Bb-assignments

Chapter 1: Bb assignment 1

Quote 1
"Language is the dress of thought" by Samuel Johnson
This quote appeals to me because I believe we use language to express our thoughts and feelings to other people. In my opinion almost every thought has to do with emotion. Words are needed to express these emotions to achieve the desired purpose. Every person is unique and we are all different, so every person needs to express (or dress, according to Johnson) their thoughts/emotion in another way. People need to find the perfect dress for their thoughts/emotions in order to communicate in a way that is satisfying.


Quote 2
"A different language is a different vision of life" by Federico Fellini

This quote appeals to me because I believe learning  another language helps to understand the culture, tradition and history of the country where the language is spoken. In this way, language gives people insight in another country.  It's deepens the understanding of the learners own language and culture better.  This will broaden their horizon and will make them open-minded.


My own definition:
"Language is what distinguishes us from animals"


Chapter 1: Bb assignment 2

Language acquisition vs. language learning
Language acquisition is a subconscious process. When the learner is acquiring a language they are unaware of grammatical rules. The learner will get a feel for what is and what isn't correct. Every person will acquire at least one language, this is the mother tongue. Acquiring language will enable a learner to communicate in the language.  Learning a language is the result of direct instruction in the rules of language. The learner has conscious knowledge of the new language and can talk about that knowledge. Learning a language does not mean that a learner can communicate in the language. And the most important reason to learn a language is for communication.  It is better to learn the language (to acquire) then to learn about the language.


Chapter 1: Bb assignment 3

Practise makes perfect in this case!  The more you speak, the more you will be able to create new sentences and have interesting conversations.  Creativity is triggered when you need language in order to get something done. The best practise is done in situations where you are forced to speak the language. This can be when visiting the country where the language is spoken or when you are speaking to a native speaker.


Chapter 1: Bb assignment 4
Where does language come from? 
There has been allot of research to figure out when people started talking. Still there is no theory found that really proves the way language has developed. What we do know is that people started speaking in order to communicate their thoughts to other persons.  This believe stresses the importance of communication in L2 classes. L2 teaching should be focussed on the importance of the communication aspect of language. Through communication pupils will feel the need to learn new words. This need is very important in L2 classes for the pupil already have words for things and persons in their daily life.


Chapter 1: Bb assignment 5

Does a person think language?
I do think in language and also in images. But I only see an image of something in my mind when I think the word for it first. I think in the language I use at that moment. I was raised bilingual. I think Frisian when I speak Frisian, I think Dutch when I speak Dutch and I think English when I speak English.
But when I am not speaking any language ( when I am alone)  I always think in my mother tongue Frisian.
Thinking goes faster than speaking, for thinking is unlimited and when a person is speaking he needs to measure his words before speaking.


Chapter 1: Bb assignment 6

Do you dream language?
Mostly I dream in images, but I do communicate with other people during this dream. I can remember what people said to me in my dreams. Sometimes I only remember the emotions I felt during the dream.

 I do believe blind and deaf people dream. Every person needs to dream to process the experiences of the day. Blind people can not dream in images for they have never seen. I think they dream emotions. They feel better because their other senses are stronger developed to compensate for the lack of sight.
I believe deaf people can dream in images but not in spoken language, I think that they use sign language (if they have learnt to use it) to communicate in their dreams.


Chapter 2: Bb- assignment 10
When did I learn my second (or third) language?
I have been bilingual as long as I can remember. I grew up in a small town in the province Friesland, and the first language I acquired was Frisian. I don't remember when I started to speak Dutch. I think I started speaking Dutch when I went to school. Though I speak Dutch on a native level, Frisian is my mother tongue and I prefer to speak Frisian over Dutch. When I speak Dutch you can hear a Frisian accent.
I believe that both language were acquired and not learned.

My first experience with a third language was when I was 10 years old. My Canadian relatives visited us and I remember I was fascinated to listen to this "strange" language. I wanted to learn how to speak this language too! 

In the last class of elementary school we spent one hour a week on English. We learned simple words. The teacher used objects and pictures to introduce these words to us, we only learned the meaning of the words.
I think this method was based on the Audio-Lingual Method because we only learned the word for an object or person. We were "drilled" to know the word of these object.

I was 12 when I went to secondary school. Here I was taught German, French and English. I didn't like German and French at all.  I got good grades for this classes but I cannot speak more then one or two words in this language. I only learned to use this languages for a short period.  English on the other hand was one of my favourite classes all through secondary school. I remember we had a very strict teacher. Everybody in school was a little afraid of him, including myself. But he was a very good English teacher.

I remember that the focus of our English classes was on writing, reading and listening. The teacher would speak Dutch to us and sometimes English.
 We had to write essays about a certain topic and there were a lot of translating exercises in our course book. Almost every lesson we had to read out loud in class. Our teacher would give people turns in reading.

Listening to tapes was a big thing.  I spend a lot of time listening for context clues.
We were drilled to learn grammar rules. For example I can still remember that I had to learn irregular verbs like: Be-was-been, become-became-become, begin-began-begun etc. These patterns are planted in my brain.
In my secondary school English classes there was no room for communication. No freedom to interact with classmates. Speaking was not an important skill, the emphasize was on reading, listening and writing by using the Grammar Translation Method and the Audio-Lingual Method.

I learned to speak English very well during secondary school, but it wasn't because of the methods which were used in my English classes. I learned more through listening to English on radio and television, and by speaking English with my Canadian relatives. This really helped me to improve my communication skills.


Chapter 2: Bb- assignment 11

My own experiences
I haven't started with my internship so I cannot reflect on my experiences as a teacher. However, by doing this module I have read a lot about teaching vocabulary and learned a lot about language acquisition.
The most interesting part was to see how  "zeitgeist" can change the opinions people have towards learning, and to see how every theory has left their little footprint in the methods used in ESL classes today.
In modern ESL classes we still see a little Behaviourism, a little Cognitivism and a lot of Constructivism.
These learning theories are the foundation of all teaching methods.

As a teacher I would use the eclectic method because this includes direct and indirect teaching methods.
I would teach all four skills but my emphasize would be on communication. This is something I missed during my own English learning, I believe that it is important to prepare the pupils for using English outside the class room.