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Introduction to the Acquisition and Teaching of English

Code: 106307 ECTS Credits: 6
2024/2025
Degree Type Year
2504212 English Studies OB 3
2504380 English and Catalan Studies OT 3
2504380 English and Catalan Studies OT 4
2504386 English and Spanish Studies OT 3
2504386 English and Spanish Studies OT 4
2504393 English and French Studies OT 0
2504393 English and French Studies OT 3
2504393 English and French Studies OT 4
2504394 English and Classics Studies OT 3
2504394 English and Classics Studies OT 4

Contact

Name:
Elisabet Pladevall Ballester
Email:
elisabet.pladevall@uab.cat

Teachers

Mireia Llinàs Grau
Elisabet Pladevall Ballester

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

A C2 level (Proficiency) from the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages is required. Students are advised to have passed the courses within the area of English Linguistics of first and second years.


Objectives and Contextualisation

This subject aims at introducing students to the basic notions of the acquisition of English as a first and a second language and to the learning and teaching of English as a foreign language in contexts of instruction 

Specific objectives: 

-  Indentify and explain the basic concepts and processes in the acquisition of English as a first language

- Consider the characteristics of early English words and sentences.

- Understand and explain the basic concepts of the acquisition of English as a second language.

- Analyse data from the acquisition of English.

- Explain the process of the acquisition of English as an L2 in contexts of instruction.

- Describe and analyse types of instruction.

- Explain the age factor and types of learners depending on the learning context and age. 


