Jak uczniowie uczą się języków obcych? To pytanie od wielu lat zadają sobie psychologowie, pedagodzy i nauczyciele. Współczesne metody nauczania języków opierają się na teoriach takich badaczy jak Jean Piaget, Lew Wygotski czy Jerome Bruner, którzy pokazali, jak rozwój poznawczy, doświadczenie i wsparcie nauczyciela wpływają na proces uczenia się.
Poniżej publikujemy artykuł naszej nauczycielki języka angielskiego, napisany w oryginalnej wersji językowej. To ciekawe spojrzenie na najważniejsze teorie wyjaśniające, jak przebiega proces nauki języków obcych.
Constructing personal knowledge
Around the 1960s Piaget¹ led the constructivist movement believing that learning and mental development is a result of constructing personal knowledge from experiences. Piaget’s ‘action based’ theory suggests that children ‘make sense’ of experiences by performing actions in order to solve problems and it is through these actions that learning occurs. Piaget believed that as the child progresses action is internalised or carried out mentally in the imagination and in this way thinking develops. His theory was based on a series of experiments conducted in order to define ‘stages’ of development from birth to the onset of puberty (see texts on child development).
Accommodation and Assimilation
Piaget stated that cognitive development takes place by adapting or modifying already known behaviour or thinking and for this he used the terms ‘assimilation and accommodation’. Assimilation can be described as the process by which we modify new information to fit in with existing knowledge, and accommodation is where the existing knowledge is modified to fit in new information. Cameron² uses an example of a child who has learned to eat with a spoon. When presented with a fork a child will continue to use the fork in the same way as a spoon is used; this is assimilation of a new tool to existing skills and knowledge. As soon as the child realises that a fork can be used in a different manner, by prodding, accommodation occurs. These processes can be thought of as happening simultaneously in order for the developing mind to seek ‘equilibration’ or balance.
Role of language
Although Vygotsky³ realised that language is fundamentally a means of communication he identified a different function, in that it is also an ‘instrument or tool of thought’ and that very young children can be heard speaking aloud, talking through their actions and organising their thoughts. Not only is this a means of ‘self-regulation’, but once this talk is ‘internalised’ as inner speech a lot more cognitive development can take place.
Role of adults
‘What a child can do with assistance today she will be able to do by herself tomorrow’. (Vygotsky 1978:87)
Vygotsky noticed the importance of social interaction and how development and learning actually take place with the support and collaboration of others. This formed the basis of what he termed ‘The Zone of Proximal Development’ (ZPD). Vygotsky recognised that a child not only had an ‘actual developmental level’ but also a ‘potential level of development’ and he referred to this area between the two as the ZPD. When left to their own devices the children in his experiments achieved far less than when given guidance and assistance by an adult. Feuerstein¹ also suggests that the way significant adults, or ‘mediators’, interact with the child is central to their cognitive development. It enables the child to construct a view of the world which is inextricably linking cognitive, social and emotional development.
Scaffolding
According to Bruner¹, language is the most important tool for cognitive growth and, in particular, how adults use language to mediate the world for children and help them to solve problems. The term scaffolding is used to describe talk which supports a child in carrying out an activity. This can be done by making a child interested in an activity, by simplifying a task so that it is broken down into manageable steps, keeping a child on track towards completing a task, or providing suggestions on alternative ways of carrying out the tasks. Good scaffolding is tuned to the needs of the child and adjusted as the child becomes more competent.
Imitation
Although imitation can be considered a mechanical process, psychologists have shown that imitation can only occur if it is within the child’s ZPD. Vygotsky also believes that imitation is part of the ‘specific social nature’ from which learning develops and that children are able to exceed their limits and capabilities in the process. Acting out real situations imaginatively helps children develop intellectually; ‘While imitating their elders in culturally patterned activities, children generate opportunities for intellectual development.’ (Vygotsky 1978:129)
Building on knowledge
Building on existing knowledge through experiences could be one of the few areas where there is agreement among theorists. Vygotsky believes that there is an existing knowledge, related to previous experience, to whatever learning a child encounters at school. Bennet and Dunne⁴ refer to this as ‘partial schemata’ and, whether the knowledge is correct or not, it should be the teacher’s responsibility to find effective ways of modifying, extending or elaborating this schemata so that learning can take place. Although imitation and copying are regarded as important support, it is the guidance of self discovery and facilitating the child to ‘conscious control’ which really helps internalise external knowledge. As an educationalist, Bruner¹ is concerned how his ideas on ‘cognitive development’ can conform to the classroom environment as he believes that the basics of any subject can be taught to anyone, regardless of age, and this can be cultivated into what he calls ‘the spiral curriculum’ where subjects and topics are ‘revisited and built upon’ repeatedly.
Individual learning preferences
Piaget focused his work on trying to measure ‘logical reasoning’ as a form of intelligence, but what he overlooked was that other forms of ‘competences’ or intelligences could be demonstrated. Gardner⁵ describes these different intelligences as ‘frames of mind’ and suggests that there is a ‘minimum of seven distinct intelligences: logical-mathematical, linguistic, spatial, bodily-kinaesthetic, musical, interpersonal and intrapersonal’. Information is thought to be absorbed according to learning style and three channels of learning; visual, auditory and kinaesthetic have been identified for YLs. For children aged 5-7 years understanding is dominant in the physical world, where they store memories using their senses. Although identifying how learners are different is important, it is also necessary to recognise their similarities.
Bibliography
- Williams, M. and Burden, R.L. (1997) Psychology for Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Cameron, L. (2001) Teaching Languages to Young Learners. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Vygotsky, L. S. (1978) Mind in Society. London: Harvard University Press.
- Bennett, N. and Dunne, E. (1994) How Children Learn, Implications for Practice. In B. Moon and A. Shelton Mayes (eds.) Teaching and Learning in the Secondary School, (pp.50 – 56). London: Routledge.
- Gardner, H. (1994) The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. In B. Moon and A. Shelton Mayes (eds.) Teaching and Learning in the Secondary School (pp. 38 – 46). London: Routledge.
Autorem tekstu jest Nauczyciel: Elena Yakunina
