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The Horse, as I wrote previously, is spoken fluency. I made the
point that long before they go off to first grade, children
already have a high degree of spoken fluency in their native
tongue before they learn the parts of speech or memorize grammar
rules. It is my contention, and the premise of this book, this
is exactly what you need long before you enroll in a formal
foreign language course. Long before you begin to learn the
difference between the preterite and imperfect tenses in
Spanish, you need to be using them with the same degree of
fluency that a Mexican first-grader does when he goes off to his
first day of school.
Ok, calm that heart rate down. Don’t get all twisted in a knot
over this. What I am suggesting is highly possible. If you have
the time and the money=97and yes, it is going to cost you=97you can
engage in the same process to learn Spanish that you did when
you learned your native language.
Look at the cost factor to which I just alluded. What would you
rather do? Would you rather spend a small fortune that could pay
off the national debt of some small “third world” country in
books and tuition for classes which are not designed to teach
you spoken fluency, or would you rather spend the money on
something that will work? Having said that, let’s take a look at
the Horse. Let’s also look at how children learn their native
tongue as well as how they seem to learn a second language
faster than adults.
That children seem to learn a foreign language faster than
adults is not necessarily true.
I have gotten into many a verbal “knock-down-drag-outs” over
this very issue. Most Americans are convinced that children can
learn a foreign language faster than adults can. Have you not
heard the very same thing? This is the standard excuse of those
I meet who express the dream of expatriating to Mexico but who
are firmly and inextricably convinced because they are in their
60′s, they are UNABLE to learn a second language.
The wonderful truth is that what you’ve always heard about
children being able to pick up a language faster than adults is
SIMPLY IS NOT TRUE. It is not too late because you are an “older
learner.”
Most new studies show when an adult learner is involved in the
right method of language instruction, he learns the foreign
language faster than a child. If an adult is immersed in the
correct method that teaches the second language in the same
manner in which he learned his native tongue, he will learn the
language faster. This assumes the absence of some sort of
organic disease process in the adult.
The difference that has been noted between children and adults
trying to acquire a second language is that those who learn the
language before puberty generally will have no “accent.” They do
not sound like an English speaker when they speak Spanish.
The reasons for the noted accent factor between adult and child
learners may be due to developing brain issues and to the
individual learning experiences of the child versus the adult.
The research specifically shows, as an adult gets older, there
is NO diminution in the ability to learn. Unless there is a
disease process with the hearing or vision, or unless there is a
mental impairment, there is no reason why an adult cannot learn
a second language and become fluent. It is a myth that adults
cannot learn a second language. That is not to say there are no
adult-related difficulties in learning a second language. There
are indeed some adult-related difficulties but they are not what
you think.
The biggest difficulty in an adult, and I am talking even those
as young as college-age adults, learning a second language is an
emotional issue. Adults have bought into the popular myth that
because they didn’t learn Spanish as children, it is too late
for them to begin now.
I recall reading a study about language instruction at Harvard
where students routinely put off their foreign language
requirement until their senior year. Some got so freaked out
that Harvard had to develop a therapy resource to help students
get through their required language courses. Some universities
developed a Bachelor’s of General Studies degree program just so
students could avoid taking a foreign language. That is how
frightened and paranoid Americans are of learning another
language.
It is an emotional issue that prevents adults from trying and
succeeding to learn Spanish.
Researchers Krashen, Long, and Scarcella showed that,
“Studies comparing the rate of second language acquisition in
children and adults have shown that although children may have
an advantage in achieving native-like fluency in the long run,
adults actually learn languages more quickly than children in
the early stages. (Krashen, Long, and Scarcella, 1979: The Older
Language Learner by Mary Schleppegrell, Ph.D).”
The conclusion this study draws is adults can develop a working
ability in the target language much faster than a child can.
NEXT: Some Really Bad Science!
About The Author: Doug Bower
http://www.zyworld.com/theolog/Page1.htm
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