A Brief Overview of a Theory and Method for Second Language Acquisition

The most significant moment in the course of intellectual development, which gives birth to the purely human forms of practical and abstract intelligence, occurs when speech and practical activity, two previously completely independent lines of development, converge.

—L.S. Vygotsky—

 

The Convergence Method of Language Acquisition (CMLA) draws from formal study and practice in the field of intercultural communication for over twenty years. The program derives its theoretical grounding from the work of scholars and practitioners too numerous to mention in this brief review. However, of special note is the seminal thinking of two unconnected traditions. These provide, in a promising synthesis of philosophy and empirical method, a common belief in the social origin of the mind. This suggests the power of a society to improve both the individual and social condition through education and other social programs. Both traditions attempt to enter the mind through the process of communication, thus abandoning the experimental behaviorism and reductionism prevalent in more traditional psychology. The first of these approaches is the American school of "symbolic interaction," grounded in the work of G.H. Mead, a social psychologist at the University of Chicago, J. Dewey, J. Russell, and others. The second, the "socio-historical approach," arose contemporaneously, but on the other side of the world, in the shadow of the Russian Revolution. Its founder, L.S. Vygotsky, a Belorussian developmental psychologist, along with A.R. Luria, and A.N. Leont’ev, "revolutionized" the understanding of language’s role in building individual mind. More contemporaneously, this study has been influenced by Ray Birdwhistell and George Gerbner of the Annenberg School of Communications, University of Pennsylvania, and Mike Cole and the many contributors to the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition at the University of California (San Diego).

The theory of the CMLA comes from a direct line of socio-historical scholars: L.S. Vygotsky, his student and colleague, A.R. Luria, and his student (my mentor) Mike Cole. This approach believes that all learning, whether within one’s native culture or of a later, secondary acquisition, rests on the fact that humans possess three universal characteristics:

• Humans are thoroughly social.

• Humans emerge and develop through social relations.

• It is through social relations that humans influence and change others.

Therefore, human learning must be socially mediated—the quality of this mediation determines the quality of the learning. The intellectual skills students acquire are directly related to how they interact with others in problem-solving environments. Most important to understand is that the same methods used for communication become internalized as methods for thinking.

From this theory, the CMLA emphasizes that the study of second language is more than a process of learning new words to express old ideas. It is a method to gain new ways of thinking about things and people, where ideas and feelings may be exchanged in an expanded understanding—a virtual culture arising in the acts of communication between people. The term "convergence" is used because of what is seen as the primary difference between native and secondary language acquisition. In the former, a culture is entered into and identity established. In the latter, two cultures (native and secondary) are negotiated through the mutual efforts of the student and teacher into convergence—similarities develop in heretofore dissimilar cultural systems. As in all successful negotiations, this process must be carried out in a spirit of cooperation and respect.

Communication is not only important from the standpoint of international good will and intercultural harmony. The acquisition of a second language is often essential for the development of new technological or professional skills in that the knowledge of tools, materials, and methods of their use are interdependent with the cultures from which they arise. This does not mean culture in a national or regional sense—American, Japanese, or Arab; European, Asian, or African. Here I refer to global cultures born (through common literature, conferencing, computer networking, interpersonal relations) out of a specific technology or discipline, such as: engineering, medicine, information science, business, or any of the myriad fields requisite to our modern global economy.

The CMLA suggests the following seven general beliefs about second language acquisition:

1) Dual Learning—Second language acquisition takes place much in the same way as native language, although in an accelerated and more systematic fashion. These skills are mastered by two distinct modes:

A) Implicit: "unconscious"—language acquired in normal communication where by trial and error the learner gains an "ear" for the correct forms; implicit language is basis of communication, creating and understanding utterances. It is therefore essential that the program provide a rich environment for this type of interaction.

Implicit Methods: oral activities, reading, listening drills, free writing, cooperative problem solving activities, field experiences. This requires intensive student/teacher interaction.

B) Explicit: "conscious"— language learned from formal instruction, consisting of rules that must be learned; explicit language acts as editor of acquired knowledge. A problem here is that natural languages are as dynamic as the cultures that produce them. If grammar is taught as absolute, as may be found in non-native speaker instruction, then language patterns become stilted or "fossilized" and with it the student’s mind.

Explicit Methods: grammar exercises, pronunciation drills, spelling, calligraphy. These can be performed either traditionally, with exercise books and audio tapes, or more innovative technologies such as computers.

2) Pragmatic learning—Regardless of the suggestion that grammar acquisition is aided by an innate device (Language Acquisition Device), CMLA emphasizes that grammatical rules (in conjunction with other aspects of a culture) are first acquired through practical communication experience and then shaped by formal learning. A goal of second language programs is to create situations that approximate the natural communication activities. In these students can develop their own individual strategies for understanding. Once these strategies have been internalized implicitly, then they can be shaped into more formal structures by explicit instruction.

3) Natural order of language acquisition—Comprehension proceeds production. Further, grammar rules and forms are acquired in an implicit, natural order (by this is meant Vygotsky’s concept as opposed to that of J. Piaget) that is driven by practical communication needs. Formal instruction must follow this course of natural acquisition, effectively shaping the implicit knowledge of language with explicit forms appropriate for the goals of the program. As much as possible, formal instruction should be holistic, emphasizing the practical, communicative aspects of the language and avoiding the break down of instruction into skill components, such as vocabulary or grammar.

