Teaching English as a Second Language.

Research and theory in bilingual education are reviewed for implications for Puerto Rican education. The review found-that the following factors influence language and language learning: cognitive development, the capacity to diicriminate and . comprehend the speech of others, and the ability to produce speech sounds and sequences of speech sounds that conform to the patterns of adult speech:Two factors that underlie the development of skill in learning a foreign language are intellectual capacity and appropriate attitude toward the other language group, coupled with a determined _motivation to learn the foreign language. However, students with low aptitude can learn a language if attitude and motivation are strong. Attitude, motivation, and orientation contribute to the rapid acquisition of listening and speaking skills. These factors affect both the learner's perseverance in language study and the learner's reactions to contact with a foreign culture. (MB) *********************************************************************** * * * Documents acquired by ERIC include many informal unpublished materials not available from other sources. ERIC makes every effort to obtain -Elie best copy availabLe. Nevertheless, items of marginal * * lc * reproducibility are often encountered and this affects the quality * * of the microfiche and hardcopy reproductions ERIC makes available * * via the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). EDRS is not * * responsible for-the quality of the original document. 1Reproductions * * supplied by EDRS are the best that tan be made from tAie original. * *********************************************************************** TEACHING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE* Estoy Reddin _ EDUCATION& WELF4 ? :: NATIONAL INSTIT. I E OF EDUCATION THt$ DQCUATENT HAS BEEN REPRI OUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FRG THE pEPSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGIt A TING ,T POINTS OF IVIEW OIT OPINION T/Ik-TED DO NOT NECESSARILY R VPRI SENT OFF 1CIAL NATIONAL INSTatiTE C EDuCa TION POSITION OR POLICY While much has been said and written in recent-years about the teaching of seco:ld languages this is not a new idea. It has been and is an accepted practice in many countries of Europe, Africa and Asia. It was also an accepted practice in ancient and medik:val times. schoolboys in ancieni Rome learned Greek from their tutors, who were often Greek slaves, so that they might study the classics of the Greek world. By the Middle Ages there was a body of literaLure written in Latin. However, since the vernacular languages were no longer the same as Latin, for those who wished to study in schools and. universities Latin had to be taught as a second language all through the Middle Ages and into early modern times. Nor is the teaching of English as a second language a new problem. It has been a concern on the continent for more than 300 years as the early English-speaking settlers tried to bring those already there into their own language community. The learning of English as a second language likewise became important for later groups coming to the continent who spoke other languages as their mother tongue. Nor is the teaching of English as a second lz,nguage a new iiroblem in Puerto Rico. The work,of Pedro A. Cebollero, "La Polftica Lingufstica Escolar de Puerto Rico" , gives ample evidence that the teaching of English has been a concern ever since 1898 when Spanish rule was succeeded by that of the United States. *Paper prepared for presentation to doctoral seminar at Inter American University of Puerto Rico, April 13, 1973. 2 Yet there are some new aspects, It is only in the last twenty-five years that teaching English as a second language has become a profession, making systematic application of a collected body of knowledge about language cembined with knowledge of learning theory, The Role of a Second language A changing concept of the use and value of a Second language has been reflected in second-language teaching in recent years, Earlier practices were based on the learning of a second language as a replacement for the mother tongue, For many years tis concept was the basis of the language policy used with immigrants coming to the United States, In the state of Pennsylvarda, to which many different groups from Germany migrated, a law was passed around the turn of the centuiy making it mandatory that all intuction in the Public schools of that state be given in English, It was assurne(1 that a cOmmon language would foster the process of integration of different peoples into a homogeneous whole, thus America would truly become a melting-pot, The first language or mother tongue was not to be used nor cherished, Consequently students often hesitated, or even refused, to acknowledge that they knew another language or had contact with another language in their how, Today there are many who see a second language not :Is a replacement for the first language, i.e., the mother tongue, but reher as a complement to :he first language. This concept has had its basis, in part, in the view of the anthropologists who see language as a part oi a person's culture and therefore as something to be prized, Rather than conceiving of a society as a melting pot where individual thiferences are lost, mar,y 'zelieve that a society should be.like a mosaic where the different individual pieces add.to the beauty of the whole, Such a concept is helping to bring a change of 'attitude towards language with many people now developing an attitude of pride in knowing a second language. In a recent university class on "linguisties and education" there had been discussion of the language background of the class members, Afterwards one young woman lamented that she felt different from the Others in the class because, unlike ther:i, she had no other languages in her home background, This was quite different.from a decade earlier when students had not acknowledged the existence of another language in the home background. Eevelopment of Siliqual Programs , The changing concept of the role of a second language has had an effecton the schools in that it has led to the development of bilingual programs. Simply stated, bilingualism may be defined as the abilitY to use two languages effectively for purposes of communication, Por a small sector bilingualism is acquired simultaneously as in the case of Steve, a lody in a public school of Pennsylvania, who had leirned both Russian and Polish in his home, One language was necessary for communication with his mother, the other with his father, There are children in Puerto Rico, as well as on the continent, who must learn both English and Spanish in order to commurdcate with parents wit use one of the languages but not the other, For many others bilingualism is acquired through sequential learning. One language is learned first, usually in the home, while the second language