science

List of common misconceptions about language learning

List of common misconceptions about language learning is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of common misconceptions about language learning rather than just read about it. In short: Language learning is subject to several misconceptions. It is common for people to rely on their own intuitions about language learning, though they would not do so with other technical subjects such as physics (a phenomenon known as folk linguistics).

Key takeaways

List of common misconceptions about language learning belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of common misconceptions about language learning to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of common misconceptions about language learning from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Language learning is subject to several misconceptions. It is common for people to rely on their own intuitions about language learning, though they would not do so with other technical subjects such as physics (a phenomenon known as folk linguistics). However, these intuitions are often contradicted by scientific research. Each entry on this list of misconceptions is worded as a correction; the misconceptions themselves are implied rather than stated.

Childhood language acquisition

Children do not learn their first language effortlessly Learning a first language is not rapid for children. Children spend years learning their mother tongue, and the process continues well into their school years. At seven years old, for example, many children have difficulties creating passive-voice sentences. A study on child L1 learners and adult L2 learners of Spanish showed that children do not acquire their first language any more quickly than adults do their second language; conversely, the study suggests that the experience of older learners helps them acquire a better handle on the language in question.

Second-language acquisition

Younger learners do not learn languages more easily than older learners It is often assumed that young children learn languages more easily than adolescents and adults. However, the reverse is true; older learners are faster. For example, a study of 17,000 British students showed that those who started learning French aged 11 performed better than those who started learning it aged 8. The only exception to this rule is in pronunciation. Young children invariably learn to speak their second language with native-like pronunciation, whereas learners who start learning a language at an older age only rarely reach a native-like level. The pronunciation seems to be anchored in the speaker from an early age and therefore difficult to change.

Intelligence is not strongly correlated with language-learning ability General intelligence is actually often a poor indicator of language-learning ability. Motivation, tolerance for ambiguity, and self-esteem are all better indicators of language-learning success.

Immersion is not always the best way to learn a language The ability for learners to develop their language skills depends to a large extent on the type of language input that they receive. For input to be effective for second-language acquisition, it must be comprehensible. Merely being immersed in a second-language environment is no guarantee of receiving comprehensible input. For example, learners living in a country where their second language is spoken may be lucky enough to interact with native speakers who can alter their speech to make it comprehensible; but equally, many learners will not have that same luck, and may not understand the vast majority of the input that they receive. In addition, adult learners living in a foreign country may not have very high linguistic demands placed on them, for example if they are a low-level employee at a company. Without the incentive to develop high-level skills in their second language, learners may undergo language fossilisation, or a plateau in their language level. Classroom instruction can be useful in both providing appropriate input for second-language learners, and for helping them overcome problems of fossilisation. Research on bilingual education programs such as Structured English Immersion classes showed that students in these classes acquire skills equivalent to those of children in English-only programs. Those results suggest that a full immersion is not necessarily more advantageous than a partial immersion.

Grammar study is not entirely detrimental to second-language acquisition The study of grammar is helpful for second-language learners, and a lack of grammar knowledge can slow down the language-learning process. On the other hand, relying on grammar instruction as the primary means of learning the language is also detrimental. A balance between these two extremes is necessary for optimal language learning.

Not every child learns a second language in the same way Not all learning methods are successful for all children. A more sociable child learns to speak the second language more quickly so that they can be like their peers, without worrying about potential mistakes and the limits of their language resources. The shyer student learns by listening and observing what is going on around them. Research shows that both types of students succeed better depending on the context; the socially active student excels in groupwork, while the "active listener" excels in teacher-oriented activities. This suggests that no learning strategy is ideal for all students, as is also suggested by experiments involving young L1 learners and adult L2 learners of the same language. Children's behavior in the classroom also varies across cultures; a child accustomed to learning with peers will pay more attention to their classmates than to the teacher. Social class differences also come into play: children from technologically advanced urban backgrounds are more exposed to academic language than children from rural and technologically less advanced backgrounds.

Bilingual education

Learning a second language does not hinder the development of the first language Learners can learn two or more languages without their first language development being adversely affected. There is no such thing as a "fixed amount of space" for languages in the brain. In reality, learners' first languages and their additional languages become part of an integrated system.

Once a child can speak a language, the language-learning process is not complete Learning to speak a language conversationally is only part of the way towards becoming fluent in it. Just because a child can speak a language does not mean that they are yet capable of writing and understanding academic language. This kind of language is particularly important in school in the later grades. One study of 1,200 Canadian schoolchildren indicated that it may take between five and seven years longer to master academic language than to master conversational language.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of common misconceptions about language learning

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of common misconceptions about language learning claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of common misconceptions about language learning before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of common misconceptions about language learning ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of common misconceptions about language learning

In research: List of common misconceptions about language learning appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of common misconceptions about language learning in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of common misconceptions about language learning is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Education-related lists, Language acquisition, Language education, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of common misconceptions about language learning outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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Frequently asked questions

What is List of common misconceptions about language learning in simple terms?

Why does List of common misconceptions about language learning matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of common misconceptions about language learning?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

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