Learning a foreign

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Unit 8 Learning a foreign
language Twice As Hard?
??? ???
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A Joke A mother mouse and a baby mouse was
playing in the the bush happily when suddenly
they saw a cat coming along towards them. At
first they were very frightened. Suddenly a good
idea came to the mothers mind. Then she barked
like a dog. You know, what happened? The cat ran
away on hearing the sound. After the cat
disappeared, the mother mouse said to its baby,

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Zhang Liyong A cook in Qinghua University 630
marks in TOEFL in 2004
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What is your difficulty in learning English?
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Skim the text Task One Complete the title of
the text Task Two Tell the
main idea of the text of and
of each paragraph
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Learning a foreign language Twice As Hard?
Is learning a foreign language twice as hard as
learning our mother tongue?
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Whats the main idea of this article? A.
Learning a foreign language is twice as hard as
learning our mother tongue. B. Learning a
foreign language is more important than learning
our mother tongue. C. Learning a foreign
language is twice as easy if we develop our study
skills. D. In fact, the number of people
learning a foreign language has increased with
years.
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Learning a language is more than just memorising
words, phrases and structures
Different opinions among experts
differences between learning MT and FL
the basic characteristics of successful learners.
Why do some students achieve success in language
learning?
Ways to become successful learns
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Two language acquisition theories
Theory 1 Were born with a language specific part
of the brain so that we have a special ability to
learn language.
Theory 2 We learn language just the same as we
learn other skills, that is, we have a general
ability to learn language.
Para. 2
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difference between learning MT and FL
communicating
everywhere
usually in school
many
few
all your waking hours
a few hours in a week
greater/high efficiency
Para. 3
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What are the characteristics of successful
language learners ?
Interested in understanding their own thinking.
Curious about the world
Willing to take chances
Confident in their ability.
Use different ways of learning
Plan and evaluate their studies
Para.4
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How can some students do better in language
acquisition?
Less anxious and more relaxed
Willing to take risks and place themselves in new
learning situations.
Para.5
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Scanning
Scan the text and try to find the detailed
information in the passage.
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1.Most children have mastered their mother
tongue . A.at the age of five
B. by the age of eight C. before they
are five D. since they were five
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2. In fact, we learn English much faster than
we may have thought because ________. A.A lot
of people are born with a special ability
to learn a foreign language. B.English
learning always takes place in class.
C.Communicating with people often takes
too much time. D.We can get a lot of help and
the learning is more efficient.
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• 3. The text tells us that successful language
• learners ______.
• spend as many hours studying English as
• they do their mother tongue.
• B.always have different plans for their learning
• C.want very much to become translators and
• interpreters.
• D.are usually very impatient in learning a
• language.

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4. Successful language learners do share the
following characteristics except .
A.the ability to memorize the words B. an
interest in understanding their own
thinking C. willingness to take chances
D. confidence in their ability
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5. From the text we can see _______. A.The
stronger the motivation is, the more
quickly a person will learn a foreign language.
B.Interest, curiosity, willingness and
confidence are more important than
anything else. C.Well find it easier to
learn English if we can learn something
from successful language learners.
D.Both B and C. .
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Sentence understanding

• If they were not, they would not be ready to
  experiment with new forms and to make mistakes,
  both of which contribute to their increased
  ability to learn.
• If they were not confident and secure, they would
  not be willing to try new forms and to make
  mistakes. Both of the new forms and mistakes help
  improve their learning ability.

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Sentence understanding

• And perhaps most puzzling of all, how were we
  able to make sense of what we heard and
  distinguish the mistakes and errors from good
  language?
• And maybe the most puzzling thing is how we
  could understand what we heard and tell the
  difference between what is a mistake and what is
  correct in the language.

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Sentence understanding

• But once you consider the situation further,
  youll realise that this is indeed the case.
• But if you think about the time we spend in
  learning Chinese, youll find its true that we
  learn English faster than we do mother tongue.

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The sentence Life is a very successful language
school means .
B

• A. we are equipped with a special ability to
  learn language
• B. the key to learn the language well is to
  communicate with the people around us
• C. parents can give children language lessons
• D. people can learn the language by themselves

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Evaluate your studies

• interest confidence being active
  planning
• feeling relaxed/secure learning habits and
  skills
• 1. Of the factors, which seems the most
  difficult for you to achieve, what are the
  problems and discuss ways to improve it?
• 2. Of the factors, which factor contributes most
  to your successful English learning, how does it
  influence your learning (reasons why it is
  important), discuss ways to help those who dont.

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Homework

• Write tips on learning English in one aspect such
  as vocabulary, reading, writing, speaking, or
  listening.

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Thank you very much!