I’m sure as language teachers that this thought goes through our head a fair bit. It’s not a difficult decision for most languages since there is the standard. And yes, while there are varying dialects and accents, there is typically the one golden standard that we can revert to. Let our students fall back on if they want to work their new tongue in a familiar and intelligible style.
The problem here is that English doesn’t have this golden standard. There are just too many standards to count. The powerhouses are British English (BE) and General American English (GAE), with some others gaining popularity and credibility – Canadian English, Australian English, Irish English, and so on. On top of these we also have the concept of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) that has some momentum thanks to linguists. Click here to read more.. »
As Nayoung and I have just had our first baby boy – Leon Jaewoo – I may as well do a write up on multilingual children and the common methods surrounding the raising of them. Obviously, we would love for our boy to grow up as a coordinate bilingual of English and Korean… but how are we going to do it? Click here to read more.. »
What are the aims in the classroom when we teach pronunciation? Or more importantly, what should the aims be?
Many a school policy is designed to teach the “native” model of pronunciation, but is this a realistic notion? Not only does research suggest that the so-called “native” models of English are amongst the least intelligible but the model itself is often unattainable. Click here to read more.. »
Krashen introduced the theory that we acquire language via comprehensible input. That is to say that if we are exposed to language at a level we understand then we can begin to acquire it. This ties in with my strong support of Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development, which can be basically broken down by saying that if we understand around 90% of what is presented then we can fill in the blanks for the remaining 10%.
There is also the premise in Krashen’s Input Hypothesis that the learner doesn’t need to produce the language until they are ready to do so. The focus is on received the language and understanding. Many language programs work within these guidelines; Assimil promotes the passive wave and active wave philosophy, which is practically the same as a focus on input and not producing the language for quite some time. There are a number of polyglots that work within these guidelines also. The first that springs to mind is Steve Kaufman, who has no interest in speaking until he feels he ready to do. Click here to read more.. »
This is a difficult question to answer. As teachers we like to think that we know, but do we actually know?
Personally, I have my doubts. I mean sure, we know how we are supposed to teach and what we are supposed to teach, but each student is an individual and pleasing everybody all of the time is near impossible. Click here to read more.. »
