Recipes and tricks are of limited use without a theory of language and learning. Dellar’s came from corpora: language is often fixed, collocation is central, and grammar and vocabulary intertwine. ‘Innovation is simply change for the sake of change’ without it.
The teacher’s job, from his theory
- Make sure students meet language that’s useful to them (and know why).
- Make it intelligible: explain and exemplify.
- Help them notice salient features.
- Get them using it.
- Revise as much as possible later.
- Use routine to notice interlanguage problems at the margins.
Theory
Corpus findings on fixedness and collocation; lexical priming (Hoey): each encounter primes expectations. Related: Scrivener & Underhill’s Demand High.
Limits
A theory makes practice “more static”. He accepts that cost.
Apply in my context (Claude)
- This is the strongest argument for the second-brain project itself: building a coherent theory of learning that your techniques, reels and checklists are derived from.
- For the teacher checklist at school: one item could be “can state the learning principle behind each stage”. It tests theory, not tricks.
Connections
Matching CPD to the teacher - Teacher’s Choice Framework · Nation’s eight principles of learning as a task checklist · Topic - SLA Theories Map