tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/language-learning-12525/articlesLanguage learning – The Conversation2024-03-27T16:39:54Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2265572024-03-27T16:39:54Z2024-03-27T16:39:54ZHow can a baby learn two languages at the same time?<p>Language acquisition in children is one of the most fascinating features of the human species, as well as one of the most difficult problems in linguistics and cognitive science. What are the processes that enable a child to <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Understanding-Child-Language-Acquisition/Rowland/p/book/9781444152654">completely master its native language</a> in just a few years, and to a degree of competence that adult learners of a second language can almost never match?</p>
<p>Far from being a matter of consensus, this subject has in fact greatly divided the research communities in these fields: the 20th century was marked by Noam Chomsky’s influential idea that native-language acquisition might stem from a <a href="https://iep.utm.edu/chomsky-philosophy/">universal and innate grammatical faculty in humans</a>, distinguishing them from other animal species.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">What do all languages have in common?</span></figcaption>
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<p>If it’s so impressive that a baby can learn even just one language, then how do we explain that it can go on to learn two, three or even more?</p>
<h2>Half the world’s population is bilingual</h2>
<p>This question presupposes that bilingualism or multilingualism is sporadic in human societies, the exception rather than the rule. However, not only do experts estimate that almost <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674066137">half the world’s population is bilingual</a>, but also that <a href="https://www.linguisticsociety.org/resource/multilingualism">multilingualism</a> is actually more common than monolingualism. Just look at some of the world’s most populous countries, such as India and China.</p>
<p>It’s thus hardly surprising that a child might have multiple native languages. This is something that should be encouraged, not prevented as if it were an obstacle to the child’s development or cultural and social integration. Numerous researchers have highlighted the many cognitive and social benefits of bilingualism throughout life. These include a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23175648/">better memory</a>, a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32036490/">later onset of neurodegenerative diseases</a>, or a <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-43419-001">better adaptation to different social contexts</a>.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The benefits of a bilingual brain.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674017641">keystone of bilingualism</a> in children seems to lie first in a set of general cognitive skills in human beings of all ages (such as analogy, abstraction and encyclopaedic memory), and secondly in a child’s astonishing cerebral plasticity, particularly between the ages of 0 and 3.</p>
<p>From birth, a child is able to retain and categorise linguistic stimuli that are extremely rich in information about their pronunciation, structure and meaning, as well as the family and social contexts in which they are used. On the basis of this information, a child can very quickly infer that one set of linguistic constructions differs from another in terms of conventions for two different languages (for example, French and English), particularly after the first year.</p>
<p>In this way, they acquire a skill known as “code-switching”, enabling them to switch easily from one language to another, for example depending on who they are speaking to, and sometimes within the same sentence (<em>code-mixing</em>).</p>
<h2>Leave time for the child</h2>
<p>Of course, just because bilingualism is easy for a child does not mean that their linguistic development is identical to that of a monolingual. Whether children are learning two languages simultaneously or a second language before the age of three, mastering two alternative grammars for specialised social contexts represents an additional cognitive load. It is not uncommon for a bilingual child to take slightly longer than a monolingual child to fully learn the language they have in common. This slight discrepancy – which sometimes manifests itself in the form of language “mixtures” – <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35399292/">quickly disappears as the child grows up</a>.</p>
<p>In order to guide children further and facilitate their bilingual acquisition, the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/studies-in-second-language-acquisition/article/abs/raising-children-bilingually-through-the-one-parentone-language-approach-a-case-study-of-japanese-mothers-in-the-australian-context-takeuchi/F34BF798A2367F3833A5DA82F0FFD9EF">“one person, one language” parental approach</a> is often cited. For example, if one parent speaks more English to the child while the other uses more French, the baby will be able to distinguish between the two linguistic systems more quickly and to summon them up in interactions with specific people, in our example, Anglophones and Francophones.</p>
<p>Moreover, a balance in the frequency of use of the two languages at home will enable the child to successfully entrench them for regular use in later years. So if you’re a couple who speak two languages and you want to pass them on to your child, there are a few habits you can get into, but you don’t have to worry too much: just speak the two languages consistently to your child, and they’ll take care of the rest.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226557/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cameron Morin ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>If you’re lucky enough to be able to teach your child several languages, don’t hesitate!Cameron Morin, Docteur en linguistique, ENS de LyonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2177482024-01-02T16:50:00Z2024-01-02T16:50:00ZDating someone with a different mother tongue? Learning each other’s language will enrich your relationship<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565450/original/file-20231213-17-m582ud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=692%2C0%2C6377%2C5499&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-intercultural-couple-casualwear-preparing-spaghetti-2318445219">Dragon Images/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Are you in a relationship with someone who grew up speaking a different language to you? Perhaps you’re dating, and wondering about your long-term future. You’re far from alone. </p>
<p>In 2021, 9.5 million of the people in the UK – 14.1% of the population – had been <a href="https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/migrants-in-the-uk-an-overview/">born abroad</a>. This means that the landscape of relationships is likely to have become more diverse. These relationships often unite people from varied linguistic and cultural backgrounds, offering both enrichment and challenges. </p>
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<p><em><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/quarter-life-117947?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">This article is part of Quarter Life</a></strong>, a series about issues affecting those of us in our twenties and thirties. From the challenges of beginning a career and taking care of our mental health, to the excitement of starting a family, adopting a pet or just making friends as an adult. The articles in this series explore the questions and bring answers as we navigate this turbulent period of life.</em></p>
<p><em>You may be interested in:</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/christmas-films-there-might-be-some-truth-to-stories-about-hometown-romances-according-to-research-196607?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">Christmas films: there might be some truth to stories about hometown romances, according to research</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/workplace-romance-four-questions-to-ask-yourself-before-dating-someone-from-the-office-187809?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">Workplace romance: four questions to ask yourself before dating someone from the office</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/online-dating-fatigue-why-some-people-are-turning-to-face-to-face-apps-first-184910?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">Online dating fatigue – why some people are turning to face-to-face apps first</a></em></p>
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<p>Effective communication is a cornerstone of success for intercultural relationships and will help in avoiding potential pitfalls. Language is our primary conduit for communication, and when partners do not share a common language, it can lead to misinterpretations, frustration and conflicts. </p>
<p>Relationships between people who speak different languages are the subject of my <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-32921-0">recently published book</a>. Here are some insights that may help you build a strong foundation for your relationship.</p>
<h2>Learn each other’s languages</h2>
<p>It’s likely that you and your partner have picked one language as your main form of communication. But this is just the beginning. Language is dynamic and evolves over time, much like your relationship itself. As your bond deepens and matures, your language skills should similarly progress. When interviewing intercultural couples for my research, I found that one partner’s lack of investment in learning the other’s native tongue could be a source of <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-32921-0">tension or disappointment</a> on both sides. </p>
<p>Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/5740/5740-pdf.pdf">said:</a> “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” The language of emotion is often deeply tied to one’s native tongue, rendering it inherently untranslatable. </p>
<p>This awareness is important for intercultural couples, who may not have the vocabulary in a second language to express everything they feel.</p>
<h2>Recognise that you’ll never stop learning</h2>
<p>Continuous learning and growth in each other’s languages and cultures are essential for the vitality of an intercultural relationship.</p>
<p>Neglecting to embrace and appreciate each other’s languages within a relationship can give rise to a slew of challenges. Communication breakdowns, misunderstandings, and frustration can chip away at the connection between partners. </p>
<p>Moreover, the burden of communication often falls disproportionately on the partner who is less proficient in the chosen common language, potentially leading to feelings of loneliness and isolation.</p>
<p>An open-minded approach to language learning can nurture a deeper connection and help avert potential problems. This approach encompasses not only language acquisition but also an appreciation for the customs, traditions, and worldviews associated with your partner’s culture. </p>
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<span class="caption">Learning each other’s languages can help strengthen your relationship.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/two-female-lgbt-lesbian-couple-best-1987833428">Inside Creative House/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>For example, when you actively listen to their experiences about how they were raised, it allows you to connect with them on a deeper level, gaining insight into the key moments that have shaped their life. </p>
<p>Cooking together with ingredients and recipes from your partner’s culture can be a delightful way to strengthen your bond as you explore the rich flavours and stories behind each dish. Attending cultural events and festivals together immerses you in their world, creating shared memories and a profound sense of belonging. </p>
<p>Travelling to your partner’s country offers a firsthand cultural experience, where language serves as a bridge to understanding locals and their way of life. Watching films and dramas that reflect your partner’s culture provides a window into the storytelling and emotions deeply rooted in their heritage, sparking meaningful conversations and shared interests.</p>
<p>This deeper understanding can foster empathy and respect, laying a solid groundwork for a thriving relationship. </p>
<h2>A relationship goes beyond a couple</h2>
<p>An intercultural relationship extends beyond the couple. It encompasses a wider social circle, including family, friends and potentially children. The integration of diverse linguistic and cultural elements into a relationship can have a positive ripple effect on those around you. </p>
<p>Imagine a couple who actively embrace each other’s cultures and languages. They not only communicate effectively with each other but also extend their openness to their in-laws, extended family and friends. As a result, their relationships with these people become more enriched and dynamic.</p>
<p>For instance, when they host gatherings, they could incorporate elements from both cultural backgrounds, such as traditional dishes, music or customs. This not only creates a vibrant and inclusive atmosphere but also encourages guests to learn about and appreciate different cultures and feel at home. </p>
<p>This open-minded approach can have a positive impact on children too. Growing up in an environment where multiple languages and cultures are celebrated, children develop a strong sense of cultural awareness, adaptability and empathy. They become more open to embracing diversity in their own lives and interactions.</p>
<p>On the other hand, unresolved issues stemming from language and cultural differences can lead to tensions and misunderstandings among family and friends, adding unnecessary strain to relationships.</p>
<p>Intercultural relationships are a testament to the beauty of diversity and the potential for deep connections across linguistic and cultural boundaries. While language differences can present unique challenges, they also offer an opportunity for personal growth and a richer, more profound connection with your partner.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217748/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jieun Kiaer receives funding from.Academy of Korean Studies </span></em></p>As your bond deepens and matures, your language skills should similarly progress.Jieun Kiaer, Professor of Korean Linguistics, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2176652023-11-21T19:06:29Z2023-11-21T19:06:29Z‘Your United States was normal’: has translation tech really made language learning redundant?<p>Every day, millions of people start the day by posting a greeting on social media. None of them expect to be arrested for their friendly morning ritual. </p>
<p>But that’s exactly what happened to a Palestinian construction worker in 2017, when the caption “يصبحهم” (“good morning”) on his Facebook selfie was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/24/facebook-palestine-israel-translates-good-morning-attack-them-arrest">auto-translated</a> as “attack them.”</p>
<p>A human Arabic speaker would have immediately <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2017-10-22/ty-article/palestinian-arrested-over-mistranslated-good-morning-facebook-post/0000017f-db61-d856-a37f-ffe181000000">recognized “يصبحهم” as an informal way to say “good morning”</a>. Not so AI. Machines are notoriously bad at dealing with variation, a key characteristic of all human languages.</p>
<p>With recent advances in automated translation, the belief is taking hold that humans, particularly English speakers, no longer need to learn other languages. Why bother with the effort when Google Translate and a host of other apps can do it for us?</p>
<p>In fact, some Anglophone universities are making precisely this argument to <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/08/30/west-virginia-university-foreign-language-classes">dismantle their language programs</a>.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, language technologies are nowhere near being able to replace human language skills and will not be able to do so in the foreseeable future because machine language learning and human language learning differ in fundamental ways.</p>
<h2>How machines learn languages</h2>
<p>For machine translation, algorithms are trained on large amounts of texts to find the probabilities of different patterns of words. These texts can be both monolingual and bilingual.</p>
<p>Bilingual training data comes in the form of human-translated parallel texts. These are almost always based on the standard version of the training language, excluding dialects and slang phrases, as in the example above.</p>
<p>Diversity is a characteristic of all human languages, but diversity is a problem for machines. For instance, “deadly” means “causing death” in most varieties of English, and that is what appears in the training data. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/blog/article/609/">Australian meaning</a> of “excellent” (from Aboriginal English) puts a spanner in the works. If you input “<a href="https://deadlys.com.au/">Deadly Awards</a>” into any translation app, what you’ll get in your target language is the equivalent of “death-causing awards”.</p>
<h2>How machines store languages</h2>
<p>The internal linguistic diversity of English, as of any other language, is accompanied by great diversity across languages. Each language does things differently. </p>
<p>Tense, number or gender, for example, need to be grammatically encoded in some languages but not in others. Translating the simple English statement “I am a student” into German requires the inclusion of a grammatical gender marking and so will either end up as “I am a male student” or “I am a female student”.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-is-this-the-end-of-translation-156375">Friday essay: is this the end of translation?</a>
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<p>Furthermore, some languages are spoken by many people, have powerful nation states behind them, and are well resourced. Others are not.</p>
<p>“Well resourced” in the context of machine learning means that large digital corpora of training data are available.</p>
<p>The lists of language options <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09500782.2021.2010744">offered by automated translation tools</a> – like the list of 133 languages in which Google Translate is currently available – erase all these differences and suggest that each option is the same.</p>
<h2>AI speaks English</h2>
<p>Nothing could be further from the truth. English is in a class of its own, with over 90% of the training data behind large language models <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3442188.3445922">being in English</a>.</p>
<p>The remainder comes from a few dozen languages, in which data of varying sizes are available. The majority of the world’s 6,000+ languages are simply missing in action. Apps for some of these are now being created from <a href="https://aclanthology.org/2020.findings-emnlp.445.pdf">models “pre-trained” on English</a>, which further serves to cement the dominance of English.</p>
<p>One consequence of inequalities in the training data is that translations into English usually sound quite good because the app can draw both on bilingual and monolingual training data. This doesn’t mean they are accurate: one recent study found about half of all questions in Vietnamese were <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14790718.2023.2224013">incorrectly auto-translated as statements</a>.</p>
<p>Machine-translated text into languages other than English is even more problematic and routinely riddled with mistakes. For instance, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y--NX0aVnSQ">COVID-19 testing information auto-translated into German</a> included invented words, grammatical errors, and inconsistencies.</p>
<h2>What machine translation can and can’t do</h2>
<p>Machine translation is not as good as most people think, but it is useful to get the gist of web sites or be able to ask for directions in a tourist destination with the help of an app.</p>
<p>However, that is not where it ends. Translation apps are <a href="https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12913-018-3823-1">increasingly used in high-stakes contexts, such as hospitals</a>, where staff may attempt to bypass human interpreters for quick communication with patients who have limited proficiency in English.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-problem-with-machine-translation-beware-the-wisdom-of-the-crowd-171913">The problem with machine translation: beware the wisdom of the crowd</a>
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<p>This causes big problems when, for instance, a patient’s discharge instructions state <a href="https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12913-018-3823-1">the equivalent of “Your United States was normal”</a> – an error resulting from the abbreviation “US” being used for “ultrasound” in medical contexts.</p>
<p>Therefore, there is consensus that translation apps are suitable <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/nop2.1099">only in risk-free or low-risk situations</a>. Unfortunately, sometimes even a caption on a selfie can turn into a high-risk situation.</p>
<h2>We need to cultivate human multilingual talent</h2>
<p>Only humans can identify what constitutes a low- or high-risk situation and whether the use of machine translation may be appropriate. To make informed decisions, humans need to understand both how languages work and how machine learning works.</p>
<p>It could be argued that all the errors described here can be ironed out with more training data. There are two problems with this line of reasoning. First, AI already has more training data than any human will ever be able to ingest, yet makes mistakes no human with much lower levels of investment in their language learning would make.</p>
<p>Second, and more perniciously, training machines to do our language learning for us is incredibly costly. There are <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/news/story/microsofts-water-usage-surges-by-thousands-of-gallons-after-the-launch-of-chatgpt-study-397951-2023-09-11">the well-known environmental costs of AI</a>, of course. But there is also the cost of dismantling language teaching programs.</p>
<p>If we let go of language programs because we can outsource simple multilingual tasks to machines, we will never train humans to achieve advanced language proficiency. Even from the perspective of pure strategic national interest, the skills to communicate across language barriers in more risky contexts of economics, diplomacy or healthcare are essential.</p>
<p>Languages are diverse, fuzzy, variable, relational and deeply social. Algorithms are the opposite. By buying into the hype that machines can do our language work for us <a href="https://faculty.washington.edu/ebender/papers/Bender-CogSci-2022.pdf">we dehumanise what it means to use languages to communicate</a>, to make meaning, to create relationships and to build communities.</p>
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<p><em>The author would like to thank Ava Vahedi, a Master of mathematics student at UNSW, for her help in writing this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217665/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ingrid Piller receives funding from the Humboldt Foundation. </span></em></p>Machine translation can seem alarmingly good – but it’s still no substitute for human language knowledge.Ingrid Piller, Distinguished Professor of Applied Linguistics, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2116862023-11-15T17:44:31Z2023-11-15T17:44:31ZHow the Welsh language is being promoted to help migrants feel at home<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550026/original/file-20230925-22-4zy1hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=43%2C0%2C4819%2C3174&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Welsh government has announced plans to make Wales a 'nation of sanctuary'.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/second-severn-crossing-wales-november-2018-1229207257">Ceri Breeze/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>You can read this article in <a href="https://theconversation.com/maer-gymraeg-yn-cael-ei-defnyddio-i-annog-ymfudwyr-i-deimlon-gartrefol-217503">Welsh</a>.</em></p>
<p>The UK government alone decides who can enter the country and how migration and asylum policies are made. But devolved governments have scope to use <a href="https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8599/CBP-8599.pdf">their powers</a> in fields such as housing, education, health and social services to shape the nature of the support that is subsequently offered to new arrivals.</p>
<p>In recent years, the Welsh government has <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369183X.2023.2198809">looked for ways</a> to use its powers to help refugees and migrants integrate into Welsh society, taking into account the role of the Welsh language. </p>
<p>Overall, this is an approach that seeks to create a welcoming and supportive environment in Wales. It contrasts with the UK government’s commitment to <a href="https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/long-term-international-migration-flows-to-and-from-the-uk/">reducing net migration</a> and to create a “<a href="https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/what-is-hostile-environment-theresa-may-windrush-eu-citizens-legal-immigrants-145067">hostile environment</a>” for refugees and asylum seekers.</p>
<p>The most prominent step taken to date was the publication of the Welsh government’s <a href="https://www.gov.wales/refugee-and-asylum-seeker-plan-nation-sanctuary">plan in 2019</a>, which set out measures aimed at turning Wales into a “<a href="https://www.gov.wales/written-statement-wales-nation-sanctuary">nation of sanctuary</a>”.</p>
<p>However, another significant – but less obvious – aspect of the Welsh government’s work are the steps taken to ensure that the Welsh language plays a more prominent role in the process of welcoming migrants and refugees.</p>
<p>Reflecting on this work, <a href="https://www.gov.wales/jane-hutt-ms">Jane Hutt</a>, Wales’ social justice minister, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/cymrufyw/64811421">has argued</a> that the Welsh language could become “an extremely powerful integration tool”.</p>
<h2>Hospitality and integration</h2>
<p>The shift to viewing the Welsh language as a resource that can facilitate integration is evident when tracing the evolution of English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) provision in Wales.</p>
<p>In 2013, the formal link between ESOL provision and the process of gaining UK citizenship was <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/tougher-language-requirements-announced-for-british-citizenship">unpicked</a> by the then Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government.</p>
<p>An unforeseen consequence of this reform was that it created an opportunity to initiate a distinct approach to language education for migrants in Wales. Hence, a year later, the Welsh government published its first <a href="https://www.gov.wales/english-speakers-other-languages-esol-policy-statement">ESOL policy for Wales</a>. It was the first of its kind to be developed by any of the UK’s four governments.</p>
<p>The original ESOL policy did not make a link between the Welsh language and linguistic integration. But a <a href="https://www.gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2019-11/english-for-speakers-of-other-languages-esol-policy-wales.pdf">later iteration</a>, published in 2019, called on ESOL providers in Wales “to integrate the Welsh language into their classes”. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/esol-english-classes-are-crucial-for-migrant-integration-yet-challenges-remain-unaddressed-204415">Esol English classes are crucial for migrant integration, yet challenges remain unaddressed</a>
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<p>This was deemed necessary as the “the Welsh language can be a valuable skill in the workplace”. And also because learning Welsh can facilitate “social integration”, particularly in “predominantly Welsh speaking communities”.</p>
<p>Coinciding with this, the <a href="https://learnwelsh.cymru/learn-welsh-with-us-croeso-i-bawb/">National Centre for Learning Welsh</a> worked in partnership with <a href="https://www.adultlearning.wales/cym">Adult Learning Wales</a>, the umbrella organisation for adult education providers across Wales, to develop a novel Welsh for speakers of other languages (WSOL) provision. Introduced for the first time in 2019, <em><a href="https://learnwelsh.cymru/learn-welsh-with-us-croeso-i-bawb/">Croeso i Bawb</a></em> (“Welcome to Everyone”) is a bespoke course that aims to introduce the Welsh language to migrants and refugees.</p>
<p>A Welsh government-commissioned <a href="https://www.gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2023-07/review-english-speakers-other-languages-esol-policy-wales.pdf">review</a> of ESOL provision in Wales this year reiterated the value of introducing Welsh for promoting a sense of belonging. The review also called for the National Centre for Learning Welsh to be integrated fully into existing educational networks that work to support migrants in Wales. </p>
<h2>Implications</h2>
<p>It is important not to overstate the scale of these changes. Overall, English remains the primary medium of integration for the majority of immigrants and refugees settling in Wales.</p>
