The Context of Second Language Teaching and Learning

By:Nursyafida
Second language teaching and learning have become the most important
thing in education, it become a challenge, especially for educators and also
students such as how to teach the second language to students and how students
can learn the language easily. Second language teaching can move as a profession,
to know it we must know the philosophy and the concept of second language
teaching and learning.
A. Humanistic Education and Experiential Learning

Learning cannot be separated from human life, all cultures have

their concept about teaching, learning, and education. To achieve the goal
of second language teaching and learning, educators should know the
culture and educational background. In teaching and learning a second
language.
The general debate about how education should be conceptualized
in general is how to master the “Received” set of content from the
previous generation, or the development of skills and attitudes in
particular. There are many ways in second language teaching and learning
such as Communicative Language Teaching, Learner-centred teaching,
and task-based language teaching. These three concepts have a very
important influence on second language teaching. These concepts are
interrelated and this is part of the interpretive view of education, which is
the view that opposes the idea that learning is a matter of having skills and
knowledge that is transmitted from teacher to learner.
The interpretive tradition itself refers to humanistic psychology,
which argues that for learning to take place learners must reconstruct skills
and knowledge for themselves, they cannot simply “Accept” from external
sources. School, class, and teacher can be said to be humanistic. The
humanistic approach in education is summarised in humanistic
psychology. Humanism is a learning concept that looks more at the
development of human personality. Focussing on human potential to find
and discover the abilities they have and develop those abilities, the theory
of humanism is suitable to be applied to learning materials that are the
formation of personality, conscience, change of attitude, and analysis of
social phenomena. The humanistic in education is expected to be able to
strive for the active role of students.
Humanistic psychology is related to experiential learning, in
humanistic the learners are the center of the learning process and learning
is a process of self-discovery, and experiential learning grows. In

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 experiential learning, the direct personal experience of students is used as
a reference to decide how to organize the learning process. Kohonen
(1992) said that Experiential learning has various origins, from that
humanistic psychology tries to understand the experience, he also argues
that the experience model offers, “Potential for an atmosphere of shared
learning partnerships, shared goals, and shared learning management”.
Where in a classroom infused with the vision promised by experiential
learning, behaviors are the shared responsibility of the entire class, and the
teacher is only one member of the class.

B. Inductive and Deductive Learning

In teaching language, the use of inductive and deductive is

important in teaching language so that students can study accurately.
Inductive is a way of thinking that begins with looking at special things
and then draws to a more general conclusion, inductive approach learning
can be done through students observing things of a special nature and then
the teacher will guide so that general conclusions can be found.
While inductive is the opposite of deductive, Deductive is the
process of increasing our knowledge by working from principles to
examples or ways of thinking that start from general things to a more
specific conclusion, and deductive is also used in teaching students in the
classroom. The deductive approach is a thought process that is carried out
by looking at general statements leading to things that are more specific
through correct logic. For example in teaching and learning activities, the
teacher explains several theories from experts and then describes and
identifies them with reality and gives examples.

C. Communicative Language Teaching

Practises in language teaching greatly change, for example in the

teaching of communicative languages (CLT). In general, stimulus is very
important to change the way we teach language, language is generally seen
as a system of rules, and in language instruction. The priority for learners
is to master the language structure, in terms of methodology, a new view
of language also has an important effect. If the purpose of language
teaching is to help learners develop skills to express different
communicative meanings, then it should be reflected in-class assignments
and activities.
Each student has different communication requirements or skills,
which is the focus of the teacher, both in the curriculum content (what is
taught) and the learning process (how is taught). Communicative
Language Teaching (CLT) is a language teaching method that emphasizes

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 communication as the main goal of learning. In this method, students are
focused on learning the language by conducting actual social interactions,
such as conversations, presentations, and discussions. CLT considers that
communicative skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) are
competencies that must be developed in language learning. Therefore,
teachers provide realistic and fun communicative situations for students,
so that students can learn and apply the language learned in real situations.
Teachers in CLT also provide content related to real life, such as
social, political, economic, and cultural topics, so that students can learn
the language in relevant contexts. CLT also emphasizes the development
of language skills holistically, namely by developing all communicative
skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) simultaneously and
interrelatedly.

