Myths+About+Language+Learning


 * MYTHS ABOUT LANGUAGE LEARNING**

//**Myth 1: Children Learn Second Languages Quickly And Easily.**//

If teachers are inclined to believe this is true, they are likely to not give second language learners any specialized language support at all. Younger children will suffer from this attitude more than older children will because younger children may not have mastered the vocabulary memorization strategies and other techniques that older children benefit from by simply being more experienced learners. Younger children do seem to acquire better L2 pronunciation than older children, but this could disadvantage them in the classroom as well, since their teachers may assume that good verbal communication skills reflect good academic language skills too, which they do not. Understanding this misconception should cause elementary school teachers to closely monitor their Ells' comprehension so they do not fall behind academically and to consider explicitly teaching some learning/memorization techniques that all students will benefit from. Elementary school teachers should also pay close attention to how their young ELLs are interacting with their peers, since children are often more shy around their peers than adults are. In this case, teachers should be prepared to help children develop language for socializing. Middle school and high school teachers should not give up on their older ELLs, since research also shows that their experience as learners and more advanced understanding of language will help them acquire the L2. In a post-secondary setting, teachers should provide continued assistance with the development of the academic register, especially in writing, while understanding that each ELL may have a very different experience with learning English and that it takes between five and seven years to master it.


 * //Myth 2: The Younger The Child, The More Skilled In Acquiring An L2.//**

Teachers who believe this myth will likely assume that the youngest students will require little support in acquiring English and that the immersion technique is best. Teachers of older students may feel that their students are “lost causes” and will never learn English adequately enough to succeed academically or professionally.

Research suggests that the opposite is true for this misconception. Children who begin learning an L2 in the 7th or 8th grade fair better or at least as well as students who started learning the L2 in the 1st or 2nd grade. In fact, older students are likely to progress more quickly than younger students. Further research shows that the amount of time a student is exposed to a language does not necessarily indicate how quickly the student will acquire the language.

With this knowledge, teachers should not expect any ELL to just “pick up” the language over time. Teachers should also not expect very young language learners to progress very rapidly or for older learners to simply “pick up” a perfect accent.


 * //Myth 3: The More Time Students Spend In A Second Language Context, The Quicker They Learn The Language.//**

Belief in this myth would likely lead to pulling students out of bilingual programs quickly or to focus on an immersion model of language learning.

Research suggests, however, that it is better for students to stay in bilingual programs as long as necessary. The benefits include enabling students to keep up with academic content classes at grade-level and allowing them to potentially become fluently bilingual- a valuable skill in the workforce.


 * //Myth 4: Children Have Acquired An L2 Once They Can Speak It.//**

Teachers who believe this myth will try to mainstream ELLs once their verbal language skills sound good. Teachers may even think that a student who speaks English well but does not write it well or claims he/she does not understand what he/she has read is just being lazy or difficult.

Research shows that verbal language skills are masters much sooner than academic language skills and that younger students are likely to learn to speak without an accent, even though they need further training in writing and reading comprehension. Students should //never// be transferred from an ELL program based only on his/her clarity or fluidity of speech.


 * //Myth 5: All Children Learn An L2 In The Same Way.//**

Teachers who believe this are likely to not vary their method of teaching very much in order to reach culturally diverse students. This teacher would probably get frustrated with multicultural students and begin to develop unfavorable stereotypes against them. Knowing that students from different cultures have different teaching traditions within their families will help teachers interpret their students’ behaviors and mistakes and will lend to trying new teaching techniques such as peer review/tutoring and group work instead of just lecture.