Understanding Foreign Language Learning Essay Example

contribution factor in the language learning process. Consequently, the frequency with which words and structures occur in the language of the environment will influence the language development of the child.

In addition, reinforcement is needed to arrive at a higher level of language proficiency. Parental approval is an important type of reinforcement in the language learning process: when a child produces a grammatically correct utterance which is understood by its environment, approval from the parents may serve as reinforcement for such an utterance. In this way, the environment encourages the child to produce grammatical utterances, while not encouraging ungrammatical utterances. Language development is described as the acquisition of a set of habits.

It is assumed that a person learning a second language starts off with the habits associated with the first language. These habits interfere with those needed for second language speech, and new habits must be formed.

Mentalism

Also called rationalism, mentalism holds that a human being possesses a mind which has consciousness, ideas, etc. and the mind can influence the behavior of the body. These properties are in the mind at birth, rather than from the environment. Human knowledge develops from structures, processes, and “ideas”.

These are responsible for the basic structure of language and how it is learned. This has been used to explain how children are able to learn language, and it contrasts with the belief that all human knowledge comes from experience. Norm Chomsky claims that children are biologically programmed for language and that language develops in the child in just the same way that other biological functions develop. For Chomsky, language acquisition is very

similar to the development of walking.

The environment makes a basic contribution --- in this case, the availability of people who speak to the child. The child, or rather, the child’s biological endowment, will do the rest. This is known as the innatist position. Chomsky developed his theory in reaction to the behaviorist theory of learning based on imitation and habit formation. Chomsky argues that human behavior is considerably more complex than animal behavior. Moreover, certainly language behavior is so specific to humans that it could never be explained through animal behavior.

Chomsky argues that the behaviorist theory fails to recognize “the logical problem of language acquisition”, which refers to the fact that children come to know more about the structure of their language than they could reasonably be expected to learn on the basis of the samples of language which they hear. Children’s minds are not blank slates to be filled merely by imitating language they hear in the environment. Instead, children are born with a special ability to discover for themselves the underlying rules of a language system.

Chomsky originally referred to this special ability as being based on a language acquisition device (LAD). This “black box” prevents the child from going off on lots of wrong trails in trying to discover the rules of the language. For the LAD to work, the child needs access only to samples of the natural language. These language samples serve as a trigger to activate the device. Once it is activated, the child is able to discover the structure of the language to be learned by matching the innate knowledge of basic grammatical

relationships to the structures of the particular language in the environment.

Later the child’s innate endowment is referred to as Universal Grammar (UG). UG is considered to consist of a set of principles which are common to all languages. If children are pre-equipped with UG, then what they have to learn is the ways in which their own language makes use of these principles and the variations on those principles which may exist in the particular language they are learning. This view of the language learning process, therefore, stresses the mental ctivities of the language learner itself, and strongly questions the relevance of such external factors as imitation, frequency of stimulus, and reinforcement. The debate between behaviorism and mentalism about whether the ability to learn languages is innate or learned has mainly concerned with a mutual belittling of assumptions. Where behaviorism ignored the contribution of the child itself in the learning process, mentalism practically denied that linguistic input and environment play a role in this process, and generally paid very scant attention to the actual course language development takes.

The Monitor Model of Second Language Development

Acquisition versus Learning Exercise Task 1 Ask your partner 1. to describe an L2 (or L1) rule they learnt consciously 2. to say how they used it to start with 3. to say the extent to which they use it now 4. to evaluate how useful they found it 5. to say what they can do in an L2 they did not learn but acquired 6 to remember how they acquired this 7. to say how important they found it Do you agree with acquisition versus

learning? Evidence for the Input Hypothesis (chiefly Krashen 1985a) i) people speak to children acquiring their first language in special ways ii) people speak to L2 learners in special ways iii) L2 learners often go through an initial Silent Period v) the comparative success of younger and older learners reflects provision of comprehensible input v) the more comprehensible input the greater the L2 proficiency vi) lack of comprehensible input delays language acquisition vii) teaching methods work according to the extent that they use comprehensible input viii) immersion teaching is successful because it provides comprehensible input ix) bilingual programs succeed to the extent they provide comprehensible input Task 2 Rate these teaching activities on a scale from 1-10 as involving comprehensible input: - repetition of sentences in a dialogue - reading a story aloud followed by questions - students exchanging their views about their favourite music - students listening to grammatical explanation - studying a poem together - learning lists of vocabulary with their translation - listening to how an activity should be done and then carrying it out

Individual Learner Differences

Concrete learning style Learners with a concrete learning style use active and direct means of taking in and processing information. They are interested in information that has immediate value. They are curious, spontaneous, and willing to take risks. They like variety and a constant change of pace. They dislike routine learning and written work, and prefer verbal or visual experiences. They like to be entertained, and like to be physically involved in learning.

Analytical learning style Learners with an analytical style are independent, like to solve problems, and enjoy tracking down

ideas and developing principles on their own.

Such learners prefer a logical, systematic presentation of new learning material with opportunities for learners to follow up on their own. Analytical learners are serious, push themselves hard, and are vulnerable to failure.

Communicative learning style Learners with a communicative learning style prefer a social approach to learning. They need personal feedback and interaction, and learn well from discussion and group activities. They thrive in a democratically run class.

Authority-oriented learning style Learners with an authority-oriented style are said to be responsible and dependable. They like and need structure and sequential progression.

They relate well to a traditional classroom. They prefer the teacher as an authority figure. They like to have clear instructions and to know exactly what they are doing; they are not comfortable with consensus-building discussion.

