Unit 10   Exposure and focus on form
What are exposure and focus on form?
Across the centuries people have studied how foreign languages are learnt. Many experts now believe that one way we learn a foreign language is by exposure to it, i.e. by hearing and/or reading it all around us and without studying it. They say we then pick it up automatically, i.e. learn it without realising. This is the main way that children learn their first language.
Experts also say that to leam a foreign language, particularly as adults, exposure to language is not enough. We also need to focus our attention on the form of the foreign language, i.e. on how it is pronounced or written, on how its grammar is formed and used, and on the form and meaning of vocabulary. They say we need to use language to interact and communicate, too.
Key concepts
Have you leamt English more successfully from formal study or just by picking it up?
Research has identified three main ways in which we learn a foreign language. Firstly, experts talk of us acquiring language. This means the same as picking it up. They say that to really learn a foreign language we need exposure to lots of examples of it, and that we leam from the language in our surroundings. We need to hear and read lots of language which is rich in variety, interesting to us and just difficult enough for us, i.e. just beyond our level, but not too difficult. Acquisition takes place over a period of time, i.e. not instantly, and we listen to and read items of language for a long time before we begin to use them (a silent period).
Secondly, to leam language we need to use it in interaction with other people.We need to use language to express ourselves and make our meanings clear to other people, and to understand them; The person we are talking to will show us, directly or indirectly, if they have understood us or not. If they have not, we need to try again, using other language, until we manage to communicate successfully. :;: :
Thirdly, research shows mat foreign language learners also need to focus on form. This means that they, need to pay attention to language,, e.g. by identifying, working with and practising the language they need to communicate. . Nowadays, experts generally agree that we do not learn a foreign language best, through learning grammar and translating (the grammar-translation method). Nor do we leam by constantly practising until weiorm habits (the behaviourist or structuralist approach) or just by communicating (the communicative approach). We leam by picking up language, interacting and communicating and. focusing on form. But the research still continues, and we ' do not yet fully understand how foreign languages are leamt.
Key concepts and the language teaching classroom
• To acquire language, learners should hear and read a wide variety of language at the right level for them. They need exposure to language both inside and outside the classroom.
• Learners need time to acquire language. They may need a silent period before they can produce new language and we cannot expect them to leam things immediately. Learning language is a gradual process.
• Learners need to use language in the classroom to interact with classmates or the teacher. This gives them the opportunity to experiment with language and find put how successful their communication is. ,
• Learners need opportunities to focus on forms of language they have read or listened to in texts or used in tasks. The teacher can help them to notice certain points about language, think about their use and practise them.
• But we need to remember that some learners may like to leam and/or are used to learning in particular ways. Teachers always nee4 to match their teaching to the characteristics and needs of the learner.
FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITY
Put these classroom activities into the correct column in the table according to which way of learning they encourage most. (Some may go into more than one column.)
Acquisition	interaction	Focus on form
		
1 The learners listen to the teacher read a story.
2 The learners do an oral pairwork task about choosing a birthday present for someone.
3 The learners underline examples of the past simple tense in a text.
4 A learner asks the teacher what the English word for... is.
5 The teacher corrects a learner's pronunciation of a word.
6 The learners categorise words in a list into different lexical sets.
7 A group of learners research a topic and then present their results to the rest of the class.
8 A role-play in which one learner gives another advice about a problem on a cue card.
9 While the learners have a class discussion, the teacher listens and tells them new words when they don't know them but need to use them.
10 The learners write sentences each containing an example of the new structure they have just been taught.
■tisyizhliilfiWI
1 Which method of learning English would you prefer: communicative, form-focused, grammar-translation, or a combination of these? Why?
2 What method(s) do your learners seem to prefer? Why? Do you agree with their preferences?
TKT practice task (See page 176 for answers)
For questions 1 -5, choose the correct option A, B or C to complete each statement about learning language.
1 The group of learners who generally benefit most from picking up language is: A children under the age of five.
B people over the age of 20. C teenagers aged 15-19.
2 Being exposed to the right level of language helps learners A check their own progress.
B increase their interaction. C acquire more language.
3 A silent period is a time when learners A do written work..
B study the language.
C process the language. .     . .
4 Acquiring language involves
A studying the grammar carefully.
B listening just to language-focused exercises.
C learning language just by hearing or reading it.
5 When we focus on the form of language we A talk with classmates.
B pay attention to accuracy and use. C listen to videos and audio cassettes.
