List of common misconceptions about language learning

Last updated

Language learning is subject to several misconceptions. It is common for people to rely on their own intuitions about language learning, though they would not do so with other technical subjects such as physics (a phenomenon known as folk linguistics ). [1] However, these intuitions are often contradicted by scientific research. [2]

Contents

Childhood language acquisition

Children learn their first language effortlessly

Learning a first language is not rapid for children. Children spend years learning their mother tongue, and the process continues well into their school years. At seven years old, for example, many children have difficulties creating passive-voice sentences. [3]

A study on child L1 learners and adult L2 learners of Spanish showed that children do not acquire their first language any quicker than adults do their second language; conversely, the study suggests that the experience of older learners helps them acquire a better handle on the language in question. [4]

Second-language acquisition

Younger learners learn languages more easily than older learners

It is often assumed that young children learn languages more easily than adolescents and adults. [2] [5] However, the reverse is true; older learners are faster. For example, a study of 17,000 British students showed that those who started learning French aged 11 performed better than those who started learning it aged 8. [6] The only exception to this rule is in pronunciation. Young children invariably learn to speak their second language with native-like pronunciation, whereas learners who start learning a language at an older age only rarely reach a native-like level. [5] The pronunciation seems to be anchored in the speaker from an early age and therefore difficult to change. [7]

Intelligent people are better at learning languages

General intelligence is actually quite a poor indicator of language-learning ability. Motivation, tolerance for ambiguity, and self-esteem are all better indicators of language-learning success. [8]

Immersion is the best way to learn a language

The ability for learners to develop their language skills depends to a large extent on the type of language input that they receive. For input to be effective for second-language acquisition, it must be comprehensible. Merely being immersed in a second-language environment is no guarantee of receiving comprehensible input. For example, learners living in a country where their second language is spoken may be lucky enough to interact with native speakers who can alter their speech to make it comprehensible; but equally, many learners will not have that same luck, and may not understand the vast majority of the input that they receive. [9]

In addition, adult learners living in a foreign country may not have very high linguistic demands placed on them, for example if they are a low-level employee at a company. Without the incentive to develop high-level skills in their second language, learners may undergo language fossilisation, or a plateau in their language level. [9]

Classroom instruction can be useful in both providing appropriate input for second-language learners, and for helping them overcome problems of fossilisation. [9]

Research on bilingual education programs such as Structured English Immersion classes showed that students in these classes acquire skills equivalent to those of children in English-only programs. [10] Those results suggest that a full immersion is not necessarily more advantageous than a partial immersion.

Grammar study is detrimental to second-language acquisition

The study of grammar is helpful for second-language learners, and a lack of grammar knowledge can slow down the language-learning process. On the other hand, relying on grammar instruction as the primary means of learning the language is also detrimental. A balance between these two extremes is necessary for optimal language learning. [11]

Every child learns a second language in the same way

Not all learning methods are successful for all children. A more sociable student learns to speak the second language quicker so that they can be like their peers, without worrying about potential mistakes and the limits of their language resources. The shyer student learns by listening and observing what is going on around them. Research shows that both types of students succeed better depending on the context; the socially active student excels in group works, while the "active listener" excels in teacher-oriented activities. [12] Such different types of learners suggest the inexistence of a universally efficient learning strategy, what is also suggested through experiments involving young L1 learners and adult L2 learners of the same language. [4]

Children's behavior in the classroom also varies across cultures; a child accustomed to learning with peers will pay more attention to their classmates than to the teacher. [12]

Social class differences also come into play: children from technologically advanced urban backgrounds are more exposed to academic language than children from rural and technologically less advanced backgrounds. [12]

Bilingual education

Learning a second language hinders the development of the first language

Learners can learn two or more languages without their first language development being adversely affected. There is no such thing as a "fixed amount of space" for languages in the brain. In reality, learners' first languages and their additional languages become part of an integrated system. [13]

Once a child can speak a language, the language-learning process is complete

Learning to speak a language conversationally is only part of the way towards becoming fluent in it. Just because a child can speak a language does not mean that they are yet capable of writing and understanding academic language. This kind of language is particularly important in school in the later grades. One study of 1,200 Canadian schoolchildren indicated that it may take between five and seven years longer to master academic language than to master conversational language. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

A second language (L2) is a language spoken in addition to one's first language (L1). A second language may be a neighbouring language, another language of the speaker's home country, or a foreign language. A speaker's dominant language, which is the language a speaker uses most or is most comfortable with, is not necessarily the speaker's first language. For example, the Canadian census defines first language for its purposes as "the first language learned in childhood and still spoken", recognizing that for some, the earliest language may be lost, a process known as language attrition. This can happen when young children start school or move to a new language environment.

Language education – the process and practice of teaching a second or foreign language – is primarily a branch of applied linguistics, but can be an interdisciplinary field. There are four main learning categories for language education: communicative competencies, proficiencies, cross-cultural experiences, and multiple literacies.

Total physical response is a language teaching method developed by James Asher, a professor emeritus of psychology at San José State University. It is based on the coordination of language and physical movement. In TPR, instructors give commands to students in the target language with body movements, and students respond with whole-body actions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">English as a second or foreign language</span> Use of English by speakers with different native languages

English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a foreign language (EFL), English as a second language (ESL), English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), English as an additional language (EAL), or English as a New Language (ENL).

