AJU2102 EFL Didactics II

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2023
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Jitka Sedláčková, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Thomas Rankin, Dr. phil.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Supplier department: Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Mon 14:00–15:40 B2.44, except Mon 13. 11.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 18/30, only registered: 0/30
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of this course is to guide the students through the development of practical and theoretical aspects of teaching and learning English as a foreign language. Selected approaches and methods along with concepts, principles and theories underlying the processes of foreign language teaching and learning will be introduced in a historical perspective while paying special attention to their critical evaluation and relevance for the current state-of-the art in the field of English language teaching.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, a student will be able to:
1. Explain how the views of language (structural, functional and notional) and learning (behaviourist, cognitivist and social constructivist perspectives) changed in the history of language teaching and how they are reflected in various teaching methods and activities,
2. Give examples of techniques and materials used in various methods and approaches, and evaluate their relevance to contemporary EFL classrooms,
3. Analyze the concept of (intercultural) communicative competence and suggest activities that develop its components,
4. Articulate and reflect on their own beliefs and experience as language learners, users and teachers,
5. Explain the ways in which individual learners differ when learning and using a foreign language (e.g. learning styles, strategies, motivation, age, level),
6. Analyze teaching materials used in upper-secondary education with the view of different learner characteristics.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction to the field of second/foreign language acquisition, applied linguistics and foreign language didactics.
    2. An overview of theories of learning. The views of language (structural, functional and notional) and learning (behaviorist, cognitivist and social constructivist perspectives).
    3. The complexity of the processes of language learning. First and second language acquisition and learning. Learner characteristics, linguistic factors, the role of age, motivation, classroom instruction, context.
    4. The role of error in L2 learning, contrastive analysis, error analysis, interlanguage.
    5. Individual differences, learning styles and strategies.
    6. The Grammar Translation Method, the Direct Method. Audiolingualism and Situational Language Teaching.
    7. The Natural Approach (Krashen). Learning vs. acquisition, the comprehensible input hypothesis, the monitor hypothesis, the affective filter hypothesis. Implications for teaching listening and reading, extensive reading.
    8. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). Communicative competence, communicative activities. Recent developments: Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL).
    9. Alternative methods and approaches. Suggestopedia, Total Physical Response (TPR).
    10. Post-methods era and current trends in English language teaching. Selected issues and tensions in English language teaching.
Literature
    required literature
  • Brown, H. D. (2000/2007). Principles of language teaching and learning (4th/5th ed.). White Plains: Longman.
  • Larsen-Freeman, D. (2010). Techniques and principles in language teaching (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (2006/2013). How languages are learned (3rd/4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Hall, G. (2018). Exploring English language teaching. Language in Action. Routledge.
  • Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. (2014). Approaches and methods in language teaching (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Najvar, P. & Hanušová, S. (2010). Fenomén času v učení se cizím jazykům. Studia paedagogica 15(1), 65-83.
  • Kumaravadivelu, B. (1994). The postmethod condition: (E)merging strategies for second/foreign language teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 28(1), 27–48.
    recommended literature
  • Ritchie, W. C. & Bhatia, T. K. (Eds.) Handbook of second language acquisition. London: Academic Press.
  • Doughty, C. J. & Long, M. H. (Eds.), The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
  • Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D. M., & Snow, M. A. (Eds.). (2014). Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language (4th ed.). Boston: National Geographic Learning. (selected chapters)
  • Kirschner, P. A. & Hendrick, C. (2020). How learning happens. Seminal works in educational psychology and what they mean in practice. Routledge.
  • Ellis, R. (2008). The study of second language acquisition (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Píšová, M., & Kostková, K. (2015). Didaktika cizích jazyků. In I. Stuchlíková & T. Janík (Ed.), Oborové didaktiky: Vývoj - stav - perspektivy (s. 67–92). Brno: Masarykova univerzita.
  • Choděra, R. (2006). Didaktika cizích jazyků: Úvod do vědního oboru. Praha: Academia.
  • Stern, H. H. (1983). Fundamental concepts of language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Teaching methods
Lectures, class discussion, group projects, reading.
Assessment methods
Attendance is compulsory (max. 2 missed lessons). Students complete two tasks in the semester to be accepted to the final assessment: 1) present their language learning biography and have a group discussion; 2) prepare a group presentation introducing a selected method of language learning. The final assessment consists of two parts. 1) First, students submit a written assignment where they discuss their professional vision of EFL teaching based on the knowledge acquired during the semester. 2) Then students discuss their visions during a group colloquium. In the second part of the colloquium, students answer questions connected to topics and concepts covered in the course.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2020, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2022, Autumn 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2023, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2023/AJU2102