Page 18 - Teaching English at Primary Level: From Theory into the Classroom

Key Principles

Table 1.1 Learning and Acquisition
Learning Acquisition
• Learners consciously internalise the target • A subconscious process, similar to the way
language a child acquires L1 (‘picking up’ a language)
• Learners learn the rules of a language and • Children are unaware of grammatical rules,
can talk about them they use the language for everyday needs
• Learners are exposed to the target language • Exposure to natural communication is neces-
in a classroom environment sary
• Errors are often corrected • Errors are sometimes corrected
In practice both should happen at the same time

differences between their first language and the target language. Finally, as
Krashen points out (1982, in Lightbown & Spada 2013, p. 106),

weacquireasweareexposedtosamplesofthesecondlanguagewhich
we understand. This happens in much the same way that children pick
up their first language – without conscious attention to language form.
We learn, on the other hand, via a conscious process of study and at-
tention to form and rule learning.

Table 1.1 gives an overview of the main characteristics of the processes of
learning and acquisition.

The Identity Hypothesis
The identity hypothesis is based on the assumption that the process of learn-
ing a foreign language is essentially the same as learning the mother tongue.
This means that the best way to teach a second language (L2) would be by
imitating the way children acquire their first language (L1), or in other words,
by recreating natural conditions in the language classroom aimed at facili-
tating learning rather than interfering with the learning process. It has been
argued that several parallels can be found in L1 and L2 acquisition, such as
the existence of a silent period, structural and semantic simplification, the
use of language formulas and the order in which the structural elements of
language are acquired. However, the identity hypothesis disregards the fact
that there are also some obvious differences in the way learners acquire the
two languages and that we need to consider the learner’ age, their previous
knowledge, their cognitive capacity, and several other elements. For exam-
ple, while children learning an L1 always go through a kind of silent period
(see 2.1), adults learning an L2 usually do not. Aside from these reservations,

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