Define Incidental Learning

Everyone agrees that learning a second language is more difficult than picking up our native language. However, why this is so is still a question of great debate in the scientific community.Most children with normal intelligence and neurological development will easily pick up their native language. The ease of this process is something that still mystifies scientists. Furthermore, parents do not usually make painstaking efforts to teach their children to speak. In many ways, the process appears innate; the child either “absorbs” the language through immersion or models the language that he or she hears her parents speaking.Although we speak of language learning as innate, recent scientific studies seem to point to the fact that the brain is not hard- wired with...  [Read more]

The evolution of the internet has led to an increase in online learning opportunities for EFL students. Information can be stored and transferred between users facilitating a virtual classroom for online users. The myriads of teaching sites vary enormously. Receptive sites offer textbook layout with automated exercises and auto correction. Sometimes it's possible to download sound files to recreate an online language laboratory. There's no contact whatsoever with a teacher. However, many of these sites are free, making them extremely popular. Interactive sites involve a virtual rapport with an online teacher. Lafford (1997) divided these into synchronous ' real time communication through a keyboard, microphone and more recently using web cams, and asynchronous '...  [Read more]

It would be nice to think that an ESL teacher could enter the classroom with a friendly smile, the appropriate warmer and a well- planned lesson, and the result would be a room full of students progressing continually in their language skills. However, with a task as great as learning English as a second language, the experience is rarely that easy. Learning English has its’ own unique difficulties, and it profits the ESL teacher most if these challenges are explored and prepared for before entering the classroom. One such challenge is students with learning disabilities; when it is believed that a student has a learning disability, teachers must consider diagnosis and appropriate teaching methods.It can be hard to make the decision to evaluate students for a learning...  [Read more]

Learning is the process of gaining or acquiring knowledge while technique comes from the Latin word technicus which means execution or performance of some artistic work or a scientific procedure being used [Orford American Dictionary, Mac OS X dashboard]. So 'learning technique' is the art or even the science of acquiring knowledge.How do we make learning scientific' Experts have come up with some ideas. First, they have isolated different learning techniques. Second, they have defined the qualities of those people using such techniques. Third, they have constructed tests to determine individual learning techniques. Oxford (1990) has defined 6 learning strategies or techniques:1 Cognitive strategies allow the learner to manipulate language material in direct ways: through...  [Read more]

Computer aided language learning, or ‘CALL’ which started to flourish in the 1980’s, continues to be a very beneficial field of research. Now in the 21st Century there is an endless list of possible resources that are constantly improving due to the research done by programmers and computer linguists. While the Personal Computer industry was developed in English speaking countries, computers are more readily available internationally because of the integrated diacritics found in foreign alphabets.There is an extensive list of programs that provide suitable language lessons, games, and tests. These learning programs have been tried, tested and proved to have true methodologies that guarantee success. Many websites have also dedicated their principles to...  [Read more]

  Before looking at the methods or approaches themselves, there are some terms that we need to define. These are the approach, the method or the technique. Basically, these are hierarchical. The approach is an overriding set of principles that a method can actually make use of, whereas the technique are the things that we actually do in the classroom to approach that method. So, these three words are going to appear during the presentation. Again, for each of either the approaches all the methodologies we're going to ask four questions. So be it an approach or a method for each of those things: Where did it come from? What's its background? What does it involve when we're talking about actually in the classroom, in other words techniques? What is positive about it? What appears to...  [Read more]

Today, all teachers are faced with the ongoing challenge of working to make their teaching more effective. Whether they teach traditional students or EFL students, teachers must develop their skills to best meet students´ educational needs. We have a fairly clear idea today of the skills teachers should seek to develop. According to Robert Slavin, "research on teaching has made significant strides in identifying teaching behaviors associated with high student achievement" (Slavin, n.d.). These teaching behaviors include "essential teaching skills," which are "basic abilities that all teachers, including those in their first year, should have to promote order and learning" (Eggen & Kauchak, 2004, p. 579). The Key Teacher Skills include Preparation, Attention, Clarity,...  [Read more]

