Most tape-based courses are based on the so-called 'audio-lingual' method,though many of them have fancy names associated with them.This method stresses parroting a set of phrases and dialogs,and is based on the(largely unsubstaniated) belief that (a) this is how a child learns a first language,and (b the same approach should work for adults with respect to a second language. This underlying assumption of the audio-lingual method has been contradicted by all of the current research data.Michael Halliday,for one,makes this point very convincingly in his book Learning How To Mean. A child does not so much learn a language as it does try to make sense of the world by slapping labels on the things it sees. Language is therefore a way by which a child is able to express meaning.For most children,by the time they reach the age of 5,they already have a good enough(verbal)command of their mother language to understand 85% or more of what an adult says. An adult,on the otherhand,already knows how to mean,so has an entirely different mindset when tackling a second language.Language tapes that attempt to recreate a child's learning environment are therefore missing the point.What works perfectly well for a child of five actually does very little for an adult of fifty.Is it any suprise,then,that after the popularity of the audio-lingual method reached a sort of peak in the 1960's,it has since been largely abandoned by language teachers-because the method just does not work! In other words,be very skeptical when you hear one of these pitches:"Just play the tape while you drive..."or"You never have to read a single word of text..."etc.There is some truth,after all,to what your mother has always told you: be on guard when someone tells you,you can get something for nothing. Question:How do you know if what people are flogging is a variation of the audio-lingual method ? Answer:When they tell you their method enables you to learn as a child,and that all you have to do is to listen and repeat what you hear. Question:What do you call someone who speaks a language but cannot read one word of it ?Answer:Illiterate.
2:Children have an easier time learning a foreign language than adults. There is suprising little research data to support this highly popular belief.Indeed,all the research that has been done suggests that age is actually an advantage in second language learning,not a disadvantage.For example,in their 1978 paper 'The Critical Period For Language Acquistion:Evidence From Second Language Learning'(Child Development,49,1114,1128),the researchers Snow and Hoefnagel-Hohle compared the relative ease with which English-speaking adults and children(who had gone to live in Holland)were learning Dutch.At the end of three months,the older learners were found to be better in all aspects of Dutch except for pronunciation.Similiar conclusions were reported by Eckstrand(Proceedings of the Fourth International Congress of Applied Linguistics,1978),who found that Finnish speaking children under the age of 11 learnig learning Swedish made slower progress than those over the age of 11.Likewise,in studies of Canadian students learning French done by Harding(Age in Second Language acquisition,1986),older learners were generally found to do better. While more research is perhaps still needed before definitive conclusions can be drawn,this much seems indisputable:Older and more mature learners tend to make much faster inroads into a foreign language in the intial stages of learning,except possibly in the area of pronunciation.(Don't worry about pronunciation.There is a reassuring news about that later.)Children do remarkably well when it comes to learning a first language,but a second language requires an entirely different set of analytical-skills with which adults(not only the most intelligent ones,either!)are far better equipped.
3:Speaking a foreign language involves fast mental translation from your native tongue.
Try doing this yourself!You will be so busy doing the proposed mental calisthenics that you will have no time left to process what the other person is saying,thus the whole communications channel is severed. It is far better not to have english runninng in your head at all,but just to convey the contents of what you want to say using the words you happen to know in the foreign language.For example,from a practical standpoint,it is enough to be able to say"car no gas"than to struggle with trying to translate"my car has run out of gas"word-for-word. All the tourist phrase books,with their elaborate pronunciation guides in english,are based on this fatally flawed assumption.You are encouraged to believe that as long as you can mouth sounds which approximate a foreign language,you are in fact communicating in that foreign language.Ask yourself this:What is the use of being able to make noises which sound like "Where is the bathroom?" in a given foreign language if you cannot understand the answer?How does that help your bladder?!
It is hardly profound to point out that human communication involves at least two componets:speaking and listening.If one has to choose one of these skills only,it is probably better to go with being able to listen and to understand what is being said to you.Even if you are unable to respond in words,you can still nod,point,blink your eyes,gesture with your hands,etc. What does it mean to be able to communicate in a foreign language ?It mean(a)to be able to express your own thoughts using a different set of sounds,a different set of word patterns,while observing a different set of cultural constraits,and(b)to be able to understand what people are saying to you. Put it another way:to communicate in a foreign language,what's most important is attitude,not aptitude.
5:The best way to learn a foreign language is to live in a foreign country.If you live abroad long enough,you can pick up a language by osmosis.
That is certainly the conventional wisdom,but again we do not have much actual research data to say for sure.This is,in any event,not a practical option for most people.
6:It is very important to get the pronunciation of a foreign language down perfectly.
