A)
1-VERBAL LİNGUİSTİC:Completing crossword puzzles with vocabulary words
Playing games like Scrabble, Scrabble Junior, or Boggle
Writing short stories for a classroom newsletter
2-LOGICAL MATHEMATICAL:Playing math games like mancala, dominoes, chess, checkers, and Monopoly
Searching for patterns in the classroom, school, outdoors, and home
Conducting experiments to demonstrate science concepts
3-VISUAL SPATIAL:Taking photographs for assignments and classroom newsletters
Taking photographs for the school yearbook, school newsletter, or science assignments
Using clay or play dough to make objects or represent concepts from content-area lessons
4-INTERPERSONAL:Working in cooperative groups to design and complete projects
Working in pairs to learn math facts
Interviewing people with knowledge about content-area topics (such as a veteran to learn about World War II, a lab technician to learn about life science, or a politician to understand the election process)
B)
1)Be organized. Disorganization leads to lulls in your class which lead to kids getting bored and misbehaving. Plan your lessons well, have your supplies ready, and be as organized as possible. Think right now about what items you seem to be constantly displacing and figure out a system to help you keep track of them.
2)Deal with problems while they’re still small. Don’t wait to deal with issues until they’re big. Instead, address every small issue that comes up in your class. Dealing with them while they’re small will help to keep them from growing into bigger, more overwhelming problems. We talk a lot more about this in the post The Tiny Mistake that Could Ruin Your Whole Year.
C)
Learning theories are meant to help instructors understand the processes and circumstances that enable learning and, by extension, offer guidance in developing activities and environments that best support learning. But what to make of the fact that there are so many different theories and that some contradict each other? The truth is that the human brain and its cognitive processes are incredibly complex and not yet fully understood. Learning theorists do their best to describe how people learn based on careful observation and experimentation, but no learning theory is perfect. Indeed, each theory has its critics, and the various theories go in and out of favor over time. Even so, the theories provide us with an empirically based understanding of how learning occurs.Further, these theories are not mutually exclusive. We do not have to strictly adhere to one theory but can combine elements across theories in ways that resonate with our teaching styles and reflect our best understanding of our students. For instance, a teacher might draw on elements of cognitivism to enhance students’ retention and recall but also develop group activities that promote social constructivism through peer-to-peer communication. Especially with younger children, instructors might draw on behaviorism by using rewards and positive reinforcement to motivate student engagement with the content, but also integrate humanism by empathizing with students and use constructive feedback to encourage a growth mindset. We can use our understanding of developmental stages to create lessons and activities that provide an appropriate level of challenge to help students grow in their understanding. Ultimately, we should view learning theories as guidelines, not rules, and draw on them in ways that reflect our own values and understandings.Learning is the change in knowledge, behavior, or understanding that occurs when people make connections between new information and their existing knowledge. Various theories attempt to describe the factors that enable the learning process.Learning does not happen in the same way or at the same time for all students. Understanding developmental stages can help instructors align instruction with student readiness. Adult learners may have needs and constraints that differ from younger learners.The learning process is influenced by internal factors such as the student’s level of motivation and feelings of self-efficacy, and external factors such as the classroom environment and the adults and peers with whom the learner interacts.
D)
NAEYC defines “developmentally appropriate practice” as methods that promote each child’s optimal development and learning through a strengths-based, play-based approach to joyful, engaged learning. Educators implement developmentally appropriate practice by recognizing the multiple assets all young children bring to the early learning program as unique individuals and as members of families and communities. Building on each child’s strengths—and taking care to not harm any aspect of each child’s physical, cognitive, social, or emotional well-being—educators design and implement learning environments to help all children achieve their full potential across all domains of development and across all content areas. Developmentally appropriate practice recognizes and supports each individual as a valued member of the learning community. As a result, to be developmentally appropriate, practices must also be culturally, linguistically, and ability appropriate for each child.The Developmentally Appropriate Practice Position Statement is a framework of principles and guidelines to support a teacher’s intentional decision making for practice. The principles serve as the evidence base for the guidelines for practice, and both are situated within three core considerations—commonality, individuality, and context.
E)
Differences between young learner and tweens in learning a language can be summarized in 3 main points:
1.Cognitive differences.
Young learners do not have the cognitive maturity and metalinguistic awareness that tweens have.
This cognitive ability allows tweens to engage in discussions about languages. Whereas young learners do not have this ability.
Cognitive maturity: The ability to engage in problem-solving, deduction, and complex memory tasks.
Metalinguistic awareness: The ability to treat language as an object.
2. Attitudinal and cultural differences:
Most young language learners are willing to try to use the language even if their proficiency level is quite low.
