Postgraduate Course: Language and the Learner (EDUA11248)
Course Outline
| School | Moray House School of Education and Sport |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course is suitable for both practising teachers and for non-teachers who have an interest in the teaching, learning, acquisition and use of languages. The course gives students the opportunity to develop further their understanding in the following areas:
- current research on language teaching and learning
- current approaches to language teaching and learning
- first and second language acquisition
- changing social and cultural contexts of language practice and language education
- multicultural and multilingual literacies and practices
The course aims to give students the opportunity to develop from an individual perspective their theoretical and practical understanding of language learning and teaching. To achieve this, the course will emphasise:
- the processes involved in acquiring and learning a first and second language
- factors which facilitate and inhibit effective language learning;
- teacher/learner perspectives on language learning;
- the social and cultural contexts of language learning;
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| Course description |
Outline of content
This course analyses language learning theories and their underlying ideologies from different perspectives over a period of time to the present day. It takes a critical look at how different theories define learning processes which impact on the learner. It also explores a range of factors which influence how learners learn and use another language/s.
BLOCK 1
Theories of Language Learning
Lecture 1: The landscape of language learning theories and implications for language education today
Lecture 2: Social, cognitive, cultural and linguistic resources for language learning [i]
Lecture 3: Social, cognitive, cultural and linguistic resources for language learning [ii]
Lecture 4: Towards pluriliterate global citizens
BLOCK 2
Language learning in context
Lecture 5: Motivation in language learning
Lecture 6: Meaning-making for language learning and using
Lecture 7: Intercultural language learning
Lecture 8: Multilingual Turn
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | - |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2019/20, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
| Course Start Date |
16/09/2019 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 8,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 8,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 8,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
172 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
4,000-word equivalent essay
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| Feedback |
Students are given personalised written feedback under the categories of:
Knowledge and understanding of concepts
Knowledge and use of the literature
Critical reflection on theory and practice
Application of theory to practice
Constructing academic discourse
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| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- evaluate critically a range of current language theories
- demonstrate a critical understanding of how these inform language education
- demonstrate an understanding of the social, cultural and cognitive implications of bilingualism and mutilingualism
- investigate and evaluate pluriliteracies and linguistic practices
- demonstrate critical awareness of how language is used in a variety of social and language-learning environments
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Reading List
Books:
Cook, V. 2016. Second Language Learning and Language Teaching. (Fifth Edition). Routledge.
Entwistle, N., Skinner, D., Entwistle, D. and Orr, S. 2000. Conceptions and Beliefs about "Good Teaching": an integration of contrasting research areas. Higher Education Research and Development, 19, 1, 5-26.
Kumpulainen, K. and Wray, D. (Eds) (2002) Classroom Interaction and Social learning. London: Routledge Falmer.
Lantolf, J. (Ed.). 2000. Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mitchell, R., Myles, F. and Marsden, E. 2013. Second Language Learning Theories. Third edition. London: Arnold.
Robinson, P. and Ellis, N. 2008. Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge.
Saville-Troike, M. and Barto, K. 2016. Introducing Second Language Acquisition. (Third Edition). Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
Journal articles and book chapters:
Benson, P. 2007. 'Autonomy in Language teaching and learning'. Language Teaching 41 (1): 21-40.
Byram, M. 2003. On being "Bicultural" and "Intercultural". In G. Alved, M. Byram and M. Fleming (Eds). Intercultural Experience and Education. Clevedon. Multilingual Matters: 50-66.
Davies, A. 2004. The native speaker in Applied Linguistics. In A. Davies and C. Elder (Eds.). The Handbook of Applied Linguistics. Oxford. Blackwell: 431-450.
Ehrman, M. E., B.L.Leaver and R. L. Oxford, 2003. 'A brief overview of individual differences in second language learning'. System 31: 313-330.
Ellis, N. 2005. At the interface: Interactions of implicit and explicit learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 27; 294-356
Ellis, R., 2005. Principles of Instructed language learning. System 33: 209-224.
Goldschneider, J.M. and DeKeyser, R. 2001. Explaining the "natural order" of L2 morpheme acquisition in English: A meta-analysis of multiple determinants. Language Learning, 51; 1-50.
He, A. E. 2012. Systematic use of mother tongue as learning/teaching resource in target language instruction. Multilingual Education, 2:1.
Jenkins, J., Cogo, A. and Dewey, M. 2011. Review of developments in research into English as a lingua franca. Language Teaching, 44/3: 281-315.
Johnson, K.E., 2006. 'The Sociocultural turn and its challenges for second language teacher education'. TESOL Quarterly 40 (1).
Lightbown, P. 2000. Classroom SLA research and second language teaching. Applied Linguistics, 21(4); 431-462.
Lin, A. 1999. Doing-English-lessons in the reproduction or transformation of social worlds? TESOL Quarterly, 33/3: 393-412
Marian, V. and Shook, A. 2012. The cognitive benefits of being bilingual. Cerebrum 13.
Rayner, S., 2007. A teaching elixir, learning chimera or just fool's gold? Do learning styles matter?' Support for Learning 22 (1).
Robinson, P., 2001. Individual differences, cognitive abilities, aptitude complexes and learning conditions in second language acquisition. Second Language Research 17 (4)
Rodrigo, V., S. Krashen and B. Gribbons, 2004. The effectiveness of two comprehensible-input approaches to foreign language instruction at the intermediate level. System 32: 53-60.
Ryan, S. and Dornyei, Z. 2013. The long-term evolution of language motivation and the L2 self. In A. Berndt (Ed). Fremdsprachen in der Perspektive lebenslangen Lernens. Frankfurt. Peter Lang: 89-100.
Shor, Ira. 2008. What is Critical Literacy? In Journal for Pedagogy, Pluralism and Practice, 4 (2).
Swain, M. and Lapkin, S. 2013. A Vygotskian sociocultural perspective on immersion education. Journal of Immersion and Content-based Language Education, 1:1, 101-129.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
8 lectures and 8 two-hour workshops |
| Keywords | language learning,first language acquisition,second language acquisition,sociocultural contexts |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Jite Eferakorho
Tel:
Email: |
Course secretary | Mrs Moira Ross
Tel: (0131 6)51 6206
Email: |
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