Theoretical Foundations of Teaching ESL Course Information
EDUB 650 Theoretical Foundations of Teaching ESL
Course Description
In this course, candidates explore theoretical frameworks for first and second language acquisition and learning, as well as the principles underlying them, the practical applications for using them in instructional planning, and support for English Language Learners within academic settings.
Course Objectives
Upon completion of the course the student should be able to:
- Examine the nature of languages, language acquisition processes and how the human brain activates languages
- Analyze the body of literature dealing with a) first and second language acquisition, b) child language acquisition and c) the relevance of such stages of language acquisition to actual practice in teaching-learning contexts
- Examine the social, psychological and cultural foundations of first and second language learning as they apply to the teaching of language minority students in American schools
- Examine programs, policies and models used for the teaching of the non-English speaking and ESL students in grades K-12
Week 1
Lecture: Language and the Brain
Outcomes
- Identify what parts of the human brain are responsible for language processes
- Identify Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas of the brain and their respective aphasias
- Identify the lateralization of the brain
- Conclude that the brain has a “localization of function” in terms of language processes
- Define “brain plasticity” and “neural networking”
- Compare and contrast various cognitive models of how multiple languages are stored in the brain.
- Examine the multiple theories regarding the origins of human language and its evolution
Week 2
Lecture: Memory, Attention, and Automaticity
Outcomes
- Analyze how much of language learning is implicit learning versus explicit learning
- Define how attention, memory and automaticity allow us to understand individual differences in learning English as a second language
- Define how alertness, orientation and detection are the three main components for language learning
- Question why and how memory chunks lie at the heart of creativity in all domains of cognition
- The student will qualify when language learning in L2 becomes automatic for some students, such as the quantitative change or qualitative change in the process of using language
Week 3
Lecture: First and Second Language Acquisition, Part 1
Outcomes
- Identify and describe the various stages of first language acquisition
- Understand how critical it is to acquire languages at a young age
- Examine Noam Chomsky’s theory of Universal Grammar and how it applies to language acquisition
- Analyze the bilingual brain and how multiple languages operate in the mind
- Compare and contrast the stages of first language acquisition with the stages of second language acquisition
Week 4
Lecture: First and Second Language Acquisition, Part 2 (continued)
Week 5
Lecture: Language and Culture
Outcomes
- Understand that the linguistic representation of our reality can be defined as different “fashions of speaking”
- Understand that each individual’s language use (microcosm) is the world that s/he carries about within herself/himself. This individual linguistic microcosm helps us measure and understand what we can of the macrocosm
- Understand that the world is presented in a kaleidoscopic flux of impressions which has to be organized by our minds. We cut nature up, organize it into concepts, and ascribe significances as we do, largely because we are parties to an agreement to organize it in this way—an agreement that holds throughout our speech community and its codified patterns of our language
- Understand that by examining aspects of our language (tenses, gender, plurality, time, colors, voice) we can better examine our culture
Week 6
Lecture: History of Language in America
Outcomes
- Identify the types of languages that were present in the United States at various times in our history
- Analyze the role of various racial and ethnic groups and the input of their linguistic diversity
- Compare and contrast monolingualism and multilingualism
- Examine the arguments for and against an official language
Week 7
Lecture: Language Policies
Outcomes
- Understand that the history of language policy shows constant change in ideology, beliefs, and practices
- Identify why and how there have been periods of backlash against bilingual education—leading to its present state of uncertainty and criticism
- Analyze how language policy greatly affects the types of language education programs found today in schools and classrooms across the country
- Examine how the debate over language education centers on the wresting of power at the national, state and local level
Week 8
Lecture: Language Education Programs
Outcomes
- Distinguish between bilingual education programs and ESL programs
- Compare and contrast the various types of bilingual education programs
- Compare and contrast the various types of ESL programs
- Examine how school districts try to determine which types of programs to implement
- Determine which programs are effective based on both qualitative and quantitative research
The course description, objectives and learning outcomes are subject to change without notice based on enhancements made to the course. October 2011