<p>Yet the increasing emphasis on the Welsh language in integration efforts reinforces the sense of a distinctive Welsh approach to welcoming migrants and refugees. The new WSOL provision <a href="https://wales.britishcouncil.org/en/blog/migrants-multilingualism-and-welsh-language">challenges</a> the monolingual image of life in the UK and promotes multilingualism and multiculturalism. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Adult Learning Wales’ information on WSOL.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Other <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10993-019-09517-0">research</a> suggests that learning Welsh can enhance the employment opportunities of migrants and refugees. It can also facilitate their ability to access a variety of new social networks. </p>
<p>But if there is to be a serious effort to offer a route to integration, it will not be sufficient to merely focus on offering formal opportunities to learn the Welsh language, important as that may be.</p>
<p>Policymakers and activists should consider other ways to make Welsh language learning more accessible. Providing opportunities for learners to interact socially through the medium of Welsh is also vital.</p>
<p>While the UK government seems set to continue emphasising English as the only way to integrate successfully, the current evidence suggests that Wales wants a different, more multilingual vision.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211686/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This article has benefited from financial support offered by the Independent Social Research Foundation (ISRF) as part of a project on the ethics of linguistic integration.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike Chick is affiliated with the Welsh Refugee Council as a Trustee.</span></em></p>The Welsh government has taken steps to ensure that the Welsh language plays a more prominent role in welcoming refugees and migrants.Huw Lewis, Senior Lecturer in Politics, Aberystwyth UniversityGwennan Higham, Senior Lecturer in Welsh, Swansea UniversityMike Chick, Senior Lecturer in TESOL/English, University of South WalesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2147862023-11-02T14:21:41Z2023-11-02T14:21:41ZSouth Africa’s literacy crisis: our app could help young readers by using home language and English<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556320/original/file-20231027-21-itwn8q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Educational technology, while no silver bullet, can be a tool for learning.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wirestock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Literacy changes lives: in Unesco’s words, it “<a href="https://www.unesco.org/en/literacy/need-know#:%7E:text=Literacy%20empowers%20and%20liberates%20people,on%20health%20and%20sustainable%20development.">empowers and liberates people</a>, … reduces poverty, increases participation in the labour market and has positive effects on health and sustainable development”. </p>
<p>But in South Africa, <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-10-year-olds-are-struggling-to-read-it-can-be-fixed-206008">8 out of 10 children</a> cannot read for meaning by the end of their third school year.</p>
<p>During the first three years of their education, South African children receive schooling in one of the 11 written official languages. Generally, this means being taught in their <a href="https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00X9JQ.pdf">home language</a>.</p>
<p>Then, at the beginning of grade 4 – when most learners are about 10 years old – English becomes the language of instruction. Learners are expected to be literate in both English and their home language by this time. In reality, they are not literate in any language. </p>
<p>The problem is partly caused by the fact that South Africa is, in many respects, a resource-scarce country, especially as it concerns indigenous languages. Even a language such as isiZulu, with <a href="https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/content/census-2022-statistical-release">15 million home language speakers</a>, has a dearth of language education resources. The situation is even worse for smaller languages, such as isiNdebele, with just over 1 million home language speakers.</p>
<p>In such an environment, where it’s not easy to acquire literacy, the innovative and creative use of technology offers new ways of tackling this strategic challenge. This is what our <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3571884.3604303">Ngiyaqonda! project</a> aims to do. “Ngiyaqonda” is an isiZulu word which means “I understand”. </p>
<p>The project centres on a mobile application to support literacy development. The app’s goal is to provide a rich digital environment, involving speech and text technology, in which learners build grammatically correct sentences based on audio prompts generated via synthetic voice technology – a first for isiZulu. </p>
<p>The initial focus is on the learner’s home language (it’s currently being piloted with grade 3 isiZulu-speaking learners at a school in Soweto, Johannesburg). English is introduced gradually as a target language. The language and speech technology has been developed to provide linguistic accuracy and is grounded in teaching principles. </p>
<h2>Large language models</h2>
<p>Technology, especially the employment of language technology in the education domain, is not a silver bullet. Its use must be carefully considered. This means having a clear idea of the expectations and limitations of possible solutions. In other words, what factors should be considered when using technology in support of literacy development for young children?</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/mobile-app-offers-new-learning-tools-for-anatomy-students-but-tech-isnt-a-silver-bullet-185919">Mobile app offers new learning tools for anatomy students. But tech isn't a silver bullet</a>
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<p>A multimodal approach is an obvious starting point: children can talk long before they can read and write. Employing speech technology along with text technology helps to bridge the gap from oral competency in a language to written competency. Grammatical correctness and the appropriate use of suitable vocabulary are essential, too. </p>
<p><a href="https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt">ChatGPT</a> has changed popular perceptions of what is possible in modelling languages using computers. The program uses large language models, which predict how words occur together in a language. This requires massive amounts of data. But there’s a problem when dealing with a resource-scarce language like isiZulu: there simply isn’t enough data available to train a model that is reliable enough to meet the requirements we’ve mentioned. And isiZulu’s linguistic characteristics, like the complex internal structure of its words, could severely affect the grammatical accuracy of such models if trained on insufficient data.</p>
<h2>Computational grammars</h2>
<p>That’s where <a href="https://www.grammaticalframework.org/">computational grammars</a> come in. These are structured sets of rules that describe how words occur in a language. Instead of making predictions based on previously seen data, computational grammars model the grammar of the language in a more direct way, allowing a larger degree of control over accuracy. </p>
<p>Our approach involves the use of such grammars for isiZulu and English and covers both languages’ major linguistic structures, as well as curriculum-based vocabulary. They have been designed to generate thousands of grammatically correct sentences that meet the teaching and learning requirements of repetition and novelty.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-reading-crisis-5-steps-to-address-childrens-literacy-struggles-205961">South Africa's reading crisis: 5 steps to address children's literacy struggles</a>
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<p>These sentences function as the language content of the speech-enabled mobile application. The application uses synthetic voice technology (also known as text-to-speech) to read aloud the automatically generated sentences in either isiZulu or English. The computational grammars act as a predictive text engine that allows users to recreate the prompt sentences word by word. An area of the screen is dedicated to displaying words as options for building the sentence. Users can select words by dragging them into the sentence itself; with each correct selection, new options are generated.</p>
<h2>Lessons</h2>
<p>In the earlier lessons, the application focuses on the task of decoding. This is a mental process and an essential component of reading in which sequences of letters must be associated with their corresponding sounds to form words. At this stage, lessons are monolingual.</p>
<p>For example, in the first lesson, a learner might encounter the sentence</p>
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<p>UVusi ufuna isikhindi ediloweni (Vusi searches for his pants in the drawer).</p>
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<p>This would be read aloud by the text-to-speech in isiZulu. The learner must fit the words they see to the sounds they hear.</p>
<p>Later lessons are multilingual and focus at the same time on reading for meaning and learning a target language. For most learners, the target language is English. Learners listen to sentences in one language and must reproduce a translation textually. </p>
<p>The app currently includes nine lessons. We plan to significantly expand this soon.</p>
<h2>Pilot project</h2>
<p>The purpose of the pilot study is to establish whether the app makes a measurable difference in learners’ ability to read and compose sentences. It is used during scheduled reading periods and is meant to complement the educator’s existing teaching approach. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/learning-to-read-is-a-journey-a-study-identifies-where-south-african-kids-go-off-track-206242">Learning to read is a journey: a study identifies where South African kids go off track</a>
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<p>We are fortunate to be collaborating with a school and team of educators who have embraced innovation as an aid to improving their learners’ outcomes. The results of the study are expected towards the end of 2023 and will inform subsequent studies in 2024. </p>
<p>Preliminary results indicate that both the teachers and the learners are benefiting from using the app in the classroom. The teachers say they appreciate its multimodal aspect, which allows the children to learn independently; the children are excited to use it during their reading lessons.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214786/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laurette Marais works for the CSIR. This work has been funded by the South African Department of Sport, Arts and Culture.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laurette Pretorius consults to the CSIR. </span></em></p>The language and speech technology has been developed to provide linguistic accuracy and is grounded in teaching principles.Laurette Marais, Senior Researcher, Council for Scientific and Industrial ResearchLaurette Pretorius, Professor Extraordinarius, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2148322023-10-31T12:40:34Z2023-10-31T12:40:34ZLanguage induces an identity crisis for the children and grandchildren of Latino immigrants<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555349/original/file-20231023-16-6w6a7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=68%2C319%2C5682%2C3509&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many second- and third-generation Latinos feel insecure about their Spanish-speaking abilities.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/yvonne-mendoza-lies-on-her-couch-at-home-yvonne-is-a-first-news-photo/626450154?adppopup=true">Shaul Schwarz, Verbatim/Getty Images for Be Vocal</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/el-idioma-provoca-una-crisis-de-identidad-en-los-hijos-y-nietos-de-inmigrantes-latinos-217166"><em>Leer en español.</em></a> </p>
<p>A young Latina mother I was interviewing once laughed uncomfortably as she described her sons’ embarrassment when put on the spot by older Latinos. </p>
<p>They would speak to her sons in Spanish, before quickly adding in the same language, “How awful! You don’t understand me in Spanish?” Her sons would then sheepishly reply – in Spanish – “Yes, I understand. But I don’t speak it.”</p>
<p>Despite our different backgrounds, her story hit close to home. </p>
<p>I grew up in Arizona as the child of Chinese immigrants, learning to navigate the language and cultural currents that surrounded me inside and outside of the home. Reclaiming my Chinese language and understanding its role in my life has been a lifelong journey. At the same time, I was also immersed in the bilingualism of the U.S.-Mexico border, where Spanish and English are both used but the power and politics of language always linger in the background.</p>
<p>I’ve also witnessed these dynamics in my extended family, where my husband’s Latin American roots bring with them the expectation of Spanish fluency. While he is fluent, many children of Latino immigrants are not. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.american.edu/cas/faculty/tseng.cfm">I’ve studied these issues</a> for many years as a linguist, and I’m currently exploring them in my current book project on how language helps shape Latino identity in Washington, D.C. </p>
<p>What I’ve learned upends assumptions that heritage languages are “lost” from one generation to the next because of a simple lack of motivation or children rejecting their roots. My research paints a more complex picture that delves into how we understand – or misunderstand – the bilingualism of heritage speakers.</p>
<h2>Assimilation nation</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.cal.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/HeritageBriefWhoisaHeritageLanguageLearner.pdf">Heritage speakers</a> are people who, although they may have learned their parents’ native language at home, no longer speak it in the same way as a traditional native speaker because of growing up in a bilingual environment.</p>
<p>Their language abilities are often misunderstood both within their cultural communities and by outsiders. That’s what happened with Celia’s sons: Other community members assumed they couldn’t speak Spanish, even though they could understand and respond in the language.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555384/original/file-20231023-19-7996xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Cleveland Board of Education poster from 1917 that reads 'Cleveland: Many Peoples, One Language.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555384/original/file-20231023-19-7996xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555384/original/file-20231023-19-7996xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555384/original/file-20231023-19-7996xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555384/original/file-20231023-19-7996xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555384/original/file-20231023-19-7996xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555384/original/file-20231023-19-7996xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555384/original/file-20231023-19-7996xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A 1917 poster printed by the Cleveland Board of Education and the Cleveland Americanization Committee advertises English language learning to European immigrants.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/poster-issued-by-the-americanization-committee-of-the-news-photo/96740207?adppopup=true">Fotosearch/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Heritage speakers face a unique set of circumstances. The U.S. has a long history as a multilingual society, <a href="https://www.multilingual-matters.com/page/detail/Bilingual-Education/?k=9781853599071">and an equally long history</a> of oppressing minority groups and their languages and cultures.</p>
<p>Many U.S. families descended from Europe lost their heritage languages because of pressures to assimilate. Policies promoting English as part of broader “Americanization” efforts <a href="https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/immigrant-era-focus-assimilation">were enacted through school policies and legislation</a> in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Most heritage languages in the U.S., such as German and Polish, <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Handbook-of-Heritage-Community-and-Native-American-Languages-in-the-United/Wiley-Peyton-Christian-Moore-Liu/p/book/9780415520676">were no longer spoken in families after three generations</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Native American groups are still fighting to revitalize languages <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/analysis-how-indigenous-languages-can-be-preserved-and-why-those-efforts-help-revitalize-culture">weakened by targeted cultural eradication</a>. Within living memory, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/09/23/latinos-spanish-language-fade-hope-future-generations/70903045007/">Latinos were punished for speaking Spanish at school</a>. I will never forget when a middle-aged Latina in my bilingual education class shared her humiliation and fear when her kindergarten teacher physically punished her for speaking Spanish – the language of her home and her family, and the only language she spoke at that time. Decades later, the memory was still raw.</p>
<p>Heritage speakers <a href="https://www.multilingual-matters.com/page/detail/Bilingualism-for-All/?k=9781800410039">still face discrimination in school</a>, and examples of linguistic prejudice – people being attacked for speaking languages other than English – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/s41276-018-00171-x">are rampant on the internet</a>.</p>
<h2>Straddling two worlds</h2>
<p>Under these circumstances, support for heritage languages in the home and within the community is key. Speaking Spanish is certainly an important value for many Latino parents. But they can be quick to criticize their children’s Spanish acumen, which can inadvertently undermine these efforts.</p>
<p>In my research, I discovered that elders’ negative judgments of the Spanish abilities of younger Latinos <a href="https://academic.oup.com/applij/article-abstract/42/1/113/5748305?redirectedFrom=fulltext">created insecurity and language avoidance</a>. Youth were held to unrealistic standards that did not reflect their bilingual realities. When younger Latinos <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405166256.ch13">code-switched</a>, understood more than they could say, had a non-native accent in Spanish or spoke English among themselves, older community members often saw this as evidence that they didn’t really speak Spanish. </p>
<p>In reality, these are normal behaviors for the children of immigrants all over the world. But parents’ comparison of their children to monolingual norms – the speech of native speakers who speak only one language – meant that they often inadvertently disparaged their kids’ bilingualism instead of celebrating it.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/06/01/1000922653/a-daughters-journey-to-reclaim-her-heritage-language">The relationship between language and identity is intensely personal</a>. Since language is intimately linked to identity, it is often used as a gatekeeper, with young Latinos being shamed for being “Americanized” or seen as rejecting the home culture.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Family poses wearing red and blue outfits in the style of the Puerto Rican flag." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555350/original/file-20231023-15-f48ze2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555350/original/file-20231023-15-f48ze2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555350/original/file-20231023-15-f48ze2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555350/original/file-20231023-15-f48ze2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555350/original/file-20231023-15-f48ze2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555350/original/file-20231023-15-f48ze2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555350/original/file-20231023-15-f48ze2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Within families, language is intimately linked to identity and culture.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/family-posing-at-the-annual-street-festival-in-calle-ocho-news-photo/916125654?adppopup=true">Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many of the children and grandchildren of immigrants whom I spoke with told me they felt insecure about their ability to speak Spanish. Even if they were quite fluent, they felt that it was never good enough. As one U.S.-born Latino commented, “I speak Spanish, you know, people down the street can hear me and be like, ‘This guy’s a gringo.’”</p>
<p>Criticizing the way they speak, even with good intentions, can cause <a href="https://one.npr.org/?sharedMediaId=528816293:531824445">them to question their identity and feel insecure</a>, discouraging them from speaking Spanish – the exact opposite of the desired result.</p>
<h2>Never enough</h2>
<p>While their Spanish comes under attack, Latinos also weather doubts and assumptions about their English. Even Latinos who speak only English <a href="https://theracecardproject.com/assume-dont-speak-english/">get stereotyped as not speaking it</a> based on their ethnicity. People often mistakenly assume that Latino English – a native dialect – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230510012">is “broken” English</a>, or criticize it as “nonstandard” due to its historic Spanish influence. </p>
<p>Latino English can also experience another layer of prejudice since it is often influenced by <a href="https://www.linguisticsociety.org/content/what-ebonics-african-american-english">African American language</a>, as I found while researching <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2023.2263568">how Latino children acquire their peers’ African American English</a> as a second language.</p>
<p>The heritage-speaker dilemma encapsulates some of the contradictions that Latino youth must navigate: Their parents see them as not Latino enough, while many others view them as not American enough. This dynamic can make them doubt themselves and give others ammunition to question their identities.</p>
<p>These beliefs are so entrenched that even powerful Latinos cannot escape them. U.S. Rep. <a href="https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/a33636539/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-spanish-language-fluency/">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s bilingualism is constantly under scrutiny</a>. She has been mocked <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/latina-thing-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-s-name-latest-culture-war-n985916">for pronouncing her name in Spanish</a>, as if the English pronunciation were more correct. She’s also been accused <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11966927/Shes-total-fraud-Squad-member-AOC-slammed-video-emerges-using-accent.html">of faking her accent</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Young woman wearing pink jacket gestures during press conference in front of large white building." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556660/original/file-20231030-25-m5bnui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556660/original/file-20231030-25-m5bnui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556660/original/file-20231030-25-m5bnui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556660/original/file-20231030-25-m5bnui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556660/original/file-20231030-25-m5bnui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556660/original/file-20231030-25-m5bnui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556660/original/file-20231030-25-m5bnui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has found her bilingualism to be a source of scrutiny.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/rep-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-speaks-during-a-news-news-photo/1246564047?adppopup=true">Drew Angerer/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Criticism of heritage speakers lies in the mistaken belief that there is only one “pure” way to speak a language and that this lines up neatly with culture and identity. But language always evolves, and culture is always changing. Fluid forms, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.013.808">such as Spanglish</a>, play an important role in identity for many young Latinos.</p>
<p>Increasingly, heritage speakers are sharing their experiences and realizing that wherever they are in their language journeys, <a href="https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2022/05/10971837/no-sabo-kid-meaning-new-definition">it’s good enough</a>.</p>
<p>Their language and culture is not “less than” or inauthentic – just different. It’s based on the experience of growing up in a diaspora. Ultimately, many people can identify with their experiences, regardless of their different backgrounds. Learning how to integrate different aspects of yourself into a whole while not losing your roots is a quintessentially American – and, ultimately, human – experience.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214832/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amelia Tseng does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Young Latinos in the US often navigate a contradictory landscape: Their parents see them as not Latino enough, while teachers and peers view them as not American enough.Amelia Tseng, Assistant Professor in Spanish and Linguistics, American UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2137822023-10-03T19:35:30Z2023-10-03T19:35:30ZHistory teaching in South Africa could be vastly improved – if language skills were added to the mix<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549746/original/file-20230922-16-n0uvt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Combining content learning and language skills is a boon for academic performance.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Epicurean</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In recent years there’s been <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Russell-Cross-3/publication/343283423_CLIL_in_Multilingual_and_English-Background_Contexts_Expanding_the_Potential_of_Content_and_Language_Integrated_Pedagogies_for_Mainstream_Learning/links/64ab7f63b9ed6874a509e50b/CLIL-in-Multilingual-and-English-Background-Contexts-Expanding-the-Potential-of-Content-and-Language-Integrated-Pedagogies-for-Mainstream-Learning.pdf">growing recognition</a> among education experts that <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1279084.pdf">integrating content and language learning</a> is key to promoting comprehensive academic achievement.</p>
<p>This is particularly relevant in multilingual education systems where English serves as the primary medium of instruction. </p>
<p>So, in 2013, South Africa’s Department of Basic Education, which is responsible for primary and secondary education, set out to enhance academic performance through a strategy called <a href="https://www.education.gov.za/Portals/0/Documents/Manuals/Manual%20for%20Teaching%202.pdf?ver=2015-04-24-153244-727">English Across the Curriculum</a>. This approach involves integrating language skills in content subjects such as history. Language skills include listening and speaking; reading and viewing; writing and presenting; and language structures and conventions. </p>
<p>The initiative was designed to guide teachers in public schools who lacked prior experience in merging content subjects like history, <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-72009-4_4">physical sciences</a> and mathematics with language learning. It was a compulsory tool to reinforce the use of English as a language of learning and teaching and a way to address language barriers to academic success in primary and high schools. </p>
<p>Four years later, the department released <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books/about/English_Across_the_Curriculum_EAC.html?id=_hgdywEACAAJ&redir_esc=y">a report</a> revealing that many content teachers were not using the strategy effectively. As an expert in curriculum studies, I wanted to know what was holding teachers back. I conducted <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/tesj.748">qualitative research</a> that focused on grade 8 social science educators teaching history at four schools in the Eastern Cape province. </p>
<p>My findings suggest that most educators were not intentionally choosing or setting out to integrate English language learning skills with history content. Two of the four schools did not have formal, explicit policies to use English Across the Curriculum. </p>
<p>But, intriguingly, I found that the history teachers at the schools without such policies still worked to impart language skills to their pupils. They were able to do so for several reasons. </p>
<p>Firstly, they adjusted their teaching to encompass both language and subject skills, driven by their extensive understanding of how their subject is taught and the support needed for learners to develop historical competence. Second, they were personally committed to imparting language skills. And third, they were proficient in the English language themselves.</p>
<p>This underscores the idea that effective teaching practices transcend mere policy implementation. They also require educators to be well-equipped with both skills to teach in any context to ensure that their pupils learn with comprehension as opposed to just implementing policies. </p>
<h2>What teachers told me</h2>
<p>I had the opportunity to interview 15 teachers who teach grade 8 history at seven schools. Grade 8 is the entry level to South Africa’s secondary school; the average age of pupils at this level is 14 or 15.</p>
<p>In my initial discussions with these 15 teachers, 11 indicated that, while they were aware of the English Across the Curriculum approach, they were not using it.</p>
