Language Awareness
 In the Giving It stage of B-SLIM, language awareness is part of WHAT the teacher chooses to teach. As language teachers know, there is much more to a language than simply knowing vocabulary and grammar and reproducing them in either written or oral form. Becoming aware of the nuances and meanings of a language is part of language learning. By increasing students’ language awareness, the students are better able to understand, appreciate and use the language. In this section we will look at what the phrase ‘language awareness’ means, what role it plays in the second language classroom, and ways teachers can increase their students’ language awareness. |
|
What is language awareness?
Language awareness blends a) content about language, b) language skill, c) attitudinal education and d) metacognitive opportunities, which allow the student to reflect on the process of language acquisition, learning and language use. All four of these aspects of language awareness need to be integrated into the existing subject areas. A focus on language awareness is a key aspect of creating student-centered classrooms, and assists the teacher to present material accordingly to student readiness (Bilash and Tulasiewicz, 1995, p.49).
back to top
How do we build language awareness in the SL classroom?
Students can learn concepts in the SL through an examination of their own language’s structure and use, either due to similarities or differences between them. For example, word order can be compared using visual cues so that students ‘see’ and ‘hear’ the differences. Word etymology (the roots of words) can also be used to see patterns in word formation and related meanings. For example, the way a learner’s first language signals respect or formality/informality helps students recognize parallels between the languages and encourages the learner to ‘question’ or ‘notice’ how the languages are related.
Building language awareness also involves helping students gain a positive attitude toward the TL by developing the confidence to make an attempt or take a risk. By becoming conscious of strategies that can be used to learn the SL, students may become more active in and more responsible for their own learning. Learning more about language in general may help the student develop an appreciation for the TL. Another aspect of building language awareness involves integrating what has been learned in other classes to SL learning, or borrowing what was learned in the SL classroom and applying it to other courses.
back to top
How can students’ language awareness be increased?
There are many activities that can be done as class to help students increase their own language awareness. Some of them include:
Open Discussion: Students are asked how many languages they speak and how well they speak each of them. This icebreaker can lead into a discussion about how many languages there are in the world. To further this discussion, the teacher can give the students a concrete example to think about and tell them about a place like the West African nation of Cameroon where, with a population of 16 million, over 235 languages are spoken. Like Canada, Cameroon’s two official languages are English and French. This might lead students into a discussion in which they compare this situation to that found in their own country.
Synonyms and Expressions: This activity will ask students to look at the various meanings a word can have, depending on the context and culture in which the word is being used. Below is a very specific example, but this activity can be adapted for any language and based on what resources are available to the teacher.
Students are shown two cartoons. One shows a cowboy stranded in the desert beside his pick-up truck, the truck having a flat tire. The other shows a gentleman dressed in a suit inside the living room of his apartment. The text beneath both of them read "I'm mad about my flat". Students are asked to read the texts silently and then to read them aloud imitating the expression they imagined each would have. A discussion about synonyms for 'mad' and 'flat' may follow, as may identification of the locale of each of the men in the cartoons. The purpose of this example is to show how the meaning of the words ‘mad’ and ‘flat’ change whether they are used in a North American or British context.
Social Register: As an introduction to the notation of register or language formality/informality and awareness of audience, students are asked how they might respond is they bumped into
- a younger child after recess
- a peer who had tripped them on the soccer field during recess?
- their teacher?
- the school principal?
- an elderly person?
back to top
Responses from students may range from crude to formal. Students are then made aware that responses to people vary according to how we view and value them. The conversation may then be directed toward how we might more appropriately talk with different people. Next, the teacher can present the following role-play to students (make a written copy of the dialogue visible on the chalkboard, whiteboard, overhead, etc.). The dialogue is of a ten year old speaking with her elderly uncle.
| Where did you get that hat? | I acquired it from an acquaintance. |
| It must have been dear. | Yes, I believe it was rather expensive. . . |
| My friend saw a ghost the other day. | Really! I don't believe in apparitions. |
| It chased him up a tree. | How can one be pursued by an apparition? |
| I thought it was funny. | Yes, that's very drole. |
At the conclusion students may be asked to identify similarities and differences in the way the two speakers speak. The formality of the elderly uncle should be contrasted with the informality of the youngster. The difference in dialects of the two speakers may also be noted. The teacher may also choose to note that 'drole' is also a French word. This opens the door to explaining the influence of Latin and Greek words on many languages.
Language Variation or Dialect: Using the Internet as a resource, the teacher can collect a variety of pronunciations by English speakers (e.g. Canadian, American, Irish, Scottish, Jamaican, etc.) and play them for the students. The purpose of this activity is for students to recognize and value different dialects and “accents”. Using a world map to point out where these different speakers live, the students can explore the range of use of the English language around the world. NOTE: this activity can be adapted for any language; for example, in French class different dialects from France, Canada, the Caribbean and Africa can be used.
Word Origins: Students work in groups of three to five to match word cards with etymological root description cards.
Example: One card states BUNGALOW. The other card states: Hindi/Bengali. People from the British East India Company came to India in the seventeenth century to trade here. The one-storied houses they stayed in were called ‘bangla’ or ‘bangalo’ in Hindi or Bengali. NOTE: this activity can be done with any language; the etymology of words can be easily found using the Internet, among other sources.
This activity increases the students’ awareness of the influence other languages have had on the target language and it broadens their knowledge about selected words. With the aid of a map or globe, a discussion may be initiated about how the words presented (and others) might enter the target language.
Learning to use context clues or global understanding: This can be done by reading a passage from a turn of the century novel.
Cognates: Cognates are words in 2 or more different languages that are similar in meaning and form (i.e. 'house' in English and 'haus' in German). Depending on the language being learned, students should be made aware of cognates that exist between the mother tongue and the second language (for example, French and English share over 11,000 cognates). Posters and ads, among other things, can be used to teach students about deceptive cognates (called ‘faux amis’ in French) and sociolinguistic influences on translation.
NOTE: Language awareness activities are intended to be integrated into other activities and used to help improve learning and understanding. They often overlap with other syllabi: cultural content (e.g. tu-vous), language (e.g. fem/masc ending patterns), and experiential-communicative (formats of discourse)
back to top
Language Awareness/Learning Awareness in a Communicative Approach: A key to learner independence
http://www.learningpaths.org/papers/paperawareness.htm