Key Words

Because it can sometimes get confusing, this page will help you understand some of the lingo in the field of Second Language Acquisition. Each time you see an asterisk next to a word on the site, you can click it to be directed to this page.

*Acquire- To "pick up" and learn aspects of the language without any specific explanations of how the grammar works. This is done by being exposed large amounts of comprehensible input in the target language, similar to how we acquire our first language as small children. Learning, on the other hand, is done through explicit discussions about how the language works.

*Meaning over form- While it can, at times, be important to focus specifically on how the grammar works (i.e. verb conjugations), it is also important to focus on what the grammar means in a specific context. Focusing on meaning over form allows students to look at what grammar means before they look at how the grammar is formed.

*Meaningful Context- Coming up with a common theme for each lesson allows the students to see how each activity fits into the whole unit. Instead of using example sentences that are completely unrelated to one another makes little sense for real life communication. Instead, place each task within a meaningful context (i.e. theme) so that students can see the real-life applicable value of any assignment. 

*Salient- A form that is salient can be said to be obvious. That is, passé composé is rather salient because students can easily hear and see the pattern in the grammar. On the other hand, the subjunctive is not salient because most of the conjugations of regular verbs do not differ from the present tense conjugations (ex: Je parle français vs. Il faut que je parle français). Therefore, it is important to teach only the more salient grammar points with the PACE Model, since students are expected to listen to and consequently "pick up" the grammar before seeing in written form.

*Target Language- Quite simply, the language you are teaching; the second or foreign language.

*Whole Language- Whole language is language that is similar to what is found in the real world. In real communication, we are exposed to more than just random, disconnected sentences. When we hear two people speaking, all the language used is connected in some way. It is important to expose your students to examples of whole language to better prepare them for what they will encounter in the real world.