2 Language Teaching Theories

Dr. Sandhya Tiwari

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• In this chapter learners will understand variations among English language teaching approaches, methods and techniques.
• Learners will learn to appreciate the ELT challenges and opportunities
• Learners will develop ability to of expressing values and judgments
• Learners will learn to best meet their own needs.
• They will gain a critical knowledge of some of the fundamental principles, issues and activities involved in foreign language pedagogy, and learn how to observe, interpret and evaluate language teaching and learning in a rigorous way.
• This chapter will acquaint students with the most generally accepted theoretical and methodological theories of language teaching and learning.
• The chapter is practical, offering teachers pedagogical ideas to meet the specific needs of various ages, proficiency levels, purposes, skills, and contexts of specific language learners.

INTRODUCTION

The explosion of approaches and chapter is a prominent characteristic of contemporary language teaching as Second Language and Foreign Language. It symbolizes the strength and scope of the profession. These exploration and research resulted in various theories. Theory is an essential ingredient that guides the way in which language practitioners opine and approach teaching learning process. Theory helps to predict, explain and assess situations and possibilities, and provides a rationale to react and intervene language acquisition process. It aids in identifying the feasible approaches that have been introduced, experimented and understood. Theories often inform of the type of method that is most appropriate for use. Methods are the specific techniques and approaches that are adopted to implement to accomplish tasks and reach specific goals.

It is important that the learners and teachers acknowledge and understand their theoretical framework from established and researched theories and not from mere assumptions and beliefs that are guided by their personal or professional experiences. If teachers implement strategies based on assumptions and beliefs then learners are pushed into uncertainty and risk. The multiplicity and plurality of language learning theories owes to the fact that language learning is a complex process and is closely related to other disciplines like linguistics, sociolinguistics, psychology, sociology etc. The studies conducted in these disciplines enriches and adds to new knowledge to the domain of language teaching and learning process.

Although the process of learning a new language is generally complex it is not entirely unpredictable. Its close connection to human culture and evolution of lifestyle make it an interesting subject of study. As a result, there are various perspectives, which resulted in the multiple approaches and they in turn lead to the emergence of great many theories  attempting. Each of these theories propose to explain how learning occurs. Nevertheless, there does not seem to be even one theory that is both broad enough to account for all types of learners based on practical application orientation. Perhaps this dichotomy is the reason for the wide void between existing theories of learning and the practice of instructional design.

In addition to main theories, there are other theories that address how people learn. More than thirty five prominent theories of learning from the behavioral, cognitive, constructive, human, and social traditions were subjected to a textual review and constant comparative analysis in search of common themes that represent universal and fundamental principles of learning.

 HUMAN BRAIN AND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

When Swedish scientists used brain scans to observe the new language learning process, they discovered that learning a foreign language can increase the size of the brains. This study is part of a growing body of research using in brain imaging technologies to better understand the cognitive benefits of language learning. Advanced medical procedures like Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electrophysiology, among others, these days can identify not only whether one needs spine surgery, knee replacement, hear surgery but they also how brains responds upon hearing, understanding and producing a second language.

Figure 1:

Recent brain-based research studies have proved that people who speak more than one language fluently have better memories and are more cognitively creative and mentally flexible than monolinguals. Canadian studies suggest that Alzheimer’s disease and the onset of dementia are diagnosed later for bilinguals than for monolinguals.

BEHAVIOURISM AND LEARNING

Behaviourism is a worldview that assumes a learner, in the process of learning, responds only to stimuli. Ivan Pavlov, in 1927, started his language learning experiments through “classical conditioning.”

Pavlov demonstrated his assertions by the dog’s response to stimuli. Initially the dog only salivated when it was eating. Later Pavlov noticed the dog salivated when he carried the food into the room. He became curious as to why this change had taken place. He thought there were both learned and unlearned components to the dog’s behavior. He began experimenting with different stimuli, and if he rang a bell immediately before giving food to the dog, eventually the dog would salivate merely in response to the sound of the bell. He generated terminology to describe his observations. This became a stepping stone in the theories based on behaviour.

