C HA P T E R 4

TEACHING BY PRINCIPLES

Questions for Reflection

• What is meant by a principle of SLA? How do principles underlie an overall Larissa Caye: support
approach to language teaching?
• What are some of the key principles of SLA (eight are suggested in this chapter)? Larissa Caye: important
• Among the eight principles, what are some related concepts or constructs
that also form foundations for your teaching? Larissa Caye: Inside
• What are some practical implications and applications of each of the eight
principles?
Larissa Caye: basis
• How would one prioritize the eight principles? How does one’s context of
teaching and learning determine which principles are more (or less) applicable?
Larissa Caye: a generic person
So far in this book you have observed a classroom in action, examined a
century of language-teaching history, and taken a look at major constructs that Larissa Caye: Until this moment
undergird current practices in language teaching. In the process, you already
may have felt a little bewildered by the complexity of our profession. You may
be asking questions like, “With all the options available, how can I make Larissa Caye: provide support
informed choices about what to do in the particular context of my classroom?”
or, “How can I put into practice a cautious, enlightened eclectic approach?” Larissa Caye: surprised, overwhelmed
In order to sort through those questions and find some plausible answers,
it’s important for you to consider elements that are at the core of language
pedagogy: foundational principles that can form the building blocks for your Larissa Caye: conscious decisions
own theoretical rationale. For teachers, such principles comprise their approach
to language teaching (discussed in Chapters 2 and 3). Larissa Caye: full of light
In Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (Brown, 2014, hereafter
referred to as PLLT ), it was noted that the last few decades of research produced
a complex storehouse of information on second language acquisition (SLA) and Larissa Caye: answer
teaching. There are still many mysteries about SLA that lead us to be cautious,
but there is a great deal that we do know about the process. We can be quite
Larissa Caye: essential
certain that among all the eclectic pedagogical options available, many of a
teacher’s choices can be grounded in established principles of language learning
and teaching, and thereby be enlightened. You will be better able to see why you Larissa Caye: structure
have chosen to use a particular classroom technique (or set of techniques), to
carry it out with confidence, and to evaluate its utility after the fact.
Larissa Caye: contain
You may be thinking that such a principled approach to language teaching
sounds only logical. How could one proceed otherwise? Well, we have seen
66 Larissa Caye: from this point on

Larissa Caye: stock

 Larissa Caye: a large quantity

CHAPTER 4 Teaching by Principles 67 Larissa Caye: as a result of that

many a novice language teacher who would simply like to have “101 recipes
Larissa Caye: in another way
for Monday morning teaching.” Unfortunately, this sort of quick-fix approach to
teacher education will not give you that all-important ability to comprehend
when to use a technique, with whom it will work, how to adapt it for your Larissa Caye: type of
audience, or how to judge its effectiveness.
We’ll now take a broad, sweeping look at eight overarching principles of
Larissa Caye: which people
second language learning that interact with sound practice and on which your
teaching can be based. These principles form the core of an approach to lan-
guage teaching, as discussed in the previous chapter. There is no magic about
the number eight. The previous edition of Teaching by Principles described
twelve principles; Rod Ellis (2014) named ten; Tom Scovel (2001) cited five; but
Bernard Spolsky (1989) named seventy! We have chosen eight for the sake of Larissa Caye: because of
simplicity and inclusiveness.
Before we embark on a description of the eight principles, a special note
is warranted for readers and instructors who have used the previous editions Larissa Caye: issued
of Teaching by Principles. Times have changed. New findings and new
approaches demand reconceptualizations. So, in this edition, not only will you
find the number of principles reduced to eight, but you will also see some new
concepts that must now be included in a comprehensive framework for Larissa Caye: basic structure underlying a system
teaching additional languages. All of the “old” principles are still here, but many
are incorporated into broader, more powerful constructs. Larissa Caye: larger
The ordering of the eight principles is not random. The rationale is to
move from the more cognitive psychological and individual principles to trans-
actions of the self in relation to others, and finally to the learner as an agent Larissa Caye: aleatory
within a cultural milieu. Of course, no single principle is discretely contained
in a “box,” unaffected by one or more of the principles. All eight categories have
Larissa Caye: the individual
areas of overlap with their counterparts.
A further note: It may be helpful, as you are reading, to check referenced
sections of PLLT (Brown, 2014) to refresh your memory of certain terms and Larissa Caye: person's social environment
background information.
Larissa Caye: pass over other parts
AUTOMATICITY
John Hersch is an accomplished pianist. He has played in night clubs and orchestras, and
Larissa Caye: AUTOMATICIDADE
most recently accompanies a 120-voice chorus. When he looks at a musical score and
prepares to play it, he doesn’t have the cognitive or physical time to cogitate on every note
and marking. He not only takes in multiple bits of musical information simultaneously, but
he also “translates” that information into movement of fingers across the keyboard. The
result? Beautiful, harmonic sounds of piano strings. But when John was first learning to play
the piano, all that instantaneous input and output was by no means automatic. That complex
ability developed over time with hours of daily practice.

Learning music and learning language have much in common, not the
least of which is that both require the development of automaticity for suc-
cessful learning. Children learning additional languages are classic examples
68 CHAPTER 4 Teaching by Principles

of developing automatic skills “naturally,” in untutored contexts (see PLLT, Chapter

3) with little or no analysis of the forms (e.g., grammar, phonology, vocabulary)
of language. Through an inductive process of exposure to language input and
opportunity to experiment interactively with output, they appear to learn lan-
guages without overtly noticing language forms. They do, however, focus very
effectively on the function (meaning) of their linguistic input and output.
For adults, automaticity is sometimes impeded by overanalysis of lan-
guage forms, which become too focal (DeKeyser & Criado, 2013; McLaughlin,
1990), too much the center of attention. In order to cognitively manage the
incredible complexity and quantity of language systems, they need to develop
strategies of high-speed, automatic processing in which language forms are on
the periphery of attention. For pianist John Hersch, his remarkable ability was
the result of, in his words, “not thinking about the music so much, and just
playing the piano for fun.”
For L2 learning, the Principle of Automaticity highlights the importance of
meaningful use of the new language through communicative interaction; effi-
cient movement away from a capacity-limited control (McLaughlin, 1990) of a
few bits and pieces to a relatively unlimited automatic mode of processing
language, often referred to as fluency; and an optimal degree of focusing on
forms of language that encourages learners to notice errors in their output,
utilize a teacher’s feedback, and, when appropriate, to respond in some way Larissa Caye: O aprendizado eficiente de um segundo
(Leow, 2013; Schmidt, 1990). idioma envolve uma progressão oportuna do controle
The Principle of Automaticity may be summarized as follows: de algumas formas linguísticas para o processamento
automático fluente e sem erros (tanto na produção
quanto na compreensão) de um número relativamente
Efficient second language learning involves a timely progression ilimitado de formas linguísticas. O desenvolvimento
from control of a few language forms to fluid and error-free auto-
matic processing (in both production and comprehension) of a da fluência - geralmente por meio de prática extensiva
relatively unlimited number of language forms. Development of de longo prazo - é auxiliado por um foco principal no
fluency—usually through extensive long-term practice—is aided significado, no propósito e na interação, e uma
by a primary focus on meaning, purpose, and interaction, and a atenção secundária, porém ideal, às formas do idioma.
secondary but optimal amount of attention to language forms.

