THEORIES OF LEARNING

General Issues in Language Learning and Language Teaching

FOREWORD
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a BEHAVIOURISM
lifetime.
In 19th century the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov discovered classical conditioning while
(Chinese proverb)
studying digestion. He found that dogs automatically salivate at the sight of food—an unconditioned
The starting point for all language teaching should be an understanding of how people learn.
response to an unconditioned stimulus. If Pavlov always rang a bell when he offered food, the dogs
But it is too often the case that 'learning' factors are the last to be considered. ESP has been particularly
began slowly to associate this irrelevant (conditioned) stimulus with the food. Eventually the sound of
guilty in this regard. As we saw in the previous chapter, the overwhelming weight of emphasis in ESP
the bell alone could elicit salivation. Hence, the dogs had learned to associate a certain cue with food.
research and materials has been on language analysis. Learning factors, if considered at all, are
Behaviorists see salivation as a simple reflex behavior.
incorporated only after the language base has been analysed and systematised (see Munby, 1978 p.
The most forceful leader of behaviorism was B. F. Skinner, an American psychologist who began
217). We have, in effect, been more concerned with arriving than with the journey.
studying animal learning in the 1930s. Based on his experiments with rats and pigeons, Skinner
Yet, language can only be properly understood as a reflection of human thought processes.
identified a number of basic principles of learning. He claimed that these principles explained not only
Language learning is conditioned by the way in which the mind observes, organises and stores
the behavior of laboratory animals, but also accounted for how human beings learn new behaviors or
information. In other words, the key to successful language learning and teaching lies not in the analysis
change existing behaviors. He concluded that nearly all behavior is shaped by complex patterns of
of the nature of language but in understanding the structure and processes of the mind. Unfortunately,
reinforcement in a person‘s environment.
we still know too little about how people learn. Nevertheless, if we wish to improve the techniques,
Strict behaviorists hold that all behavior, even breathing and the circulation of blood, is learned;
methods and content of language teaching, we must try and base what we do in the classroom on
they believe that animals are, in effect, born as blank slates upon which chance and experience are to
sound principles of learning.
write their messages. Through conditioning, they believe, an animal‘s behavior is formed.
Developments in learning theory have followed a similar pattern to those in language descriptions, and
Skinner presented his vision of a behaviorist utopia, in which socially adaptive behaviors are
each has had some effect on the other. But, if we are to see the importance of each for language
maintained by rewards, or positive reinforcements.
teaching, it is best to consider the theories relating to language and learning separately. As with
In an article published in the early part of the twentieth century, two psychologists, Watson and
language descriptions, we shall describe the main developments in theories of how learners learn and
Raynor, reported the results of an experiment they had carried out with a young boy called Albert
relate each to the needs of the ESP learner and teacher.
(Watson and Raynor 1920). When he was nine months old they discovered that the easiest way to
Until the twentieth century there was no coherent theory of learning available to the language
frighten him was to make a loud noise by striking a steel bar with a hammer. At various intervals over
teacher. Certainly there were empirical observations, such as Comenius' studies made in the sixteenth
the next three months they frightened Albert in this way while he was in the presence of various animals
century and the precepts of the Direct Method at the end of the nineteenth century (see e.g. Stem,
(a rat, a rabbit, and a dog). The result was that after three months Albert showed fear when confronted
1983). But no coherent theory of learning emerged until psychology had been established as a
with these animals even when the noise was not made, and furthermore, showed unease when a fur
respectable subject of scientific enquiry in the early twentieth century. We can identify five main stages
coat was put in front of him. Pleased with their progress, the scientists then proposed to continue their
of development since then, which are of relevance to the modern language teacher (see Littlewood,
experiment by turning the young baby's fear back to pleasure but they were unable to do so because,
1984, for an excellent survey of theories of learning).
unsurprisingly, Albert was withdrawn from the experiment by his parents.
Despite its age Watson and Raynor's experiment is of more than academic interest because the
'conditioning' it demonstrated - and the way that such research into conditioning led on to the theory
of Behaviourism - had a profound effect upon teaching of all kinds. This is especially true of language
teaching where, arguably, Behaviourism still exerts a powerful influence.
To a modern sensibility Watson and Raynor's work with poor little Albert seems extraordinarily
unethical, yet they were merely substituting a human being for the various animals who were
conditioned to behave in certain ways. Pavlov's dogs, after all, were trained/conditioned to salivate
2 when they heard a bell even if food was not produced.

