Behariorism vs. Mentalism:
Yub Panthi, Nepal
ELC68YL: Teaching English to Young
Learners.
Reflective Essay 1
October 01, 2011.
There are two assumptions regarding language learning. The first one is “Behaviorism”. Behaviorism is a school of thought of psychological theory. This theory is based on philosophical theory of “empiricism”. The theory of learning was developed by B. F. Skinner, one of the famous American psychologists. He developed this theory from the early theoretical and empirical work of Ivan Pavlov and J. B. Watson. According to behaviorists child mind is Tabularasa (A blank sheet of paper) and the second one is “Mentalism”. This theory is based on the philosophical theory of “rationalism”. Noam Chomsky and Jean Piaget are the pioneer linguists to develop this school of thought. From mentalists point of view there is Language Acquisition Device (LAD) in the child mind (Chomsky). There are different factors that affect language learning. Among them age is one of the factors. According to Ellis, “Second language learners vary on a number of dimensions to do with personality, motivation, learning style, aptitude, and age” Ellis (1985:99).
The first theory believes that
language learning is like learning other skills. Language learning depends upon
the input to the child. Age is not the demarcation line for language learning.
At the same time the supporters of other theory believe that language learning
is not similar to other skills learning. If they perceive languages early they
can learn better. To quote the ideas of Curtain and Dhalberg (2004), “When language learning begins earlier, it
can go on longer and provide more practice and experience, leading ultimately
to greater fluency and effectiveness.”
I believe over second theory
that there is LAD in child’s mind and it remains active by the certain age. So
lowered the age of the learners is better in language learning. In my context students
starts to learn English from their early age. It is because schools make
compulsory English education from grade one (from the age of six). Before ten
years the policy was different. Students used to get chance to learn compulsory
English education from grade four (from the age of ten). It is because children
can easily perceive the concepts. In Nepal latest researches and theories in
language learning suggests that if we lowered the beginning of English
education their learning is permanent, long lasting and effective.
Young children learn their home
language slowly over a number of years. There is no pressure. Every advance is
enthusiastically welcomed. While learning English at school, there is
considerable pressure on them to learn the new language quickly. The pressure
may be from teacher, parents, friends and atmosphere (Mary Ashworth and H.
Patricia Wake Field).
There are some advantages in
lowering the ages or starting English early in the institutions. When a child
perceives a concept over any thing, s/he remembers it for long time. More over
it is a fashion that to instruct the students from their early age. In Nepal,
many primary teachers are getting trainings in teaching English to young
learner. And at the present status, the methods, techniques, etc. have been
changed than before for example about ten or twelve years ago grammar
translation method was used in the language classroom but now a days other new
methods like direct method or communicative methods are used. The changes of
teaching methods and techniques in the language classroom have brought positive
changes in learning. Young learners feel easy to learn.
Age is not only the factor
that affect in learning English language. Some other factors that affect in
learning English language are: the influence of mother tongue. Let’s consider
an example: in Nepali language sounds /f/ and /v/ are labiodentals but the same
sounds are bilabial in Nepali language. So, all Nepali learners might have
mother tongue influence while learning English language. Teachers, instructors
and policy makers should be conscious that the negative aspect of learning
compulsory English. Because of English, students’ drop out ratio has been
increasing. All the students (who do not like English) are also compelled to
learn English.
To sum up, there are different
factors that affect in English language learning. Among them one of the factors
is age. The learners who start earlier learn faster and better. In Nepal
private schools start teaching English from the date when they join in the schools,
but the students of government schools start learning English language after
two or three years. If we compare the students of private and public those who
started learning English from their early life they are found better.
References:
Ashworth, M. and Patricia Wakefield (2005). Teaching the
World’s Children. In Forum Vol. 41, No.1.
Chomsky, N. (1968) Language and Mind. New York: Harcurt Brace
Jovanovich.
Ellis, R. (1985) Understanding
Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: OPU.
No comments:
Post a Comment