Blogs
Discussion: Learning a Language (methods of learning)
Hello all! It's a beautiful sunny day here in the UK but I'm stuck inside doing revision for my exams next week, so I thought I'd take a break from it to discuss with you different methods of learning, and how we apply them both in the classroom, and at home.
There have been many methods proposed for learning languages quickly and efficiently, that have been debated by linguists and forced upon students. I'm not a linguist myself, but as someone who teaches English and learns foreign languages I can share with you my insights and thoughts on learning languages. I think the first thing to appreciate is that everyone has different strengths and preferred learning styles - it is up to you to work out what suits you best!
Here are some methods used to learn languages:
1. Translation: taking a list of words, translating them, and learning them. You might have a table with (for example) English - Chinese. Everyone does this to some extent, but it may not be written down - if you are engaged in a conversation with a foreign person, most people will 'translate' the sentence into their mother tongue, formulate a reply in their mother tongue, and then translate the reply to the foreign language.
2. Lexical chunks: a modern version of the (now defunct) audio-lingualism methods. This is a process whereby you learn language in chunks, rather than separate words. So instead of learning "would like" "buy" "ice cream" separately, you would learn "I would like to buy some ice cream" as a whole sentence. This is good as it improves fluency of speech - it helps the brain to form lexical chunks. This is where the brain knows what word to say next - you do this a lot in your mother tongue! A lexical chunk can be as short as 2 words ("sleep well" "see you") and can be longer. If you asked a native speaker to complete the sentence "I got out of there as soon as ____" they will say "as soon as possible" - this is a lexical chunk. Learning it as a whole chunk rather than separate words increases your fluency, and decreases your dependency on your mother tongue.
3. PPP: this is the modern teaching method used in most EFL classes. PPP lessons will have: 1. presentation: the teacher presents a new piece of vocabulary, grammar . . . 2. practice: the class practises the new lexus in a controlled activity (for example, if you taught present perfect, the class would conjugate verbs to check they could form it) 3. produce: the class will use the new language to form new sentences and phrases, with as much freedom as possible. This is a good approach in a classroom as it gives students a 'safety-net' of the control activity and presentation, but engages them to produce new language and work out / clarify rules for themselves.
4. TBL: this stands for task-based learning, whereby students are given a task to solve and they are to work it out for themselves with as little help as possible from the teacher. This is great for encouraging learner autonomy (= allowing people to work out rules / new language for themselves) but may be more restricted to higher-level learners.
5. TTT: this stands for test, teach, test. It is a slight variation on PPP, whereby you see what the learners know by testing them on the new topic, before teaching unknown parts and clarifying the piece of language. You then test them again to make sure it has been understood. This is good for intermediate level students who will have covered most of the grammar taught but may have forgotten it!
I think the approach you use changes depending on your level. For a lower-intermediate class I will use more PPP methods - presenting to them new grammar and vocabulary before testing them on it and letting them make their own sentences. Intermediate students get most out of TBL and TTT, as it puts more onus on the student to learn.
The more you learn in a foreign language, the more you want to develop autonomy in that language. If you speak English by translating what you would say in Chinese to English then you not only run the risk of making sentences that sound strange in English, but you also then rely on your Chinese to speak English! It is vital that everyone learns to think in a foreign language when speaking that language - I believe that it is a sign of fluency when you think in a language that is not your own mother tongue. This might sound daunting to some, but consider this - everyone can think in a foreign language, even a beginner! Even something basic like saying 'thanks' or 'good night' in a foreign language should require no thought into your mother tongue - it should come straight out without thinking. You can then build on the basics up to larger sentences.
Just as a final note about Chinese and English: I think autonomy in these languages is of vital importance because they are so different linguistically. You cannot translate straight from one to the other without thinking in that language how it sounds! Direct translations from Chinese to English sound very wordy and often bizarre; translations from English to Chinese can sound imprecise and lacking detail. This is where a lexical chunk approach would be excellent - learning the phrase in Chinese/English rather than translating it straight from your mother tongue. It not only makes sure that you say a correct phrase in the foreign language, but it also develops the autonomy of language as you do not rely on your mother tongue to form the new sentence.
Well I must get back to revision . . . I hope that has not been too boring and perhaps a little insightful! I favour a lexical chunk approach, supported by a bit of PPP for things such as grammar. This way you learn authentic, useable language and you don't have to rely on your mother tongue so much. However, I believe that things like grammar should be taught in a more controlled way - this allows you to play with the lexical chunks that you have learned and make new language and new sentences.
Happy learning - I'll try to get back to 'proper' blogs next week!
Good evening,
Dave
There have been many methods proposed for learning languages quickly and efficiently, that have been debated by linguists and forced upon students. I'm not a linguist myself, but as someone who teaches English and learns foreign languages I can share with you my insights and thoughts on learning languages. I think the first thing to appreciate is that everyone has different strengths and preferred learning styles - it is up to you to work out what suits you best!
Here are some methods used to learn languages:
1. Translation: taking a list of words, translating them, and learning them. You might have a table with (for example) English - Chinese. Everyone does this to some extent, but it may not be written down - if you are engaged in a conversation with a foreign person, most people will 'translate' the sentence into their mother tongue, formulate a reply in their mother tongue, and then translate the reply to the foreign language.
2. Lexical chunks: a modern version of the (now defunct) audio-lingualism methods. This is a process whereby you learn language in chunks, rather than separate words. So instead of learning "would like" "buy" "ice cream" separately, you would learn "I would like to buy some ice cream" as a whole sentence. This is good as it improves fluency of speech - it helps the brain to form lexical chunks. This is where the brain knows what word to say next - you do this a lot in your mother tongue! A lexical chunk can be as short as 2 words ("sleep well" "see you") and can be longer. If you asked a native speaker to complete the sentence "I got out of there as soon as ____" they will say "as soon as possible" - this is a lexical chunk. Learning it as a whole chunk rather than separate words increases your fluency, and decreases your dependency on your mother tongue.