<p>I ultimately interviewed four teachers from four schools. All were intentionally choosing to integrate content and language teaching. Two did so because of their schools’ policies. They taught at what are often referred to as <a href="https://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/server/api/core/bitstreams/a5993764-50b3-450a-b5b1-cf6e3b48fb30/content">former model C schools</a> (reserved for white students before 1994 and fairly well-resourced). </p>
<p>The other two schools were in highly populated and resource-constrained communities and did not have English Across the Curriculum policies. However, the teachers I interviewed took the initiative and used language teaching as an academic support mechanism for their learners. </p>
<p>All four teachers primarily employed activities such as vocabulary development, clustering exercises, and the use of writing frames that encompassed sentences and paragraphs. Clustering activities allowed the learners to use mind maps and word associations as a way of encouraging them to organise historical ideas into interconnected categories and narratives. They said these exercises helped to make learning more engaging and interactive. One of the teachers told me: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>For grade 8s, these activities help organise their thoughts and language structures. It allows for free-writing and peer feedback. When they have ideas and points on what to write, they complete their tasks satisfactorily. I am saying satisfactorily because for most of them, the language is a struggle. You know sometimes, I wish they could just write in isiXhosa or Afrikaans.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The teachers also told me they knew it was important to impart language skills because some of their grade 8 learners, emerging from the COVID pandemic, had not fully developed their vocabulary and writing abilities in primary school. One of the teachers explained that: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Instead of just teaching history, I also work on helping them with their language skills. History needs learners that can read with comprehension, so it would be pointless to teach them without providing reading strategies. While this approach may be time-consuming, it is helpful to my learners. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Training is key</h2>
<p>My findings suggest that, while English Across the Curriculum policies are undoubtedly important, educators’ individual commitment and adaptability, coupled with their expertise in subject-specific language, play an important role in achieving successful integration of language and content instruction. </p>
<p>There are several ways that my findings could be integrated into training. The Department of Basic Education requires in-service teachers to pursue continuous professional development. The coordinators of that development must prioritise English as a medium of instruction alongside content teaching in secondary schools.</p>
<p>Trainee teachers, meanwhile, should be equipped with the pedagogical skills needed to seamlessly integrate content and language teaching in the secondary school curriculum. </p>
<p>My findings also emphasise the crucial role that schools play in nurturing a sense of agency among teachers. The two teachers whose schools did not have a policy were still empowered to teach in a manner that fostered effective learning. They used their knowledge about their schools’ communities and their individual students to facilitate language development. </p>
<p>But policies are still important: a structured approach to integrating content and language teaching indicates a collaborative effort between a school’s administration and its educators.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213782/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nhlanhla Mpofu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There’s more to effective teaching than just implementing school policies.Nhlanhla Mpofu, Chair- Curriculum Studies, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2117792023-08-24T12:42:33Z2023-08-24T12:42:33ZMany GCSE students still aren’t taking modern foreign languages – how to motivate them to consider it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544380/original/file-20230823-21-nxl9n5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1017%2C9%2C4989%2C3566&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/interested-children-learning-classroom-561190819">Olena Yakobchuk/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.jcq.org.uk/examination-results/">Figures for GCSEs taken in 2023</a> show that entries for GCSEs in languages have increased slightly from last year. Despite this, the number of pupils taking a modern foreign language stands at less than 60% of those that did in the peak year of 2001. </p>
<p>The decline in the number of pupils taking modern foreign languages at GCSE dates back to the government’s decision to make <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/aug/25/gcses.topstories3">the subject optional</a> from 2004. At this point, the number of students taking an exam in the subject declined sharply and have never recovered. </p>
<p>There was a short-lived “<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-ebacc-effect-pushes-pupils-into-more-academic-subjects-thats-a-good-thing-29931">EBacc effect</a>” around 2012-13 after the government introduced the English baccalaureate. To achieve the EBacc, students have to take a number of required subjects at GCSE, including a modern foreign language. This led to schools encouraging students to take the subject.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544554/original/file-20230824-15-mjs8wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Graph showing the entries in modern foreign languages each year since 2000." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544554/original/file-20230824-15-mjs8wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544554/original/file-20230824-15-mjs8wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=250&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544554/original/file-20230824-15-mjs8wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=250&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544554/original/file-20230824-15-mjs8wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=250&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544554/original/file-20230824-15-mjs8wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=314&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544554/original/file-20230824-15-mjs8wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=314&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544554/original/file-20230824-15-mjs8wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=314&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">GCSEs in modern foreign languages.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Abigail Parrish</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some schools continue to make modern foreign languages compulsory. But often, where <a href="https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/2019_ParrishLanvers_StudentMotivation.pdf">students have a choice</a>, they are <a href="https://ffteducationdatalab.org.uk/2022/08/why-dont-more-pupils-study-modern-foreign-languages-at-gcse/">not picking the subject</a>. But the study of a language has clear benefits, both to <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/412264/through-the-language-glass-by-guy-deutscher/9780099505570">individual students</a> and to <a href="https://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/languages_for_the_future_2017.pdf">society as a whole</a>. </p>
<h2>Avoiding languages</h2>
<p>Despite the great work of teachers, there are some clear reasons why modern languages are unpopular among students. Historically, languages have been <a href="https://ffteducationdatalab.org.uk/2019/09/will-anything-ever-be-done-about-grading-in-modern-foreign-languages-gcses/">graded more harshly</a> than other subjects. <a href="https://www.meits.org/opinion-articles/article/decline-by-design-the-proposed-new-mfl-gcse-for-england">The curriculum</a> focuses on a comparatively narrow range of topics and does not take good account of the cultural aspects of language learning. It <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/reforms-to-encourage-more-students-to-take-up-language-gcses">will be updated</a> from 2024, though it remains to be seen <a href="https://www.meits.org/opinion-articles/article/decline-by-design-the-proposed-new-mfl-gcse-for-england">how meaningful</a> these changes will be. </p>
<p>The global dominance of English, as well as the perception that learning a language is only useful if you will need it for work, also <a href="https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/2021_Parrish_FeminisationMasculinisation.pdf">puts students off</a>. </p>
<p>But students are interested in language learning – just not so much in taking a GCSE in a language. Students have told me that they would like to learn the languages spoken by their friends, or of <a href="https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/2019_ParrishLanvers_StudentMotivation.pdf">countries that they visit</a>, or where they <a href="https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/2021_Parrish_FeminisationMasculinisation.pdf">admire the culture</a>. They consider <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/01434632.2023.2216679">multilingualism to be of value</a>. </p>
<p>I research <a href="https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/the-theory/">self-determination theory</a>, which holds that there is a continuum of different forms of motivation. Self-determination theory suggests that if we feel that we are doing something because it is aligned with our own values and beliefs, then we are likely to <a href="https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/2017_OgaBaldwinNakata_JapaneseYoungLanguageLearners.pdf">be more engaged</a>, to achieve better outcomes and, crucially, to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09571736.2020.1740768">continue undertaking that activity</a>. We’re also more likely to thrive – self-determination theory tells us that <a href="https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/topics/application-well-being/">motivation and wellbeing are linked</a>. </p>
<p>By contrast, if we feel we are only doing something to meet the expectations of others – such as taking a compulsory GCSE – we are less likely to engage, to succeed and to continue. </p>
<h2>The importance of choice</h2>
<p><a href="https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/2019_ParrishLanvers_StudentMotivation.pdf">My work in schools</a> has shown that having a choice clearly affects students’ motivation. Those who had a choice were more motivated to learn than those who did not, probably because the students who chose the subject are those who valued it personally. </p>
<p>This means that making languages compulsory again is probably not the answer. Those who have to take the subject as part of an EBacc pathway may feel they have to engage with it because it is what is expected of them. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Happy girl studying" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544381/original/file-20230823-19-iiu4rh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544381/original/file-20230823-19-iiu4rh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544381/original/file-20230823-19-iiu4rh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544381/original/file-20230823-19-iiu4rh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544381/original/file-20230823-19-iiu4rh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544381/original/file-20230823-19-iiu4rh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544381/original/file-20230823-19-iiu4rh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Having a choice makes students more keen to learn – so making languages compulsory again may not be the answer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-adult-happy-smiling-hispanic-asian-2153090025">David Gyung/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Instead, the way the subject is perceived by students needs to change. Where it is seen as being of <a href="https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/2019_ParrishLanvers_StudentMotivation.pdf">personal value</a>, students are likely to take the subject for their own reasons, with all the associated benefits that come with that. Where the value is seen as general (it’s “good” to speak another language) or is not really recognised at all, then even if students take the subject their motivation will be affected. </p>
<p>The issues around grading are also likely to affect motivation. If a student considers that they are unlikely to be successful in language learning (which, in school terms, means getting a good grade, regardless of what it might mean to be a successful language learner in other contexts), motivation to engage in it in the first place is <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-motivate-yourself-to-learn-a-language-210341">likely to be low</a>. </p>
<p>Addressing the low levels of take up of modern foreign languages at GCSE level is not an easy task. The slight recent rises suggest that students are interested, but it will take more than revising the exam specifications to have real impact. It would help if exam boards and the government considered why students are motivated to learn a language in the first place.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211779/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Abigail Parrish does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There is a history of languages being graded harshly.Abigail Parrish, Lecturer in Education, University of SheffieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2108162023-08-02T15:11:02Z2023-08-02T15:11:02ZLanguages are both acquired and learned – so conscious and unconscious effort is needed when picking up a new one<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540443/original/file-20230801-17-zjlfj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C1920%2C1267&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/es/image-photo/asian-little-chinese-girls-playing-paper-392540305">KK Tan / Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Two concepts – acquisition and learning – play key roles in the study of language. Although there are people who use the two terms interchangeably, in reality they embody two different processes in the development of communicative competence.</p>
<p>Language acquisition is an intuitive and subconscious process, similar to that of children when they develop their mother tongue. <a href="http://repositorio.ual.es/bitstream/handle/10835/959/PhilUr2.2010.Navarro.pdf?seq">Acquiring a language happens naturally</a>, it does not require conscious effort or formal instruction; it is something incidental and often unconscious. A child will begin to speak by being exposed to the language and by interacting with its environment, without the need for grammar lessons.</p>
<p>Language learning, by contrast, is a conscious process that involves studying rules and structures. When grammatical rules are explained to us in a language class, this is a formal context. In the classroom, the acquisition of communication skills occurs through explicit instruction and methodical study, and that conscious effort is what we call learning.</p>
<h2>Rules and usage</h2>
<p>Talking about the rules and structures of a language not only implies knowing the grammatical and spelling rules, but also understanding <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781119261650.ch26">how that language is used in social contexts</a>.</p>
<p>For example, to show affection in a personal letter, we can say goodbye with “sending you hugs and kisses”, but not with “I would like to provide you with a hug”. If we want to make sure that we receive a package at our correct address, in that case, in the email we write to the courier service, we can say “I would like to provide you with my address”.</p>
<p>Understanding which words tend to appear together and the level of formality they carry (known as “register”) is part of knowing a language. We access this knowledge of language usage through (unconscious) acquisition or (conscious) learning, albeit in different ways.</p>
<h2>Parallel processes</h2>
<p>The acquisition and learning of a language are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they interact in our daily lives in significant ways. During childhood, <a href="https://www.isep.es/actualidad/el-lenguaje-en-la-infancia/#:%7E:text=Se%20dice%20que%20el%20momento,y%20compartir%20significados%20elaborados%20socioculturalmente.">acquisition is the predominant process</a>. Children absorb their mother tongue (or mother tongues) and linguistic and cultural norms and conventions when interacting with their environment.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/las-ventajas-de-aprender-idiomas-siendo-adultos-195528">As we get older</a>, formal learning becomes more prominent (at school, due to our cognitive abilities, etc.). The passage of time and the gradual increased importance of formal learning do not mean that we stop acquiring language. For example, let us imagine that <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1136103422000296">we are immersed in a new linguistic environment</a> – that we move to another country where they speak a foreign language. In that case, we can acquire aspects of the language naturally, although perhaps at a slower rate than in childhood.</p>
<h2>Degrees of effort</h2>
<p>Language acquisition and language learning influence our communicative competence in different ways. Acquisition allows us to use language intuitively, with less attention to grammatical rules. That is why native speakers use their mother tongue with no apparent effort.</p>
<p>On the other hand, learning offers a deep understanding of the language’s structure, making it possible to comprehend and use more complex forms. While we are learning languages, we pay close attention to what we think or say; that is, we apply the <a href="https://www.leonardoenglish.com/blog/monitor-hypothesis">monitor hypothesis</a>.</p>
<p>This hypothesis suggests that, when we learn a language, we are initially attentive to what we say and how we say it, both when we get it right and when we get it wrong. We supervise our linguistic production according to the rules and structures of the language that we know. With time and practice, we assimilate these rules and structures, and this allows us to speak more spontaneously and without having to think about every word or rule. As we have to monitor and supervise less, we gain fluency because our brain is already familiar with the correct forms of the language that we have been learning.</p>
<h2>Combining both approaches</h2>
<p>By understanding acquisition and learning, we can improve our performance as learners. Immersing ourselves in an environment where the language we want to learn is used can foster acquisition, as can classes that encourage more communicative ways of learning which replicate situations that could arise in real contexts. Nevertheless, a grammatical explanation will help us to learn the rules of the language. The key is to <a href="https://theconversation.com/como-aprender-nuevas-lenguas-aprovechando-las-que-ya-sabemos-186136">combine the two approaches</a>.</p>
<p>For example, in the past, in order to have a language immersion experience, we had to travel to a country where the language was spoken. Now, thanks to the internet, we can access materials in different formats and we can interact in the language we are learning more easily.</p>
<p>A noteworthy experience is that, in some educational institutions, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781118914069.ch12">telecollaboration programmes</a> are undertaken. In those, students in different classrooms and countries interact with each other thanks to technology.</p>
<p>Another example occurs in <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/recall/article/guerrilla-fan-translation-language-learning-and-metalinguistic-discussion-in-a-catalanspeaking-community-of-gamers/42B9C5C09EDA003D1E85EEB72D95F63A">communities of gamers</a> who, thanks to continued use of the language in online games and other activities, show above-average language skills.</p>
<h2>Competent and rich</h2>
<p>As we have seen, linguistic competence and communicative competence move between contexts of acquisition and contexts of learning. Understanding these concepts can help us to become better language learners, because this is an arduous process and every step along the way is important.</p>
<p>The result is worth it: every new word or phrase we learn brings us closer to other cultures and enriches our lives.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210816/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Boris Vazquez-Calvo is principal investigator of two funded research projects: (1) SEGUE: Social Media and Video Games in language learning and teaching of student teachers (ref.: B1-2021_33, University of Málaga, Spain) and (2) DEFINERS: Digital language learning of language teachers (ref.: TED2021- 129984A-I00), Ministry of Science and Innovation, Spain.</span></em></p>We acquire languages in a intuitive process that involves little effort; we learn them through the conscious assimilation of grammatical rules and usage.Boris Vazquez-Calvo, Profesor Ayudante Doctor en didáctica de la lengua extranjera (inglés), Universidad de MálagaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2103412023-07-31T11:44:05Z2023-07-31T11:44:05ZHow to motivate yourself to learn a language<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539598/original/file-20230726-21-yg8dm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=32%2C32%2C7156%2C4753&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/student-male-dark-skin-dressed-yellow-657724918">Cast Of Thousands/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Are you thinking about learning a language? Perhaps you’ve decided that it’s time to dust off your classroom French. Maybe you’re planning a trip to Japan and feel like you should make the effort to learn the basics, or work is sending you to the Cairo office for a year and you’ll need Arabic. </p>
<p>Learning a language is a hugely worthwhile endeavour, but two things are certain: it will take a while, and motivation will be crucial. </p>
<p>I <a href="https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/education/people/academic/abigail-parrish">research</a> language learners’ motivation, using what is known as <a href="https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/">self-determination theory</a> to measure motivation. This theory proposes that there is a <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4899-2271-7">continuum of motivation</a>. </p>
<p>The continuum starts from the least motivated – “amotivation” – where you might resist doing a task, perhaps because you can’t see its value. The highest form of motivation is “intrinsic motivation”, which means you do something because you find it fun. </p>
<p>In between, along the continuum, there are different forms of motivation. Our motivation increases as we perceive the activity to be more and more aligned with our own beliefs and values. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Table showing feelings about doing a task" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539742/original/file-20230727-52806-n0i7kq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539742/original/file-20230727-52806-n0i7kq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539742/original/file-20230727-52806-n0i7kq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539742/original/file-20230727-52806-n0i7kq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539742/original/file-20230727-52806-n0i7kq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539742/original/file-20230727-52806-n0i7kq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539742/original/file-20230727-52806-n0i7kq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The continuum of motivation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Abigail Parrish</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Self-determination theory is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0346251X22000434">increasingly popular</a> <a href="https://bgro.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/337/1/Parrish_Student%20motivation%20school_2018.pdf">among researchers</a> looking to <a href="http://selfdeterminationtheory.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2017_Olga_Baldwin_et_al_Contemp_Educ_Psych.pdf">explore language learning</a>. It tells us that if you are learning a language because you think it’s important to you – because it fits with your beliefs and values – then you will want to do it. It’s not enough to know that language learning might be a good thing in the abstract; you need to find <a href="https://oasis-database.org/downloads/cz30ps65n?locale=en">personal relevance</a> in it.</p>
<p>You can try to build this motivation by setting yourself goals that revolve around <a href="https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/InPress_Al-HoorieEtAl_Self-DeterminationMini-Theories.pdf">connecting meaningfully</a> with others – such as improving your ability to communicate with friends, family or colleagues in their language. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Quarter life, a series by The Conversation" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/quarter-life-117947?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">This article is part of Quarter Life</a></strong>, a series about issues affecting those of us in our twenties and thirties. From the challenges of beginning a career and taking care of our mental health, to the excitement of starting a family, adopting a pet or just making friends as an adult. The articles in this series explore the questions and bring answers as we navigate this turbulent period of life.</em></p>
<p><em>You may be interested in:</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/is-the-barefoot-boy-summer-trend-bad-for-your-feet-experts-explain-208901?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">Is the ‘barefoot-boy summer’ trend bad for your feet? Experts explain</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-make-your-next-holiday-better-for-the-environment-203445?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">How to make your next holiday better for the environment</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/treat-culture-why-indulging-in-small-affordable-pleasures-can-help-you-cope-with-tough-times-207957?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">Treat culture: why indulging in small, affordable pleasures can help you cope with tough times</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>You are more likely to persevere and to do better if this is your motivation to learn, than if you are doing something for a more controlled, external reason, for example, because your boss expects it. It’s likely to make you <a href="https://scholarworks.uark.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5353&context=etd">feel happier</a>, too. </p>
<p>This is why compulsory language learning in schools doesn’t necessarily yield the results we might hope for. Students often <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09571736.2018.1508305">don’t have a sense of autonomy</a> about undertaking the study in the first place.</p>
<h2>Keep going</h2>
<p>As well as feeling that you’re studying for your own goals, other important factors can keep you motivated on your language journey. </p>
<p>One key factor is known as relatedness. This means having positive relationships with those around you – your teacher, your classmates, your friends and family – and helps you thrive and find meaning in what you’re doing. If your partner supports your language learning and encourages you, you’ll be more likely to find that you’re keen to continue. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Tutoring session" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539784/original/file-20230727-29-bxhzo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539784/original/file-20230727-29-bxhzo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539784/original/file-20230727-29-bxhzo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539784/original/file-20230727-29-bxhzo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539784/original/file-20230727-29-bxhzo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539784/original/file-20230727-29-bxhzo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539784/original/file-20230727-29-bxhzo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A supportive teacher will help.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-student-during-individual-tutoring-lesson-608536676">Elnur/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another is competence. This is not about being the best at everything, but about feeling capable. So even if you’re a beginner, you can feel a sense of competence if you take your learning step by step and feel confident in your ability before moving on. </p>
<p>If language learning app Duolingo, for instance, has been telling you you’re “amazing” and the lesson is “no match for you”, you may well feel enthused to continue. </p>
<p>Duolingo has been <a href="https://investors.duolingo.com/static-files/3c5dd359-4936-452a-9d9f-9a8c853c06c0">incredibly popular</a> as a way to learn a language, either instead of or alongside traditional methods such as books and lessons. Part of the model of this and other language learning apps is to reward users at every turn – for using the app on consecutive days, for completing a certain number of exercises, and even for engaging at certain times of the day. </p>
<p>But self-determination theory research tells us that <a href="https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/pdf/doi/10.4324/9780203874783.ch24">rewards can also be demotivating</a>.
