allow students to write rough drafts using informal register in order to “get the information out” before revising to formal register.
What is Intimate Register?
One of the five major language registers, this is the style of language used in private (a “private voice”) between lovers, spouses, parents and children, siblings and other close family members.
In sexual harassment, the harasser often inappropriately uses intimate register with the person being harassed although no intimate relationship exists between them.
What is linguistic competence?
Acquired when a person has achieved all four main aspects of a language: phonology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.
What is communicative competence?
Acquired when a person can apply linguistic competence appropriately in everyday speaking in a variety of social situations.
What is conventional syntax?
How words are typically used in a language or dialect.
What is a determiner?
A word that introduces a noun.
When and where is a determiner used in English?
A determiner comes before the noun and before any adjectives that describe the noun. It is mandatory before a singular noun, and used as needed before a plural noun.
What are the four types of determiners in English?
- Articles: definite article=the; indefinite articles=a, an
- Demonstrative pronouns: this, that, these, those
- Quantifiers such as all, many, some, few
- Possessive pronouns: my, your, her, his, its, our, their
What is semantic mapping?
A word-web type of graphic organizer that visually displays meaning-based connections between words.
It can help students, especially ELLs, struggling students and students with disabilities to identify and remember meanings of words. It is especially helpful to use after a reading, focusing on the most important key words.
What are cognates?
Words (in different languages) with the same origin.
What are the three levels of cognates?
- True cognates: Same origin, meaning, and spelling in different languages, though pronunciation may differ.
- Partial cognates: Same origin and meaning but different spelling in different languages. (Pronunciation may also differ.)
- False cognates: Same origin but different meanings in different languages. Example: exit in English meaning a way out, and exito in Spanish, meaning false friend.
What is a consonant?
A speech sound in which the flow of breath is constricted or stopped by the tongue, teeth, lips, or some combination, and the graphemes that represent them.
What is a phoneme?
A distinct sound; the smallest unit of speech sound in a spoken language.
What is a grapheme?
A written symbol or group of symbols (letters, groups of letters, and diacritical marks) that represents a phoneme,.
What is phonological awareness?
The broad ability to recognize and manipulate the components of the sound system of a language. Includes the more specific abilities of phonemic awareness, as well as the abilities to recognize and use rhyme, blend onset and rime, blend phonemes into syllables and words, break words into syllables (syllabication), see small words inside larger words, recognize and use phonemic stress, word stress (i.e. stressed syllables), and intonation patterns.
What is phonemic awareness?
The ability to recognize that a language is made up of distinctive sounds, to recognize the same sound when it is repeated in different places (as in alliteration or rhyme), to tell the difference between the different sounds, and to recognize the sounds that make up syllables and words. Part of the broader field of phonological awareness.
What are phonetics?
The study and classification of speech sounds.
What are semantic cues?
Meaning clues: Hints provided by the meanings of known words surrounding the unknown word (context). as well as background knowledge (and sometimes illustrations).
What are syntactic cues?
Language structure clues: Hints to the grammatical function of an unknown word provided by the word order of the sentence (grammatical patterns). This type of clue can be used in English because it is a positional language: word order matters.
What are graphophonic (or grapho-phonetic) cues?
Visual and sound clues: Hints to an unknown written word provided by known letters (graphemes) and sounds (phonemes) that can help the student identify a known word in their oral vocabulary.
What four cognitive processes are involved in synthesizing and internalizing language rules for second language acquisition?
Memorization
Categorization
Generalization
Metacognition
What are the five hypotheses of Krashen’s theory of second language acquisition?
Acquisition-Learning hypothesis Monitor hypothesis Input hypothesis Affective Filter hypothesis Natural Order hypothesis
What is Krashen’s Acquisition-Learning hypothesis in language acquisition?
According to this hypothesis, language uses two independent performance systems: the acquired system and the learned system.
Acquisition: Language is “acquired” subconsciously by meaningful interaction focused on natural communication in the target language. A child’s first language is “acquired” this way. Acquisition of a second language is an inductive, student-centered process.
Learning: Language is “learned,” or rather, “learned about,” in a conscious way through formal study of grammar rules–a deductive, teacher-centered process.
According to Krashen, “acquiring” a language is more important and effective than “learning” a language. This is the Krashen’s more fundamental and best-known hypothesis.
What is Krashen’s Monitor hypothesis in language acquisition?
Conscious language “learning” has a minor role in the language acquisition process: that of a “monitor.” The “learned system” functions as a “monitor” providing planning, editing, and correcting functions to utterances produced by the “acquired” language system. This occurs in the mind before the words are uttered, but only if:
- The learner has sufficient time.
- The learner is focused on form/correctness
- The learner has learned the rule(s) that apply.
Individual users make use of the “monitor” differently. The goal is optimal use, neither overuse nor underuse. Introverts and those lacking in confidence tend to over-use the monitor function. Extraverts tend to under-use it.
What is Krashen’s Input hypothesis is language acquisition?
