A repost from 2011:
It’s like a locomotive. We shovel the language coal – the input – into their minds in class, but, once the speed is up, the train is perfectly capable of using its momentum to largely run down the tracks on it’s own – language begets more language – without us getting all freaked out about it and having to consult a list of some sort and plan so much.
The language teaches itself, keeps itself on the track, and the less we mess with that process, the better. Who picks the structures we consider necessary to teach, anyway, if the unconscious mind is what really makes language acquisition happen? And if high frequency words are going to occur all the time anyway?
The train tracks of the unconscious mind are powerful indeed. The train will keep moving down the track if we but trust that process and enjoy sitting up in the engine compartment and make sure that sufficient coal is provided and relax a little.
I have learned to just pack in the language in class – not worrying about teaching certain words but just talking with them (more interesting) and then let the kids’ deeper minds take over.
How does it take over? It parses every single word that they heard that day at night while they are sleeping, the train purring down the tracks, the person sleeping. I allow the power of the unconscious mind do the work instead of me taking responsiblity for the acquisition. It only makes sense!
I put the coal in the engine. That’s about it.
Related: https://benslavic.com/about/thoughts-on-pacing-guides.html).