My first “formal” experience of learning a
foreign language was in high school, where we had two years of Indonesian
classes (Bahasa Indonesia). These
classes were taught by a science teacher who had lived in Indonesia for a few
years. Most of the kids in the class
were not there because of a burning desire to learn Indonesian. Some of us wanted to learn a language, and it
was the only one on offer, others simply wanted to avoid Geography, which was
the only other subject that could be done at the same time. We learnt very little Indonesian, largely due
to the fact that our hearts weren’t really in it – neither the students’, nor
the school’s. The school clearly offered
this particular language because they thought they could get away with offering
a language subject without hiring another, specialist teacher.
In my senior years of high school there
were no language courses offered (our Indonesian speaking science teacher had
left), and I decided to put myself through an evening French course. This was a completely different style of
learning (especially for a 16 year old) and I probably learnt more French in
those 12 weeks than I had learnt Indonesian in the two years at school – but it
was expensive. I could only afford the
one course (and my family had no interest in supporting what they saw as a
waste of time and money – why would I need a language other than English? Couldn’t I take up a more useful
hobby?). Perhaps, if I had been taught
how to learn languages independently, I would have been able to continue
studying in my own time using books and course materials borrowed from the
library.
I could have studied languages in
university, but there were a few different things I wanted to do, and I
couldn’t do them all… In the end, I
chose to study English in more depth rather than any other language. Clearly my intrinsic motivation wasn’t up to
the challenge of learning a language at the time.
Ten years later I decided to learn
Estonian, which is something of a heritage language for me. I spent a year or so trying to learn on my
own with a couple of text books, then I found a tutor. Shortly afterwards, I decided to learn German
as well (it’s more useful than Estonian), and I started by taking a couple of
evening courses (like the French course all those years ago), to prepare me for
enrolling in a distance language degree.
For the past two years I have been studying German through the Diploma
of Modern Languages course in UNE. This
pretty much involves teaching myself using a text-book package and having the
occasional contact with some teacher – unfortunately, mostly for assessment
purposes. The first semester, when I
could attend the moodle-based tutorials, it went quite well. But when you are learning completely
asynchronously you get no “play time”, no feedback and no practical correction
(you don’t get the correction in time for it to be formative, you only find out
what you could do better after you’ve submitted an assessment piece).
Contrast this with my private studies for
Estonian. Even though we were studying
via Skype, and there are some limitations, I had one-on-one work with a
knowledgeable “coach” who could give me feedback and correction as I played
with the language. I then attended a two
week intensive course, and I have to say the combination of guided private
study plus intensive course has been the most successful language learning
balance I have undertaken.
Feedback is awesome. Being able to talk and interact with other
learners is not needed every day, but is also awesome.
From my own experiences, my recipe for the
best language learning “environment” goes a little something like this:
1.
Students should want to learn that language, and teachers should want to
teach it
2.
Students should be taught how to “teach” languages, so that they can do
more of the heavy lifting themselves
3.
Teachers/tutors should regularly talk to/play with students, giving
feedback as they go along (and not basing all feedback around assessment items)
4.
Some contact with a) other learners, and b) native speakers
5. A
stick and a carrot.
A little more on point 5 is warranted: The one thing my DipModLang *is* providing me
(which I didn’t get from private study or evening courses) that I find most
valuable is the deadlines. There are
many tasks I know would be good for me, but I just don’t get around to doing
them. When I know I *have to* do them
and hand them in by a set date, I tend to be less lazy about these things. I just wish the tasks I was being
“encouraged” to complete would be less we-have-to-mark-you-on-something and
more this-is-going-to-make-you-a-better-communicator.
What should a teacher bring to a language
class? His/her coaching kit – show us
how to teach ourselves, then give us plenty of exercise, feedback and
encouragement.
What should a learner bring to a language
class? His/her will to win (if we stick
with the metaphor). A learner should be
wanting to play, willing to “skill up” and happy to fake-it-until-you-make-it.
Or, to use keywords from the literature, a
successful language class needs a combination of Intrinsic and Extrinsic
Motivation, Autonomous Learning, Autonomous Teaching, Social Interaction,
Feedback, Washback and Opportunities for Authentic Learning
Activities/Experiences/Applications.