According to this hypothesis, language learners improve and progress when they receives “comprehensible input” at just one level above their current level of linguistic competence. “Comprehensible” means that the learner can understand the meaning of what is being communicated.
What is Krashen’s Affective Filter hypothesis in language acquisition?
According to this hypothesis, certain affective variables can facilitate (or hinder) language acquisition. These include motivation, self-confidence, anxiety, and certain personality traits.
Strong motivation, self-confidence, a positive self-image, low anxiety and extraversion are all conducive to language acquisition according to this theory.
On the other hand, lack of motivation, lack of self-confidence, a poor self-image, high anxiety, and introversion can all hinder language acquisition.
What is the Natural Order hypothesis of language acquisition?
This minor hypothesis states that evidence suggests that for a given language grammatical structures tend to be acquired in a “natural order” that is independent of age, language background, and conditions of exposure. There is some variation among individual students but most follow the natural order. However, note that Krashen rejects grammatical sequencing when the goal is language acquisition.
This hypothesis was developed by Dulay & Burt, 1974; Fathman, 1975; Makino, 1980; and cited in Krashen, 1987.
What are the five stages of language acquisition (language development)?
- Preproduction
- Early production
- Speech emergence
- Intermediate (Fluency) Language Proficiency
- Advanced (Fluency) Language Proficiency
What are the basic characteristics and duration of the preproduction language development stage?
“Silent period” before beginning to speak in a new language; lasts up to six months; receptive vocabulary: understands about 500 words; communicates nonverbally.
What are the basic characteristics and duration of the early production language development stage?
Lasts about six months more after the pre-production stage. Acquires (understands and uses) about 1000 words. Generally speaks in single words and short phrases. May respond to yes/no, who/what/where questions.
What are the basic characteristics and duration of the speech emergence language development stage?
Lasts up to another year (after the early production stage). Develops about 3000 words. Uses short phrases, simple sentences, dialogue, answers simple questions, a few longer sentences.
What are the basic characteristics of the intermediate fluency language proficiency stage?
Develops about 6000 words. Begins to make more complex statements, state opinions and share complex thoughts.
What are the basic characteristics of the advanced fluency language proficiency stage?
Speaks English on a level with same-age native speakers. Develops subject-area academic vocabulary. Can function at grade level with some support. Takes five to seven years to reach this stage.
Learning Theory: What is Behaviorism?
Behaviorism (Skinner) is a theory of animal and human learning that only focuses on objectively observable behaviors and discounts mental activities. Behavior theorists define learning as nothing more than the acquisition of new behavior. In Behaviorist theory: Brain is a blank slate Imitation of input from environment Habit formation by repetition Errors due to habits Contrastive analysis can predict L2 errors (L1 interferes with L2 acquisition) Audio- lingual methods (in classroom)
Learning Theory: What is Constructivism?
Constructivism (aka Interactionism) is a philosophy of learning founded on the premise that, by reflecting on our experiences, we construct our own understanding of the world we live in. Each of us generates our own “rules” and “mental models,” which we use to make sense of our experiences. Learning, therefore, is simply the process of adjusting our mental models to accommodate new experiences. In Constructivism:
Learning result of social interaction
Children construct understanding in context of their
activities
Early language is egocentric
Brain learns when ready
Progress from concrete to more abstract, from
figurative to operative
Exploratory, discovery learning (in classroom)
Theorists of cognitive development include:
Vygotsky (Social Development Theory)
Bruner (Discovery Learning Theory),
Piaget (Assimilation and Accommodation)
Lave and Wenger (Communities of Practice)
Learning Theory: What is Nativism?
Nativist (Chomsky) theories (aka Innatist) hold that children are born with an innate propensity for language acquisition, and that this ability makes the task of learning a first language easier than it would otherwise be. These “hidden assumptions” allow children to quickly figure out what is and isn’t possible in the grammar of their native language, and allow them to master that grammar by the age of three. In Nativism:
Language Acquisition Device (LAD)
LAD contains principles of Universal Grammar
Independent process (not general learning)
Process of rule formation
In Piaget’s Cognitive Theory, what are Piaget’s 4 stages of Cognitive Development?
According to Piaget, children reason and understand differently according to their age. All children pass through four stages of cognitive development in the same order, though the timing may vary: Sensorimotor Preoperational Concrete Operations Formal Operations
What are the characteristics of Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage of Cognitive Development?
In Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage (the first stage) of Cognitive Development (ages 0-2), the child learns by doing: looking, touching, sucking. The child also has a primitive understanding of cause-and-effect relationships. Object permanence appears around 9 months.
What are the characteristics of Piaget’s Pre-Operational Stage of Cognitive Development?
In Piaget’s Preoperational Stage (the second stage) of Cognitive Development (ages 2-7) the child uses language and symbols, including letters and numbers. Egocentrism is also evident. Conservation marks the end of the preoperational stage and the beginning of concrete operations.
What is “Conservation” in Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development?
