Margot Volem, M.Ed., Student Success Manager at the Global Student Success Program, presents key theories in second language acquisition research (SLA). Full of vivid examples, Margot brings SLA theories to life, and discusses the limitations of some theories, while highlighting how other theories shed light on complex processes that go on when multilingual learners learn content in a new language. The lecture connects theories to concrete best practices in the classroom, to paint a comprehensive picture of how theory connects to practice.

1. LINGUISTICALLY
RESPONSIVE
INSTRUCTION
Margot Volem, M.Ed.
Student Success Manager
Global Student Success Program

2. • Program for International Students.
• Where are students from?
• Pathway program = structured first year for Grads and UG’s
• Not explicit English language teaching. (ALCP)
• Who teaches GSSP students?
• Student Success Manager’s Role.
WHAT IS THE GSSP?

3. ESL = English as a Second Language
ENL = English as a New Language
EFL = English as a Foreign Language
ELT = English Language Teaching
ELLs = English Language Learners
TESL = Teaching English as a Second Language
TESOL = Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
ACRONYMS OF THE FIELD

4. … AND MORE TERMS
• L1 (native language) and L2 (target language)
• International Students Vs. Domestic Students
• Generation 1.5 Language Learners

5. SCOPE OF THIS LECTURE
• The Multiple Facets of Language.
• Second Language Acquisition Theories.
• Linguistically Responsive Instruction.
• Some research findings about university
faculty beliefs about LRI.
• A few strategies for the Classroom.

7. SAPIR-WHORF HYPOTHESIS
“WHORFISM”
• Hopi concept of time.
• Inuit words for snow.
• Verb tense. (Examples from
Turkish, Chinese, English.)

9. Linguistic Determinism: (Strong version of the S-W
Hypothesis)
Language limits and determines human cognition.
Linguistic Relativity: (Weak version of the S-W Hypothesis)
Language affects and influences its
speakers’ thought processes or worldview.

10. THEORIES IN SLA
Second Language Acquisition
• Why are there so many competing theories in SLA?
• SLA research is closely related to a number of disciplines:
linguistics, sociolinguistics, education, neuroscience, psychology
• Which theories have had a lasting impact?

12. • Behaviorism-Structuralism (Pavlov, B.F. Skinner)
• Nativism (& Universal Grammar) (Noam Chomsky)
• Monitor Theory (Stephen Krashen)
• Constructivism; Sociocultural Theory (Lev Vygotsky)
Four Key Theories in SLA

13. BEHAVIORISM-STRUCTURALISM
“Say What I Say”
The Audiolingual Method or
the “Army Method”
 Grammar Drills
 Rote Memorization
 Dialogues

14. NATIVISM & UNIVERSAL
GRAMMAR
“It’s All in Your Mind”
“In fact, by universal grammar I mean just that
system of principles and structures that are the
prerequisites for acquisition of language, and to
which every language necessarily conforms.”
-Noam Chomsky

15. KRASHEN’S MONITOR THEORY
“It’s All in Your Mind”
1. The Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis
2. The Monitor Hypothesis
3. The Natural Order Hypothesis
4. The Input Hypothesis (i + 1)
5. The Affective Filter Hypothesis

16. SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM
“A Little Help From My Friends”
• ZPD = Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky)
• Scaffolding

17. How do all these theories and hypotheses
translate into classroom practices?

18. Linguistically Responsive Instruction (LRI)
“Linguistically responsive instruction has been described as
the set of knowledge, skills, and dispositions (Bos et al.,
2012; de Jong & Harper, 2005; Lucas and Villegas, 2011)
connected with the nature of language, language use in
society, and language learning and teaching” (Gallagher &
Haan, 2017).

20. a. Understanding ELLs from a bilingual and bicultural
perspective
b. Understanding how language and culture shape
school experiences and inform pedagogy for
bilingual learners
c. Ability to mediate a range of contextual factors in
schools and classrooms where they teach (de Jong et
al., 2013, p.89
(Gallagher & Haan, 2017)
FRAMEWORK OF LRI (CLRI)

25. Internationalization at UI
(IPO, Univ. of Idaho)

26. A FEW RESEARCH FINDINGS
Attitudes in Higher Ed towards LRI
• Participants consistently described their multilingual students
in deficiency-related terms.
• The overall attitude towards making changes to the usual
conduct of class as carried out with domestic students was
negative. As a whole, participants viewed instructional
adaptations for emergent multilinguals as remedial.
• LRI as burdensome
• Low self-efficacy in assessment of ELLs
(Gallagher & Haan, 2017)

27. Attitudes in Higher Ed towards LRI
Participants felt that ELLs were vulnerable individuals
who were negatively impacted by university admissions
policies.
 Participants perceived students were insufficiently
supported by the university.

