Dr Stephen Krashen expounds on his powerful tools for improving second-language learning
PURICH TRIVITAYAKHUN
On Sept 20, Dr Stephen Krashen, the speaker at the Concordian International School's Education Seminar on Linguistics and Language Acquisition, presented impressive concepts and methods on second-language acquisition, bilingual education and reading.
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| World-renowned linguist Dr Stephen Krashen explains to fellow linguists, academics and students the essentials and critical techniques of acquiring a second language at his seminar at the Concordian International School, Bangkok. PURICH TRIVITAYAKHUN |
Dr Krashen, emeritus professor of education at the University of Southern California, is a famous linguist who has published approximately 100 books and 300 articles on these subjects.
He is recognised for his language acquisition theories, as well as his revolutionary "sheltered subject matter teaching" and Free Voluntary Reading (FVR) approaches.
What is language acquisition?
To people who are not linguists, the term "language acquisition" may convey a complex process clouded in academic linguistic terminology.
According to Krashen, however, the process is this simple: You are acquiring language while reading this article. People acquire language subconsciously, when they are reading books, watching movies, listening to the radio, etc. This is a natural process.
"Language acquisition does not require extensive use of conscious grammatical rules, and does not require tedious drills," says Krashen. "It is effortless and involuntary."
This process is opposite to "learning", where the learner becomes immersed in language consciously.
"Learning is knowing about the language," says Krashen. This process, however, is less important than acquisition, which bestows fluency and accuracy to the acquirer.
Read, read and read
One of the easiest ways to acquire language is by reading.
When asked what's the best way to learn English, Krashen replies, "Read, read and read."
For Krashen, reading is the most powerful tool in language acquisition. The benefits that people get out of reading are innumerable. Acquisition of writing styles, an understanding of complex grammar structures, the ability to spell words correctly and an expansion of vocabulary - these are some of the gains from reading.
His most famous method is FVR, by which learners can choose to read any materials they like.
Krashen recommends a core research exercise to demonstrate the effectiveness of FVR that can be carried out easily in schools. It is known as the Sustained Silence Reading programme.
In this exercise, a group of children take a few minutes out of their school time to read whatever they agree as a group they want to read, be they comics, mangas, children's books or adolescent literature. The teachers read along with the students.
There are no tests or book reports to complete. Another group follows traditional instruction for second language studies. This drill is performed between five to 15 minutes a day for a couple of months.
According to Krashen, at the end of the period, the comparative results will show that the worst-case scenario is that the group that followed the FVR method has gained no improvement in reading comprehension. On the other hand, it is more likely that FVR has assisted the FVR students in enhancing their language competency and fluency by a visible, considerable percentage.
In addition to improving readers' language skills, FVR has other pluses. For example, FVR readers gain a higher level of knowledge of the subject that they are interested in.
"Free voluntary reading is necessary, but not sufficient. Free voluntary reading is a bridge between the lower levels of language and the high levels of language," says Krashen. "Someone who has done a lot of free voluntary reading is likely to be able to handle academic work better."
Getting children to read
Reading is important, but how we encourage children to read is vital.
One way of getting them to read is to give rewards. However, Krashen does not seem to support this notion. "If you give someone a reward for doing something already pleasant, you are telling them that it is not pleasant," says Krashen.
When asked what's the most important factor to get students to read, Krashen comments: "It is not giving them prizes. It is not giving them pizzas. The most important factor, without question, is making sure books are available. And [those books] should not just be interesting; they must be compelling and, therefore, exciting.
"That is why I recommend comic books, mangas, or Japanese comics translated into English or other languages. Graphic novels are absolutely wonderful."
The best place for children to get access to books is the school library. "The school library is the cornerstone of a school," says Krashen. "The better the school library, the higher the reading achievement."
Krashen adds that an ideal school library needs to have three components: books, degree-certified librarians and sufficient staff who are present to assist the librarians.
It has been shown that half of what school librarians do can be done by casual staff: Cataloguing books, checking books out, re-shelving books, etc. By having sufficient support staff, librarians can perform their principal task - assisting readers - efficiently and effectively.
Writing helps thinking
People do not improve their writing style or grammatical structure by writing. Krashen says, "More writing won't make you a better writer." However, "writing helps thinking, and writing helps you become smarter".
He discusses his six composition processes that make good writers.
First, good writers have a "plan". The plan should be flexible and can be changed as new ideas come up.
Next, good writers love "revision". "To a good writer, revision is rewarding; to a bad writer, it is a sign of weakness," comments Krashen. Bad writers seem to get everything perfect in his or her first draft, while good writers improve their work through multiple drafts.
The next process is "delay editing". It is a good idea to keep writing without worrying about grammar and spelling, since the flow of ideas might get lost along the way. Anyhow, these two essentials will be taken care of eventually.
And fourth, good writers "reread" their work.
The above four components make up the classic composing processes. Krashen has added two more: "incubation" and "regular daily writing".
Krashen writes in his article, "Competence in Foreign Language Writing: Progress and Lacunae", that incubation means "new ideas and solutions to problems that emerge when writers leave their writing and give their minds a rest". He suggests that a writer take a break between writing and do something else - like watching television or walking in a park.
His other component is "regular daily writing". Good writers write daily, bit by bit. By doing this, such writers keep their writing skills close at hand.
"Inspiration is the result of writing," says Krashen. "Sit down and write, then the ideas will come."
Primary language helps secondary language learning
Krashen believes a primary language gives tremendous benefit to second language learning.
"If you give a child a good education in a primary language, you give the child two things. The first benefit is knowledge. The knowledge that you get in the first language makes second language input more comprehensible."
He raises the example of two Grade 4 (Prathom 4) students who were taking a maths class in English. Their command of English was weak. However, one of the students had a solid background in maths in her primary language, while the other did not.
The result was that the former student performed better in the English maths class than her classmate. This was because the strength of her maths knowledge in her primary language helped to make the maths lessons conducted in English comprehensible.
The second benefit is that the first language helps to accelerate literacy development in a second language.
"The first language is a very fast means of developing literacy in a second language. It is a shortcut. It makes [second language development] faster," said Krashen.
Become a better acquirer
Finally, Krashen recommends two methods to improve the acquisition of a new language.
First, select a book in the second or third language that you are not good at but want to be proficient in.
The book should be easy and fun to read; it need not be intellectually inclined. Then keep reading it again and again.
Krashen read Star Trek in French and German over five years.
Second, carry a book with you all the time, regardless of whether you would have time to read it or not.
"The world will conspire to give you time to read," he says.
To read Dr Stephen Krashen's books and articles, visit http://www.sdkrashen.com . More information about Concordian International School is available at http://www.concordian.ac.th .
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