The Issues in Language Learning - Assignment Example

? The issues in language learning Language is an indispensable tool that allows people tobecome a part of a society and the learning of language is a long a process that needs special attention. In the life of all the people language and communication play an essential role, thus teachers try to make the process of language learning less complicated and more efficient. While looking for the ways to improve language learning process, it is important for instructors to consider Halliday, who called the learning of language the learning of meaning. According to the expert, language and society are closely connected as it is society that creates the language. Each baby growing up learns some quantity of words in his native language. However, the language gives more than just a speaking skill. The first language helps learn a lot of functions, not only speaking. This refers to much more important thing – social life. Through the language young children learn how to play, to respond to different events, to co-operate. Language is a tool that, if applied properly, can open many doors. At the beginning a child cannot perform all kinds of language operations as grown ups do. Intonation helps young children to put together the available vocabulary and to express their intentions. In similar expressions they just replace the words and come up with new formulation. According to Halliday, children invent the protolanguage themselves: “there is no obvious source for the great majority of the child’s [vocal] expressions, which appear simply as spontaneous creations of the glossogenic process” (1975, p. 24). In 1975 Halliday wrote that the development of the language is not only the working knowledge of grammar or a speaking skill.  It means that a child can use the language for adult language operating: “the adult language does exert an influence on the child’s semantic system from a very early stage, since the child’s utterances are interpreted by those around him in terms of their own semantic systems. In other words, whatever the child means, the message that gets across is one which makes sense and is translatable into the terms of the adult language. It is in this interpretation that the child’s linguistic efforts are reinforced, and in this way the meanings that the child starts out with gradually come to be adapted to the meanings of the adult language” (Halliday 1975, p. 24). This proves that language means for children not only their speaking skills but also their competence to interact in a society. In the works of 1974 by Keenan it can be seen that even young children turn language to their account. Playing together means co-operating which is impossible without conversational competence. Thus, language is a very important skill from the early childhood. 2. According to Vygotsky, people could be personalities only in the society, with the help of other people: “we become ourselves through others” (Vygotsky 1989, p. 56). His theory was about social interaction. As he confirmed, the second language was tightly connected to psychological operations and these operations derived from social co-operation. Vygotsky made this conclusion, because a person could act on the people in the society and then on himself: “the law of sociogenesis of higher forms of behavior: speech, being initially the means of communication, the means of association, the means of organization of group behavior, later becomes the basic means of thinking and of all higher mental functions, the basic means of personality formation” (Vygotsky 1998, p. 169). Our interaction with people forms us as personalities and makes us express the features of our character. The process of second language learning is closely connected to the psychological state of learners. Active communication facilitates the process of second language acquisition. Thus, those learners who are active communicators in everyday life usually acquire the second language easily and start speaking it fluently without having any problems with overcoming the language barrier. The process of second language acquisition is closely connected to the process of interaction, thus our language skills can be developed only in the process of interaction with each other. On the one hand this theory may seem difficult to be applied, but in actual fact it is practical. The theory by Vygotsky is of great value for teaching and learning languages and first of all, for students, who are active communicators. Certainly, it makes the process of learning much more effective. Gnostical activity is not only the co-operating of one person with another person but it has some social functions. Every person performs different social functions step by step. The value of this theory can be traced during language classes. Students and teachers interact and this interaction can be studied through Vygotsky’s theory and its social interaction meaning. Interaction is an inevitable part of language learning, the language can’t be successfully acquired without interaction with others. Social communication is the best way of acquiring the language and should not be underestimated by the instructors. Vygotsky can be considered as the forebear or the pioneer of the sociocultural theory. His works were the basis for some number of scientists, who later researched and developed this field. It is referred to James Lantolf, Pavlenko, Frawley and Appel. These scientists understood that the explicit foundation of Vygotsky’s theory can be applied to the process of acquirement of the second language. The cognitive emphasis of the theory laid the foundations for the second language acquisition. 3. Speaking about the learning of language, it is essential to consider the difference between the Acquisition and Learning. This difference was studied thoroughly by Stephen Krashen. “Humans acquire language in only one way, by understanding messages or by receiving “comprehensible input”’ (Krashen 1985, p.2).He has supposed that these two definitions are different. The inconscient action of the object language cognition is called Acquisition. It is equal to the cognition of the native language by young children. In turn learning vice versa is a conscious action, which has the goal to obtain some linguistic knowledge. “Language acquisition, first or second, occurs only when comprehension of real messages occurs, and when the acquirer is not “on the defensive”” (Krashen 1985, p. 6). The scientist has very interesting thoughts about differences between these two actions. Acquisition involves message understanding. Learning involves producing knowledge, while controlling or creating something spontaneous. Stephen Krashen’s conflicting statements lie in the fact that each of these two actions create separate knowledge store. Krachen states: “all other factors thought to encourage or cause second language acquisition work only when they contribute to comprehensible input and/or a low affective filter” (Krashen 1985, p.4). It is a bit unusual for the teachers’ world, because they suppose that students can use Learning for enrichment of their language knowledge, which they use for communication. The theory of Krashen remains controversial as not all the scientists have agreed with Krashen’s statements, mostly because they didn’t allow uniting of Acquisition and Learning’s knowledge. Many researches, who advocate Krashen don’t agree to separate the two types of knowledge stores totally. The opponents state that Learning theoretically may create forms for fast interaction. In his theory Krashen hasn’t given any definition of inconscient action. Many scientists continued developing the idea of Krashen revealing new facts about difference between Acquisition and Learning. Many different conclusions were made. Some researchers suppose that a conscious knowledge can turn into inconscient knowledge. The evidence of this statement is the following: students often start from overlearning and come to using of their knowledge automatically. Some other scientists state that students automate their knowledge. Special exercises help them reach the needed level of atomization. Ellis studies the statement of a weak interface. He supposes that teaching stands by acquisition. A student should have the corresponding level of development to be able to focus on forms. He states: “If learners can rely extensively on top-down processing they may pay little attention to the form of the input and therefore not acquire anything new” (Ellis 1994, p.279). The theory of Krashen is valuable but further research is needed to research the Difference between Acquisition and Learning. 