The Principles of Language Learning

Browns principles of language learning are grouped into 3

Cognitive, Linguistic, and Socioaffective
Cognitive Principles
1. Anticipation of reward - Learners are motivated to perform by thought of reward, tangible or
intangible; long or short term.
What are the implications of these to language teaching?
1. Provide genuine praise, encouragement and compliments.
2. Remind students of long-term rewards in learning the targetlanguage.
3. Encourage students to compliment and support each other.
4. For poor motivated students, external rewards such as gold star and stickers or issuing
certain privilages may spark some interest.
5. Infect them with your enthusiasm for language learning.
2. Meaningful Learning - Providing a realistic context to use language is thought to lead to
better long term retention, as opposed to role learning.
Some classroom implications:
1. Make lessons meaningful by appealing to students' interests, academic and career
goals.
2. Link new topic or concept to something the students know to make the topic
meaningful.
3. Avoid the pitfalls of role learning such as:
a. Too much grammar explanation.
b. Too many abstract principles and theories.
c. Too much drilling and or memorization.
d. Activities with unclear purposes.
e. Activities that do not contribute to accomplishing the goals of the lesson.
f. Techniques that are so mechanical or tricky that students get centered on the
mechanics instead of the language or meanings.
3. Automaticity - This is subconscious processing of language for fluency.
Some implications of this principle to the classroom:
1. Automaticity isn't gained overnight.
2. Don't overwhelm your students with grammar.
3. A large proportion of your lessons are focused on the use of language in genuine and
natural context.
4. Strategic Investment - Success in learning is dependent on the time and effort learners spend
in mastering the language.
5. Intrinsic Motivation - The most potent learning "rewards" to enhance performance are those
that stem from the needs, wants and desires within the learner.

Linguistic Principles
1. Native Language Effect - A learner's native language creates both facilitating and interfering
effects on learning.
Some ways to counteract the interfering language effects.
a. acquaint the learner with the native language cause of the error.
b. Help your students understand that not everything about their native language will
cause error.
c. Coax students into thinking directly in the target language and not to resort to
translation to translation as they comprehend and produce language.
2. Communicative Competence - Fluency and use are just as important as accuracy and usage.
For language teacher, this means
1. Give grammar attention but don't neglect the other components of communicative
competence.
2. Use language that students will actually encounter in the real world and provide
genuine techniques for the actual conveyance of information not just rote techniques.
3. Interlanguage - In second language learning, learners manifest a systematic progression of
acquisition of sounds, words, structures, and discourse features.
For language teacher they must strike a balance between positive and negative feedback.
Socioaffective Domain
1. Language - Culture Connection - Learning a language also involves learning a complex
system of cultural system of cultural customs, values and ways of thinking, feeling, or acting.
Implications of this to Language teachers:
a. Discuss cultural differences emphasizing that no culture is better than other.
b. Consciously connect culture and language.
c. Include among your techniques certain activities or materials that illustrate the
connection between language and culture.
d. Don't be culturally offensive in the class.
e. Use appropriate language.

2. Self-Confidence - This is self-esteem or "I can do it" principle.

What should Language learners do?
a. Give ample verbal and non-verbal assurance to students
b. Sequence techniques from easier to difficult to build confidence.
3. Risk-Taking - Students who are self-confident take risks and accomplish more.
What can Language teacher do to encourage both accuracy and risk taking?
a. Carefully sequence techniques to ensure learner success.
b. Create an atmosphere in the classroom that encourages students to try out language.
c. Provide reasonable challenges.
d. Return students' risky attempts with positive affirmation.
4. Language Ego - Alexander Guiora, a researcher in personality variables in second language
acquisition, define language ego as "the identity a person develops in reference to the language
he or she speaks"
What should the Language teacher do?
a. Display supportive attitude to students.
b. Considering learners' language ego states, know who to call on; who to ask volunteer
information; when to correct student's speech error; who to place in small groups or pair
and how 'tough; you can be to a student.