(This post originally appeared first on 1/1/10)
When I tell my students about language, I point out to them that much of what happens in our brains is “automatic”, that we are not conscious of what actually happens in L1 and so it feels strange or difficult in L2.
I point out that there are the following steps:
1: Hear/See the language element (sound/word/phrase/sentence).
2: Recognize the language element.
3: Comprehend the language element.
That is why on listening quizzes, with fairly “new” language elements, I give them 2/3 credit if they hear “La casa” or “Quisiera comprarlo’ and can write or say it back to me. The remaining 1/3 credit is the meaning. This is often confusing to them because they think that the meaning carries the most importance. I try to remind them that unless they can hear/see and recognize it, they will never get to the meaning portion!!!
It is also practical. Being able to hear/see an element and write/pronounce it allows them to then ask someone…what does “X” mean. Very useful.
Step #3 can be fairly complex for the brain. The brain may run through several process, simultaneously, to arrive at meaning and I am sure that some of you out there can offer research to back me up on this. From a layman’s perspective, at the very least, the students’ brains may use context clues, in comparison to L1 (which relies heavily on the level of development in that language!!!), and/or reach into stored memory for the meaning.
All of this takes time. The input speed, IF I AM TEACHING FOR ACQUISITION, can make or break the students’ ability to attach meaning. When teaching for acquisition…I already knew…and try to remember to frequently point out to my students (colleagues, parents, administrators as necessary) that slower is better.
SOMETHING THAT I HADN’T YET FIGURED OUT is that there is (at least) a FOURTH AND FIFTH STEP!!!!!
Step 4: “Picture” the meaning. Holding on to the meaning of an element (again, sound, word, phrase, sentence) means being able to “picture” , “imagine”, or “feel” the meaning. Step 4 is CRUCIAL. Without it, there is no acquisition, no long-term memory. That is why nouns and actions are so much ‘easier” for the brain to hang on to. It is why the “little’ words are the hardest, and take the most time to get. The meaning of the word “while” cannot be pictured, nor even easily described. It has little “weight”, it is more of a feeling or situation where meaning is concerned and is frequently harder to remember. It takes longer for the brain to assign, hang on to, dig up the meaning of the word.
Step 5: Connecting the meaning to the “story in the brain.” A random set of words that creates no pattern or picture is very hard to remember. Memory and comprehension occur when meaning is connected to a pattern.
Memory and comprehension occur when meaning is connected to a pattern.
On a very simple level, when we do TPR with students and ask them to “Jump three times” their minds must connect the meaning of all three elements in order to know what is required of them and THEN they need time to make their bodies move. Just knowing the meaning of all three elements is not enough. The mind must connect the meanings to comprehend the phrase. Their brains and bodies need TIME to do that.
In conversation or in a story, every meaning-carrying utterance is added to the ones before it in the students’ minds in order to add to the conversation or story. That is how comprehension is built. That is why humor works.
When our students laugh at the idea of our principal feeding doughnuts to a Chihuahua he has hidden under his desk, it is because they got to Step 4: visualizing the situation….and to Step 5: comparing that image to the image of what is expected of a principal and finding humor in the absurdity of it.
IF WE ARE TEACHING FOR ACQUISITION, then we must slow down to allow their minds to go there.
Therefore….following the sage advice of my 9th grade Geometry teacher….I reversed that and was stunned and humbled by the (now obvious, at least to me) truth:
IF WE SLOW DOWN AND LET THEIR MINDS GO THERE, then, and only then, are we teaching for acquisition.
with love,
Laurie
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