Case of a Second Language Learner - Essay Example

MA TEFL LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND LEARNING Assignment part CASE STUDY ID: 12095379 10/04 Number of pages: Tableof Contents: Introduction This paper describes a study case of a second language learner. It reports data about the language learning needs, motivation, styles and strategies of second language learner female from Thailand (Chutimon). She has learned two new languages other than her native language that are Japanese and English. The major focus of this paper is on Chutimon’s learning of English as a second language. Background Chutimon is a 28 years old female and her first language is Thai because she is by birth a Thailand National. English is her second language that she has started learning at school. She has some good knowledge in Japanese language as well, which she studied for one and half years before abandoning the course. Therefore, in total, she knows three languages that are Thai (Native Language), English (Second Language) and Japanese (Second Language). English language is the second language she is currently learning. In the background questionnaire, she informed that she began her first experiences in learning English in primary school where it was incorporated in the Thailand educational curriculum. Chutimon’s learning of English can be divided into three distinct phases that are based on her varying needs and the environment where the learning occurs at each instance. Chutimon is an instrumental English learner and her dream is to work internationally in matters concerning business. She considers learning English as crucial in enabling her to deliver well in her future career where she expects to interact with people belonging to different nationalities. English is part of the Thai educational curriculum and is incorporated in school programs, so the first learning phase of Chutimon started at primary level, which was quite preliminary. Later on, she joined Kaplan International College in the UK where she got enrolled for a five-month course in English. This formed the second phase of her learning process. While at Kaplan International College, her passion for learning English was still driven by the need to improve her proficiency and she was to learn English language in an interactive environment by corresponding with the native English speakers and other international students. Kaplan provided her with good learning environment. After completing that five months English learning course, she reached the last phase of her learning when she got 5.5 in IELTS exam and passed the pre-sessional course, then enrolled for a master’s degree in International Business in Manchester Metropolitan University. During the interview sessions, Chutimon proved to be an English learner who was ready to do anything to accomplish the proficiency she thought was crucial for her own future career. Being instrumental for learning English language can be understood as Chutimon’s zeal and aspiration to learn so that this learning accommodates her to stand in the business world without any difficulty in communication. As a learner, Chutimon was able to identify her needs quite early and at a young age and even devised personal methods that would make learning English easier and enjoyable for her. Analysis of the learner’s needs Chutimon’s needs to learn English varied from time to time. In the primary education, Chutimon targeted to accomplish her educational requirements, which was to pass the course, but her priority was to learn the language for her future engagements in international business. From the interview, it is quite clear that Chutimon developed a passion for English language at a young age and she knew very well that her future career would depend on how she understands and uses the language. In the Needs Analysis Questionnaire shown in Appendix C, when Chutimon was asked about her acquired English language skills and her needs for improvement, she informed that she had intermediate level of speaking, pronunciation, presentation and general vocabulary and her skills of listening and writing are somewhat improved than the other mentioned skills. She also informed that she needed improvement in fluency and accurate speaking, general vocabulary, listening, pronunciation, writing and getting better English score. All these skills were required for bringing in improvement in communication that appeared essential to Chutimon in order to work in an international business environment. She categorized English speaking important in order to speak to foreign visitors, colleagues, speaking on phone, taking part in meetings and conferences, giving presentations and instructions and for day-to-day communication. Her need of English writing was essential, as she wanted improvement in writing business letters, emails, reports, research papers and translations. Listening improvement was needed in order to better comprehend lectures, presentations, reports and teacher’s explanations. Chutimon wants better grammatical skills for writing essays and emails particularly. She wants better understanding of English language to understand English TV programmes, magazines, books, journals, course lectures and native English speaking. Chutimon tried to excel both declarative as well as procedural knowledge. Declarative knowledge can be defined as rules or principles of language; however, procedural knowledge is the usage of those rules and principles practically (Kyungsim & Alexandra, 2006). Chutimon used both categories of knowledge in order to learn language better as she learned English grammar as well as the composition of sentences with the help of that grammar. Without either of the two, she would not be able to achieve her target needs. Her language acquisition at school level was just a starting point towards her ambition to work in a foreign country. After her schooling, she joined Kaplan College for a five-month course in English language. Her immediate need at that step was to be able to communicate effectively with other people. Without this, she would have a tough life in a foreign country and it would even be hard for her to acquire even the most basic services. Learner’s motivation to learn English Motivation plays a crucial role in second language learning. It has various types such as intrinsic, extrinsic, instrumental and integrative. Moreover, different things affect motivation of a learner at different