Notice that this principle does not say that the road to automaticity is
paved with unceasing, relentless communicative activities in which form-focus
is a “no-no.” In fact, adults can especially benefit greatly from a modicum of
focal processing of rules, definitions, and guided practice (DeKeyser & Criado,
2013). The other side of the coin is that adults might take a lesson from chil-
dren by speedily overcoming our propensity to pay too much focal attention to
the bits and pieces of language and by effectively moving language forms to
the periphery, using language in authentic contexts for meaningful purposes.
In so doing, automaticity is built more efficiently.
 CHAPTER 4 Teaching by Principles 69

What does this principle, which commonly applies to adult instruction,

mean to you as a teacher? Here are some practical possibilities:

G uidelines for maintaininG automaticity

in l2 classrooms

1. Make sure that a major proportion of classroom activity is

focused on the use of language for purposes that are as
authentic as a classroom context will permit. Examples include
task-based activity, group and pair work, and involvement in
topics that are relevant to students’ lives.
2. Practice exercises and explanations dealing with grammar,
vocabulary, phonology, discourse, and other forms have a place
in the adult classroom, but don’t overwhelm your students with
a focus on form. Short, five-minute grammar-focus exercises, for
example, may be more helpful than long explanations or
“lectures” from you.
3. When you focus your students on form, your goal is to help
them to notice forms, to modify or correct errors when
appropriate, and ultimately to incorporate that information into
their language use. Error correction, for example, is more
effective if students are made aware of an error and/or are
encouraged to self-correct.
4. Fluency activities, in which you deliberately do not focus on
forms, may help students to attend to meaning or to
accomplishing a task, and to “unblock” their overattention to
form. A classic writing example is freewriting, in which students
are asked to write about a topic of interest with virtually no
attention, at this stage, to correctness.
5. Automaticity is a slow and sometimes tedious process; therefore,
you need to exercise patience with students as you slowly help
them to achieve fluency. Don’t expect your students to become
chatterboxes overnight in their new language!

TRANSFER Larissa Caye: TRANSFERÊNCIA

Doug had been a tennis player for over two decades when one of his friends invited him to
play racquetball. “It should be an easy sport for you,” suggested his buddy, reasoning that
both are racquet sports. In the first few games, Doug found that indeed certain abilities
transferred relatively quickly: meeting the ball squarely, following through, positioning feet
correctly, being ready for your opponent’s next play. Even some of the strategic aspects of the
game, figuring out the other guy’s weaknesses and playing to one’s own strengths, transferred
positively. But there was some negative transfer: the side wall kept getting in the way, the ball
bounced quite differently, and playing off three and sometimes four walls was disconcerting.
70 CHAPTER 4 Teaching by Principles

The Principle of Transfer plays a dominant role in learning an additional

language. A historical look at research on language learning in the middle of
the twentieth century reveals an obsession with transfer, especially from the
first to the second language, known as interlingual transfer or interference.
Some went so far as to claim that any difficulty in learning an L2 could be
equated to the differences between a learner’s first and second languages
(Banathy, Trager, & Waddle, 1966).
It was not long before evidence mounted against the predictability of inter-
ference (Whitman & Jackson, 1972). Learner language manifested enough
variation to dispute such claims of certainty, and further, when three or four or
more languages were in question, the task of predicting became impossible.
More recently, partly because transfer can work both ways, the SLA field has
been using cross-linguistic influence as a more appropriate term to capture
the relationship of two or more languages in contact ( Jarvis & Pavlenko, 2008;
Jarvis, 2013). The difference between today’s emphasis on influence, rather
than prediction, is important (Oostendorp, 2012) to capture the range of syn-
tactic, lexical, discourse, and pragmatic interference that can occur.
In the 1960s and 1970s, intralingual transfer (within the L2), also known
as overgeneralization, became a hot topic, especially in analyzing sources of
error in learners’ output, and in describing interlanguage of learners. These
basic tenets of human learning undergirded a massive stockpile of research
and helped propel SLA research into new unexplored territory. (See PLLT,
Chapter 9.)
But strictly linguistic transfer is, in some ways, only a small piece of the
psychology of learning an L2. Transfer is an all-encompassing principle that
reaches across physical, cognitive, affective, and sociocultural domains. Virtually
all learning is the product of transfer. We can define the term simply as the
application of knowledge, skill, or emotion acquired in one situation to new
situations. And transfer can be positive (advancing toward an objective) or
negative (interfering with such advancement).
Closely related to the principle of transfer is a recent emphasis in cognitive
psychology on what has come to be known as embodied cognition (Damasio,
2003; Gibbs, 2006). From this perspective, an organism’s sensorimotor capaci-
ties, body, and environment play crucial roles in the development of cognitive
(and linguistic) abilities. In other words, we are not merely thinking and feeling
organisms, but our physical interactions with the world—our motor systems—
are large determiners of the extent and diversity of our cognitive and linguistic
competence. Embodied cognition offers an enlightening re-focus on the phys-
ical abilities that so preoccupied behavioral psychologists back at the turn of
the twentieth century.
James (2006, 2010, 2012) demonstrated the importance of transfer in a
number of academic contexts: general language skills to subskills (e.g., writing
in general to writing for research purposes); certain skills (e.g., reading) to
others (e.g., writing); earlier language courses to specific subject matter areas
 CHAPTER 4 Teaching by Principles 71

(e.g., engineering, business); and, of course, transfer from the classroom to real-
world contexts. Likewise, content-based instruction (Snow, 2014) is successful
because students are immersed in tasks and skills that are relevant to their lives
and/or livelihood. Research on dynamic systems theory (DST), reminds
teachers of the many, complex interconnections that learners make as their
language abilities grow (Larsen-Freeman, 2012), all the result of transfer as
learners connect one learning moment with another.
Half a century ago, cognitive psychologists revolutionized educational psy-
chology by stressing the importance of meaningful learning (as opposed to
rote learning) for long-term retention (Ausubel, 1963). That is, new material to
be learned that is “attached” to existing cognitive structure (associated) will be
more efficiently lodged. Transfer underlies all meaningful learning. For
example, if a task in a group activity puts learners into a familiar context (such
as the movies in Chapter 1), new grammatical, lexical, and discourse forms will
be more easily embedded into students’ L2 competence. And in learning to
read and write, schema theory encourages students to relate existing knowl-
edge, of both content and skills, to new material. Larissa Caye: Como os alunos de L2 buscam
The Principle of Transfer may be summarized as follows: naturalmente transferir o conhecimento/habilidade
existente para um novo conhecimento ou habilidade, o
Because L2 learners naturally seek to transfer existing knowledge/ aprendizado eficiente (e bem-sucedido) resultará de
ability to new knowledge or ability, efficient (and successful) learning um processo de fazer associações significativas entre
will result from a process of making meaningful associations o conhecimento, as habilidades e as emoções
between a learner’s existing knowledge, skills, and emotions and the
existentes do aluno e o novo material a ser aprendido.
new material to be learned.

