Learning a new language brings with it a whole host of cognitive benefits and life skills; all are essential to success in the future.
Table of contents
- In summary…
- Language Is The Key
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- Study Reports That Conversations Are Key to Language Development
In summary…
They found the following: These results highlight the need to engage children in back-and-forth conversation. Adult speech alone, such as talking to a child without encouraging the child to participate in the conversation, is not as helpful as some might advise. This study confirms the approach utilized in Hanen Programs, in which interaction between children and caregivers is promoted with the goal of promoting two-sided conversation.
The following Hanen principles and strategies ensure that two-way conversation happens: Children learn the basics of conversation well before they learn to talk.
Language Is The Key
When children take turns while interacting, they are building their conversation skills. Therefore, when a child looks, reaches, gestures, makes a sound or uses facial expression, treat this as a conversational turn and respond to keep the conversation going! The best way to encourage a child to initiate conversation is to stop talking yourself. The principle of Observe, Wait, and Listen a strategy found in all Hanen Programs encourages caregivers to pause without speaking and give the child an opportunity to initiate an idea during motivating situations and routines.
It is difficult to Observe, Wait and Listen, and it requires a conscious effort not to talk or direct the child. Based on their research in officially bilingual Canada, they noted that some learners are integratively motivated to learn a language, meaning they feel an affinity for it, they want to get to know people who speak that language, and they are often also interested in the culture associated with the language.
This is similar to intrinsic motivation.
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Instrumental motivation, on the other hand, kicks in where people primarily want to learn a language for practical reasons, such as a salary bonus or getting into university, similar to extrinsic motivation. It has been shown to be less powerful in language learning success. Of course, people's motivation can change.
His own model is known as the " L2 motivational self system ", and it focuses on learners' abilities to envision an ideal future for themselves as positive, competent and successful second language speakers. So, motivation fluctuates as it is impacted by various factors in real time, moment to moment. A learner's motivation levels can go up or down depending on how motivated, or interested, or involved their conversational partners are these might be native speakers, or fellow learners and their instructors in classrooms.
Study Reports That Conversations Are Key to Language Development
In other words, motivation can be contagious. It can also be influenced by the task that learners are undertaking and how interesting and engaging it is. Deborah Tannen, professor of linguistics at Georgetown University and author of several bestselling books, says that "each person's life is lived as a series of conversations". When asked how this applies to learning language, Tannen notes that "wanting to have certain kind of conversations, with people one knows or wants to know, can be a huge motivator in learning a new language".
- Lee of the Storm.
- Wanting it enough: why motivation is the key to language learning;
- What's in Key Language?.
She follows this up with a personal example. Although her first husband, who was Greek, spoke English fluently, Tannen had to learn Greek in order to communicate with his mother, a woman she came to love deeply. Like sports coaches, he explains, "instructors should take the perspective of trainers and cheerleaders, helping learners to imagine themselves in their ideal L2 personae and thus leverage their motivation to better their learning outcomes".
What about learners who are strongly motivated to learn a language but still don't succeed?
- The Key to Language Rich Early Childhood Education Environments;
- Mary Stuart [with Biographical Introduction].
- Respond to nonverbal communication.
- Wanting it enough: why motivation is the key to language learning | Education | The Guardian;
- The Thanatos Syndrome: A Novel!
- Clean and Organize your Home (Smart Style);
Some of us just don't have strong aptitude for language learning. We might be good at other things, such as science, art, music or sports. Researchers traditionally look at the relationships among different kinds of aptitude and language learning outcomes.