He also summarizes current definitions and concludes that ambiguity is marked by “novelty, complexity, insolubility and lack of structure” (p. 69). Ambiguous situation is, therefore, characterized by a lack of adequate cues, which results in insufficient reorganization or categorization by an individual (Budner, 1962). In addition to, he believes that ambiguous situations can be of three different types: new situations, complex situations, and contradictory situations. These are, respectively, where there are not sufficient or nonexistent cues, where there are too many cues, and where cues are not easy to distinguish. Norton (1975), further, summarizes causes of ambiguity as 1) multiple meanings, 2) vagueness, incompleteness, or fragmentation, 3) a probability, 4) unstructured, 5) lack of information, 6) uncertainty, 7) inconsistencies and contradictions, and 8) unclear.
Learning to speak a foreign language English as a non-native is commonly difficult, especially at the initial and intermediate stages of learning, so it often leaves the learners with no option but to resort to thinking-for-speaking patterns, code-switching and other ways of retaining and repairing their speech and avoiding communication breakdowns in the form of deviations from form or meaning or both / accuracy or fluency or both (Robinson & Ellis, 2008). These deviations, referred to as errors (Pienenamm & KeBler, 2011; Ellis, 1994), result in anomalous and effortful instances of foreign/second language production. However, in the course of history, teachers, depending on their belief on what learning of a language is, have treated these deviations accordingly. Many teachers believe that fluency is a goal worth striving towards only with learners who are at the advanced level. Other teachers, strong in the idea that the learning of a foreign or second language is about communication, believe that fluency ought to be the main goal in their teaching and that it needs to be practiced right from the onset.
Students usually comment about some challenges they have on learning vocabulary, they said that their oral skill is affected by not knowing enough vocabulary words to use, and also forgetting them vocabularies very soon is another problem. However, vocabulary teaching has not always been very responsive to such problems, and teachers have not fully recognized the tremendous communicative advantage in developing vocabulary. The teacher is held accountable for making sure students reach course expectations and are ready for the next level. Contextualized teaching materials are necessary to effectively teach vocabulary and assure students have a strong foundation for next
Hence, resulting in poor communication skills. In order to be an excellent communicator, one must be open to learn the methods in enhancing speech. A skillful speaker should learn and sharpen their skills in elevating their speech, communication etiquette and how to overcome fear. Plus, students must master vocabulary of the language (Wilczynski, 2009). Students who have bad attitudes to the language are forced to learn a particular language with a heavy heart.
It is considered by Norrish (1983) as a systematic deviation that happens when a learner has not learned something and consistently gets it wrong. According to Hendrickson (1978), errors are ‘Signals' which indicate that the learner has not fully mastered or shown a well-structured competence in the target language,
On the contrary, when a text has difficult language, when students do not participate, and when it is not authentic, it can make it more difficult for students to learn. In my opinion, the medium that is most effective is when the text is easily understandable, such as in No Fear Shakespeare. Being able to view a modern translation of the text can help students grasp a better understanding of the story. However, when the text has difficult language, it can be troublesome for students to learn anything while reading. Although it could build your vocabulary, it is still difficult for students to read while learning at the same time.
These are one of the trickiest topics to teach especially to second language learners. It is hard enough for learners to learn independent, single-structured words. We have to make sure that they are equipped with the knowledge of these words first before we let them embark on complex structures discussed on this chapter. Despite the complexity, I consider these areas to be one of the most amusing to teach in class. Why?
The same applied to difficulty level. According to some researchers like Williams (1983) and Morrison (1989), authentic materials can too difficult and incomprehensible to learners since these materials are not designed for language teaching setting; therefore, such materials may negatively affect the learner's motivation and result in some frustration (as cited in Shuang, 2014). Authentic materials seem to be suitable for learners of advanced level but very annoying and challenging for beginner learners (Hedge, 2000 as cited in Shuang,
To him, error occurs when the learner does not have enough L2 knowledge whereas mistake is unsuccessful attempt in using language such as laps of memory. In addition, Brown states that it is necessary to discriminate error from mistake: Mistakes must be carefully distinguished from errors of a second language learner, idiosyncrasies in the language of the learner that are direct manifestations of a system within which a learner is operation at the time. An error, a noticeable deviation from the adult grammar of a native
Such careful preparation is not only highly time-consuming but also deprives teachers from flexibility, which is so desirable in the teaching profession. Additionally, according to McCutcheon (in Tsui, 2003), because of work and time load connected with writing detailed lesson plans, novice teachers focus mainly on short-time planning. The author claims that they rarely plan anything further than a couple of weeks or pages. Another rationale for it may be, that novice teachers simply do not know what to expect and in their perception, classroom situation changes so rapidly that any far-going arrangements are