Topics: Information Processing / Input /Output

Topics: Information Processing / Input /Output

Written by Ann (72120986)

Those of us who are taking an SLA class were in chaos last Saturday due to certain words such as competency (capacity), development, and acquisition.

In Johnson’s book, there are lots theories of SLA, meaning we cannot define the SLA field as one single theory. One scholar claims a certain theory while another scholar w brings a different perspective. It will go on again and again. There is no explicit conclusion as to the definition of SLA. The biggest problem is that we don’t know yet what theory to apply to my current situation.

Last Sunday morning, I took a TOEIC test.  Before taking the test, during break time, I jotted down some notes:

‘I want to examine my English ability through this test. I want to brush up on my competence to succeed in my experimental (study) class of RDBC. Through SLA class, I learned lots of theories about second language learners. I am really not sure about myself as a learner. Which theory can be applied closest to me? Theory is just theory apart from reality. It can’t deal with everything that happened in reality. However, I am really curious about which theories are most applicable to an actual class.

After failing the English test twice which I need to enter a graduate University, I realized two facts:

First, how much knowledge I lack of English grammar and the English language. I can usually say what I want to say. I thought that I am quite good at speaking, but I deluded myself about my competency. I thought that my speaking could cover all of English, but no, it is not true.

If my English competency was as good and accurate as I had thought, how could I fail again? It shouldn’t happen again.

Second, I am really disappointed that the test of English is not related to the study in graduate university. I really like to study with my classmates Maggie, Jumin, Yoonjeong, etc., not only in this SLA class, but also critical pedagogy, Colloquium, and collaborative teaching class as well.

However, the test result made me discouraged to study.  I can’t concentrate on more worthy and valuable studying besides the test.

More precisely, the thing is that I should learn a better lesson from my failures as a teacher and as a language leaner. I can face lots failures through my life.

(Actually, I don’t usually fail exams.)

As a teacher, we need to teach how to fail, how to overcome the failures of students’, and how to draw lessons from theirs. The students might face lots failures in their life.

I think about how we as teachers control the negative things in our lives. The young students, juniors and seniors, will never commit suicide.

In this TESOL graduate school, we learned how to teach well and how we improve our knowledge of SLA as a teacher and practitioner. So, we need to be experienced as a pure student, a language learner, a teacher, and a second language leaner as there are lots of different roles in the SLA field to understand SLA theory.  Then I may really know what is going on during the students’ learning process for SLA and fully understand the learners’ perspective and what it means to negotiate the meaning of language.