Practice for Second Language Learning: Don’t Throw out the Baby with the Bathwater

Abstract

After presenting some of the main arguments against certain narrow concepts of second language practice, this article argues that a broader concept of practice, still focused on form or even forms, but with due attention to form-meaning links and with appropriate sequencing of activities to ensure declarative knowledge first, followed by its proceduralization and (at least partial) automatization, is as relevant as ever. A brief overview is given of the range of activities that fall within this concept, and recommendations are made for adaptation to students' individual and group differences.KEYWORDS: practice, skill acquisition, curriculum design, feedback, individual differences. RESUMENTras presentar algunos de los principales argumentos en contra de algunas concepciones restrictivas en relación con la práctica en el aprendizaje de idiomas, se refuerza la validez de la práctica entendida en sentido amplio, centrada en la forma o incluso en las formas, aunque prestando la debida atención a la asociación entre forma y significado, así como tomando en consideración una adecuada secuenciación de actividades con el fin de garantizar la adquisición del conocimiento declarativo primero, seguido de su procedimentalización y automatización (al menos parcial). Se ofrece una breve panorámica de la tipología de actividades incluidas en la propuesta, así como algunas recomendaciones para su adaptación a las diferencias grupales e individuales de alumnos.

Categorization of writing tasks in Iranian senior high school English textbooks

“…Compared against Ur's () types of writing activities, these tasks are of “writing‐as‐a‐means” activities which help students learn only new grammar points. According to Wong and VanPatten () and DeKeyser (), such tasks are of limited use or no use at all in language acquisition since they expose students to excessive decontextualization of forms presented and practiced in isolated sentences. Directing the students’ attention predominantly towards the meaning of the language has received no attention in the textbooks, thereby lagging behind an SLA principle which calls for a predominant focus on meaning (e.g., Ellis, ).…”

“…Rather, forms should occur in the rich input to which learners are exposed. DeKeyser () believed that these types of tasks are of limited use in language acquisition due to their required exclusive focus on form.…”

“…They, rather, argue for opportunities for learners to engage in self‐expression as part of communication. More recently, DeKeyser () has brought to attention the arguments against practice in the ‘drill and kill’ sense of audiolingual methodology. Tomlinson () suggests that what ELT materials need to do is to provide lots of opportunities for the learners to actually use language to achieve intentions.…”

“…What seems to be of limited use in language acquisition? Mechanical drills requiring exclusive attention to form divorced from meaning (DeKeyser, ); mechanical drills may even be of no use at all (Wong & VanPatten, ) …”

Visual advertisements: a tool for English language teaching?

“…Implicit learning is a subconscious and automatic process; the learning subject does not even know that learning takes place. It is characterized by a necessity of frequency impulses which are absorbed through our senses -a new word is recognised as a result of frequency of exposure (DeKeyser, 2010). Ellis (1999, p.6.…”