Thursday, November 27, 2014

UNIT 10 EXPOSURE AND FOCUS ON FORM


   



     
     The purpose of this general overview article is to outline how foreign languages are learnt. We do not learn a foreign language best through learning grammar and translating. Nor do we learn by constantly practicing until we form habits or just by communicating. We learn by picking up language, interacting and communicating and focusing on form.

     In addition to using English themselves, learners need lots of exposure to English being used for example listening to and reading a good range of text types, both spontaneous and planned language. These activities will give learners opportunities to interact and  use  English for themselves. We also saw how you could build up a set of tasks based around one theme. One task might become the target' task, or main task; others might be used at a Pre-task/Priming stage, to activate vocabulary in preparation for the main task. Teacher talk and teacher-led tasks on text-book topics.

     Tasks based on listening and reading texts provide really useful input. Listening is especially vital for beginners who need lots of input before they are expected to speak (silent period). Also, It shows how teachers can increase learners' exposure to natural English.Learners love hearing about their teacher's personal experiences and opinions and this kind of teacher talk forms valuable spontaneous input that learners will acquire from naturally.

     As a conclusion throughout this article, I have tried to show how, in a task based approach, the focus is on learners learning language through using and experiencing it themselves, rather than teachers teaching language. 

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2 comments:

  1. Hi verito, I consider that the exposure to the language is too difficult for teacher into the process of learning, however nowadays we manage different strategies for that .

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  2. It's true that learners learn a target language through different ways like pick up, interaction, focus on form, but we as future teachers should take into count Gardners' multiple intelligence and learning style because students learn through it (visualizing, reasoning, doing physical activities). For this reason, Communicative Approach or Grammar Translation doesn't work efficiently inside classroom.
    Congratulation!

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