Adult Foreign Language Learning Children Acquire a Native Language Children acquire their native language when they begin to understand simple phrases. Adults talk to children with baby talk. Soon, the children begin to babble the sounds of their simple thoughts. As children mature, they absorb the basics of the spoken language and begin to coherently express their thoughts. Without learning grammar, children begin to use words, phrases, and sentences to communicate logical and complex thoughts. They assume that their native language is the only way to communicate. These assumptions are not learned but acquired. These assumptions, however, will later become burdensome for adults who attempt to learn a non-native language. Children Learn a Native Language After children acquire the assumptions of their native language, they enter school and begin to learn how to read their native language. As children advance in their education, they must learn how to write. At his point, they must learn grammar rules. Thus, while children acquire the ability to speak and comprehend their native language, they must learn how to read and write the standard version of their native language. Although some children will grow up and live the rest of their lives without ever learning the standard grammar of their native language, they will still be able to communicate effectively through the spoken language because the spoken language was acquired, not learned. However, they may have trouble communicating with adults who do not share the same native language. Native Linguistic Assumptions Language is a shared set of assumptions of the subjective meaning of sounds people utter and symbols they scribble. By themselves, those sounds and symbols mean nothing, but when people share the same assumptions of the meaning of those sounds and symbols, the people effectively communicate. For instance, if I utter a series of sounds, intending to share a thought, and you hear the same series of sounds and assume that they mean exactly what I intended them to mean, then we have effectively communicated with the spoken language. Likewise, if you scribble or type some symbols in the form of words with the intent of sharing a thought, and I look at those symbols and assume that it means what you meant to share, then we have effectively communicated with the written language. We are able to communicate only because we share linguistic assumptions of similar sounds and symbols. In other words, we communicate using the same language. When people do not share similar linguistic assumptions, they are not able to communicate with language. Adults who strive to learn a non-native language must develop a new set of linguistic assumptions that the native speakers of that language share among themselves. These linguistic assumptions include not only the single words but also the way those words are arranged inside the phrase or sentence and how the words should sound when spoken. Thus, adult foreign language learners must learn the grammar and syntax of the foreign language if they hope to learn how to properly communicate in the language. Unlike children who develop their native language as they acquire their first set of assumptions, adults must learn a new set of assumptions that will differ from their old, native linguistic assumptions they acquired as children. This language learning journey includes lessons on grammar and syntax early on in the learning process. Adults Learning a Non-native Language Unlike children who have an uncluttered mind ready to absorb a native language like a dry sponge, adults already think in their native language. They have cluttered their minds with the understanding of their native language. They assume that the natural way to communicate is through their native language. When they try to learn a new foreign language, the assumptions they acquired as children clog their minds, making learning the new language frustrating and confusing, especially for those learners who try to acquire the new language instead of learning the language. The Different Categories of a Language Linguistic languages (as opposed to computer languages) can be divided into two categories, the written language, and the spoken language. These categories can be further divided into two subcategories, input and output. Thus, learning a language can be divided into four subcategories. The Written Language The input of the written language The output of the written language The input of the written language is reading text because the learner absorbs input from the written language. The output of the written language is creating the text to communicate a message. The Spoken Language The input of the spoken language The output of the spoken language The output of the spoken language is the series of sounds the speaker makes with the voice box and muscles in the mouth to communicate a message. The input of the spoken language is the listener’s understanding of the series of sounds the speaker makes. The Giver/Receiver Relationship Understanding communication as a Giver/Receiver relationship will help with the learning process of a non-native language. The Giver is the creator of the text who shares, or outputs the information in a message, and the Receiver is the audience who takes in the information in the message. The Giver shares information with the Receivers, and when the Receivers respond to this information, they become the Givers, sharing additional information with those who were the original Givers. This Giver/Receiver relationship can be simple or complicated. For an example of a simple Giver/Receiver relationship, consider the following simple email conversation. Mr. Smith Sends Email: Dear Miss Jones, A meeting will be scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 PM. Will you be able to attend? Miss Jones Replies: Yes, I will attend the meeting. Mr. Smith Replies: Great! I will see you then. In this scenario, Mr. Smith teaches Miss Jones that a meeting is scheduled and that he wants to know if she will attend the meeting. Miss Jones learns the content of Mr. Smith’s message and responds, or teaches Mr. Smith that she will attend the meeting. Mr. Smith learns the content of Mr. Smith’s simple message and teaches Miss Jones that he is grateful for her attendance. Since both Mr. Smith and Miss Jones share the same assumptions concerning the meaning of the set of written symbols, the communication is effective. The Giver/Receiver relationship extends into the spoken language. The speaker is the Giver of the spoken information while the listener is the Receiver of the spoken information. When the Receiver replies, he or she becomes the Giver of the information in the response. The following simple example of spoken content will help with this understanding: MR SMITH: Hello, Miss