TESOL at 40

This article is a good overview of the TESOL issues we have been learning and reading about in class.  It also discusses potential TESOL questions and research for the future.  Canagarajah talks about TESOL as a metaphor of growth, problem-solution dialectic, and stability.  One quote I found interesting was, "In terms of language skills, we now recognize that all four skills are integrated, and we are developing our curricula in terms of other organizing principles-projects, purposes, tasks, or portfolios, which draw from skills variously for their accomplishment" (12).  This quote shows the progress researchers are making throughout the years to move from focus on the instructors role to focus on the what the learner can produce.  I like the chart on page 15 of Brown's shifts that favor empowerment of the learner.  He defines empowerment as "enabling students 'to become critical thinkers, equipped with problem-solving strategies, poised to challenge those forces in society that would keep them passive'" (15).

In addition, the author discusses globalization and the continual increase of use the of technology for language learning.  "Digital technologies have led to new genres of communication, new conventions of language use, and new vocabulary and grammar rules for English" (25-26).  As teachers we must remember technology is always advancing, and that it is important to continue researching best educational practices as the times change.  "To begin to address these new questions, we have to recognize that language norms are relative, variable, and heterogeneous" (26).    

Chapter 7: Ideas about Language Learning

Chapter 7:
This is a great chapter to end the book on!  I like how the author has us reflect on our thoughts and views we had before reading the book, and then think about how they have changed after reading and discussing second language acquisition.  Lightbrown and Spada discuss 17 ideas we have about second language acquisition and how they relate to the studies presented in the previous chapters.  One point I found interesting was the point 10 that teachers should present grammatical rules one at a time, and learners should practise examples of each one before going to another (189).  I was not aware of the thought of developing interlanguage through exploration before I read this book.  The author explains "Language development is not just adding one rule after another.  Rather it involves processes of integrating new language forms and patterns into an existing interlanguage, readjusting and restructuring until all the pieces fit" (189).  Another interesting point is number15: Students learn what they are taught (192).  The authors make the point that learners use their own internal learning mechanisms to discover rules and relationships with languages that nobody actually teaches them.  This shows how complex our brains are and that all students can learn a second language.