2.
Unitll   The role of error
■ What is the role of error?
This unit focuses on mistakes learners make when they speak or write English. Mistakes are often divided into errors and slips. Errors happen when learners try to say something that is beyond their current level of language processing. Usually, learners cannot correct errors themselves because they don't understand what is wrong. Errors play a necessary and important part in language learning, as we will see below. Slips are the result of tiredness, worry or other temporary emotions or circumstances. These kinds of mistakes can be corrected by learners once they realise they have made them.
m Key concepts
There are two main reasons why learners make errors. Can you think what they are?
There are two main reasons why second language learners make errors. The first reason is influence from the learner's first language (LI) on the second language. This is called interference or transfer. Learners may use sound patterns, lexis or grammatical structures from their own language in English.
The second reason why learners make errors is because they are unconsciously working out and organising language, but this process is not yet complete. This kind of error is called a developmental error. Learners of whatever mother tongue make these kinds of errors, which are often similar to those made by a young first language speaker as part of their normal language development. For example, very young first language speakers of English often make mistakes with verb forms, saying things such as 'I goed' instead of 1 went'. Errors such as this one, in which learners wrongly apply a rule for one item of the language to another item, are known as overgeneralisation. Once children develop, these errors disappear, and as a second language learner's language ability increases, these kinds of errors also disappear.
Errors are part of learners' interlanguage, i.e. the learners' own version of the second language which they speak as they learn. Learners unconsciously process, i.e. analyse and reorganise their interlanguage, so it is not fixed. It develops and progresses as they learn more. Experts think that interlanguage is an essential and unavoidable stage in language learning. In other words, interlanguage and errors are necessary to language learning.
When children learn their mother tongue they seem to speak their own form of it for a while; to make progress on some language items, then to go backwards, and to make mistakes for a time before these mistakes finally disappear, usually without obvious correction.
Errors are a natural part of learning. They usually show that learners are learning and that their internal mental processes are working on and experimenting with language. We go through stages of learning new language, and each new piece of language we leam helps ns learn other pieces of language that we already know more fully - like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle which only make full sense when they are all in place.
Developmental errors and errors of interference can disappear by themselves, without correction, as the learner learns more language. In fact, correction may only help learners if they are ready for it, i.e. they are at the right stage in their individual learning process. But experts believe that learners can be helped to develop their interlanguage. There are three main ways of doing this. Firstly, learners need exposure to lots of interesting language at the right level; secondly they need to use language with other people; and thirdly they need to focus their attention on the forms of language. (See Unit 10 for more about these three ways.)
Sometimes errors do not disappear, but get 'fossilised'. Fossilised errors are errors which a , learner does not stop making and which last for a long time, even for ever, in his/her foreign language use. they often happen when learners, particularly adults, are able to communicate as much as they need to in the foreign language and so have no communicative reason to improve their language. These fossilised errors may be the result of lack of exposure to the L2 (second language) and/or of a learner's lack of motivation to improve their level of accuracy.
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Key concepts and the language teaching classroom
• We need to think hard about whether, when and how to correct learners.
• We mustn't expect instant learning. Learning is gradual, and errors will occur.
• We need to think about what kind of mistake the learner is making - a slip or an error.
• If the mistake is a slip, the learner can probably correct him/herself, maybe with a little prompting from the teacher or another learner.
• Sometimes, particularly in fluency activities, it is better not to pay attention to learners' errors (i.e. ignore them) so that the learners have an opportunity to develop their confidence and their fluency, and to experiment with language.
• Some errors may be more important to correct than others. Those which prevent communication are more important than those which do not, e.g. missing the final s off the third person singular of a present simple tense verb doesn't prevent communication. But using the present simple tense instead of the past simple tense can sometimes prevent communication.
• We need to think about what is best for the learning of each learner. Different learners within the same class may need to be corrected or not, depending on their stage of learning, learning style and level of confidence. Different learners may also need to be corrected in different
. ways.
• Ways of helping learners get beyond their errors are:
- to expose them to lots of language that is just beyond their level through reading or listening
- to give them opportunities to focus on the form of language
- to provide them with time in class to use language to communicate and interact and see if they can do so successfully.
• A good time to correct learners or to provide them with new language is when they realise they have made a mistake or need some new language. We should encourage learners to ask us for this help.
• Errors are useful not only to the learner but also to the teacher. They can help the teacher see how well learners have learnt something and what kind of help they may need.