Learning Strategies

Strategies are the tools for active, self-directed involvement needed for developing L2 communicative ability (O’Malley ; Chamot, 1990). Research has repeatedly shown that the conscious use of such strategies is related to language achievement and proficiency.

Cognitive strategies

Cognitive strategies “operate directly on incoming information, manipulating it in ways that enhance learning”.

Learners may use any or all of the following cognitive strategies: — repetition: imitating other people's speech overtly or silently; — resourcing: making use of language materials such as dictionaries; — directed physical response: responding physically “as with directives”; — translation: using the first language as a basis for understanding and/or producing the L2; — grouping: organising learning on the basis of “common attributes”; — note-taking: writing down the gist etc of texts; — deduction: conscious application

of rules to processing the L2; — recombination: putting together smaller meaningful elements into new wholes; — imagery: visualising information for memory storage; auditory representation: keeping a sound or sound sequence in the mind; — key word: using key word memory techniques, such as identifying an L2 word with an L1 word that it sounds like; — contextualisation: placing a word or phrase in a meaningful language sequence; — elaboration: relating new information to other concepts in memory; — transfer: using previous knowledge to help language learning; — inferencing: guessing meanings by using available information; — question for clarification: asking a teacher or native speaker for explanation, help, etc.

Metacognitive strategies

Metacognitive strategies are skills used for planning, monitoring, and evaluating the learning activity; “they are strategies about learning rather than learning strategies themselves” (Cook, 1993: 114).

Below are some of these strategies: — advance organisers: planning the learning activity in advance; — directed attention: deciding to concentrate on general aspects of a learning task; — selective attention: deciding to pay attention to specific parts of the language input or the situation that will help learning; — self-management: trying to arrange the appropriate conditions for learning; — advance preparation: planning the linguistic components for a forthcoming language task; — self-monitoring: checking one's performance as one speaks; — delayed production: deliberately postponing speaking so that one may learn by listening; — self-evaluation: checking how well one is doing against one’s own standards; — self-reinforcement: giving oneself rewards for success.

Social and affective strategies

Social and affective strategies involve interacting with another person to assist learning or using control to assist a

learning task. Below are some of these strategies. –– Questioning for clarification: Asking for explanation, verification, rephrasing, or examples about the material; asking for clarification or verification about the task; posing questions to the self. ––Cooperation: Working together with peers to solve a problem, pool information, check a learning task, model a language activity, or get feedback on oral or written performance. –Self-talk: Reducing anxiety by using mental techniques that make one feel competent to do the learning task.

Distinction between styles and strategies Styles, whether related to personality (e. g. extroversion, self-esteem, anxiety) or to cognition (e. g. left/right brain orientation, ambiguity tolerance, field sensitivity), characterize the consistent and rather enduring traits, tendencies, or preferences that may differentiate you from another person. You might, for example, tend to be extroverted or right-brain oriented. These styles are an appropriate characterization of how you generally behave, even though you may for a multitude of reasons or subconsciously adopt more introverted left-brain behavior in specific contexts.

Strategies, on the other hand, are specific methods of approaching a problem or task, modes of operation for achieving a particular end, or plan designed for controlling and manipulating certain information. Strategies vary widely within an individual, while styles are more constant and predictable. You may almost simultaneously utilize a dozen strategies for figuring out what someone just said to you, for example. You may use strategies of “playback”, key word identification, attention to nonverbal cues(s), attention to context, dictionary look-up, grammatical analysis, numerous direct requests for repetition, rephrasing, word definition, or turning to someone else for interpretation. And the list could go on.

Key Learner

Key

learner variables refer to such factors as personality (learners may be quiet, or extrovert, for instance), motivation (learners may have chosen to learn; they may be obliged to take a course or an examination; they may or may not perceive the relevance of material), attitude (learners have attitudes to learn, to the target language, and to classrooms), aptitude (some people seem more readily able than others to learn another language), preferred learning style (some learners are more comfortable in a spoken language situation, others prefer written material), and intelligence.

When teachers have a knowledge of these factors, they will be better prepared for their profession.

Successful second language learners Success is thought to be based on such factors as checking one’s performance in a language, being willing to guess and to take risks with both comprehension and production, seeking out opportunities to practice, developing efficient memorizing strategies, and many others. Vann and Abraham (1990) found that what distinguished unsuccessful learners was not the lack of appropriate strategies but the inability to choose the right strategy for the task. Studies show that good language learners:

1. find their own way, taking charge of their learning;
2. organize information about language;
3. are creative, developing a feel for the language by experimenting with its grammar and words;
4. make their own opportunities for practice in using the language inside and outside the classroom;
5. learn to live with uncertainty by not getting flustered and by continuing to talk or listen without understanding every word;
6. use mnemonics and other memory strategies to recall what has been learned;

7. justify;">make errors work for them and not against them;

8. use linguistic knowledge, including knowledge of their first language, in learning a second language;
9. use contextual cues to help them in comprehension;
10. learn to make intelligent guesses;
11. learn chunks of language as wholes and formalized routines to help them perform beyond their competence;
12. learn certain tricks that help to keep conversations going;
13. learn certain production strategies to fill in gaps in their own competence; 14. learn different styles of speech and writing and learn to vary their language according to formality of the situation.

References

1. Krashen's own website: http://www. sdkrashen. com/main. php3
2. Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning online http://www. sdkrashen. com/SL_Acquisition_and_Learning/index. html http://www. sk. com. br/sk-krash. html