Language

"The ability to analyze various domains of language (e.g., phonological, lexical, grammatical, and pragmatic) in relation to adult learner language development and apply these understandings to adult English language teaching"

  

The focus of APLNG802 was on the English language and instruction for adult English language learners. Many native speakers know how to say something, but they do not necessary know the reasons why they say it. In addition, people that know how and why something is communicated in English, may not know how to help adult ELLs acquire it. APLNG802 focused on just that: communicating language instruction effectively to ELLs. Coursework involved analyzing language for discourse markers and other linguistic and paralinguistic cues, dialects and their effect on language learners, completing structural analysis on authentic texts, an in-depth assignment exploring how to teach word meaning, creating charts for minimal pairs, and criticized the process of error analysis. I also created brief lesson plan ideas for word stress, sound-spelling relationship, articles, and modals.

Excerpts from Reflective Tasks:

--“ I do ask a lot of display questions, but they are all more in-depth than recall questions. A few sessions ago I was accused of being the “WHY?” teacher. A student was asked why a sentence was constructed in a certain way. He responded with “I’m not in Miss Megan’s class. I don’t have to know WHY I do something; I just have to do it.” I also ask referential questions, but not as frequently as display questions.”

--“I find myself somewhere in the middle of the prescriptivism and descriptivism ideologies. I feel the need for enforced grammar rules that do not change quickly. However, I also relate to descriptivism. I embrace new words and phrases in the English language. I don’t think that embracing words from tattoo, rap, or wrestling subcultures (as shown in the video clips from Do You Speak American?) harms the English language. It reflects the interests and popular culture of today’s society.”

--“I believe the type of error is more important to be concerned about than the number of errors a student makes.”

Samples of Coursework Demonstrating Mastery of the Goal:

1. Glossary of Terms for the Sounds of English
2. Applied Teaching Assignment: Vocabulary

3. Brief Lesson Plan Ideas

4. Minimal Pairs Chart 
5. Graphical Representations of Spatial Prepositions

Reading with students