When life gets in the way or you find a lesson particularly hard and the rewards stop, you may feel adrift. The best way to find the will to keep going is to find that personal reason to learn – and remind yourself of it when the going is tough.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210341/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Abigail Parrish does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Try to figure out why learning a language is important to you.Abigail Parrish, Lecturer in Education, University of SheffieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2065672023-06-30T12:37:59Z2023-06-30T12:37:59Z3 myths about immigration in America<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533017/original/file-20230620-16-augfut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1168%2C307%2C3950%2C2713&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A family of Syrian refugees arrive at their new home in Bloomfield, Mich., in 2015.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-haji-khalif-family-arrives-at-their-new-home-on-july-24-news-photo/632671648?adppopup=true">Andrew Renneisen/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The U.S. is – and long has been – <a href="https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2021/09/01/america-cultural-pluralism-horace-kallen-alain-locke/ideas/essay/">a pluralistic society</a> that contains large immigrant communities. </p>
<p>Yet migration is an actively debated but poorly understood topic, and much of the conventional thinking and political rhetoric about migration <a href="https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/spring-2011/ten-myths-about-immigration">are based on myths</a>, <a href="https://www.socialstudies.org/system/files/publications/articles/se_8206348.pdf">rather than facts</a>.</p>
<p>For these reasons, migration policies and strategies for easing <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/us/universitypress/subjects/psychology/biological-psychology/acculturation-personal-journey-across-cultures?format=PB&isbn=9781108731096">acculturation</a> – which refers to the psychological process of assimilating to a new culture – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019330">usually end up being ineffective</a>.</p>
<p>I often work with immigrant populations <a href="https://thecouplesclinic.com/our-staff/april-ilkmen/">in my job</a> as a family therapist and as an acculturation scholar. </p>
<p>Here are a few of the most common misconceptions I come across in my work.</p>
<h2>1. Immigrants don’t want to learn English</h2>
<p>The U.S. is home to more international migrants than any other country, and more than the next four countries – Germany, Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United Kingdom – combined, <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2020_international_migration_highlights.pdf">according to 2020 data</a> from the U.N. Population Division. While the U.S. population represents about 5% of the total world population, <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested-statistics-immigrants-and-immigration-united-states">close to 20% of all global migrants</a> reside there.</p>
<p>An overwhelming number of these immigrants are learning English, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1478210315579547">despite public perception to the contrary</a>.</p>
<p>Immigrants and their children learn English today <a href="https://doi.org/10.1162/DAED_a_00217">at the same rate</a> as Italians, Germans and Eastern Europeans who emigrated in the early 19th century.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2022/acs/acs-50.pdf">According to U.S. Census data</a>, immigrant adults report having better English skills <a href="https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024609320391">the longer they’ve lived in the U.S.</a> And from 2009 to 2019, the percentage who could speak English “very well” <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/05/23/u-s-undocumented-immigrants-are-more-proficient-in-english-more-educated-than-a-decade-ago/">increased from 57% to 62%</a> among first-generation immigrants. </p>
<h2>2. Immigrants are uneducated</h2>
<p>Contrary to popular belief that immigrants moving to the U.S. <a href="https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/immigration/study-destroys-myth-of-uneducated-immigrants/">have minimal education</a>, many of them are well educated. </p>
<p>Over the past five years, 48% of arriving immigrants have been classified as highly skilled – that is, <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/publications/mpi-brain-waste-analysis-june2021-final.pdf">they have a bachelor’s degree or graduate degree</a>. By comparison, only 33% of those born in the U.S. <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022/educational-attainment.html">hold a bachelor’s degree or higher</a>. </p>
<p>Moreover, the pursuit of higher education is valued and encouraged in immigrant communities, particularly those that arrived from collectivist societies, which are commonplace in the countries of South Asia. Immigrants from these places tend to prioritize <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2017.00056">the virtue of the learning process</a> and the joy that comes from attaining an educational milestone. </p>
<p>That doesn’t mean highly educated immigrants can easily slide into high-paying jobs. Many of them find themselves working in menial jobs that don’t require a degree, <a href="https://repository.usfca.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2823&context=capstone">and underemployment among highly educated immigrants</a> remains a key issue in the U.S. today. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People waving U.S. flags." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533015/original/file-20230620-21-8lo1cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533015/original/file-20230620-21-8lo1cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533015/original/file-20230620-21-8lo1cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533015/original/file-20230620-21-8lo1cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533015/original/file-20230620-21-8lo1cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533015/original/file-20230620-21-8lo1cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533015/original/file-20230620-21-8lo1cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A crowd celebrates after being sworn in as U.S. citizens at a naturalization ceremony in 2007 in California.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/immigrants-wave-flags-after-being-sworn-in-as-u-s-citizens-news-photo/75710241?adppopup=true">David McNew/Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>3. The best way to adapt is to embrace US culture</h2>
<p>For decades, acculturation studies have highlighted the importance of immigrants’ embracing American culture. Policymakers, therapists and educators who offered services to immigrants adhered to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.79.1.49">a narrow understanding of acculturation</a>, which encouraged immigrants to adapt to their host country by severing themselves from the culture of their homelands. </p>
<p>Then, in 1987, psychologist John Berry proposed <a href="https://doi.org/10.22329/csw.v9i1.5762">an acculturation model</a> outlining new strategies. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2005.07.013">According to Berry</a>, immigrants should strive to retain elements of their original cultural identity while also adopting a new cultural identity that folds in American culture and values.</p>
<p>Today, Berry’s model is the most commonly used to understand acculturation. </p>
<p>However, although the model acknowledges that acculturation strategies may evolve over time, it doesn’t take into account the emerging forms of <a href="https://www.studysmarter.us/explanations/human-geography/population-geography/transnational-migration/">transnational immigration</a>, which refers to immigrants who live in another country but also maintain strong ties to their home country. </p>
<p>Technological advances have made it far <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2022.04.004">easier for immigrants to maintain ties with their original culture</a>. There are also U.S. cities, neighborhoods and towns where immigrant communities <a href="https://backgroundchecks.org/cities-largest-immigrant-population.html">are the demographic majority</a> – places like Hialeah, Florida, where Cubans and Cuban Americans <a href="https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/hialeah-fl-population">make up 73% of the population</a>, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0096144214563509">parts of the Detroit metro area</a>, which has growing numbers of Indian immigrants. </p>
<p>For immigrants living in these “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0096144214563509">immigrant islands</a>,” there’s less of an obligation to undergo a transformative process of acculturation, whether it’s by <a href="https://theconversation.com/jewish-americans-changed-their-names-but-not-at-ellis-island-96152">Americanizing foreign names</a> or not teaching children their home country’s language.</p>
<p>Still, many immigrants nonetheless feel pressured to downplay their backgrounds. While conducting interviews with members of the Turkish community in Chicago, I spoke with many people who admitted that they weren’t comfortable flaunting their Turkish culture. This didn’t surprise me. Immigrants are often exposed to new sets of prejudices and biases, and they fear not being able to access services such as medical care and education.</p>
<p>This fear reinforces the urge to assimilate into the dominant culture’s values – which, in America, <a href="https://www.up.edu/iss/advising-services/american-values.html">includes individualist principles</a> like independence – and suppress their own cultural values, such as being family-oriented. It’s essentially <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2332649214561306">a strategy of self-protection</a>.</p>
<p>In my work, I found that immigrants who engaged in what’s called “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017393">cultural innocuousness</a>” – behaving in ways that may soften their ethnic and cultural expression – had the hardest time adapting to their new home.</p>
<p>For those reasons, it is crucial for social workers, therapists, teachers and policymakers who work with immigrant families to focus on the tensions among acculturation, ethnic identity and well-being.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206567/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>April Nisan Ilkmen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The US is home to more international migrants than any other country. But even though immigration is an actively debated topic, immigrants are poorly understood.April Nisan Ilkmen, PhD Candidate in Couple and Family Therapy, Adler UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2044152023-05-15T15:43:18Z2023-05-15T15:43:18ZEsol English classes are crucial for migrant integration, yet challenges remain unaddressed<p><em>You can also read this article <a href="https://theconversation.com/esol-pwysigrwydd-dosbarthiadau-saesneg-i-ymfudwyr-ar-heriau-iw-datrys-205783">in Welsh</a>.</em> </p>
<p>In the year ending September 2022, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-december-2022/summary-of-latest-statistics">more than 70,000 people</a> had claimed asylum in the UK. The vast majority were from countries that do not use English as a first language. </p>
<p>Being able to communicate in English is essential for newly arrived migrants. People who have gone through traumatic experiences are, understandably, often desperate to build new lives. They want to use the skills and knowledge they have to access work and education. To do that, they have to navigate the health, social security, housing and education systems. </p>
<p>Language is the single most important area that can promote integration for migrants. My research has shown that <a href="https://www.academia.edu/44971642/Exploring_ESOL_Teacher_Working_Conditions_and_Professional_Development_In_England_And_Wales">language teachers</a> are uniquely placed to positively affect the lives of people in these situations. </p>
<p>In fact, the 2016 <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-casey-review-a-review-into-opportunity-and-integration">Casey review</a>, a government-commissioned report on the state of social cohesion in Britain, highlighted that developing fluency in English is critical to integration.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-like-youre-a-criminal-but-i-am-not-a-criminal-first-hand-accounts-of-the-trauma-of-being-stuck-in-the-uk-asylum-system-202276">'It’s like you’re a criminal, but I am not a criminal.' First-hand accounts of the trauma of being stuck in the UK asylum system</a>
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<p>Given its importance, refugees and people seeking asylum are often keen to enrol in English for Speakers of Other Languages (Esol) classes. And these classes can provide more than language tuition alone. They are a social space, providing a sense of structure to daily lives, offering both linguistic and psychological support. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://ifs.org.uk/news/plans-will-leave-spending-adult-education-and-apprenticeships-25-below-2010-levels-2025#:%7E:text=Press%20Release-,Plans%20will%20leave%20spending%20on%20adult%20education%20and%20apprenticeships,below%202010%20levels%20by%202025&text=Total%20spending%20on%20adult%20education,as%20compared%20with%202010%E2%80%9311.">cuts to adult education budgets</a> following the change of government in 2010, and the introduction of austerity, mean access to Esol language support is often difficult. There can be long waiting lists and <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/4/3/74">too few classes</a> available. </p>
<p>Also, the way adult education is funded in the UK means teachers are obliged to follow an assessment system to measure language competence. That constraint frequently results in classroom time being focused more on passing exams than on developing fluency or bestowing a warm welcome and sense of belonging. </p>
<p>While coping with the demands of building a life in a different country through a new language, many Esol learners are also dealing with the trauma associated with forced displacement. That’s on top of the <a href="https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/lln-2018-0064/">stress involved</a> in navigating an often hostile and complex asylum system. </p>
<p>Such challenges mean Esol teachers can be a vital bridge to the new society. And the Esol classroom can be the prime location for getting information and for creating the bonds needed for successful integration. With that in mind, how Esol classes are organised and managed is fundamental to a person’s success in learning English and all the associated opportunities. </p>
<p>However, providing Esol classes, primarily through colleges of further education, is a hugely bureaucratic undertaking. This often results in the potential of Esol classes to promote integration being missed. </p>
<p>One of the reasons is that these classes are funded in the same way as other adult education subjects. Accordingly, teachers must follow a curriculum that provides evidence that learners are progressing. This results in teachers putting their efforts into preparing students for constant tests and assessments. And that leaves little time to address the real-life concerns, needs and interests of their migrant learners. </p>
<p>It also means the opportunities to bring about a sense of belonging are instead replaced with learning about matters such as verb conjugations and the English tense system. </p>
<p>Changes are needed to both the way Esol is funded and organised, and to the way Esol professionals are educated to view the language classroom. </p>
<h2>Solutions</h2>
<p>Removing some of the requirements to produce evidence of learning would shorten teacher administration time. It would also relieve the pressure on students and teachers to be constantly preparing for the next assessment. This would allow more time to focus on discussing issues of relevance to the learners.</p>
<p>There is much support from language experts for viewing Esol from this more human perspective. It is an understanding of the classroom that resonates with educators who have been advocating for a <a href="https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/pub_BC_NEXUS_booklet_web.pdf">participatory pedagogy</a> – which involves more collaboration and decision making among students – for Esol since the turn of the century.</p>
<p>This style of teaching focuses classroom content on the <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/%22When-I-wake-up-I-dream-of-electricity%22%3A-The-lives%2C-Cooke/a9ad375c87803c59b586b05e3ce5825d4f758d9d">lives of learners</a>. Examples of typical issues that dominate such discussions include the challenge of finding meaningful employment, the effects of trauma, culture shock, separation from family, money worries and finding accommodation.</p>
<p>This means more time is taken up with learners using language to express thoughts, anxieties, hopes and concerns that affect their new lives. And far less time is used by the teacher striving to cover an externally imposed syllabus. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Creative workshops to enhance language acquisition and integration for people seeking sanctuary.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Thinking afresh about language education for forced migrants means considering how a participatory approach may be an effective way to welcome newcomers and help with their integration. With little effort, language education for migrants could allow space for the development of projects that bring people together. It could foster friendship and understanding while also promoting language development.</p>
<p>Esol is not just another academic subject, it is the most important area that promotes integration. But, at present, opportunities to provide holistic, person-centred language education to people seeking refuge in the UK are being missed because of the overly bureaucratic and exam-focused system that prevails.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204415/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike Chick is affiliated with the Welsh Refugee Council as a Trustee</span></em></p>Although English to speakers of other languages (Esol) is treated like any other subject, it can offer far more to those learners.Mike Chick, Senior Lecturer in TESOL/English, University of South WalesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2020782023-05-04T11:54:40Z2023-05-04T11:54:40ZUK students are abandoning language learning, so we’re looking for a more creative approach<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519052/original/file-20230403-16-youwpw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=64%2C0%2C7200%2C4796&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/learning-languages-online-audiobooks-concept-books-339642275">Maxx-Studio/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There is a storm brewing for modern language education in the UK. The uptake in higher education has <a href="https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/1764/BAR35-04-Kenny-Barnes.pdf">more than halved</a> in the past 15 years. And in the same period, ten modern language university departments have closed, while a further nine have been significantly downsized. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, language provision in schools is patchy. There are substantial regional differences, and only <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/jul/08/millions-of-pupils-in-england-had-no-language-teaching-in-lockdowns-survey">half</a> of pupils in England learn a language at GCSE level. Together, these issues have created an <a href="https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/4437/Languages-learning-in-higher-education-November_2022_vf.pdf">overall problem</a> with access to language learning.</p>
<p>Given these challenges, as language lecturers we believe the way we teach and assess modern languages in our universities needs a <a href="https://theconversation.com/only-one-in-65-new-students-chooses-a-modern-language-degree-we-need-a-rethink-37768">rethink</a>. That’s why we want to explore how more creativity in the subject could help to make language learning more attractive and sustainable in the future. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/english-is-not-enough-british-children-face-major-disadvantage-when-it-comes-to-language-skills-110386">English is not enough – British children face major disadvantage when it comes to language skills</a>
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<p>Despite numbers that suggest an overall sector decline, <a href="https://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/language-trends-2019.pdf">current trends</a> indicate that it is mostly single honours studies with one language and traditional language choices such as German, French, Italian and Spanish that are affected by dwindling numbers. Combination degrees, especially with non-European languages, appear to be <a href="https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/4437/Languages-learning-in-higher-education-November_2022_vf.pdf">relatively stable</a>.</p>
<p>So, departments offering single language degree combinations and more traditional languages could see these trends as an opportunity to reevaluate their approach.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman wearing a pink top stands with arms crossed in front of a chalkboard, which features a range of words in different languages which mean " src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519087/original/file-20230403-26-ktzjp5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519087/original/file-20230403-26-ktzjp5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519087/original/file-20230403-26-ktzjp5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519087/original/file-20230403-26-ktzjp5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519087/original/file-20230403-26-ktzjp5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519087/original/file-20230403-26-ktzjp5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519087/original/file-20230403-26-ktzjp5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Should making podcasts, art installations and clowning be considered as part of language learning degrees?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/learning-foreign-languages-142539865">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>In higher education, traditional language teaching and assessment methods involve continuous assessment in four typical language learning areas: grammar, translation, listening and oral. On top of that, there is presentation and essay work, as well as oral and written exams. </p>
<p>Traditional language testing relies on memorisation of vocabulary or grammar to measure student performance. In contrast, feedback-based assessment in the form of written language tasks or translation can have a positive effect that goes beyond a person’s limited ability to use the language in pre-defined contexts. But it is also very <a href="https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd39858.pdf">subjective and time-consuming</a>. </p>
<p>In addition, artificial intelligence software such as <a href="https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt">ChatGPT</a>, which generates detailed written answers to questions, or <a href="https://www.deepl.com/en/translator">Deep L</a>, which can translate texts with high accuracy, make take-home written assignments <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jan/13/end-of-the-essay-uk-lecturers-assessments-chatgpt-concerns-ai">vulnerable to cheating, plagiarism</a> and superficial learning. </p>
<p>Neither memorisation or feedback-based testing encourages students to apply their language learning to real-life situations. Language is more <a href="https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/creativity-modern-foreign-languages-teaching-and-learning">complex</a> than simple memorisation, translation tasks or essay writing.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People wearing headphones sit in booths, each looking at a screen." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519867/original/file-20230406-24-rx2d0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519867/original/file-20230406-24-rx2d0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519867/original/file-20230406-24-rx2d0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519867/original/file-20230406-24-rx2d0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519867/original/file-20230406-24-rx2d0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519867/original/file-20230406-24-rx2d0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519867/original/file-20230406-24-rx2d0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">How a typical language laboratory would have looked decades ago.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lselibrary/3989339979/">Library of the London School of Economics and Political Science</a></span>
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<p>An alternative approach that is rarely used in language learning would be to include more creativity in assessment. Creative assessment in modern languages can be any artistically-inspired exercise aimed at measuring a student’s performance. </p>
<p>Examples of artistic research and creative assessment could include blog writing, podcasts, animation and art installations, creating graphic novels, writing poetry, painting, photography and even clowning. </p>
<p>If a student were to write and direct a <a href="https://creativemodernlanguages.uk/2022/11/25/womens-writing-in-latin-america-short-films/">short film based on women’s writing in Latin America</a>, it could provide lecturers with endless opportunities for creative, task-specific and more individualised feedback that is less repetitive. It would also provide a productive opening for more student group work, for critical reflection that goes beyond simple essay questions and could add valuable skills to a student’s CV.</p>
<p>Currently, creative assessments are mostly limited to theatre and art schools or to creative writing departments. We argue that ignoring such an approach in our subject area diminishes the potential <a href="https://www.cscjes.org.uk/articles/cbca5ccb-3272-4274-830c-66b5355d02d8">cultural, subjective and creative value of modern languages</a> because it neglects opportunities for intercultural, social and artistic exploration. </p>
<p>We already know that <a href="https://innovateinstructionignitelearning.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/GajdaKarwowskiBeghetto-metaGPAvscreativity.pdf">being more creative improves learning</a> in general. Plenty of research has been done looking at how creativity improves academic outcomes across age ranges and topics, including <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-need-to-engage-students%E2%80%99-creative-thinking-in-Smare/dd9037fb1cf52e9f766933a91a0380e0c7cae91a">language learning</a>. </p>
<p>We think such <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Engaging-students%E2%80%99-imaginations-in-second-language-Judson-Egan/2ed8f9873be3a74e08bd6d7faa68caeb28fb538f">findings</a> should be applied practically to language learning to encourage students to approach their studies in different, more interesting ways. And this could ultimately inspire more students to study modern languages at university. Given the significant decline language teaching is facing, it’s vital that we look for and test such approaches.</p>
<h2>Creativity</h2>
<p>As a start, we’ve launched the <a href="https://creativemodernlanguages.uk">Creative Modern Languages project</a>. It’s an initiative that provides university researchers, students and teachers with an open-access modern languages hub. We are hoping that it will help to identify the best examples of creativity in language learning and act as a catalyst for more creative types of teaching, assessment and research.</p>
<p>There are some caveats, however. We acknowledge that implementing such changes may be met with fears and restrictions. Some colleagues say they are worried about time constraints and the administrative burden that may come with introducing creative assessment. They have also expressed concerns about not <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10400419.2017.1360061">feeling creative enough</a>, a lack of funding and increased workload. </p>
<p>But it is clear to us that implementing more creative forms of research and assessment in modern languages is necessary for attracting students in the future and countering the potential negative effects of AI technology. </p>
<p>What we are hoping to do is to encourage an ongoing discussion about more creative types of research and assessment in modern languages. Ultimately, it could help to introduce more students to the joys of other languages, people and cultures.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202078/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alex Mangold received funding from the British Academy for the research mentioned in this article (Talent Development Award 2021). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Pogoda received funding from the British Academy for the research mentioned in this article (Talent Development Award 2021).</span></em></p>The number of students studying languages in UK universities has plummeted in recent years but some creative thinking may help to reverse that trend.Alex Mangold, Lecturer in German, Aberystwyth UniversitySarah Pogoda, Senior Lecturer in German, Bangor UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2040142023-04-20T00:01:43Z2023-04-20T00:01:43ZResearch on 2,400 languages shows nearly half the world’s language diversity is at risk<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521819/original/file-20230419-20-sza07m.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C0%2C3484%2C2258&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There are more than 7,000 languages in the world, and their grammar can vary a lot. Linguists are interested in these differences because of what they tell us about our history, our cognitive abilities and what it means to be human.</p>
<p>But this great diversity is threatened as more and more languages aren’t taught to children and fall into slumber.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adg6175">new paper</a> published in Science Advances, we’ve launched an extensive database of language grammars called <a href="https://grambank.clld.org/">Grambank</a>. With this resource, we can answer many research questions about language and see how much grammatical diversity we may lose if the crisis isn’t stopped.</p>
