According to Freeman and Freeman, there are two theories of language teaching. The theories are very different in their goals, methods, and classroom practices. Below is a list of the major differences between the two theories.
Learning/ Word Recognition | Acquisition/ Sociopsycholinguistics |
Reading *Written language must be learned *Identify words to get meaning *Make connections between print and oral vocabulary *Sound out/blend to pronounce words *If you can decode a word then you recognize it as words in your oral language *Phonics rules (focusing on the pronunciation of a group of letters) *Sight words (flash cards to memorize) *Break words apart to identify them (look for words within words) *Teacher uses oral reads to help students learn to identify words *Teacher supplies words that students don’t know in oral reading... with the belief that the child will then learn that word *Learn Vocabulary in advance of reading *Recoding instead of decoding (changing from written language to oral language/without getting at meaning) *Children will possibly say the word but it won’t have meaning *The English language isn’t always phonetic in longer words –break apart words (structural analysis) *Mostly oral reading Writing *Goal is to produce a quality piece of writing *Teachers break apart elements and teach parts (letters, words, sentences, paragraphs, essays) *Topics are assigned *Emphasis on conventions and mechanics *Handwriting, grammar, and spelling are major component * Writing is corrected by teacher | Reading *Written language is innate and can be acquired *Reading is a process of constructing meaning *Uses background knowledge and three linguistic systems (graphophonics, syntax, and semantics) to make meaning of texts *Focus on meaning *Use graphophonics as just one of three cueing systems to gain meaning *Read to acquire new vocabulary by using context *Decoding (getting at meaning) *Making meaning …not focused on individual words *Sampling the text, making predictions, inferring, checking predictions, and taking new information and combining it with what is known *Different readers may construct different meaning depending on background *Read extensively to acquire vocabulary *Vocabulary taught as they encounter it in many different contexts *Mostly silent reading *Comprehension strategies *Fix up strategies Writing *Goal is to understand the process of writing *Student choice writing topics *Students practice writing in different genres *Writer’s workshop approach *The more students read, the better they write *Mini-lessons provide instruction on style and mechanics *Students are encouraged to share their writing |
I believe that as educators we need to have a balance of both Learning and Acquisition approaches. Our students all learn differently, and have different needs. If we have a balanced approach that incorporates both theories, we will meet more needs and learning styles.
*All information above is taken from the text: Essential Linguistics What You Need to Know to Teach Reading, ESL, Spelling, Phonics, Grammar. By David E. Freeman and Yvonne S. Freeman.
Mary-
ReplyDeleteYou did a nice job outlining the differences to the two teaching styles in an unbiased way. You highlighted the goals, methods, and different classroom routines in a very clear outline. When discussing the acquisition view in reference to reading, you used the word “meaning” over and over. I found this to be a great strategy as this will help people to clearly identify the main focus of the theory.
Your final paragraph was one that I connected to completely. I believe that it is our job as teachers to educate ourselves about the different approaches to teaching reading and writing. Once we have a better understanding, we can better meet the needs of our students. It is important to look at our students as individuals and decide which approach will be the most beneficial to that student. I agree that a balanced approach that incorporates both theories will be the most successful.
Mary -
ReplyDeleteI like how you placed both views in the chart. For each idea you gave the alternative view's perspective. I think as an educator this set up allows for an easy system of checks and balances. As you state in the last paragraph it is important to balance both perspectives. The way in which you have outlined the ideas creates an easy system for ensuring incorporation of both into instruction.