Blog Entry #6 Learning vs. Acquisition

Blog Entry #6 Learning vs. Acquisition

When discussing learning vs. acquisition styles of learning it seems like one has to make a definitive stand on one side of the fence.   This reminds me of our last class where we  wrote a persuasive piece about authentic vs. formulaic writing.   Again, I find myself not able to commit to one side.  I strongly believe that the acquisition model is my “go-to” view, however, there are times when I would also use the learned approach.  I would not require students to look up words in the dictionary to write definitions for content area study but I would preteach some vocabulary words.  And, I might uses a variety of worksheets (D.L.I. for example) to teach parts of speech, i.e. adjectives, verbs, now, however, I would also extend that activity by having students identify words in their own writing or in books they are reading.   As I review my selections on p. 48 of our Essential Linguistics text, I find that there were several places where the choice included both learning and acquisition styles.  For example, make alphabet books on different topics. This is clearly a teacher directed activity, however, there is also the choice in topics.  Also, the phrase that says the teacher makes sure that students read only books that fit their level still offers choice. 

What struck me after doing this activity was the realization that there is a degree of comfort in learning/word recognition as it is more concrete and is easier to measure, however, when it comes right down to best practices, I can easily chose acquisition as the more long lasting learning of the two. 

After close examination of these two views and when planning lessons for my class, I will develop my activities using the acquisition lense knowing that the process is more important than the product.