2988. Communication, communication, communication!


 
In this blog I’ve said many things about acquisition of English as a foreign language, that’s right. And I’ve advised to create immersion in that language in the classroom, okay then.
Yesterday I read in Spanish scholar Susana Pastor Cesteros, from Universidad de Alicante (Spain) that also teaching and presenting grammar, within a meaningful-for-the-students context, can also help to learn and acquire the language.
Moreover we could present grammar, inside that meaningful context, in the students’ mother language, which is mine too, namely Spanish. This is something postulated by scholars Larsen and Long (1991). Also Spanish scholar Antonio Bueno postulated that way in 1991-’92, when I was a student in his classes, in Andalusian south of Spain.
Even we could explicitly treat and correct errors and mistakes.
An example may clarify all this premise and assertion. We can have plants in a desert and they grow with raining water. But if we water those plants they can grow better and stronger. We can have natural acquisition of English, through naturalistic exposition to the language, but if we present grammar, we can help our dear students go faster at their learning process. The example is by Larsen and Long.
Afterward we can practice that presented grammar, into something practical and pragmatic, through communication in the classroom. / Photo from: www theglobeandmail com. The picture is about a way of communication too.

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