<p>Our findings are alarming: we’re losing languages, we’re losing language diversity, and unless we do something, these windows into our collective history will close.</p>
<h2>What is grammar?</h2>
<p>The grammar of a language is the set of rules that determines what a sentence is in that language, and what is gibberish. For example, tense is obligatory in English. To combine “Sarah”, “write” and “paper” into a well-formed sentence, I have to indicate a time. If you don’t have tense in an English sentence, then it’s not grammatical.</p>
<p>That’s not the case in all languages though. In the indigenous language of Hokkaido Ainu in Japan, speakers don’t need to specify time at all. They can add words such as “already” or “tomorrow” – but speakers consider the sentence correct without them.</p>
<p>As the great anthropologist Franz Boas <a href="https://publish.iupress.indiana.edu/read/fd56490f-c0d0-4959-bd99-12b531bb260d/section/170ed7bf-36ca-461a-bdc3-055bc7b7d898">once said</a>:</p>
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<p>grammar […] determines those aspects of each experience that must be expressed.</p>
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<p>Linguists aren’t interested in “correct” grammar. We know grammar changes over time and from place to place – and that variation isn’t a bad thing to us, it’s amazing!</p>
<p>By studying these rules across languages, we can get an insight into how our minds work, and how we transfer meaning from ourselves to others. We can also learn about our history, where we come from, and how we got here. It’s rather extraordinary. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/meet-the-remote-indigenous-community-where-a-few-thousand-people-use-15-different-languages-107716">Meet the remote Indigenous community where a few thousand people use 15 different languages</a>
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<h2>A huge linguistic database of grammar</h2>
<p>We’re thrilled to release <a href="https://grambank.clld.org/">Grambank</a> into the world. Our team of international colleagues built it over several years by reading many books about language rules, and speaking to experts and community members about specific languages.</p>
<p>It was a difficult task. Grammars of different languages can be very different from each other. Moreover, different people have different ways of describing how these rules work. Linguists love jargon, so it was a special challenge to understand them sometimes.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521866/original/file-20230419-20-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521866/original/file-20230419-20-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521866/original/file-20230419-20-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521866/original/file-20230419-20-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521866/original/file-20230419-20-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521866/original/file-20230419-20-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521866/original/file-20230419-20-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We had to read a lot of books for the Grambank project.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hedvig Skirgård</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Grambank, we used 195 questions to compare more than 2,400 languages – including two signed languages. The map below provides an overview of what we have captured. </p>
<p>Each dot represents a language, and the more similar the colour, the more similar the languages. To create this map, we used a technique called “principal component analysis” – it reduced the 195 questions to three dimensions, which we then mapped onto red, green and blue. </p>
<p>The large variation in colours reveals how different all these languages are from each other. Where we get regions with similar colours, such as in the Pacific, this could mean the languages are related, or that they have borrowed a lot from each other.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521664/original/file-20230418-1187-eg6h0d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=201%2C28%2C4419%2C2924&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521664/original/file-20230418-1187-eg6h0d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=201%2C28%2C4419%2C2924&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521664/original/file-20230418-1187-eg6h0d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521664/original/file-20230418-1187-eg6h0d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521664/original/file-20230418-1187-eg6h0d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521664/original/file-20230418-1187-eg6h0d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521664/original/file-20230418-1187-eg6h0d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521664/original/file-20230418-1187-eg6h0d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">World map of languages included in the Grambank dataset. The colour represents grammatical similarity – the more similar the colours, the more similar the grammars.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Skirgård et al. (2023)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Language is very special to humans; it’s part of what makes us who we are.</p>
<p>Sadly, the world’s indigenous languages are facing an endangerment crisis due to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-021-01604-y">colonisation and globalisation</a>. We know each language lost <a href="https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/iipj/article/view/7500">heavily impacts</a> the health of <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228465754_Aboriginal_language_knowledge_and_youth_suicide_Cognitive_Development_22_393-399">Indigenous individuals</a> and communities by severing ties to ancestry and traditional knowledge. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/people-on-vanuatus-malekula-island-speak-more-than-30-indigenous-languages-heres-why-we-must-record-them-122253">People on Vanuatu's Malekula Island speak more than 30 Indigenous languages. Here's why we must record them</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Almost half the world’s linguistic diversity is threatened</h2>
<p>In addition to the loss of individual languages, our team wanted to understand what we stand to lose in terms of grammatical diversity.</p>
<p>The Grambank database reveals a dazzling variety of languages around the world – a testament to the human capacity for change, variation and ingenuity. </p>
<p>Using an ecological measure of diversity, we assessed what kind of loss we could expect if languages that are currently under threat were to disappear. We found certain regions will be hit harder than others. </p>
<p>Frighteningly, some regions of the world such as South America and Australia are expected to lose <em>all</em> of their indigenous linguistic diversity, because all of the indigenous languages there are threatened. Even other regions where languages are relatively safe, such as the Pacific, South-East Asia and Europe, still show a dramatic decrease of about 25%.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521888/original/file-20230419-14-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521888/original/file-20230419-14-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521888/original/file-20230419-14-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521888/original/file-20230419-14-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521888/original/file-20230419-14-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521888/original/file-20230419-14-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521888/original/file-20230419-14-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Barplot of grammatical diversity (functional richness) across regions. Light green shows the current diversity, dark green shows the remaining diversity left after endangered languages are removed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What’s next?</h2>
<p>Without sustained support for language revitalisation, many people will be harmed and our shared linguistic window into human history, cognition and culture will become seriously fragmented.</p>
<p>The United Nations declared 2022–2032 the <a href="https://www.unesco.org/en/decades/indigenous-languages">Decade of Indigenous Languages</a>. Around the world, grassroots organisations including the <a href="https://ngukurrlc.org.au/">Ngukurr Language Centre</a>, <a href="https://noongarboodjar.com.au">Noongar Boodjar Language Centre</a>, and the Canadian <a href="http://hcec.ca/index.php/home-page/">Heiltsuk Cultural Education Centre</a> are working towards language maintenance and revitalisation. To get a feel for what this can be like, check out this <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/mygrandmotherslingo/">interactive animation</a> by Angelina Joshua.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204014/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new, extensive database of language grammars from around the world indicates an alarming trend of global language loss.Hedvig Skirgård, Postdoctoral researcher, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologySimon Greenhill, Associate Professor, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1962502023-02-02T05:49:47Z2023-02-02T05:49:47ZCurious Kids: are some languages more difficult than others?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505917/original/file-20230123-26-nrew7g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C6000%2C3979&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/child-studying-english-747595933">maroke/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><strong>Some languages seem harder than others. Does that mean that the brains of people who speak those languages are more stimulated? – Maria Júlia, aged 14, São Lourenço, Brazil</strong></p>
<p>Are some languages harder than others? For example, is Japanese more difficult than English?</p>
<p>To answer the question, the first thing we have to do is distinguish between babies learning their first language and children or adults learning a second language. For babies who learn their first language, no language is harder than another. Babies all learn their first language in about the same period of time. This is because <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-babies-learn-language/">learning a language is natural for all babies</a>, like learning to walk.</p>
<p>A baby’s brain comes into the world prepared to learn any human language they hear spoken around them. The brain gets the same stimulation from exposure to any language, although it adapts to <a href="https://earlychildhoodmatters.online/2017/big-surprises-from-little-brains/">certain features of the language</a> such as specific sounds. There is no evidence that some languages make you smarter.</p>
<p>In fact, babies can even acquire two (or more) <a href="https://www.scienceabc.com/humans/babies-learning-language-bilingualism-possible.html#how-babies-learn-their-native-language">languages together</a>, if they hear them regularly. The languages can be similar, like Portuguese and Spanish, or very different, like English and Chinese – but the baby’s brain can learn them at the same time.</p>
<p>But that changes if you already speak a language and are learning a second one. A language that is very different to the one you already know is going to seem harder than one that’s quite similar to your first language.</p>
<h2>Learning a second language</h2>
<p>For example, if your first language is English, Spanish words like <em>león</em> for “lion” or <em>sal</em> for “salt” are going to be easier to learn than, say, Chinese <em>shīzi</em> and <em>yán</em>, or Turkish <em>aslan</em> and <em>tuz</em>.</p>
<p>To make English words plural, you usually add -s or -es, and the same is true in Spanish, so “lions” is <em>leones</em>. But in Turkish “lions” is <em>aslanlar</em>, and in Chinese there’s no difference between “lion” and “lions” at all. It’s mainly <a href="https://blog.duolingo.com/whats-the-easiest-language-to-learn/">the difference from your first language</a> that can make another language “easier” or “harder”, not the language itself.</p>
<p>The more languages you know, the easier it is to learn other languages. Babies who learn two languages at the same time often have <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171002084841.htm">an easier time</a> learning a third or fourth language when they are older. Their bilingual brains already understand something about the ways that languages can be different. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Cards with words in Portuguese and English: " src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507059/original/file-20230130-22-omoysa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507059/original/file-20230130-22-omoysa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507059/original/file-20230130-22-omoysa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507059/original/file-20230130-22-omoysa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507059/original/file-20230130-22-omoysa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507059/original/file-20230130-22-omoysa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507059/original/file-20230130-22-omoysa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Learning about fruits in Portuguese and English.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/portuguese-learning-new-language-fruits-name-507878815">Eiko Tsuchiya/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://clareseltcompendium.wordpress.com/2014/02/10/is-there-a-critical-period-for-language-learning/">Scientists used to think</a> that there was a cutoff point, at around the age of 12 or 13, after which it was impossible to learn a new language completely. We now know that young people can <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/21/the-joys-and-benefits-of-bilingualism">learn another language</a> <a href="https://news.mit.edu/2018/cognitive-scientists-define-critical-period-learning-language-0501">throughout their teen years</a>. After that, it does become harder - but not impossible - to reach high levels of fluency in a new language.</p>
<p>The reason that babies are so good at learning languages, though, is partly because they have more time to do it. A teenager’s brain or a grown-up’s brain may <a href="https://medium.com/@chacon/mit-scientists-prove-adults-learn-language-to-fluency-nearly-as-well-as-children-1de888d1d45f">still be flexible enough</a> to learn another language, but as people get older, they’re busy with school, work and friends. When babies are learning their first language or languages, they’re spending hours every day practising.</p>
<h2>Reading is different</h2>
<p>While understanding and speaking a language comes naturally, though, learning to read and write is a different story.</p>
<p>Reading is not something that brains develop automatically. It actually has to be learned. And because different languages are written in different ways, it really does make sense to say that some languages are easier to learn to read than others.</p>
<p>Children who speak English or French spend <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6876970_Becoming_literate_in_different_languages_Similar_problems_different_solutions">more years in school learning to read</a> than children who speak Italian or Finnish. This is because in Italian or Finnish there’s a close match between written letters and spoken sounds, while in English or French there are lots of complications. If you’re reading this, you’ll already know about some of the complications in English.</p>
<p>In some languages where writing was invented a long time ago, especially in Asia, there are other complications. In Chinese and Japanese, especially, writing is based on separate symbols for words or parts of words instead of letters that stand for individual sounds. Learning to read these languages can take <a href="https://blogs.ntu.edu.sg/blip/does-the-brain-read-chinese-the-same-way-it-reads-english/">even longer</a>. In certain particular ways, then, some languages can be harder to learn than others.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196250/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Antonella Sorace is a Professor of Developmental Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh. She received grants from the Economic and Social Research Council, the Leverhulme Trust, the EU, the Carnegie Trust and other international funders in support of some of the research mentioned in this article. She is also the founder and director of Bilingualism Matters, a non-profit organisation that aims to bring research on bilingualism and language learning to people in different sectors of society. </span></em></p>It depends on whether you are learning as a baby or not.Antonella Sorace, Professor of Developmental Linguistics, The University of EdinburghLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1946832022-11-30T16:35:31Z2022-11-30T16:35:31ZCould the Netherlands crack the secret of language learning using this approach?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497700/original/file-20221128-20-kjjanz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1000%2C627&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">file okebk</span> </figcaption></figure><p>From the UK government’s latest <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/reforms-to-encourage-more-students-to-take-up-language-gcses">post-Brexit language-learning reforms</a> to France’s eternal debates over the <a href="https://www.slate.fr/story/179265/reforme-enseignement-langues-vivantes-etrangeres-lycee">supposed linguistic inadequacy of its youth</a>, governments regularly scratch their heads over how to improve how languages are taught.</p>
<p>While the Netherlands carried out a <a href="https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/eujal-2020-0020/html">major reform</a> to its modern foreign language education as early as 1968, the current courses are seen by many as no longer preparing students well enough for the modern world. The baccalaureate exams do not test students’ actual skills and knowledge so much as their ability to strategically answer multiple-choice questions.</p>
<p>This is particularly true for modern languages, where the final exam – a reading-comprehension exercise – receives hundreds of complaints from students who find it either <a href="https://nos.nl/artikel/2236117-opnieuw-ophef-over-niveau-vwo-examen-frans-verdrietig-de-zaal-uit">too difficult or too ambiguous</a>.</p>
<p>In the Netherlands, French is compulsory for students from age 11 to 15, yet a declining number continue to study it beyond that age. In such a context, educators in the Netherlands are asking how other methods might better meet the needs of students. Supported by many teacher trainers in the
country and the <a href="http://etc-languagelearning.web.rug.nl/">language learning team</a> at the University of Groningen, a <a href="https://prezi.com/view/DvEQLkR9O8wZP4Ev4qPY/">usage-based approach</a> to French has gained ground.</p>
<h2>The Dutch and French</h2>
<p>As in many European countries, Dutch students are frequently exposed to English, but that’s not the case with French. The language is spoken by 70 million people in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Monaco, Franco-Dutch firms do <a href="https://platformfrans.nl/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Het-economisch-belang-van-het-Frans-2022.pdf">40 million euros in business annually</a>, and organisations such as the <a href="https://institutfrancais.nl/">French Institute</a> and <a href="https://www.cfci.nl/la-chambre/roles-et-missions.html">CCI France Netherlands</a> provide support, yet for students there are few situations outside the classroom that <a href="https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/eujal-2020-0020/html">afford the opportunity to practice</a> the language informally.</p>
<p>Researcher Marjolijn Voogel indicates the perceived <a href="https://lt-tijdschriften.nl/ojs/index.php/ltm/article/view/1550">importance of speaking French</a> in the Netherlands is declining. Despite studying French for six years at school, the students’ overall level is not proportional to the work they put in, according to <a href="https://projectfrans.nl/storage/Informatie/Publicaties/Hoe_Frans_terrein_kan_terugwinnen.pdf">Wim Gombert</a>, a researcher in applied linguistics.</p>
<p>These results are similar to those found in France, which also suffers from an environment with limited opportunities for regular use of foreign languages and teaching methods based on <a href="https://lt-tijdschriften.nl/ojs/index.php/ltt/article/view/1631">grammar and translation</a>. And this despite the fact that teachers regularly look to modernise their courses, organise trips and use digital technologies, as Lynne West and Marjolijn Verspoor note.</p>
<p>In response to this situation, one of the initiatives has been the development and implementation of several usage-based inspired methodologies such as the <a href="https://www.aimlanguagelearning.com/">Accelerative Integrated Method (AIM)</a> invented by Wendy Maxwell in Canada. They’re found most often in primary and secondary schools (about 100) but also in <a href="https://projectfrans.nl/aim-voor-de-bovenbouw">secondary schools</a> (about four schools) and finally at the <a href="https://taalwijs.nu/2022/10/24/hoe-kan-taalonderwijs-leerlingen-en-studenten-helpen-om-zelfstandig-te-worden/">University of Groningen</a>.</p>
<h2>Access to the language outside the classroom</h2>
<p>AIM methods are inspired by research on <a href="https://benjamins.com/catalog/lllt.29">dynamic usage theory</a>, which considers languages to be a collection of words shaped first and foremost by socialisation. Language learning happens through repeated exposure via creative activities and real-life tasks, rather than grammar rules and vocabulary lists.</p>
<p>Stories (in primary and middle school), creative and non-fiction texts, or videos (in high school) and films (in university) are central to the approach. In addition, high school and university students use learning software such as <a href="https://www.fluentu.com/">Fluent U</a> or <a href="https://www.slimstampen.nl/">SlimStampen</a>. </p>
<p>Students take quizzes several times a week and the software remembers words that are not acquired. They’re then reintroduced into the following work sessions until they’re firmly embedded. The idea is that students <a href="https://webtv.univ-rouen.fr/videos/conference-dylis-daudrey-rousse-malpat-du-18102021-decoupage/">learn vocabulary in context</a> rather than simply memorise it. </p>
<p>In the classroom, the activities are varied and focus on listening and speaking. The aim is first to reduce the anxiety linked to speaking by de-dramatising what are typically seen as errors. Repetition is emphasised until responses are integrated and become automatic. The activities are mostly done in groups so that the learners develop a certain self-confidence. Individual language development happens throughout, and mutual aid is encouraged.</p>
<p>By focusing on the meaning of language and not its form, each learner can use their own linguistic repertoire and learn from the repertoire of others. At the same time, each learner can work individually on linguistic weaknesses. </p>
<h2>The decentred role of the teacher</h2>
<p>This way of working gives a new role to teachers. Instead of being the only transmitters of knowledge, language models and evaluators in the classroom, they provide resources, organise activities that encourage repetition and language automation, and create an environment conducive to practice. Collaboration takes place between learners in the target language, ensuring it is used most of the time. The teacher is also the one who determines learners’ individual or collective needs and offers activities to meet them.</p>
<p>Teachers also play a key role in organising peer feedback, testing language skills and assessing the learners’ state of development – the strengths and the elements that each one needs to work on. The method moves away from counting students’ “errors”.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HB4WXDWqeCs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Webinar “Innovative language teaching methods”, with Audrey Rousse-Malpat.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In this regard, teachers need to <a href="https://www.multilingual-matters.com/page/detail/Language-Learning-and-Teaching-in-a-Multilingual-World/?k=9781788927611">move away from the way they learned the language</a> – and sometimes even from their personal beliefs. Their actions will be all the more relevant if they understand how language develops from a <a href="https://eboutique.didierfle.com/fr/FR/products/cognition-et-personnalite-dans-l-apprentissage-de-langues-2019-livre-numerique">social and psycho-cognitive point of view</a>, and consider how and when to intervene.</p>
<p>Several studies have shown the benefits of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3AmZRkdXSA">usage-based inspired methodologies</a> on learners’ listening, speaking, and writing skills. These methods are underpinned by the idea that the language speaker is a <a href="https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2019/05/26/kesku-se-een-nieuw-soort-franse-les-a3961620">social agent</a> rather than a grammarian.</p>
<p>What is happening in the Netherlands shows the relevance of the research and education communities working together to experiment with and implement methods that are based on contemporary scientific knowledge about language and languages.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194683/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Audrey Rousse-Malpat has received funding from NWO (the national research organisation in the Netherlands). She works as a professor of language and language didactics at the University of Groningen and is a teacher trainer at Project Frans.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grégory Miras ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Language-learning research in the Netherlands has determined that using a foreign language rather than just memorizing its grammar can transform how students progress.Grégory Miras, Professeur des Universités en didactique des langues, Université de LorraineAudrey Rousse-Malpat, Assistant Professor of language learning at the program European Languages and Cultures, University of GroningenLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1905942022-10-19T12:37:59Z2022-10-19T12:37:59ZAI is changing scientists’ understanding of language learning – and raising questions about an innate grammar<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490505/original/file-20221018-24-64isla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1047%2C0%2C6844%2C4737&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Is living in a language-rich world enough to teach a child grammatical language?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/baby-girl-brushing-teeth-royalty-free-image/931044218">kate_sept2004/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Unlike the carefully scripted dialogue found in most books and movies, the language of everyday interaction tends to be messy and incomplete, full of false starts, interruptions and people talking over each other. From casual conversations between friends, to bickering between siblings, to formal discussions in a boardroom, <a href="https://vod.video.cornell.edu/media/TLG_C2_conversation-excerpt/1_419ixr2o">authentic conversation</a> is chaotic. It seems miraculous that anyone can learn language at all given the haphazard nature of the linguistic experience.</p>
<p>For this reason, many language scientists – including <a href="https://chomsky.info/">Noam Chomsky</a>, a founder of modern linguistics – believe that language learners require a kind of glue to rein in the unruly nature of everyday language. And that glue is grammar: a system of rules for generating grammatical sentences.</p>
<p>Children must have a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/15/science/expert-says-he-discerns-hard-wired-grammar-rules.html">grammar template wired into their brains</a> to help them overcome the limitations of their language experience – or so the thinking goes.</p>
<p>This template, for example, might contain a “super-rule” that dictates how new pieces are added to existing phrases. Children then only need to learn whether their native language is one, like English, where the verb goes before the object (as in “I eat sushi”), or one like Japanese, where the verb goes after the object (in Japanese, the same sentence is structured as “I sushi eat”).</p>
<p>But new insights into language learning are coming from an unlikely source: artificial intelligence. A new breed of large AI language models <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/08/robot-wrote-this-article-gpt-3">can write newspaper articles</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106553">poetry</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/09/technology/codex-artificial-intelligence-coding.html">computer code</a> and <a href="https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/yYkrbS5iAwdEQyynW/how-do-new-models-from-openai-deepmind-and-anthropic-perform">answer questions truthfully</a> after being exposed to vast amounts of language input. And even more astonishingly, they all do it without the help of grammar.</p>
<h2>Grammatical language without a grammar</h2>
<p>Even if their <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/24/science/artificial-intelligence-gpt3-writing-love.html">choice of words is sometimes strange</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/quasimondo/status/1284509525500989445">nonsensical</a> or contains <a href="https://twitter.com/an_open_mind/status/1284487376312709120">racist, sexist and other harmful biases</a>, one thing is very clear: the overwhelming majority of the output of these AI language models is grammatically correct. And yet, there are no grammar templates or rules hardwired into them – they rely on linguistic experience alone, messy as it may be.</p>
<p>GPT-3, arguably the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/15/magazine/ai-language.html">most well-known of these models</a>, is a gigantic <a href="https://interestingengineering.com/science/neural-networks">deep-learning neural network</a> with 175 billion parameters. It was trained to predict the next word in a sentence given what came before across hundreds of billions of words from the internet, books and Wikipedia. When it made a wrong prediction, its parameters were adjusted using an automatic learning algorithm.</p>
