7 Common Myths About Language and Learning

7 Common Myths about Language and Learning
Dominik Luke
Dyslexia Action dlukes@dyslexiaaction.org.uk
training.dyslexiaaction.org.uk
Overview
1. Children learn languages quickly and effortlessly
2. Some languages are more difficult than others

3. We need to speak correctly and clearly in order to avoid misunderstandings (Language is the ideal tool for communication) 4. Children need to go to school in order to learn to speak English properly 5. Knowing grammar will make it easier to learn other languages 6. Bilingual people speak two languages perfectly 7. Chomsky's linguistic theories are of great importance to language teaching
Children learn languages quickly and effortlessly
MYTH 1
Poll
A six-year old child and a sixty-year old adult will both have 2 hours of foreign language classes a week for a year. Who will be better at the end of the year?
Child Adult
Is child language acquisition miraculous?

10 words a day, 200 words a month, 5,000 words, 60,000 words? What does it mean? What else do children need to learn? How do they learn it? Wheres the stimulus?
Language in the crib

What color -- What color blanket -- What color mop -- What color glass ... Not the yellow blanket --- The white ... It't not black -- It's yellow ... Not yellow -- Red ... Put on a blanker -White blanket -- And yellow blanket -- Where's yellow blanket ... Yellow light ... There is the light -- Where is the light -- Here is the light.
Big and little -- Little Bobby -- Little Nancy -- Big Nancy

Anthony take the -- Take the book ... This is the -- This is the -Book... That's a -- That's a -- That's a kitty -- That a Fifi here ... Mommy get some --- Mommy get some -- Soap. Weir, 1962, Language in the crib
Are adults so slow?

The winners Four-year BA student:
12 classroom hours / week 12 hours of self-study / week 4 week summer school every year 1 year in country Read 19th-century literature
The real life Expat executive

2 hours tutoring a week Local spouse High demand job Everyone speaks English
Night class attendance

6 hours a week Stressful job Sense of identity Good enough
The army method

6 hours of drills a day Dont learn, dont get promoted Dont learn, people die
Bottom line
Children do nothing else but learn a language during acquiring their 1st languages. They have time to learn the languages gradually and develop idiomatic fluency. But not in a classroom setting.
Adults can apply considerable cognitive and metacognitive resources to language learning. However, the context of their learning is generally such that they do not generally achieve native-like fluency or full grasp of the figurative substrate of the language.
Take away message

Language learning is hard and it takes time! In fact its really, really hard, and it takes lots and lots of time and frustration!!!
Some languages are more difficult than others
MYTH 2
English is an easy language

to learn badly.
Czech is not a difficult language
its just hard to learn it.
What makes languages hard to learn?

