Week 12 Reading reflection - Approaches to second language learning and teaching

In this week's reading i am especially interested in the three different approaches to second/foreign language learning and teaching that are brought into focus.

In an EFL setting, it seems to me that each of these approaches has its own strengths that can be beneficial to language learners at certain points in their learning process. In particular, for students at the beginning level, structure-based instructional setting can make it easier for new language items to be conveyed and absorbed, since linguistics items are presented and practiced in isolation and errors are frequently corrected. However, as students progress to a higher level, communicative instructional setting with greater focus on authentic language practice works best. Meanwhile, high-intermediate and advanced students may benefit the most in the natural setting, where the target language is frequently and naturally used.

Also, the natural acquisition setting with its unique characteristics captures a lot of my attention. Growing up in a tourist city in Vietnam which hosts a large number of foreign tourists every year, i have met with many language learners who are mostly souvenir-sellers and street-vendors and who learn the language mostly in the natural setting with no or very little formal instruction. Most sellers in a big market in my hometown can speak at least 3 languages and can switch back and forth among them depending on the nationality of the customers they serve. It is true that their language ability is very limited and most of the time speaking is the only skill they have, but the natural setting in which they use the language does make them fairly intelligible. This again brings into concern the importance of a natural acquisition setting in teaching English in an EFL context, which is sure not an easy task to achieve...