Enhancing Automaticity In Middle School Textbooks

Recent approaches in second or foreign language teaching such as the Competency-based Approach seek to enhance automaticity amongst learners. An examination of Algerian Middle School English textbooks Spotlight on English reveals that their ultimate aim is to promote automaticity through the Competency- based Approach. Automaticity in these textbooks is said to be achieved through oral interaction, negotiation, and interpretation of oral and written texts as well as their production. More importantly, the syllabus puts more emphasis on helping pupils to use language creatively and not merely reproductively. In this paper, we will highlight the notion of ‘automaticity’ in recent SLA literature, its implementation in the Algerian school and its eventual application amongst pupils following the English textbooks in the Middle School.