|
|
E-mails on Language and Language Teaching
Timothy
Mason
Here are the messages (others will follow as I put
them in Web format) :
-
Thunk 1 : This is the
first post in the Thunk series, sparked off by a debate between Stephen Krashen
and Ron Sheen, in which the latter was very hostile to Krashen's work,
particularly concerning its effects on language teaching in Canada. Here I give
a critical sketch of the Acquisition/Learning Hypothesis.
- Thunk 2 : The second post goes on to
look at the Natural Order Hypothesis.
- Thunk 3 : The first post on the
Input Hypothesis.
- Thunk 3 (II) : Caretaker language
& foreigner talk
- Thunk 3 (III) : Third post on Input
- output is necessary
- Thunk 4 : Here I turn to the Monitor
Hypothesis
- Thunk 4 (II) : When can you use the
Monitor?
- Thunk 4 (III) : Good learners &
the Monitor
- Thunk 5 : the Affective Filter
Hypothesis
Trainee teachers often dislike their training course, and many
experienced teachers feel that trainers are too distant from the field to know
much about it. I'm not sure that I altogether disagree - but I'll try.
I took a degree in sociology before I took a degree in English,
and I do research into
anthropological discourse, so the question of whether and how to teach
culture in language classes is of some interest to me. You will find an article
made up of a series of posts in which I tried to
approach the question seriously. And you will find another series of posts in which I approach the subject
un-seriously - although I think that most of the time I almost believe what I
have written there.
Next come a set of posts about the nature of grammar, and how it
should (not) be taught. I usually take the position on FLTeach that teaching
grammar is of little utility. Elsewhere I might argue otherwise.
- : Grammar as a result of
literacy?
- : Teaching Grammar?
- : Grammar and Anxiety
- : Grammar and literacy
Which rather leads into the next subject ; what is the
place of writing in the FL classroom.
Next, there's a set of interventions in a discussion of the
importance of pronunciation.
- Why insist on close listening. Why
communicative approaches are not enough for school systems.
- Monitoring, pronunciation &
anxiety
- Teaching pronunciation ; why
better could mean worse.
And, finally - for the moment - two posts on reading. FL teachers
often take this skill for granted ; they shouldn't. Reading is difficult, and
many children in secondary classes do not, in fact, master it for the
mother-tongue. Teaching reading is first of all teaching reading. Both of the
posts look at the use of dictionaries while reading : First,
look here. And then
here
|
|
Most of these posts were sent
to the e-mail list FLTeach.
E-mails are a rather special means of communication : the writer is reacting
immediately to a letter that she or he has just read - so you will find some of
the references a little obscure. He may be caught up in the fire of argument,
he may be fond of being contrary, he may be tired ; in many of the messages you
can read here, that was the case. I often write them in the grip of
early-morning insomnia as a way of working off steam. So you should take some
care over how you read these. You need to balance what is said here with the
arguments of other participants - you will find these in the FLTeach archives.
You may, if you are interested in the Thunk posts for example, want to look at
what was said by Stephen Krashen himself, and by Ron Sheen, Krashen's most
bitter antagonist in that exchange. |
|