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General Issues in Language Learning and Language Teaching General Issues in Language Learning and Language Teaching

In Behaviourist theory, conditioning is the result of a three-stage procedure: stimulus,

response, and reinforcement. For example, in a classic experiment, when a light goes on (the
stimulus) a rat goes up to a bar and presses it (the response) and is rewarded by the dropping of a
tasty food pellet at its feet (the reinforcement). If this procedure is repeated often enough, the arrival
of the food pellet as a reward reinforces the rat's actions to such an extent that it will always press the
bar when the light comes on. It has learnt a new behaviour in other words.
In a book called Verbal Behaviour the psychologist Bernard Skinner suggested that much the
same process happens in language learning, especially first language learning (Skinner 1957). The baby
needs food so it cries and food is produced. Later the infant swaps crying for one- or two-word
utterances to produce the same effect, and because words are more precise than cries he or she
gradually learns to refine the words to get exactly what is wanted. In this Behaviourist view of learning
a similar stimulus-response-reinforcement pattern occurs with humans as with rats or any other animal
that can be conditioned in the same kind of way.
Learning a foreign language as an adult may be very different from the baby's acquisition of a
mother tongue, but many methodologists supposed that Behaviourist principles could still apply. As we
shall see in the next part of the book, Audio-lingual methodology depended quite heavily on stimulus,
response, and reinforcement, and much controlled practice that still takes place in classrooms all over
the world can trace its heritage back to the influence of Behaviourism.

Richards & Bycina (1984) ‘Person to person’. Book 1. OUP

Richards & Bycina (1984) ‗Person to person‘. Book 1. OUP

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General Issues in Language Learning and Language Teaching General Issues in Language Learning and Language Teaching

2. Michel: Mummy, I‘m hiccing up and I can‘t stop.

Michel has heard many two-word verbs with up, such as ‗standing up‘ and ‗picking up‘. On
MENTALISM / COGNITIVISM that basis, his generalization is perfectly sensible.

At Lucy‘s twelfth birthday party; toasts were proposed with grape juice in stemmed glasses.
Father: I‘d like to propose a toast.
After a long period without a toast, David raised his glass
3. David: I‘d like to propose a piece of bread.
David is fascinated by the party and the strange new event of lifting glasses. He is
concentrating so hard on the gesture and the formulaic expression: I‘d like to propose…. that he fails
to realize that the word he already know -‘toast‘ – is not the same toast and can‘t be replaced which is
its near – synonym in other context – a piece of bread.

4. Mother: I love you to pieces.

David: I love you three pieces.
What does ‗to pieces‘ mean anyway? At least two pieces would give some indication of how much
she loves me! So David increases the quantity of love Three pieces !

5. Randall Are dogs can wiggle their tails?

6. Randall You took all the towels away because I can‘t dry my hands.
Number (5) and (6) are both examples of systematic misuse of basic sentence construction

Traditional behaviorists believed that language learning is the result of imitation, practice, which has not been fully acquired.

feedback on success, and habit formation. Children imitate the sounds and patterns which they hear (5) Randal is in stage of forming questions. He has concluded that the trick of asking questions

around them and receive positive reinforcement (which could take the form of praise or just successful is to put a certain word at the beginning of the sentence. Other examples from this stage of his

communication) for doing so. Thus encouraged by their environment, they continue to imitate and development include: ‗Are those are my boots?‘ and ‗Are this is hot? ‘

practice these sounds and patterns until they form ‗habit‘ of correct language use. (e.g, Mother: Would (6) He means ‘I can‘t dry my hands because you took all the towels away‘. He has made a

you like some bread and peanut butter? Katie: Some bread and peanut butter.) According to this view, mistake about which clause comes first. Children at this stage tend to state events in the order of their

the quality and quantity of the language which the child hears, as well as the consistency of the occurrence. In this case, the towels disappeared before Randall attempted to dry his hands, so that

reinforcement offered by others in the environment, should have an effect on the child‘s success in what he says first. He doesn‘t understand how a word like ‗before‘ or ‘because‘ can change that order

language learning. But do imitation and practice account for how children learn all other aspects of their around.

native language? Their acquisition of the more complex grammatical structure of the language requires The almost fatal attack on Behaviourism, when it came, was by the then-little-known linguist

a different sort of explanation. Noam Chomsky who wrote a review of Skinner's book (Chomsky 1959). His objection centred on the

OVER GENERALIZATIONS following conundrum: if all language is learnt behaviouristly, how come children and adults frequently

Following are the illustrations: say things they have never heard before? How on earth would it be possible to create whole new

Randal had a little bump on his hand and his mother said that they‘d have to take him to the doctor. sentences in conversation and poetry, for example, if all language behaviour has been conditioned into

1. Randal: Why? So he can doc my little bump? us? The fact that we can do these things is the result of having a mental ability to process what we

Randal forms the verb ‗doc‘ from the noun ‗doctor‘, by analogy with farmers who farm, hear, channelling it through the language-processing parts of our brain where rules in some way reside,

swimmers who swim, and actors who act. and where all input adds more information for the better functioning of that processor. This is what
stops us from being the mere repeaters, the almost-robots, that Behaviourist principles would seem to
describe us as.

