Mod 1 Discussion: Classroom Implications of Linguistic Theory

A guiding principle of Second Language Theory is that ELLs are better able to learn a second language if they can do so in a low-anxiety environment, which will also aid in their self-confidence. Why is this so? Perhaps because all of us learned a first language in a relatively stress free environment in which error correction was gentle and also useful as a means of facilitating social interaction and communication. So it stands to reason that in a classroom setting, the more teachers are able to introduce a more “natural” approach to helping students learn a second language, the better they will be able to master that language. Ideally, this would involve grouping native speakers and non-native speakers together and have them work on projects with both social and academic components. One way to help ELL students see the need to self-correction would be to have the combined student groups play a language game in which correct language responses were greeted with smiles and incorrect language responses were greeted with confused looks. The object of the game would be to turn all confused looks into smiles.