An unconditioned stimulus such as food, generates and instinctual reflexive, unlearned behavior, such as salivation when eating. The salivation was called an unconditioned response because it was not learned. The bell, formerly a neutral sound to the dog, become a conditioned learned stimulus and the salivation a conditioned response. Pavlov also found that the shorter the time between the stimulus and the response, the more quickly a conditioned response could be developed. Ringing the bell immediately before giving food to the dog was more effective than ringing it some longer period of time before feeding. He referred to the time between stimulus and response as contiguity of the stimulus. Other concepts developed by Pavlov were generalization, discrimination, and extinction. Pavlov described all learning in terms of classical conditioning. Later researchers disagreed with this position and demonstrated other modes of learning. We now know that we learn in many ways. Classical conditioning fails to acknowledge the active nature of an organism and its effect on the environment and other organisms in the environment.

SKINNER’S TOTAL OPERANT CONDITIONING

B.F. Skinner is perhaps the predominant figure in behavioural theory of language teaching. He was an experimental psychologist at Harvard who has developed behaviourism as a position in learning. Skinner even after contributing immensely to the field of language learning knowledge, never used the word theory to refer to his findings. He is the founder and chief proponent of the concept of Operant Conditioning.

Figure 3:

Skinner emphasized the perceivable behaviour in the study of humans, hence the term “behaviourism” aptly describes the basic field of his experiences. He rejected use of hypothetical procedures or structures to account for learning process. He preferred, in their place, the impact of behaviour to explain why the behaviour/habit continues or diminishes. He believed that any act or type of behaviour that is followed by reinforcement (positive or negative) has an increased probability of reoccurrence. Whereas, an act or behaviour that is followed by elimination or punishment has a decreased probability of re-occurrence.

In response to the findings of the discipline of psychoanalysis, Skinner asserted that the best way to evolve the field of psychology was through the application of scientific method based on experiments and not assumptions or hypothesis. He reiterated through methodically conducted experiments, observation and results that for human beings the ideal way to learn was through direct observation using senses. He rejected baseless theoretical musings without scientific validation.

According to Skinner, in the process of learning implied by a change in behaviour the first requirement is a teacher who has already identified the change to be brought and will accordingly influence the consequences to affect the probability of the resultant behaviour. Programmed instruction and behaviour modification yield the desired results over a period of time. According to Skinner, there are two kinds of reinforcers, they are:

• Primary reinforcers of those things like food and water and air
• Secondary reinforcers or things like incentive, praise and promotion etc.

Figure 4: 

Skinner’s ideas about instruction have been very influential on education and its impact will continue to be felt.

• Receiving positive reinforcement:
  • Behaviour is followed by the presentation of a positive stimulus
  • Example- Giving students rewards for completing work on time.
• Receiving negative reinforcement
  •  Behaviour is followed by the removal of an unpleasant stimulus
  •  Example- Putting on sunglasses to remove the glare of the sun; allowing students to quit working problems that don’t interest them if they follow classroom rules about maintaining silence in class.
• Receiving unpleasant stimulus/punishment
  •  Behaviour is followed by the presentation of an unpleasant stimulus
  •  Example- Spanking a child who misbehaves; assigning additional homework problems to a student who is disruptive.
• Withholding a pleasant stimulus
  • Behaviour is followed by the withholding or removal of a positive stimulus
  • Example-Not allowing a student to go out on the playground when he has not completed his work as scheduled

 COGNITIVISM: UNIVERSAL GRAMMARTHEORY

The development of universal grammar theory was during a critical period. This theory is originally based on first language acquisition. It is closely related to cognition related psychology principles. Chomsky’s theory of universal grammar, how it influences language development, and why babies might understand more than we think.

