Applied Linguistics | Language and Literacy

Applied Linguistics/Language and Literacy

Teacher Vignette

Vinn was born in the Dominican Republic and came to the U.S. prior to his eighth birthday. He speaks Spanish at home with his three older brothers, younger sister, and parents. Vinn’s sister, Marta, is enrolled in the English as a New Language (ENL) program which primarily focuses on English proficiency. Vinn’s teacher, Ms. Woodward, collaborates with her colleagues to foster ways to address the needs of all students. She explores the fundamentals of applied linguistics and reviews second language acquisition (SLA) theories and developmental stages of language to expand her expectations for Vinn and other ELs. Ms. Woodward investigates how learning a second language differs from learning a first. She questions how individuals learn languages and begins to realize that a much deeper understanding of SLA theories will guide her teaching practices. Drawing on theories to understand second language learning, and how best to structure learning environments to facilitate learning, is one way teachers can help students to be successful. The following Power Point presentations, documents, videos, and links provide information regarding the fundamentals of applied linguistics and SLA theories.