D. Learner-Centered Education

Many interventions are on learner-centered education because

some teachers react negatively to the concept because they feel that this
reduces their professionalism. A teacher must understand the complex
processes underlying the student's learning efforts, and the teacher must
look from the student's point of view, the teacher must find out what the
student wants to learn, and how the student continues the learning task.
A teacher cannot assume that learners come to language classes
with sophisticated pedagogical knowledge, or with the natural ability to
make informed choices about their learning process. There are relatively
few learners who are naturally endowed with the ability to make informed
choices about what to learn, how to learn it, and when to study. They have
to go through a process, and often a long learning process, and they
usually can only do this with the help and guidance of teachers. Therefore,
the role of teachers is enhanced in a learner-centered system, and the skills
required of teachers are also greater. The student-centered approach views
learners as active agents where students bring their knowledge, past
experiences, education, and ideas – and this impacts the way they receive
new information and learn. This is significantly different from the
traditional instructor-centered approach. But this must also be guided by
the teacher.
In the learning process classrooms are designed to enable learners
to be critical which trains students' skills to make such decisions. The
classroom should be focused on language content and also focussed on the
learning process. It should be emphasized that a student-centered
classroom is not a classroom where teachers surrender power,
responsibility, and control to students from day one. The student-centered
curriculum will contain elements similar to those contained in the

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 development of the traditional curriculum, namely planning Including
needs analysis, setting goals and objectives), implementation (including
the development of methodologies and materials), and evaluation
(Hunkins 1980). However, the main difference between student-centered
and traditional curriculum development is that, but firstly, the curriculum
is a collaborative effort between teachers and students, because students
are closely involved in the decision-making process regarding the content
of the curriculum and the way it is taught.

E. Principles of Adult Learning

Adult learning has become a specific field of study, In the learning

process, from the first lesson, learners have the right to be involved in the
decision-making process about what they should learn, how they should
learn, and how they can be evaluated. In adult learning, adults are not just
adult children, they learn best when they are actively involved in
determining what, how, and when they learn. The following set of
principles supports adult learning practices. They were formulated by
Brundage and Macheracher (1980), who have done extensive research on
adult learning.
 Adults who value their own experience as a resource for further
learning or whose experience is valued by others are better
learners.
 Adults learn best when they are involved in developing learning
goals for themselves that fit their current and ideal self-concept.
 Adults have developed an organized way to focus, receive, and
process information. This is referred to as cognitive style.
 The learner reacts to the experience as he feels, not as the teacher
presents it.
 Adults enter into learning activities with a series of organised
descriptions and feelings about themselves that affect the learning
process.
 Adults are more concerned with whether they are changing the
direction of their own ideal self-concept than whether they meet
the standards and goals set for them by others
 Adults do not learn when overstimulated or when experiencing
extreme stress or anxiety.
 An adult who can process information through various channels
and has learned how to learn is the most productive learner.
 Adults learn best when the content is personally relevant to past
experiences or current problems and the learning process is
relevant to life experiences

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  Adults learn best when new information is presented through
various modes and sensory experiences with sufficient repetition
and variation on the theme to allow for differences in the tot
emerged pattern.

In teaching adults, the teacher or trainer has a significant role to play in

facilitating the learning process and to play it effectively, the teacher or
trainer should take into consideration the following factors. The adult
learner is a self-directing person, in order to motivate an adult to learn it
should be put across to them in a way that is meaningful and relevant to
them. Life experiences are important to an adult. Case studies would be
very effective in teaching. The trainer should know the trainees and learn
more about them during the learning process. It helps to know the
background of participants and their knowledge of the subject before
starting the training session. This helps one to determine the right
approach to start and the extent of details that need to be covered.