Learning Log Pt. 2

This is an email I sent a colleague in Japan as part of a school assignment. I'm trying to retain my sense of humor as I wade through years of linguistic theory, and I think it's working. My teacher loved these analogies!

Dear Mrs. Keiko,

I hope you are doing well! It's time for me to write you another email for school, so I hope you don't mind. I want to tell you about some of the things I am studying, but I'm worried it might be difficult to understand. If you have any questions, please ask me and I will try my best to answer them. I hope this will be a good learning experience for both of us!

In my Second Language Acquisition (SLA) class, I have been studying about many theories for language teaching. In class, we recently had a very fun assignment to summarize all the various theories from the past 50 years using metaphors. My classmates all presented very interesting metaphors, but I want to share my musical themed presentation with you.

In the 1950s & 1960s language learning was characterized by a theory known a Behaviorism. Linguists thought that learning a language was like learning anything else; it's a formation of habits based on stimuli and responses. This is very similar to the "Call & Response" technique we used in Jyushiyama JHS. The teacher is always the center of attention and the students listen and repeat.

The metaphor I used to describe Behaviorism was an album by James Brown. He was a very famous musician in the '60s because people could not take their eyes off him. He was the center of attention and he conducted his band and the audience with call & response techniques.

In the 1970s, a linguist named Corder began studying students' errors and a new theory called Error Analysis was born. This theory noted the fact that many errors by students did not originate from their native language. For example, Spanish and English have very similar plural tenses, but Spanish speakers often forget to add the plural marking when speaking English. Linguists could not understand where these kinds of errors were coming from.

To associate the Error Analysis theory I used Led Zeppelin's first album, which has a famous picture of the Hindenburg crashing. To me, aside from the fact that the Hindenburg was a major error in and of itself, Led Zeppelin's music was based on electric blues, but it was full of feedback, and listeners were baffled at where this new genre, dubbed heavy metal, came from.

In the 1980s, a linguist named Krashen put forth a theory about comprehensible input. Comprehensible input is defined as "second language input just beyond the learner's current second language competence." This is more commonly referred to as "i + 1." It claims that if a student is studying something too easy or too difficult, it will not be useful for learning, but if the input is slightly higher, the student will be intrigued and want to learn.

This was my favorite metaphor. I used Michael Jackson's "Thriller" album. Michael Jackson was the first pop star in the '80s to take traditional musical input (audio) and add a visual component (video). By adding a new aspect to music, he captured the world's attention and intrigued millions.

As language learning moved into the 1990s, a new humanist approach started to take hold. Linguists continued to build upon theories explored in previous decades, but they started looking into more social, cultural, and psychological variables. More emphasis was put on the learners individual characteristics like motivation, personality, and personal learning style.

To capture this refined humanist approach, I used a CD by a band called the Flaming Lips. Their album "The Soft Bulletin" was a symphonic pop album created by modern technology melding synthesizers with guitars to make blissful melodies. All the while, the humanity of the album comes through loud and clear because the lyrics are about basic human emotions like love and loss and the beauty of life.

Now in the 21st century, my teacher says, "we're wearing a lot of hats." Linguists tend not to adhere to any one specific theory, but to a multitude of possible approaches centered around the learner.

To represent this all-encompassing idea, I brought a DVD called "1 Giant Leap." I used this because it's a fusion of all kinds of music from all over the world, spoken word, and very powerful visual imagery. It's presented in a surround sound mix for home theaters, so the listener really is encompassed!

I hope this was informative for you, and I look forward to reading your response. Again, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask me.


Take care,


heyhey

Just so you know, my teacher asked to borrow the Lips CD and the Giant Leap film!