I cannot believe it! but the end is coming... enjoy the last days!!

 Some tips to have in mind!!

Good luck!!

 

Hello!! today I want to share this video with you. It is about learning styles...

Hello!! I want to share this page about the relationship between Listening & Reading Comprehension with you... I hope you can find it helpful...

http://study.com/academy/lesson/relationship-between-listening-reading-comprehension.html

FLA and SLA

Hi! Today I want to share this interesting video about FLA and SLA. Although FLA speaker is a constructivist one she delivered an interesting First language acquisittion point of view. Both speakers are very nice speakers and we can enjoy a comparation between the two topics listening to them.

Hope you like it!!

Hello!! I want to share this page about language acquisition with you...
I hope you enjoy it!!

study.com/.../what-is-language-acquisition-theories-.

Happy Winter Holidays!!

Second Language Acquisition

Can we predict which people will be better at learning foreing languages? Interesting...

http://brainblogger.com/2016/06/26/can-we-predict-which-people-will-be-better-at-learning-foreign-languages/

Noam Chomsky theory - FLA

One of our lessons we were invited to reflect on Noam Chomsky’s Language Acquisition theory. Below you can watch a video in which this famous linguist is interviewed about his argument against behaviourism theory by BBC broadcast. There he looks younger than now as it is not a very recent video.

I’ve come to this conclusion:

During the first half of the twentieth century language was seen under the terms of behaviourism. People concerned to explain language thought that language was a habit incorporated through a process of a response to stimuli, and that it could be reinforced. During the 1960’s, the American linguist, Noam Chomsky developed his theory of LAD and UG. His theory completely changed the traditional way of studying language. Innatism underpinned other theories. One of the problems was that language experiments were very difficult to carry out and it couldn´t be thoroughly tested keeping in mind that the subjects were human babies. Chomsky’s theory was perfect in that context and it has been studied many years being the most outstanding one.

As language evolves we need to take into account new aspects of acquiring a language. In my opinion new theories need to be taken into account in order to enlarge Chomsky’s ideas. What Chomsky developed during the 60’s was a great start to know how a language is acquired. However, the brain is almost a mystery and we still need to continue researching in order to come to a better understanding of how brain works.

No matter if we have different opinions. Your contributions are welcomed!

My critical view about Chomsky’s First Language Acquisition theory

Chomsky’s First Language Acquisition theory was a controversial theory through the late sixties. After several studies his theory was quite accepted.Chomsky's research and influence on linguistics changed and modernized the discipline. For many years there has been a battle among linguists as to whether language acquisition is innate or learned. Chomsky argues that language acquisition is an innate structure, or function, of the human brain. 
Although it is known that there are structures of the brain that control the interpretation and production of speech, it was not clear as to how humans acquired language ability, both in its interpretive sense and its production. This is where Noam Chomsky made his contribution. 

             There are a few factors that Chomsky has used to support his theory of language acquisition. First, the child does not need a trigger to begin language acquisition, it happens on its own. The parent does not need to coax the child to speak, if he or she is around language production, the child will work to produce that language on its own. Several things may help the child develop faster, such as the parent producing baby talk, or being read to on a consistent basis. But these things only have a small effect, and if they are not done, the child will still eventually learn to speak without them. 

             Another factor found is that it does not matter if a child is corrected; he or she still grasp the language in the same manner and speak the same way. During one stage, a child will make things plural that are already plural. For example, a child will say geeses instead of geese. It does not matter how many times a child is corrected, the child still says geeses. In one documented case, a child, after being corrected several times by the mother to say feet instead of feets, looked at the mother, said "ohh," as if she understood and then proceeded to say feets. 

          Another important feature is that children go through stages of language acquisition in which they learn certain parts of the language. They all go through these stages approximately the same time, around the same age. A child in China will follow the same linguistic patterns of language acquisition as a child in the United States. It is with these observations, along with knowledge about neurological structures that control linguistic communication and interpretation that Chomsky argues that language is innately organized. 

According to Chomsky´s theory, Universal Grammar is constructed with a number of universal principles. One of the most significant principles is structure dependency. This principle states that every sentence in every language must have at least a subject and a verb. What distinguish one language from another are the parameters. For instance, one parameter in the LAD is head setting. For example, some languages such as English are head first; others such as Japanese are head last.

Several arguments have been used to support the existence of Universal Grammar. For example, Chomsky opposed Skinner’s theory of language acquisition. Skinner believes that the acquisition of a language is throughout the input children receive, which is positively or negatively reinforced. In response to that, Chomsky has proposed the poverty of stimulus arguments, stating that the input children receive cannot be the reason for the language children produce. For instance, how do children acquire a language when they don’t know what they can’t say?  How do they learn to speak correctly when the input they receive is sometimes incorrect? According to Chomsky, they do so through an innate capacity. Considering the previous debate, I believe that the only possible explanation is innateness. I strongly agree with Chomsky’s idea of universal grammar.

     To conclude, despite the strong arguments against Chomsky’s theory of language acquisition, I find his theory the most tenable one I have studied. I support innatism and its principles and parameters theory. Apart from the sound logical basis of the theory I have been able to witness the language acquisition process of my own children.  They were able to say words that they had never heard by the simple exposure to the language. Another reason to support this theory is that it has been proved that particular languages such as American Sign Language also have their own language structure which enables deaf children to acquire a language. Chomsky’s work about language is one of the most significant theories in the history of language.

Winter is here!!!

First Language acquisition

Today I want to share with you an interest video about First language acquisition. Steven Pinker is delivering the lesson. LAD and The principle of UG from Chomsky's theory is present in his explanation. I hope you enjoy it!

Macrofunctions/ micofunctions table.

Hi! today I'm sharing another table with a technology related task and its corresponding macrofunctions/microfunctions examples.

Task	Macrofunctions	Microfunctions	Grammar
Read some articles about renewable energy and make a power point presentation mentioning the advantages and disadvantages of using this kind of resources. Also, explain why they are more sustainable along the time.	Exchanging goods and services.	Comparing Analyzing Making a choice	Comparative structures. It´s better to use….than… Because….

A nice way to present colours to our students...

A bit of humour... Happy Friday!!

TASKS	MACROFUNCTIONS	MICROFUNCTIONS	GRAMMAR
Create a blog and post some information related to “technology” every week giving your own opinion about the advantages and disadvantages of it.	Exchanging goods and services.	Asking for and giving suggestions.	Wh questions. Yes/No questions. Modal verbs. Comparatives and superlatives

If you feel that you don´t have more ideas...here you have some interesting ones!
 https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/teaching-teens/resources/activities

I hope you enjoy them....See you!!

Peformance

Hi! 
Today we want to share with you a funny comic.

Have you ever been in a similar situation? Think about competence and performance...Why do you think we can think and understand in a different way from the one we speak? Sometimes what a learner knows is different from what he can actually use in his speech. Take this into account when you plan your lessons.
Have you all a nice week!!

To be a teacher...

I want to share this reflection with you, for those who enjoy this great profession...

Have a nice weekend!

Welcome!

Hi everybody!! We are Florencia and Nadia, students at the TTC in Escobar, Bs. As., Argentina. We are together in this exciting trip which is learning and teaching this interesting language.
The purpose of this blog is to share thoughts, reflections, videos, information and all kind of resources with students of English, teachers and teachers to be who are interested in learning and teaching this incredible language. 
All your participation is welcomed and we hope to have a wonderful experience !

Cheers!!