<p>Remarkably, GPT-3 can generate believable text reacting to prompts such as “A summary of the last ‘Fast and Furious’ movie is…” or “Write a poem in the style of Emily Dickinson.” Moreover, <a href="https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2005.14165">GPT-3 can respond</a> to SAT level analogies, reading comprehension questions and even solve simple arithmetic problems – all from learning how to predict the next word.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490508/original/file-20221018-15-pw980u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="artist's rendition of a human brain connected to a tablet by many cords" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490508/original/file-20221018-15-pw980u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490508/original/file-20221018-15-pw980u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490508/original/file-20221018-15-pw980u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490508/original/file-20221018-15-pw980u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490508/original/file-20221018-15-pw980u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490508/original/file-20221018-15-pw980u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490508/original/file-20221018-15-pw980u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An AI model and a human brain may generate the same language, but are they doing it the same way?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/artificial-intelligence-technology-royalty-free-image/1149178089">Just_Super/E+ via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Comparing AI models and human brains</h2>
<p>The similarity with human language doesn’t stop here, however. Research published in Nature Neuroscience demonstrated that these artificial deep-learning networks seem to use the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-022-01026-4">same computational principles as the human brain</a>. The research group, led by <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VRw8v4kAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">neuroscientist Uri Hasson</a>, first compared how well <a href="https://openai.com/blog/better-language-models/">GPT-2</a> – a “little brother” of GPT-3 – and humans could predict the next word in a story taken from the podcast “This American Life”: people and the AI predicted the exact same word nearly 50% of the time.</p>
<p>The researchers recorded volunteers’ brain activity while listening to the story. The best explanation for the patterns of activation they observed was that people’s brains – like GPT-2 – were not just using the preceding one or two words when making predictions but relied on the accumulated context of up to 100 previous words. Altogether, the authors conclude: “Our finding of spontaneous predictive neural signals as participants listen to natural speech suggests that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-022-01026-4">active prediction may underlie humans’ lifelong language learning</a>.”</p>
<p>A possible concern is that these new AI language models are fed a lot of input: GPT-3 was trained on <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2208.07998">linguistic experience equivalent to 20,000 human years</a>. But <a href="https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.10.04.510681">a preliminary study</a> that has not yet been peer-reviewed found that GPT-2 can still model human next-word predictions and brain activations even when trained on just 100 million words. That’s well within the amount of linguistic input that an average child might <a href="https://doi.org/10.1044/2016_AJSLP-15-0169">hear during the first 10 years of life</a>.</p>
<p>We are not suggesting that GPT-3 or GPT-2 learn language exactly like children do. Indeed, <a href="https://www.lengoo.com/blog/gpt3hype/">these AI models do not appear to comprehend much</a>, if anything, of what they are saying, whereas <a href="https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/morten-h-christiansen/the-language-game/9781541674981/">understanding is fundamental to human language use</a>. Still, what these models prove is that a learner – albeit a silicon one – can learn language well enough from mere exposure to produce perfectly good grammatical sentences and do so in a way that resembles human brain processing.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490509/original/file-20221019-15-tit42e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="little girl whispers to a man while they read on a bed" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490509/original/file-20221019-15-tit42e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490509/original/file-20221019-15-tit42e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490509/original/file-20221019-15-tit42e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490509/original/file-20221019-15-tit42e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490509/original/file-20221019-15-tit42e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490509/original/file-20221019-15-tit42e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490509/original/file-20221019-15-tit42e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More back and forth yields more language learning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/father-and-daughter-reading-a-book-in-bed-royalty-free-image/1227566554">Westend61 via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Rethinking language learning</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199573776.001.0001">For years, many linguists have believed</a> that learning language is impossible without a built-in grammar template. The new AI models prove otherwise. They demonstrate that the ability to produce grammatical language can be learned from linguistic experience alone. Likewise, we suggest that <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/evidence-rebuts-chomsky-s-theory-of-language-learning/">children do not need an innate grammar</a> to learn language.</p>
<p>“Children should be seen, not heard” goes the old saying, but the latest AI language models suggest that nothing could be further from the truth. Instead, children need to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617742725">engaged in the back-and-forth of conversation</a> as much as possible to help them develop their language skills. Linguistic experience – not grammar – is key to becoming a competent language user.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190594/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Morten H. Christiansen receives funding from the A&S New Frontier Grant Program at Cornell University. He is affiliated with the School of Communication and Culture and Interacting Minds Centre at Aarhus University, Denmark, as well as the Haskins Labs, New Haven, CT. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pablo Contreras Kallens received funding from the A&S New Frontier Grant Program at Cornell University. </span></em></p>Linguists have long considered grammar to be the glue of language, and key to how children learn it. But new prose-writing AIs suggest language experience may be more important than grammar.Morten H. Christiansen, Professor of Psychology, Cornell UniversityPablo Contreras Kallens, Ph.D. Student in Psychology, Cornell UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1910912022-10-06T08:52:44Z2022-10-06T08:52:44ZCan you learn a language in your sleep? We found you may be able to pick up some words<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488006/original/file-20221004-14-rq6q67.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=53%2C8%2C6000%2C3979&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">For all sleep-learning's promises, memorising words while awake was still five times more efficient. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/fr/image-photo/wake-lazy-woman-time-learn-english-2126585828">PaeGAG/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>From Aldous Huxley’s <em><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Brave-New-World">Brave New World</a></em> to <em><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115157/">Dexter’s Laboratory</a></em> cartoon series, sleep-learning has been a recurring theme in fiction. The idea that we can learn while asleep has fascinated many, but whether it is sheer fantasy or scientifically possible has long remained a mystery. </p>
<p>Now, thanks to neuroimaging, we know that the brain is far from inactive while we sleep and continually <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cophys.2019.12.002">reacts to information from the world around it</a>. But can it really memorise this information and retain it once we are awake?</p>
<p>In fact, we have known for close to a decade that the brain is capable of taking in new information during sleep, as first evidenced in experiments on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3193">tone and odour associations</a>. </p>
<p>Individuals who wished to quit smoking, for instance, have been found to reduce their consumption by 35% when the scent of tobacco is presented to them during sleep in association with <a href="https://www.jneurosci.org/content/34/46/15382">unpleasant scents of rotten fish</a>.</p>
<p>We thus set out to understand whether the brain was capable of more complex learning processes, such as those involved in foreign language acquisition. Together with Sid Kouider at the École Normale Supérieure (ENS) - Paris Science et Lettres (PSL), and Maxime Elbaz and Damien Léger of the Paris Hospitals Public Trust (AP-HP) Hôtel-Dieu, we designed a protocol for <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2022.801666/full">learning the meaning of Japanese words while asleep</a>.</p>
<h2>Learn Japanese while you sleep</h2>
<p>The Japanese language has a relatively simple structure with a limited number of possible syllable units. For example, the word <em>neko</em>, meaning “cat”, comprises two units: <em>ne</em> and <em>ko</em>. It does not contain a complex tone system like other East Asian languages, and presents a somewhat similar phonology to that of French or English. </p>
<p>However, word meaning is often very distant from French or English. As such, Japanese was the ideal language for the experiment, since the subjects’ ears would be able to distinguish its sounds easily, but the words would generally be meaningless to them.</p>
<p>After designing our experiment, we recruited 22 healthy adults who had no prior knowledge of Japanese or other related East Asian languages. As shown in the illustration below, we first presented them with pairs of sounds and images while they were awake, such as a dog with a barking sound. Then, while the subjects were sleeping, we played the sound together with the corresponding term in Japanese. </p>
<p>For example, the barking sound would be played along with the word <em>inu</em>, meaning “dog”. The following morning, we asked the subjects to pick between two images to find the matching word in Japanese. Here, the word <em>inu</em> would be shown along with the image of a dog and the image of an unrelated word that was played while the subject slept, for example, a bell.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488035/original/file-20221004-16-z6y45l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488035/original/file-20221004-16-z6y45l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488035/original/file-20221004-16-z6y45l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488035/original/file-20221004-16-z6y45l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488035/original/file-20221004-16-z6y45l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488035/original/file-20221004-16-z6y45l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488035/original/file-20221004-16-z6y45l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In our study, we played Japanese words along with different sounds while the subjects were sleeping – for example, the sound of a dog barking for the word <em>inu</em>, meaning ‘dog’. The following morning, individuals had to guess which image matched the meaning of the Japanese word.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">**ENS-PSL**</span>, <span class="license">Fourni par l'auteur</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We observed that the individuals’ ability to match the image to the corresponding Japanese word was based on skill rather than luck. We also asked them if they had chosen at random or answered with a certain degree of confidence. This confidence parameter remained low regardless of whether a correct or incorrect answer was given, thus proving that sleep-learning is implicit, indicating that people are unaware of the information they learn while asleep.</p>
<h2>Slow waves predict sleep learning</h2>
<p>The most interesting findings from this experiment revealed what actually goes on during sleep. Using electrocardiography (ECG), a technique that records electrical activity on the brain’s surface, we were able to predict which words would be remembered when the subjects awoke. </p>
<p>This was because remembered words generated more slow waves than forgotten ones. Brain waves are electrical impulses measuring brain activity and slow waves appear when brains are in deep sleep. Our results, as well as a recent publication showing that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.12.038">slow waves predicted when subjects memorized the relative size of the objects presented in a study</a>, confirm their significant role in sleep-learning.</p>
<p>So, the sleeping brain can learn new words and associate them with a meaning. This learning process can even be observed in brainwaves during sleep. But is this type of learning useful? And is everyone capable of it? We are as yet unaware whether sleep-learning can bear long-term results and whether it depends upon individual differences in memory capacity.</p>
<p>We carried out the same protocol while the subjects were awake with ten times fewer repetitions than the sleep experiment. While awake, subjects were found to learn five times more efficiently than when asleep, while also reporting higher confidence for learned words compared to forgotten words. The slow, implicit learning we perform while asleep differs greatly from the quick, explicit learning of our waking hours. </p>
<p>Although it is possible to learn while we sleep, it would be more appropriate to consider our waking and sleeping states as complementary, with sleep-learning being an optimal way to consolidate information taken in while awake.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Translated from the French by Enda Boorman for <a href="http://www.fastforword.fr/en">Fast ForWord</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191091/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthieu Koroma ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Research shows sleep-learning can complement, but never replace, learning while awake.Matthieu Koroma, FNRS Postdoctoral Researcher, Université de LiègeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1878202022-08-30T14:27:50Z2022-08-30T14:27:50ZModern language GCSEs continue to fall in popularity – but new research shows language knowledge will last you a lifetime<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481071/original/file-20220825-20-y4yvbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5472%2C3628&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/happy-traveling-tourists-sightseeing-map-hand-1758786365">NDAB Creativity/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>You might think that if you stop using a language after studying it at school, you will end up forgetting everything you knew. But this isn’t true. Language knowledge will stay in your brain for decades.</p>
<p>In 2022, around <a href="https://www.jcq.org.uk/examination-results/">25,000 A-levels</a> and around <a href="https://www.jcq.org.uk/examination-results/?post-year=2022&post-location=">315,000 GCSEs</a> were taken in a modern foreign language. This means that language GCSEs taken have fallen by more than 40%, and A-levels by around 25%, over the <a href="https://www.jcq.org.uk/examination-results/">past 20 years</a>. Between 2014 and 2019, entries to modern language GCSEs <a href="https://www.britishcouncil.org/research-policy-insight/insight-articles/language-trends">fell by 19%</a>. </p>
<p>This is a worrying trend, not least because learning a language is <a href="https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/blog/cognitive-benefits-learning-language-two-minutes/">valuable in and of itself</a>. Among the many benefits are <a href="https://www.chariotlearning.com/learning-new-languages-improves-test-scores/">better performance on general standardised tests</a> and <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/eures/public/five-reasons-why-learning-language-can-boost-your-employability-2021-06-22_en">a boost to your wage</a>.</p>
<p>There is another reason why studying a language at school will serve you well. As <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/language-teaching/article/abs/final-frontier-why-we-have-been-ignoring-second-language-attrition-and-why-it-is-time-we-stopped/B7065D862C3B5E039757FA7C90C2C4F4">my new research shows</a>, the knowledge you acquire in a foreign language appears to be astonishingly stable over long periods of time. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/327136?casa_token=xXhzD3KleXYAAAAA%3AYn_o6wYO_pjhthd7vH6GnqpW3jLPkpOlbkZzMdVSYF1XddGD_GTYjiqJyVb3wTnqawYstPNY0lJ44o0Y1rdFDfbEMBaKAkD8xtR8r0Q36joJkdWt0T8X#metadata_info_tab_contents">similar finding was reported</a> almost 40 years ago. The psychologist Harry P. Bahrick carried out an investigation of some 600 Americans who had learned Spanish in high school up to 50 years previously. While Bahrick found a small amount of loss between the third and sixth year after learning had ceased, knowledge appeared stable for decades afterwards. </p>
<h2>Holding onto knowledge</h2>
<p>Learners retained around 70% of the vocabulary they had learned after 25 years, despite not having used the language at all in the interim. </p>
<p>In comparison, a similar study of the retention of knowledge of <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0096-3445.120.1.20">high-school mathematics</a> found that, unless participants continued to study maths in college, their performance on questions for high-school algebra and geometry indicated they had forgotten pretty much everything. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Students wearing headphones at computers" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481073/original/file-20220825-22-cyguo0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481073/original/file-20220825-22-cyguo0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481073/original/file-20220825-22-cyguo0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481073/original/file-20220825-22-cyguo0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481073/original/file-20220825-22-cyguo0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481073/original/file-20220825-22-cyguo0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481073/original/file-20220825-22-cyguo0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Learning a language sticks with you.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/teenage-student-headphones-computer-school-class-2135573137">BearFotos/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My colleagues and I recently carried out <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/language-teaching/article/abs/final-frontier-why-we-have-been-ignoring-second-language-attrition-and-why-it-is-time-we-stopped/B7065D862C3B5E039757FA7C90C2C4F4">a similar study</a> on the retention of foreign language knowledge. We asked 491 participants who had taken French GCSEs or A-levels up to 50 years ago to complete a test of French vocabulary and grammar knowledge. We also included a detailed survey on their use of French in the interim period, as well as looking at other factors, such as whether they had enjoyed studying French, and how successful they had been. We excluded anyone who continued studying the language later, for example at university.</p>
<p>Our findings were unambiguous and startling. We found no loss at all in their knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. In other words, participants who had taken their exam decades ago and not used French since then performed at the same level as those who only took the exam a few months ago, and as those who did, on occasion, use French. </p>
<p>This finding may seem even more surprising and counter-intuitive than Bahrick’s original results. After all, we know – or think we know – that if you don’t use a skill, you’ll lose it. Why would language be different from anything else?</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/5AC1991F59C8059E9DD3F1141EE66E7D/S026144482200026Xa.pdf/explicit-and-implicit-knowledge-and-learning-of-an-additional-language-a-research-agenda.pdf">answer probably lies</a> in the way in which we acquire, remember and use language. </p>
<h2>How your brain works</h2>
<p>Some parts of language (mainly the vocabulary) are memorised in the same way as facts, rules of algebra, dates, names and so on. This memory system is indeed <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/declarative-memory">vulnerable to erosion</a>. Other parts, though, like grammar, are learned in a way that is much more similar to <a href="https://www.livescience.com/43595-procedural-memory.html">riding a bicycle</a>. We use the part of our brain that is good at remembering rules and sequences through frequent repetition, so grammar becomes more like a reflex, and that kind of knowledge resists forgetting.</p>
<p>What’s more, your brain does not have a distinct part labelled “English” and a separate part labelled “French”. Rather, think of language as a very complex, responsive net, and that every time you use a word, you are touching the net. </p>
<p>Every time you touch one part of the net that point lights up with energy. However, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13428-018-1186-5">this energy also spreads</a> to all the areas of the net that are connected to the bit you are touching – words that sound similar, words that mean similar things, words that are often used together with the one you are touching. </p>
<p>When you learn a foreign language, you build a similar net, which partly overlaps with the one you already have in your native language. If, at some point in your life, you learned that “apple” in French is “pomme”, then that word will receive a small amount of stimulation every time you use the English version – and even more so if the two words <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749596X09001247?casa_token=8yNsfPwQA64AAAAA:uvJ1HrjPXjfAN3b5y4bT4yYCIAy6bJ18SvoXU1Q66Vw7f4sMZUPYwCAC5XvIU9oKlwP8cA6pUys">happen to sound similar</a>, such as English “banana” and French “banane”. This stimulation is what prevents the language from eroding entirely.</p>
<p>Of course, this does not mean that you can simply start chatting away in perfect French decades after your GCSEs. What it does mean is that, if you decide to return to it, you don’t really have to painstakingly re-learn the grammar you were taught back then – the likelihood is that it is still in your brain and only needs tickling a bit to emerge. </p>
<p>One of the great findings from our project was how many people felt that their language skills came flooding back during some minor emergency on holiday, like lost luggage or a broken down car. This also suggests that our brains remember the languages we have learned, and just need a bit of help bringing them back to the surface.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187820/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Monika Schmid receives funding from DFG, NWO, AHRC and ESRC. </span></em></p>The brain holds on to language knowledge for decades.Monika Schmid, Professor of Linguistics, University of YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1866782022-08-16T17:57:13Z2022-08-16T17:57:13ZHow universities can support international students beyond orientation week<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479256/original/file-20220816-20110-5jrdhq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C181%2C6720%2C3812&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Social spaces that bring together international and domestic students are an essential part of creating an open campus culture.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/how-universities-can-support-international-students-beyond-orientation-week" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>As the new academic year starts, universities and colleges are preparing for orientations to welcome international students. </p>
<p><a href="https://edvoy.com/articles/university-welcome-week-around-the-world-canada">Orientation to local culture and society</a> offered by post-secondary education institutions is common, especially during the first couple of weeks of the new semester. In weeks and months to come, the international students will continue to adapt to their new environment and communities. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/coming-changes-to-the-canadian-airline-industry-could-lead-to-even-more-disruption-187425/">ongoing COVID-19 pandemic</a> brings another layer of complexity and uncertainty to <a href="https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/visitors-workers-students#students">international students’ university lives</a>. </p>
<p>For many students, it means <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/post-secondary-education/institution-resources-administration/covid19-return-to-campus-guidelines-web.pdf">limited interactions due to public health restrictions</a>. International students may have to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9266157/">self-isolate and reduce social contacts</a> with their peers on a daily basis.</p>
<p>My research with colleagues has examined how a <a href="https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2021.13809abstract">two-way approach that encourages social interactions between international students and local peers</a> is more effective than developing short-term programs to orient international students to the academic environment, campus culture and society. </p>
<p>To better support international students beyond orientation week, universities can focus on developing year-round academic and extracurricular opportunities that encourage cultural exchanges between international students, their peers and the wider society.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Students seen in a line wearing face masks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479283/original/file-20220816-18-bojg8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479283/original/file-20220816-18-bojg8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479283/original/file-20220816-18-bojg8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479283/original/file-20220816-18-bojg8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479283/original/file-20220816-18-bojg8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479283/original/file-20220816-18-bojg8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479283/original/file-20220816-18-bojg8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The pandemic brings another layer of complexity and uncertainty to the university experiences of international students.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Connecting students</h2>
<p>Research has identified that creating <a href="https://penkethgroup.com/knowledge-centre/blogs/benefits-of-social-spaces/">physical or virtual social spaces</a> to connect international students with their local peers and communities allows students to engage and learn.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.josieahlquist.com/reimagining-your-campus-communities-in-digital-spaces/">Virtual spaces</a> hosted on <a href="https://medium.com/university-of-leeds/how-microsoft-teams-is-helping-to-create-a-virtual-social-space-for-our-students-c3df9b8c9d21">different platforms</a> can host student-initiated committees and associations. Such associations help students to <a href="http://blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca/innovationhub/engaging-international-students/">build social connections</a> between international students and their local peers. </p>
<p>In these spaces, students build mutual understanding, acceptance and a sense of belonging. When university educators are also involved in these <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.808104">social spaces</a>, this may inspire their creativity to innovate and adapt their current curriculum.</p>
<p>University educators also need to be aware of the potential for developing student academic competencies through these joint social spaces. Beyond visits to local cultural sites or extracurricular community collaborative projects, students’ participation in social spaces could mean learning through team projects for course credits. </p>
<h2>Academic-integrated approach</h2>
<p>For example, when international and domestic students from a variety of disciplines get together to experience culture and learning collectively, this can lead to emotional engagement and developing <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/jtc-2021-2007">competency in intercultural communication</a>.</p>
<p>I encourage university educators to create “social spaces” in their curriculum, and assign those social learning and interactions as part of obtaining academic credits. Students might be assigned work that involves <a href="https://www.royalroads.ca/programs/master-arts-intercultural-and-international-communication?tab=program-description">reflecting on academic learning outcomes</a> and “soft” interpersonal skills. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Students seen talking on a campus." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479282/original/file-20220816-16-bojg8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479282/original/file-20220816-16-bojg8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479282/original/file-20220816-16-bojg8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479282/original/file-20220816-16-bojg8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479282/original/file-20220816-16-bojg8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479282/original/file-20220816-16-bojg8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479282/original/file-20220816-16-bojg8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students’ competency in intercultural communication can grow through participating in collective learning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/ Zen Chung)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Developing sustained spaces for social or academic collaboration moves beyond the current approaches of short-term cultural orientation, usually prepared by university administrators, international offices or student services. Instead, a year-round integrated approach involves inviting program designers, teaching faculty and student support associations to be involved. </p>