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General Issues in Language Learning and Language Teaching General Issues in Language Learning and Language Teaching

Chomsky theorised that all children are born with some kind of language processor - a 'black a nylon tent a towel
box' or 'language acquisition device' - which allowed them to formulate rules of language based on the a camera and five rolls of film a pencil and paper
input they received. The mind, in other words, contains 'blueprints for grammatical rules' (Pinker Work with your partner. You have 8 minutes.‘
1994:43). Once these rules have been activated, the potential for creativity follows. This would suggest Step 2. Students present their solutions and defend their choices against the others‘
that for learners of second languages a methodology based on Behaviourism is not adequate. It is not arguments.
enough just to teach students 'good' habits: they also need to be given input which will allow their Remarks: There is of course, no correct solution to the task in this exercise. It should be seen as a
'processors' to work. They should also be given opportunities for creative language use both in language lighthearted activity which will help provide an element of imagination and fun in the foreign language
production and in the processing of written and spoken text. class.
Despite such reservations about Behaviourism and its influence on language teaching,
controlled practice and the use of the Stimulus-Response-Reinforcement model is still widely used and 2. Balloon debate (Advanced)
at least one writer was recentiy prepared to say that: In this kind of debate, there are no teams. Instead, each speaker represents a type of job or
We have to admit that some behaviourist principles as applied to foreign language learning were not occupation. Usually there are five speakers – for example, a doctor, a lawyer, a farmer, a housewife,
so far off the mark. and a teacher.
From A Bruton (1998:20) Preparation: Picture of a gas balloon.

Implication of Mentalism: In classroom, teachers can help students learn more easily by Step 1: teacher introduces the debate like this:

showing them rules and let them have a go on their own. Making up their own sentences is the objective. Before airplanes were invented it was possible to travel through the air using a gas balloon. The large

Whereas the behaviourist theory of learning portrayed the learner as a passive receiver of part above was full of gas which kept the balloon in the air. The people were in a large basket

information, the cognitive view takes the learner to be an active processor of information (see e.g. underneath, sometimes known as a gondola. The balloon needs to be full of gas in order to remain in

Ausubel et al., 1978). Learning and using a rule require learners to think, that is, to apply their mental the air.

powers in order to distil a workable generative rule from the mass of data presented, and then to analyse Step 2: the five characters and the audience are asked to imagine that they are in gas balloon

the situations where the application of the rule would be useful or appropriate. Learning, then, is a moving through the sky. Unfortunately the gas is leaking and the balloon‘s load has to be lightened.

process in which the learner actively tries to make sense of data, and learning can be said to have taken This can only be done by throwing one person out.

place when the learner has managed to impose some sort of meaningful interpretation or pattern on Step 3: The five speakers go to the front. As a first stage, each one speaks for three minutes

the data. This may sound complex, but in simple terms what it means is that we learn by thinking about explaining to the audience why they particularly should not be thrown out.

and trying to make sense of what we see, feel and hear. Step 4: After they have all spoken, the audience votes by writing the name of the person they

The basic teaching technique associated with a cognitive theory of language learning is the think is the least useful to the world on a small piece of paper. After counting the votes, the one found

problem-solving task. In ESP such exercises have often been modelled on activities associated with the to be least useful is sent back to the audience, leaving four.

learners' subject specialism. Here are some examples of Problem-Solving tasks: Step 5: these four are then given three minutes each to speak against each other. The audience

1. Desert island (Intermediate) votes again. One more is thrown out, leaving three.

Step 1: The teacher tells the class about the situation and set the task: Step 6: These three are now questioned by the audience, who can either ask them individual

‗You are stranded on a desert island in the Pacific. All you have is the swim- suit and sandals you questions or put the same questions to them all. Again, the audience votes, and they are reduced to

are wearing. There is food and water on the island but nothing else. Here is a list of things you may two.

find useful. Choose the eight most useful items and rank them in order of usefulness. Step 7: for the final round, the two remaining candidates are allowed to speak once more,

a box of matches ointment for cuts and burns before a final vote is held to find the winner.

a magnifying glass a saucepan Note: Remember to emphasize that the audience should vote on good points and on good speaking,

an axe a knife and fork not according to the opinion they held already. For instance, the best ‗housewife‘ may actually be a

a bottle of whisky 20 meters of nylon rope man!

an atlas a blanket
a transistor radio with batteries a watch

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General Issues in Language Learning and Language Teaching General Issues in Language Learning and Language Teaching

Constructivism ...
 emphasises learning and not teaching
CONSTRUCTIVISM 

 encourages and accepts learner autonomy and initiative
 sees learners as creatures of will and purpose

Definition  thinks of learning as a process

Constructivism is a philosophy of learning founded on the premise that, by reflecting on our  encourages learner inquiry

experiences, we construct our own understanding of the world we live in. Each of us generates our own  acknowledges the critical role of experience in learning

―rules‖ and ―mental models,‖ which we use to make sense of our experiences. Learning, therefore, is  nurtures learners natural curiosity

simply the process of adjusting our mental models to accommodate new experiences.  takes the learner's mental model into account

