Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Week five materials

Open with an inductive activity re: affective filter.

http://web.ku.edu/tesl/ct822_lesson5.htm
  • What's a wug test? What's it tell us?
  • The acquisition vs. learning dichotomy (or is it?): Here to stay or a flash in the pan?
  • What can you tell me about the Contrastive Analysis hypothesis (it has shown up on comp. exams).
  • Is there a theoretical basis for addressing particular grammar structures first? Do grammar texts tend to be organized in similar order? Gregg P. 8
  • Anyone familiar with Vygotsky? Any similarity to i + 1?
  • What does QED , QNED and ceteris Paribus mean (pronunciation)?
  • Use "counter intuitive" correctly in a sentence related to SLA.
  • What about fossilization? Does Krashen's theory account for it?

Don't forget to weigh in on your preferences for testing on the comments section of the PREVIOUS blog post.

Note the new links provided to your right.

2 comments:

Lindsay Medina said...

I'm wondering if we could have some of your questions before class and reading the material. I typically enjoy the reading and synthesize information that applies to "my" reality. Then I come to class and read the discussion questions and feel as if I barked up the wrong tree. If I knew the questions before I read the text/articles, then maybe I would read the articles/text with more direction, and not for pure enjoyment. As I finish the first 1/2 of the readings for this week, I am wondering....What questions will be asked in class? How much class time will be devoted to last weeks' questions vs. this weeks' questions? Did I read the important information that will be discussed or did I spend too much time reading information that is not pertinent to class discussions? Will I look like I didn't do the readings because I don't know the answers to the right questions? Are we always going to be a week behind since the snow day?

William James said...

Thanks for the commment and the opportunity it affords me to talk about some of my thoughts.

I'd like the members of the class to think more like a teacher/co-learner/ member of the discourse community that is Second language. I wish to shift the onus of classroom discussion away from a teacher centered model.

How can we learn what you think is relevant? How can we better share your thoughts with the class?

The teacher shouldn't be the sole source arbiter of relevance.


That said, go to http://web.ku.edu/tesl/ct822_lesson6.htm#2 and find discussion questions based exclusively on teh readings for this week (next week?). They've already been posted for the entire year. go to http://web.ku.edu/tesl/ct822_lessons.htm and follow the links for individual weekly plans. If you're prepared for these questions we'll all know you did the reading.


The questions I post to the wiki or blog are additional quesitons and are aimed to draw your own personal experiences and attitudes out and apply them to the matierial we discuss. I generally get those posted to the blog at least 24 hours in advance - but not always. Since those supplemental questions focus on personal experiences and beliefs - there shouldn't be too much need for advance preparation. Indeed that might be conducive to canned or scripted responses and therefore less authentic dialogue.

Think, when you read about how what you read relates to your experience and beliefs. Worry less about the one correct answer and more about figuring out what you think and how you can support and defend your beliefs - using research from our readings to support your opinions.

Thanks for your comment. This is a discussion we need to have as a class.

The question about snow day and being behind is relevant. We need to think about what is important and what can be treated more quickly.