Successful Teaching from Our Understanding of Language Learning Theory.

To learn the spelling of the word “guide” for example, the learner who does not know how to spell this word needs to notice that there is a silent “u” in the word and that the “I” is made longer by the addition of an “e” at the end of the word. While noticing this, the learner will undoubtedly bring to the fore already acquired language that is associated with the word. This may take the form of other words that sound the same, for learning theory indicates that words are stored in our memories according the their sound and meaning. Consequently, the learner may think of words like “guy”, “guiding”, “guile” or the learner may picture experiences as a guide or they may only be able to connect the word with a vaguely familiar lesson they may have had on the “ie” combination of sounds.

After the word has been noticed’, has served as “intake” and has been incorporated within the learner’s current memory network of similar sounding words, the learner then needs to be able to recall the word quickly and automatically before the word can be marked as fully acquired. The previously associated words, pictures or experiences all have a role to play. Teachers need to provide activities that require recalling newly acquired language so that learners can recall these words quickly and if it is done regularly enough the new language will be fully acquired.
Taking language learning theory as the model for teaching methods puts pay to much of what is being taught nowadays. Having strictly defined teaching syllabuses, all meticulously broken down into small compartments has little to do with the teacher noticing that the learner has not understood or learned from the previous lesson.

If a learner has been unable to grasp what has been taught, the material and the method as well as an understanding of the how the learner functions may all have been to blame. To ignore this and go on to something new will only make the learner regress they will soon become disinterested in the whole learning process and become learners with learning difficulties. It is not the learner who has the difficulties, it is the teacher or more to the point it is the educational decision makers making demands on the teachers that have little or nothing to do with the nature of learning and the learner.

The learner who really is not interest in learning at all, is the learner who needs to be allowed time and space to be tempted to join in the adventure of learning that their peers enjoy. The learner who loves reading and can read way beyond the level of their peers but who cannot spell and positively hates writing, needs to be encouraged first to continue enjoying what they love i.e. reading but to be gently led towards an interest in the structure of the words he or she can read and to be encouraged to try to form these words for themselves, not in a coerced class of automated learners, but in a way that gradually builds on this individual’s strengths and interest.

If teachers and learners were permitted, in this whirlwind of education demands, to simply enjoy the language of their subjects in a way that builds gradually on what they know and observe, then education would become the vibrant, enjoyable activity that only a few in our society seem to enjoy at present.