Check out Tesolcourse.com about TEFL - Diploma In TEFL Distance Learning and apply today to be certified to teach English abroad. You could also be interested in: This is how our TEFL graduates feel they have gained from their course, and how they plan to put into action what they learned: L. K. - Ukraine said: Generally the ittt course has helped me to structure lesson planning, to think of aims of every lesson and sequence of lessons, helped me to find the variety of games to play in class. It has also enriched my vocabulary, especially with up-to-date not too bookish grammar explanation. Though completing the worksheets has taken so much of my precious time, the result is absolutely benefiting as instead of planning a huge lesson I started planning having 1 realistic...  [Read more]

Check out Tesolcourse.com about TEFL - English Learning Online Courses and apply today to be certified to teach English abroad. You could also be interested in: This is how our TEFL graduates feel they have gained from their course, and how they plan to put into action what they learned: L.A . - Spain said: This course has been extremely enriching for me. Not only have I updated my knowledge of grammar, but I have learned how to explain it successfully and in a fun way. I have learned a lot about the different techniques and teaching methods and how important attitude is when teaching. I think it has been a very practical course that has given me the opportunity to learn how to produce a lot of the teaching material that I will need and I have really enjoyed doing it....  [Read more]

The term Active Learning means ''student interaction with content, with materials and with peers in a multi-disciplinary, multi-sensory and multi-graded approach' (Meyers, 1993 pg 39). Active learning helps the teacher handle the diversity of student levels in the classroom.In an Active Learning classroom the student is provided with the time, the materials, and the organized classroom routines and expectations they need in order to allow them interaction with their learning. It is important for educators to realize that Active Learning supports not only English-speaking students but second- language learners as well.If we think that students are learning English so that they can use it in their everyday lives to better themselves and their opportunities, we must realize that...  [Read more]

The teaching of languages in the French educational system is slowly starting earlier and earlier, with the students learning some English as early as Ecole Premiere (US equivalent of elementary school). Because France is situated in the middle of Europe, it is very important for the people to have some background in several languages. That is why it is obligatory to study a minimum of two languages, and because English is becoming more and more important as a language, all students are required to study it as one of their two languages. Whichever language a student chooses to study first, the instruction will officially begin in the first or second year of Coll'ge (middle school), thus allowing the student to follow a language to the end of Lyc'e (high school), giving them 6...  [Read more]

Learning is the process of gaining or acquiring knowledge while technique comes from the Latin word technicus which means execution or performance of some artistic work or a scientific procedure being used [Orford American Dictionary, Mac OS X dashboard]. So ?learning technique? is the art or even the science of acquiring knowledge. How do we make learning scientific? Experts have come up with some ideas. First, they have isolated different learning techniques. Second, they have defined the qualities of those people using such techniques. Third, they have constructed tests to determine individual learning techniques. Oxford (1990) has defined 6 learning strategies or techniques: 1 Cognitive strategies allow the learner to manipulate language material in direct ways:...  [Read more]

When you walk into a classroom of beginning learners, you will quickly notice that the activities are varied, exciting, and typically short lived, in hopes to keep the attention of the energized and full of life students. Young learners demand fun mingled with learning. It would be impossible to give a lecture to a child. However, on the contrary, an adult can tolerate a lecture granted that within seven minutes, their minds will drift to some other thought. Yes, all people prefer an entertaining lesson that will engrave the concept upon their minds however amusing lessons aren’t always time manageable nor profitable while dealing with a grander scale of information. Adults can endure lectures and retain information while young learners can’t as easily.However,...  [Read more]

The evolution of the internet has led to an increase in online learning opportunities for EFL students. Information can be stored and transferred between users facilitating a virtual classroom for online users. The myriads of teaching sites vary enormously. Receptive sites offer textbook layout with automated exercises and auto correction. Sometimes it?s possible to download sound files to recreate an online language laboratory. There?s no contact whatsoever with a teacher. However, many of these sites are free, making them extremely popular. Interactive sites involve a virtual rapport with an online teacher. Lafford (1997) divided these into synchronous ? real time communication through a keyboard, microphone and more recently using web cams, and...  [Read more]

'gIf the English language made any sense, catastrophe would be an apostrophe with fur.'h (Doug Larson) Before delving into problems facing Thai students learning English I'fll outline some of the positives. Many students prefer farang (foreigner) teachers partly due to a more informal teaching style, but also because a speaker of the native tongue can address pronunciation issues in a way that a non-native speaker cannot. Added to this a lifetimes knowledge of conversational English is more relevant than the rigid, sometimes rarely used, vocabulary and structure of textbooks. Native speakers are employed extensively in schools, businesses and colleges throughout Thailand. Initially the main problem facing students is that the Thai alphabet is entirely different to the Roman...  [Read more]