In the Constructivist theory the emphasis is placed on the learner or the student rather than  emphasises performance and understanding when assessing learning

the teacher or the instructor. It is the learner who interacts with objects and events and thereby gains  bases itself on the principles of the cognitive theory

an understanding of the features held by such objects or events. The learner, therefore, constructs  makes extensive use of cognitive terminology such as predict, create and analyze

his/her own conceptualizations and solutions to problems. Learner autonomy and initiative is accepted  considers how the student learns

and encouraged.  encourages learners to engage in dialogue with other students and the teacher

Constructivists view learning as the result of mental construction. Students learn by fitting new  supports co-operative learning

information together with what they already know. People learn best when they actively construct their  involves learners in real world situations

own understanding.  emphasises the context in which learning takes place

In constructivist thinking learning is also affected by the context and the beliefs and attitudes  considers the beliefs and attitudes of the learner

of the learner. Learners are encouraged to invent their own solutions and to try out ideas and  provides learners the opportunity to construct new knowledge and understanding from
authentic experience
hypotheses. They are given the opportunity to build on prior knowledge.
There are many different schools of thought within this theory, all of which fall within the same
How Constructivism Impacts Learning
basic assumption about learning. The main two are social constructivism and cognitive constructivism.
Today constructivist teaching is based on recent research about the human brain and what is
Curriculum–Constructivism calls for the elimination of a standardized curriculum. Instead, it
promotes using curricula customized to the students‘ prior knowledge. Also, it emphasizes hands-on
known about how learning occurs.
problem solving.
Principles Instruction–Under the theory of constructivism, educators focus on making connections
1. Learning is a search for meaning. Therefore, learning must start with the issues around which between facts and fostering new understanding in students. Instructors tailor their teaching strategies
students are actively trying to construct meaning. to student responses and encourage students to analyze, interpret, and predict information. Teachers
2. Meaning requires understanding wholes as well as parts. And parts must be understood in the also rely heavily on open-ended questions and promote extensive dialogue among students.
context of wholes. Therefore, the learning process focuses on primary concepts, not isolated Assessment–Constructivism calls for the elimination of grades and standardized testing.
facts. Instead, assessment becomes part of the learning process so that students play a larger role in judging
3. In order to teach well, we must understand the mental models that students use to perceive their own progress.
the world and the assumptions they make to support those models.
4. The purpose of learning is for an individual to construct his or her own meaning, not just
memorize the ―right‖ answers and regurgitate someone else‘s meaning. Since education is
inherently interdisciplinary, the only valuable way to measure learning is to make the
assessment part of the learning process, ensuring it provides students with information on the
quality of their learning.
To summarise:

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General Issues in Language Learning and Language Teaching General Issues in Language Learning and Language Teaching

AFFECTIVE FACTORS The relationship between the cognitive and emotional aspects of learning is, therefore, one of
vital importance to the success or otherwise of a language learning experience. This brings us to a
The affective factor: learners as emotional beings
matter which has been one of the most important elements in the development of ESP - motivation.
People think, but they also have feelings. It is one of the paradoxes of human nature that,
The most influential study of motivation in language learning has been Gardner and Lambert's
although we are all aware of our feelings and their effects on our actions, we invariably seek answers
(197Z) study of bilingualism in French speaking Canada. They identified two forms of motivation:
to our problems in rational terms. It is as if we believed that human beings always act in a logical and
instrumental and integrative.
sensible manner. This attitude affects the way we see learners - more like machines to be programmed
a) Instrumental motivation is the reflection of an external need. The learners are not
('I've taught them the past tense. They must know it.') than people with likes and dislikes, fears,
learning a language because they want to (although this does not imply that they do not want to), but
weaknesses and prejudices. But learners are people. Even ESL learners are people. They may be
rather because they need to. The need may derive from varying sources: the need to sell things to
learning about machines and systems, but they still learn as human beings, learning, particularly the
speakers of the language; the need to pass an examination in the language; the need to read texts in
learning of a language, is an emotional experience, and the feelings that the learning process evokes
the language for work or study. The need may vary, but the important factor is that the motivation is
will have a crucial bearing on the success or failure of the learning (see e.g. Stevick, 1976).
an external one.
The importance of the emotional factor is easily seen if we consider the relationship between
b) Integrative motivation, on the other hand, derives from a desire on the part of the
the cognitive and affective aspects of the learner. The cognitive theory tells us that learners will learn
learners to be members of the speech community that uses a particular language. It is an internally
when they actively think about what they are learning. But this cognitive factor presupposes the affective
generated want rather than an externally imposed need.
factor of motivation. Before learners can actively think about something, they must want to think about
Gardner and Lambert's conclusion was that both forms of motivation are probably present in all
it. The emotional reaction to the learning experience is the essential foundation for the initiation of the
learners but each exercises a varying influence, depending on age, experience and changing
cognitive process. How the learning is perceived by the learner will affect what learning, if any, will take
occupational or social needs. Motivation, it appears, is a complex and highly individual matter. There
place.
can be no simple answers to the question: 'What motivates my students?' Unfortunately the ESP world,
We can represent the cognitive/affective interplay in the form of a learning cycle. This can either be a
while recognising the need to ask this question, has apparently assumed that there is a simple answer:
negative or a positive cycle. A good and appropriate course will engender the kind of positive learning
relevance to target needs. In practice this has been interpreted as meaning Medical texts for the student
cycle represented here:
of Medicine, Engineering English for the Engineer and so on. But, as we shall see when we deal with
needs analysis, there is more to motivation than simple relevance to perceived needs. For the present,
suffice it to say that, if your students are not fired with burning enthusiasm by the obvious relevance of
Entry
Point their ESP materials, remember that they are people not machines. The medicine of relevance may still
need to be sweetened with the sugar of enjoyment, fun, creativity and a sense of achievement. ESP, as
much as any good teaching, needs to be intrinsically motivating. It should satisfy their needs as learners
as well as their needs as potential target users of the language. In other words, they should get
satisfaction from the actual experience of learning, not just from the prospect of eventually using what
they have learnt.
One issue that has preoccupied educators in many disciplines is the students' response to their
learning experiences and how this makes them feel about themselves. The psychologist Abraham
Maslow, for example, suggested that self-esteem was a necessary 'deficiency need' which had to be
met before cognitive or aesthetic needs could be engaged with (Maslow 1987). This idea, that the
learner's state of mind, his or her personal response to the activity of learning, is central to success or
failure in language learning has greatly influenced teaching methods and materials writing. This area of
theorising has been called the humanist approach, and it has given rise to a specific set of teaching
methods.