Explanation of Universal Grammar Theory

A baby can tell the difference between the words ‘mom’ and ‘mat’, without actually knowing what the two words mean. The idea that explains this is known as “Universal Grammar Theory”. This theory states that all children are born with an innate ability to acquire, develop, and understand a language. If we look at grammar as the laws of language, we could say that all humans are born with an understanding of these laws. While different languages may have different kinds of grammar, humans have a natural tendency to learn and use them.

The Universal Grammar theory claims that the speaker’s knowledge of a language such as English consists of several general principles and of the appropriate parameter settings for that language. This theory is not centrally concerned with conventional “rules”; it does not deal with the “passive”, or “relative clauses”, or any particular construction as such. In this theory rules are seen as the interaction of various principles and settings for parameters. This theory of language acquisition is essentially straightforward; it asserts, as the principles of universal grammar are in-built in the mind, the learner automatically applies them to whatever language s/he encounters. It does not matter whether the learner is faced with Japanese or English; the same principles of phrase structure apply.

The realization that very young children innately understand aspects of language has shattered the long-held belief that the mind starts as a ‘blank slate’. Behavioural psychologists had assumed that grammar and language were learned solely by listening to it being spoken. Now, the common belief is that language has an inherent genetic component and the human brain can develop grammatical language, even without being exposed to it as a baby. The man credited with this revolution is MIT linguistics professor Noam Chomsky.

Figure 5:

Noam Chomsky has made distinguished achievements in fields like linguistics, philosophy, intellectual history and international politics, etc. He is a fellow in several societies and was awarded honorary degrees from tens of universities from Cambridge University to Harvard University. However, he is best known for his contribution to the field of linguistics. Chomsky as a Junior Fellow of the Harvard University Society of Fellows, during the years 1951 to 1955, completed his doctoral dissertation titled “Transformational Analysis”. The major theoretical viewpoints of the dissertation appeared in the monograph Syntactic Structure, which was published in 1957, which later formed a part of a more extensive work, The Logical Structure of Linguistic Theory, published in 1975.

Chomsky propounded new theory as he felt in structuralism there were many limitations in the classification of language structure according to distribution and arrangement. So he started to attack the prevailing structuralist linguistics. Chomsky established the world- famous transformational-generative grammar. Chomsky hierarchy is a containment hierarchy of classes of formal grammars. This hierarchy of grammars was described by Noam  Chomsky in 1956. It is also named after Marcel-Paul Schützenberger, who played a crucial role in the development of the theory of languages. Chomsky developed the theory in the 1950s and 60s before there was scientific equipment, such as the MRI, to show brain activity. In 1957, he published his syntactic structures, which marked the beginning of the Chomskian Revolution. Chomsky believed grammar must be a universal constant in humans because of something he dubbed the poverty of stimulus. According to this theory the thrust should be interest in competence, but not performance.

GESTALT LEARNING THEORY Gestalt became one of the main theories of learning. The three main Gestalt theorists- Wertheimer, Kohler, and Koffka- were all Germans. They received their training and did their early work in Germany, but later settled in the US. The term “Gestalt” was coined by Graf Christian von Ehrenfels, whose ideas influenced the trio of theorists. It was a holistic approach that rejected the mechanistic perspectives of the stimulus – response models. Numerous new concepts and approaches emerged from this different philosophical perspective.

Figure 6:

The Gestalt theory proposes that learning consists of grasping of a structural whole and not just an impulsive, subconscious response to a stimulus. “Gestalt” is an integrated system  with its parts entangled. The concept of “Trace” proposes a mechanism for learning in which neurological changes occur as connections in the brain. These changes, called traces, represent links between thoughts, ideas, concepts, images, etc. So accordingly learning is nothing but the creation of traces. Such group of traces together form maps. Thus, acording to this theory it is proposed that the instruction has to be related to repetition in such a way that makes desired learning distinctive in order to identify related traces in a quicker and register in a lasting manner.