- They are allowed to be silent until ready to speak.
They mostly practice language through songs and games and with that their voices are blended with others.
Tweens are reluctant when trying to use the language. They also find it stressful when they are unable to express themselves correctly.
3. Time in contact with language:
Young learners spend hours in contact with their first language.
They are also exposed to the language in other social
settings other than the home, for example the playground,
the classroom and even the television.
- Exposed to a large range of discourse type.
Tweens receive far less exposure to the language. Their
exposure is only limited to the language classes they take.
Exposed to a smaller range of discourse type. Usually
formal discourse.
F)
In order to discuss this issue competently, we need to establish why students might use L1 to begin with. In my experience, in both homogenous (all students same L1s) and hetergenous (all students, different L1s) settings and at all learning levels (from primary to tertiary), students typically tend to use L1 for one of the following reasons:
1. They're afraid to experiment with the L2.
2. They're lost, don't understand you, and are not able to follow along with the lesson.
3. They're using L1 to perform comprehension checks.
4. They're using L1 because they're not interested in the lesson.
You can see that these reasons stem from a number of different linguistic, behavioral, and even psychological factors, and while we are not certified psychologists, we do have to be in tune with what students might be experiencing in our classroom. I will now offer my insight for dealing with each situation.
1. Students might be afraid to use the language, which is natural. That's usually because they're afraid of failure and appearing as though they're not capable. In some cultures, "saving face" can have a tremendous effect on a student's willingness to make a mistake. To remedy this, on the very first day of any course, I go out of my way to ensure that the learning environment is safe and lighthearted. This is done by playing introduction games and telling light jokes, and it goes a long way in making students feel comfortable enough to make mistakes. I always preach that making mistakes is critical to learning, and I also dedicate the most optimum opportunities for success to those students I sense might be afraid to experiment. I ask them more manageable questions which builds their confidence in themselves and gives them courage to experiment with L2.
2. Based on a weak vocabulary and/or grammatical foundation, students may simply just be lost and not understand what's taking place. To function, students might turn to their peers and ask them to explain in L1 what the teacher is saying or how to do a particular activity. This is an instance where I believe, especially at lower levels, L1 can be used as a crutch to help build vital bridges linking what students already know in L1 to new information in L2. The trick is deciphering if that's what's actually taking place in their conversation! It can be difficult if you can't speak the L1 of the student, but by constantly monitoring the classroom during activities, you can get a feel for who's genuinely trying to learn and who's attention may be slipping. Be on the lookout for this particularly during group/pair work.
3. Similar to point number 2, there will be students who use L1 for further clarity, but only for the sake of performing comprehension checks with others: not because they don't understand the material. This is done by conversing in the L1 to ensure they've understood the material presented in L2. I believe it is also a valuable use of L1 for students to collectively solidify the knowledge being learned in the classroom (so long as they're not just talking about their weekend plans!). This may happen during group/pair work or immediately after you've presented something to the entire class that might have been a bit challenging.
4. Lastly, sometimes (hopefully rarely) students may resort to using the L1 because of a disinterest in the lesson. These cases can be cumbersome because if there are many students doing this, it may cause others to speak in their L1s leading to chaos and loss of classroom management. As teachers, our primary responsibility is to keep students engaged by making them active participants in activities and discussions, so first try to engage the student. Also, try to be gentle and diffuse any overuse of L1 in a way that signifies that you genuinely value the student's presence in the class. You might kindly remind him/her about the value of maximizing classroom time to practice the L2. However, if particular students are obstinate, then you'll have to follow your own institution's protocol for dealing with classroom behavior issues when they become particularly disruptive.
Is allowing the use of L1 beneficial or detrimental? You can tell from everything we've rehearsed so far that it isn't a cut and dry answer. In some cases, it's very beneficial and in others it can be disruptive. I like to think of allowing students the use of L1 like adding salt to cooking; if there is none, then it doesn't taste very good, and if there's too much, it ruins the dish. Likewise, proscribing the use of L1, particularly at lower levels, is not practical and removes critical opportunities for students to make important connections between the L1 and the L2. That said, we also don't want students to be excelling in their L1s! We want them to become proficient L2 users. One distinction is that the higher the level of proficiency of the learner, the less he/she should be using the L1. I'm much stricter with the use of L1 in my advanced classes and much more lenient (as per the institution's language policy) at lower levels. I think back to my own studies of Japanese. Had I not been able to use L1 in my introductory Japanese class, I would not have survived! Similarly, we want to help students enjoy learning English, and allowing them some flexibility with utilizing the L1 under relatively controlled circumstances will help them not only acquire the language more easily, but also cultivate a love for the language (and of course you, as a dear teacher!).
