Is language learning through immersion always successful? Marcin Lewandowski and Liz Asadi suggest that it can have a negative impact on learning and how students working together as ‘learning buddies’ can counteract this.
As Krashen intended
London is often a key destination for students who want to learn, improve or practise English. This makes sense. After all, what better place to learn a language than a place where this language is actually spoken by everyone, right?
The idea that the best way to learn a language is through immersion is not new. In the 80’s Stephen Krashen developed his Natural Approach Theory which argues that second language acquisition should be more like first language acquisition, i.e developed in a natural environment through exposure to input (the foreign language).
Krashen believes that such input should be at a level that is understood by the learner (comprehensible), relevant and sufficient in quantity. So far, so good. A motivated student visiting London (or any other town or city in the UK for that matter) should have little problem finding plentiful input through contact with sympathetic locals.
The paradox
Paradoxically, in our practice we often come across many students who have settled and lived in the UK for some time (years in some cases) and still have limited language competency. So, what gives?
Through choice or circumstance, these learners end up living in communities that share their language and cultural background. They avoid situations where they may have to use English or develop strategies to deal with situations where knowledge of English is required (e.g. use friends or family members as interpreters) and as a result find themselves living in a bubble, effectively isolated from the language of the host country.
As students, these learners may face several obstacles, such as having nobody to discuss language issues, confer on homework and practise their speaking and listening skills with. By their own admission, their contact with English amounts to as little as 30 minutes a day.
In a strange twist of fate, these students’ opportunities to learn and practise the language are similar to those of students studying it abroad, e.g. 5 hours a week in an English class. In such cases it is paramount to maximise language use and create opportunities for students to practise English outside of the formalized classroom settings.
Solution? Buddy up!
In order to address this problem we decided to implement and test a mutual learner support system where learners were paired up with other learners as ‘learning buddies’. They self-organized and decided who they wanted to be paired up with from their classmates. We wanted to investigate if this indeed was a suitable way to increase language use outside classroom settings, and also if it promoted greater autonomy, peer collaboration and peer assessment amongst the learners.
Once paired up, the learners were instructed to consult with their learning buddies on any questions they may have about homework, seek feedback on writing tasks, etc. They were told that their learning buddies were the first port of call, and feedback from them needed to be sought before the teacher could be asked. We also encouraged them to have informal social meetings with their learning buddies in order to practise spontaneous conversation skills.
Did it work?
Yes, it did. The learners who took part in this little experiment unanimously reported feeling more confident about their English language skills, and thought their skills had improved. In addition, they had almost all increased the amount of time they normally spent on both studying and practising/using English outside the classroom. The idea behind the ‘learning buddies’ experiment was in response to learners’ requests for more opportunity to practise English outside the classroom so, in this respect, the learning buddies initiative delivered.
What does this mean for the English classroom?
Rolling out the learning buddy experience across English courses could mean changing what actually takes place within the classroom. If all learners are paired up with a learning buddy, for example, lessons can be planned around what they will actually be doing outside the classroom rather than in class time. Instead of the teacher setting up activities to develop learning within the classroom, the focus would be on developing activities which would be carried out outside class time. This would alter the nature of lessons. Lessons would instead focus on setting up tasks to be completed outside the classroom between learning buddies and, in the subsequent lesson, involve learners presenting work or findings, etc. to the class, comparing their work and discussing how it went, any problems they had had and what they had learned from the experience. This would create a more immersive learning experience for the learners.
References:
Krashen, S.D. & Terrell, T.D. (1983). The natural approach: Language acquisition in the classroom. London: Prentice Hall Europe