Competences

    English Studies
  • Apply scientific ethical principles to information processing.
  • Apply the concepts, resources and methods acquired to the study of the English language in a global and multilingual social context of language learning and teaching.
  • Demonstrate skills to develop professionally in the fields of linguistic applications, teaching and literary and cultural management in English.
  • Demonstrate skills to work autonomously and in teams to fulfil the planned objectives.
  • Distinguish and contrast the distinct paradigms and methodologies applied to the study of English.
  • Make changes to methods and processes in the area of knowledge in order to provide innovative responses to society's needs and demands. 
  • Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Understand and produce written and spoken academic texts in English at advanced higher-proficient-user level (C2).
  • Use digital tools and specific documentary sources for the collection and organisation of information.
  • Use written and spoken English for academic and professional purposes, related to the study of linguistics, the philosophy of language, history, English culture and literature.
    English and Catalan Studies
  • Apply the concepts, resources and methods acquired during the study of variations of English and Catalan language, be it in a historical context or in the current global social and multilingual context.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of the rules of Catalan and mastery of its foundations and applications in the academic and professional fields.
  • Demonstrate the ability to work autonomously and in teams with the aim of attaining the planned objectives in multicultural and interdisciplinary contexts.
  • Demostrar habilitats per desenvolupar-se de manera professional en els àmbits de les aplicacions lingüístiques, la docència i la gestió literària i cultural en català i anglès.
  • Make correct use of written and spoken English for academic or professional purposes, related to the study of language, history, culture and literature.
  • Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Understand and produce oral and written academic texts with appropriateness and fluency in distinct communicative contexts.
  • Use digital tools and specific documentary sources to gather and organise information.
    English and Spanish Studies
  • Analyse the main phonetic, phonological, morphological, syntactic, lexical and semantic properties of the English and Spanish languages, their evolution throughout history and their current structure.
  • Apply teaching and acquisition strategies in the development of communicative competence (both linguistic and extra-linguistic) in a global and multilingual society.
  • Demonstrate a normative knowledge of the Spanish language and a command of it in all its applications in the academic and professional spheres.
  • Demonstrate the ability to work autonomously and in teams in order to achieve the planned objectives in multicultural and interdisciplinary contexts.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Use digital tools and specific documentary sources to gather and organise information.
    English and French Studies
  • Apply the concepts, resources and methods acquired to the different fields of applied English and French linguistics, in a global, multilingual, social context of language learning.
  • Understand and produce oral and written academic texts with appropriateness and fluency in distinct communicative contexts.
  • Use digital tools and specific documentary sources to gather and organise information.
  • Use spoken English and French correctly for academic and professional purposes related to the study of linguistics, history, culture and literature.
    English and Classics Studies
  • Apply the concepts, resources and methods acquired to the study of the English language in order to understand its diachronic change, as well as its current geographic and social diversity, and to study its acquisition and learning in a global and multilingual society.
  • Demonstrate skills for professional development in the fields of linguistic applications, teaching and literary and cultural management in English and in the field of classical languages.
  • Demonstrate the ability to work autonomously and in teams in order to achieve the planned objectives in multicultural and interdisciplinary contexts.
  • Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
  • Understand and produce oral and written academic texts with appropriateness and fluency in distinct communicative contexts.
  • Use digital tools and specific documentary sources to gather and organise information.
  • Use written and spoken English correctly for academic and professional purposes related to the study of English linguistics, history, culture, and literature.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Analyse learning situations, identify areas for improvement and propose new methods or alternative solutions.
  2. Analyse, interpret and evaluate English language teaching methodologies in distinct educational contexts.
  3. Analyse, interpret and evaluate theories of first-, second- and third-language acquisition in distinct contexts of acquisition.
  4. Apply acquired concepts and methods to professional situations simulated in the classroom through problem solving and case simulation
  5. Apply acquired concepts and methods to professional situations simulated in the classroom through problem solving and case simulation.
  6. Apply the concepts and methods acquired to the detection of needs specific to each discipline, and to the relevant curricular design.
  7. Apply the concepts and methods acquired to the translation of texts of different types and in different formats.
  8. Apply the knowledge and competences acquired to the analysis of problems and their resolution.
  9. Apply the knowledge and skills acquired to the analysis of problems and their resolution in a professional context.
  10. Apply the principles of correctness required by the standard language and the distinct registers and varieties for professional purposes.
  11. Apply the skills acquired to the teaching of grammar concepts and techniques for reading and interpreting classical texts.
  12. Correctly identify linguistic units in the teaching of grammar.
  13. Detect the most common errors in non-native speakers considering their mother tongue.
  14. Evaluate their own progress in the acquisition of knowledge of the contents of this subject.
  15. Express oneself in English orally and in writing in an academic register and using appropriate terminology in relation to the study of language acquisition and teaching.
  16. Express oneself orally and in writing in English in a professional register and using appropriate terminology in relation to translation, English for specific purposes and linguistic applications.
  17. Identify and explain the individual factors that interfere in the acquisition and learning of English.
  18. Identify and understand distinct methodologies of English language teaching and pronunciation.
  19. Identify and understand distinct theories of first-, second- and third-language acquisition.
  20. Identify the distinct stages of a didactic unit.
  21. In an effective manner, organise the autonomous component to learning.
  22. Incorporate ideas and concepts from published sources into work, citing and referencing appropriately.
  23. Know how to explain grammatical errors to secondary school pupils.
  24. Locate specialised and academic information and select this according to its relevance.
  25. Plan work effectively, individually or in groups, in order to fulfil the planned objectives.
  26. Plan, organise and carry out work in a team.
  27. Produce academic written and oral texts (C2) on the concepts and skills relevant to the study of English language acquisition, learning and teaching.
  28. Produce academic written and oral texts at Mastery level (C2) on the concepts and skills relevant to the study of English language acquisition, learning and teaching.
  29. Produce academic written and oral texts at a higher-proficient-user level (C2) on the concepts and skills relevant to the study of English language acquisition, learning and teaching.
  30. Produce normatively correct written and oral texts.
  31. Produce works in which the fundamental digital and bibliographic tools for the field of study are applied.
  32. Produce written and oral academic texts at higher-proficient-user level (C2) on the concepts and skills relevant to the study of translation, English for specific purposes and language applications.
  33. Understand specialised academic texts (C2) on research in English language acquisition, learning and teaching.
  34. Understand specialised academic texts (C2) on research in translation, English for specific purposes and language applications.
  35. Understand specialised academic texts on research in English language acquisition, learning and teaching at Mastery level (C2).
  36. Understand specialised academic texts on research in English language acquisition, learning and teaching at higher-proficient-user level (C2).
  37. Understand specialised academic texts on research in English language acquisition, learning and teaching.