<p>University educators could also explore the possibility of offering different cultural and linguistic programs, driven by international students but available to all students and learners in the community. </p>
<h2>Encourage open campus culture</h2>
<p>Educational institutions should consider creating social spaces that deliberately bring together international and domestic students as an essential part of <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/education/campus-life-at-canadian-universities-during-the-second-pandemic-school-year">an open campus culture</a>. This means a campus that encourages international students, and indeed all students, from a variety of cultural backgrounds to <a href="https://www.educanada.ca/live-work-vivre-travailler/study-environment-milieu-des-etudes.aspx?lang=eng">participate</a>. And, it means promoting <a href="https://www.univcan.ca/priorities/equity-diversity-inclusion/">an inclusive attitude towards cultural diversity</a>. </p>
<p>During early-year orientation or other year-round activities, separating international students from domestic students may widen the cultural gaps on university campuses. </p>
<p>Our research highlights the imperative role of cultivating an inclusive and diverse campus culture that <a href="https://www.insightintodiversity.com/canadian-universities-band-together-to-improve-diversity-and-inclusion-in-higher-education">values cultural differences and similarities</a>, <a href="https://www.collegesinstitutes.ca/policyfocus/sdg/cicans-commitment-to-equity-diversity-and-inclusion-edi/">respects individual cultural contributions</a> and <a href="https://www.royalroads.ca/about/our-vision/equity-diversity-inclusion/edi-students">supports social interactions among peers</a>. </p>
<p>This way, international students are truly supported to adjust socially, culturally and academically for greater long-term success. </p>
<h2>Engage campus and local communities</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/international-student-projects-need-add-real-value-local-communities">Higher-education institutions</a> can also connect international students with local communities.</p>
<p>University campuses should take an engaged education approach that considers the role of local communities beyond the campus proper to <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781410605986-9/experiential-learning-theory-previous-research-new-directions-david-kolb-richard-boyatzis-charalampos-mainemelis">support experiential learning</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.welcomebc.ca/Study-in-B-C/Resources-For-International-Students">Universities</a> could establish processes that bring international students, local families, organizations and communities together to encourage community engagement activities and projects. Specific experiential learning projects, student practicums or innovation competitions are just a few ways this can be accomplished.</p>
<p>This way, international students <a href="https://cafesottawa.ca/2021-15-minute-neighbourhood-community-engagement-project/">could really learn to appreciate the value of their learning and work</a>, and how it contributes to <a href="https://www.royalroads.ca/partnerships">social development of local communities</a> in a positive manner.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186678/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Juana Du receives funding from Royal Roads University (Internal Grant of Research).</span></em></p>Year-round academic and extracurricular opportunities that encourage cultural exchange between international students, their peers and the wider society are important.Juana Du, Associate professor, School of Communication and Culture, Royal Roads UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1868672022-07-18T12:15:12Z2022-07-18T12:15:12ZBabies can learn language sounds in the first few hours of being born – new research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473850/original/file-20220713-12-pfxiim.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">They are soaking up everything your say.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/african-american-mother-playing-adorable-little-1572216073">Art_Photo/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>We often think of babies as blank canvases with little ability to learn during the first few weeks of life. But babies actually start processing language and speech incredibly early. Even while in the womb, they learn to discern voices, along with some speech sounds. At birth, they already prefer speech sounds over other types of <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17286838/">non-language sounds</a>.</p>
<p>But exactly how the baby brain learns to process complex language sounds is still a bit of a mystery. In our recent study, published in Nature Human Behaviour, we uncovered details of this mindbogglingly speedy learning process – <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-022-01355-1">starting in the first few hours of birth</a>.</p>
<p>We collaborated with a neonatal research team in China, who fitted babies’ heads with a small cap covered in sophisticated light emitting devices designed to measure tiny changes in oxygen levels in the babies’ brains. Detectors in the cap could help us determine which areas of the brain were active over time. </p>
<p>The procedure, which is entirely safe and painless, was carried out within three hours of the babies being born. It only required the baby to wear a small elastic cap and to shine minute infrared lights (essentially heat radiation) through the head. This fits with the common practice in many cultures to wrap newborns in a close-fitting blanket to pacify them – easing the transition from the comfort of the womb to the wild world of autonomous physical existence.</p>
<p>Within three hours of being born, all babies were exposed to pairs of sounds that most researchers would predict they should be able to distinguish. This included vowels (such as “o”) and these same vowels played backwards. Usually, reversed speech is very different from normal (forward) speech, but in the case of isolated vowels, the difference is subtle. In fact, in our study, we found that adult listeners could only distinguish between the two instances 70% of the time.</p>
<p>What surprised us is that newborns failed to differentiate between forwards and backwards vowels immediately after birth, because we found no difference between brain signals collected in each case in the first three hours of birth. In hindsight, we should not have been so surprised considering how subtle the difference was. </p>
<p>However, we were stunned to discover that after listening to these sounds for five hours, newborns started differentiating between these forwards and backwards vowels. First, their response to forwards vowels became faster than to backwards vowels. And after a further two hours, during which they mostly slept, their brain responded to forwards vowels not only faster but also more strongly compared with babies trained with different vowels or babies who remained in silence.</p>
<p>This means that in the first day of life, it takes only a few hours for the baby’s brain to learn the subtle difference between natural and slightly unnatural speech sounds. </p>
<p>We were further able to see that brain regions of the superior temporal lobe (a part of the brain associated with auditory processing) and of the frontal cortex (involved in planning complex movements) were involved in processing the vowel sounds, especially in the left hemisphere. That’s similar to the pattern that underpins language comprehension and production in adults.</p>
<p>And even more fascinating, we were able to detect cross-talk (communication between different brain areas) between these regions in both the group of baby participants that were exposed to speech sounds, but not in those who had not experienced any training. In other words, neurons of the trained babies were having a “conversation” across the brain in a way that was not seen in babies who remained in silence during the same period.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Close up of young father holding his newborn baby son" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474252/original/file-20220715-12-vda9cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474252/original/file-20220715-12-vda9cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474252/original/file-20220715-12-vda9cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474252/original/file-20220715-12-vda9cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474252/original/file-20220715-12-vda9cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474252/original/file-20220715-12-vda9cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474252/original/file-20220715-12-vda9cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It is beneficial to talk to newborns.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-young-father-holding-his-newborn-511881799">Halfpoint/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Newborns probably benefit directly from being talked to from the very first moments they have left the womb. Clearly, “nurture” – the changing of the mind by the environment – starts on day one.</p>
<h2>Babies aren’t pre-programmed</h2>
<p>We can also consider these findings in the context of a trendy concept in neuroscience today, namely <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S221194931200004X">embodiment theory</a>. Embodiment is the idea that our thoughts and mental operations are not pre-programmed or operate mysteriously from some inherited, genetic code but rather build upon direct experience of the world around us, through the sensory channels that start operating from birth, such as hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling and touching.</p>
<p>Even though our brain has a predisposition to learn based on its organisation and function defined by the genetic code inherited from our parents, it is also able to feel the environment as soon as it is born, and this immediately helps our internal representations of the world around us.</p>
<p>I would suggest that you not only talk to your baby but also share with them all sorts of sensory experiences of the world as soon as they are in your arms – be it exposing them to music, letting them smell flowers or showing them objects or views they’ve never seen before. By encouraging more varied experiences, you give the baby brain new avenues to grow and develop, and probably more creative abilities for the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186867/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Guillaume Thierry is supported by the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) under the NAWA Chair Programme (PPN/PRO/2020/1/00006) and he is also affiliated with the Faculty of English at Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland.</span></em></p>Babies who remain in silence hours after birth have different brains to those who listen to sounds.Guillaume Thierry, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, Bangor UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1846422022-06-30T02:16:32Z2022-06-30T02:16:32ZStruggling to learn a language? 6 tips on how pop songs can help<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471317/original/file-20220628-13-8asayv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C5414%2C3628&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> </figcaption></figure><p>Traditional approaches to adult language teaching often use <a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/informit.254185326340682">resources</a> such as textbooks and generic learning materials that are less than inspiring for learners. <a href="https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/exploring-the-impact-of-popular-song-and-sources-of-popular-cultu">New research</a> shows using popular song, as well as films and TV series, for language learning can help connect with people’s interests and motivate them. Based on this research, we have developed six tips for using popular songs to learn a language. </p>
<p>Learning a second language can be challenging at the best of times. It takes time and effort to learn a language. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-students-say-they-understand-global-issues-but-few-are-learning-another-language-compared-to-the-oecd-average-168073">Australian students say they understand global issues, but few are learning another language compared to the OECD average</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>Better <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-3-030-02899-2_36.pdf">ways to promote enjoyment</a> of long-term learning are needed. Enjoyment helps sustain engagement with a language, which in turn can help improve learners’ confidence in their skills. </p>
<p>This is where songs come into play. Songs are a common source of daily inspiration and relaxation, and they also have many qualities that aid learning. The lyrics <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/3586887">repeat words</a>, are simple, “conversation-like” and generate personal associations. </p>
<p>It’s important for both learners and teachers to be able to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280734191_English_Language_Teaching_in_the_post_method_era">relate to</a> their language-learning resources. Different people will have different backgrounds, interests and cultural contexts. Adult learners in particular often <a href="https://ijels.com/detail/an-investigation-into-factors-demotivating-students-in-efl-learning-at-tertiary-level/">require greater choice</a> in how they engage with language learning prompts.</p>
<h2>What did the research find?</h2>
<p>Newly released <a href="https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/exploring-the-impact-of-popular-song-and-sources-of-popular-cultu">doctoral research</a> on university students shows the benefits of using popular songs, films and TV series as prompts for learning a language. In online surveys, weekly diary entries and focus groups, these young adults unanimously <a href="https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/exploring-the-impact-of-popular-song-and-sources-of-popular-cultu">reported</a> they paid greater attention to the language and themes of popular songs beyond their scheduled classes. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-learn-a-language-try-tiktok-174702">Want to learn a language? Try TikTok</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>Students preferred popular songs due to their real-world <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccx071">authenticity</a>, the personalised choices available in streaming libraries, and relatable topics embedded within them. Learners were likely to encounter these songs outside the classroom, increasing their engagement with their studies.</p>
<p>One student noted in her diary:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Using songs really helps me to participate more in class because it is something more familiar to me, because I listen to songs every day. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>A focus group participant said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Especially in recent years, with technology, a film, a series or a song are much closer to us. We use them much more than a text or a book. After so many years with texts and books, this is much more interesting. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>One class task used Rudimental’s These Days, a song well known to students. They enjoyed this exercise in comprehension, making inferences as well as identifying tone and central themes of this song about a relationship break-up.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UlXPdOuNU3Q?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The song Rudimental tells a story that provides plenty of material for students learning English.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Towards the end of the semester, another student noted in their diary:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It is the most fun way of learning and generally the most entertaining way of learning a foreign language.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another benefit relates to the <a href="https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/camh.12501?casa_token=iv_gNeISE0kAAAAA%3AlNGii2WZzUpJjLHStrMlulcZyyTOxCXUjvdTie7ZKXUE5cYV-5rhqCeXPFR2eYu8holJhkwS96TCvF7_">mental health challenges</a> young people are facing, especially during the pandemic. There is evidence to suggest the use of song can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168815606151">help reduce anxiety</a> about learning. </p>
<h2>6 tips for using songs to learn a language</h2>
<p>The new research resulted in the SMILLE Model shown below, as well as six recommendations to guide teachers on using popular song in the classroom. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468875/original/file-20220614-23-8cgug2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468875/original/file-20220614-23-8cgug2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468875/original/file-20220614-23-8cgug2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468875/original/file-20220614-23-8cgug2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468875/original/file-20220614-23-8cgug2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468875/original/file-20220614-23-8cgug2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468875/original/file-20220614-23-8cgug2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Sustained Motivation in Language Learning Environments (SMILLE) Model.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>1.</strong> Ensure teachers and learners (including learning groups) can self-select the songs and other media when designing learning tasks and for cross-cultural activities.</p>
<p><strong>2.</strong> Bridge language learning tasks and songs, ensuring selections match the learning objectives. </p>
<p><strong>3.</strong> Encourage the use of popular song and media outside the classroom to extend learning beyond school. </p>
<p><strong>4.</strong> Avoid using textbooks or sources that don’t interest learners or they are less able to relate to.</p>
<p><strong>5.</strong> Discuss with the learners how they relate to the popular song, film or TV series. Use these discussions as a springboard for learning tasks in and out of class. </p>
<p><strong>6.</strong> Have a range of prompts prepared to help teachers determine students’ understanding of what is going on, the level of involvement, why the event is happening, the topics and messages being portrayed, cultural similarities or differences, and why the source was chosen. </p>
<h2>How do music and songs help with learning?</h2>
<p>Research shows music stimulates <a href="https://www.nlclibrary.ca/eds/detail?db=cat06118a&an=neos.4059079&isbn=9781400040810">higher-level thinking</a> and helps learners with both <a href="https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/studentwork/2845/">right-brain strengths and hearing abilities</a>. Music has also been shown to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320692369_Songs_in_the_young_learner_classroom_A_critical_review_of_evidence">strengthen connections</a> to language. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/music-can-help-lift-our-kids-out-of-the-literacy-rut-but-schools-in-some-states-are-still-missing-out-173908">Music can help lift our kids out of the literacy rut, but schools in some states are still missing out</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In literature classes, music has been <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40648238">used as an emotional “hook”</a> to engage students’ interest in the works being studied. </p>
<p>Learning resources linked to popular culture also help <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2014.924392">motivate students</a> who see textbook-type resources as uninteresting or less relevant to their lives outside the classroom. </p>
<h2>Evidence of the benefits from around the world</h2>
<p>Research has shown embedding songs in language lessons has benefited younger learners across the world:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>in <a href="https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/reading_horizons/vol42/iss1/8">the United States</a>, it improved kindergarten students’ motivation, excitement and enthusiasm about learning, increasing their desire to attend kinder</p></li>
<li><p>in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/cjal-2016-0004">China</a>, kindergarten students’ vocabulary increased as a result of repeating targeted words in song lyrics </p></li>
<li><p>in <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1080/0300443981440105">Singapore</a>, reserved and shy students became more confident and comfortable when attempting English pronunciations and were better able to recall difficult language instructions </p></li>
</ul>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w2ipFmddFi8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Example of how songs are useful in the classroom with younger learners.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<ul>
<li><p>in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2009.08.002">Germany</a>, students improved their ability to form and identify plurals and vowels for unknown words in songs </p></li>
<li><p>in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17501229.2016.1253700">Scotland</a>, students in a singing-learning group showed greater improvements in a second language than a non-singing group </p></li>
<li><p>in <a href="https://doi.org/10.7227/RIE.82.1">England</a>, students were able to learn targeted phrases better in song-focused lessons than those who didn’t use song. </p></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/just-as-important-as-english-or-maths-how-mentoring-is-bringing-music-alive-for-primary-school-students-180411">'Just as important as English or maths': how mentoring is bringing music alive for primary school students</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Previous studies of university students have also shown the benefits of using songs for adult language learning:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2016.12.021">Finnish students</a> improved their writing fluency </p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277267872_The_use_of_songs_as_a_tool_to_work_on_listening_and_culture_in_EFL_classes">in Colombia</a>, students’ listening skills, motivation and engagement in discussions all improved </p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://languageinindia.com/april2017/shabnamsongsforacademicwriting1.pdf">in Bangladesh</a>, using songs as audio prompts generated richer content in students’ writing and more positive and pleasant learning experiences </p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://app.amanote.com/v4.0.6/research/note-taking?resourceId=oahFAnQBKQvf0BhiOffl">Spanish students’</a> recall of text improved. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Our <a href="https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/exploring-the-impact-of-popular-song-and-sources-of-popular-cultu">research</a> adds to the evidence that popular songs and media are strong resources to kick-start and sustain adult motivation when learning a second language.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184642/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It takes time and sustained effort to learn a language. Students need to find enjoyment to sustain their learning – and that’s how songs can make a difference.Helen Stavrou, English Language Instructor, University of Cyprus, and PhD Graduate, Charles Sturt UniversityBrendon Hyndman, Associate Dean (Research) & Associate Professor of Education, Charles Sturt UniversityJennifer Munday, Associate Professor of Creative Arts and Technology, Charles Sturt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1806442022-05-30T15:12:49Z2022-05-30T15:12:49ZAddressing childhood anxiety as early as kindergarten could reduce its harmful impacts<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465804/original/file-20220527-15-c30ne0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=909%2C209%2C4274%2C2152&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Signs of anxiety in kindergarten should not be ignored.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pavel Danilyuk/Pexels)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Anxiety disorders are <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20855043/">some of the most common mental disorders</a> in children and youth. They emerge and can be diagnosed as early as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2005.06.003">preschool age</a>, with half being diagnosed by the age of six. </p>
<p>Anxiety in early childhood has consistently been associated with symptoms of anxiety throughout <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-010-9365-8">childhood</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01812.x">adolescence</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00279.x">adulthood</a>, and with a <a href="https://journals.lww.com/jrnldbp/Abstract/2016/05000/Association_of_Childhood_Anxiety_Disorders_and.2.aspx">lower quality of life</a>.</p>
<p>We are researchers with the <a href="https://offordcentre.com/">Offord Centre for Child Studies</a> in the department of psychiatry and behavioural neurosciences at McMaster University. With colleagues, we undertook a population-wide <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-022-01332-9">study of kindergarten-age children attending public schools across Canada between 2004 and 2015</a>. To our knowledge, this study provided the first Canada-wide snapshot of anxiety symptoms among children as they enter school. </p>
<p>Our results demonstrate that a child showing signs of anxiety in kindergarten should not be ignored. Children with elevated symptoms of anxiety are three to six times more likely to be vulnerable in other areas of their development than those with very few of these symptoms.</p>
<p>This study also provides an estimate of the prevalence of anxiety symptoms among kindergarten-aged children in Canada. These could, in future, serve as a baseline for comparing groups of children after the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A boy and girl seen playing with play tools in a classroom." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465807/original/file-20220527-15-5p25fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465807/original/file-20220527-15-5p25fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465807/original/file-20220527-15-5p25fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465807/original/file-20220527-15-5p25fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465807/original/file-20220527-15-5p25fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465807/original/file-20220527-15-5p25fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465807/original/file-20220527-15-5p25fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Limited evidence exists about how anxiety symptoms in young children may be related to their development.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://images.all4ed.org/license/">(Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for EDUimages)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Adverse effects on development</h2>
<p>Anxiety can have adverse effects on child development, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-199009000-00014">even if a child’s anxiety levels fall below what clinicians would consider an anxiety disorder</a>. Experiencing anxiety symptoms <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3018839">can also interfere with children’s functioning</a>, for example, if children avoid situations that make them feel anxious.</p>
<p>With <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34369987/">rates of anxiety increasing in children and youth since 2020</a>, early identification and intervention are important to decrease <a href="https://pathways-psychology.com/long-term-effects-of-stress-and-anxiety">long-term impacts</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/child-and-youth-mental-health-problems-have-doubled-during-covid-19-162750">Child and youth mental health problems have doubled during COVID-19</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Information about the prevalence of anxiety disorders in young children is quite limited compared to what’s known about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2006.01618.x">older children</a>. There is also limited evidence about how symptoms of anxiety in young children may be related to aspects of their development that are important for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10409280701610796">succeeding in school</a>.</p>
<h2>Academic outcomes</h2>
<p>In a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-007-9224-0">2008 study</a>, psychology researchers from Université Laval and Université de Montréal found kindergarteners with high levels of anxiety were at greater risk of not finishing high school, compared to their non-anxious peers. </p>
<p>This was the case even when accounting for other risk factors like aggression, hyperactivity, academic achievement and family problems. These results indicated that how children act, behave and feel in kindergarten can predict academic outcomes years later.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/boys-attention-and-prosocial-behaviour-linked-to-earnings-30-years-later-112388">Boys' attention and prosocial behaviour linked to earnings 30 years later</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Our study sought to understand kindergarten-age children’s anxiety on a larger scale. Our results could similarly be used to study subsets of the population. For example, in Ontario, we have linked some early child development data to standardized test scores in grades 3, 6, 9 and 10, but haven’t yet completed our study.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A boy is seen playing with dinosaurs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465806/original/file-20220527-13-r6siu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465806/original/file-20220527-13-r6siu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465806/original/file-20220527-13-r6siu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465806/original/file-20220527-13-r6siu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465806/original/file-20220527-13-r6siu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465806/original/file-20220527-13-r6siu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465806/original/file-20220527-13-r6siu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How children act, behave and feel in kindergarten can predict outcomes years later.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Symptoms of anxiety</h2>
