TELT

Shona Whyte:

"What is attention, and what role does it play in foreign language learning? That’s the question that this little language note will explore," says Gavin, graduate student in a language-related field at the University of Hawai'i.  

After reviewing some of the research on noticing in second language acquisition (Schmidt) and examining four key ideas, he concludes:

"Learning another language exercises our attention brain muscles. And learning to achieve a higher quality of attention in our daily life through daily language exercise can’t be a bad thing…right?"

Interesting for teachers as an argument to encourage language learners, but also for information about the key concept of noticing (which I have written about here http://bit.ly/pSSoVt).

More language notes of this type, plus more academic resources on Gavin's Leaky Grammar blog.