Marie Gold P.

Tabuada BSED E-3 Educ 329 May 2, 2016

I. Schools of Thought: Behaviorist, Cognitive and Humanistic Approaches

A. Behaviorist Approach
The behavioristic approach brought an initial change towards the understanding
of language learning in SLA and henceforth towards teaching. The behavioristic
approach leans towards the use of the Audiolingual Method in second language
classrooms. This approach was dominant in the 1950’s and 60’s and was popular among
renowned psychologists and linguists such as Skinner, Watson, Lado, and Bloomfield.
They were of the opinion that all learning can be understood as a habit formation
through stimuli from the environment. (Ellis, 1997, pp. 31&138) As a result, the
Audiolingual Method concerning L2 teaching became popular and can be characterized
trough the following activities of teaching: repetition, inflection, replacement,
completion, expansion, etc.. I am going into detail with these terms later. Concerning
the Audiolingual Method it is important to mention that its basis, namely the
Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH), creates the connection between behaviorism
and the audiolingual teaching methodology. The CAH can be briefly defined as the
assumption (based on behaviorism) that all language learning depends on the mother
tongue or L1 and where there are similarities between both, no mistakes will occur in
the L2, whereas on the other hand where there are differences between L1 and L2,
errors are likely to occur. (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, pp. 50-61)

B. Cognitive Approach
A cognitive theory of learning sees second language acquisition as a conscious
and reasoned thinking process, involving the deliberate use of learning strategies.
Learning strategies are special ways of processing information that enhance
comprehension, learning or retention of information. This explanation of language
learning contrasts strongly with the behaviourist account of language learning, which
sees language learning as an unconscious, automatic process.

Example, this view leads to a classroom focus on using learning strategies that
have been observed in successful language learners and to a view of the learner as an
'information-processor', with limitations as to how much new information can be
retained, and who needs strategies to be able to transfer information into memory.

In the classroom, relevant activities include review and revision, class

vocabulary bags, using a scaffolding approach with young learners, analysis and
discussion of language and topics, inductive approaches and learner training.
 C. Humanistic Approach

It may seem that radical changes in our social, political and economic life have
little to do with foreign language teaching. But they do. The world we live in today is
gradually becoming one big community. We teach people to communicate in a foreign
language. Thus we actually prepare them for living in this international club. We also
have to admit that today, with travel which has become more available to us, with
computer technologies in many of our homes, the nature of social contacts and
therefore communications is changing. They are rapidly becoming more cosmopolitan
and relaxed, less egocentric and considerably more democratic. This calls for new
approaches in the classroom, the approaches that may help meet the social needs
today. Whether we like it or not, the methods we choose are, in a way, a social response
to the changing world, a kind of feed-back.

Humanistic Approach in ELT is an attempt to respond to these needs. Its basic

principle is in shifting the focus in education from teaching to learning, so that the
teacher is no longer the focal point in class but someone who facilitates the process of
education.

a. The Learner

The new approach implies an entirely new role of the learner. It aims to make the learner
more independent, since the responsibility for the learning process is to some extent handed
over to him.

The new role of the learner brings about some psychological problems related to his
performance in the classroom. It is quite natural that if the burden of what is happening in class
is shifted to the learner, while the teacher only facilitates the process creating the appropriate
psychological climate, the performance of the learner will most likely involve psychological
stress. Or more stress than before.

In the new context, being in a group, with the teacher who only coordinates and facilitates
the process, the learner, more than before, faces such challenges of psychological nature as:
self-assertion, self-determination and self-esteem. He must demonstrate the ability to
cooperate with the teacher and compete with his fellow-students, he has to learn to cope with
success and failure. The learner has to be very sensitive to how his fellow-students feel in
relation to himself and to each other. As was said above, the new approach implies more
psychological stress on the learner. But I dare suggest that this stress is stimulating and creative.
It stimulates the learner’s intelligence and curiosity which work for his benefit.

