Chapter 1: Guiding Principles – SLA and Pedagogy

The conscious memorization of grammar rules and vocabulary lists.

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

The ability to translate texts accurately from the target language into the first language.

The explicit study of linguistic structures and their written rules.

Because learners can consciously choose every word they want to acquire.

Because finding common ground about constructs like consciousness and awareness is complex.

Because acquisition happens only when learners are asleep.

Because teachers can fully script which items students will acquire.

An event that occurs in an instant when learners are exposed to a language form.

The result of completing one well-designed grammar lesson.

Not an event that occurs instantly or as a result of mere exposure, a single lesson, or corrective feedback.

Always immediate and fully predictable from any piece of input.

Output builds the linguistic system just as input does.

Input builds the system, and output helps learners access the system they have built.

Output is more important than input for building the linguistic system.

Neither input nor output plays any role in language development.

Because learners always focus on form before meaning.

Because only the parts of input that help learners understand the message are more likely to get processed.

Because teachers select forms for students to memorize each day.

Because learners' brains can process every single detail of input at once.

Learners consciously reciting verb conjugation tables before class.

Learners being able to express meaning accurately without being able to articulate the rules they used.

Learners studying a textbook chapter on the subjunctive mood.

Learners memorizing a list of irregular past tense forms.

Because lesson plans should be directly translated from one language to another.

Because naturalistic acquisition is possible for all languages, suggesting the roles of input, output, and interaction are the same.

Because only some languages require grammar study while others do not.

Because all languages are taught with the exact same textbook worldwide.

By designing fully individualized lesson plans for each learner.

By ignoring student preferences in favor of strict adherence to policies.

By incorporating student choice (e.g., free voluntary reading, varied assignment formats) and understanding their needs.

By isolating individual factors perfectly from one another.

The expression, interpretation, and negotiation of meaning.

Having a purpose.

Occurring in a given context.

The accurate memorization of grammar rules before any message is exchanged.

Because such activities are too difficult for beginners.

Because the context of the classroom cannot be altered: students are students, so assuming other identities ignores the context.

Because those identities are culturally inappropriate in every setting.

Because students refuse to participate in group work.

Is the activity graded? And is it done in pairs?

Does it involve the target language? And does it take less than 10 minutes?

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

Is the grammar accurate? And is the pronunciation native-like?

Learners reading two short stories and deciding which one they like best.

Learners writing the list of ingredients of their favorite dish so the class can guess the dish.

Learners underlining all of the plural nouns in a paragraph.

Learners discussing why they prefer a particular story over another.

It requires too much preparation time for teachers.

Learners could write what they hear without understanding what they are writing, so it does not require focus on meaning.

Dictation activities are illegal in most schools.

Dictation only works for advanced learners.

Because learners cannot spell the words correctly.

Because it is too cultural in nature.

Because the only purpose is practicing a particular form, and no information is conveyed to an audience.

Because the sentence contains grammatical errors.

They must always occur in a strict linear sequence within every lesson.

They overlap significantly; for example, audiences are involved in presentational communication, and interpreting happens in interpersonal exchanges.

Each mode corresponds to a different proficiency level (e.g., interpretive for novices).

Each mode is tied exclusively to either oral or written modality.

To convey meaningful information for an audience.

To select and provide meaningful content, and to scaffold comprehension and analysis.

To interact with an interlocutor in real time.

To translate texts from the first language into the target language.

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

Each student writes a description of a house for rent on a discussion forum and classmates reply guessing the rent.

Students work together to plan a party in real time.

Students read a story and draw pictures to illustrate it.

Only in real-time, face-to-face settings.

Synchronously (in real time) or asynchronously (not in real time).

Only through written language, never spoken.

Only between learners who already know each other well.

It is always good to start lessons with interpretive communication.

Teachers should skip input and have students produce language immediately.

Teachers should only assess interpretive skills at the start of the year.

Learners should avoid interpretive communication altogether.

As a synonym for rote memorization of texts.

As a way to highlight that comprehension is more than literal retrieval of information from a text.

As a method to grade listening comprehension only.

As a way to discourage translation between languages.

Interpretive, presentational, and interpersonal modes are not tied to oral versus written modality.

The modes must always occur in a linear sequence within a lesson.

The modes are not meant to correspond to different proficiency levels.

The modes are not supposed to be approached as isolated components of a lesson.

It has no value at all for language development.

It should be banned from language classrooms.

Engaging in tasks like providing directions can still contribute to language development, even if it is not true communication.

It automatically produces native-like proficiency.

That it is not a useful classroom activity under any circumstances.

That it IS a communicative task, even though VanPatten would disagree.

That it should be replaced with grammar drills.

That it can only be used with advanced learners.

Should always begin with vocabulary lists, then grammar, then a topic.

Cannot be equated with first learning vocabulary and grammar and then finding something to say.

Requires perfect pronunciation before any message is exchanged.

Is impossible in any classroom context.

It shows that students already know what slippers are in Spanish.

It shows that the activity can be completed without focusing on meaning, which is why it is not true communication.

It shows that plural nouns are the most important grammar topic.

It shows that teachers should never give form-focused exercises.

They are the same process described with different words.

Acquisition builds the system through input; skill development helps learners better access that system through output.

Skill development happens before acquisition can occur.

Output builds the system, while input develops the skill.

Because explanations are too time-consuming.

Because this approach is essentially expecting output without input, and output does not build the system.

Because students dislike hearing explanations in class.

Because explanations only work for advanced learners.

Communication, cultures, comparisons, connections, and communities.

Comprehension, curiosity, creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration.

Communication, cognition, comprehension, composition, and culture.

Cultures, customs, communication, cognition, and communities.

Because communication alone is impossible to teach.

Because communication inherently involves awareness of audience, purpose, context, and pragmatic and cultural intricacies.

Because schools require teachers to cover all five in the same week.

Because each C has its own dedicated textbook series.

A teacher should mainly explain how the language works and rely on practice to produce acquisition.

A teacher should select meaningful input, scaffold comprehension, and design opportunities for meaningful communication among learners.

A teacher should focus exclusively on grammar drills and translation.

A teacher should never provide corrective feedback under any circumstances.