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General Issues in Language Learning and Language Teaching General Issues in Language Learning and Language Teaching

Theorists who are concerned with humanism say that the learner's feelings are as important as
their mental or cognitive abilities. If students feel hostile towards the subject of study, the materials, or
the teaching methods, they will be unlikely to achieve much success. The American writer Earl Stevick LEARNING AND ACQUISITION
calls these states 'alienations' and suggests that to counter these states, humanist approaches are called
for (Stevick 1996). Stephen Krashen would probably agree. His claim for the beneficial value of Much debate has recently centered around the distinction made by Stephen Krashen between
comprehensible input depends upon the students being relaxed, feeling positive, and unthreatened. If learning and acquisition. Learning is seen as a conscious process, while acquisition proceeds
they are not, then their affective filter is raised and blocks the input from being absorbed and processed. unconsciously. In his view, we a cquire as we are exposed to samples of the second language which we
But if, on the other hand, the affective filter is lowered - because students are relaxed - then the understand. This happens in much the same way that children pick up their first language --- with no
comprehensible input the students are exposed to will contribute far more effectively to their acquisition conscious attention to language forms. We learn, on the other hand, via a conscious process of study
of new language. and attention to form and rule learning.
How then can teachers ensure that their students feel positive about learning -that the affective For Krashen, acquisition is by far the more important process. He asserts that only acquired
filter is lowered? The psychologist Carl Rogers, whose impact upon this line of thinking has been language is readily available for natural, fluent communication. Further, he asserts that learning can not
profound, suggested that learners needed to feel that what they were learning was personally relevant turn into acquisition. He cites as evidence for this that many speakers are quite fluent without ever
to them, that they had to experience learning (rather than just being 'taught') and that their self-image having learned rules, while other speakers may ‗know‘ rules but fail to apply them. When they are
needed to be enhanced as part of the process (Rogers 1994). Education should speak to the 'whole focusing on what they want to say more than how they are saying it.
person', in other words, not just to a small language-learning facility. In a humanist classroom, students
are emotionally involved in the learning; they are encouraged to reflect on how learning happens, and THE INPUT HYPOTHESIS
their creativity is fostered. The teacher can achieve this by keeping criticism to a minimum and by Krashen asserts that one acquires language in only one way – by exposure to comprehensible input. If
encouraging them, in plain terms, to feel good about themselves. In a humanist classroom, learning a the input contains forms and structures just beyond the learner‘s current level of competence in the
language is as much an issue of personal identity, self-knowledge, feelings and emotions as it is about language (what Krashen calls ‗i+ I ‗), then both comprehension and acquisition will occur.
language.
However, not everyone is happy with this view of the language learning experience. Some CARETAKER TALK
humanist activities encourage students to speak from their 'inner' selves, saying, for example, how they Many researchers from the interactionist perspective have studied the speech directed to
feel about their lives, their closeness to different members of their families. John Morgan and Mario children. This distinctive speech is known as ‗motherese‘ or care- taker talk. We are all familiar with the
Rinvolucri describe such activities as allowing students to 'exteriorise their own internal text' (1986:9). way adults typically modify the way they speak when addressing little children. In English, caretaker
But critics question whether it is the teacher's job to ask students to reveal things of a private nature, talk involves a slower rate of speech, higher pitch, more varied intonation, shorter, simpler sentence
and sometimes even to monitor and nurture the students' inner selves. There is some criticism, too, patterns, frequent repetition, and paraphrase. Furthermore, topic of conversation are often limited to
that there is a strong cultural bias to this view of teaching and learning which would be inappropriate the child‘s immediate environment, the ‗here and now‘. Adults often repeat the content of a child‘s
in certain situations. Furthermore, a concentration on the inner self may limit the range of language utterance, but they do so with a grammatically correct sentence.
that students can experience, with more emphasis being placed on interpersonal and informal language One condition which appears to be common to learners of all ages – though perhaps not in
at the expense of other kinds. Lastly, some doubters suggest, paying too much attention to affective equal qualities – is access to modified input. This adjusted speech styles, which is called child-directed
issues in learning may mean that teachers neglect their students' cognitive and intellectual development. speech for first language, is sometimes called foreigner talk or teacher talk for second languages. Many
It is certainly true that we want to create an unthreatening environment for our students (just as we people who interact regularly with language learners seem to have an intuitive sense of what
will want to foster their cognitive development). We should also be concerned not to do anything which adjustments are needed to help learners understand. Of course, some people are better at this than
damages their self-esteem. But how far we should act as moral guides and quasi-therapists as well as others. We have all witnessed those painful conversations in which insensitive people seem to think that
being teachers of language is a more difficult question, and one which is intimately bound up with our they can make learners understand better if they simply talk louder! Some Canadian friends recently
understanding of the role of teachers. told us of an experience they had in China. They were visiting some historic temples and wanted to get
more information about them than they could glean from their guide book. They asked their guide some
questions about the monuments. Unfortunately, their limited Chinese and his non existence English

