The wrong and right way to learn a foreign language Source:
By Valerie Strauss
This was written by
linguist Stephen Krashen, professor emeritus at the University of Southern
California, is an educational researcher and activist. He has written hundreds
of articles and books in the fields of second language acquisition, bilingual
education, and reading.
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By Stephen Krashen
In a recent issue of the Washington Post Express, Andrew
Eil, a staffer who works at the U.S. State Department on international climate
change, recommends that foreign language students start with “boot camp:” Study
grammar very hard, drill vocabulary every day, and force yourself to talk. This
regimen, he claims, put him in a position to develop high levels of competence
in several languages; he now speaks Russian and French fluently and can
converse in Mandarin and Kazakh.
Most of us who have taken foreign languages classes that
emphasize heavy grammar instruction and memorizing vocabulary would disagree
with his recommendations, and so does the research.
The results of studies done over the last few decades by a
wide variety of researchers and published in scientific journals support this
view: We do not master languages by hard study and memorization, or by
producing it. Rather, we acquire language when we understand what people tell
us and what we read, when we get “comprehensible input.” As we get comprehensible
input through listening and reading, we acquire (or “absorb”) the grammar and
vocabulary of the second language.
Studies show repeatedly that intensive grammar study and
memorizing vocabulary are of limited value: Students in classes that provide
lots of comprehensible input (e.g. methods such as TPRS) consistently do better
than students in traditional grammar-based classes on tests that involve real
communication and do just as well, and often better, on grammar tests. These
students have acquired the grammar and vocabulary of the language naturally,
and can use what they have acquired in real communicative situations. They are
also more likely to continue foreign language study.
Grammar
The complexity of the grammatical system to be mastered
makes it highly unlikely that it can be taught and learned: Linguists have not
even described the grammatical system of any language completely and many rules
are forbiddingly complex, with numerous exceptions.
Even very complex rules, however, can be acquired (or
“absorbed”) through comprehensible input, especially through reading. Here is
one of many examples from the research: In one study, English speakers who
spoke Spanish as a second language were tested on their ability to use the
Spanish subjunctive in conversation. The subjunctive is of interest as it is
considered a difficult structure to master. Researchers considered a number of
predictors of subjunctive proficiency: amount of formal study of Spanish,
amount of formal study of the subjunctive, years of residence in a
Spanish-speaking country, and the amount of reading done in Spanish. The only
significant predictor was reading in Spanish.
Vocabulary
There is a substantial research literature showing that
vocabulary knowledge comes largely from comprehensible input, especially
reading, in both first and second languages. Many second language speakers
acquire enormous vocabularies, and it is highly doubtful that they did it
through vocabulary study: In one study, it was reported that speakers of
Spanish as a second language who were avid readers in Spanish had larger
Spanish vocabularies than native speakers of Spanish who did not do a lot of
reading.
Forced speech
Should language students force themselves to talk, as Eil
advises? Research informs us that at beginning stages, highly successful second
language acquirers often experience a substantial “silent period,” a time when
they produce little or no language. The silent period is nearly universal for
children acquiring a second language, and there are entire cultures in which
second language acquirers are expected to experience a silent period. Also,
successful comprehensible-input based methods do not force students to speak.
Forcing language students to speak before they are ready not
only makes them extremely uncomfortable but does nothing for language
acquisition. Speaking doesn’t cause language acquisition; rather, the ability
to speak is the result of comprehensible input.
Comprehensible input at all stages
Andrew Eil has clearly done well in foreign language
acquisition, and he acknowledges the value of the experiences he had during his
residence in Russia, Kazakhstan, France and China over several years, from the
reading he did, the movies he saw, the many conversations he had with others,
and other kinds of “informal, friendly interaction.” In other words, he
improved thanks to comprehensible input.
Current research strongly suggests that comprehensible input
is the way we acquire language at all stages. The kind of “boot camp” Eil
recommends is neither necessary nor desirable.
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Sources:
Comprehensible input: Krashen, S. 2003. Explorations in Language
Acquisition and Use. Heinemann.
Effectiveness of comprehensible-input based instruction:
Krashen, op. cit.; TPRS studies: Varguez, K. 2009. Traditional and TPR
Storytelling instrution in beginning high school Spanish classroom.
International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching 5 (1): 2-11; Watson, B.
2009. A comparison of TPRS and traditional foreign language instruction at the
high school level. International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching 5 (1):
21-24.
Acquisition of Spanish subjunctive: Stokes, J., Krashen, S.,
and Kartchner, J. 1998. Factors in the acquisition of the present subjunctive
in Spanish: The role of reading and study. ITL: Review of Applied Linguistics
121-122:19-25.
Highly successful second language acquirers often experience
a substantial “silent period”; Krashen, S. 2000. What does it take to acquire
language? ESL Magazine, 3(3), 22-23. (available at http:www. sdkrashen.com)
Cultures in which a silent period is expected: Sorenson, A.
1967. Multilingualism in the northwest Amazon. American Anthropologist, 69 (6),
670-684.
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