Factors Affecting Language Learning and English as a Second Language(ESL) |
Posted: January 13, 2018 |
Introduction The objective of teaching any subject is to create desirable value for the learners. The aims that language teachers may have can be varied, i.e. they may be more focused on teaching the life lessons and other values related to them or they just focus on the use of language as a medium and teach only grammatical, linguistic or communicative parts without actually looking at any of the literature that is there in that language. So, which method is good; which is bad? which should be adopted and which should not be adopted? These questions are irrelevant without any context and even invalid. Different viewpoints can be gotten from the following words of the famous authors. There are teachers who might emphasise on literature as it is interesting and once the pupils are attached to it, they get connected to the language by default. They cannot escape the inescapable - the learning of the language in the process of reading literature and making sense out of it. The following words of Michael Cadnum make a point in this regard, “I take a real interest in the possibilities of teaching - including the practice of bringing creative writing, and serious reading, into the classroom. I am persuaded that since language is alive, much of the challenge has already been met by the poets and novelists we read.” There are others for whom the concept of the process is more complex than this and must be deal in a way that makes sense to a scientific researcher or the one who is keen to get all the analogies related to the process. They want to copy the natural processes but later on realise the contradiction such processes pose. Most of these people are those who try some self-devised methods on themselves and come up with the things that work and doesn’t work for them. The frustration mounts when these processesdo not get even close to the natural ones. David Sedaris makes a point in this regard in his endeavour to learn French and shares what it was like for him. “I'd hoped the language might come on its own, the way it comes to babies, but people don't talk to foreigners the way they talk to babies. They don't hypnotize you with bright objects and repeat the same words over and over, handing out little treats when you finally say "potty" or "wawa." It got to the point where I'd see a baby in the bakery or grocery store and instinctively ball up my fists, jealous over how easy he had it. I wanted to lie in a French crib and start from scratch, learning the language from the ground floor up. I wanted to be a baby, but instead, I was an adult who talked like one, a spooky man-child demanding more than his fair share of attention.
So, the processes and their effectiveness is controversial, on a personal scale at least, as every learner as well as every teacher is different and finds joy in doing different activities (that is what makes us human beings, isn’t it?) Therefore, what matters is the end result or the effect that learning a second language leaves on the learners. It is something that can be used to measure the success or failure of learning a language. The only thing that remains, then, is the evaluation of the end result, i.e. effect, experience and the utility.
Why English as a Second Language? The use of English as the international language has been pointed out so many times that it has become a cliché. But, the fact has to be told even it is obvious, sometimes just for the transition to the next level of reasoning that we are to build upon the fact itself. There are many reasons of the English becoming the international language that it is. It is a related topic and a very relevant discussion related to it can be found here: <The Expansion of English Language as the Language of Research and Science> Science and technology are what drives the world of today and it is driven by the English language. Many freely available research papers and essays online are in English language. Apart from it, globalization which too is made possible using science and technology prompts many to learn more than one language, especially those who intend to make an international career in any field of work. The above points are emphasized and well presented in the words of Robin Sacredfire, “Here's a resume of crucial knowledge you should have in today's world but universities are not providing: Financial - Not just on management, but also on how to profit, how to manage and control flows of income; Linguistic - In today's world, speaking only a language is proof of lack of education. Knowing two languages is a basic necessity, and knowing three languages is essential, while knowing four is merely the ideal situation. Which four languages? Chinese, English, Spanish, and another of your choice, just for fun; Intellectual - It's not about what you know; it’s all about how you think about what you know. Therefore, it's ridiculous to think that thereis only one answer and one way to examine our life. Most students are extremely dumb because they lack the ability to educate themselves, despite their certificates or where they’ve studied. They never read with an intention in mind. And as they graduate, they become completely futile as individuals. This situation is the same all over the world. Millions are graduating every year, without any significant knowledge to live with. Their books are often outdated once they graduate and they're unable to learn by themselves and develop the necessary skills to adjust to the economic society in which we live. Maybe they can keep a job for 3 or 5 years of their life, but then are surprised to lose it and never finding a suitable job again. The world is changing very fast and most people can’t or are unwilling to recognize this fact.” What influences a learner and shapes the learning process of a second language? Why English is the most preferred second language? Before we talk about the factors, it important to make a distinction between language learning and language acquisition and to remove the confusion in terminology that is used by most of the authors. Language acquisition and language learning are not similar and cannot be used interchangeably as some of the people might think. The acquisition