A Letter to ESL Students about Language Learning

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Letter to Students About Language Learning

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By Jilani Warsi


Instructions

Please read through this letter and identify the main ideas of the text.  Keep in mind that main ideas are not the details, but only the most important points that the writer wants to make.  In class tomorrow we will write a brief summary of these main points.  In addition, be prepared to discuss the following questions:

  1. Define the word “myth”.
  2. What is the thesis of this letter? (thesis = main idea of the entire piece of writing, usually found in the first paragraph)
  3. Of all the myths, which one did you find most interesting?  Why?
  4. Why do you think this information might be important for the work on language learning we will do in this class?

Reading 

Dear student,

Native-like fluency in a second language is seldom successful with adult language learners.  Opinion is sharply divided between those who believe that adults can never become as fluent as native speakers of their target language and those who contend that it is possible for adult language learners to achieve full mastery in a second language.  The purpose of this letter is to dispel seven myths of language acquisition that impede succession acquisition of a second language, and shed light on first language acquisition in general and on second language acquisition in particular.  Understanding how these myths hinder language growth will enable you to learn English as a second language with relative ease and success.  So, let us unravel the mysteries of language learning.

The first myth that has gained currency among students learning English as a Second Language is that they can master the English language in a relatively short period of time.  As a matter of fact, language acquisition is a difficult and cumbersome process, which extends over many years until full mastery is achieved.  Think back to your past, and imagine how long it took you to become completely fluent in your first language.  Learning a second language then is not radically different from learning a first language in that it takes several years to become proficient in a language.

The second myth is related to the previous one, but it is not the same.  The notion that language can be learned relatively easily is quite misleading.  On the contrary, language acquisition is essentially accumulative.  Learners must accumulate some knowledge before they can add further knowledge.  We must be realistic in terms of the developmental stages of language acquisition.

Adult language learners also have a fallacious notion that they can acquire a second language by simply exposing themselves to a limited amount of input.  However, the process of language acquisition presupposes a vast amount of input as well as species-specific learning ability.  It is needless to say that a small amount of input would not suffice.  Learners need to be exposed to a large amount of data to achieve full mastery in their first or second language.  The second part of the statement refers to the innate component of the mind that allows us to learn a language.  What is encouraging is that you have already acquired your first language, using your mind’s innate capacity.  Therefore, in theory, you should be able to replicate your achievement in the second language.  In the following paragraph, I will discuss why in reality it is so difficult to master a second language, especially if one starts learning it after puberty.

Most learners are preoccupied with the idea that they can reach communicative competence in their second language by reading, writing, and passively listening to the language.  It is important to mention, however, that the input consists of sound waves and of parallel situational information.  To a great extent, the language to be learned becomes accessible to the learner in the form of sound waves.  Furthermore, the learner must figure out the relation between the words in these streams of sounds and the meanings they represent.  This is what I refer to as the parallel situational information.  Taking first language acquisition into consideration, we see that children learn their first language by associating words in the speech stream to the real world around them.  In principle then, adult language learners should do the same thing, speaking and interacting with the native speakers of the target language as much as possible and making sense of the world around them.

The next point is somewhat related to the previous one, but it should not be confused with it.  The point is that the target of the acquisition process is to interrelate expressions and meanings. Unfortunately, learners put undue emphasis on syntactic structures (grammar) and seem to overlook semantics – the study of meanings. Learners must continuously strive to discover the meaning of difficult expressions.  In particular, expressions that are abstract and increase the cognitive load of deciphering things need special attention.  The ultimate goal of language acquisition is to learn meaningful structures.

Language learners usually fail to comprehend that language acquisition is the result of many essentially interacting processes.  Mastering a language not only involves mastering phonological, morphological, lexical, syntactic rules, as well as rules of discourse organization, but it also requires fathoming the superimposition of these formal categories on each other.  It should be noted that these categories do not exist in a vacuum; they interact with one another to determine and influence the shape and form of language, and that successful acquisition results from this multiple causation.

You might be wondering why I chose to discuss the aforementioned myths of language acquisition.  The reason is that I want you to be fully cognizant of the ineluctable pitfalls of leaning a second language as an adult.  You have worked hard this semester, and I believe that your English has improved significantly, given the fact that you have only had a short period to enhance your English language proficiency. My parting advice to you is that you should ceaselessly strive for perfection, and speak English whenever you have the opportunity.  Remember that the more you live in English, the more English will live in you.  I wish you the patience to go through this continuing linguistic adventure with your peers and instructors.

Best wishes,

Jilani Warsi


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