Here are some classroom implications of the Principle of Transfer:

G uidelines for maximizinG transfer

in l2 classrooms

Capitalize on the power of transfer by anchoring new material to

students’ existing knowledge and ability. If topics and contexts for
tasks are associated with something students already know, then
linguistic features will be more easily learned.
1. Become acquainted with your students’ backgrounds, interests,
personalities, occupations, hobbies, likes and dislikes, and
ground classroom activities on those individual characteristics.
2. When introducing new grammar, vocabulary, or discourse
features, review previously learned material on which the new
material is based through brainstorming or clustering activities.
Use graphic organizers (e.g., charts, diagrams, concept maps) to
help students see the relevance to the new material.
72 CHAPTER 4 Teaching by Principles

3. As you teach one skill area—say, listening—connect what

students are learning to other skills such as speaking or reading.
4. Avoid the pitfalls of rote learning. Don’t overdo grammar
explanations, drills, activities that have no clear purpose, and
tasks that are unclearly understood by students. Base your
teaching as much as possible on content that learners can
identify with, as opposed to grammar-driven teaching.

REWARD Larissa Caye: RECOMPENSA

Here’s a story about an experiment in the power of rewards (Kohn, 1990). Teenage girls were
given the task of teaching some games to younger children. One group of “teachers” was
simply given the teaching task, with no mention of a reward to be given. The other group
was told that they would receive a free ticket to the latest “hot” movie for successfully
completing the task. Results: The first group did their task faster, with greater success, and
reported more pleasure in doing so than the second group!

Skinner (1938) and others demonstrated the strength of rewards in both Larissa Caye: power
animal and human behavior (see PLLT, Chapter 4). Virtually everything we do
is predicated on the anticipation of a reward, whether physical, mental, emo- Larissa Caye: based on
tional, or social. So what can we make of the above example? Does it contradict
the reward principle? Not if you consider the source of rewards.
In Kohn’s (1990) study, the first group of girls reported an intrinsic motive Larissa Caye: be it
to succeed. They simply wanted the pleasure and satisfaction of having their
young kids learn the game. No one promised them anything, and their internal
Larissa Caye: understand
drive to succeed shone through. The second group reported being more
focused on getting the movie ticket, that is, on an extrinsic motive adminis-
tered by someone else, and less on the results of their instruction (see PLLT, Larissa Caye: force, energy
Chapter 6).
Psychologists (e.g., Maslow, 1970) and linguists (e.g., Dörnyei & Ushioda,
2011) have for many decades acknowledged not only the power of rewards, but Larissa Caye: appeared
also the power of intrinsically driven behavior. Classroom techniques have a
much greater chance for success if they are self-rewarding in the perception of Larissa Caye: recognized
the learner: The learners perform the task because it is fun, interesting, useful,
or challenging, and only secondarily because they anticipate some cognitive or
affective rewards from the teacher. Larissa Caye: internally motivated
The implications of intrinsically and extrinsically driven behaviors for the
classroom are more complex than they might seem. At one end of the spec-
trum is the effectiveness of a teacher’s praise for correct responses (“Very
good, Maria!” “Nice job!”), grades or “gold stars” to indicate success, smiles
and affirmation from classmates, and other public recognition. At the other
end, students need to see clearly why they are performing something along
with its relevance to their long-term goals in learning, so that they are not
dependent on external rewards. The ultimate goal is for students to engage
 CHAPTER 4 Teaching by Principles 73

in self-determination—to choose to make an effort because of what they will

gain, in either the short or long run (Deci & Ryan, 2002). Larissa Caye: or
The Reward Principle can be stated as follows:
Larissa Caye: Os seres humanos são universalmente
Human beings are universally driven to act, or “behave,” in antic- levados a agir, ou a se “comportar”, em antecipação a
ipation of a reward. The most powerful rewards are those that uma recompensa. As recompensas mais poderosas
are intrinsically motivated: The behavior stems from needs, são aquelas que têm motivação intrínseca: O
wants, or desires within oneself and is self-rewarding. comportamento decorre de necessidades, desejos ou
vontades internas e é uma recompensa para si
The key to making the reward principle work in the language classroom mesmo.
is to create an optimal blend of extrinsic (teacher-administered) rewards, espe-
cially for the minute-by-minute routine of a classroom, and intrinsically-driven
rewards that become embedded in a student’s journey toward language profi-
ciency. How do you do that? Consider the following tips:

G uidelines for implementinG the reward principle Larissa Caye: Ofereça um grau ideal de elogio verbal
in l2 classrooms imediato, incentivo e reconhecimento de “bom
1. Provide an optimal degree of immediate verbal praise, trabalho” como recompensa de curto prazo, apenas o
encouragement, and acknowledgment of “good work” as a suficiente para mantê-los confiantes em suas
short-term reward, just enough to keep them confident in habilidades.
their ability.
2. Capitalize on the energy of cooperative group work in which
students are given opportunities to communicate with each Larissa Caye: Aproveite a energia do trabalho em
other and ultimately to feel proud of their accomplishments. grupo cooperativo, no qual os alunos têm a
Encourage students to reward each other with compliments and oportunidade de se comunicar uns com os outros e,
supportive action.
por fim, de se sentirem orgulhosos de suas
3. Display enthusiasm and excitement yourself in the classroom. If
you are dull, lifeless, bored, and have low energy, you can be realizações. Incentive os alunos a recompensarem uns
almost sure that it will be contagious. aos outros com elogios e ações de apoio.
4. Encourage learners to see the intrinsic, long-term rewards in
learning an L2 by pointing out what they can do with the
Larissa Caye: Demonstre você mesmo entusiasmo e
language, the benefits of being able to use it, jobs that require
it, and so on. As you utilize content-based activities, you will animação na sala de aula. Se você estiver sem graça,
help students to become linguistically involved with interesting, sem vida, entediado e com pouca energia, pode ter
relevant subject matter. quase certeza de que isso será contagioso.
5. Give your students some choices in types of activities, content,
or subject matter so that they feel some “ownership” of their
language development. Encourage students to discover for Larissa Caye: Incentive os alunos a verem as
themselves certain principles and rules, rather than simply recompensas intrínsecas e de longo prazo no
giving them an answer. aprendizado de uma L2, apontando o que eles podem
fazer com o idioma, os benefícios de poder usá-lo, os
empregos que o exigem e assim por diante. Ao utilizar
atividades baseadas em conteúdo, você ajudará os
 alunos a se envolverem linguisticamente com
assuntos interessantes e relevantes.

74 CHAPTER 4 Teaching by Principles

Larissa Caye: Dê aos alunos algumas opções de tipos
de atividades, conteúdo ou assunto para que eles se
SELF-REGULATION
sintam “donos” do desenvolvimento do idioma.
When Kathy accepted a two-year English teaching position in Turkey, she made a point, in
Incentive os alunos a descobrirem por si mesmos
the three months before relocating from her home in the United States, of studying as much
Turkish as possible. In an online short course, she learned a lot “about” Turkish and determinados princípios e regras, em vez de
managed to internalize a couple of dozen survival phrases. Upon arrival in Ankara, she was simplesmente dar-lhes uma resposta.
pleased that she could understand and speak a few phrases. But that didn’t last long. She
very soon felt a bit “lost” in everyday Turkish, and decided to benefit from her previous
learning of Spanish (in Bolivia) and Japanese. She was a highly organized person and Larissa Caye: AUTORREGULAÇÃO
determined to make the best of her residence in Turkey. She made elaborate plans, set daily
and weekly goals, and monitored her progress. By the end of the first year, her self-
determination had paid off. She was comfortable in most conversations and was able to read
Turkish newspapers. Success!

