YOUR BELIEFS

ABOUT LANGUAGE,
LEARNING AND
TEACHING
 FACTORS AFFECTING COURSE
DESIGN

WHAT? LANGUAG HOW?

Syllabus E Methodolog
Language y
Learning
COURSE
Description
Theories

Nature
of
particula
r target
and
learning
situation

WHO? WHY?
WHERE? WHEN?
Needs Analysis
ARTICULATING BELIEFS
The complex nature of beliefs and
understandings provides a teacher
guidance in his/her decisions

However, beliefs are not

necessarily something that
teachers can easily articulate or
are completely aware of (Johnson
1998).
 ARTICULATING BELIEFS (cont.)

To understand where beliefs come from

you need to look at your past
experience and the beliefs about
learning and teaching that grow out of
and guide that experience.

All of the influences as a learner, as

a teacher, as a colleague provide the
basis for your understanding of how
languages are taught and learned and
the beliefs that guide your choices.
ARTICULATING BELIEFS (cont.)

In fact, there are multiple possibilities,

multiple justifications and multiple
answers for the questions arising during
the process of course design, depending
on the context, on the teachers
experience and his beliefs and
understanding.
 ARTICULATING BELIEFS (cont.)

The general advice is that more is not

necessarily better, and that course
designer must have confidence in his
principles and experience to make
choices and decisions.
ARTICULATING BELIEFS (cont.)
One framework for articulating your beliefs is
Sterns in Fundamental Concepts of
Language Teaching(1983) and Issues and
Options in Language Teaching (1992). This
framework is modified by Graves (2000)
which proposes that we need to address the
concepts of:
- Your view of language
- Your view of the social context of language
- Your view of learning and learners
- Your view of teaching
ARTICULATING BELIEFS (cont.)
BELIEFS ABOUT LANGUAGE
Questions:
- What language is?
- What being proficient in a language means?
- What you teach and how you teach it?
The answers to these questions can be different.
BELIEFS ABOUT LANGUAGE (cont.)

For example:
Bailey (1988):
Language = pronunciation, grammar,
lexis and discourse

Larsen-Freeman (1990):
Language = form , meaning and use
BELIEFS ABOUT LANGUAGE (cont.)

(Canale and Swain 1980, Omaggio

Hadley 1993)
Being proficient in a language =
Communicative competence
(grammatical, sociolinguistic,
discourse and strategic
competences)
ARTICULATING BELIEFS (cont.)

If you believe that language is a

rule-governed system then
learning a language means
learning to use it accurately, with
no grammatical errors, which in
turn leads to such class activities
as: correcting errors in a letter.
 ARTICULATING BELIEFS (cont.)

If you believe that language is

meaning-based then language
teaching in class must be meaningful
and relevant to the students in the
class.
ARTICULATING BELIEFS (cont.)
DESCRIBING THE LANGUAGE
(Hutchinson &Water, 1993)
Classical or traditional grammar
Language descriptions were bases on an
analysis of the role played by each word
in the sentence. The form of each word
would change according to whether it
was a subject, object, indirect object and
so on.
Structural linguistics
The language is described in terms of
syntagmatic structures which carry the
fundamental prepositions (statement,
interrogative, negative, imperative etc..
 DESCRIBING THE LANGUAGE (cont.)

Transformational Generative (TG)

Grammar
The grammar of a language is not the
surface structures themselves, but the
rules that enable language users to
generate the surface structures from
the deep level of meaning.

Language variation and Register

analysis
Language varies according to the
context of use.
DESCRIBING THE LANGUAGE (cont.)

Functional/Notional grammar
Base on the description of
language in use instead of language
forms. People use language to carry out
certain functions such as persuading,
clarifying, apologizing

Discourse (Rhetorical) analysis

There is more to meaning than just
the words in the sentence. The context
of the sentence is also important in
 ARTICULATING BELIEFS (cont.)
BELIEFS ABOUT THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF LANGUAGE
Stern (1983, 1992): Social context
encompasses sociolinguistic, socio-
cultural and sociopolitical issues.
Sociolinguistic issues are concerned with
how language is adapted to fit (or not) the
social context.
Sociopolitical issues are concerned with
how a language of one social group
(ethnic, gender) is viewed by other social
groups, access to language and services

 BELIEFS ABOUT THE SOCIAL CONTEXT
OF LANGUAGE (cont.)
Socio-cultural issues are concerned
with the interaction between language
and culture, including social values
(e.g. gender differences), attitudes
(e.g., towards roles of men and
women), norms (e.g., ways of eating
and greeting), customs (e.g., marriage
customs) and products (e.g.,
literature, art..)
ARTICULATING BELIEFS (cont.)
BELIEFS ABOUT LEARNING AND LEARNERS
The fundamental issue around
learning is your view of how people
learn and the roles that enable them
to learn.

