Learning vs. Acquisition

Entry Six

Learning/word recognition (L) or Acquisition/sociopsycholinguistic (A) for Some Activities

The Student:
L - Look up words in the dictionary to write definitions
A - Make a Venn diagram to compare two stories
L - Practice sounding out words
L - Read in round-robin fashion
A - Correct peers when they make a mistake during reading
L and A -Identify words on a big book page that start with the same sound
L and A -Group cards with classmates' names by a criterion on such as first or last letter
A - Write rhyming poetry and then discuss different spellings from the same sound
L - Ask the teacher how to spell any word they don't know
A - Read a language experience story they have created with the teacher
L - Work in pairs to arrange words from a familiar chant into sentences
L - Divide words into syllables
L - On a worksheet, draw a line from each word to the picture that starts with the same sound
A - Make alphabet books on different topics

The Teacher:
L - Preteaches vocabulary
A - Does a shared reading with a big book
L - Makes sure that students read only books that fit their level
L- Has students segment words into phonemes
A - Writes words the students dictate for a story and has students help with the spelling of difficult words
A- asks student to look around the room and find words starting with a certain letter
L - Uses decodable texts
A - Sets aside time for SSR
L - Teaches Latin and Greek roots
A - Has students meet in literature circles
L - Conducts phonics drills
L and A -chooses predictable texts
L and A - Teachers students different comprehension strategies
A - Does a picture walk for a new book
L - Uses a variety of worksheets to teach different skills

Explanation:
      Learning and word recognition views are beliefs that combine the idea that learning the written language must be learned and that students must identify words to get the meaning of a text and students need to be directly taught how to produce a well written piece of writing. Both begin with the parts of each area and build upon those individual parts. Students start with learning the phonics rules to sound out words and start with the basic parts of forming words to build into writing a whole text. The teacher directly teaches the students the concepts that need to be achieved and the teacher will also correct each piece of writing for the students and orally help students when learning to identify a word. The teacher plays a large role in instruction and the success of the students for the learning and word recognition learning views.
      Acquisition and sociopsycholinguistics view, on the other hand, give more power to the students for their learning. These views believe that learning language is innate and can be acquired by all students. They believe that readers us their background knowledge to construct meaning from the text. Oral language is acquired by focusing on the meaning of the text and the students study word parts only during linguistic investigation. The teacher places more of the responsibility on the students by teaching the strategies for comprehension and peers also help when it comes to editing and developing a piece of writing. The focus is not just on the teacher. During writing, these views take on the writer's workshop instructional places where students have choices about what is written, conferencing provides feedback, and the teacher uses mini lessons to help the students meet their needs.

Freeman, D. E., & Freeman, Y. S. (2004). Writing and Second Language Acquisition. In L. Bridges (Ed.), Essential Linguistics: What you Need to Know to Teach  (pp. 23-48). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.