Four decades ago, Rubin (1975) named fourteen characteristics of “good”

language learners. They all placed responsibility on the learner to take action,
to “take charge” of their learning, to create opportunities for using the lan-
guage, to utilize a variety of strategies, and to organize information about lan-
guage. All of this advice still holds! Oxford (2011) noted that the key to
successful language learning is self-regulation, “deliberate goal-directed
attempts to manage and control efforts to learn the L2” (p. 12). One of the key
foundation stones of effective L2 pedagogy today is to create a climate in which
learners develop autonomy, “the capacity to control one’s learning” (Benson,
2001, p. 290), and self-regulation is cited as a key ingredient of autonomy
(Benson, 2007).
Such an approach is a far cry from the days when students entered a class-
room, sat down dutifully at their desks, and waited in silence for the teacher to
tell them what to do. Worse, those directives might have been to translate a
passage, memorize a rule, or repeat a dialogue. Today, autonomy is now almost
universally manifested in the classroom in the form of allowing learners to do
things like setting personal goals, developing awareness of strategic options,
initiating oral production, solving problems in small groups, and practicing
language with peers.
Further, thanks to a stockpile of research, our language curricula now rec-
ognize the crucial goal of helping learners to use the language outside of the
classroom. Teachers encourage learners to “take charge” of their own learning,
and to chart their own “pathways to success” (Brown, 2002b; Benson, 2003).
Such self-regulation of course means that learners are encouraged to take
responsibility for their learning as they develop a battery of strategies for
intake, organization, compensation, output, uptake, and social interaction. (See
PLLT, Chapter 5.) They are proactive agents (see Principle 8) in determining
their ultimate success.
Is the Principle of Self-Regulation a culturally loaded concept? Does it
undermine the authority of the teacher within an educational system that
reveres the role of the teacher? Possibly, but Schmenk (2005) suggested using
some caution in making assumptions across cultural contexts and to account for
 CHAPTER 4 Teaching by Principles 75

“specific cultural backdrops and impacts” (p. 115) in promoting self-regulation

and autonomy in the language classroom. Once those accommodations have
been appropriately addressed, you should by no means refrain from helping
your students to participate actively in linguistic exchange and to continue
their learning beyond the walls of your classroom (Crookes, 2013; Norton &
Toohey, 2004). Larissa Caye: O domínio de uma L2 dependerá, em
Briefly, the Principle of Self-Regulation states: grande parte, da capacidade dos alunos de assumir
proativamente o controle de sua agenda de
aprendizagem, de fazer esforços deliberados e
Mastery of an L2 will depend to a great extent on learners’ ability direcionados a metas para obter sucesso e de
to proactively take charge of their learning agenda, to make
deliberate, goal-directed efforts to succeed, and to achieve a alcançar um grau de autonomia que lhes permita
degree of autonomy that will enable them to continue their continuar sua jornada rumo ao sucesso além da sala
journey to success beyond the classroom and the teacher. de aula e do professor.

Consider the following classroom implications of this principle:

G uidelines for maximizinG self - reGulation

in l2 classrooms

1. Learners at the beginning stages of a language will be

somewhat dependent on the teacher, which is natural and
normal. But teachers can help even beginners to develop a
sense of autonomy through guided practice, strategy training
(Wenden, 2002), and allowing some creative innovation within
limited forms.
2. As learners gain confidence and begin to be able to experiment
with language, implement activities in the classroom that allow
creativity but are not completely beyond the capacity of
students.
3. Encourage students to set some goals for their self-regulated
learning: a number of vocabulary words to learn (and try out)
each week; watch a TV show in English x times every week;
speak English outside the classroom x times per week; write a
story in English; and so on.
4. As much as possible, help your students to become aware of
their own preferences, styles, strengths, and weaknesses, so that
they can then take appropriate [self-regulated] action in the
form of strategies for better learning. Self-regulation might be
aided by checklists, and action can ensue as a choice on the
part of the learner.
76 CHAPTER 4 Teaching by Principles

5. Share with your students what you believe are some of the
“secrets” of your success in language learning. What strategies
did you use that might also be helpful for your students? You
could encourage risk-taking strategies, using nonverbal signals,
avoidance tricks, methods for remembering vocabulary, and the
list goes on. (See PLLT, Chapter 5.)
6. Pair and group work and other interactive activities that are
focused on tasks provide opportunities for students to practice
language, and to be creative in their choices of vocabulary,
grammar, and discourse.
7. Praise students for trying language that’s a little beyond their
present capacity. Provide feedback on their speech—just enough
to be helpful, but not so much that you stifle their creativity
8. Suggest opportunities for students to use their language
(gauged for their proficiency level) outside of class. Examples
include movies, TV, various social network avenues (Facebook,
Twitter, etc.), the Internet, books, magazines, and practicing with
each other.

IDENTITY AND INVESTMENT Larissa Caye: IDENTIDADE E INVESTIMENTO

Heekyeong, born and raised in Korea, started learning English when she was in middle
school. By the time she went to college in Korea, she had excelled in English and
successfully pursued a major in English. Her identity at this point was still predominantly
Korean. She then relocated to Canada, and, after completing her PhD a decade later,
lived and worked in Italy, then moved to New York, and now lives and works in
Monterey, California. After these experiences, who is this Korean-Canadian-American
with a bit of Italian thrown in? What is her cultural and emotional identity? Is there a
dominant side of her, or is the “real” Heekyeong comprised of bits and pieces of
everywhere she has lived?

In the 1970s the budding field of SLA was introduced to a seminal construct Larissa Caye: strongly influencing
in the form of research on the notion that one’s linguistic ability was intertwined
with one’s sense of worth, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. The explanatory power Larissa Caye: mixed
of language ego (Guiora et al., 1972) provided a refreshing new psychological
contribution to our understanding of the affective nature of L2 learning, stimu-
lated a diversity of pedagogical applications, and paved the way for several Larissa Caye: importance
decades of spin-off research. (See PLLT, Chapter 6.)
It made perfect sense. Learning an additional language can be threatening
Larissa Caye: how much you love yourself
for even the most confident learners, and risking making an utter fool of your-
self in the L2 takes intestinal fortitude. “You are what you speak,” said Frank
Smith (1975) over four decades ago, and no one to this day can deny how one’s Larissa Caye: build the path
ability to “hold your head up high” is bound up in one’s linguistic utterances
in both an L1 and an L2. We transact ourselves chiefly through language.
Larissa Caye: scary