3. PPP: this is the modern teaching method used in most EFL classes. PPP lessons will have: 1. presentation: the teacher presents a new piece of vocabulary, grammar . . . 2. practice: the class practises the new lexus in a controlled activity (for example, if you taught present perfect, the class would conjugate verbs to check they could form it) 3. produce: the class will use the new language to form new sentences and phrases, with as much freedom as possible. This is a good approach in a classroom as it gives students a 'safety-net' of the control activity and presentation, but engages them to produce new language and work out / clarify rules for themselves.
4. TBL: this stands for task-based learning, whereby students are given a task to solve and they are to work it out for themselves with as little help as possible from the teacher. This is great for encouraging learner autonomy (= allowing people to work out rules / new language for themselves) but may be more restricted to higher-level learners.
5. TTT: this stands for test, teach, test. It is a slight variation on PPP, whereby you see what the learners know by testing them on the new topic, before teaching unknown parts and clarifying the piece of language. You then test them again to make sure it has been understood. This is good for intermediate level students who will have covered most of the grammar taught but may have forgotten it!
I think the approach you use changes depending on your level. For a lower-intermediate class I will use more PPP methods - presenting to them new grammar and vocabulary before testing them on it and letting them make their own sentences. Intermediate students get most out of TBL and TTT, as it puts more onus on the student to learn.
The more you learn in a foreign language, the more you want to develop autonomy in that language. If you speak English by translating what you would say in Chinese to English then you not only run the risk of making sentences that sound strange in English, but you also then rely on your Chinese to speak English! It is vital that everyone learns to think in a foreign language when speaking that language - I believe that it is a sign of fluency when you think in a language that is not your own mother tongue. This might sound daunting to some, but consider this - everyone can think in a foreign language, even a beginner! Even something basic like saying 'thanks' or 'good night' in a foreign language should require no thought into your mother tongue - it should come straight out without thinking. You can then build on the basics up to larger sentences.
Just as a final note about Chinese and English: I think autonomy in these languages is of vital importance because they are so different linguistically. You cannot translate straight from one to the other without thinking in that language how it sounds! Direct translations from Chinese to English sound very wordy and often bizarre; translations from English to Chinese can sound imprecise and lacking detail. This is where a lexical chunk approach would be excellent - learning the phrase in Chinese/English rather than translating it straight from your mother tongue. It not only makes sure that you say a correct phrase in the foreign language, but it also develops the autonomy of language as you do not rely on your mother tongue to form the new sentence.
Well I must get back to revision . . . I hope that has not been too boring and perhaps a little insightful! I favour a lexical chunk approach, supported by a bit of PPP for things such as grammar. This way you learn authentic, useable language and you don't have to rely on your mother tongue so much. However, I believe that things like grammar should be taught in a more controlled way - this allows you to play with the lexical chunks that you have learned and make new language and new sentences.
Happy learning - I'll try to get back to 'proper' blogs next week!
Good evening,
Dave
Post comment Comment (10 replies)
- Reply lumin
- Thank you very much.It's very helpful. Your english is excellent and i have to learn from you.
- Reply lindaniel
- i have a confusion that it is just so hard for me to intercourse with others in english even though i can understand what other people say! can you give me some suggestions? thanks a lot!
- Reply shefdave
- 'practise makes perfect . . .' is always a good suggestion! Do you mean that you find it hard to reply, but you can understand what the others are talking about? Practise is really the only cure to it - and have the confidence to speak and not worry about whether your sentences are gramatically right or wrong, just say what you're thinking!
- Reply Sally_Fan
- Though it is a little insightful, but I get it, tks, looking forward to the next lesson!
- Reply Sophia_kk
- Your introduction of leaning languge is so detailed and useful.I have read it carefully.My opinions are attached as follows
Translation--I found that translating English to Chinese is easier than reverse.Since English is not my mother tongue,I do not think it in English when translation.
Lexical chunks--Acutally,It is not the first time that i heard vocabulary should not be learnt separately.But i did not realize it until these days.I recited to reach the aim of knowing the vocabulary meaning.Other information including part of speech or how to working in a sentence are not my concerns.This is not effective method to learn vocabulary sufficiently,neither to remember it for long time.So I will use Lexical chunks to learn English vocabulary from now on .
PPP--In school,our teachers usually teach us grammar by this method.It is helpful.But i think a good book will contribute to ourselves when learning alone.This book will subsitue teacher role to as a guider and to open our mind.
TBL--You know, there are lots of text books in China.We as English leaners have stocked many those books in home to prepare all kinds of exams relating English.I am a little distasteful to finish them,for it is not vivid or funny.
TTT--When we learn a new lesson,first test will let us bring question.Then to learn new grammar is very helpful for learner. I will try it as well.
Thanks for your article.You are a responsible language teacher.
- Reply shefdave
- Thank you! I think responsibility is one thing, but personal experience comes into it too - as someone who has struggled along the path of learning languages, I want to focus my learners as much as possible and help them to not make the mistakes I made when learning a language.
The importance of lexical chunks is possibly more important for a European learner learning Chinese/Japanese, where you get something that is one word in English that is a combination of characters in Chinese. (e.g. 白菜 = 'white vegetable/food' literally = 'cabbage') If you just learnt individual characters and not the lexical chunks you wouldn't understand at all!
- Reply diudiu
- my bigest problem is i dare not to communicate with others in english. On the other hand,i do not have the environment.My friends always look at me strangely when i suggest chatting in english...
