intelligence in elt

7/21/2019 Intelligence in ELT

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PERSPECTIVE ON SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING:

A COMPLEX SOCIO –CULTURAL PHENOMENON

-ABSTRACT-The Second language learning, which is associated with Teaching,

Development and Instruction, is a complex socio-cultural phenomenon with

different variales concerning the ps!chological factors of the learners and the

socio-cultural elements of the contexts"

An interactional approach to second language learning can ensure that a social

perspective of second language development and instruction contriutes to

having a positive effect on the nature and #ualit! of language learning ，which

activates the autonomous learning motivation and creates diversit! in the

learning atmosphere"

Recentl! research on developing socio-cultural and linguistic competences

simultaneousl! in the language classroom is gaining increasing attention from

$nglish %oreign &anguage practitioners and curriculum designers" The

understanding of language as a social phenomenon has increased greatl!

ecause of language teaching classrooms are diversified with learners,teachers,

institutions, cultures, contexts and pedagogies "

The environment in which a learner operates contains ver! rich resources of

language" Therefore, there is need for exploring the potentials of grammatical

structure, meaning, varieties and overall assimilations of stated features into

language development

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PERSPECTIVES ON SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING :

A COMPLEX SOCIO – CULTURAL PHENOMENON

PERSPECTIVE ON SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING:

A COMPLEX SOCIO –CULTURAL PHENOMENON

Introduction:

The Second language learning, which is associated with Teaching,

Development and Instructions is a complex socio-cultural phenomenon with

different variales concerning the ps!chological factors of the learners and the

socio-cultural elements of the contexts "An interactional approach to second

language learning can ensure that a social perspective of second language

development and instruction contriutes to having a positive effect on the

nature and #ualit! of language learning ， which activates the autonomous

learning motivation and creates diversit! in the learning atmosphere"

Recentl! research on developing socio-cultural and linguistic competences

simultaneousl! in the language classroom is gaining increasing attention from$nglish %oreign &anguage practitioners (curriculum designers" The

understanding of language as a social phenomenon has increased greatl!

ecause of language teaching classrooms are diversified with

learners，teachers, institutions, cultures, contexts and pedagogies．Consensus has een made that interactions etween teachers and learners in

the learning processes have an effect on the nature and #ualit! of language

learning ，and that )no language teaching and learning ta*es place however ，in

a classroom which is isolated from the world of experiences and personal

engagements and investments of learners outside the classroom itself+

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The environment in which a learner operates contains ver! rich resources of

language" Therefore there is need for exploring the potentials of grammatical

structure, meaning, varieties and overall assimilations of stated features intolanguage development"

Sociolinguitic! which concerns )the field that studies the relation etween

language and societ!, etween the uses of language and the social structures in

which the users of language live+：examines how social issues affect language

use in a particular societ! ，how the same language varies from different

variales as well as how particular cultures prefer some *inds of language over

others"

n the other hand, Sociolinguistics explores how language is used in face-to-

face communication and interaction"

Pr"ctic"l "nd Socio # cultur"l $%r$%cti&% on l"ngu"g% l%"rning．

A t'%or%tic"l ("c)ground

&anguages are learned in social contexts ecause language is a onding

component of the social mechanism" There is a strong influence from social

aspects concerned with the special relation of culture, famil! ac*ground and

learner ． Recent theoretical research on second language learning of an! *ind

ta*ing place in a social context includes components of social integration and

sufficient contacts with the second language group and of foundations in

socio-cultural theor! and ethnographic practice．

Social factors are therefore, assumed to influence second language learning intwo essential wa!s ：t'% oci"l $ro&iion o* l"ngu"g% l%"rning itu"tion "nd

o$$ortuniti% " +%ll " t'% conit%nt incr%"ing o* intr"$%ron"l

&"ri"tion

,irt o* "ll ，the sociolinguistic view of %cond l"ngu"g% d%&%lo$-%nt is

strongl! in harmon! with the interaction view held ! some ps!chologists ，

which )represent a wide range of theories aout the relative contriutions of

innate structures of the human mind and the environment which provides the

samples of the language to e learned+． .hile the Swiss ps!chologist /iaget

argued that learners had ac#uired language through ph!sical interaction with

the environment ，the ps!chologist 0!gots*!（1234）held that thought was

essentiall! internali5ed speech and speech emerged in social interaction． Similarl! ，as $llis（1226） suggests the understanding of how interactional

modifications affect the comprehensiilit! of texts ；$vel!n 7atch

（1228），Teresa /ica（1226）and 9ichael&ong（124:）contend that much

second language ac#uisition ta*es place through conversational interaction

with regard to propositions such as ：interactional modification ma*es input

comprehensile ；comprehensile input promotes ac#uisition ；therefore ，

interactional modification promotes ac#uisition．

Sociolinguitic r%%"rc' on %cond l"ngu"g% d%&%lo$-%nt:

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In addition ，sociolinguistic research on second language development is

concerned specificall! with the complexities of individual learner variales

with reference to external )ocio#cultur"l *"ctor "nd iu% o* l%"rn%rid%ntiti%. ，which are relevant to the influences of int%llig%nc% "ttitud%

