Study Guide for Second Language Acquisition and Pedagogy

A comprehensive set of flashcards derived from key concepts and definitions outlined in the study guide for Second Language Acquisition and Pedagogy.

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

The cognitive gap between what a child can achieve independently and what they can achieve with guidance from a more skilled expert.

Scaffolding

Temporary assistance provided by a teacher or peer to help a learner complete a task they could not do alone, aiming to promote learner independence.

Register

The variation in language use characterized by field (topic), tenor (relationship), and mode (channel) as defined by Halliday and Hasan.

Context-embedded language

Language supported by situational cues, often used in face-to-face communication, making it easier to understand the meaning.

Context-reduced language

Language that relies on the language itself to convey meaning, often used in academic contexts.

High-challenge, high-support classroom

A classroom model where students engage in cognitively demanding tasks while receiving extensive scaffolding to ensure success.

Interlanguage

The learner's evolving language system that is systematic and rule-governed but distinct from both their first language and the target language.

Comprehensible input

Language input that is slightly above the learner's current proficiency level, crucial for language acquisition.

Comprehensible output

Language produced by a learner that is understandable to others, serving as a catalyst for deeper language processing.

Dialogic teaching

A form of teaching that involves extended talk around big ideas, fostering reciprocal discussion and student engagement.

Teaching and Learning Cycle

A four-stage model for teaching writing that includes Building the Field, Modeling the Genre, Joint Construction, and Independent Writing.

Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis

A hypothesis aimed at predicting learner difficulties by comparing the structures of the learner's first language and the target second language.

Mentalism

A theory of language acquisition focusing on innate cognitive processes, suggesting language learning follows a natural order governed by universal grammar.

Behaviorism

A theory of learning that views language acquisition as habit formation through imitation, repetition, and reinforcement.

Information gap principle

A task design principle where participants possess different information that must be communicated to complete a task.

Stretched language

Language pushed beyond a learner's current level, often used in moments of communicative struggle.

Five resources (reader roles)

Roles defined by Luke and Freebody including Code Breaker, Text Participant, Text User, and Text Analyst, which guide reading comprehension.

Mode continuum

A concept illustrating the progression of language from context-embedded, spoken-like to context-reduced, written-like forms.

In-the-head knowledge

The prior knowledge that a reader brings to a text, necessary for comprehension and understanding of new material.