Grammar? Vocabulary?
FSI says Swahili easier than Finnish; Swedish easier than German. Lingua francas: Latin, Russian, Swahili, Arabic, Chinese, English
Comprehensible input
English, Swahili, French, Spanish lots of comprehensible input available Native speakers used to learners
Bottom line
Children take the same amount of time to acquire any language (even several at once) Adults find the context of language learning more conducive for some languages than others
Role of cognates and cultural expectations is also important but not straightforwardly predictable
We need to speak correctly and clearly in order to avoid misunderstandings (Language is the ideal tool for communication)
MYTH 3
Poll
How many meanings are there in "A man walks into a bar"
1. 2. 3. 4. Regularly; entering an institution As I watch; entering an institution Regularly; colliding with an object As I watch; colliding with an object
go1 verb (goes, went, gone, going) usually intr 1 (often go about or by or down, etc) to walk, move or travel in the direction specified. 2 to lead or extend a path that goes across the field The road goes all the way to the farm. 3 (usually go to somewhere) to visit or attend it, once or regularly go to the cinema go to school. 4 a to leave or move away; b (only as exclamation) said by someone signalling the start of a race: begin the race! 5 to be destroyed or taken away; to disappear The old door had to go The peaceful atmosphere has gone. 6 to proceed or fare The scheme is going well. 7 to be used up All his money went on drink. 8 to be given or sold for a stated amount went for 20. 9 to leave or set out for a stated purpose go for a ride go on holiday gone fishing. 10 tr & intr to perform (an action) or produce (a sound) go like this go bang. 11 colloq to break, break down, or fail The old TV finally went His eyes have gone. 12 to work or be in working order get it going. 13 to become; to pass into a certain condition go mad. 14 to belong; to be placed correctly Where does this go? 15 to fit, or be contained My foot won't go into the shoe Four into three won't go. 16 to be or continue in a certain state go hungry. 17 said of time: to pass. 18 said of a story or tune: to run How does it go? 19 (often go for someone or something) to apply to them; to be valid or accepted for them The same goes for you In this office, anything goes. 20 colloq to carry authority What she says goes. 21 (often go with something) said of colours, etc: to match or blend. 22 to subject oneself go to much trouble. 23 to adopt a specified system go metric. 24 tr to bet (a specified amount), especially at cards went five pounds. 25 colloq to be in general, for the purpose of comparison As girls go, she's quite naughty. 26 to exist or be on offer the best offer going at the moment. 27 very colloq to say She goes, 'No, you didn't!' and I goes, 'Oh, yes I did!'. noun (plural goes) 1 a turn or spell It's my go. 2 energy; liveliness She lacks go. 3 colloq busy activity It's all go. 4 colloq a success make a go of it. be going on for something colloq to be approaching (a specified age) She's going on for 60. from the word go from the very beginning. give it a go colloq to make an attempt at something. go all out for something to make a great effort to obtain or achieve it. go and ... to be so unwise or unfortunate as to ... They've gone and got lost. go great guns see under gun. go it alone colloq to manage or try to manage without help, especially when in difficulties. go native to assimilate oneself to an alien culture or to the way of life of a foreign country. go slow to work slowly so as to encourage an employer to negotiate or meet a demand. See also go-slow. have a go colloq to try; to make an attempt. have a go at someone to attack them verbally. have something going for one colloq to have it as an attribute or advantage You have a lot going for you. I could go something very colloq I would like it; I could do with it; I need it I could really go a pint of cold beer. no go colloq not possible. on the go colloq busily active. to be going on with colloq for the moment enough to be going on training.dyslexiaaction.org.uk with.
Polysemy from the word Go
Ambiguity and polysemy are the norm: The Church noticeboards

Sunday morning sermon: 'Jesus Walks on the Water Sunday evening sermon: 'Searching for Jesus. Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands. Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help. Miss Charlene Mason sang 'I will not pass this way again,' giving obvious pleasure to the congregation. For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
Importance of context
Complete the sentence: A man walks into a bar Write the following three words: In this book, Write the preceding three words: in this book.
Importance of negotiation and guessing

1. What's that? 2. I'm sorry I didn't quite catch that 3. Sorry? 4. Ah, yes
Michael Macintyre (Comedian)
Bottom line
Ambiguity is the norm. Understanding language would be impossible without context and negotiation (repair) strategies Most of the exhortations towards clear communication really asking for proper communication.
Children need to go to school in order to learn to speak English properly
MYTH 4
Poll
Which of the following is NOT correct?
I and John are great friends. Me and John, we're the best of friends. There's great friendship between John and I.
Why?
with John and I but NOT with I
How many languages?

And then he goes like ... I'm not doing that.
Subsequently he refused to perform the requested task.
Is thenee a word?
Can you use it in a sentence?
antheneesez And then he says
From what language is amana?

amana'ave some mustard Not Im going to Not even Im gonna amana
Context again!
Demetri Martin:
Joke 1
I'm sorry and I apologise are the same. Except at a funeral.
Joke 2
Sort of mostly means nothing. Except when you say it with Youre going to live! Its a boy! I love you
The codes and their switching

To friends: Cut it out mate To parents: Stop it mom! To other childrens parents: Thank you Mrs Strong
What does this say?

"2 b, r nt 2 b dat iz d Q wthr ts noblr n d mnd 2 sufr d slngs & arowz of outrAjs fortn r 2 tAk armz agnst a C f trblz, & by oposn nd em?"
"To be, or not to be: that is the question: / Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, / Or to take arms against a sea of troubles / And by opposing end them?"
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article413866/Exam-chiefs-ridiculed-allowing-text-speakEnglish-answers.html#ixzz0Q3VtPWAt
From sigla to text-speak

Etc. & e.g. #
vs.
CU L8 LOL B4
Bottom line
In many respects, children need to learn a second language (code) at school. We are all multilingual (codal); We use different codes for different occasions. School doesn't teach people to communicate their ideas better; it teaches them to communicate their education.
Knowing the grammar of your own language will make it easier to learn other languages
MYTH 5
Poll
She write books At what level does this error stop for Russian learners of English?
Beginner Lower Intermediate Intermediate Upper Intermediate
The English -s
She write good books Why do intermediate-level learners of ESL make this error even if their language has much more complex morphology?
Tenses
Czech = 3
Past Present Future
English = 14
Past
Perfect
Simple Continuous
Simple Continuous
Present Future
How many grammatical terms do you need?

