Module 3: Language Learning and Teaching EKIA300

Subject Studies

EKIA301 LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING (formerly Second Language Acquisition, SLA) 5 pts
Paula Kalaja
Katja Mäntylä

Prerequisites: Näkökulmia kieleen, Exploring Grammar 1

Target group: This is an introductory course that suits future EFL teachers or those interested in aspects of language learning or teaching.

Aim and content: This course addresses two broad but related issues: second/foreign language learning and teaching, reviewing developments in the two fields (and relatedly in language assessment) and addressing issues such as: What does it mean to know a foreign language? How does one learn/acquire a foreign language in school, or out of school? Why are some successful in learning a foreign language? What is there to teach in a foreign language and how? In addition, how have these issues been studied over the years, within what approaches, with what kind of methods?

Mode of study: Readings and tasks, group/pair work, lectures

Assessment: Course paper, active participation in class, self-evaluation

Textbook: Keith Johnson (2001), An introduction to foreign language learning and teaching. Harlow: Pearson Education.

Katja Mäntylä

Prerequisite: Introduction to Language Study

Target group: Subject studies, second or third year students.

Aim and content: This course looks at words and vocabulary from various angles to raise students’ lexical awareness. As the field of vocabulary studies has grown in importance as well as in volume, the course aims at deepening understanding of how words and vocabulary function and what their role in the language is. We will read articles on different areas in vocabulary studies and use them as a basis for practical exercises. Through these exercises we will seek answers to various questions, e.g., what is a word; how do words appear and disappear; what is the relationship between form and meaning, and how is vocabulary built.  The course also serves as a starting point for the course Teaching and learning vocabulary.

Mode of study:  Readings, pair/group work, writing and presenting a final report.

Assessment: Active participation in class and final report (essay or experiment that applies what has been learnt in the course).

Required reading: What is a word booklet, available from Copy Shop.

Paula Kalaja
Riikka Alanen

Prerequisites: Näkökulmia kieleen, Exploring Grammar 1, Language Learning and Teaching (or formerly SLA)

Target group: This is a hands-on course that suits future EFL teachers or those interested in doing research on aspects of teaching or learning grammar.

Aim and content: The course is designed in cooperation with Leila Ranta, University of Alberta, Canada (being a part of a research project). The course attempts to bring together three types of theoretical knowledge: metalinguistic knowledge of English grammar, knowledge of L2 grammar acquisition, and L2 pedagogical principles. The grammatical areas covered are tense, aspect, modals, articles, linking adverbials, and phrasal verbs; the teaching techniques from SLA are consciousness-raising tasks, interpretation-based practice, and transfer-appropriate production practice. The pedagogical theory portion includes the principles of communicative language teaching, presentation-practice-production, and task-based lesson structures. The students engage with the content through different kinds of in-class tasks and assignments where they develop grammar lessons using SLA-based techniques.

Mode of study: Readings, in-class tasks, and a mini-practicum (developing and trying out grammar lessons).

Assessment: Grading is based on active participation in class/group discussions and a course website (Optima) and a set of lesson plans designed and field-tested (with reflections).


Examiner: Paula Kalaja        (3-5 pts)

• D. Larsen-Freeman (2000, second edition), Techniques and principles in language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (2 pt)
• M.P. Breen (ed.), 2001. Learner contributions to language learning: new directions in research. Harlow: Longman. (2 pts)
• C.J. Weir, 1993. Understanding and developing language tests. New York: Prentice Hall. (out-of-print but a few copies available in the library). (1 pt)
• D. Block (2003), The social turn in second language acquisition. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. (2 pts)

Examiner: Katja Mäntylä    (5 pts)

• Helen De Silva Joyce and Anne Burns, 1999. Focus on grammar. Sydney: National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research.
• Norbert Schmitt & Michael McCarthy (eds.), 1997. Vocabulary: description, acquisition and pedagogy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Examiner: Anne Pitkänen-Huhta    (3-5 pts)

Reading and writing in a foreign language:
• R. Kern (2000), Literacy and language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (2 pts)
• K. Hyland (2003), Second language writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
(1 pt)
• B. Kroll (ed.) 2003. Exploring the dynamics of second language writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (2 pts)

Anne Pitkänen-Huhta ja Jaana Toomar

Jaana Toomar

Lisätiedot laitoksen yhteisistä kursseista (KLS----) Korpissa.

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