Conservation is when the child realizes that properties of objects—such as mass, volume, and number—remain the same, despite changes in the form of the objects.
Example: If the water in a bowl is poured into a cup, the amount of water remains the same.
What are the characteristics of Piaget’s Concrete Operational Stage of Cognitive Development?
In Piaget’s Concrete Operational Stage of Cognitive Development (ages 7-11) the child demonstrates conservation, reversibility, serial ordering, and a mature understanding of cause-and-effect relationships. Thinking at this stage is still concrete.
What are the characteristics of Piaget’s Formal Operational Stage of Cognitive Development?
In Piaget’s Formal Operational Staage of Cognitive Developme (ages 12-adult) the individual demonstrates abstract thinking, including logic, deductive reasoning, comparison, and classification.
What are Adaptation and Equilibrium in Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development?
Adaptation and Equilibrium are the two processes involved in cognitive development, according to Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development.
What is Adaptation in Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development and what are its two subprocesses?
Adaptation involves the child’s changing to meet situational demands. Adaptation involves two subprocesses: Assimilation and Accommodation.
Assimilation is the application of previous concepts to new situations. For example: a child who knows the concept of “fish” and encounters a picture of a whale may call the whale a fish.
Accommodation is the application of new information. For example, if the child learns that some sea creatures are mammals, the child can then call a whale a mammal instead of a fish.
What is Equilibrium in Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development?
Equilibrium is the child’s search for balance between self and world when learning to adapt to situational demands.
What are the two dimensions of language and language acquisition identified by Canadian Jim Cummins?
Conversational (BICS) and Academic (CALP)
Conversational = oral/social language =
BICS = “Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills”
generally can be acquired in about two years
Academic = CALP = “Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency” = the language skills needed to succeed in school – generally take four to seven year to acquire
What is Lev Zygotsky’s Social Development Theory of Cognitive Development?
Zygotsky found that cognitive development happened in a social context. Optimal cognitive development happens in the “Zone of Proximal Development” which he defined as “the distance between the actual development level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers” (Vygotsky, 1978). In other words, students develop more when working in the zone between what they already know and what requires assistance, and they learn more with the assistance of adults and peers with more knowledge.
What is Jerome Bruner’s Discovery Learning Theory?
Bruner found that children learn best when presented with a perplexing problem that stimulates their active curiosity, reasoning, and efforts to find an answer.
What are Lave and Wenger’s communities of practice?
A community of practice is a set of people who work in a domain (area of knowledge that they care about). The collective knowledge of the community influences each individual.
What are 7 ESL effective strategies to promote children’s language acquisition?
Seven effective strategies to promote second language acquisition are:
1. Connect to the child’s background and experience
2. Use real, purposeful, context
– students acquire language in contexts that are meaningful to them.
3. Make sure the message is comprehensible
(aka comprehensible input) – children must understand the meaning of the message as a whole, not necessarily every word.
4. Support risk-taking
– make sure students feel free and safe to take risks by knowing they will not be corrected or laughed at
5. Engage in conversation (high level of interaction)
6. High expectations – no “watering down” the curriculum for ESL students
7. Active listening – focus completely on listening with your eyes, ears and heart
What is Sheltered Instruction and SIOP?
Sheltered instruction is a teaching methodology developed for ELs that lower the linguistic demand of the lesson without compromising the integrity or rigor of the subject matter.
SIOP, the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol, is a research-based instructional model that has proven effective in meeting the ACADEMIC needs of ELs.
What is TPR (Total Physical Response)?
Total Physical Response (TPR) is one sheltered instruction strategy, used to accelerate language acquisition by involving bodily movement. Teacher gives instructions such as stand up, pick up your pencil, walk to the window, etc. and students follow the instructions.
What is CALLA?
In CALLA, the Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (developed by Ana Chamot) teachers explicitly teach learning strategies to help students learn academic English. Goal: for students to become independent and self-regulated learners by applying these strategies. CALLA involves 5 phases: preparation, presentation, practice, self-evaluation, and expansion.
(For post-elementary English learning.)
What is GLAD?
GLAD is the Guided Language Acquisition Design model, an instructional approach that incorporates a variety of strategies to support English learners in simultaneously learning content and acquiring language. GLAD is grounded in research related to second language acquisition and sheltered instruction.
What is the QTEL teaching model?
QTEL, the Quality Teaching for English Learners model, is a teaching model based on sociocultural and sociolinguistic theories of learning.
What is ESL?
English as a Second Language
a supplemental certification area for teachers
What are the 3 domains of ESL?
Domain I: Language Concepts and Language Acquisition
Domain II: Instruction and Assessment
Domain III: Foundations of ESL Education, Cultural Awareness and Family and Community Involvement
Note that the ESL domains are different from the TESOL domains. ESL Domain I corresponds to TESOL Domain I. ESL Domain II corresponds to TESOL Domains III & IV. ESL Domain III corresponds in part to TESOL Domain II.