stages of life. For success in learning English as a second language, it is important to incorporate instrumental as well as integrative sources of motivation (McWhorter, K. T. 2006). Though Chutimon’s motivation was not tied to academic performance, it can be rightfully said that she drew some of her motivation from class work. In her interview, she remarked that she performed much better than most of her classmates. This meant that she took her English lessons seriously. English being part of the curriculum and incorporated into the syllabus, it was given that the mark scored in English was to be constituted in the overall marks. This meant that there was pressure for her to perform in the language. In addition to the pressure to perform well, she also knew from the very start that English, as a language was quite influential because of its international status. She knew that she was to use English language in her work and in her future. She was practically motivated to learn English language. Analysis of Chutimon’s language learning style shows that she had instrumental motivation to learn English as a second language. In the Learning Motivation questionnaire shown in appendix D, Chutimon mentioned that during her early academic life, her parents encouraged her to take more lessons in English. In the interview, Chutimon’s ambition was to become an international businessperson. In the background questionnaire too, she informed that she wants to be proficient in English language using because she wants to have successful business interaction that depends on her understanding and speaking the language accurately. Being a woman with the ambition to be a global businessperson was another source of motivation for Chutimon. This means that she also drew a lot of motivation from her future aspirations. It can be said that her desire to understand English as a second language is attested by the step she took to further her studies in the United Kingdom at the Kaplan International college. In her 5 months stay in England, she met with native English speakers and consequently a window for integrative motivation was provided. Unlike her early years in Thailand, this gave Chutimon a chance to experience practical English speaking. Interacting, socializing and speaking in English was such a big source of motivation for Chutimon when she started living in the United Kingdom. Her learning experience at the Kaplan International College was very critical in addressing all the areas as provided by Kolb’s cycle. Her integrative bit of motivation was well taken care of by her experience in the United Kingdom. In the Learning Motivation questionnaire, Chutimon informed that her major motivation behind learning English as a second language is to enhance her communication skills, so that she can communicate with English speaking people and also with people belonging to other nationalities because English is worldwide acceptable and spoken as a global language. As she is interested to have her own business, she considered it essential to have social ties with English speaking people so that she can have international speaking experience. She was interested in English language learning as a foreign language because practically, she needs the language to inform about her needs and requirements and to run her own business that is only possible through correspondence. Analysis of learning styles Using the Index of Learning style (Federación de Asociaciones de Educación de personas Adultas, 2007), an analysis of Chutimon’s learning style shows that she has more preference for social learning over other methods. In fact, this method seems to work well with her, since she has knowledge of her most important needs for learning the language. Chutimon’s learning styles are reflective of her needs. The learning style adopted, especially when chosen by the learner provides greater motivation while also improving the learner’s attitude towards a language (Federación de Asociaciones de Educación de personas Adultas, 2007). Different Learning Styles No Learning Style Description 1 Visual Learning through pictures, images or spatial understanding 2 Aural Learning through music or sounds 3 Verbal Learning through usage of words (speech and writing) 4 Physical Learning through body, hands or sense of touch 5 Logical Learning through logic and reasoning 6 Social Learning in groups and with other people 7 Solitary Learning alone or self-study (Lefever, 2011) People tend to use a combination of learning techniques depending on different situations. This, therefore, means that one learning style cannot effectively address all situations and every learner must incorporate more than one style. The learning styles questionnaire shows that for Chutimon, she tended to be very comfortable when social elements were used in the learning environment. The learning styles questionnaire informs that Chutimon was also very comfortable with auditory methods of learning. By listening to English music and watching English movies, she was able to further compare her speech skills and learn pronunciation of words. She also interacted with natives and compared their pronunciation with her own for learning as much as she could from them. She was a learner who was not afraid to make mistakes during conversations and was ready to be corrected as she considered it a crucial real time method of improving her pronunciation and proficiency skills. The learner’s social style has a profound effect on the swiftness with which they gain proficiency. Chutimon was described under the ILS scale as an excellent social learner and one who could also utilize moderate sensing to acquire more skills on the language under study. According to Brown (1987), this social technique does not involve a problem solving approach and such learners tend to have long term goals that they wish to meet. These learners are motivated by a future event that they tend to associate with. Chutimon associated herself with international business in the future and thus considered English as paramount to how this association would succeed. Social learners tend to consider the learning process as their sole responsibility rather than an obligation they are forced to fulfil. As such, they tend to enjoy the whole process and are always motivated to learn something new. Chutimon revealed in the interview that one of her language priorities was to expand her general vocabulary. She achieved this