So you've decided you want to teach English as a foreign language. The following website may be useful as you take your first steps towards booking a course: http://www.englishclub.com/index To be able to teach English as a foreign language, there are certain skills required that you may or may not already have. The website gives a taste for what is involved in learning teaching skills to enable you to go out and find yourself a job in the TEFL world. To be a good teacher depends partly on the skills you have but also on your personality and your teaching style which you will discover during your course and will learn how to use them to your best advantage in the classroom. You will also need to be able to adapt to the classroom dynamics that you may find...  [Read more]

Over the past four decades it appears that the advanced development of computers and the ready availability of this technology have led to an interest in a lexical approach to second language learning versus the more traditional grammar based approach. The Oxford dictionary defines lexical as 'connected with the words of a language', and grammar as 'the rules in a language for changing the form of words and joining them into sentences'. Two additional terms that are relevant to understanding this new approach is concordances, 'a list produced by a computer that shows all the examples of an individual word in a book', and collocations, 'a combination of words in a language that happens very often and more frequently than would happen by chance'.One article researched suggest...  [Read more]

Everyone agrees that learning a second language is more difficult than picking up our native language. However, why this is so is still a question of great debate in the scientific community. Most children with normal intelligence and neurological development will easily pick up their native language. The ease of this process is something that still mystifies scientists. Furthermore, parents do not usually make painstaking efforts to teach their children to speak. In many ways, the process appears innate; the child either ?absorbs? the language through immersion or models the language that he or she hears her parents speaking. Although we speak of language learning as innate, recent scientific studies seem to point to the fact that the brain is not hard- wired with...  [Read more]

Computers have been used for teaching languages since the 1960s. With the invention of the personal computer, the PC, in the 1980s and subsequently the development of the World Wide Web or WWW, computer use in language learning has grown very quickly. Throughout the period there have been a number of discussions and debates regarding the benefits and barriers associated with its use, the use of technology in general in language learning, and the application of CALL in modern language pedagogy.There are a number of barriers to the use of CALL in language learning: financial, availability of hardware and software, technical knowledge and acceptance of technology. Institutions and students alike may have problems affording the equipment and programs to effectively use or implement...  [Read more]

Over the past four decades it appears that the advanced development of computers and the ready availability of this technology have led to an interest in a lexical approach to second language learning versus the more traditional grammar based approach. The Oxford dictionary defines lexical as ?connected with the words of a language?, and grammar as ?the rules in a language for changing the form of words and joining them into sentences?. Two additional terms that are relevant to understanding this new approach is concordances, ?a list produced by a computer that shows all the examples of an individual word in a book?, and collocations, ?a combination of words in a language that happens very often and more frequently than would happen by chance?. One article researched...  [Read more]

When you walk into a classroom of beginning learners, you will quickly notice that the activities are varied, exciting, and typically short lived, in hopes to keep the attention of the energized and full of life students. Young learners demand fun mingled with learning. It would be impossible to give a lecture to a child. However, on the contrary, an adult can tolerate a lecture granted that within seven minutes, their minds will drift to some other thought. Yes, all people prefer an entertaining lesson that will engrave the concept upon their minds however amusing lessons aren?t always time manageable nor profitable while dealing with a grander scale of information. Adults can endure lectures and retain information while young learners can?t as easily. However,...  [Read more]

I have always viewed education as an experience that is required. Society has implemented education as one of the key factors for individual development, and evolution as a whole, a necessity. It is an exchange of information that takes place on a greater scale, and generates development that allows humankind to move forward. This is further demonstrated by our need to create a system that understands our psychology as a whole. Our ability to understand the learning process and teaching methodologies have allowed people to try to ameliorate the system of education and maximise its potential. Without education, we would be unable to move forward, and I feel it is crucial to realize this importance of communication involved in the learning process . An...  [Read more]

Classrooms are places for seriousness, but they are also places for serious enjoyment. Indeed, fun and entertainment are effective tools of instruction, and games are excellent ways of bringing fruitful fun into the classroom. I would contend, moreover, that games of varied sorts can be introduced at every stage of a lesson as integral parts of the Engage, Study and Activate phases.Rik Ruiter and Pinky Y. Dang, authors of Highway to E.S.L: A User-Friendly Guide to Teaching English as a Second Language (2005), note the significance of games in a chapter entitled 'Fun E.S.L.' Heading for the Sunset'. They explain that it is essential to take breaks from using only the textbook as students 'will become bored as anyone would from being forced to do the mundane' (2005: 281). ...  [Read more]