Regarding LEARNING PROCESS, there

may be different views.
 BELIEFS ABOUT LEARNING AND LEARNERS
(cont.)

For example:
1- Learning is a process of problem
solving and discovery by learner an
inductive process. The learner is
viewed as the maker of knowledge.
 BELIEFS ABOUT LEARNING AND LEARNERS
(cont.)

2- Learning can be perceived as the

process of applying received
knowledge a deductive process. The
learner is the internalizer of
knowledge.

3- Learning can be viewed as a

cognitive process, involving mental
BELIEFS ABOUT LEARNING AND LEARNERS
(cont.)
4- Learning can be viewed as an
affective process, involving
emotional connection and risk-
taking.

5- Learning can be viewed as a social

process, involving learning with
others (Stevick, 1998)

6- Learning can be viewed as involving

different intelligences such as visual,
kinesthetic, auditory and so on
 BELIEFS ABOUT LEARNING AND LEARNERS
(cont.)

Regarding ROLES OF LEARNERS

1- Learning may depend on individual effort
in which the learner works alone;

2- Learning may depend on a group effort in

which the learner may learn with or from
each other;

3- Learners may be the source of expertise

or recipient of it;

4- Learners may be partners and the

decision-makers in the process or
subordinates.
BELIEFS ABOUT LEARNING AND LEARNERS
(cont.)
Regarding LEARNING FOCUS:
- Learning may be focusing on acquiring new
knowledge, or mastering skills, or developing
awareness, or learning about attitude.

- It may focus on how language works or on

using the language

- It may focus on the development of meta-

cognitive and critical thinking skills.
ARTICULATING BELIEFS (cont.)

Some questions about learning and learners:

1- Do learners learn better:
- when they can discover their own answers or
when they are given the correct answers?
- When they feel secure or when they are
challenged?
- Individually or through interaction with each
others?
2- Is the learner an expert?
3- Is he a partner in the learning process?
ARTICULATING BELIEFS (cont.)

BELIEFS ABOUT TEACHING

Beliefs about teaching and the

role of teacher are connected to
beliefs about learning. However,
sometimes what a teacher
actually does in his classroom
may contradict to what s/he
believes.
 BELIEFS ABOUT TEACHING (cont.)
Some questions about teaching and
the role of teacher:
1- Is the role of teacher the expert?
2- Is the role of teacher to provide
answers
or is it to provide structures for
finding
answers?
3- Does the teacher make all the
decisions
or does she negotiate decisions with
the
learners?
The process of teaching can be viewed on a
continuum
The students determine the problems to be
solved and use the teacher as a language and
culture resource.
The teacher and students negotiate the
knowledge and skills and methods of learning

The teaching process is viewed as providing

problem-solving activities and actively helping
students to negotiate them ; learning may be
viewed as a process of shared decision making
withteacher
The students
makes decisions about knowledge and
skills to be learnt, tells students what to learn, or
provides models or examples and expects or helps
students to internalize them
The teacher transmits knowledge to students
A FRAMEWORK FOR ARTICULATING
YOUR BELIEFS (SUMMARY)

1- YOUR VIEW OF LANGUAGE

For example:
language is rule-governed, meaning-
based, a means of self-expression, a
means of learning about oneself and
the world, a means of getting things
done
A FRAMEWORK FOR ARTICULATING
YOUR BELIEFS (SUMMARY)

2- YOUR VIEW OF THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF

LANGUAGE
For example:
The social context of language includes
sociolinguistic issues such as adapting
language to fit the context, socio-cultural issues
such as cultural values and customs which may
be in harmony with or in conflict with those of
the learners culture, and sociopolitical issues
such as access to work and education.
A FRAMEWORK FOR ARTICULATING
YOUR BELIEFS (SUMMARY)

3- YOUR VIEW OF LEARNING AND

LEARNERS
For example:
Learning is deductive or inductive process;
learning occurs in community or individually;
learning is the acquisition of knowlwdge and
skills; learning is the development of meta-
cognitive and critical thinking skills.
Learners have affective, cognitive and social
needs; learners receive knowledge or
construct knowledge; learners follow
directions or direct their own learning.
A FRAMEWORK FOR ARTICULATING
YOUR BELIEFS (SUMMARY)

4- YOUR VIEW OF TEACHING

For example:
Teaching is knowledge transmission,
management of learning, providing of
learning structure, a collaborative process.
The teacher is a decision maker,
knowledge transmitter, provider of
learning structures, collaborator, resource.