Content

1. First language acquisition: Basic concepts

2. Morphological and syntactic development in L1A

3. Second language acquisition: Basic concepts

4. Instructed Second Language Acquisition

5. Age and teaching/learning context


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Lectures 50 2 2, 3, 35, 36, 15, 16, 12, 18, 19, 17, 20, 27, 28, 29, 32, 30
Type: Supervised      
Practical exercises 25 1 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 4, 5, 9, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 12, 18, 19, 17, 20, 24, 23
Type: Autonomous      
Texts to comment 50 2 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 31, 15, 16, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 32, 30

The methodology of this subject is based on lectures, practical exercises and texts to comment in class, and group work.  

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Assigment1 15% 2.5 0.1 2, 3, 9, 8, 14, 19, 25, 26
Assignment 2 15% 2.5 0.1 2, 6, 7, 4, 11, 14, 13, 12, 18, 17, 20, 30, 23
Exam 1 35% 10 0.4 2, 3, 11, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 15, 19, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30
Exam 2 35% 10 0.4 1, 2, 6, 7, 4, 5, 9, 10, 14, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 31, 15, 16, 18, 17, 20, 22, 21, 27, 28, 29, 32

Assignment 1    15% 

Exam 1       35%

Assignment 2    15%

Exam 2       35% 

On carrying out each evaluation activity, lecturers will inform students (on Moodle) of the  procedures to be followed for reviewing all grades awarded, and the date on which such a review will take place.

Students will obtain a “Not assessed/Not submitted” course grade unless they have submitted more than 1/4 of the assessment items.

In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as  the final grade for this subject.

Irregularities refer, for instance, to copying in an exam, copying from sources without indiacting authorship, or a misuse of AI such as presenting work as original that has been generated by an AI tool or programme.  

Reassessment

The reassessment will be an exam covering all the units of the subject. Only students who fulfill the following conditions will be allowed to sit the reassessment exam:

- having completed all the assessment items

- having an average mark of 3,5 or more

Students cannot take the reassessment exam to improve their final mark.

The highest mark obtained if the student passes the reassessment exam will be a 5.  

 Single assessment

Students who opt for this type of assessment will have to do the following on the same day: 

- an test on conceptual issues (50%)

- a practical exercise of data analysis (25%) 

- a comment on a text  (25%)

 

The same reassessment method as continuous assessment will be used.

 


Bibliography

Bibliografia

 

Cattel, Ray (2000). Children’s Language. Consensus and Controversy. London: Cassell.

De Graaf, Rick and Alex Housen (2009). Investigating the Effects and Effectiveness of L2 Instruction. In M. H. Long and C. Doughty (eds.) The Handbook of Language Teaching (pp. 726-755). Oxford: Blackwell.

Herschensohn, Julia (2000). The Second Time Around. Minimalism and L2 Acquisition, Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Crain, Stephen and Diane Lillo-Martin (1999). An Introduction to Linguistic Theory and Language Acquisition,  Oxford: Blackwell.

Ellis, Rod (2008). Principles of Instructed second language acquisition. CAL Digest, available at http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/instructed2ndlang.html

Goodluck, Helen (2020). Language Acquisition by Children. A Linguistic Introduction, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Guasti, Maria Teresa (2004). Language Acquisition. The Growth of Grammar, Cambridge, Mass:The MIT Press.

Lightbown, Patsy M. and Nina Spada (2021). How Languages Are Learned. Fifth edition, Oxford: O.U.P.

Loewen, Shawn (2015). Introduction toInstructed Second Language Acquisition. New York: Routledge.

Mitchell, Rosamond, Myles, Florence and Marsden, Emma (2019). Second Language Learning Theories. New York: Routledge.

Pfenninger, Simone and David Singleton (2023). Second Language Acquisition and Lifelong Learning. London: Routledge.

Radford, Andrew, Martin Atkinson, David Britain, Harald Clahsen and Andrew Spencer (2009). Linguistics. An Introduction, Cambridge, C.U.P.

Stilwell Peccei, Jean (2006). Child Language. A Resource Book for Students, London: Routledge.

VanPatten, Bill, Megan Smith, Alessandro G. Benati (2020). Key Questions in Second Language Acquisition. An Introduction, Cambridge: C.U.P.

 

 


Software

No software will be used.


Language list

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(PAUL) Classroom practices 1 English second semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 1 English second semester morning-mixed