$%ron"lit/ "nd indi&idu"lit/ -oti&"tion l%"rn%r $r%*%r%nc% "nd "g%

in second language learning （&ightown ＆Spada1222）．Bell（1246） points

out that the intra spea*er variation can e derived from the inter spea*er or

culture or social variation ，so each group differentiates its variet! of

opportunities to express their opinions ，suggestions ，or taste to share

language from others and its second language learning ailit! is suse#uentl!

valued ! itself and others"

Int%llig%nc%

Intelligence is )a culturall! derived astraction that memers of an! givensociet! coin to ma*e sense of oserved differences in performance of

individuals within and etween social groups+． According to

Thomas（1226）there are eight *inds of intelligence ，namel!

i0 Linguitic int%llig%nc%

ii0 Logic"l #-"t'%-"tic"l int%llig%nc%

iii0 1odil/ )in%t'%tic int%llig%nc%

i&0 S$"ti"l int%llig%nc%

&0 Muic"l int%llig%nc%

&i0 Int%r$%ron"l int%llig%nc%

&ii0 Intr"$%ron"l int%llig%nc%&iii0 N"tur"lit int%llig%nc% "nd

i20 E-otion"l int%llig%nc% 3Dr4 P%t%r S"lo&%/ 5 Dr4 6o'n M"/%r! 78890

Attitud%

An attitude is considered to e a propert! of an individual personalit! ，less

enduring than temperament ut more enduring than a motive or a mood

（Thomas 1234）．%actors that ma! contriute to a learner ’s attitude towards

second language learning are related to cognitive ，affective and cognitive

components （Thomas1234;

P%ron"lit/ "nd Indi&idu"lit/4

P%ron"lit/ refers to the thin*ing and ehavior that is directed outward and in

ward （$!senc* ,123< ；=anssen ＆>raows*i 122:）．/ersonali5ation activities

provide the learners their real life experiences or ideas ，and to appl! their

issues or concerns to some controversial topics． Individualit! implies )a

situation where learners are given a measure of freedom to choose how and

what the! learnt at an! particular time+（?r 122@ ：8::）．

Indi&idu"li"tion activities allow the learners to act at their own pace ，in

their own manner and st!le ( on the topics or content of their own choice．

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Moti&"tion

9otivation involves )the attitudes and affective states that influence the degree

of effort that learners ma*e to learn an &8+（

$llis 1223：3）．

>enerall!spea*ing, four *inds of motivation have mainl! een identified ：

intru-%nt"l! int%gr"ti&%,intrinic "nd %2trinic（>ardner ＆&amert 1238 ；

Deci123）"L%"rn%r’ -oti&"tion "nd $r%*%r%nc% in language learning are

generall! due to their learning st!le and eliefs that influence the strategies

chosen for them to stud!" Their preferale and intentional ehaviours and

thoughts engaged during learning will affect their language encoding process"

Ag%

The idea that there is an age factor in second language development has long

een a suect of deate． Biologicall! it is argued that there is a specific and

limited time period for language ac#uisition called the Critical /eriod7!pothesis and so on had reported that the age of starting to learn a second

language earlier showed a noticeale influence on accent" 7owever ,regarding

the cognitive ,affective and environmental perspectives in second language

development ，the age factor will e filled with complicated explanations"

Ad&"nt"g% o* " oci"l $%r$%cti&% on %cond l"ngu"g% "c;uiition

A social perspective of second language ac#uisition focuses on the learning

process with the goal of exploring the *inds of classroom tas*s that appear tofacilitate second language learning．The purpose of these tas*s is to ta*e into

account the interpla! etween the content of the curriculum and the process !

which it is reali5ed． Therefore ，in the process of accomplishing instructional

oectives ，classroom interactive processes ta*e place among the participants

and lead to the creation of a whole range of learning opportunities which ma!

cause man! unexpected contriutions ，thus creating great advantages

considered to e the reali5ation of communicative competence as well as

performance in relevant social situation"（Slimani,8<<1）．A-$li*/ing o$$ortuniti% "nd to$ic

The social perspective of second language development encourages interactivelearning ．B! learning interactivel! or collaorativel! ，learners are assigned to

learn ! group or pair wor* ，in which the! participate and support each other"

This increases opportunities for the learners to tal* ． 9oreover,through

the oservation of the classroom contriutions from the learner ，the teacher

collects more t!pical topics that are of interest to the learner "7ence, the

learner is an active part of the classroom planning rather than ust an inactive

passivel! fed receiver ． /rovo*ing more negotiation of meaning, also !

wor*ing in pairs or groups ，without the instructor ’s control， the learners sense

a relaxed learning atmosphere of casualness without threat or competition．

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The! will displa! their ailities to their est to interact with colleagues for

support or ideas and to express their own points of view in order to negotiate

meanings in the light of their own contexts，thus creating amounts ofcomprehensile input" （=acos ＆7all 8<<8）．

