Lindemann, Chapter 6, What Do Teachers Need to Know About Cognition?

Cognition is an interesting topic in ESL teaching. Apparently the brain has a specific order for learning grammatical forms, an order that generally parallels native English-speaking children learning English. This is not a cut-and-dried science and varies from person to person and first language to first language; however, according to Dr. Wenzell (and second language acquisition theory), it’s a fairly accurate rule of thumb. If you’re tutoring or teaching ESL learners, this can help you figure out their general level of ESL.

I.              KRASHEN'S (1977) 'NATURAL ORDER'  SEQUENCE FOR ESL

–ING
PLURAL
COPULA

È

AUXILIARY

ARTICLE

È

IRREGULAR PAST

È

REGULAR PAST

THIRD-PERSON SINGULAR

POSSESSIVE “S”

                                   

II.      DEVELOPMENTAL SEQUENCE FOR ESL NEGATION

         Stage                                           Sample Utterance

         1.  External                                  No this one./No you playing here.

         2.  Internal, pre-verbal                 Juan no have job./Maria don't swim.

         3.  Auxiliary + negation                I can't play the guitar./She won't go.

         4.  Analyzed don't                       She doesn't drink alcohol./She didn't went.

III.    DEVELOPMENTAL SEQUENCE FOR ESL INTERROGATIVES

         Stage                                           Sample Utterance

         1.  Rising intonation                      He work today?

         2.  Uninverted WH (+/–AUX)     What he (is) saying?/What the time?

         3.  “Overinversion”                      Do you know where is it?

         4.  Differentiation                         Does she like where she lives?