English Language Acquisition: Key Concepts & Methods

Posted on Mar 23, 2025 in Other civil servant exams

Communicative Competence in English

The main objective of learning English is to acquire communicative competence. This involves developing several sub-competencies:

  • Linguistic Competence: Understanding and using vocabulary, grammar, and syntax.
  • Strategic Competence: Using techniques to overcome language gaps and modifying text for audience and purpose. Acquiring conversational fluency.
  • Socio-linguistic Competence: Having knowledge of the social rules of language, non-verbal behavior, and cultural references.
  • Discourse Competence: Understanding how ideas are connected through patterns of organization, cohesive devices, and transitional devices.

Spanish Education Laws

LOE (Organic Law on Education)

  • Law 2/2006, on Education, of May 3.
  • Royal Decree 1513/2006, of December 7, which establishes the minimum contents and structure for Primary Education (PE).
  • Decree 230/2007, of July 31, of the Junta of Andalusia, which establishes PE in Andalusia.
  • The order of August 10, 2007, which develops the curriculum of PE in Andalusia.

LOMCE (Organic Law for the Improvement of Educational Quality)

  • Royal Decree 126/2014, of February 28, which establishes the basic curriculum for PE.
  • Law 17/2007, on Education in Andalusia, of December 10.
  • Decree 97/2015, of March 3, of the Junta of Andalusia, which establishes the curriculum and organization of PE in Andalusia.

Acquisition vs. Learning

  • Acquisition: Automatic mental processes based on long-term memory. Linguistic knowledge acquired by the child naturally.
  • Learning: Non-automatic, reflexive mental processes based on short-term memory. Linguistic knowledge acquired by studying in formal contexts.

Key Concepts in Language Learning

  • Portfolio: A record of everything that students learn in a foreign language. It is part of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, along with the passport and the biography.
  • Skimming: Used to quickly identify the main ideas of a text.
  • Scanning: Used when looking for the detailed meaning of a word in a book or dictionary.
  • Covert Teaching: Teaching grammatical facts to students in a hidden way.
  • Overt Teaching: When the teacher explains grammar to students directly.
  • Nursery Rhymes: Songs that help learners learn the sounds of the language.

Relevant Authors and Works

Grimm’s Brothers (Cinderella); Charles Dickens (Oliver Twist); James Matthew Barrie (Peter Pan); William Shakespeare (Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet); J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix).

Teaching Methods

  • CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning): Teaches subject matter and language simultaneously.
  • Suggestopedia: Creates a comfortable atmosphere, presenting a lot of information in a short time. No exams; evaluation is based on participation.
  • Task-Based Approach: Learning through a sequence of tasks, with the student playing an active role.
  • Direct Method: No use of the native language; vocabulary is considered more important than grammar.
  • Audiolingualism: Stimulus-response learning; translation and the difference between the native and foreign languages are prohibited.
  • Community Language Learning: Learning in stages, focusing on conversational fluency, building confidence, and developing speaking and listening skills.
  • Silent Way: A silent period for learners, emphasizing learning by discovery.
  • Grammar-Translation Method: Learning vocabulary and grammar to read correctly; uses translation and Latin grammar.
  • Communicative Approach: Develops communicative competence through role-plays, activities similar to real-life situations, and effective communication.
  • Total Physical Response (TPR): Uses movement, games, and imperative exercises.
  • Situational Method: Uses real-life situations, structuralism, and culture as part of the teaching-learning process.
  • Multiple Intelligences in the English Classroom: Focuses on multiple intelligences, meaningful learning, and supporting students’ interests.
  • Natural Approach: Acquiring a foreign language in the same way as the native language, through direct and systematic observation.