LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING:

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Diseño y Desarrollo curricular I

Asunción Sanchez Villalón Dec. 2010

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1.What is it that learners have to learn or acquire? 1.1. Variation in objectives in relation to the Framework1.2. Types of objectives in relation to the Framework

2. The processes of language learning: 2.1. How do learners learn?2.2. What can each kind of Framework user do to facilitate language learning?

What is it that learners have to learn or acquire?• “The aims and objectivesaims and objectives of

language learning and teaching should be based on an appreciation of the needs needs of learners and of society, , on the tasks, activities tasks, activities and processesprocesses that the learners need to carry out in order to satisfy those needs, and on the competences on the competences and strategiesand strategies they need to develop/build up in order to do so”

• “For the purposes of representingrepresenting or steeringsteering the progressprogress of language learners, it is useful to describe their abilitiesabilities at a series of successive levelslevels”.

Variation in objectives in relation to the Framework

“Curriculum Design in language learning implies choiceschoices between kinds and levels of objectives”

“Each of the major componentsmajor components of the model presented may provide a focus for learning objectives and become a specific entry pointentry point for the use of the Framework”.

Types of objectives in relation to the Framework

“Teaching/learning objectives may be conceived in Teaching/learning objectives may be conceived in terms of …terms of …

• the development of the learner’s general competences”

his/her declarative knowledgeknowledge, skills & know-how (how to learn)skills & know-how (how to learn) to developto develop his or her personality (how to be)personality (how to be)

•“the development of communicative competence

with linguistic, pragmatic & sociolinguistic with linguistic, pragmatic & sociolinguistic componentscomponents•“the better performanceperformance in one or more specific language activitiesactivities, as a matter of

reception, reception, productionproduction, , interaction interaction mediation”mediation”

• “optimal functional operationoptimal functional operation in a given domain domain

public, public, occupational, occupational, educational educational personalpersonal””

The processes of language learningAcquisition or learning?

Acquisition : “untutored knowledge and ability to use a non-native language resulting either from direct exposure to text or from direct participation in communicative events”

Language learning “may be used as the general term, or confined to the process whereby language ability is gained as the result of a planned process, especially by formal study in an institutional setting”

How do learners learn?

“The most important thing a teacher can do is provide the richest possible linguistic linguistic environmentenvironment in which learning can take place without formal without formal teachingteaching”

”Teachers and their support services will follow more eclectic eclectic practicespractices, recognising that learners do not necessarily learn what teachers teach and that they require substantial contextualised contextualised and intelligible languageand intelligible language input input as well as opportunities to use the opportunities to use the language interactivelylanguage interactively”

What can each kind of Framework user do to facilitate language learning?

“The language teaching profession forms a ‘partnership for learning’ made up of many specialists in addition to the teachers and learners most immediately concerned at the point of learning”

This information was retrieved from the CEFR at

http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/cadre_en.asp

Some activities designed at our ITALab Website• LangObjectivesActivities.doc

A. Sánchez Villalón, Máster Secundaria. UCLM. Dec, 2010