Larissa Caye: profound

 Larissa Caye: productions

CHAPTER 4 Teaching by Principles 77

Larissa Caye: predominantly

The concept of language ego also meshed well with an increasing emphasis
on emotion and affect in SLA research and teaching. The 1970s were revolu- Larissa Caye: mixed
tionary in the incorporation of the affective domain into theories of SLA
(Brown, 1973; Scovel, 1978), as strictly cognitive theories fell short of involving Larissa Caye: rigidly
the “whole person” in the enterprise of learning an additional language. Forty
years later, we’re seeing a refocus on affect and emotion as SLA research expe-
riences an “affective turn” (Pavlenko, 2013) following a period of intense Larissa Caye: fail to meet an expectation or standard
interest in the social dimensions of SLA.
Today the language ego concept is more elegantly refined and expanded Larissa Caye: project
into what Norton (2013) and others have described as identity: the extent to
which L2 learners do not perceive themselves merely as individual entities
but, more importantly, as “an integral and constitutive part” (p. 522) of the Larissa Caye: limit
social world to which they are connected. And even more poignantly, identity
research brings to light the dynamics of power—and powerlessness—inherent Larissa Caye: simply
in every learner’s journey toward belonging to a community. Further, while
the language ego construct viewed the “real me” as possessing a unique,
fixed, constant core, the identity concept “depicts the individual as diverse, Larissa Caye: sadly and disappointedly
contradictory, dynamic, and changing over historical time and social space”
(Norton, 2013, p. 522).
Larissa Caye: Plus,
Identity, then, is more than just a core concept; it is also a principle that
has far-reaching implications. On one end of the spectrum is the call for self-
regulated learners to accurately understand themselves as they become aware Larissa Caye: long, complex
of their personal strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, and prefer-
ences in styles of learning, thinking, acting, and communicating. (See PLLT,
Chapter 5.)
On the way to the other end of the continuum is a rich and diverse cluster
of social factors at work in the L2 learning process, where learners are consid-
ered to be members of historical collectivities, who appropriate the practices of
a given community. The completeness of learners’ participation in that com-
munity is partly predicated on their investment in the long and often winding
road to success (Norton & Gao, 2008). While investment involves commitment
and motivation in the traditional sense (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011), more impor-
tantly, learners are seeking to increase the “value of their cultural capital”
(Norton, 2013, p. 3)
An L2 learner’s cultural capital will always be a factor of power relation-
ships in a classroom, community, culture, and country (Canagarajah, 2004).
Such relationships include race, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, sexual ori-
entation, status, economic wealth, and the list goes on. This web of inter-
twining power issues plays into what Anderson (1991) called imagined
communities, that is, a community as perceived by a learner, or more
simply, the mental image of a socially constructed community. For example,
nationalism is viewed as an affinity to an “imagined” construct of variables
that presumably define a country, whether or not in fact such constructs can
be empirically identified.
78 CHAPTER 4 Teaching by Principles
Larissa Caye: Aprender a pensar, sentir, agir e se
With that introduction to the related concepts of identity and investment, comunicar em uma L2 é um processo socioafetivo
consider the following summary of the principle: complexo de se perceber como parte integrante de
uma comunidade social. O processo envolve
Learning to think, feel, act, and communicate in an L2 is a com- autoconsciência, investimento, agência (consulte o
plex socio-affective process of perceiving yourself as an integral Princípio nº 8) e uma determinação, em meio a uma
part of a social community. The process involves self-awareness, série de questões de poder, para enquadrar sua
investment, agency (see Principle #8), and a determination,
própria identidade nas relações sociais de uma
amidst a host of power issues, to frame your own identity within
the social relationships of a community. comunidade.

What does all this say by way of some tips for the classroom teacher?
Larissa Caye: Demonstre abertamente uma atitude de
apoio aos seus alunos. Embora alguns alunos possam
G uidelines for optimizinG identity and investment
in l2 classrooms se sentir bastante desamparados nesse novo idioma,
lembre-se de que eles são adultos capazes que estão
1. Overtly display a supportive attitude to your students. While
lutando com a aquisição do conjunto mais complexo
some learners may feel quite helpless in this new language,
remember that they are capable adults struggling with the de habilidades que qualquer sala de aula já tentou
acquisition of the most complex set of skills that any classroom ensinar. Sua paciência, afirmação e empatia precisam
has ever attempted to teach. Your patience, affirmation, and ser comunicadas abertamente.
empathy need to be openly communicated.
2. Give your students credit for the many abilities and talents they
already have, even though they feel somewhat incapacitated as Larissa Caye: Dê aos seus alunos o crédito pelas
they struggle with a new language. Try to incorporate those muitas habilidades e talentos que eles já têm, mesmo
talents and skills into your teaching. Recognizing and using que se sintam um pouco incapacitados enquanto
some of their artistic, musical, or sports-related skills will help
lutam com um novo idioma. Tente incorporar esses
to build self-confidence and worthiness as they seek to invest
their time and effort in the L2 learning process. talentos e habilidades em seu ensino. Reconhecer e
3. Consider the fragility of students who are not only seeking usar algumas de suas habilidades artísticas, musicais
membership in an imagined community, but who may also ou esportivas ajudará a aumentar a autoconfiança e o
experience a considerable degree of powerlessness—in the valor, pois eles procuram investir seu tempo e esforço
classroom with the teacher “in charge,” in a culture whose
no processo de aprendizagem de L2.
mores are not clearly perceived, or in a context in which race,
classism, ethnocentricity, and other factors are at play.
4. Factor in learners’ identity development in your decisions about Larissa Caye: Considere a fragilidade dos alunos que
whom to call on, when and how to give corrective feedback, não estão apenas buscando fazer parte de uma
how to constitute small groups and pairs, and how “tough” you
comunidade imaginada, mas que também podem
can be with a student.
5. Give your students opportunities to make choices as much as your experimentar um grau considerável de impotência - na
curriculum will permit. Students who can choose exercises, topics, sala de aula com o professor “no comando”, em uma
time limits, homework, and even silence will be more apt to make cultura cujos costumes não são claramente
an investment in their learning, and hence develop responsibility. percebidos, ou em um contexto em que raça,
classismo, etnocentrismo e outros fatores estão em
jogo.
 Larissa Caye: Leve em consideração o
desenvolvimento da identidade dos alunos em suas
CHAPTER 4 Teaching by Principles 79
decisões sobre a quem recorrer, quando e como dar
feedback corretivo, como formar pequenos grupos e
duplas e até que ponto você pode ser “duro” com um
INTERACTION
aluno.
Frenchman François Gouin (1880), the inspiration behind the “Series Method” of foreign
language teaching, learned a painful lesson at the age of about 40. Determined at his “ripe
old” age to learn German, he went to Hamburg for a year of residence. But for months on Larissa Caye: Dê a seus alunos a oportunidade de
end this shy man shut himself in the isolation of his room, engaged in a rigorous regimen
of memorizing huge quantities of German vocabulary and grammar. Occasional ventures
fazer escolhas, tanto quanto o currículo permitir. Os
into the streets to practice German resulted in so much embarrassment for François that all alunos que podem escolher exercícios, tópicos, limites
such attempts to relate to the locals were abruptly terminated with further closeting to de tempo, deveres de casa e até mesmo o silêncio
memorize more German. At the end of the year, he returned to France, a failure. But wait!
On his return home, François discovered that this three-year-old nephew had, during that estarão mais aptos a investir em seu aprendizado e,
same year, gone from saying virtually nothing to becoming a veritable chatterbox in his portanto, desenvolver responsabilidade.
native French! François concluded that interaction was the key to acquisition . . . and the
rest is history.
Larissa Caye: INTERAÇÃO
Our progression of principles has been guided by a sense of movement from
factors that are more individual and cognitive in their nature to those that con-
ceive of L2 learning as a primarily social phenomenon with affective and cultural
overtones. The Principle of Interaction clearly centers on the latter. It is not a skill
that you learn in the isolation of your room, as poor François Gouin discovered.
For some time now, L2 researchers have been focusing on a construct
known as willingness to communicate (WTC), “a state of readiness to engage
in the L2, the culmination of processes that prepare the learner to initiate L2
communication with a specific person at a specific time” (MacIntyre et al., 2011,
p. 82). Observations of language learners’ unwillingness to communicate, for
many possible reasons including anxiety, fear, and other affective factors, have
led us to emphasize classroom activity that encourages learners to “come out of
their shells” and to engage communicatively in the classroom. MacIntyre et al.
(2011) also describe WTC as a socially constructed and dialogic process, rather
than merely an internal attribute, highlighting the significance of perceived com-
petence, error correction, and subtle features in particular social contexts.
The concept of WTC continues to be applicable across many cultures
(Yashima, 2002). Many instructional contexts do not encourage risk-taking;
instead they encourage correctness, right answers, and withholding “guesses”
until one is sure to be correct. However, most educational research shows the
opposite: task-based, project-based, open-ended work, negotiation of meaning,
and a learner-centered climate are more conducive to long-term retention and
intrinsic motivation.
As learners progress in their development, they gradually acquire the com-
municative competence (Canale & Swain, 1980) that has been such a central
focus for researchers for decades (Hymes, 1972; Canale & Swain, 1980;
Savignon, 1983, 2005). As learners engage in the meaningful use of the L2, they
incorporate the organizational, pragmatic, strategic, and psychomotor compo-
nents of language.
The key to communication, and ultimately to automatic production and
comprehension of the L2, lies in what Long (2007) called the interaction
hypothesis: Interactive communication is not merely a component of language
80 CHAPTER 4 Teaching by Principles

