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motivation techniques. A supervisor observation worksheet enables supervisors to
support instructors' development of such techniques. Section Contents Understanding
language acquisition Promoting engagement in language learning Achieving success
with learning strategies Resources Worksheets Instructor self-evaluation worksheet
Supervisor observation worksheet The material in this section is based on “Research and
language learning: A tour of the horizon” by Ken Sheppard and “Teaching learning
strategies to language students” by Anna Uhl Chamot from Modules for the Professional
Preparation of Teaching Assistants in Foreign Languages (Grace Stovall Burkart, Ed.;
Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics, 1998). 2 Understanding Language
Acquisition To become engaged learners, students need to understand that learning a
language is not the same as learning about a language. When students think of the
language as a school subject like any other, they may learn a great deal about its
vocabulary, grammar, and sentence and discourse structure, but the language will not
become a true medium of communication for them and won't engage them very deeply.
Students need to understand that learning a language means becoming able to use it to
comprehend, communicate, and think—as they do in their first language. Students also
need to recognize that language learning takes place in stages. Interpretive skills
(listening, reading) develop much more quickly than expressive skills (speaking, writing),
and the ability that students covet most—the ability to speak the second language
fluently—requires the longest period of growth. All language learners have to work
through a sequence of "approximate" versions called interlanguages (ILs), each of which
represents a level of understanding of the target language. Understanding the features of
ILs can help teachers and learners understand and monitor the language learning
process. Uniqueness: ILs vary significantly from learner to learner in the early stages of
language learning. Learners impose rules of their own on the oral and written input they
receive. Each learner does this differently, combining emerging understanding of the rules
of the new language with ideas derived from the first language and other information that
comes from their individual situations and backgrounds. Systematicity: As learners begin
to develop proficiency in a language, they make errors in systematic ways. For example,
once students learn the inflections for a single class of verbs, they may apply them to all
classes indiscriminately. These errors are based on systematic assumptions, or false
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