دراسات نفسية وتربوية
Volume 13, Numéro 4, Pages 387-404
2020-10-31
Psycholinguistic Insights For Teachers Of English: The Cognitive Processes Involved In Language Learning.
Authors : Mehiri Ramdane . Zidane Abdelhak .
Abstract
Historically speaking, language learning has been the concern of a myriad number ofresearchers (Selinker 1972; Ellis 1994; Gass, 2000; Crystal 2003 …etc). That is to say, an unlimited number of theories, approaches, perspectives and ideas has been put forward as an attempt to make this process easier.Nevertheless, do we, as Algerian teachers, really make use of such a giant background of knowledge appropriately in the present time? This research investigated some studies and theories of cognitive processes in language learning firstly, and a study after that was conducted to look at the usefulness of such a theoretical background in an Algerian context. Hypothetically, this study came out of a belief that teachers’ feedback in the classroom is crucial, and that it is based on the extent to which the teacher is sufficiently knowledgeable of the theories and processes of language learning (language transfer, transfer of training, strategies of L2 language learning, L2 communication strategies, and overgeneralisation of rules and principles). In the practical part,a questionnaire was distributed to 23 students and teachers; six of them are PhD students from Biskra University, and the rest are Master degree holders from Boumerdes University. The questions posed were, mainly, about their attitudes towards the learning process and their teachers’ level. The results showed that 40% of them had positive training influence, while, 10% witnessed a negative one, and the rest fluctuated between positivity and negativity, depending on their teachers’ methods of teaching. As far as the communication strategies are concerned, the results revealed that the participants’ strategies encompassed; asking for clarification, paraphrasing, the use of their body language, and speaking slowly using simple language. Concerning their “overgeneralization of rules” process, the data swung between high and low degrees of occurring. Lastly, and most importantly, the participant’s opinions of their teachers’ competency in the mastery of the linguistic knowledge exhibited that 48% of the students see that their teachers master enough linguistic knowledge, and that 39% of them believe that some teachers were sufficiently knowledgeable and some were not that competent. The last percentage (13%) stated that all their teachers lacked adequate linguistic knowledge.
Keywords
Cognitive processes, language transfer, learning strategies, communication strategies, teachers’ role.
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