Thursday, May 9, 2013

My Language Learning Experiences

Some of this may be a bit repetative for anyone who usually reads this blog, but this particular post is for an assignment I'm working on, so please forgive anything particularly boring



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.
 

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