This academic theory was embraced, and forwarded, by Stephen Krashen, the preeminent foreign language acquisition researcher who theorized that language is acquired through natural immersion, or by "doing". The Krashen method is supported by modern linguistics research, and widely applied in univerisity modern language instruction.
Krashen's methods support Dewey's earlier presumptions that children internalize language by means of exposure. He writes, "through the response which is made to the child's instinctive babblings the child comes to know what those babblings mean; they are transformed into articulate language and thus the child is introduced into the consolidated wealth of ideas and emotions which are now summed up in language."
Bonne chance (good luck) on the MTTCs everyone! Bon week-end!
Hi Mindy,
ReplyDeleteI believe these theories have been proven. I have long felt that the only way truly to become fully functional in a language is to have to use it in every way. It's just common sense. Could one learn to walk by reading about it, playing computer games to simulate it, etc. No way!
Regards,
Monte
I didn't recognize the name, Molly, but what you were describing reminded me of a technique that I'd seen in a couple of German classrooms--total physical response. I looked up TPR and saw Kraschen's name everywhere.
ReplyDeleteI hope that you'll have the opportunity to try out some of these ideas...it was fun and exciting to watch (and I still remember a couple of German words!)
Salut, Mindy!
ReplyDeleteJe ne connais pas ce rechercheur que tu as identifie. Il semble que M. Krashen est un des grands. Tu dois m'en parler quand tu as le temps. Et alors, je suis fatigue apres avoir passe deux examens a saemdi. Comment as-tu trouve l'examen francais? Ce n'etais pas facile pour moi.
Mindy,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I love how Joe wrote his post in French. I wish I was that smart. Second, my grandmother would have loved reading your post. When she was alive, she taught Spanish at the university level using the Berlitz method which taught foreign languages using full and immediate immersion in a language/culture. In my high school language classes, I found that I learned languages the best when I was completely immersed-forced to speak, read, and write only in the foreign language I was learning.
Bonne nuit ( I think that means good night in French) and see you in class on Friday,
Danielle
Mindy, I'm so glad we are both teaching languages and can learn from each other... you have great input! Dewey and my high school Spanish teacher would have gotten along so well. She made us work so hard, always moving and applying so that we would learn from our experiences rather than simply her lecturing. Let's chat about fun activities we can have our students do to help with retention/comprehension. I have a few ideas :)
ReplyDeleteOh, I do love Krashen's work, though I mostly know his research about the impact of libraries. He is a huge library advocate. I can also tell you about the time he gave a keynote at a conference and we negotiated his start time, which included the delivery of a specific size of latte. :)
ReplyDelete