A) Comprehension: listening comprehension—provide students with the opportunities to listen to vocabulary and grammar in a natural context. Input must be comprehensible with low levels of affective filtration. These include exercises which enable the student to develop good comprehension skills without being required to speak, for example, matching, associative activities, audio and video tapes, vocabulary and grammar computer exercises;

B) Naive production: single words or short phrases—provide students with exercises that encourage transition from listening to short responses, for example, interviewing and introduction, picture/word matching, total physical response exercises, elementary role play, interactive computer projects, field trips;

C) Mature production: longer phrases and complete sentences—entrance into this stage has been found to be almost automatic on the part of the students as they have a natural inclination to capitalize on their intellectual investment. Exercises to promote this development are, for example, conversation, free writing and formal essays, oral presentations, debate, drama, group projects (e.g., newsletter, video, field of study-related problem solving), computer conferencing and bulletin boards, for example, CAUCUS.

4) Learning environment—Just as native language is more quickly assimilated in an affective or nurturing environment, so too is a non-threatening setting essential for second language learning. The quality of interaction between the individual and the teacher is key because what is being negotiated is more than a list of words, or forms for their order. In learning a new language, the individual gains another perspective of both the self and the world in which that self is located.

Mental development takes place whenever there is an interactive adjustment between the interpsychological (social) and intrapsychological (internal) planes—between what is mediated culturally and what is experienced perceptually.

There is a need to connect language acquisition both to needs in the student’s immediate life and to the native community of the language (subject relevance). The tool and its sign, the technology and the vocabulary needed in its operation must be totally interrelated in the learning process. For example, the sign system of the computer, both artificial languages (COBOL, PASCAL, FORTRAN, etc.), as well as technical terminology is best acquired in conjunction with actual use of the tool, the computer, in meaningful problem solving activities. Because language acquisition is needs based, it is crucial for the student at all stages of the learning process to feel that the skills acquired are of practical use.

Discourse lives, as it were, beyond itself, in a living impulse towards the object; if we detach ourselves completely from this impulse all we have left is the naked corpse of the word, from which we can learn nothing at all about the social situation or the fate of a given word in life. To study the word as such, ignoring the impulse that reaches out beyond it, is just as senseless as to study psychological experience outside the context of that real life toward which it was directed and by which it was determined.

—M. Bakhtin—

5) Program assessment—In addition to the traditional methods of testing of performance through oral and written tests of the individual students, the CMLA assesses the quality of the student/teacher interaction—the cultural convergence. This is done by measuring a student’s zone of proximal development.

A) Definition of the Zone: this is the developmental opportunity between the student’s unaided, problem solving level and potential level under the guidance of an instructor.

B) Implications:

i) The mentor’s role is to create and support social activities which help students master behaviors that are in advance of what they can already independently perform—lead, stretch, and create models for future development.

ii) Learning is a whole activity. It cannot be broken down into basic skills. A common error is to assume that the intellectual level of the lesson must match basic skills, e.g., decoding—full social and communicative goals must be present.

iii) The result of the teaching method can be predicted and potential program dysfunction identified before they are beyond repair. When problems occur, they must be assessed as a trajectory of behavior rather than as an isolated event in time.

6) Program goal—proficiency in communication for a specific need, defined as the ability to convey ideas and emotions within a particular "culture." Learning activities must be directed to help students express and obtain meaning in ways that will enable them to make this knowledge and meaning their own. To do this a student must learn not only semantics and syntax, but also equally the context of the culture. It is not only impractical, but impossible, to successfully teach a language isolated from its culture context. In turn this newly entered culture must converge with the student’s own into a virtual culture, a synthesis of old and new (see Figure 2); one that will have meaning in the student’s daily life. The key role for the teacher is to help the students negotiate meaning through diverse learning experiences.

7) Individual Goals—The setting of specific goals tailored to the individual student is again crucial since language is best acquired out of practical need. After all, language acquisition is a purposeful endeavor where a student’s goal is to acquire a useful tool. Not all students are prepared to make the same intellectual investment, nor do they seek (or need) the same level of language proficiency. Therefore, CMLA proposes four study programs of increasing convergence, each appropriate to educational goals of the individual. These programs may be further subdivided by skill level; the actual number of these levels subject to the realities of a specific program, such as, study goals, enrollment, teacher availability, etc.:

A) Discourse: the ability to interact with native speakers is the base-line goal for all students. It will provide students with the basic skills for subsequent programs and (most importantly) imbue them with a desire to further develop their rudimentary skills;

B) Sociolinguistics: ability to interact in different social situations requiring not only an understanding of a language and accompanying non-verbal sign system, but of its native cultural context. This is goal for students preparing for travel and/or business conducted in the language of study.

C) Linguistics: ability to choose correct form, structure, and meaning. This is the specific goal for academic preparatory program where performance in language qualifying exams (e.g. TOEFL) and subsequent advanced curricula will be concretely measured.

D) Technolinguistics: ability to interact with specific technical or professional fields. An additional goal for students in fields with a specialized terminology and idiom.

The development of communication skills, both in native and secondary languages, is the key to cognitive and social growth. Complex language is, after all, the ability that sets the human species (for better or worse) apart from all other forms of life. We are empowered by language; it unites mind with matter, individual with society. Through another language, we can come to understand how others see the world and, in turn, share our own views with others. This shared understanding is the convergence of culture through language acquisition. It leads not to the destruction of whom we are as members of unique and equally valuable cultures, but to the understanding that ultimately we are one people, sharing this planet as a common home.

If we can bring people together so that they can enter into each other’s lives, they will inevitably have a common object, which will control their common conduct. Any self is a social self, but it is restricted to the group whose roles it assumes, and it will never abandon this self until it finds itself entering into the larger society and maintaining itself there.

—G.H. Mead—