論述題

　　1. What is the role of environment in language learning according to the behaviorists? And the mentalists?

　　2. What is the main idea of the acquisition-learning hypothesis?

　　3. In what sense does foreign language teaching methodology help you in your professional development?

　　4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of grammar-translation method?

　　5. Does it always matter if the “real world” is not being practiced in the classroom? Why or why not?

　　參考答案

　　1. In the behaviorist view, children imitate the language of their environment to a considerable degree, and imitation is a strong contribution factor in the language learning process. A consequence of this is that the frequency with which words and structures occur in the language of the environment, will influence the language development of the child. In addition, reinforcement is needed to arrive at a higher level of language proficiency. Parental approval is an important type of reinforcement in the language learning process: when a child produces a grammatically correct utterance which is understood by its environment, approval from the parents may serve as reinforcement for such an utterance. In this way, the environment encourages the child to produce grammatical utterances, while not encouraging ungrammatical utterances.

　　The linguist Norm Chomsky claims that children are biologically programmed for language and that language develops in the child in just the same way that other biological functions develop. For example, every child will learn to walk as long as adequate nourishment and reasonable freedom of movement are provided. The child does not have to be taught; most children learn to walk at about the same time; and walking is essentially the same in all normal human beings. For Chomsky, language acquisition is very similar to the development of walking. The environment makes a basic contribution --- in this case, the availability of people who speak to the child. The child, or rather, the child’s biological endowment, will do the rest. This is known as the innatist position. Chomsky developed his theory in reaction to the behaviorist theory of learning based on imitation and habit formation.

　　2. Krashen maintained that adult L2 learners have at their disposal two distinct and independent ways of developing competence in a second language: acquisition and learning. Acquisition is a subconscious process identical in all important ways to the process children utilize in acquiring their first language, and learning is a conscious process that results in knowledge about language. Acquisition comes about through meaningful interaction in a natural communication setting. Speakers are not concerned with form, but with meaning; nor is there explicit concern with error detection and correction. This contrasts with the language learning situation in which error detection and correction are central, as is typical the case in classroom settings, where formal rules and feedback provide the basis for language instruction.

　　Nontheless, for Krashen, it is not the setting per se, but conscious attention to rules that distinguishes language acquisition from language learning. In the natural setting, an adult can obtain formal instruction by asking informants about grammar and by receiving feedback from friends. Similarly, language can be acquired in the classroom when the focus in on communication --- eg. through dialogues, role-playing, and other forms of meaningful interaction.

　　3. A foreign language teacher has to not only make his students understand the language, namely the pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, etc., he must also develop their communicative competence so that they can use the language they have learned correctly, appropriately and expressively in real situations. In order to do well this complicated job, the teacher needs to know, apart from a comprehensive knowledge of the language and the ability to use it, as many teaching methods and techniques as possible, and understand the underlying theories and principles, therefore he not only knows what to teach and how to do it, but also why he should do it in a certain way and how to solve problems when they arise. In this way he will have full confidence in doing his job well.