P-Assignment 7

My thoughts on the dream frontier vs assignment 6

A lot of what Blechner says makes sense to me, ie that dreams “speak their own language” designed to be meaningful without necessarily being communicative. It can ‘speak’ in metaphors without the use of language and can come up with things that you wouldn’t know to begin to describe.

At the same time Blechner admits the occurrence of language and wordplay in dreams but he also places dreams in opposition to speech. This is the bit that raises questions. The question is whether inner speech during sleep takes an active role in dream formation. Perhaps our language when we are sleeping isn’t so much part of our dream but our response to it and separate to it. I’m unsure.

All in all, Blechner’s theory echoes the other school of thought I mentioned, ie we all dream using an emotional language that crosses cultures. It’s a language that doesn’t necessarily make use of ‘words’ as we know them. 

P-Assignment 8

The relevance of Language Awareness for me as a teacher

Language Awareness is of great importance in many aspects of life, whether it is in a social, education or professional context. This modern world requires a much higher level of literacy from a greater part of the population than ever before. We now live in a multi-racial and multi-international society where the subtleness of communication becomes more and more essential. A higher level of understanding of language and its implications is therefore called for.

Use of language in a subsidiary sense only might give much opportunity for inadvertent errors which cause misunderstanding. A focal awareness of language, a higher level of awareness, where we scrutinise what we are saying and how we are saying it and what effect it has on the other party, is called for.

In other words, we need a higher level of skill. As teachers our goal should be to support our students in gaining this skill and give them, at least at times, a focal awareness of the language.

Learning a language isn’t just about correct spelling, grammar, or proper pronunciation. It is about the other side understanding what is meant rather than whether it was delivered perfectly (and possibly in the wrong context). Teaching how to notice the language and examine its effects critically is a very important part of learning about a language. 

As a teacher I will need to motivate and encourage students to experience authentic language in and outside of the classroom. With a level of understanding of what a language and its culture is about it will be easier to remain motivated to continue to improve their spelling, grammar, pronunciation, etc. Not only will Language Awareness make learning a language more lively and less boring, it will also make it more real and relevant for students.

P-Assignment 9

Some theories on language methodology

1. Grammar Translation

This method was used at a time when learning a language was thought of more as an educational exercise, rather then learning a language. At the time, people studied Greek and Latin and the modern languages were now taught the same way. The lessons were about rules and vocabulary was taught in the form of a long list of words. Pronunciation wasn’t relevant as the ability to write was more important. The grammar used in Latin, which was a high prestige language, was used to try to explain the English language, which still causes some problems today. The method used activities such as grammar exercises, reading of difficult texts early in the study, translating separate sentences and dictation.

2. The Direct Method

This method was developed as a reaction against Grammar Translation. Because people started to travel more, they needed to be able to speak it more than write it. They developed a teaching method where the use of the mother tongue was never used to explain things. All lessons were given in the foreign language. Learning about the culture, rather than literature, was also an important aspect. The lessons focussed on pronunciation. Exercises included conversations and stories about day to day things and question & answer techniques. Grammar was learned only by using logic. These days, the well known school Berlitz still uses many of these methods.

3. The Reading Approach

This is a method that is useful for people who do not necessarily have to travel abroad, but who do need to be able to read and understand the language. Knowledge about vocabulary is more important than grammar. A great amount of reading is done. Activities are mainly based around translating reading materials in order to increase understanding of the text.

4. The Audio Lingual Method

This method based its principles on the believe that you can learn a language if you made it a habit. Lots of practising, copying, memorising by imitating. In other words by using structured, repetitive drilling. Mistakes were seen as very bad and teachers were told to correct any error straight away. Grammar was taught by drilling structural patterns, not by explanation, and vocabulary was learned in context. Students learned to listen first, then speak, then read and finally write. The use of mother tongue was limited and only by the teacher. 

5. The Cognitive Code

This is not so much a method but more a theory which was responsible for reintroducing grammar in the classroom. It focussed on grammar by looking at sentence structure and it stressed the importance of learners making sense of things for themselves but with the help of a teacher. The important difference here, is that they did not believe that learning a language was the same as learning a habit, but it was a cognitive process, in other words, it required individual active effort by the person learning it. It meant that teachers became more comfortable about showing grammar and allowing students to work out rules in class. Most importantly of all, it allowed teachers to not treat errors as something bad but as something that is natural and positive proof that someone was learning.

6. Communicative Language Teaching

Not a method but an approach. It supported a change in classroom practice as a direct result of the Cognitive Code. More and more emphasis was on the students learning themselves. For the first time students were seem as individuals, which meant that social and emotional factors had to be taken into account. As a result a teachers also became more aware of effective use of different learning strategies and different correctional techniques for different individuals. Teachers were able to learn, change and improve their knowledge and skills. It focussed on making students competent communicators.