through interacting with native and non-native speakers and such an environment enabled her to recognize her own strengths and weaknesses and work on them. It is important for the teacher to relate the daily learning tasks of each learner to their prior knowledge of the language (Keogh, Dabell, & Naylor, 2008). By understanding that Chutimon is a social learner, the teacher will be able to determine what important concepts he/she has to apply to ensure that a social setting such as group discussions are available for the benefit of such learners. Analysis of Learning strategies Learners should do a self-analysis and assess their strengths and weaknesses before settling on a strategy that benefits their needs. Remembering that the learner was brought up in Thailand, it is noteworthy that personal rehearsals and memorizing were the handiest tools available along with dictionary usage. There are many other strategies available, but she reported of the mentioned ones for learning English language. This was occasioned by lack of fellow English speaking learners. Her English speaking was only confined to home and school with her fellow English learners and the teacher. Transference of learning strategies as a tool was not well utilized. Transference involves practising and applying what has been taught or learnt in future. This helps in reinforcing, understanding and sticking of concepts learnt. Transference, therefore, enhances longer retention of information and evokes thought (Bjorklund, 2008). When a learner is exposed to a new situation, he or she is able to critically analyze the situation and respond after connecting with what he /she has learnt. The strategy inventory for language learning questionnaire shows that Chutimon makes use of new English words by using them in sentences. She reviews her English lessons. She remembers new English words by remembering their location on a page. She makes use of new English words repeatedly in writing and speaking in order to remember them. She watches and listens to English movies, English TV programs and English music in order to learn better. She does a lot of writing exercises in English and do not try to translate everything in her own language. She also tries to summarise what she learns in English. She also makes use of guesswork for knowing new words. She makes use of synonyms and always works for better learning of English speaking and understanding. She uses a number of strategies for language learning. Her strategies as described in strategy inventory for language learning questionnaire ranged from personal planning of learning the language to acquiring knowledge from the classroom and external environment and these strategies seemed to benefit her. She also devised informal methods that would help her learn pronunciation such as listening to English music and watching English movies. She also preferred varying learning methods depending on the environment. There is no English literature that cannot be used as a tool to sharpen the understanding of the language (McWhorter, 2006). In her interview, she stated that she did not understand all the words as used in songs and magazines. This tool could have been much more resourceful if she had used dictionary to look up the meaning of the difficult words that she encountered. Listening to music and interacting with the native English speakers are fruitful strategies that enhance pronunciation of English words. However, listening to music is tricky since musicians use short forms and slang English for rhyming. Listening to speeches of eloquent English speakers could also have taken care of the bit left out by music. Moreover, listening to and reading written speeches is a strategy that sharpens a learner’s ability to pronounce English words correctly. According to Krashen (1981), when a learner devises his/her own strategies that would be beneficial to them in learning a new language, it means that they have been able to identify their needs efficiently and thus, have a clue as to how they can accomplish them. The learner is able to gain more from acquisition of techniques of learning than the formal classroom methods. This is evident in Chutimon’s case as her communication in English improved. The amount of acquisition though had an impact on the value addition to the learner’s expertise on a language. Krashen (1981) notes that the classroom environment is vital in terms of acquisition and formal learning and therefore, holds the key to how much the learner benefits. Chutimon felt free to make mistakes when speaking English with the natives as she described in strategy inventory for language learning questionnaire. She did not hesitate to ask for clarification from her friends whenever she went wrong. This was a good tool for learning English. Although she enjoyed learning in groups and acknowledged the importance of doing so, Chutimon stated in the questionnaires that she found studying English alone also interesting. Language is a tool of interaction, so working in groups is commendable as well as beneficial for the learners. Therefore, as per my consideration, studying alone is not a good strategy and more particularly, when someone is studying a second language. However, it works for some people, but group interaction and group study appears more advantageous in terms of language learning. The learner also found it very useful to make social arrangements, reading novels and using English at work. These strategies are very resourceful in reinforcing a good understanding of English and complementing what is taught in class. Using English in these contexts caters for the informal use of English. It also prepares one and equips learner with skills to switch from one context to the other. For instance, Chutimon informed, ‘English as used in shopping malls and at the office is very different’. As a strategy, I find this very resourceful in learning English as a second language. Conclusion Chutimon’s needs’ analysis, motivations, strategies and learning styles as an English language learner are incorporated in this study. She knew about her needs related to English language learning. She wanted improvement in her English speaking, writing, reading and listening skills. She was practically motivated to learn English language, as she wanted to improvement her communication skills, so that she can become a successful businessperson in her future. 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