Building Principles: SLA and Pedagogy

The conscious study of grammar rules and vocabulary lists.

The mostly implicit process of building a linguistic system by making form-meaning connections from input.

Memorizing phrases through repeated practice and imitation.

A predictable event that occurs as soon as learners are exposed to a language form.

Because learners can consciously decide to acquire any grammar feature on demand.

Because some conscious awareness may play a small role in a process that is otherwise largely implicit.

Because teachers can fully control every aspect of what learners acquire.

Because only some languages can be acquired implicitly while others require grammar study.

Links between vocabulary lists and grammar rules.

Associations learners build between linguistic forms (sounds/writing) and their meanings.

Connections between classroom activities and standardized tests.

Bonds between learners and their native language.

An instant event triggered by exposure to a language form or a single lesson.

Always the immediate result of corrective feedback.

Not an instant event but a process not resulting from a single exposure, lesson, or piece of corrective feedback.

Completely random with no predictable patterns.

The grammatical complexity of the form.

The frequency of the form in the textbook.

Whether the input helps the learner grasp the message.

Whether the teacher has explicitly highlighted the form.

Output builds the system, and input helps learners access it.

Input builds the system, and output helps learners access the system.

Neither input nor output matters; only grammar study does.

Output alone is sufficient for building a linguistic system.

Only after we have explicitly learned and can state the relevant grammar rules.

Without necessarily being able to fully articulate the rules we just used.

Only through memorized, recombined phrases.

Only after extensive repetitive drilling.

Naturalistic acquisition is possible for all languages.

Some languages can only be acquired by studying grammar rules.

The roles of input, output, and interaction are fundamentally the same across languages.

All languages should not necessarily be taught with identical lesson plans.

Their impact is so well established that teachers should individualize all lesson plans.

Their impact cannot be easily isolated, but incorporating student choice is beneficial.

They are irrelevant and should be ignored in lesson planning.

They are the only factor determining acquisition outcomes.

The production of grammatically correct sentences in isolation.

The expression, interpretation, and negotiation of meaning with a purpose in a given context.

Any speaking activity carried out in pairs.

Reading and listening exercises done individually.

Because students dislike role-plays.

Because the classroom context cannot be altered, so the assumed identity ignores the real context.

Because only teachers can play such roles, not students.

Because grammar must be explained before any role-play.

Any activity that involves speaking in the target language.

The purposeful interpretation and/or expression of meaning.

Practice of grammar structures through drills.

Listening to a teacher lecture in the target language.

Does the activity include writing? Are learners evaluated?

Is the grammar correct? Is the vocabulary level appropriate?

What information or content is being conveyed? What will the audience do with the information?

Is the activity done in pairs? Is the activity timed?

Learners read two short stories and decide which one they like best.

Learners write the list of ingredients of their favorite dish and the class guesses the dish.

Learners underline all the plural nouns in a paragraph.

Learners post an image of something important to them and classmates reply with questions.

Because plural marking is the most important grammar point.

Because it cannot be done at all without knowing the language.

Because learners can complete it without attending to meaning, blocking form-meaning connections.

Because it requires group work that the chapter discourages.

Reading, writing, and grammar.

Listening, speaking, and translating.

Interpretive, presentational, and interpersonal.

Receptive, productive, and metalinguistic.

Correct every grammar error students make while reading.

Select and provide meaningful content and scaffold comprehension and analysis.

Translate every text word by word.

Memorize the text alongside the students.

Be tied to a specific modality such as only oral or only written language.

Be tied to specific proficiency levels.

Happen in a strict linear order across all lessons.

All of the above are things the three modes are NOT meant to do.

Because learners cannot produce language without having had any input.

Because interpretation is the easiest skill to test.

Because speaking and writing should be avoided in early lessons.

Because interpretive tasks do not require any scaffolding.

Two students plan a party together in real time.

Students listen to a series of travel suggestions and decide if each is a do or don't.

Each student writes a description of a house for rent on a discussion forum.

Students read a story and draw pictures to illustrate it.

Decoding a written or spoken text without interaction.

Polishing a written product for an audience that does not interact back.

Exchanging meaningful information with an interlocutor for a given purpose, either synchronously or asynchronously.

Memorizing a list of vocabulary items for a quiz.

Is identical to literal retrieval of right and wrong answers.

Always requires prior explicit grammar instruction.

Goes beyond understanding words and involves interpretation based on background and experience.

Should focus only on the surface meaning of what is explicitly stated.

L2+ learners never make developmental errors.

L2+ learners have a linguistic system already in place from their L1.

L1 acquisition requires comprehensible input, but L2+ does not.

Only L2+ acquisition exhibits U-shaped development.

Producing "foots" instead of "feet."

Pronouncing an L2 word using sounds typical of the L1 because of L1 influence.

Forgetting a vocabulary word learned in class.

Refusing to speak in the L2 in class.

There is a clear critical period for L2+ acquisition but not for L1 acquisition.

There seems to be a critical period for L1 acquisition, but not necessarily for L2+ acquisition.