<p>We aimed to determine the percentage of children in kindergarten in publicly funded schools across Canada showing symptoms of anxiety. We <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10578-022-01332-9/tables/1">gathered data from children in 12 of the 13 Canadian provinces and territories (with the exception of Nunavut)</a>.</p>
<p>We used data collected through the <a href="https://edi.offordcentre.com/">Early Development Instrument</a> (EDI), a teacher-completed checklist that measures five main domains of development: physical health and well-being; social competence; emotional maturity; language and cognitive development; and communication skills and general knowledge. </p>
<p>Under these five domains are 16 subdomains, including an anxious and fearful subdomain that falls under the emotional maturity domain, and includes symptoms of anxiety. We used this in our study to classify children as highly anxious.</p>
<p>The study population included 1,038,354 children attending publicly funded schools whose teachers completed the EDI between 2004 and 2015. Most of the EDI data in this study come from <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-023688">government-funded, full provincial or territorial data collections</a>. </p>
<p>How provinces and territories collect EDI data varies: For example, in Ontario, all schools participated once every three years in three different data collection windows (2004-06; 2007-09; 2010-12). In 2015, however, the province switched to a one-year model and collected all provincial EDI data in one year. </p>
<h2>Relationship between anxiety, vulnerability</h2>
<p>We found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-022-01332-9">almost three per cent</a> of kindergarteners were rated as being highly anxious by their teachers.</p>
<p>Rates varied somewhat across the country, ranging from 1.1 per cent in Prince Edward Island to five per cent in Northwest Territories. </p>
<p>We also looked at the association between symptoms of anxiety and vulnerabilities in other areas of development. </p>
<p>A child is considered to be vulnerable in a given domain if their score on the EDI falls below the 10th percentile value based on national EDI scores.</p>
<p>A child classified as vulnerable is struggling in a certain area. Overall, anxious children were 3.5 to 6.1 times more likely than their non-anxious peers to be vulnerable in four domains of development: physical, social, language/cognitive and communication.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A father seen hugging a child." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465796/original/file-20220527-11-aobu4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465796/original/file-20220527-11-aobu4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465796/original/file-20220527-11-aobu4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465796/original/file-20220527-11-aobu4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465796/original/file-20220527-11-aobu4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465796/original/file-20220527-11-aobu4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465796/original/file-20220527-11-aobu4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A greater percentage of children considered highly anxious spoke English or French as a second language than non-anxious children.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Subgroups of children</h2>
<p>Children rated as highly anxious tended to be younger and were more likely to be male than their non-anxious peers, but the differences between these groups were quite small. </p>
<p>A greater percentage of children considered highly anxious had special needs and English or French as a second language than non-anxious children. Other research has also documented associations <a href="https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/cjnse/article/view/30393">between anxiety and second language learning</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/20441281211227193">between anxiety and special needs</a>. We found:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>14.2 per cent of children considered highly anxious had either English or French as a second language. This rate is significantly higher than 12.9 per cent of non-anxious kids who spoke English or French as a second language;</p></li>
<li><p>11.1 per cent of children considered highly anxious were classified as having special needs (compared to 3.4 per cent of non-anxious kids). The EDI captures “special needs” when a child has a medical diagnosis or the teacher has observed the child needs assistance in class above and beyond what the average child requires. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>To put these figures in perspective, most children considered highly anxious speak the language of school instruction as their home language (85.8 per cent) and don’t have special needs (89 per cent). </p>
<h2>Valuable source of information</h2>
<p>Our study demonstrates that teacher reports of children’s behaviours at school, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2018.07.003">an environment that might cause some children to be anxious</a>, can be a valuable source of information on anxiety in kindergarteners. Our study supports the idea that anxiety and other aspects of development are closely intertwined.</p>
<p>Results of this study can provide important information for policy. For example, schools with high rates of anxious children may be encouraged to put into practice class-level activities to reduce the long-term effects of anxiety in kindergarten. </p>
<p>Or, board-wide curriculum, educational services or programming could be developed and monitored to determine how these are meeting particular groups of children’s needs: experts in language learning and early childhood education may be able to suggest interventions to reduce anxiety of students whose home language differs from the language of instruction.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/culturally-responsive-teaching-in-a-globalized-world-109881">Culturally responsive teaching in a globalized world</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Finally, this study also provides baseline estimates of anxiety symptoms among kindergarten-aged children in Canada. These could, in future, be compared to data collected with the same method in kindergarten-aged students across Canada post-COVID-19.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180644/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Magdalena Janus received funding from CIHR and is a member of the Offord Centre for Child Studies at McMaster University.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caroline Reid-Westoby does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A study of students across Canada between 2004 and 2015 provides an estimate of anxiety symptoms in kindergarteners, and can serve as a baseline for comparing children’s anxiety after COVID-19.Caroline Reid-Westoby, Research Associate, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster UniversityMagdalena Janus, Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1777042022-05-10T15:21:17Z2022-05-10T15:21:17ZHow heritage language schools offered grassroots community support through the pandemic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460818/original/file-20220502-16-6cqdbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C148%2C6192%2C3670&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Schools helped connect immigrant children to grandparents and families overseas. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Heritage language schools are grassroots organizations that maintain the languages and cultures of immigrant communities, and offer vital community services, employment opportunities and networking to prevent social isolation. They advocate for multilingualism and cross-cultural understanding. These schools range from small organizations, run by volunteers, to large, accredited schools. </p>
<p>We collaborated on a study to examine how 25 heritage language schools of the <a href="https://ihla.ca/">International and Heritage Languages Association</a> in Edmonton responded to the pressures and challenges of the pandemic. </p>
<p>Despite pandemic-imposed threats to these schools’ operating capacities, they continued offering vital services. These services included translation, English-language classes for newcomers, early learning classes for young children, daycare and providing selfless community care where needed. Schools reached out to the vulnerable in the earliest stages of the pandemic, often before the government’s sluggish response. </p>
<p>Many continued to teach and work together with other heritage language schools in Canada and beyond. The pandemic also pushed these schools to become more professional and to forge new supportive alliances.</p>
<h2>Struggles during COVID-19</h2>
<p>Out of a rich <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/dv-vd/lang/index-eng.cfm">linguistic palette</a> in Canada, the Edmonton heritage language schools in our study teach Arabic, Armenian, Bangla, Czech, Farsi, Filipino, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Marathi, Nepali, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Slovak, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Telugu, Tigrinya, Turkish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese. </p>
<p>When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in early 2020, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-school-covid-funding-1.5709101">governments offered public schools financial support</a> to ease the transition to online teaching or to cover pandemic protocols. <a href="https://www.heritagelanguageschools.org/coalition/article/249073">Heritage language schools</a>, left to their own fates, had to cope by themselves. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bC-h-tjV3E8?wmode=transparent&start=4614" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Students and teachers from schools teaching Czech, Filipino, French, Hindi, Greek, Italian, Marathi, Nepali, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Slovak, Telugu, Ukrainian, languages share at International Heritage Language Association’s second virtual Mother Language Day celebration.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These schools teach children and adults, and typically meet on the weekends in libraries, community centres or church basements. Most of these schools dream of permanent space but make do with whatever space they can get.</p>
<p>Heritage language schools often operate outside of the public school system while supplementing and enriching public school education and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2011.01237.x">contributing to social justice</a>. They help immigrants integrate into society, connect immigrants with the local heritage language community and provide newcomers with meaningful work experience and leadership opportunities.</p>
<h2>Responding to racism, xenophobia, inequities</h2>
<p>The pandemic clearly showed systematic inequalities: <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/news/2021/02/cpho-sunday-edition-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-racialized-communities.html">Racialized communities have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19</a>, as have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109920960832">immigrants</a> and <a href="https://journals.brandonu.ca/jrcd/article/view/2102/540">migrant workers</a>. Visible minorities were exposed to verbal harassment, aggression, unwanted physical contact and <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2196%2F19833">cyber-racism</a>. </p>
<p>A report by the Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter and Project 1907, a grassroots community group, showed a <a href="https://www.project1907.org/reportingcentre">disturbing rise in anti-Asian racism and xenophobia across Canada during the pandemic</a>. Fears of crimes motivated by hate <a href="https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/fear-of-hate-motivated-attacks-a-concern-for-edmonton-s-asian-community-1.5352409">seriously concerned Edmonton’s</a> <a href="https://www.covidracism.ca/">Asian community</a>. Edmontonians have experienced multiple <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7905554/edmontons-asian-heritage-month-racism/">incidents of racial hatred</a>. </p>
<p>One school made this public statement: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It has been deeply bothering to read, hear and see the recent rise in attacks on the Asian community. We are personally affected by these incidents, which have shaken up deep rooted issues of racism felt in our society and have provided an opportunity to reflect on our personal experiences … We are here to listen and check in with our community to ensure everyone feels safe, heard and protected.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In another case, when a student in an online adult heritage language class shared the experience of being subjected to an anti-Asian racial slur, the teacher opened the space for students to openly discuss racism. </p>
<h2>How communities coped</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460823/original/file-20220502-26-d0xv7q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460823/original/file-20220502-26-d0xv7q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460823/original/file-20220502-26-d0xv7q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=680&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460823/original/file-20220502-26-d0xv7q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=680&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460823/original/file-20220502-26-d0xv7q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=680&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460823/original/file-20220502-26-d0xv7q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=855&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460823/original/file-20220502-26-d0xv7q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=855&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460823/original/file-20220502-26-d0xv7q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=855&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A protester stands near the Cargill beef processing plant in High River, Alta., May 4, 2020, as workers return following a temporary closure due to a COVID-19 outbreak.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the Edmonton area, heritage language schools’ support network was important when <a href="https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/under-the-shadow-of-contagion-abuse-of-filipino-workers-in-albertas-largest-covid-19-outbreak">racialized temporary foreign workers</a> were blamed for the spread of the pandemic.</p>
<p>One school helped temporary foreign worker families find places to live when they could not longer afford apartments. People from the school community provided financial support and delivered food from a communal bakery. </p>
<p>Connectivity with motherland and direct information from relatives inspired action across borders. Two schools moved their teaching online before the official school closure in the province to curb the spread of the pandemic. “It was obvious to me that what was happening there would come here, too,” a principal said. </p>
<p>Almost half of the schools played critical roles translating and sharing important information about COVID-19. </p>
<h2>Supporting frontline workers and families</h2>
<p>Sixteen schools that were part of our research reported that they have community members who are frontline workers. Global migration researchers Laura Foley and Nicola Piper note that the pandemic “exposed the front-line nature of much <a href="https://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/covid19-and-women.pdf">of the work carried out by migrant workers</a>.”</p>
<p>Six schools started sewing cloth masks for the homeless, elderly and for hospitals, three schools cooked and distributed food donations through connected local churches and organizations. Seven schools provided mental health support and two schools took part in blood donation and helped migrant workers. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A boy is seen talking to a woman online." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460822/original/file-20220502-26-kurhue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460822/original/file-20220502-26-kurhue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460822/original/file-20220502-26-kurhue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460822/original/file-20220502-26-kurhue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460822/original/file-20220502-26-kurhue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460822/original/file-20220502-26-kurhue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460822/original/file-20220502-26-kurhue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Schools supported frontline workers and their families.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/Katerina Holmes)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some schools joined online teaching with similar schools across borders and thus increased <a href="https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/1190-lifting-barriers-to-education-after-covid-19-improving-education-for-migrant-and-refugee-children-in-lac.html">equitable access</a> to education. </p>
<h2>Online connections overseas</h2>
<p>Schools provided access to heritage language education to students in <a href="https://www.linguapax.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/LinguapaxReview9-2021-low.pdf">all geographic locations</a>. In one case, students or teachers attended online classes from Edmonton, Montréal and Toronto, as well as from Bratislava, Slovakia; Zwickau, Germany; and Mullagh, Ireland.</p>
<p>Many schools benefited from the higher engagement of grandparents. Grandparents or relatives overseas soothed pressures faced by <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.3934%2Fpublichealth.2021013">immigrant families</a> with several children. </p>
<p>Relatives taught children school subjects in online learning when <a href="https://theconversation.com/immigrant-families-had-to-fend-for-themselves-during-online-schooling-179550?fbclid=IwAR1eyyAbINhpK38dMvzVVJ-r34-GfEf2XgBLF8x-AqMni6puaaGGsXFyt3U">immigrant families were scrambling to manage online schooling</a>. This allowed for increased usage of heritage languages in families during the pandemic.</p>
<h2>Increased global collaboration</h2>
<p>Lack of governmental support played into the resilience and transformation of these schools. The lack of support pushed leaders to gain new skills and to seek help in transnational resources and collaboration.</p>
<p>One critical outcome was the development of <a href="http://www.modurmal.com/international-guidelines-for-professional-practices-in-community-based-heritage-language-schools/">International Guidelines for Professional Practices in Community-Based Heritage Language Schools</a>. </p>
<p>These will guide schools that choose to use them in improving their professional practice. They also represent values and professional ambition of heritage language schools towards becoming recognized by the public school sector. For example, in Alberta, some heritage language schools are recognized by the Ministry of Education as accredited private schools.</p>
<p>Guidelines were a result of the collaboration of leaders of several organizations, based in <a href="https://www.hlenet.org">the Netherlands</a>, <a href="https://www.modurmal.com">Iceland</a>, the <a href="https://heritagelanguageschools.org/coalition">United States</a>, <a href="https://ihla.ca/">Canada</a> and <a href="https://mothertongues.ie/about/">Ireland</a>. This collaboration also inspired establishing <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwRwTEPbXHQ">a European coalition</a> of heritage language school associations.</p>
<p>Through their strong community involvement, heritage language schools foster different models of integration and belonging than public schools. They respond directly to the needs of their communities, representing a bottom-up, grassroots approach to integrating immigrants into society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177704/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nina Paulovicova is an academic advisor of the International and Heritage Languages Association in Edmonton, AB, Canada. She received a small grant for the project titled "Heritage language schools’ response to COVID-19 and school closures" from Athabasca University. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Renata Emilsson Peskova is affiliated with Móðurmál - the Association on Bilingualism. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marta McCabe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A study of 25 heritage language schools in Edmonton shows how schools met the needs of migrant and front-line workers, resisted racism and built community for immigrants.Nina Paulovicova, Associate Professor, History, Athabasca UniversityMarta McCabe, Course instructor, English for International Students Program, Duke UniversityRenata Emilsson Peskova, Adjunct lecturer, Teacher Education, English Department, University of IcelandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1780332022-04-25T20:01:24Z2022-04-25T20:01:24Z3 barriers that stop students choosing to learn a language in high school<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456792/original/file-20220407-28761-2dv585.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6148%2C3456&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fewer students are choosing language electives at school, but contrary to popular perception, it isn’t purely a lack of interest causing the decline. <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/RUN5UM5AYKEUR3V3THHH?target=10.1111/flan.12605">My recent study</a> suggests students want to study a language, but can’t.</p>
<p>Language electives continue to have the <a href="https://www.acara.edu.au/reporting/national-report-on-schooling-in-australia/national-report-on-schooling-in-australia-data-portal/year-12-subject-enrolments#view1">lowest enrolments</a> compared to other subjects. In 2020, only 9.5% of Year 12 students were studying languages. This is the lowest figure in the last decade.</p>
<p>Learning another language is important in our <a href="https://www.asiaeducation.edu.au/docs/default-source/research-and-policy-pdfs/senior_secondary_languages_education_research_project_final.pdf">globally connected world</a> and has personal, societal and economic <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1182083.pdf">benefits</a>. These include enhanced cognitive functions and cultural sensitivity. Language learners develop more of an understanding of the <a href="https://docs.acara.edu.au/resources/Languages_-_Shape_of_the_Australian_Curriculum_new.pdf">nature of language and communication</a> and languages <a href="https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/languages/rationale/">can improve</a> employment opportunities.</p>
<p>I conducted an online survey with over 500 students from years 9 to 12, asking about their attitudes to school and learning languages. I found there are three main barriers stopping students from reaping the rewards of language study. </p>
<hr>
<iframe title="Percentage of year 12 students across Australia enrolled in subject areas in (2019)" aria-label="Stacked Bars" id="datawrapper-chart-SIuiH" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/SIuiH/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="419" width="100%"></iframe>
<hr>
<h2>1. Lack of options</h2>
<p><a href="https://asialink.unimelb.edu.au/stories/archive/saying-yes-to-languages-study-in-years-11-and-12">Not being able to study the language they preferred</a> is a key barrier. Some 55% of students surveyed in my study said their school did not offer their desired language. One boy said, “I want to learn European languages but my school offers none”.</p>
<h2>2. Timetable restrictions</h2>
<p>Students experience barriers from their school’s <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/education/why-students-are-turning-away-from-learning-foreign-languages-20160610-gpg6ek.html">timetabling arrangements</a>. One boy said he was unable to study French and Chinese because both subjects were scheduled at the same time. Another boy said, “I am interested in continuing with a second language but cannot fit it in around other subject choices”. This is because students often only have room for up to six subjects on their timetable. In Year 12, this can <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/4937742">drop to four</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457050/original/file-20220408-25034-30ltb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457050/original/file-20220408-25034-30ltb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457050/original/file-20220408-25034-30ltb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457050/original/file-20220408-25034-30ltb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457050/original/file-20220408-25034-30ltb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457050/original/file-20220408-25034-30ltb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457050/original/file-20220408-25034-30ltb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457050/original/file-20220408-25034-30ltb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The main reason students couldn’t study a language was access to their preferred language.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. Languages are rarely a prerequisite for study</h2>
<p>In senior year levels, students start thinking about what subjects they need for future study, which leads to students prioritising some subjects over others. Although interested in a language, other subjects are seen as <a href="https://www.asiaeducation.edu.au/docs/default-source/research-and-policy-pdfs/senior_secondary_languages_education_research_project_final.pdf">more important</a> for study and career pathways. “I probably would’ve done French, but I needed a science to be applicable for studying to be a pilot,” said one boy. One girl added, “a lot of people do not study a LOTE because other subjects, such as prerequisites are more of a priority”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/learning-languages-early-is-key-to-making-australia-more-multilingual-99085">Learning languages early is key to making Australia more multilingual</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How to get more students learning languages</h2>
<p>To boost senior secondary language enrolments, languages need to be available and encouraged all the way from early learning to year 10 in order to build a <a href="https://asialink.unimelb.edu.au/stories/archive/saying-yes-to-languages-study-in-years-11-and-12">pipeline</a> of language students for senior year levels.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457047/original/file-20220408-22-vyxz3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457047/original/file-20220408-22-vyxz3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457047/original/file-20220408-22-vyxz3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457047/original/file-20220408-22-vyxz3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457047/original/file-20220408-22-vyxz3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457047/original/file-20220408-22-vyxz3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457047/original/file-20220408-22-vyxz3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457047/original/file-20220408-22-vyxz3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students may be forced into subjects required by their preferred university degree.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutter</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ensuring students are familiar with language learning from an early age will <a href="https://theconversation.com/learning-languages-early-is-key-to-making-australia-more-multilingual-99085">set the foundation</a> for them to continue with languages later.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-your-kid-studying-a-second-language-at-school-how-much-they-learn-will-depend-on-where-you-live-155219">Is your kid studying a second language at school? How much they learn will depend on where you live</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Additionally, each state needs a language policy that requires schools to teach the recommended hours so students see a commitment to this subject area. The minimum recommended hours by the Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority are <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-your-kid-studying-a-second-language-at-school-how-much-they-learn-will-depend-on-where-you-live-155219">870 across Years 6-12</a>. As this is a recommendation, these hours are not enforced and differ between states.</p>
<p>The most popular reasons for students doing a language are:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>speaking the language when travelling</p></li>
<li><p>enjoying the challenge</p></li>
<li><p>liking the language and culture. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Parents and teachers should emphasise these aspects if they want to ensure their children and students reap the benefits of language learning. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/thinking-of-taking-a-language-in-year-11-and-12-heres-what-you-need-to-know-164080">Thinking of taking a language in year 11 and 12? Here's what you need to know</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/178033/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie Clayton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Language electives have fewer enrolments compared to other subjects in Australia. New research suggests students are interested in studying languages, but can’t.Stephanie Clayton, Lecturer in Curriculum Studies (Primary), University of TasmaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.