is used to refer to innate ability or competence of language learning in human beings. From the times of Sanskrit grammarians to the modern critics who developed empirical methods of assessment, the idea of theinnate ability of language learning is being discussed and its process is meditated upon in various hypothetical scenarios. Think of language learning as a conscious and acquisition as a sub-conscious process of language learning. For example, authors such as Krashen uses the term for internalizing, “Language acquisition is a subconscious process; while it is happening we are not aware that it is happening, and the competence developed this way is stored in the brain subconsciously.” Many relate the concept to a universal grammar, as in the words of Charles Yang “The study of universal grammar is a joint venture between globetrotting theoreticians who worry about impossible grammars and laboratory experimentalists who put young children through these impossible grammars. Perhaps, as in physics, one of these days there will be a grand unified theory of universal grammar. Linguistics today is where physics was in the age of Galileo and Kepler. The collection of principles may one day be replaced by one powerful principle - perhaps just the principle of recursion. that underlies them all. Universal grammar is still waiting for its Newton and Einstein. Whatever it turns out to be, its job its to keep children on the right track to their language.” However, both these processes are related to learning and not teaching particularly as they can occur with or without a classroom in the setting. So, it is generally perceived and agreed that the subject of language acquisition is a matter of more research. Let us then focus on the external and tangible factors for now. Before we move on, let us look at the definition of language by various thinkers. Bloch and Trager (1942): “A language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which a social group co-operates”. Noam Chomsky (1957): “Language is a set of finite number sentences, each finite in length and constructed out of a finite set of elements” Michael Halliday (2003): “A language is a system of meaning- a semiotic system” MuharremErgin (1990): “Language is a natural means to enable communication among people, a living entity that it has its own peculiar laws, by means of which alone can it develop, a system of contracts whose foundation was laid in times unknown, and a social institution interwoven with sounds”. The need to learn and use the language is one of the factors, but for the purpose of analysis, we take it as granted in different individuals. It is one of the things that we can say is not measurable. Brainpower – This is one of the factors that affect not only the second language learning but each and every aspect of one’s life. Some people are slow learners while others learn a thing pretty quickly IQ and Intelligence is an individual factor that plays an important role in learning a second language. “The more intelligent a person is, the more observant he is and the more able to assign and understand meaning” (Ausubel 1978: 25). Attitude - “Savignon (1976) is correct when she says ‘Attitude is the single most important factor in second language learning.’ We might even suggest that one characteristic of the ideal second language class is one in which aptitude will not predict differences in student achievement (S. Sapon, personal communication), because efficient acquisition is taking place for all students.” – Krashen, 1981 Methods and strategies - There are many methods and strategies that a student or a teacher have to choose from to tackle a particular problem they encounter in second language learning. Their choices and how they make those choices affect their learning directly. According to Krashen“In both first and second language development, students who participate in classes that include in-school self-selected reading programs (known as sustained silent reading) typically outperform comparison students, especially when the duration of treatment is longer than an academic year.” “Research conducted since the early 1990s has shown that traditional approaches to teaching grammar that involve the use of mechanical, meaningful and communicative drills do not foster acquisition in the way that practice [listening/reading] with structured input does.” — VanPatten (2013) Time – If you are up to learn anything new, you have to spend time for it in the first place. Students and learners were never so busy as they are these days. Assignments tasks keep them busy, social media keeps them engaged and only a few other things can get time. Sometimes, they opt for online assignment help to get time for other things. “Our research shows that after 630 to 720 hours of instruction, or about midway through the fourth year of study, approximately 14% of students can read at the Intermediate-Mid level or better. Approximately 16% can write and 6% can speak at this level.” – Center for Applied Second Language Studies, 2010. Carrol keeps time above other things such as age in affecting the competence in learning a second language. However, Harley points out towards various studies or researches that establish that only time does not ensure the proficiency in a second language. Conclusion – There are many factors that affect the learning of a second language and not any one of them can be singled out as more effective than the others. A combination of these factors may be a single factor for someone. As said before, each individual is different and these individual differences play an important and effective role in how one learns a second language. Also, there are many factors that cannot be measured and need more empirical research. It has been established by various studies and researchers that many factors such as intelligence, attitude, methods and strategies and time play an important role. Apart from these, personality factors such as motivation and self-esteem also decide one’s effectiveness in learning a language. In the end, most convincing and less arguable factors are those which can be measured such as time, method, mother tongue influence, language spoken at home, language used in school etc.
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