How important is the student in the process of designing a lesson plan' Once a lesson plan is composed, should the teacher stick rigidly to every step detailed, ploughing through even if students fall behind, miss the point and inevitably lose interest -and faith 'V in what the teacher has to say'Personally, the author believes that the lesson is not the focus of the classroom, rather the student is. If a learning point takes longer than anticipated, then a teacher should hope to be attentive to the needs of the class, adapting the lesson or activities to address difficulties in understanding or to extend the practice of a particularly problematic area. However, it is important to realise that it may not be the topic or focus point that is causing confusion in a lesson. It may...  [Read more]

gIf the English language made any sense, catastrophe would be an apostrophe with fur.?h (Doug Larson) Before delving into problems facing Thai students learning English I?fll outline some of the positives. Many students prefer farang (foreigner) teachers partly due to a more informal teaching style, but also because a speaker of the native tongue can address pronunciation issues in a way that a non-native speaker cannot. Added to this a lifetimes knowledge of conversational English is more relevant than the rigid, sometimes rarely used, vocabulary and structure of textbooks. Native speakers are employed extensively in schools, businesses and colleges throughout Thailand. Initially the main problem facing students is that the Thai alphabet is entirely different to the...  [Read more]

As computer technology overtakes the world and EFL resources develop to keep up with these changes, it is important to evaluate these resources that are being used in the classroom. Teachers need to decide whether these materials are necessary or helpful in the teaching process or are they being used simply because they are available and the teacher feels pressurised to use them by students and schools alike. In this short article, I will evaluate the resources I use in the classroom to support young EFL learners and discuss their use and value.Two of the commercial resources used by the school I work in are 'Shine' and 'Way Ahead'. Both of these CD-Roms have been produced to develop not only vocabulary teaching, but also grammatical structures of the English language. Both of...  [Read more]

Computers have been used for teaching languages since the 1960s. With the invention of the personal computer, the PC, in the 1980s and subsequently the development of the World Wide Web or WWW, computer use in language learning has grown very quickly. Throughout the period there have been a number of discussions and debates regarding the benefits and barriers associated with its use, the use of technology in general in language learning, and the application of CALL in modern language pedagogy. There are a number of barriers to the use of CALL in language learning: financial, availability of hardware and software, technical knowledge and acceptance of technology. Institutions and students alike may have problems affording the equipment and programs to effectively use...  [Read more]

Nowadays, we live in a communicative society where people need to have many skills in order to become part of society and to integrate in it successfully. People need to know how to work as a team, since part of the requirements for many jobs is the ability to work together and share ideas. Cooperative learning is one of the major strategies of introducing these communicative skills to pupils of every level. The combination of cooperative learning, task-based learning, and the use of authentic materials can promote communication skills, where one of them is speaking. All of these components are widely used around the world with a tremendous success in EFL classes. Review of Literature Cooperative LearningVarious names have been given to the cooperative learning method of...  [Read more]

How important is the student in the process of designing a lesson plan? Once a lesson plan is composed, should the teacher stick rigidly to every step detailed, ploughing through even if students fall behind, miss the point and inevitably lose interest -and faith ?V in what the teacher has to say? Personally, the author believes that the lesson is not the focus of the classroom, rather the student is. If a learning point takes longer than anticipated, then a teacher should hope to be attentive to the needs of the class, adapting the lesson or activities to address difficulties in understanding or to extend the practice of a particularly problematic area. However, it is important to realise that it may not be the topic or focus point that is causing confusion in a...  [Read more]

The Cambridge online dictionary defines culture as ‘the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time’. Education, and thus teaching, are widely believed to one of the most fundamental and essential elements in human life. Therefore cultural awareness in the education environment is of paramount importance. To effectively communicate in any classroom, the students must feel both at ease with, and a sense of respect for, their teacher. To achieve this, the teacher must be aware of the norms, customs and beliefs which have nurtured the minds and personalities of those he or she intends to educate. Any offence or disrespect caused would be of detriment to the crucial rapport building and mutual respect. As ...  [Read more]