STEPHEN KRASHEN’S THEORY

First language acquisition generally refers to the natural learning of language which takes place in childhood, since birth; whereas, language learning, on the other hand, relates to structured and planned language instruction, as in school/college settings, at any phase of life. Acquisition is a subconscious process of uninstructed, implicit and/or natural learning.

Learning describes the conscious effort to study to understand and acquire knowledge of grammatical rules that are associated with target language of education.

According to Krashen (1987),

• “Acquisition is more related to the development of first language abilities while learning describes the development of second language abilities.”
• “Acquisition requires meaningful interaction in the target language – natural communication – in which speakers are concerned not with the form of their utterances but with the messages they are conveying and understanding.”
• “The best methods are therefore those that supply ‘comprehensible input’ in low anxiety situations, containing messages that students really want to hear. These methods do not force early production in the second language, but allow students to produce when they are ‘ready’, recognizing that improvement comes from supplying communicative and comprehensible input, and not from forcing and correcting production.”
• “In the real world, conversations with sympathetic native speakers who are willing to help the acquirer understand are very.”

What are Krashen’s Hypotheses?

Krashen’s theory of second language acquisition consists of six main hypotheses:

• the Acquisition-Learning hypothesis
• the Monitor hypothesis
• the Natural Order hypothesis
• the Input hypothesis
• the Affective Filter hypothesis
• the Reading Hypothesis

According to this, teachers should remember that certain structures of a language are easier to acquire than others; therefore, language structures should be taught in an order that is easy to grasp and conducive to learning. Teachers should start by introducing language concepts that are relatively easy for learners to understand and then gradually increase the standard/difficulty level and continue the instructional process of new concepts. Learners’ most direct source of information about the target language is the target language itself. When they come into direct contact with the target language, this is referred to as “input.” When learners process that language in a way that can contribute to learning, this is referred to as “intake”.

According to Krashen’s theory, the conducive way to learn a language is through natural communication. As a second language teacher, the ideal for the teachers should be create a situation wherein language is used in order to fulfill real life every day activities and satisfy authentic purposes. This in turn, will help students to ‘acquire’ the language instead of just ‘learning’ it.

Critical Responses to Krashen’s Theory

The general belief in the second language learning has too often been explained in terms that the primary goal of second language learning is being able to attain moderate or reasonable communicative competence. Whereas, the learner who is expected to perform at a relatively high level of sophistication in the target language will be at a disadvantage. Learning and acquiring a reservoir of vocabulary at the cost of grammar skills will harm productivity and participation, in the target language, of the learner.

This statement can be proved with reference to the skill levels of oral proficiency such as vocabulary, grammar, fluency, pronunciation etc. which characterize the Foreign Service Institute rating. Instructional procedures which stress acquisition of vocabulary at the cost of grammar rules produce the “terminal 2,” who according to studies conducted are incapable of acquiring the necessary grammar at a later time.

Error identification and correction have little or no effect on subconscious acquisition, but it takes an important place in the process of conscious learning. Error correction apparently benefits the learner to understand and practice the correct structures, forms and rules.

Example, a student of English as a second language says “I goes to temple every day”, and the teacher corrects the learner by repeating the statement correctly. Learner is made to realize that the verb /s/ ending goes with the third person and not the first person, and alter his or her conscious mental representation of the rule.

SCRIPT THEORY

Script theory is predominantly proposed to expound language processing and higher thinking skills. It is interesting to note that to demonstrate this theory a variety of computer programs have been developed. Schank (1991) applies his theoretical framework to story-telling and the development of intelligent tutors. Shank & Cleary (1995) describe the application of these ideas to educational software. The central focus of Schank’s theory has been the structure of knowledge, especially in the context of language understanding. Schank (1975) outlined contextual dependency theory which deals with the representation of meaning in sentences. Building upon this framework, Schank & Abelson (1977) introduced the concepts of scripts, plans and themes to handle story-level understanding. Later work elaborated the theory to encompass other aspects of cognition.

