Brown's 12 Principles - An Interactive Approach to Learning Pedagogy
#1 – Automaticity
Efficient 2nd language learning involves a timely movement
of the control of a few language forms into the automatic processing of
a relatively unlimited number of language forms.
Automaticity – the road to fluency
#2 – Meaningful Learning
Meaningful learning will lead toward better long-term retention than rote learning.
Appeals to student interests
Connects new info to old info (good schemata building)
Meaningful Learning – Don’ts
Too much grammar explanation
Abstract principles and theories
Too many drills and memories
Activities with unclear purposes
Extraneous activities
Distractions that take the focus off of meaning
#3 – The Anticipation of Reward
Human beings are universally driven to act, or “behave,”
by the anticipation of some sort of reward – tangible or intangible,
short term or long term – that will ensue as a result of the behavior
Anticipation of Reward
Encourage for confidence, not an Oscar
Encourage students to encourage students
Be excited and enthusiastic!!
It’s a long and winding road – keep an eye on the end rewards – get your students to look there, too
#4 – Intrinsic Motivation Principle
The most powerful rewards are those that are intrinsically motivated within the learner.
What is motivation?
It is the extent to which you make choices about (a) goals to pursue and (b) the effort you will devote to that pursuit
Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic
Intrinsic brings feeling of competence and self-determination
Extrinsic is all about gaining an award or avoiding punishment
#5 – Strategic Investment
Successful mastery of the 2nd language will be due to a
large extent to a learner’s own personal “investment” of time, effort,
and attention to the 2nd language.
Strategic Investment
Strategic Investment
Multiplicity of learning styles and strategies = multiplicity of techniques
Group and individual; oral, written, bubbles, maps, graphics, etc
Not everyone has to comfortable at every single moment of every lesson, so push people!
#6 – Language Ego
As human beings learn to use a 2nd language, they also develop a new mode of thinking, feeling, and acting – a 2 nd identity.
Language Ego – Student TLC
Be supportive because adult learners often feel stupid!
Be challenging but kind in activities
Think about LEs in planning class logistics (who to call on, correct, “volunteer”, how to pair or group etc)
#7 – Self-Confidence
The eventual success that learners attain in a task is at
least partially a factor of their belief that they indeed are fully
capable of accomplishing the task.
Self- Confidence
Build/sequence activities to build confidence.
Encourage students – let them know that you know they can do the work
You should have it, too!
#8 -- Risk-Taking
Successful language learners, in their realistic appraisal
of themselves as vulnerable beings yet capable of accomplishing tasks,
must be willing to gamble.
Ashima in The Namesake!
Create an atmosphere in the classroom that encourages students to try out language, venture a response
Provide reasonable challenges
Return students’ risky attempts with positive affirmation
#9 -- The Language-Culture Connection
Whenever you teach a language, you also teach a complex
system of cultural customs, values, and ways of thinking, feeling, and
acting.
Discuss cultural differences without being judgmental
Consciously connect culture and language
Don’t be culturally offensive in the class – that’s so easy!
Be ready to discuss your cultural blind spots and assumptions
Pay attention to possible culture shock
#10 – The Native Language Effect
The NL of learners will be a highly significant system on which learners will rely to predict the target language system.
Errors are windows to interlanguage; is it the native language?!?!
Help students to hold onto the helpful aspects of their NL
Stop translation in its tracks! Think in the target language!!!
#11 -- Interlanguage
2nd language learners tend to go through a systematic or
quasi-systematic developmental process as they progress to full
competence in the TL.
Distinguish between interlanguage errors and all others
Tolerate interlanguage forms that make sense and show learning
Don’t make the Ss feel stupid
Treat mistakes like an oil dipstick
Encourage self-correction
Don’t let your corrections make students afraid of speaking
#12 -- Communicative Competence
Since CC is the goal of a language class, instruction
needs to point toward all of its components: organizational, pragmatic,
and psychomotor.
Communicative goals are best achieved by giving due attention to:
language use and not just usage
fluency and not just accuracy
authentic language and contexts
students’ eventual need to apply classroom learning to unrehearsed contexts in the real world
Communicative Competence is:
A combo plate of:
Organizational competence = grammatical and discourse
Pragmatic competence = functional and sociolinguistic
Psychomotor skills (pronunciation, intonation
Grammar is just one part of a lesson
Functional & sociolinguistic aspects of language are fun, but don’t forget the psychomotor skills
Allow students to become fluent
Be real – in your materials
Help students become independent learners and users of language
Why the 12?
Keep your lessons honest
Keep your lessons about student learning and not teacher entertainment
Provide a form of evaluation that allows you to assess a lesson, adapt it and be ready for a better next-go-round
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