Effective Language Learning Strategies: Comprehensible Input & Multilingualism
Comprehensible Input
According to comprehensible input theory, a language is learned when the message is understood.
That’s why the role of the educator is very important, and they must ensure:
Exolingual communication.
This is valid for both foreign language learning and immersion programs.
Speech-Related Strategies
To explain a concept, the teacher must enunciate correctly, using repetitions and pausing when necessary.
Interaction Strategies
To involve children in explanations, the teacher can use a child as an example.
Strategies to Make Concepts Clear
To explain a concept, the teacher can start with previewing materials, showing what they are going to learn.
Multilingualism & L1-TL Connections
Because languages are not separated in the brain, students make cross-linguistic connections.
Things learned in one language can be transferred to other languages. Focus on similarities and differences between them.
Possible Strategies:
- Focus on Cognates: A game with words of the same origin. Children have to relate words in the two languages.
- Dual Language Multimedia Books and Projects: Searching for information about cooking in L1 and then writing a recipe in TL.
- Sister Class Exchange: A joint project with another class about creating a story.
Common Underlying Proficiency (CUP)
CUP is based on the idea that things learned in one language can be transferred to others.
CUP is not innate; it is established and evolves while learning to use language.
The more languages you learn, the higher your ability to represent the world and communicate.
Practical Applications:
- Understanding concepts using stories.
- Using gestures to aid communication. A game with sounds.
- Watching a film and representing it.
Instructional Transfer Strategies
Identity texts are the products of students’ creative work within an instructional context.
Addressing Myths in Language Learning
Myth: Translation should not be used.
That’s wrong.
Practical Activities:
- Less fluent students create a story in L1, and more fluent students help them translate it into TL.
- Students translate written stories from L1 to TL.
- Students do a performance, and the other children ask questions in two languages.
Common Myths About Children and Language Learning
Myth: Children learn quickly and easily.
The optimal way to learn a second language is to begin at birth and learn two languages simultaneously.
The child does not have to learn as much as an adult to achieve competence in communicating. Adult learners often perform better than young children.
It may be more difficult, as young children do not have access to the memory techniques and other strategies that more experienced learners can use in acquiring vocabulary and learning the grammatical rules of the language.
Time Spent in a Second Language Context
Structured immersion: instruction is in English with the additional support of ESL classes.
The use of the home language in bilingual classrooms enables the child to avoid falling behind in school work, and it also provides a mutually reinforcing bond between the home and the school.
Children’s Communication Skills
Myth: Children speak better.
A child who is proficient in face-to-face communication has not necessarily achieved proficiency in more abstract and disembedded language skills.
Children take much longer to master the disembedded cognitive language skills required for the regular English curriculum.
Problems in reading and writing may not be apparent if the child’s oral abilities are used as the gauge of English proficiency.
Individual Differences in Language Learning
Myth: All children learn a second language in the same way.
In classrooms where group work is stressed, the socially active child is more likely to be successful.
Teachers need to be aware of cultural and individual differences in learner styles.
Instruction for children from culturally diverse backgrounds requires a variety of instructional activities.
Student diversity challenges the educational system, but the educational innovations and instructional strategies that are effective with diverse students can benefit all students.