learning, but rather the very basis for L2 development. In a strong endorsement
of the power of interaction in the language curriculum, van Lier (1996, p. 188)
devoted a whole book to “the curriculum as interaction.” Here, principles of
awareness, autonomy, and authenticity lead the learner into Vygotsky’s (1978)
zone of proximal development (ZPD), that is, the stage between what learners
can do on their own and what can be achieved with the support and guidance of
a knowledgeable person or instructor. Learners are led, through the scaffolding
support of teacher, materials, and curriculum, to construct the new language
through socially and culturally mediated interaction. (See PLLT, Chapter 10.)
Long’s interaction hypothesis has pushed L2 pedagogical practices into a
new frontier. It has centered us on the language classroom not just as a place
where learners of varying abilities and styles and backgrounds mingle, but also
as a place where the contexts for interaction are carefully designed. It has
focused teachers on creating optimal environments and tasks for collaboration
and negotiation such that learners will be stimulated to create their own com-
munity of practice (Lave and Wenger, 1991) in a socially constructed process. Larissa Caye: A interação é a base do aprendizado de
The Principle of Interaction may be stated as follows: L2, por meio do qual os alunos se envolvem tanto no
aprimoramento de suas próprias habilidades
comunicativas quanto na construção social de suas
Interaction is the basis of L2 learning, through which learners are identidades por meio de colaboração e negociação. A
engaged both in enhancing their own communicative abilities and
in socially constructing their identities through collaboration and função primordial do professor é apoiar de forma
negotiation. The primary role of the teacher is to optimally scaffold otimizada o desenvolvimento do aluno em uma
the learner’s development within a community of practice. comunidade de prática.

What teaching implications can be drawn from the Principle of Interaction?

G uidelines for maximizinG interaction

in l2 classrooms

1. Give ample verbal and nonverbal assurances to students,

affirming your belief in the student’s ability.
2. Sequence (scaffold) techniques from easier to more difficult. As
a teacher you are called on to sustain self-confidence where it
already exists and to build it where it doesn’t. Your activities in
the classroom would therefore logically start with simpler
techniques and simpler concepts. Students then can establish a
sense of accomplishment that catapults them to the next, more
difficult, step.
3. Create an atmosphere in the classroom that encourages students
to try out language, to venture a response, and not to wait for
someone else to volunteer language.
 CHAPTER 4 Teaching by Principles 81

4. Provide reasonable challenges in your techniques—make them

neither too easy nor too hard.
5. Help your students to understand what calculated risk-taking is,
lest some feel that they must blurt out any old response.
6. Respond to students’ attempts to communicate with positive
affirmation, praising them for trying while at the same time
warmly but firmly attending to their language.

LANGUACULTURE Larissa Caye: LANGUACULTURA

Katsu took the bold step at the age of 45 of taking a leave of absence from his high school
English teaching job in Japan to pursue a master’s degree in California. Upon leaving
California and returning to Japan, Katsu writes about his three years in the United States:
“When I first arrived in California, I was excited! Many things were different: food, the
way people talked, friendly professors, the bad transportation system, people not so
punctual. It was great, though, and after living in Japan for many years, I looked forward
to studying in the USA.
“After a few months, my view changed. First of all, I was much older than most of my
classmates, but I felt like they treated me as equal. They didn’t respect my age. I also had a
lot of experience teaching, but my experience didn’t seem very important to my teachers.
Because I was student again, I was in kind of a position of low status. Also, I found
American women very aggressive. I think expression is ’in your face.’ I was surprised about
professors, very casual, treated students like equal, maybe too friendly.
“But when I got back to Japan, I was surprised! My family said, ‘you have changed, you
act like an American!’ I think now I am confused, but I hope I will soon adjust to
Japanese culture.”

Katsu learned firsthand what it meant to adapt to a new culture, and found
that while he was surprised at some American culturally related issues, he himself
went through a minor metamorphosis that became apparent on his return to Japan. Larissa Caye: passed
Language and culture are intricately intertwined, and often an L2 is so deeply
rooted in a culture that it is not quickly and easily discerned or internalized by a Larissa Caye: intimately related
learner. Agar (1994) used the term languaculture to emphasize the inseparability
of language and culture. “The langua in languaculture is about discourse, not just
about words and sentences. And the culture in languaculture is about meanings Larissa Caye: originated
that include, but go well beyond, what the dictionary and grammar offer” (p. 96).
How does one come to “belong” to a culture? How does a learner’s identity
Larissa Caye: recognized
(see Principle 5) evolve in the process of developing communicative ability in
an L2? Gaining skill in the interaction discussed in Principle 6 very intimately
involves connecting language and culture. Can learners be taught to be inter-
culturally competent?
Culture is a complex, dynamic web of customs and mores and rules that
involves attitudes, values, norms, and beliefs that are imagined to be shared by
a community. Cultural parameters include such dimensions as individualism
82 CHAPTER 4 Teaching by Principles