Let us now view Humanistic Approach as applied to a Russian learner. It seems it has special
meaning to us, since the lesson, especially at our schools, revolves around the authoritative role
of the teacher. The centrality of the teacher is generally a dogma that is seldom questioned. It is
not very common that the learner feels at ease and relaxed, unless he is lucky to have a teacher
(or teachers) who practices humanistic approach often without being aware of it. He is just
guided by intuition.
 For this particular reason Humanistic approach acquires a special significance for the
Russian learner. It may fill some gap which is essential in shaping his/her personality. The
situation in class, with the learner as the center, calls for realizing the learner’s individuality and
unique potential. It also awakens the teacher to the fact that the learner can be a lot more
independent, come up with his own judgement, and attempt a performance which is enjoyable
because he/she is at ease and happy. Humanistic approach or some of its practices offers the
learner an opportunity to perform in a new relaxed way, to be the master of what’s happening
in class. It is a situation which might be most welcome in our classroom.

b. The Teacher

Undoubtedly, it makes new demands on the teacher, since the teacher will have to give
up some of the conventional practices. On the one hand, the teacher must become a
facilitator by giving up the dominating role to the learners. On the other hand, and this
seems essential, it is the teacher who creates the special atmosphere of the learners’
independence and the new psychological climate in class

If we want Humanistic Approach to work, the teacher must be sensitive and skillful in
helping the learners face these issues. It does not seem that any special training is required.
What is important for the teacher is tact, empathy, a genuine interest in the learners’
performance and of course, friendliness. The teacher cooperates with the students on equal
terms, rather than dominates. This cooperation is special. It calls for finding an appropriate
balance in the teacher- learner relationship. This balance is a very sensitive substance: it is
individual and different in each particular case. This teacher-learner cooperation should be
very skillfully orchestrated by the teacher, who can now be referred to as facilitator.

II. The Socio-cultural Approach to Language Development and Learning: Language

Acquisition, Discourses and Classroom Applications

Vygotsky‘s sociocultural theory (SCT) has had an immense impact on the field of
education. SCT considers human mental functioning as essentially a mediated process
organized by cultural artifacts, activities and concepts (Lantolf, 2000). According to this view,
the existing cultural artifacts enable human beings to regulate and modify his behavioral
and biological activities. Language is also believed to be the primary means of mediation.
Developmental processes occur as the outcome of child‘s participation in cultural, linguistic
and historical settings such as getting involved in interactions within families, peer groups,
educational institutions, workplaces, sport activities, etc.

In the current classroom context, one of the greatest challenges facing teachers is that
of instructing students who are acquiring English as a second language (ESL). Although these
students frequently receive various types of additional language-instruction support outside
their regular classrooms, most of their instructional time is spent in the regular classroom
with a teacher who may or may not be familiar with their native language and culture.
Diverse methods and techniques aimed at promoting language learning and acquisition
have had their roots in various theories and traditions of general human development, with
resultant advantages and disadvantages. And there is a theoretical perspective that
emphasizes the importance of context in language learning, engendering approaches that
have been termed sociocultural perspectives (Lantolf & Thorne, 2006; Mitchell & Miles,
2004), which emphasize the integrated nature of individual (psychological) and social
(environmental) elements in the learning process.

Much literature includes both theoretical and empirical studies inspired by sociocultural
perspectives on second-language learning (Lantolf, 2000; Lantolf & Appel, 1994; Lantolf &
Thorne, 2006). The purpose of this article is to build on the existing literature by focusing on
the sociocultural theoretical framework—with its emphasis on contextual language
learning—and to suggest concrete instructional implications for second-language teaching
based on this framework. Following a brief introduction is an overview of the general theory
of human development stemming from the sociocultural theories of Vygotsky, whose work
has had an immense effect on all areas of education including language instruction.
Explicating a general theoretical framework related to human development is important
because language teaching methodologies are created on the basis of theoretical
perspectives, and language acquisition is a critical component of overall human
development.

Second-language teaching are offered based on the fundamental tenets of the theory.
Before turning to the theoretical discussion, a note on terminology is in order. This article
does not distinguish between the terms second-language acquisition and second-language
learning. Although strictly speaking these two linguistic processes are differentiated—
acquisition typically refers to the natural picking up of a second language through exposure,
and learning refers to the conscious study of a second language (Ellis, 1985)—our discussion
does not maintain such a distinction because the focus is on regular classrooms that include
students for whom English is a second language. Thus the acquisition and learning processes
for these students is so integrated and interdependent in the context of classroom
instruction that separating them would be almost impossible and in a sense meaningless.