It has been a
while since my last blog but things
have been busier than usual. Every year during my university’s spring break, I
conduct an experimental language training program over a two-week period then
drag the participants abroad to see if they can function onsite in the language
they have been studying. This year it was Korean with eight of my students (six
Japanese and two Chinese) testing their communication skills in Seoul , Kongju and Taejeon. They did a great
job and loved every minute of both the study sessions and overseas testing – or
at least this is what they all told me during debriefings.
This year the
group did exceptionally well for two likely reasons. First, Korean is structured
like Japanese and has lots of loan
words from Chinese, which meant this year’s target language was probably more comfortable for the learners than last year’s Khmer or the Turkish course
of the year before.
On the other
hand, I suspect another reason is critical to
the success of this year’s group. Before commencing the classroom course,
everyone studied Korean online for approximately three hours using the free Starter course on my language
learning website, www.sulantra.com.
As a result, everyone had the same basic input of the target language, which
meant there were no “higher level” students to undermine the confidence of the real beginners.
Thanks to this
online introduction, participants entered the first class with the skills to clarify and actively
interact with the instructor. The teacher, also one of my students, was very surprised at everyone’s ability to “control” classroom
interactions (see blog entries
27
and 28 for details of the
“Control” behavioral model). And all of the participants passed the onsite
tests in Korea with flying colors, using public
transportation to get around and completing a range of tasks, such as bargaining
in the marketplace, ordering meals in small local restaurants, and finding their way back to the
guesthouse where we all stayed.
There are a large number of language training approaches,
both online and off, each with strengths and weaknesses. My own
methodology is a hybrid, tested over many years with all types of learners in a
range of languages. I call it Action-Based Language Empowerment, or ABLE . Why does this ABLE approach work so well? The system
combines elements that I have found most attractive as a learner of languages,
while carefully avoiding those that I stumbled over on the road to becoming
conversant in other tongues.
Most
of the components are very
logical but often overlooked in the classroom or in online courses that seem to have sprung
from a traditional textbook format.
First and
foremost is the focus of a training course. I know from my own experience learning languages in high
school that grammar turns me off. When a teacher starts drawing tables and
making speeches about syntax, it feels like I have accidentally stumbled into a
Physics class. Great if you enjoy the subject matter, hell if you don’t. For my
language
courses, I always focus on
practical application. What does the learner need to accomplish? Is the goal to
take a trip or work in a factory? This mindset began with work I did with
immigrants to my homeland, Canada , and persists
today (see blog entries 14, 17 and 18). I always collect student input on course content
and do my utmost to make sure at least some of their goals are being met.
Relevance ensures interest.
Next, I
structure the course in a spiral with information being constantly recycled and
expanded. Time to pontificate. Most language training in schools and
online is based on a textbook-style
format. What this means is that the class material is presented as a thematic unit, for example, “Unit 1: Self
Introductions”. The problem with this chapter-by-chapter approach is that, by
the time you reach Unit 3, you have forgotten Units 1 and 2! And if the course contains lists of disconnected vocabulary and
grammatical patterns to memorize, the learning process can become even more frustrating. Inefficient and
definitely not fun. Sadly, despite the obvious limitations, many language
learning sites follow this same “tried-and-trashed” lesson arrangement because
it is familiar.
But there is one final component that is never built into a language
training course for absolute beginners: communication strategies. Asking
someone to repeat, speak more slowly or clarify, is never introduced to
absolute beginners because the “language is too difficult”. This is true if you
are looking at sentence structures, but not if you introduce key expressions as
“chunks” (technically referred to as “formulaic language”). The question “How
do you say this?” is great for picking up the words you need in a specific
context and can be taught to beginners from the first day of a course if it is
introduced as a single unit, one long word that can be blurted out when the
need arises. This is how a child learns his or her first language. And this is
how key language is introduced in an ABLE course, as well as online at www.sulantra.com.
The great thing
about the ABLE approach is that learners are exposed to core language at regular
intervals and by the end of a relatively short study period, either in
class or online, have the
ability to negotiate meaning on the streets of a foreign city. The learner’s stance is aggressive – no matter how low
the level, participants in my courses can intervene, clarify,
understand and complete specific tasks when we are abroad. Maybe they are not making
speeches at the UN (yet) but they can certainly communicate and get the job
done!
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