/romoting thin*ing, interactive and cooperative learning has learning

oectives that are academic, affective and social． &earners implementing

those tas*s are compelled not onl! to thin* of their own ut also of their group

memers as well ．Team wor* offers challenges for the learner to choose a est

response among several options to ma*e decisions and to anal!5e arguments

or generate insights into particular meanings and interpretations ! critical

thin*ing （&ee9aureen＆=acos1224）, Catering for the specific needs of

different learners"

L"ngu"g% D%&%lo$-%nt "nd IntructionA Soci"l P%r$%cti&% on S%condL"ngu"g% D%&%lo$-%nt "nd Intruction assist the learners in fostering an

intrinsic motivation and a desire to invest effort in the learning for its own

sa*e" Then the! will) find their own wa! ，ta*ing charge of their

learning+，and) ma*e their own opportunities for practice in using the

language inside and outside the classroom+（Brown 8<<1 ：8<2）．

Moti&"tion "nd Int%r%t V"ri"tion tudi%

$stalishing motivation and interest variation studies have found that

motivation is ver! strongl! related to achievement in language learning （e．g"

>ardener ＆&amert 1238 ；>ardner 124<）． A social perspective on second

language learning ma*es language learning a deepl! social and cultural aspect

that re#uires the incorporation of a wide range of comprehensive contents ：t'%

L< cultur% ，the learner ’s life experience and famil! ac*ground ，individual

personalities and learning st!les ， ps!chological and linguistic factors ，which

ring some specific and organic contents into the classroom （Dorn!ei,8<<1）"

These contents can not onl! e adapted for multilevel learners ：from the

elementar! to the advanced ， ut also e used to alwa!s ensure a more

unpredictale ，diverse ，meaningful， interesting and vivid output ，thus

stimulating the learner ’s motivation and their longing for participation in the

language classroom"

Producing or"l *lu%nc/

The interactions among the learners in the classroom provide ade#uate

activities for each participant to air their voices" It also oliges the learners to

open their mouths and tal* fre#uentl!． 7ence ，there are more chances for the

learners to practice rather than ust to listen to the teacher ． Their ailit! to

spea* is improved" 9onitoring what was learned in a collaorative classroom

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，learners contriute to each other and are made more aware of their own ；the!

can in fact do a sustantial proportion of the monitoring on their own．

9oreover，classroom interaction offers an operational wa! of understandingwhat the learners perceive the! have learned ，which) ma*es it possile to

relate learning claims to the immediate environment from which the! emerged

in order to see if it is possile to estalish a relationship+（Slimani 8<<1 ：

842）．

Cr%"ting " $oiti&% -utu"l l%"rning %n&iron-%nt

Classroom d!namics can provide a comprehensive feedac* from the learners,

such as ：a wide diversit! of opinions, references, values, man! different

experiences and st!les of learning． The rich dissimilar feedac* compels the

instructors to adust their teaching pedagog! in accordance with the learners

demand and interest ，evaluate their learners’ receptive and productive

competence ，and develop their professional techni#ue to meet the challengesin a etter wa! ．7ence a positive mutual learning classroom climate etween

the teacher and the learner can e created that promotes genuine language

learning,

M%t'odolog/ o* t%"c'ing 5 Curriculu-:

%rom the aove mentioned theories and advantages ，it is inferred that thefollowing deserve consideration ． /roposals for tas*-ased language teaching4

The process-oriented sociolinguistic approach provides impetus for the

development of tas*-ased language teaching ．/roponents of tas*-ased

language teaching point out that second language ac#uisition research shows

that successful language learning involves learners in negotiation of meaning．

In the process of negotiating with a spea*er of the target language ，the learner

receives the *ind of input needed to facilitate learning．

Curriculu- r%&i%+=

Curriculum should e designed in proportion to the learners receptive capacit!

( development needs, further sustainal! of his motivation needs to e

received incorporating state of the art" It is proposed that classroom tas*s that

involve negotiation of meaning should form the asis of the language teaching

curriculum and that tas*s can e used to facilitate practice of oth language

forms and communicative functions． A comprehensive curriculum of

assistance of one form or another The classroom implementation curriculum

firstl! needs to ta*e into account one form of assistance ，that is ，the

contextual information which includes careful thoughts aout the different

variales of the &earner ’s performances ，the socio cultural settings and the

exposure to the second language．

7owever, amitious teaching contain ma! e inade#uate deliver! mechanism

7



method e devised suitale fitted in the frame wor* of teaching"

7ere, I suggest that teacher need to follow up participating ( contextuali5e

teaching" This ma! ta*e the use of Audio 0isual teaching ( group d!namics,dialogue method and interactive approaches with relevant cognitive exercises"

Concluion

A social perspective approach to second language development examines) the

relationship etween societ! and second language learning+ ．It high lights the

specific social factors that affect second language learning, Although second

language learning is a complex phenomenon with different variales

concerning the ps!chological factors of the learner and the socio-cultural

elements of the contexts ，the interactional approach to second language

learning still ensures a successful method which ma*es sense in the languageclassroom ．B! viewing the advantages and teaching implications of the

sociolinguistic approach ，it can e concluded that a social perspective of

second language development contriutes to setting up a climate of mutual

learning oth for the teacher and the learners ， which activates the

autonomous learning motivation and creates diversit! in the learning

atmosphere．

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