Theories of Learning

Learning factors, if considered at all, are incorporated only after the language bas has been analyzed
andsystematized. Language learning is conditioned by the way in which the mind observers, organizes and
storesinformation. In other word, the key to successful language learning and teaching lies not in the analysis of
thenature of the language but in understanding the structure and processes of the mind. Unfortunately, we
stillknow too little about how people learn. We must try and base what we do in the classroom on sound
principles of learning to improve the technique, methods and content of language teaching.Until the twentieth
century the was no coherent theory of learning available to the language teacher even therewere many empirical
observations, but no coherent theory of learning emerged until psychology had beenestablished as a respectable
subject of scientific enquiry.These are five main stage of develo9pment which are relevance to the modern
language teacher.
1.Behaviourism: learning as habit formation.
Characteristic:
Stimulus-Response-ReinforcementRepetition and Pattern practice (drills, etc.)Learner as passive receiver of
informationHabits and other undesirable responses can be broken by removing the positive
reinforcers.Immediate, consistent, and positive reinforcement increases the speed of learning.Once an item is
learned, intermittent reinforcement will promote retention
The simple but powerful theory said that learning is a mechanical process of habit formation and proceedsby
means of the frequent reinforcement of a stimulus-response sequence
.
The basic exercise technique of a behaviourist methodology as pattern practice, particularly in the form of
language laboratory drills. One influential result is the audio-lingual method, which involves endless listenand
repeat drilling activities.Pattern practice does have a place, but not exclusively (Audio-lingual method)

Language learning is a habit formation resembling the formation of other habits. In other words,language is
learned in the way in which other habits are learned.

Language learning is nothing more than the acquisition of new behavior or knowledge. It takes place when
experience or practice causes a change in a person's knowledge or behaviour.

Language learning is an external event, because it involves an observable change in behaviour brought about by
the stimuli coming from the environment. It does not involve any unobservable changein mental knowledge. All
behaviors can be explained without the need to consider internal mental statesor consciousness.

Only human beings have the capacity for language learning. They acquire a language as discreteunits of habits,
independently trained, not as an integrated system.Earliest scientific theory of learning (beginning of 20th
century) - Pavlov -> Skinner.Input-output model:
If you can control what goes in, you can control what comes out (learning).
Method of doing so = Stimulus, Response, Reinforcement: e.g., tell dog sit, dog sits, dog gets pat.Repeating
this process often enough was seen as resulting in learning, as led to formation of correct habits.In LT, led to
language laboratory drills, e.g.,Is this a pen? No it isnt.Is this a pencil?Yes it is. (etc.)Based on view of learner
as tabula rasa. Responsible for views in LT such as all errors must beavoided/immediately corrected, translations
should be avoided, etc., as otherwise inappropriate habits willdevelop.
2.Mentalism: thinking as rule-governed activity.
Chomsky: thinking is rule governed, it is not habits, but rules that need acquiring.

If all language is a learned behavior, how can a child produce a sentence that has never been said by others
before?According to Noam Chomsky, language is not a form of behavior, rather it is an intricate rulebasedsystem and a large part of language acquisition is the learning of this system. Learning consists not of
forming habits but of acquiring rules, a process in which individual experiences are tested and modified by
subsequent experience. This mentalist view of the mind led naturally to the next important stage thecognitive
theory of learningBehaviourism unable to account for creativity of language learning:

novel utterances

system-building
Learning as rule-governed activity (Chomsky)

habit formation vs. acquiring rules

stimulus triggers search for underlying pattern

hypothesis-testing
3.Cognitive Code: learners as thinking beings.
Learning as a thinking processThe learner is an active processor of information. Problem-solving tasks, learning
strategies
Learning and using a rule require learners to think to apply their mental powers in order to distil a
workablegenerative rule from the mass of data presented and then to analyze the situations where the application
of therule would be useful or appropriate.According to the cognitive theory, learning is a process in which the
learner actively tries to make sense of data. The basic technique associated with a cognitive theory of language
learning is the problem-solving task.
..
3 main aspects of learning:

how knowledge is established

how knowledge becomes automatic

how new knowledge is integrated into the learners existing cognitive system
4.
The affective factor: learners as emotional beings
People think, but they also have feelings.
It is as if we believed that human beings always act