4. In Canada there are three types of languages. Official languages are French and English. These languages are used in official spheres of life. There is also a law that regulates the usage of official languages. Languages with no official regulation, but with common usage are immigrant languages. The third type represents the languages of ancestors – people who have lived from everlasting on this territory. In Canada people learn obligatory French if they live on English-speaking territories and English if the province is French-speaking. The law assigns a part to a preservation of all native languages on the territory of Canada. There is a very interesting study of immersion programs. “French immersion is a proven successful Canadian approach to second language learning … No educational program has been so intensively researched and evaluated in Canada as has French immersion. The effects of the program on the acquisition of French-language as well as English-language skills, and the academic achievement of French immersion students, have been well documented and research shows that the program works” (Canadian Education Association). It shows that English-speaking students immersed deeply into French language have brilliant results in reading and listening, but their writing and speaking skills are much weaker. It’s caused by some reasons. First of all immersion students learn not so difficult grammar. And the second reason is that French and English grammar interinfluence. Equally important is also the fact that students can’t use the gain knowledge in their everyday life. According to Krashen, “Canadian immersion is not simply another successful language teaching programme—it may be the most successful programme ever recorded in the professional language teaching literature. No programme has been as thoroughly studied and documented, and no programme, to my knowledge, has done as well” (Krashen 1984, p 61). Such shortfalls must be bettered. The solution is very simple. The tasks for immersion students should include different kinds of activities. There were programs concentrated on activities that students chose individually. Such an approach had many positive results. “The language skills of French immersion students are consistently superior to those of core French students (who study French for 20 to 50 minutes per day). In general, immersion students' French oral and reading comprehension skills (receptive skills) will be almost on a par with those of native French speakers” (Obadia 1996, p 2). In 1976 an analogy was drawn between such students, who made reports in the learning language and other students, who also had the same activities but with a teacher. The results of such a comparison were very interesting. The students from the first group showed the same level of almost all skills as students from the second teacher-directed group. The explanation of the study results are the following: 1. students used their knowledge in practice on a regular basis; 2. students’ motivation was high, because they decided individually what they were going to do. 5. The class under consideration is second language acquisition class. The audience is seven Arab students learning English, age 22-25, the level is intermediate. The class shows learning in groups or pairs is one of modern teaching methods, where the interaction between people is brought to the forefront. Teachers also take part in the process but they are not so much active participants as helpers. It is not easy but very influential. Such small groups usually consist of three to four students. They prepare a task together. This way of teaching has the aim to examine how students understand the given information and how they can use their knowledge. The difficulty lies in the fact that the students with intermediate level do not have much experience in working in group. The main task of the teacher is to involve the students into the work in groups, as it is very essential for second language acquisition as students should have interaction with each other. Also the process should be supervised accordingly. “When learners work in pairs or groups it is impossible for the teacher to listen and correct all the mistakes they make and this is not the purpose of the activity. However, s/he can reduce the number of mistakes before the students start working by demonstrating the activity to the class first and by asking pairs or groups to perform in front of the class afterwards and discussing what they said and pointing out the most common mistakes” (Gorgon – Matera 2008 p. 2). During the usual class teachers mostly have the leading role as they control students. Thus, the students don’t have any possibility for being active. Learning in groups on the contrary makes students the people who influence the speed of learning, the volume of processing information. The kind of learning can be applied for all subjects of education. During the group work students try to apply their knowledge in real life situations that helps overcome the language barrier. Students feel where they have some shortcuts and can improve these points. Many teachers try to avoid group work, especially, if the audience is too young. Gorgon – Matera argues. “Some teachers neglect group work and pair work saying that students make mistakes trying to express their own ideas. Indeed incorrectness is a problem yet in real life it is communicative fluency that matters not accuracy, so we should not be concerned too much with accuracy if we want to practice oral skills” (Gorgon – Matera 2008 p. 2). In our case the students are adult enough and it is easier for teacher to supervise them. They are also able to control their speech themselves in order not to make mistakes. References Halliday, M.A.K 1975, Learning how to mean: explorations in the development of language. Edward Arnold, 1975. Gordon-Matera, A 2008, Advantages and disadvantages of pair work and group work. Portal Edukacyjny Gimnazjum im. F. Szoldrskiego w Nowym Tomyslu Ellis, R 1994, The Study of Second Language Acquisition Oxford: Oxford University Press Canadian Education Association 1992, “French Immersion Today.” CEA Information Note  Krashen, S. D 1984, Immersion: Why it Works and What It Has Taught Us.” Language and Society 12 Krashen, S.D 1985, The Input Hypothesis: Issues and Implications. Longman, Harlow. Vygotsky, L.S 1989, Concrete Human Psychology, Soviet Psychology, 27(2), pp. 53-77. Vygotsky, L.S 1998, The collected works of L.S. Vygotsky: Vol. 5 Child Psychology,Rieber, R.W. ed. Springer, New York; London. Read More