First of all,there is not really such a thing as a perfect accent or pronunciation in any language.Most languages have a number of dialectic variances,each accompanied by changes in accents.Consider the wide range of distinctive English accents spoken around the world:Oxbridge,Cockney,Irish,Scottish,Texan,Brooklyn,Australian,etc.Which would you regard as representing the standard or perfect accent?Besides,just look at Henry Kissinger:has his so-called heavy accent ever hurt his career?!
Corollary to #6.Impeccable grammer is essential to speaking in a foreign.
Again,the main goal of learning a second language must surely be to communicate with people who are outside of the reach of your own native tongue.The key word is'communicate'.Grammatical perfection is nice,but hardly necessary when your primary objective,first of all,is to (a)convey the essential elements of what you want to say,and(b)understand what uis being said to you.Someone telling you "fire...your house"may not be sspeaking good english,but it does a good job communicating the essential theme.Our advice,therefore,is to aim at being able to communicate first,then work your way to ever better grammer.
7:Nothing beats a language class. Not quite. To be sure,a language class has the distint advantage of enabling you to practice with the teacher and with other students the very language you are learning.This is a very important advantage,one unfortunately not always exploited fully in a language class,especially a beginning language class where the emphasis tends to be much more on a basic grammer and on endless,repetitive drills. But a language class is also not without other potential problems:
a. If you have problems understanding the teacher(in the foreign language or in english),there is a finite(2?3?)number of times you can get the teacher to repeat what is said before you are tossed out on your behind! b. There are always some people in the class who seem to have a better knack for the new language you are struggling to learn,and that can make it very difficult for you to speak up. c. It is not easy,for an adult who is also holding down a job,to find the time and the energy after a long day in the office to attend a language class 3 times a week.And if you miss one session of a language class,you will probably have a very difficult time catching up. d. Many language teachers see their main role as enforcing perfect pronunciation and flawless grammer.Teachers are paid to be perfectionist.They will keep correcting your speech until you have all the words in the right order and all the verb endings match.This is a very intimidating approach,and is the last thing you need when are tackling a new language.It makes for a great deal of unnecessary stress.Imagine if someone had been correcting every single mistake you made while learning your first language as a child:you would be totally terrified to speak. e. Other factors-such as a teacher's style and personality-can add troublesome variables to the proposition of learning. f. A language class measures your competence by means of how well you do on tests.How well these tests actually measure your ability to communicate(in the full sense as we have defined above)is suspect at best.In our view,scoring poorly on a language test does not mean that you cannot communicate anymore than a high score means definitely that you can.In the United States,for example,there are many people who took spanish in high school and did well on all the tests,but who can barely communicate in spanish at even the most elementary level. It is our view that a language class is more useful after a learner has already acquired the rudiments of a language,and can therefore use the classroom as the place to practice with other learners.
8:The key to rapid learning is the 'right' linguistic approach. If only that were so! Consider the following psychological barriers often associated with learning a foreign language,none of which has much to do with the linguistic approach you may be using: 1.Embarrassment or consciousness.An adult embarking on a foreign language is necessarily self-conscious when called upon to use it.One moment that adult is able to debate world politics(in his/her native language),the next minute he/she is struggling to find the words for 'pen' (in the foreign language).This is enough to unnerve the stroutest soul. 2.Avoidance behavior.Learning a language takes practice,and necessarily involves some work on your part.At the end of day,irrespective of what approach you may be taking,you have got to be able to put in the time to learn.For reasons no one is quite sure,however,we all have the tendency to put off doing things,even things we want to do or enjoy.Just think of that great book you have always been meaning to read. 3.Laziness.Sometimes,the idea of learning of anything just sounds to much like work! 9:Learning a language basically involves brute-force mem orization.
10:Technology is the key:Buy a language learning software,and your troubles are over.
Were this only so!
Most learning software programs,unfortunately,are nothing more than electronic flashcard systems disguised as new approaches to learning.To be sure,you can get a lot of raw information in a computer software program,and you can,more than likely,retrieve any piece of information quickly and easily.But as impressive as those feats are,they are(at best)tangentially related to the buisness of learning.
Learning involves,first of all,understanding,followed by the application and retention of what is understood.Information storage and retrieval can be powerful allies of learning,but do not themselves a learning approach make.
That said,there is a small handful of learning software that does not subscribe to the 'more-information-the-merrier'paradigm.Insteadd,they recognize both the limitations and the strengths of the computer to create unique and stimulating learning environments for the self-directed learner.
Corollary to #3.Videos are the ultimate in hassle-free learning.Just plop yourself in front of the tube,and let the photons and the electrons do their magic in your head.
It is more correct to say that watching a video is the ultimate passive activity,and that 'passive learning' is itself an oxymoron.Just think,if 'passive learning' worked,we could easily solve our education crisis by putting the entire K through 12 syllabus on video,and distributing it to every household.After all,for one thousandth of what we are currently spending on our public schools,we could easily get the best directors,the best actors,the best camera crews etc.!