Skip to content

Open Acadia

  • Increase font size
  • Decrease font size
  • Default font size
CampusSlice1.jpg

EDUC 4863: Acquisition of Language

Course Description Course Objectives Instructor
Required Reading Evaluation Course Schedule

Course Description

This course will focus on the question of how languages are learned. Theories of acquisition and research based around these theories have had an impact on how teachers have approached second language teaching historically. We will examine the major theoretical schools of thought on acquisition and the bodies of research that have developed around them. The overall objective of the course is to give students a firm theoretical grounding upon which well informed decisions about methodological issues can be made.


Prerequisites: None
Instructional Hours: 36
Credit: 3 hours

Top

Course Objectives

By the end of the course students will be able to…

  1. Discuss major influences on the field of SLA
  2. Discuss the effects that various factors have on SLA (e.g. Age, Psychological, Socio-cultural, Linguistic)
  3. Critique and compare major theories of SLA
  4. Use this knowledge to make informed decisions about how you can teach your students in your situation most effectively

Instructor

Sharon Churchill has been an educator for ten years and has worked in Canada and the UK. She is a graduate of Acadia University (BSc), University of Western Ontario (BEd), and the Victoria University of Wellington (MA in Applied Linguistics) and also holds a CELTA Certificate. Since 2003, Sharon has been teaching in Acadia University's English for Academic Purposes program. She has played a key role in the development of the mutli-level EAP curriculum used in this program, as well as the establishment of off-site EAP programs in China.

Contact: Sharon.churchill@acadiau.ca

Top

Required Reading

A variety of required readings will be provided electronically on Acorn. 

Top

Evaluation

Online Participation

30%

Assessment 1

15%

Assessment 2

15%

Assessment 3 (take home exam)

20%

SLA Theory Wiki/ Presentation

20%

Top

Course Schedule

Module Topic Assessment
1 Introduction to SLA  
2 Influences of SLA
  • Linguistic
  • Psychological
  • Social
 
3 First Language Acquisition  
4 The Study of Theories
  • Krashen's Monitor Model
Assessment 1 Due 
5 Linguistic/ Innate Factors
  • Errors
  • Interlanguage
 
6 Psychological Factors I
  • Neurobiology
  • Learning Processes
 
7 Psychological Factors II
  • Differences between learners
Assessment 2 Due
8 Psychological Factors III
  • Age
  • The Critical Period Hypothesis
 
9 Social Factors
  • Zone of Proximal Development
 
10 Communicative Competence and Applications  Assessment 3 Due
  SLA Theory Wiki due


 

 

Contact TESOL

(902) 585-1434
tesol@acadiau.ca

ACIL News