Here are suggested answers to the Think About It items in this chapter of the Online Learning Center website. - As “communicative language teaching” began to replace audiolingual methodology, did communication actually become a part of the classroom? Did instructors abandon the Atlas Complex? Explain.
Teacher’s Note: Response should include the following point(s):
- In early CLT teaching, instructors equated communication with conversation in the form of a question-and-answer session. Real communication was not really happening.
- The teacher was still the authority figure and perpetuated the Atlas Complex.
- SLA involves the creation of an implicit linguistic system. What evidence exists to show that second language learners also have an implicit unconscious linguistic system? Can you provide any examples from your own language learning experience?
Teacher’s Note: Response should include the following point(s):
- L2 learners know things about the L2 that have never been taught to them.
- L2 learners can judge whether a sentence is grammatical or not but they cannot explain why.
- According to Lee and VanPatten, “we may come to the conclusion that languages, are, in essence, unteachable... .” What do they mean by this?
Teacher’s Note: Response should include some of the following point(s):
- Research shows that L2 learners are more in control of their acquisition than was previously thought. Acquisitional processes appear not be affected by outside influences (i.e., instructional interventions).
- L2 learners pass through the same stages of development as they acquire a specific grammatical structure regardless of what their native languages are.
- L2 learners follow the same acquisitional orders regardless of what their native languages are.
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