Language-Learning Theory and Practice for ELT - AAA130180
Title: Teorie a praxe jazykové akvizice pro učitele angličtiny (didaktická propedeutika)
Guaranteed by: Institute of Linguistics (21-UL)
Faculty: Faculty of Arts
Actual: from 2025
Semester: both
Points: 0
E-Credits: 3
Examination process:
Hours per week, examination: 0/2, C [HT]
Capacity: winter:unknown / unlimited (unknown)
summer:unknown / unknown (unknown)
Min. number of students: unlimited
4EU+: no
Virtual mobility / capacity: no
Key competences:  
State of the course: taught
Language: English
Teaching methods: full-time
Level:  
Additional information: https://dl1.cuni.cz/course/view.php?id=636
Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan
enabled for web enrollment
you can enroll for the course in winter and in summer semester
Guarantor: doc. PhDr. Tomáš Gráf, Ph.D.
Teacher(s): doc. PhDr. Tomáš Gráf, Ph.D.
WS schedule   Noticeboard   
Annotation -
Cílem kurzu je poskytnout budoucím učitelům angličtiny základní přehled o problematice osvojování jazyka a učení se cizím jazykům. Důraz je kladen na praktickou aplikovatelnost teoretických znalostí při výuce anglického jazyka. Kurz je vhodným úvodem do oborové didaktiky a aplikované lingvistiky a navazuje na akvizičně-didaktická témata uvedená v kurzech English language seminar for teachers 1 a English language seminar for teachers 2.<br>
<br>
Každý seminář se bude zabývat specifickým akvizičním problémem, jehož řešení bude výsledkem práce v těchto 5 blocích:<br>
1. úvodní diskuse o problému ve skupinách zaměřená na práci s vlastní zkušeností, s vlastními názory a předchozími znalostmi;<br>
2. diskuse výzkumného designu vedoucího k tomu, jak by se tato problematika dala odborně zkoumat;<br>
3. definice klíčových teoretických aspektů a proměnných;<br>
4. seznámení se s existujícími teoriemi a metodologickými přístupy k empirickému studiu problematiky;<br>
5. vyhodnocení dopadu na procesy učení se a vyučování cizím jazykům.<br>
Předmět je vyučován v angličtině.<br>
<br>
Cíle kurzu<br>
<br>
Studenti budou schopni mj.:<br>
– identifikovat obecné i specifické procesy učení, které se uplatňují při akvizici jazyka;<br>
– popsat charakteristické aspekty základních teorií učení;<br>
– popsat procesy akvizice mateřštiny a cizího jazyka;<br>
– srovnat procesy akvizice mateřštiny a cizího jazyka;<br>
– popsat procesy akvizice u bilingvních jedinců a charakteristiky jejich jazykových kompetencí;<br>
– vyhodnotit význam situačních proměnných při akvizici jazyka;<br>
– vyhodnotit význam žákovských proměnných při akvizici jazyka;<br>
– aplikovat situační a žákovské proměnné na vyučování cizího jazyka;<br>
– vysvětlit, jak funguje paměť a jak podmiňuje jazykovou akvizici;<br>
– popsat zákadní teorie jazykové akvizice a parametry, s kterými pracuje a aplikovat je na rozbor procesů při jazykovém vyučování.<br>
Last update: Gráf Tomáš, doc. PhDr., Ph.D. (20.09.2021)
Course completion requirements -


All of the credit requirements must be fulfilled by the end of the exam period in the academic year in which the student enrolled for the subject. 

 

Last update: Gráf Tomáš, doc. PhDr., Ph.D. (28.10.2019)
Literature -

Essential literature:

Gass, Susan M., Jennifer Behney, and Luke Plonsky.Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course. 5th ed. New York: Routledge, 2018.

Lightbown, Patsy, and Nina Margaret Spada. How Languages Are Learned. Fourth edition. Oxford Handbooks for Language Teachers. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.

 

Supplementary literature:

Cook, Vivian. Second Language Learning and Language Teaching. London: Hodder Education, 2016.

Dörnyei, Zoltán, Ryan, Stephen. The Psychology of the Language Learner Revisited.Routledge, 2015.

Ellis, Rod. The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.

Ellis, Rod, ed. Exploring Language Pedagogy through Second Language Acquisition Research. Routledge Introductions to Applied Linguistics. London ; New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group, 2014.

Fernández, Eva M. Fundamentals of Psycholinguistics. Fundamentals of Linguistics. Chichester, West Sussex; Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.

Gass, Susan M, and Alison Mackey, eds. The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition. London; New York, NY: Routledge, 2012.

Johnson, Keith. An Introduction to Foreign Language Learning and Teaching. 2nd ed. Learning about Language. Harlow, England; New York: Pearson Longman, 2008.

Mitchell, Rosamond, Florence Myles, and Emma Marsden. Second Language Learning Theories. London; New York: Routledge, 2013.

Ortega, Lourdes. Understanding Second Language Acquisition (2nd edition). London: Hodder education, 2020.