Adults cannot acquire any L2+ successfully.

Age is the only factor that determines acquisition success.

Both require comprehensible input to develop a linguistic system.

Neither shows any developmental stages.

Only L2+ learners make developmental errors like regularizing irregular forms.

Explicit instruction alone guarantees acquisition in both cases.

Language acquisition relies on repetition and imitation as the driving forces.

Learners create utterances they have never heard before, showing repetition is not the driving force.

Languages can be mastered through simple imitation of a teacher.

It is identical to teaching math or playing an instrument.

Explain grammar rules and then test learners on them.

Give students opportunities to engage in purposeful interpretation and expression of meaning.

Make sure learners only study vocabulary in isolation.

Ensure that all classroom output is grammatically perfect.

Explicit teaching always changes the acquisition process.

Teaching a feature does not guarantee that learners have acquired it.

Learners always reject what is taught to them.

Teachers should avoid teaching anything new.

Organize their entire syllabus around grammatical developmental orders.

Adapt their expectations of how progress can be seen beyond an increase in accuracy.

Eliminate the role of meaningful content from their courses.

Ignore individual learner variation entirely.

Grammar structures to be covered in a fixed order.

Meaningful content and communication.

Random topics chosen by students only.

Vocabulary lists memorized in alphabetical order.

Because learners never make errors when producing language.

Because output builds the system only when combined with grammar translation.

Because input is what builds the system, and there must be input before there can be output.

Because output is only possible in monolingual classrooms.

Sleep-based learning devices.

The implicit nature of acquisition.

The role of grammar explanations in conscious learning.

The need to teach learners to daydream in the target language.

Decide whether a textbook is too expensive.

Distinguish communicative activities from mere language practice.

Calculate grades for oral participation.

Determine the level of grammar difficulty of a text.

A pair of students asking each other real questions about their weekends.

A student sharing a story about their family and the listener asking follow-up questions.

A learner giving directions to another learner so they can mark a route on a map.

Students debating a current event with positions they actually hold.

Whether grammar should be taught at all.

Whether a directions-giving task counts as communication.

Whether the L1 should be used in class.

Whether listening comprehension is necessary.

Students listen to suggestions for travelers and classify them as do or don't.

Each student explains how to prepare their favorite dish.

Students post an image of something important to them and classmates reply with questions.

Students read a short story and draw pictures to illustrate it.

Cultures, comparisons, connections, communities.

Comprehension, content, cohesion, conventions.

Critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, citizenship.

Curriculum, courses, credits, certification.

Because communication inevitably involves awareness of audience, purpose, context, and pragmatic issues.

Because teachers are required to teach each C for an equal number of minutes.

Because only communication matters in real life.

Because tests are designed around only one C.

They are radically different in every respect.

They are exactly the same in all respects.

The processes are fundamentally similar but not identical, especially given classroom contexts.

L1 acquisition research has nothing to teach us about L2+ acquisition.

Because classrooms are the only places where acquisition can occur.

Because the book focuses only on theoretical research, not teaching practice.

Because instructed L2+ acquisition differs from being immersed in the language 24/7, and teaching is not an ideal vacuum.

Because the authors only teach in classrooms.

Teachers can fully control exactly what learners acquire.

Neither teachers nor students have total control over what will and will not be acquired.

Students have full control, but teachers have none.

Teachers control acquisition completely if they use the right textbook.

Because grammar structures are not part of any language.

Because coverage does not guarantee acquisition, and courses should center meaningful content and communication.

Because learners will refuse to study any grammar.

Because tests only cover vocabulary, not grammar.

Immediately correcting every error to maximize learning.

Recognizing that errors are a natural part of development and not the sole indicator of progress.

Never addressing errors so as not to embarrass learners.

Using only grammar drills to eliminate all errors.

Audience, since the audience is essential even in non-interactive presentations.

Avoiding any mention of audience to keep tasks simple.

Ensuring that no real content is conveyed.

Using only oral and never written modalities.

Presentational only refers to oral presentations.

Interpretive only refers to reading tasks.

Each mode can occur in oral or written form, and interpersonal can be synchronous or asynchronous.

Interpersonal communication must always be face-to-face and synchronous.

Forming sentences from clues like "Mary / walk / park / yesterday."

Completing a dictation exercise.

Reading two short stories and choosing which one you like best.

Underlining plural nouns in a paragraph.

Explicit instruction is the primary driver of acquisition.

Teaching a rule guarantees that the feature has been acquired.

Explicit instruction does not seem to alter the acquisition process itself, in L1 or L2+ acquisition.

Explicit instruction is useless and should be banned.

Instructed learners are always less motivated.

Instructed settings do not provide the 24/7 immersion of naturalistic contexts.

Instructed settings always use the L1 for all explanations.

Naturalistic learners never receive corrective feedback.

Focus on explaining grammar, since learners primarily acquire language by learning rules.

Provide abundant input and opportunities to interpret and convey meaningful information with a clear purpose.

Avoid any communicative activity, since classroom context cannot host real communication.

Plan lessons entirely around individual differences, ignoring input.