Topics & Questions for Study and Discussion

1. (G) Second language learning is a complex, long-term effort that requires much of the learner. In small groups of three to five, share your own experiences in learning, or attempting to learn, a foreign language. Describe your own (a) commitment, (b) involvement, and (c) effort to learn. This discussion should introduce you to a variety of patterns of learning.

2. (I/G) Write your own "twenty-five-words-or-less" definitions of language, learning, and teaching. What would you add to or delete from the defi­nitions given in this chapter? Share your definitions with another class­mate or in a small group. Compare differences and similarities.

3. (G) Consider the eight subfields of linguistics and, assigning one subfield to a pair or small group, discuss briefly the type of approach to second language teaching that might emerge from emphasizing the exclusive importance of your particular subfield. Report your thoughts to the whole class.

4. (C) Discuss in class with what science does the Psychology of teaching foreign language is in the closest relation. Justify your point of view.

5. (C) Considering the productive relationship between theory and prac­tice, think of some examples (from any field of study) that show that theory and practice are interactive. Next, think of some specific types of activities typical of a foreign language class you have been in (choral drills, translation, reading aloud, using a vocabulary word in a sentence, etc.). What kind of theoretical assumptions underlie these activities? How might the success of the activity possibly alter the theory behind it?