Audios: Its Implication In Second Language Produccion

AUDIOS: ITS IMPLICATION IN SECOND LANGUAGE PRODUCTION


ABSTRACT
This research reports on a qualitative study conducted in education field about the iPod potential in Language Acquisition emphasizes how oral language acquisition requires audio input at all proficiency levels, and written language acquisition requires text at all levels. Results suggest that the use of audios in a meaningfulway makes it possible to deliver large quantities of comprehensible language to students in an efficient and convenient manner. Some research implications are also discussed.


1. INTRODUCTION
“Do you speak Spanish?” This is the most common question people ask to determine if someone is a proficient user of a language. People rarely ask, "Do you understand and speak Spanish?”.
Second languagecomprehension is a complex process, crucial in the development of second language competence. At the same time, second language competence is a complex skill that needs to be developed consciously, listeners use metacognitive, cognitive and socio-affective strategies to facilitate comprehension and to make their learning more effective. Teachers play an important role in helping students developsound strategies for comprehension through a process approach to teaching second language listening. The main question to be answered is: How could you speak a language without listening?
There has been much debate about exactly how language is learned, and many issues are still unresolved. There have been many theories of second language acquisition that have been proposed, but none has beenaccepted as an overarching theory by all SLA researchers. Therefore it is important to overview some other researches and conclusions related to this matter before having the analysis of the McQuillan’s research, in which this report is based.


1. EARLY STUDIES
The English language teaching tradition has been subjected to a tremendous change; perhaps more than any other discipline, thistradition has been practiced, in various adaptations, in language classrooms all around the world for centuries. Some approaches and methods were developed in order to enhance a significant learning process but it was until the outbreak of World War II when the need for Americans to become orally proficient in the languages of their allies and enemies alike brought bits and pieces of the DirectMethod in order to form and support this new method, the "Army Method," which came to be known in the 1950s as the Audio-lingual Method. This method was based on linguistic and psychological theory and one of its main premises was the scientific descriptive analysis of a wide assortment of languages and it was characterized by dependence on mimicry and memorization of set phrases, teaching structuralpatterns by means of repetitive drills, no grammatical explanation, learning vocabulary in context, use of tapes and visual aids, focus on pronunciation, and immediate reinforcement of correct responses among others characteristics. However, this method was not as productive as it seemed due to its lack of communicative ability development.
Later, listening as a major component in language andteaching first hit the spotlight in the late 1970s with James Asher’s (1977) work on Total Physical Response. In TPR the role of comprehension was given prominent as learners were given great quantities of language to listen to before they were encouraged to respond orally. Similarly, the Natural Approach recommended a significant “silent period” during which learners were allowed the security oflistening without being forced to go through the anxiety of speaking before they were “ready” to do so.
Such approaches were an outgrowth of a variety of research studies that show evidence of the importance of input in second language acquisition. Stephen Krashen (1985), for example, borrowing insights from first language acquisition, stressed the significance of comprehensible input, or the...