Saville-Troike, Muriel. Introducing Second Language Acquisition. 3rd ed. Cambridge Introductions to Language and Linguistics. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016.

 

 

Detailed list of the literature for each topic will be uploaded in the Moodle application during the course.

Last update: Mudrová Andrea, Bc. et Bc. (24.10.2019)
Requirements to the exam -

Credit requirements

Regular attendance in seminars. 3 points for each attended seminar. Each absence results in 5% being deducted from the overall score.

Answering pre-course questions in the Moodle. (7 points)

Read the compulsory text in Moodle before each seminar and complete the accompanying test in Moodle. (each week max. 5 points for each task according to the results of the test) 

Successful completion of regular tests (in weeks 5 and 12). (max. 50 points for each test, min. 67% to pass, otherwise a resit is necessary – max. one resit). The sests are based on the compulsory texts and content of the preceding seminars.

Successful completion of the final test in the exam period. (max. 100 points, min. 67% to pass, otherwise a resit is necessary – max. two resits)

Criterion no. points for each total points
Attendance 11 3 33
pre-course questions in Moodle 1 7 7
Moodle tasks 12 5 60
regular tests 2 50 100
final test 1 100 100

Maximum number of points for the whole terms is 300.

Grading criteria (% out of the maximum of 300 points)

Grade score
A 91–100%
B

83–90.9%
C

75–82.9%
D

67–74.9%
F (fail) <67%

Last update: Gráf Tomáš, doc. PhDr., Ph.D. (11.09.2024)
Syllabus -

Syllabus for Language-learning theories and practice for teachers (PhDr. Tomáš Gráf, Ph.D.)

Seminar 1
Topic: Learning and learning theories
Key questions: How do we learn? And how can we learning be researched? Is language learning the same as or different from any other learning?
Are general learning theories in any way applicable to language learning? And what can language teachers learn from this?
Key themes: learning processes, learning theories (behaviourism, cognitivism, constructivism), general learning theories and their applicability to explaining language learning, introduction to research methods

Seminar 2
Topic: L1A - describing L1A
Key questions: Do children learn their L1 in the same way? Are there developmental stages? How can L1A be studied?
Key themes: stages of L1A, ways of studying L1A, basic types of research in applied linguistics

Seminar 3
Topic: L1A - explaining/understanding L1A
Key questions: Who can learn an L1? What is the starting position?
Is L1A the same as L2A? What are the key theories of L1A? Are they applicable to L2A? When is it best to start learning L2? Is there a critical age for L1A and for L2A?
Key themes: understanding and explaining L1A, comparing L1A and L2A; theories of L1A, critical age, sensitive period, implications of starting language learning at an early age

Seminar 4
Topic: Bilingualism
Key questions: Who is a bilingual? Do bilinguals learn both languages the same way? Can the knowledge of the two L1s in simultaneous bilingual be compared? What conditions are key to success for successful L1A in both L1s? Can what we know about L1A inform they way we understand L2A? And does it have any classroom implications?
Key themes: types of bilingualism, conditions for the development of bilingualism, bilinguasm and SLA

Seminar 5

Topic: Different scenarios for learning L2
Key questions: What factors affect L2A? Which learner variables are there? How can they be researched? How important are they? Should teachers take into account learner variables? Which and how?
Key themes: learner variables, researching learner variables, comparing learners, learner variables in the light of ELT classrooms

Seminar 6
Topic: Affective learner variables
Key questions: What is motivation in language learning? Does personality play a role? Why do some speakers find it easier to communicate in a language they are learning? Are some learners better than others? Is it beacuse of their linguistic aptitude? Or are they simply very efficient learners?
Key themes: motivation in SLA, personality affective variables, willingness to communicate, anxiety, good language learners, learning strategies, language aptitude

Seminar 7
Topic: Learner language and proficiency
Key questions: Does the development of learner language follow a fixed order? Is learner language the same as interlanguage? What are the features of interlanguage? How can learner language be studied? What implications can be made for language teaching? How can language proficiency be described and defined? What is the maximum level of attainment in L2?
Key themes: learner language, interlanguge and its features, proficiency, maximum attainment

Seminar 8
Topic: Cognition, brain & memory
Key questions: How does the brain process language? And how does memory in language learning work? How is knowledge stored? How does automaticity work? What tyes of memory are there? What role do attention and awareness play? What does all this tell us about language teaching?
Key themes: types of memory, attention, awareness, proceduralization, automaticity

Seminar 9
Topic: SLA theories
Key questions: What are the key theories of SLA? What are the key concepts of SLA theories?
Key themes: SLA theories, principle components of SLA theories

Seminar 10
Topic: SLA and the language classroom
Key questions: How does our knowledge of SLA theories affect the language classroom? What are the links between SLA and language teaching?
Key themes: SLA and language pedagogy

Seminar 11
Topic: SLA and the language classroom – presenting your projects



Last update: Gráf Tomáš, doc. PhDr., Ph.D. (01.10.2024)