Comprehension Strategies in the Acquiring of a Second Language

Preface
Contents
List of Figures
1: Introduction
	Concluding Remarks
	References
2: Our Magical Language
	Concluding Remarks
	References
3: Development of the Comprehension Approach as a Method of Second-Language Instruction
	Interest of Students in the Study of a Foreign Language
	The Pennsylvania Study
	Experimental Study of Language Performance
	Vocabulary and Second-Language Learning
	Development of the Comprehension Approach
	Teaching Machine
	Traditional Approach to the Dimension of Listening
	Total Physical Response
	The Zeitgeist of the Decades of 1960, 1970, and 1980
	Concluding Remarks
	References
4: Models of Implicit Language Processing
	Automatic Processing of Language
	Using One’s Knowledge of Academic Grammar When Editing
	Input Hypothesis
	Linear and Non-linear Language Learning
	Krashen’s i+1 Formulation and Language Teaching
	A student’s self-discovery of the role of language comprehension in second-language learning
	Unstructured Language Input at Advanced Levels
	Language Acquisition Device
	Non-traditional Language Methodologies
	Modification of Krashen’s i+1 Model: Emphasis on Language Output
	Using Explicit Grammatical Understanding as Reference Points
	Implicit and Explicit Systems: Are They Independent Language Learning Systems?
	Over Monitors
	Justification for using output as a procedure to achieve comprehensible input at an advanced language level
	Form-Focused Approach to Language Learning
	Bare Bones Grammar of the Grammar-Translation Method
	Comprehension: The Responsibility of the Students
	Reading in Foreign Language Classes
	Concluding Remarks
	References
5: Language Acquisition in Children: The Development of Syntax
	First- and Second-Language Learning
	General Principles of Child Language Development
	Children’s Early Development of Language
	Children’s Development of Syntactic Rules, a Closer Look
	Continual Development of Children’s Language
	Application to Second-Language Instruction
	Overregularization: Creativity and Reorganization
	An Experimental Study of Language Creativity
	Language Flexibility
	Consideration of Children’s “Errors”
	Concluding Remarks
	References
6: Vocabulary Development
	Early Vocabulary Development
	Development of Vocabulary Items in Young Children
	Children’s Rapid Growth of Vocabulary
	Children’s Vocabulary Errors
	Second-Language Considerations
	Multiple Uses of the Same Word
	Superordinate Vocabulary Items
	Presentation Conditions and Word Learning
	Application to Second-Language Instruction
	Advanced Vocabulary Learning
	Application to Second-Language Instruction
	Simultaneous Growth of Vocabulary and Grammar
	Application to Second-Language Instruction
	Context and Word Usage
	Pragmatics with Reference to Children’s Language
	Concluding Remarks
	References
7: The Relationship Between Comprehension and Production
	Child Language Investigations of Comprehension and Production
	Challenging the Premise That Comprehension Precedes Production in Child Language Development
	Application to Second-Language Instruction
	Concluding Remarks
	References
8: Word Segmentation and Intelligibility, Parental Simplification, and Frequency and Amount of Language Input
	Application to Second-Language Instruction
	Simplification of Parental Language Input
	Increasing the Complexity of Sentence Structure on the Part of Parents
	Application to Second-Language Instruction
		Scripts
	Frequency and Amount of Parental Language Input and Language Learning
	Immensity of Parental Language Input
	Second-Language Application
	Concluding Remarks
	References
9: The Role of Conversational Interchanges in First- and Second-Language Learning
	Parental Reformulations and Recasts in Parent-Child Dialogues
	Parental Approval and Disapproval
	Parental Repetitions Can Be Regarded as a Source of Disapproval
	Children’s Self-Correction Following Recasts
	Recasts and Second-Language Learning
	Concluding Remarks
	References
10: Considerations in the Development of Lessons in the Comprehension Approach
	Current Issues of Study in Second-Language Learning
	Language Immersion
	First-Language Interference in Second-Language Learning
	Grammatical Rules and Second-Language Learning
	The Selection of Grammatically Equivalent Units
	Compound and Coordinate Bilingualism
	The Role of Oral Practice as Both a Method to Teach Grammar and Speaking Skills
	Communicative Approach
	Recasts and Conversation Analysis (CA)
	Anxiety as a Factor in Second-Language Learning
	Form-Focused Grammatical Instruction
	Deduction and Induction in Foreign Language Learning
	Concluding Remarks
	References
11: Instructional Principles Applied to the Several Stages of Comprehension Learning
	Beginning Stages in the Comprehension of a Second Language
	Use of Concrete Words
	Word Segmentation
	Omission of Text in the Early Lessons
	Pronunciation Practice
	Phonetic and Semantic Similarity
	Teaching Vocabulary
	Grammatical Properties of Words
	Order of Introduction of Words and Grammatical Units in the Early Stages of Learning
	Use of Sequences
	Pictorial Examples of the Presentation of Grammatical Units
	The Students’ Responsibilities
	Exact Translations
	Pleonasms
	Recalling or Identifying English Words
	Concrete Words
	Expressions and Idioms
	Metaphors
	Reading as a Procedure to Teach Vocabulary
	Word Fields
	The Importance of Collocations
	Denotation and Connotation
	Word Extensions
	Pragmatics: Compliments
	The Role of the Instructor Using the Comprehension Approach
	Testing Comprehension Learning at the Beginning and Intermediate Stages
	Concluding Remarks
	References
12: Consideration of the Advanced Stages of Instruction Using the Comprehension Approach
	Acquiring Multiple Grammatical Units Almost Simultaneously
	Levels of Language Input in the Comprehension Approach
	Development of Vocabulary and Complex Structures
		Grammatical Complexity
	Prepositions
	Past Tense
	Clauses
	Imbedded Clauses
	Questions
	Cause and Effect
	Passive Voice
	Syntactic Connectives
	Time Concepts
	Temporal Considerations
	Semantics and Syntax
	Different Functions of Verbs
	Ambiguity and World Knowledge
	Adult Learners Versus Child Learners
	Application to Second-Language Instruction
	Concluding Remarks
	References
13: Evaluation of the Comprehension Approach and Related Considerations in Acquiring a Second Language
	Immersion Classes Within a School Setting
	Comprehension Instruction and Grammatical Accuracy
	Consideration of Listening Instruction Among Foreign Language Instructors
	Age and Second-Language Mastery: Speech Production Considerations
	Perception Considerations
	Concluding Remarks
	References
References
Index