Technical terms: noun, verb, adverb, adjective, preposition, pronoun, subject, object, vowel, consonant, tense, suffix, prefix, voiced/unvoiced, idiom 'Natural' terms: word, sentence, text, meaning, dictionary, grammar, pronunciation, error/mistake, command, question/answer
Predictions?
Czechs learn more grammar (240 terms) than Albanians (about 60), their English should be better. Linguists know more grammar than physicists, their English should be better. Why is that not the case?
Bottom line
Knowing grammatical terminology only helps in very specific metacognitve learning tasks in the early stages Research shows no long-term impact
Most of the advanced grammar terminology doesn't translate between languages

Bilingual people speak two languages perfectly
MYTH 6
And what language is this?

The second formulation (or Formula of the End in Itself) holds that "the rational being, as by its nature an end and thus as an end in itself, must serve in every maxim as the condition restricting all merely relative and arbitrary ends." The principle dictates that you "[a]ct with reference to every rational being (whether yourself or another) so that it is an end in itself in your maxim", meaning that the rational being is "the basis of all maxims of action" and "must be treated never as a mere means but as the supreme limiting condition in the use of all means, i.e., as an end at the same time."
From Wikipedia entry on Kant

You can learn enough German to read Kant in a summer

but to learn enough to read
Der Spiegel might take years.

Milan Machovec, Czech philosopher
The functional language

Language consists of functional areas / domains with specific codes of communication
How much is enough?

perform a function achieve objective produce acceptable text
Common lingualisms
L1 speak to parents; L2 main medium of communication
L1 speak and write; L2 write academic articles (but not order food) L1 native speaker; L2 business interactions
Bottom line
Multilingualism is the norm around the globe Bilingualism should be the central approach to language (We are all bilingual) Knowing a language is not an ON/OFF state Very few people are fully functionally bilingual In fact, very few people are fully functionally monolingual
Chomskys linguistic theories are of great importance to language teaching
MYTH 7
What do you associate with Chomsky?
Universal grammar: Innate principles and acquired parameters

Projection principle: Lexical properties are preserved in generating a sentence
John hit the ball vs. John hit ___
Pro-drop parameters:
Head initial: Mary swims / In cinema Head final: Swims Mary / Cinema in
What Chomskeans dont have much to say about

Language change Politics of language Language education Poetic and literary language Conversation Differences between spoken and written language Discourse Metaphors Meanings of words Text, stylistics, genre, register Bilingualism Second language learning Translation (except machine translation)
Bottom line
It doesnt matter whether Chomsky is right or wrong Chomskys primary concern is to study language in a scientific manner (using his formalisms) and excludes everything that cannot so be studied. As a result:
Much of the issues of generative grammar are incomprehensible to lay people (including nonChomskean linguists) And he and his followers dont have much to say about the things we most want to know about language
Where to go
MAK Halliday is the linguist whose work had a truly profound influence on language teaching and curriculum design Linguists you can read and learn something about language: William Labov, George Lakoff, Michael Hoey, Leonard Talmy, Norman Fairclough, Dell Hymes, Edward Sapir
Thank you
More information about upcoming online events:
training.dyslexiaaction.org.uk/webinars

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7 Common Myths about Language and Learning

2. Some languages are more difficult than others

Children learn languages quickly and effortlessly

Is child language acquisition miraculous?

Language in the crib

Big and little -- Little Bobby -- Little Nancy -- Big Nancy

Are adults so slow?

The real life Expat executive

Night class attendance

The army method

Take away message

Some languages are more difficult than others

English is an easy language

Czech is not a difficult language

its just hard to learn it.

What makes languages hard to learn?

Polysemy from the word Go

Ambiguity and polysemy are the norm: The Church noticeboards

Importance of negotiation and guessing

Children need to go to school in order to learn to speak English properly

How many languages?

Subsequently he refused to perform the requested task.

From what language is amana?

The codes and their switching

What does this say?

From sigla to text-speak

How many grammatical terms do you need?

Most of the advanced grammar terminology doesn't translate between languages

Bilingual people speak two languages perfectly

And what language is this?

From Wikipedia entry on Kant

You can learn enough German to read Kant in a summer

Der Spiegel might take years.

The functional language

How much is enough?

Chomskys linguistic theories are of great importance to language teaching

What do you associate with Chomsky?

Universal grammar: Innate principles and acquired parameters

What Chomskeans dont have much to say about

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