TPR Storytelling is a method of teaching foreign languages. TPRS lessons use a mixture of reading and storytelling to help students learn a foreign language in a classroom setting. The method works in three steps: in step one the new vocabulary structures to be learned are taught using a combination of translation, gestures, and personalized questions; in step two those structures are used in a spoken class story; and finally, in step three, these same structures are used in a class reading. Throughout these three steps, the teacher will use a number of techniques to help make the target language comprehensible to the students, including careful limiting of vocabulary, constant asking of easy comprehension questions, frequent comprehension checks, and very short grammar explanations known as "pop-up grammar". Many teachers also assign additional reading activities such as free voluntary reading, and there have been several easy novels written by TPRS teachers for this purpose.

Second-language acquisition (SLA), sometimes called second-language learning — otherwise referred to as L2acquisition, is the process by which people learn a second language. Second-language acquisition is also the scientific discipline devoted to studying that process. The field of second-language acquisition is regarded by some but not everybody as a sub-discipline of applied linguistics but also receives research attention from a variety of other disciplines, such as psychology and education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">French immersion in Canada</span> A form of bilingual education in Canada

French immersion is a form of bilingual education in which students who do not speak French as a first language will receive instruction in French. In most French-immersion schools, students will learn to speak French and learn most subjects such as history, music, geography, art, physical education and science in French.

Sheltered instruction is an approach to teaching English-language learners that integrates language and content instruction. The phrase "sheltered instruction", the original concept, and the underlying theory of comprehensible input are all credited to Stephen Krashen.

Sequential bilingualism occurs when a person becomes bilingual by first learning one language and then another. The process is contrasted with simultaneous bilingualism, in which both languages are learned at the same time.

Language teaching, like other educational activities, may employ specialized vocabulary and word use. This list is a glossary for English language learning and teaching using the communicative approach.

Content-based instruction (CBI) is a significant approach in language education, designed to provide second-language learners instruction in content and language. CBI is considered an empowering approach which encourages learners to learn a language by using it as a real means of communication from the very first day in class. The idea is to make them become independent learners so they can continue the learning process even outside the class.

Fluency refers to continuity, smoothness, rate, and effort in speech production. It is also used to characterize language production, language ability or language proficiency.

In the field of second language acquisition, there are many theories about the most effective way for language learners to acquire new language forms. One theory of language acquisition is the comprehensible output hypothesis.

The input hypothesis, also known as the monitor model, is a group of five hypotheses of second-language acquisition developed by the linguist Stephen Krashen in the 1970s and 1980s. Krashen originally formulated the input hypothesis as just one of the five hypotheses, but over time the term has come to refer to the five hypotheses as a group. The hypotheses are the input hypothesis, the acquisition–learning hypothesis, the monitor hypothesis, the natural order hypothesis and the affective filter hypothesis. The input hypothesis was first published in 1977.

Second-language attrition is the decline of second-language skills, which occurs whenever the learner uses the second language to an insufficient degree or due to environmental changes the language use is limited and another language is becoming the dominant one.

Language pedagogy is the discipline concerned with the theories and techniques of teaching language. It has been described as a type of teaching wherein the teacher draws from their own prior knowledge and actual experience in teaching language. The approach is distinguished from research-based methodologies.

The main purpose of theories of second-language acquisition (SLA) is to shed light on how people who already know one language learn a second language. The field of second-language acquisition involves various contributions, such as linguistics, sociolinguistics, psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience, and education. These multiple fields in second-language acquisition can be grouped as four major research strands: (a) linguistic dimensions of SLA, (b) cognitive dimensions of SLA, (c) socio-cultural dimensions of SLA, and (d) instructional dimensions of SLA. While the orientation of each research strand is distinct, they are in common in that they can guide us to find helpful condition to facilitate successful language learning. Acknowledging the contributions of each perspective and the interdisciplinarity between each field, more and more second language researchers are now trying to have a bigger lens on examining the complexities of second language acquisition.

The natural approach is a method of language teaching developed by Stephen Krashen and Tracy Terrell in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It aims to foster naturalistic language acquisition in a classroom setting, and to this end it emphasises communication, and places decreased importance on conscious grammar study and explicit correction of student errors. Efforts are also made to make the learning environment as stress-free as possible. In the natural approach, language output is not forced, but allowed to emerge spontaneously after students have attended to large amounts of comprehensible language input.

Merrill Swain is a Canadian applied linguist whose research has focused on second language acquisition (SLA). Some of her most notable contributions to SLA research include the Output Hypothesis and her research related to immersion education. Swain is a Professor Emerita at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto. Swain is also known for her work with Michael Canale on communicative competence. Swain was the president of the American Association for Applied Linguistics in 1998. She received her PhD in psychology at the University of California. Swain has co-supervised 64 PhD students.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to second-language acquisition:

References

  1. ↑ Dicker 2003, p. 85: "People would never pontificate about a physics issue, because they would acknowledge that you need to consult an expert. But they wouldn't hesitate to pontificate about language."
  2. 1 2 3 McLaughlin 1992.
  3. ↑ Dicker 2003, pp. 86–87.
  4. 1 2 Cain, Weber-Olsen & Smith 1987.
  5. 1 2 Dicker 2003, pp. 88–92.
  6. ↑ McLaughlin 1992, p. 5.
  7. ↑ McLaughlin 1992, p. 6.
  8. ↑ Johnson 2008, p. 64.
  9. 1 2 3 Dicker 2003, pp. 92–97.
  10. ↑ McLaughlin 1992, p. 7.
  11. ↑ Johnson 2008, p. 67.
  12. 1 2 3 McLaughlin 1992, p. 9.
  13. ↑ Matthews 2006, p. 16.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.