14 made it difficult for them to exchange information. The guide kept speaking louder

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General Issues in Language Learning and Language Teaching General Issues in Language Learning and Language Teaching

and louder, but our friends understood very little. Finally, in frustration, the guide concluded that it
would help if these hopeless foreigners could see the information - so he took a stick and began writing
Type of talk Example
in the sand – in Chinese characters!
Base line talk You won‘t forget to buy the ice - cream
On your way home, will you?
THE ROLE OF INPUT AND INTERACTION IN L2 ACQUISITION
Ungrammatical foreigner talk No forget buying ice- cream, eh?
One question that can be asked is whether the discourse in which learners participate is in
anyway different from the discourse the native speakers engage in. If learner discourse can be shown Grammatical foreigner talk The ice- cream --- you will not forget to
to have special properties it is possible that these contribute to acquisition in some way. buy it on your way home --- Get it when
It does in deed have special properties. Just as caretakers modify the way they speak to children you are coming home. All right?
learning their L1, so do native speakers modify their speech when communicating with learners. These
TABLE 5.1 Examples of baseline talk and foreigner talk
modifications are evident in both input and interaction. Input modifications have been investigated
through the study of foreigner talk, the language that native speakers use when addressing non- native
speakers. Two types of foreigner talk can be identified – ungrammatical and grammatical. Examples of
these are provided in Table 5.1
Ungrammatical foreigner talk is socially marked. It often implies a lack of respect on the part of
the native speaker and can be resented by learners. Ungrammatical foreigner talk is characterized by
the deletion of certain grammatical features such as copula be, modal verbs (for example, can and
must) and articles, the use of the base form of the verb in place of the past tense form, and the use of
special constructions such as ‗no+ verb‘. It should be immediately apparent that these features are the
same as those commonly found in learner‘s inter-languages. This raises the intriguing possibility that,
contrary to the view presented earlier, inter-language forms are, in fact, learned from the input.
However, this is unlikely, as learners who experience grammatical foreigner talk still manifest the same
inter-language errors as those that experience ungrammatical foreigner talk. There is no convincing
evidence that learners‘ errors derive from the language they are exposed to. Grammatical foreigner talk
is the norm. Various types of modification of base line talk (i.e. the kind of talk native speakers address
to other native speakers) can be identified. First, grammatical foreigner talk is delivered at a slower
pace. Second, the input is simplified. Examples of simplifications in the grammatical foreigner talk shown
in Table 5.1 are the use of shorter sentences, avoidance of subordinate clauses, and the omission of
complex grammatical forms like question tags. Third, grammatical foreigner talk is sometimes Input modifications of these kinds originate in the person addressing a learner. We seem to

regularized. This involves the use of forms that are in some sense ‗regular‘ or ‗basic‘. An example in know intuitively how to modify the way we talk to learners to make it easier for them to understand.

Table 5.1 is the use of a full rather than a contracted form (‗will nor forget‘ instead of ‗won‘t forget‘) However, there are times when learners still fail to understand. When this happens they have a choice.

fourth, foreigner talk sometimes consists of elaborated language use. This involves the lengthening of They can pretend they have understood. Research shows that learners sometimes do this. Alternatively,

phases and sentences in order to make the meaning clear. An example of elaboration in table 5.1 is the learners can signal that they have not understood. This results in interactional modifications as the

use of ‗when you are coming home‘ as a paraphrase of ‗on your way home‘ participants in the discourse engage in the negotiation of meaning. The extract below is an example of
an exchange between two learners. Izumi uses a confirmation check (‗in him knee‘) to make sure she
has understood Hiroko when he said ‗in his knee‘. In so doing she introduces an error of her own which
leads Hiroko to correct it at the same time as he corrects his own original error‘ on his knee‘. As a result
of this negotiation both learners end up correcting their own errors. There is plenty of evidence to
suggest that modified interaction of this kind is common in learner discourse.