28. A FEW SIMPLE STRATEGIES FOR
LRI• Get to know your students: learn their names, and how to
pronounce them.
• Mandatory office hours at the start of term.
• Ask international students questions about themselves,
their culture, their academic experience.
• Elicit information about students in a variety of ways: written
and verbal.

29. Strategies continued
 Scaffold academic language/discipline specific
terminology.
 Explain the same concept in a variety of ways;
use synonyms.
 Use gestures.
 Do correct Pronunciation.

30. Strategies continued
Consider the Affective Filter
 Decreasing Anxiety
 Group Work
 Elicit feedback in a variety of ways
• One-Minute Paper (Cross, 1998)
• Muddiest Point
• Critical Incident Questionnaire (S. Brookfield)
(Brookfield, 2006)

31. GRAIN OF SALT…
“The truth of the matter is that about 99 percent of
teaching is making the students feel interested in the
material. The other 1 percent has to do with your
methods. And that’s not just true of languages. It’s
true of all subjects.” - Noam Chomsky

32. “Here is a secret hidden in plain sight: good teaching
cannot be reduced to technique; good teaching comes
from the identity and integrity of the teacher. In every class
I teach, my ability to connect with my students, and to
connect them with the subject, depends less on the
methods I use than on the degree to which I know and
trust my selfhood–and am willing to make it available and
vulnerable in the service of learning.”
-Parker J. Palmer

33. References
Boroditsky, L. (2001). Does language shape thought? Mandarin and english speakers’conceptions of
time. Cognitive Psychology, 43, 1-22. doi: 10.1006/cogp.2001.0748
Brookfield, S.D. (2006). The skillful teacher; On technique, trust, and responsiveness in the classroom.
San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Department of Education, United States of America. (2017). [Interactive maps and graphs showing
demographics of ELLs in the U.S.]. Retrieved from: https://www2.ed.gov/datastory/el-
characteristics/index.html?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govde
livery&utm_term
Gallagher, C.E. & Haan, J.E. (2017). University faculty beliefs about emergent multilinguals and
linguistically responsive instruction. TESOL Quarterly,0,1-18. doi: 10.1002/tesq.399
Herrmann, E. (2017). Using gestures to enhance language instruction. Retrieved from:
http://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/using-gestures-to-enhance-language-instruction/education

34. International Programs Office, University of Idaho. (2017). [Graph illustration top countries represented
by international students]. Retrieved from: https://www.uidaho.edu/-/media/UIdaho-
Responsive/Files/Academics/International-Programs-Office/About-Us/International-Profiles/Intl-
Profile-Summary.ashx
Linguistic Society of America. (nd.) Language and thought. Retrieved from:
https://www.linguisticsociety.org/resource/language-and-thought
Livingstone, J. (2014). Relatively speaking: do our words influence how we think? The Guardian.
Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jan/29/how-words-influence-
Thought
Mikesell, L. (2007). Differences between generation 1.5 and English as a second language writers: A
corpus-based comparison of past participle use in academic essays. The CATESOL Journal, 19, 1,
7-29.

35. National Center for Education Statistics. (2017). [Table showing eleven most commonly reported
Home languages of ELLs]. Retrieved from: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cgf.asp
Noack, R. & Gamio, L. (2015). The world’s languages, in 7 maps and charts. The Washington Post.
Retrieved from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/04/23/the-worlds-
languages-in-7-maps-and-charts/?utm_term=.cb4f3133de35
Palmer, P.J. (1997). The courage to teach: Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s life. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass Publishers.
VanPatten, B., & Williams, J. (Eds.). (2007). Theories in second language acquisition. Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Earlbaum Associates, Inc.
Villegas, A.M. & Luca, T. (2008). Preparing classroom teachers to teach english language learners.
Journal of Teacher Education, 59, 4, 361-373.
Villegas, A.M. & Luca, T. (2002). Preparing culturally responsive teachers: Rethinking the curriculum.
Journal of Teacher Education, 53, 1, 20-32.

36. Thank you.

37. QUESTIONS?
Contact Information:
Margot Volem, GSSP Student Success Manager
Email: Margot.Volem@uidahoglobal.com
Phone: 208-885-9807