How do we learn unconsciously?

The neurology behind how we learn languages, and implications for

foreign language teaching. By Michelle Adams, 2012-2013

What is happening in our brains as we learn a concept or react to a stimulus? What does it really mean
to learn something? Why are there children who can learn to talk and communicate even though they
cannot learn to do other things due to a learning disability? Why do we find that some students who
are inattentive during class still have learned something in spite of their apparent distraction? Is it
something that we, as teachers, are doing, or is it something the students do unconsciously? Why do we
sometimes find ourselves unconsciously mimicking the accent of the person with whom we are
speaking? Is intrinsic motivation the only important quality for learning a language? How do we learn
our first language? Is it different from learning a second one? What role does the unconscious play and
how can we teachers use the phenomenon to improve second language teaching and learning?
I think it is important for teachers to have an understanding of how we learn and to know some
underlying basic neurology in order to understand and improve how we reach students. Therefore I
have undergone an extensive investigation of studies, experiments, methods and theories in order to
better comprehend unconscious learning and also the way we learn our first (native) language and
second languages. In this article, I share and use this information in teaching so that students can learn a
second language more effectively and easily.