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General Issues in Language Learning and Language Teaching General Issues in Language Learning and Language Teaching

Hiroko: A man is uh, drinking coffee or tea with uh the sauce of the uh uh coffee set is uh in his uh more we learn. We may even go so far as to assume that we can measure knowledge with tests and
knee grades. But all this is a delusion.
Izumi: in him knee. In fact, learning is the human activity which least needs manipulation by others. Most learning is not

Hiroko: uh on his knee. the result of instruction. It is rather the result of unhampered participation in a meaningful setting.

Izumi: yeah From IIllich (1972: 56)

Hiroko: on his knee. First language learning provides a perfect example of what he is talking about. All children
Izumi: so sorry, on his knee. succeed at it to a greater or lesser extent. Although parents and other close adults may help to 'teach'
(from S. Gass and E.Varonis. 1994. ‗Input, interaction and second – language production‘ Studies in the language in an informal way (for example, through repetition, 'play', or made-up dialogues - where,
second Language Acquisition 16: 283 -302) in the early stages the parent will often take the baby's part when the baby cannot actually speak the
How do such input and interactional modifications contribute to L2 acquisition? There is still words), still the process of learning is unconscious. What the young child does get, of course, is
only limited empirical evidence that these modifications do assist interlanguage development. considerable exposure to language which he or she more or less understands the meaning of. And at
Arguments have been proposed, however, that suggest they do. the end of this process, the language, miraculously, is there as a result of exposure, a clear motivation
According to Stephen Krashen‘s input hypothesis, L2 acquisition takes place when a learner to communicate - for both physical and emotional reasons - and an opportunity to use what is being
understands input that contains grammatical forms that are ‗ i+I ‘(i.e. are a little more advanced than acquired.
the current state of the learner‘s interlanguage) Krashen suggests that the right level of input is attained Perhaps, then, all that anybody needs to learn a new language are those three elements:
automatically when interlocutors succeed in making themselves understood in communication. Success exposure, motivation, and opportunities for use. This was certainly the view of Dick Allwright and his
is achieved by using the situational context to make messages clear and through the kinds of input colleagues who had the task of improving the English language skills of students from overseas who
modifications found in foreigner talk. According to Krashen, then, L2 acquisition depends on were soon to study on postgraduate courses at the University of Essex in England in the 1970s. The
comprehensible input. students already had some English knowledge.
Michael Long‘s interaction hypothesis also emphasizes the importance of comprehensible input The teachers at Essex reasoned that the ways they had been teaching - such as studying
but claims that it is most effective when it is modified through the negotiation of meaning. It is not grammar, explaining vocabulary, or teaching paragraph organisation -did not seem to have much effect
difficult to see why. As the interaction between Hiroko and Izumi illustrates, learners often receive and anyway, they did not 'feel right'. How would it be, they wondered, if they abandoned all that and
negative evidence. That is, their interlocutors indicate when they have not understood and, in the course instead devoted all their efforts to exposing students to English and getting them to use it, particularly
of doing so, may model the correct target – language forms. Thus, learners receive input relevant to given that they were highly motivated to learn. This would satisfy the three criteria we have just detailed.
aspects of grammar that they have not yet fully mastered. There is another way in which interaction The hypothesis they were working on was, in Allwright's words, that:
may assist learners. When learners have the chance to clarify something that has been said they are ... if the language teacher's management activities are directed exclusively at involving the learners
giving themselves more time to process the input, which may help them not just to comprehend but in solving communication problems in the target language, then language learning will take care of itself...
also to acquire new L2 forms. However, sometimes interaction can overload learners with input, as From R Allwright (1979:170)
when a speaker provides lengthy paraphrases or long definition of unknown words. In such cases,
In the course which followed, students were given tasks to do outside the classroom (such as
acquisition may be impeded rather than facilitated. The relationship between modified interaction and
interviewing people and searching for library books) which involved them in speaking and reading: real
L2 acquisition is clearly a complex one.
tasks for which the teachers gave no language training, advice or, crucially, correction. Students also
took part in communication games where the only objective was to complete the task using all and/or
LANGUAGE LEARNING WILL TAKE CARE OF ITSELF
any language at their disposal. A student had to draw the same picture as their partner without looking
A major issue in language learning theory has been whether traditional techniques normally
at the partner's picture, for example, or they had to arrange objects in the same order as their partner
associated with language teaching - drills, repetition, controlled practice of specific language items, etc.
without looking at their partner's objects - both tasks relying on verbal communication alone. The
- actually have any beneficial effect. Indeed, in educational theory generally, there has been some
results, although not scientifically assessed, were apparently favourable. Everyone enjoyed the process
argument about whether teaching 'works' at all.
far more (especially the teachers) and the students' progress appeared to have been more impressive
In his book, Deschooling Society, the educational theorist Ivan Illich questioned the whole
than in previous years.
purpose of formal education. As the title of his book indicates he had a very bleak view of what happens
in classrooms. We may think, he suggested, that the more input we are exposed to, the

