Tolerance of Ambiguity & Second Language Acquisition

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Tolerance of Ambiguity Second Language
Acquisition

• Literature Review
• By Kristyn Kidney

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Guiding Questions

• What is tolerance of ambiguity?
• How is it encountered in second language
  acquisition?
• How does it effect second language acquisition?
• What can be done to help students with varying
  degrees of ambiguity tolerance?

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1) What is AT?

• Being comfortable with the unknown

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2) How is AT encountered in SLA?

• Listening
• Reading
• Speaking
• Writing
• Grammar
• Vocabulary
• Culture

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3) How does AT effect SLA success?

• Moderate AT Most success
• High AT Less success
• Low AT Least success

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4) What can be done to help students with varying
degrees of AT?

• Student strategies

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4) What can be done to help students with varying
degrees of AT?

• Teacher modifications
• Environments Guessing Strategies
• Awareness Open discussions

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Whats your AT?

• Test your tolerance of ambiguity to discover if
  you have a high, moderate, or low comfort level
  with uncertainty.