Elements of Effective Independent Language Learning

4. Writing

This presents a special problem in a second language. Language was meant to be oral and writing was meant to record what people do when they speak and enlarge the memory as writers record what has been spoken. There is a Chinese proverb that says that the faintest ink is greater than the sharpest memory, and anyone who has taken notes that they needed weeks later can agree. Writing also enables us to write across space and time, which makes language so much more useful and the ability to write in a second language essential.

For some reason, even those who we would consider very fluent when speaking find this hard to do. Second language speakers who are just barely identifiable when speaking, show themselves as a nonnative the moment they write. Perhaps writing doesn't mimic spoken language as closely as we'd like to think it does. However, I promise that you will find that if you write in the language you speak that your speaking gets better. Not only that but it is closely related to reading, as anyone knows, and if you can read the language, you will retain it.

Here are some thoughts from my experience with Japanese writing. When I was a very new missionary, I was told on all sides not to bother with the language but to focus on speaking and teaching. I kept with it, though. The characters looked like beautiful little bugs and everyday I tried to memorize one of them. I didn't keep to my goal very well, but I often practiced while waiting, or traced the characters on my hand while on my bicycle at stoplights.

The Japanese people seeing my writing often commented, some with kind praise for my efforts, but the more honest part admitted it looked awfully wobbly. One friend asked if she could take a picture of one of the characters I wrote because it was so funny. But often these criticisms were followed by advice and corrections in my stroke order or the offer to teach on the corner of a newspaper. I began to improve until at one point I needed to write someone a letter who I could not contact by phone or at her home. I wrote Emiko a letter that though laboriously written, communicated for the most part what I wanted to say. I asked a native to look it over and I was thrilled that she only had 1 correction for me. The goal of language is not to say everything perfectly through the memorization of key phrases and vocabulary, but more importantly it is meant to communicate what you want it to and writing allows for it a lot of development here.

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(Here's a great site for Kanji enthusiasts)
www.nihongoweb.com

Elements of Effective Independent Language Learning

3. Human Resources

These past couple of weeks I have had the opportunity to experience what many second language speakers discover when they return to their first language origins: Second language atrophy! I called a good friend in Japan and felt myself really floundering. Then, a good friend who was a missionary at the same time I was, called me to talk some Japanese (Thanks, John). I found myself floundering even worse, possibly because I knew that I could speak in English and that kept me thinking in English.

When I returned home, Japanese kept coming out of my mouth, especially in the mornings. Now, I really have to think about the old forms. I spent time talking to myself in Japanese or while thinking, wondering how I would put a thought into Japanese, but this wasn't enough to keep me from regressing and I had hoped to even continue to develope my language ability.

Enter the next item in my list of independent learning necessities: human resources. There simply is no substitue to talking to other people in an authentic conversation in a second language. So, how do we find these people and these authentic situations? Here are some ideas:

1. The Internet--probably your best bet for international socializing. Practice typing or emailing in your secong language, join groups that include international members (example: Online Scrabble club or other social addiction).
2. Use video calling, Skype, etc.-- but have some face-to-face listening practice. Reading and writing and speaking and listening, though closely related, just aren't the same thing.
3. International Students--If you are a student, this is a great option. Often, like all developing language students, we have a tendency to interact with others like us, but many international students would like to branch out and a friend interested in their language can be very appealing.
4. Other immigrants and visitors--often in Community Ed ESL or at food merchants, people from other countries may be more than happy, if a little anxious, to talk with others interested in their language and culture. You also might help them and their language goals, too. Living close to Yellowstone National Park, more asian people than I realized have passed through or stopped to talk to locals at parks and restaurants. Often tourist sites in your hometown will bring in more international visitors than locals.

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Reflections on Classroom Learning

I was reflecting on a great opportunity I have had to tutor an exchange student from Japan. Riki is a Junior in High School who has been in the United States for 5 months. He is teaching me so much about ESL and my own language ability. The other day was so rewarding as he and I sat at a computer together translating our way through the ISAT, the Idaho Standard Achievement Test which Riki must pass in order to graduate from high school under the No Child Left Behind Act. On his first attempt he scored below basic.

It is time and not sound critical thinking that mostly keeps Riki back. I tried to give him tools for identifying kinds of words and looking up the important words. Some words are less necessary and we together talked about what those were (repeated test instructions before questions, etc.). Riki on his own easily found every correct answer once a few vocabulary words were explained to him but in 30 minutes we only finished about 8 questions of a 24-question test.

Riki often compares himself to his peers as he sees them finishing quickly on either side of him. When I ask about what questions he has, he replies that everything, just everything is a question and he often puts his head on his desk and groans good naturedly. He confessed he feels like a bad student, holding people up and needing special attention. However, the other day, as we did these tests Riki and I rejoiced in his progress and joked often. Riki has become much more verbal and doesn't need as much coaxing. Much of this has come from his teachers and peers playing with language with him. Humor has set him at ease and he is able to play with language with the people in his life, too. Riki's social nature, more than his academic life and talk of how he needs to pass a test or understand a novel, has contributed to his intrinsic motivation.

I was reminded again of the main reason for language learning: communication with other people and a life filled with people.