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General Issues in Language Learning and Language Teaching General Issues in Language Learning and Language Teaching

The American applied linguist, Stephen Krashen, writing a short time later, appeared to be (the mastery of grammar and vocabulary) but at certain levels it may well have other pay-offs in terms
making similar suggestions about language learning too, though by dividing language 'learning' into of encouraging motor skills in the spoken production of new language, and in providing the illusion of
acquisition and learning he was being far more specific. Language which we acquire subconsciously, progress to aid the students' motivation.
he claimed, is language we can easily use in spontaneous conversation because it is instantly available Much of the problem in discussing acquisition and learning - in trying to discover whether
when we need it. Language that is learnt, on the other hand, taught and studied as grammar and 'language learning will take care of itself - occurs when the discussion is divorced from the age of the
vocabulary, is not available for spontaneous use. Indeed, it may be that the only use for learnt language students, the level they are at, their motivation, their educational culture, and the places in which the
is to help us to monitor (check) our spontaneous communication; but then the more we monitor what learning is taking place. Thus we need to balance the fact that all children acquire language against
we are saying, the less spontaneous we become! some of the special conditions in which this takes place. Children receive much greater exposure than
Krashen saw the successful acquisition by students of a second language as being bound up the average second language student. There is some 'covert teaching' going on as they acquire not only
with the nature of the language input they received. It had to be comprehensible, even if it was slightly the language itself but the social routines in which it is used. First language acquisition is also closely
above their productive level, and the students had to be exposed to it in a relaxed setting. This roughly- allied to social growth and general cognitive development.
tuned input is in stark contrast to the finely-tuned input of much language instruction, where specific Most teachers of young learners avoid grammar teaching because experience has shown that
graded language has been chosen for conscious learning. Roughly-tuned input aids acquisition, Krashen it has little effect. Children subconsciously acquire languages with considerable ease. Yet adults find
argued, whereas finely-tuned input combined with conscious learning does not. things more difficult, especially when they are learning in classrooms away from target-language
communities; for them focused language study is not only useful, it is almost certainly desirable, and
A further attack on traditional forms of language teaching - especially the use of repetition and most of them want it anyway. Just involving students in communicative tasks may thus be
controlled practice - has centred around studies which have demonstrated that it is impossible to show unsatisfactory, provoking 'a general over-emphasis on performance at the expense of progress'
a direct connection between drilling of any particular grammatical item, for example, and the acquisition (Wicksteed 1998:3). However, there may be special circumstances (such as those described by Allwright
of that item. Dave Willis describes as a fallacy the idea that controlled practice leads to mastery of above) where such activities match the motivational drive, level, and situation of the students
grammar (Willis 1996: 48), and others have made the same point. concerned.
Despite all these claims, however, language teaching has not been quite so radicalised as some It seems, therefore, that some concentration on language study is helpful for most teenagers
commentators might have expected. This is partly due to the theories themselves, whose claims are and adults learning English whether in the form of finely-tuned input or in some other way, for there
somewhat weakened when exposed to close scrutiny. Take Allright's students at the University of Essex: are many different means of language study. However, many of the theoretical considerations discussed
they all had some knowledge of English, they were all highly motivated (because they would shortly be in this section have influenced popular methodology, especially the Communicative approach and its
taking postgraduate degrees at an English university) and, crucially, they were studying in England aftermath, and Task-based learning
where their opportunities for exposure to English were greatly increased. Allwright's solution might have
been exactly right for such students - the ones it was designed for - but it does not follow, therefore,
that the same kind of approach would be appropriate for students at different levels studying in different
situations in other parts of the world.'
Krashen's claims came under sustained attack partly because they were unverifiable. When
someone produces language, how can you tell if this language is 'learnt' or 'acquired'? The speaker will
almost certainly be unable to provide you with the answer, and there are no ways, so far, of finding this
out. Second, many commentators have questioned his suggestion that learnt language can never pass
to the acquired store. This seems observably false. Both roughly-tuned and finely-tuned input (the latter
related, of course, to learning) end up becoming acquired language at some point; Rod Ellis suggested
that communicative activities might be the switch that took language from the learnt to the acquired
store (Ellis 1982). However, no one has suggested that Krashen is wrong about the beneficial qualities
of comprehensible input in a relaxed setting.
And what of Willis' criticism of controlled practice, by which he appears to mean both individual,
and choral repetition? Controlled practice may not fulfill the role originally ascribed to it

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