(vs. collectivism), power, gender roles, age, time orientation, religion, and the list
goes on (Matsumoto & Juang, 2013). Learning a second culture usually involves
some effort to grasp the importance of shared cultural dimensions such as Larissa Caye: understand
politeness, humor, slang, and dialect. More specifically, and perhaps more
authentically, what books, music, movies, sports teams, celebrities, scandals, Larissa Caye: maybe
and electronic gadgets does everyone seem to be talking and tweeting about?
In a learner’s process of socially constructing an identity either within (in
the case of learning the L2 in the country that uses the L2) a culture or “outside” Larissa Caye: inside
that culture, he or she will to some degree develop an orientation to the new
context—and then integrate into or adapt to the culture (Gardner & Lambert,
1972; Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011). Courses in SLA commonly incorporate cultural
Larissa Caye: Sempre que você ensina um idioma,
dimensions in their functional syllabuses, providing contexts for the forms of
language to be utilized. você também ensina um sistema complexo de
Here’s a statement of the Languaculture Principle: costumes culturais, valores e formas de pensar, sentir
e agir. À medida que os alunos redefinem suas
identidades ao aprenderem uma L2, eles podem ser
Whenever you teach a language, you also teach a complex auxiliados por uma abordagem direta de
system of cultural customs, values, and ways of thinking, feeling,
and acting. As learners redefine their identities as they learn an reconhecimento das diferenças culturais, uma
L2, they can be aided by a direct approach to acknowledging afirmação aberta das lutas dos alunos, do valor de sua
cultural differences, an open affirmation of learners’ struggles, of cultura “natal” e de sua autoestima em possíveis
the value of their “home” culture, and of their self-worth in sentimentos de impotência.
potential feelings of powerlessness.

Classroom applications include the following:

Larissa Caye: Discuta as diferenças interculturais com

G uidelines for incorporatinG lanGuaculture seus alunos, enfatizando que nenhuma cultura é
into l2 classrooms “melhor” do que outra, mas que a compreensão
1. Discuss cross-cultural differences with your students, emphasizing intercultural é uma faceta importante do aprendizado
that no culture is “better” than another, but that cross-cultural de um idioma. Dê exemplos de mal-entendidos
understanding is an important facet of learning a language. Give interculturais por meio de anedotas bem-humoradas
illustrations of intercultural misunderstanding through (if possible)
humorous anecdotes. (se possível).
2. Include among your techniques certain activities and materials
that illustrate the connection between language and culture, Larissa Caye: Inclua entre suas técnicas determinadas
especially those that are more salient for your particular context. atividades e materiais que ilustrem a conexão entre
3. Teach your students cultural connotations that will enable them
idioma e cultura, especialmente aqueles que são mais
to increase their interactive use of the L2, including politeness,
humor, slang, “small talk,” devices to keep a conversation going, importantes para seu contexto específico.
and how to disagree with someone but still respect their right
to an opinion. Larissa Caye: Ensine a seus alunos conotações
culturais que lhes permitirão aumentar o uso interativo
da L2, incluindo polidez, humor, gírias, “conversa
 fiada”, dispositivos para manter uma conversa e como
discordar de alguém, mas ainda assim respeitar seu
direito a uma opinião.
CHAPTER 4 Teaching by Principles 83

Larissa Caye: Examine suas técnicas em busca de

4. Screen your techniques for material that may be culturally
offensive. material que possa ser culturalmente ofensivo.
5. Stress the importance of the L2 as a powerful tool for adjustment
in a new culture. Larissa Caye: Enfatize a importância da L2 como uma
ferramenta poderosa para a adaptação em uma nova
cultura.
AGENCY
Seong-jin is a twenty-three-year old Korean man enrolled in an intensive ESL program in a
Canadian university. He is in a high-intermediate writing class that aims to help students
Larissa Caye: AGÊNCIA
develop English language skills for academic or professional purposes. He values good
writing skills and aspires to be a good writer in the future. He enjoyed free-writing tasks
when he had just started the English program at a beginning level and he found himself
enjoying creative writing.
However, since he advanced to the high-intermediate class, he’s been struggling with two
conflicting discourses – a conventional way of writing an academic essay and his preferred
personal writing style, which is to express his feelings freely. He recounts how he finds it
very difficult to write an essay, such as an argumentative essay, in a formal academic style:
“I like writing based on my intuition. I don’t like writing based on logic and by adding
references. There always has to be a fixed structure. You have to write a positive argument
with example sentences first and then a negative argument with example sentences. At the
end then, you have to come up with “solution” stating what the best argument is. This is a
sort of what they consider as a good writing sample.”
It is obvious that he is aware of what is expected by his writing teacher in the assignment of
writing an argumentative essay. However, he says:
“Yeah, but I don’t like to do that. My writing then becomes the same as all the other
students. I don’t like to follow the same form as others.”

We can all at some level identify with Seong-jin’s plight, as reported by Lee
and Maguire (2011). From early childhood we experience demands for structure
imposed by “outside” agents: parents, teachers, peers, and social mores. We yearn
to “breathe free” and function autonomously. For Seong-jin, perhaps his frustra-
tion with conforming to academic writing conventions is a product of his own
creative urge to “be” himself, to express himself freely, and to realize his identity
as a participant in his Canadian community of practice. His agency is at stake.
The Principle of Agency is our final principle in the list of eight for a number
of reasons. First, it’s a superb instance of a concept that is emblematic of the more
recent “social turn” (Ortega, 2009) in SLA research, extending our horizons well
beyond psycholinguistic, cognitive-interactional models that characterized much
of the research of the last half of the 20th century. Second, agency provides an
ample stockpile of pedagogical implications for the classroom teacher in concrete
methodological terms. And finally, it’s a construct that is so comprehensive in
scope that it subsumes all the other principles we’ve described thus far—so
sweeping, in fact, that the next chapter of this book will take a detailed look at
agency as a prime example of how principles are embodied in our teaching.
84 CHAPTER 4 Teaching by Principles

In simple terms, agency refers to “people’s ability to make choices, take con-
trol, self-regulate, and thereby pursue their goals as individuals, leading poten-
tially to personal or social transformation” (Duff, 2012, p. 417). When learners
capitalize on their role as an agent, they can make specific efforts to take on new
roles and identities within their communities of practice and sociocultural milieu.
Vygotsky (1978) reminded us that children gain agency as they acquire cognitive
and linguistic abilities that enable them eventually to function autonomously.
The implications for the L2 classroom are myriad, as you will see in the
next chapter. In some ways, agency is a further refinement of Maslow’s (1970)
hierarchy of needs, which garnered a great deal of attention in educational
circles. As learners slowly develop the basic sustaining factors of belongingness
and affirmation (by teachers and peers), they are enabled to reach for the ultimate
goal of self-actualization. The difference between Maslow’s self-actualization and
current sociocultural concept of agency lies in the ongoing role (from the earliest
stages) of agency as a means to achieve social transformation.
The Principle of Agency helps to frame a surprising number of other prin-
ciples and constructs in SLA (Yashima, 2013). At the core of motivation is
agency: the act of making choices in acts of self-determination. Self-efficacy
theory emphasizes the importance of a learner’s self-appraisal, a foundation
stone of agency. Our self-regulatory processes, with the ultimate utilization of
strategies and eventual achievement of autonomy, are all intertwined with
agency. Even the scaffolding and mediation involved in successful L2 pedagogy
are essential pathways to learners fully assuming their agency.
Finally, and perhaps most poignantly, from a “critical” perspective, Norton
(2013) and Yashima (2013) both emphasized the crucial role of agency within
the various power structures of one’s social milieu. As Canagarajah (2013a)
noted, agency helps us “go beyond the monolithic notions of culture and power”
(p. 204) in intercultural communicative contexts of globalization and migration.
In recent years we have seen more research on L2 learning by immigrants and
refugees, and by those who are in “subtractive” roles in a society (where the L2
is seen as superior in some way to a learner’s heritage language). Such contexts
often involve learners in a struggle to appropriate a new language and to fight
social constraints as they negotiate an identity (Yashima, 2013, p. 5). Larissa Caye: A agência, que está no centro do
Briefly stated, the Principle of Agency can be summed up as follows: aprendizado de idiomas, é a capacidade dos alunos de
fazer escolhas, assumir o controle, autorregular-se e,
assim, buscar seus objetivos como indivíduos dentro
Agency, which lies at the heart of language learning, is the ability de um contexto sociocultural. Os professores são
of learners to make choices, take control, self-regulate, and chamados a oferecer apoio afetivo e pedagógico
thereby pursue their goals as individuals within a sociocultural adequado na luta de seus alunos por autonomia,
context. Teachers are called on to offer appropriate affective and
desenvolvimento de identidades e jornada rumo à
pedagogical support in their students’ struggle for autonomy,
development of identities, and journey toward empowerment. capacitação.
 CHAPTER 4 Teaching by Principles 85

