Language Acquisition Exercise, Essay Example

Language acquisition is a complex and multifaceted process, so the exercises facilitating the linguistic studies process should encompass at least a couple of activities that may give an integrated result in several areas of the studies. An example of such exercises may be the “Spell and Write Sentences” task that may suit students, pupils and children of younger ages (though they should not be too young). The essence of the exercise is as follows:

“The group is divided into teams, from two to four students, who get the set of spell and write cards with the tasks. The cards are cut apart and placed in the center of the team if people sit in circles) or at the desk (if students took some separate desks for performing the task). The cards are placed face up. The members of the team number off, and the first person chosen for the activity puts one of the cards face down, trying to spell the word indicated on it by memory. Then he or she puts the card face up and checks whether the spelling was correct. If it was not, then the student spells the word aloud looking in the card and following the letters to do it correctly. Next, the student has to compose a sentence with the spelled word that would best illustrate its meaning (changes in the word’s number, tense etc. are permissible). In case the group agrees that the task was performed well, they put thumbs up; in case they think the sentence was constructed not correctly, they help the student alter it to achieve the best effect” (Candler, 2010).

The target skills reached by this exercise include memorizing words in all aspects of their usage: spelling, meaning and word formation (i.e. derivatives from the chosen word). In addition, the task is collective; it involves teamwork and provides an immediate feedback of group-mates who may help the student alter the sentence, correct the word and choose the most suitable variant for illustrating the meaning. Hence, the exercise targets several aspects of language learning, promotes teamwork and encourages students to find the best meaning together, not in an isolated way, which may be essential for struggling learners.

References

Candler, L. (2010). Spell & Write Sentences. Retrieved September 30, 2010, from http://www.lauracandler.com/filecabinet/literacy/PDFSpell/Spell&WriteSentences.pdf