Some hope and hints

What I failed to mention in my previous post was my conclusion to one of the second language theories cited in the book. My reckoning could be auspicious for non native teachers of the second language ( NNS). According to the interactionist theory, one of the recent psychological ones; second language learners advance in levels of a language more effectively by interacting with those who are more knowledgable than them. This is where the theory of the "zone of proximal developement" by Vygotsky comes to attention.(P.44) This very theory coupled with the interactionist position entice me to resolve that the NNS teachers, contarary to the general belief, can be and are the reliable candidates for instructiong SLLs (Second Language Learners). They can simply be considered as more knowledgable interlocutors- the critical part to the efficiency of this theory. This, however, cannot overlook the other positive aspects of having a NNS teacher, like self-experience, sympathy, structural knowledge and so forth.

On the whole I beleive that a native speaker becomes eligible to be compared to an NNS teacher in other aspects of teaching, only if he has acquired at least a second language and is knowledgable in the structure of the language he is teaching (It is anecdotal that some native speakers of the language due to the lack of grammatical studies of the language, are ignorant of the grammar rules and therefore not neccessarily suitable for teaching their native language.). Otherwise, an NNS teacher is no less than a native one.

Other valuable material in this book for me is the areas of study which the authors claim have not been yet fully explored. These reports can be a source for me to start my own research in the future:

As stated by the authors, although much has been done on the expansion of the learning style assessment instruments; far less research has studied the interaction between different learning styles and success in SLA. (P. 58)

Also, little research investigates the effect of learners' choice of strategy on how successful they would be in learning. The authors though emphasise that a non-flexibale belief in a certain startegy is detrimental to the process of learning. They suggest that teachers showcase an array of strategies and encourage the students to use them along with their self-chosen ones. This point was especially valuable to me to make sure I provide a variety of strategies in my book for the teachers of a second language. Because personally I believe that taking advantage of as many sources as available is the key to successful learning. (P. 59)

And prolonging my learning process, here are the other points I found worth knowing:

*The differences in aptitude of SLLs and their effect on second language learning has cuased the educators to introduce the special programms for the learners of French in Canadian schools in which different apptitudes are treated by their accordingly designed programms. This, although not financially possible for every school, can give a hint to the teachers to consider varying their teaching strategies and their classroom activities to cover the range of aptitudes in their classes. (P.54)

**"...early intensive exposure to the second language" as said by the authors may result in the "loss or incomplete development of the child's first language." (P.68) Mothers! Be aware!

And over to my final analysis and wondering:

In the section dedicated to the effect of age in SLA, extensive research (including that of Johnson and Newport 1989) shows that the learners of English who started their learning at a relatively young age of 10 to 15 have shown significant success compared to those who started it at an older age. What these reaserches neglect,and in my eyes are very substantial is the decision for determining the starting point of the process of learning. In these studies they have completely ignored the amount of English to which the candidates were already exposed before entering the United States. They assume that the learning have simply been started as they have entered the United States as immigrants.

Another thing that makes me wonder is that I think the effect of four to five years of study in an exclusively English environmnet like that of a high school is also ignored in these researches. (P.64)