Pedagogical implications and practical classroom applications are spelled

out in detail in the next chapter. There, we focus exclusively on this powerful
and foundational principle of SLA, agency, and all its concomitant influences
on successful acquisition of additional languages.

L L L L L
The eight principles that have just been reviewed (listed for your conve-
nience in Table 4.1) are some of the major foundation stones for teaching prac-
tice. While they are not by any means exhaustive, they can act for you as major
theoretical insights on which your methodology can be based.
With these eight principles, you should be able to evaluate a course, a
textbook, a group of students, and an educational context, and to determine
solutions to pedagogical issues in the classroom. You should be able to assess
the strengths and weaknesses of lessons you’ve observed or lessons you plan
to teach. In short, you should be able to frame your own approach by consid-
ering the extent to which the eight principles inform your understanding of
how languages are successfully learned and taught.
We hope you have gained from this discussion the value of undergirding
your teaching with sound principles that help you to understand why you
choose to do something in the classroom: what kinds of questions to ask your-
self before the fact about what you are doing, how to monitor yourself while
you are teaching, how to assess after the fact the effectiveness of what you did,
and then how to modify what you will do the next time around.
Table 4.1 Principles of language learning and teaching

Related Constructs
attention, processing, noticing
form and function, fluency
cross-linguistic influence, interference,
interlanguage, dynamic systems, meaningful
learning, skill acquisition, embodied cognition
motivation (intrinsic & extrinsic)
autonomy, self-awareness, strategies, self-
determination
5. Identity and Investment language ego, imagined community, emotion
and affect, styles
willingness to communicate, feedback,
communicative competence, collaboration
negotiation, scaffolding, mediation, ZPD
communities of practice, intercultural competence,
acculturation, language-culture connection
empowerment, self-actualization, self-efficacy
86 CHAPTER 4 Teaching by Principles

FOR THE TEACHER: ACTIVITIES (A) & DISCUSSION (D)

1. (A) All of the eight principles summarized in this chapter are important.
Ask your students, in pairs or small groups, to prioritize them, placing
two or three principles at the top of the list. Then, have the groups com-
pare their top three with others in the class. They may discover how dif-
ficult it is to choose only three to be at the top of the list.
2. (A) Have any principles been left out that should have been included?
Ask small groups to brainstorm their thoughts, name any such principles
(or concepts), and justify their inclusion in such a list. Then ask each
group to share its conclusions with the rest of the class, perhaps by writ-
ing their ideas on the board. Encourage your students to ask questions of
each other.
3. (A) Direct students back to Chapter 1, in which a lesson was described in
detail. Notice that in the second part of the chapter, numbered sets of
questions were raised regarding the lesson that was described. Assign
one or more of those 18 sets to pairs. Ask each pair to (a) determine
which principles in this chapter justified the teacher’s choice in each
case, and (b) decide whether any aspects of that lesson should have been
altered on the basis of any one or more principles. Ask pairs to share
their thoughts with the rest of the class.
4. (D) Ask students to look back at Chapter 2, in which a number of
methods were descriptive of a brief history of language teaching.
Make a chalkboard list of the methods to stimulate a class discussion
of the extent to which each method can be justified by certain princi-
ples described in this chapter, and then, conversely, criticized by other
principles.
5. (A) The eight principles given here form elements of a theory of second
language learning and teaching (see PLLT, Chapter 10). Ask your stu-
dents, as extra-class work on their own, to write a brief one-page synop-
sis of what each would state as their own personal theory of language
learning and teaching, using as many of the principles (and other con-
cepts) as possible that are articulated in this chapter. If time permits, you
might ask a few students to volunteer to read their statements when they
complete the assignment. Note: Make sure they save these statements to
read again at the end of the course.
6. (D) If possible, try to arrange for your students to observe an L2 class,
and as a checklist, use the eight principles (plus other concepts
described here) to determine which principles supported various activi-
ties. In some cases a principle may explain why students are success-
fully achieving lesson objectives; in other cases a principle might
articulate why objectives were not reached. Ask students to report their
insights back to the class.
 CHAPTER 4 Teaching by Principles 87

FOR YOUR FURTHER READING

Mitchell, R., Myles, F., & Marsden, E. (2013). Second language learning theories
(3rd ed.). Oxford, UK: Routledge.
This book provides an accessible alternative to PLLT in its survey of
current theories and issues in the field of second language acquisition. It
serves as a vantage point from which to view the backdrops to the eight
principles presented in this chapter.
Richards, J.C. (2002). Theories of teaching in language teaching. In J. Richards
& W. Renandya (Eds.), Methodology in language teaching: An anthology of
current practice (pp. 19–25). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Richards puts theories of teaching into an unusual and thought-provoking
framework of four categories: science-research based, theory-philosophy,
values-based, and art-craft conceptions.
Allwright, D., & Hanks, J. (2009). The developing language learner: An
introduction to exploratory practice. New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan.
The authors present an innovative approach to understanding the role of
learners as practitioners of learning and the role of teachers as
practitioners of teaching. Through the narratives of learners and teachers
from around the globe, it offers how exploratory practice can engage
learners as practitioners and eventually enhance their learning process.
Alsagoff, L., McKay, S., Hu, G., & Renandya, W. (Eds.). (2012). Principles and
practices for teaching English as an international language. New York, NY:
Routledge.
As research on learning and teaching languages has now become a global
concern, with contributions to the field in many countries around the
world, this anthology helps the reader to gain a perspective on English
teaching in many contexts, especially those in which English is not a
predominant L1.
Pavlenko, A. (2013). The affective turn in SLA: From “affective factors” to “language
desire” and “commodification of affect.” In D. Gabrys-Barker & J. Brelska
(Eds.), The affective dimension in second language acquisition (pp. 3–28).
Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
An interesting affective emphasis is offered in this well-researched article
that gives you both a historical perspective as well as information on the
recent “revival” of the affective domain as a key to language success.