Successful Teaching from Our Understanding of Language Learning Theory.

Teaching a language is no simple matter. It is so easy to focus on a single aspect of the language but in doing so, the whole idea of what teaching is about is lost. Whether focusing on learning vocabulary, learning according to different learning styles according to whether the learners learn mainly by using sight, hearing, sound touch or by creating associations from previous knowledge, there is only one way to steer through this muddled minefield and that is to focus on the one aspect that really matters the learner. Experts may sweep their hands in a dismissive gesture and say: “Ph! we know about that, that is simply "personalized learning"”. However, by whatever names we use, teaching is about focusing on the learner. I do not mean simply placing the learner in a particular spot in a continuum of different learners and their general aptitudes, learning preferences or previously acquired knowledge. I mean focusing on the learner him or herself and what actually occurs at the specific time when they are being taught. Teaching is about understanding what is happening and constantly adjusting to the changes that inevitably occurring during the lesson and after the lesson.

In a class of twenty learners there are twenty different individuals. Each individual will have different approaches to the learning material, different learning preferences and different banks of knowledge to build from and to add to. This is common knowledge no more than stating the obvious. However, looking further into this issue is the only way forward for a number of the learners. If learners in the class are not taking any notice of a list of vocabulary on the board, for example, the teacher may engage the learners in all sorts of exciting games and different learning methods. If the learners are not "noticing" (to use the word in linguistic terms) nothing will be learned.

All subjects are reliant on language the use of symbols for communication. If teachers focussed on language learning theory in terms of the language learning characteristics of the individual learner many of those who have previously been left behind will be able to learn much more effectively. In order to learn or "acquire" language so that it becomes an integral part of the thinking of the learner the learner first has to "notice" the language or whatever is being communicated. The learner then needs to select what they need from this communication. Different learners will have different banks of language knowledge so what they need to take from a communication is an individual matter to reinforce what they may be only familiar with but have not fully acquired and to "notice" for the first time new material. Such "noticed" material becomes "intake" which the learner then needs to absorb in their thinking. They need to relate the learning material with their networks of knowledge that are already established in the cognitive activity of their thinking.

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.