Independent Learning

2. Formal Instruction

Now, perhaps one could argue that this aspect doesn't seem to fit in with the independent learning category. After all, children, the ultimate model of language acquisition don't seem to need classroom instruction; however children are exposed to correct language through the example of parents who help them make sense of what they hear and see as well as written materials that teach us correct patterns. We might not have learned our first language as independently as we suppose.

Some formal instruction is necessary for successful independent discovery, and I'd like to outline some of the pros and cons for several classroom approaches and methods used throughout language teaching history. This information largely came from H. Douglas Brown's Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy, 3rd edition. Reading helped me to evaluate my past and present language learning and might help in finding the right method for a certain learning style.

Grammar Translation

This is the oldest form of language study involving memorization of long lists of vocabulary, conjugations and other grammar rules

Positives
Great for dead language and an appreciation of language construction. Today’s language instruction focuses on speaking but there is an undeniable pleasure in reading and writing a language. This is ideal for, and was, in fact, designed for, learning dead languages like Latin.

I took a biblical Hebrew class where we spent all our class time just translated passages from the Old Testament. I did not expect to speak with a native, or be able to order at a restaurant in Israel, but I was rewarded with deeper insights into, and a more complete understanding of, the meaning in a precious piece of literature.
This method, when used exclusively, shows little success when it comes to speaking, or developing correct pronunciation.

Drawbacks

• This method includes long elaborate explanation of the history and intricacies of the language’s grammar.
• No theory or statistics in learning support this method.
  

Series of Events Method

Positives

• This method mimicks the process that children follow as they form a knowledge of grammar and vocabulary.
• This method “makes sense” as the language used to teach naturally introduces vocabulary in a sequence of events, which are easy to understand, recall and relate to reality.

The Direct Method

Positives

• Lots of speaking and “spontaneous use of the language”
• Everyday vocabulary and sentence patterns are emphasized.
• Pronunciation and correct grammar are emphasized.

Negatives

• Native teachers make this method the most effective.
• Often these programs are expensive and don’t convert well into typical classrooms.
• Not solidly based on theory.

The Audiolingual Method

Positives

• Emphasis on conversation and forming habits through drills.
• Pronunciation and correct grammar are emphasized.
• Adopts most of the successful points of the Direct Approach.
• Based heavily on education psychology and theory of the time

Drawbacks

• There is more to teaching and learning than Behaviorism and its practices realize
• Not very successful with long-term communication ability

Cognitive Code Learning

Positives

• Based on the emerging theory that children unknowingly obtain a knowledge of the rules of a language.
• Learners can become conscious of these rules and use them for communication

Drawbacks

• A bit of a return to the exhaustive explanations of the grammar rules of language and exceptions to the rule
• Sometimes as boring as the old grammar translation method was for many students

"Designer" Methods

Created in the seventies, these methods proved rather unsuccessful, but some of the ideas might prove helpful.
Here they are, very briefly:

Community Language Learning
Learners sit in a circle facing each other, get to know each other while the instructor stands behind them and translates what they want to say to the group.·

Positives

• Language learners are able to choose what they want to say.
• Creates a learning community and lessens error anxiety

Negatives

• Fairly ineffective, restrictive
• Depends heavily on instructor’s ability to translate
• No direction, initial ignorance lasts

Suggestopedia

Based on the theory that given the right conditions, the human brain can process large quantities of information. (Like listening to a foreign langauge tape while sleeping). The instructor creates a climate while playing soft baroque music, where students can relax and absorb the presentation of language.


This method has been highly criticized and is rarely practiced today, but children and most other people do show signs of learning while in a relaxed state.


Here are other noteworthy innovations from the 1970s:

The Silent Way

In this method the teacher does not correct the students on the rules of language but offers a problem-solving approach. This method claims that a learner progresses better if discovering or creating. This way is often characterized by the use of physical objects, pointing sticks, etc.

Positives

• Based on the idea that learners do better when discovering or creating
• Might produce more independence and responsibility—Teachers “get out of the way”

Drawbacks

• Teacher may be too distant from the learning process
• Use of materials, pointing sticks, charts, etc., can be a little wearing

Total Physical Response

While learning a language, children often begin moving, using hand gestures and is often silently listening to comprehend the vocabulary and patterns. This was studied and applied in the oft touted TPR method.

Positives

• Simple
• Based on the theory that learning is improved if combined with motion
• A fresh way to look at habit-forming in a language
• Lessens anxiety in the classroom—“fun”
• Good for beginner levels

Drawbacks

• Neglects the spontaneous and unrehearsed nature of language
• Not as effective with more advanced speakers

The Natural Approach

Developed on theories of comprehension, this method focuses on allowing spontaneous language to emerge naturally.

Positives

• Relaxed; communication and acquiring language rules without analysis.
• New content is understandable
• Emphasizes promoting fluency
• Less anxiety as a learner

Drawbacks

• Because fluency is emphasized, error correction is minimized
• Waiting for language to naturally emerge might miss out on prompting learners to feel that urgent need to communicate.

Source:

Brown, H.D. (2007). Teaching by Principles: an interactive approach, 3rd edition. New York: Longman