Jones. How are you doing? MISS JONES: I am doing fine, Mr. Smith. How are you doing? MR SMITH: It is such a beautiful day, don’t you think? MISS JONES: I agree. It is a lovely day! Mr. Smith is the Giver who gives Miss Jones information that he wants to start a casual conversation. Miss Jones receives the spoken information and then then responds and gives Mr. Smith inbformation that she is also willing to engage in a casual conversation. As the conversation continues, Mr. Smith gives Miss Jones information that he thinks this the day is beautiful. Miss Jones receives what Mr. Smith gives her and then gives Mr. Smith spoken information that she agrees with this message. Receivers Adults who wish to acquire a new language should start as Receivers of the non-native written language. That is to say, they need to learn how to read and understand simple text. They see the written text with their eyes and receive the meaning of the information with their learned minds. If they only receive the words with their eyes but do not understand the meaning of the symbols, they can look up the words in their dictionaries (or use google translate tool) and review the rules on grammar and syntax. Once they have gained an understanding of the written text, then they have learned a new assumption of the non-native language. Next, if the learners gain a basic understand of how words are pronounced in the non-native language, then they can listen to the written text read by a native speaker. Videos and audio files are readily available for such learning experiences. Once the beginning-learners gains an understanding of the language phonics (as opposed to pronounciation), then the learners will be able to create an mental sound of the words, phrases and symbols. If the learners then listen to the audio form of the information while reading the text that they can recognize with their eyes, then they become receivers of the non-native spoken language. By learning the basic vocabulary and grammar rules, the learner will be able to recognize simple thoughts in text format. The written language is easier to learn for the beginners because the symbols (letters, words, phrases, clauses, and sentences) are static. As the beginning learners read the symbols, they can take more time to learn the meaning of those symbols. With the written language, the learner chooses the speed at which the message is delivered. The learner may read slower or faster, depending on various factors such as complexity of content, or level of expertise from the learner. On the other hand, with the spoken language, the giver chooses the speed of delivery of the message. Once the sounds are made, the learners will need to be able to process those sounds and match them to the new assumptions they develop in their studies of the new language. If the learners develop the new assumptions through the study of the written language, then they will be more able to learn how to recognize with the ears what they have learned to recognize with the eyes. Thus, adults who strive to acquire new language skills should begin learning the input of the written language. The Input of the New Language The language learning process must begin with the alphabet. Letters make words, and without words, there is no language. While many languages share similar alphabets, most alphabets differ to some degree. In addition, although the letters may look the same, their actual sounds often differ. Thus, the learners will need to develop a basic understanding of phonetics. The letters of the alphabet relate to sounds. Some languages have letters that correspond to only one sound while others have letters with various sounds. The vowels in English, for example, can be open or closed, or long or short. In some languages, the stress on a particular syllable is important to the meaning of the word. These assumptions of the new language must be learned even at the written-input stage of the learning journey. The learner must grasp the relationship of letters, syllables, and words they will make. How words should sound in the mind constituents the study of phonetics. This is a mental action performed with the eyes. Creating those sounds with the voice box is the practice of pronunciation. This is a physical as well as a mental process that will be developed in the output of the spoken language learning experience. Nevertheless, the phonics learning process moves the learners into the spoken language level. Vocabulary This is a good time to learn common terms like the days of the week and the months and seasons of the year. Beginning learners will not need a large vocabulary. That will come as they live and learn. However, they will need to learn grammar, and the aforementioned vocabulary will give the learners enough nouns to start learning the verbs. Parts of Speech Not all words perform the same function. Nouns, for instance, are people, places and things. Verbs are actions. They go good with nouns because the nouns perform the action of the verb and create a complete thought. Input of the Spoken Language After developing assumptions in the new language about the sounds the letters and words are supposed to make, the learners will be ready to develop new assumptions with their ears and audio part of their brain. At this point, the learners will need to employ audio files. The learners shall read some simple text, study the vocabulary and grammar, and then play an audio file while trying to follow along. This practice will allow the learners to train their ears to recognize what the eyes can identify. At this stage, the learners will have developed basic skills of the input of the new language. They will be able to read simple text and understand when the same text is spoken. As the text becomes more complex, the learners’ input languaging skills will grow stronger. The Onput of the New Language Once the learners have developed the ability to read the written language and understand the spoken language, they will be ready to grow from a receiver to a giver of the new language. They should first learn how to correctly write the language. Writing the new language will give the learners the opportunity to refine their ability to correctly correctly communicate with the new language. No time constraints burden the learners as they think of the correct way to consruct the sentences. As they construct new sentences with the knowledge they have learned, they can examine the structure and receive feedback from tutors or other learners. Once the learners have developed the ability to correctly construct sentences in the new language, they will become Givers of the written language. At this point, they wiull be ready to progress to the next and final stage of the learning process. They will become Givers of the spoken language. ©Derreck Sunderland