Methodology in Language Learning: Language learning and language teaching

 

English is easy and English is fun, people used to say, and basically it is easy to comprehend and learn, relatively quickly. Pedagogic principles and practice are instilled in trainee teachers and they carry these into the classroom with them. Very rarely are the roles of teachers and learners examined and questioned. In spite of efforts to encourage learner development, learner independence and even autonomous learning, most classroom situations are still teacher-centred. The richest learning environment will be created by teachers with the range of knowledge and skills to vary their approach to suit individuals and specific groups and contexts.

 

There are various levels of competencies which can be measured but each performance of language will be different from the next. Spoken competence is the most immediate but also the most fragile and volatile. We all know how articulate, erudite and focussed we can be when sitting in a relaxed group of friends and putting the world to rights. Every human factor affects our ability to use even our mother tongue competently and all these factors are carried over into second language contexts.

 

 

Why are people learning the language? By and large, most people learn a second and subsequent languages for one of the following broad purposes:

• Work

• Leisure

• Social Integration

• Academic Purposes

Another level of non-formal learning contexts is where youth workers need to prepare themselves or others for international work, or when they have to go into a situation where they need another language to participate in local youth projects.

 

In previous centuries only the classical languages of Latin and Greek had been studied as foreign languages by the minority who had access to formal education. Later, French, which had been the language of the upper classes in, for example, Russia and England, was included. Native speaker nannies and teachers were employed to tutor children in their own home. In the 20th Century, Europe was the arena for two world wars. In addition, and maybe as a result, other sociological phenomena took place.

 

 

In Europe, the 16th century saw the foundation of grammar schools, where pupils were given a rigorous introduction to Latin grammar rules, study of declensions and conjugations, translation and practice in writing model sentences, mainly by using parallel bilingual texts and dialogue. After a grasp of the basics of the language pupils went on to study advanced grammar and rhetoric. This discipline was seen as the necessary mental gymnastics to equip pupils with the mental agility for all forms of higher education. No wonder, then, that when modern languages entered the curriculum of European schools from the 18th Century onwards they followed the same method of teaching and learning.

 

Intercultural language learning explores language interculturally. The approach involves exploration of cultural concepts, stereotypes, generalisations, assumptions and the murky depths beneath surface language. It involves confrontation, and the aim is to clear the air interculturally so that we can truly live tolerantly, contentedly, and constructively in a ‘vive la difference’ Europe!

 

The classroom culture that is required for the context of non-formal education necessitates a collaborative approach to teaching and learning. The teacher has the role of facilitator – helping and encouraging learning to happen. He/she will not feel that learning can only happen as and when specific items are taught.

 

 

Learners, too, must acknowledge that theirs is the more active role; they have to do the learning! They need to be aware of their own learning style and be willing to adapt and expand their learning strategies. There are as many teaching styles as there are teachers and likewise as many learning styles as there are learners! The most important resource that teachers and learners bring into the language learning environment is themselves. From now onwards we shall refer to facilitators and learners as this best describes  their roles in our context.

 

Bibliography:

 

1.    Brown, H.D. (2000): Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. White Plains, NY: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. Gass,

2.    S.M. I L. Selinker. (2008): Second Language Acquisition. An Introductory Course. New York: Routledge. VanPatten,

3.    Leaver, B.L; Ehrman, M; Shekhtman, B. (2005): Achieving Success in Second Language Acquisition. CUP

4.    B. i J. Williams. (red.) 2007: Theories in Second Language Acquisition. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publisher

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