• Conceptualization is defined as an act or doing something to an object in a direction.
• All conceptualizations can be analyzed in terms of a small number of primative acts.
• All memory is episodic and organized in terms of scripts.
• Scripts allow individuals to make inferences and hence understand verbal/written discourse.
• Higher level expectations are created by goals and plans.

The key element of conceptual dependency theory is the idea that all conceptualizations can be represented in terms of a small number of primative acts.

In the theory proposed by Schank, all memory is episodic, that is, memory is organized around personal experiences rather than semantic categories. Generalized episodes are called scripts; specific memories are stored as pointers to scripts plus any unique events for a particular episode. Scripts allow individuals to make inferences needed for understanding by filling in missing information. Schank uses script theory as the basis for a dynamic model of memory. This model suggests that events are understood in terms of scripts, plans and other knowledges structures as well as relevant previous experiences.

Constructivist Learning Theory

The core ideas were propounded by JOHN DEWEY.Constructivism is a meta concept. It is not just another way of knowing, but a way of thinking about knowing.This communication theory suggests that each reader and and listner will use this content in his own way . This theory believes that learning is an active process an varies individual to individual.It also depends on the learners knowledge and background.Knowledge is not just out there. It is an interpretation of reality not a true representation of reality.

• Learning is a social activity.
• Learning happens in mind
• Learning is contextual.
• Learning takes time . It is not spontaneous.
• Motivation is a necessary component. 

CONCLUSION

It is interesting that the three main categories into which learning theories falls, namely – behaviourist, cognitivist and constructivist theories, are impressive in the kind of new learning they brought in the domain of language learning.

By the middle of the 20th century cognitive psychologists propounded theories that help to explain the limited effectiveness of the traditional prescriptive and mechanistic approaches to language teaching. These theories serve as a basis for the new natural-communicative approaches.

Beginning in the 1950s, Noam Chomsky and his followers challenged previous assumptions about language structure and language learning, taking the position that language is creative (not memorized), and rule governed (not based on habit), and that universal phenomena of the human mind underlie all language. This “Chomskian revolution” initially gave rise to eclecticism in teaching, but it has more recently led to two main branches of teaching approaches: the humanistic approaches based on the charismatic teaching of one person, and content-based communicative approaches, which try to incorporate what has been learned in recent years about the need for active learner participation, about appropriate language input, and about communication as a human activity. Most recently, there has been also a significant shift toward greater attention to reading and writing as a complement of listening and speaking, based on a new awareness of significant differences between spoken and written languages, and on the notion that dealing with language involves an interaction between the text on the one hand, and the culturally-based world knowledge and experientially-based learning of the receiver on the other.

Thus, language learning debates, improvisations, formulation of new theories is an ongoing process.

Reference

• Chomsky, N. 1957. Syntactic Structures. The Hague: Mouton.
• Kelly, L.G. 1969. 25 Centuries of Language Teaching. Rowley, Massachusetts: Newbury House.
• Krashen,   Stephen   D.   1987.                Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. Prentice-Hall International.
• Krashen, Stephen D. 1988. Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning. Prentice-Hall International.
• Schank, R.C. 1975. Conceptual Information Processing. New York: Elsevier.
• Schank, R.C. 1991. Tell Me a Story: A New Look at Real and Artificial Intelligence. New York: Simon & Schuster.
• Schank, R.C. & Abelson, R.1977. Scripts, Plans, Goals, and Understanding. Hillsdale. NJ: Earlbaum Assoc.
• Schank, R.C. & Cleary. C. 1995. Engines for education. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum Assoc.
• Skinner, B. F. 1957. Verbal Behaviour. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
• Stern, H.H. 1983. Fundamental Concepts of Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Stevik, E.W.   1976.    Memory,    Meaning    and    Method:    Some    Psychological Perspectives on Language Learning. Rowley, Massachusetts: Newbury House.
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