Popular Ideas about Language Learning

After revisiting the popular ideas about language learning in Lightrown & Spada (2013, p. 202), have any of your previous opinions changed or become stronger?

Reading through the popular ideas about language learning by Lightbrown & Spada, I found myself very interested in two particular points. Firstly, that highly intelligent learners or those with a high IQ make good language learners. Throughout my experience, specifically with international students, I have had several students who were very intelligent and very successful in their respective fields but struggled in the classroom. I can confirm what Lightbrown & Spada suggested, having a wide variety of language abilities leads to more success, specifically in oral communication. I have had many students that are very knowledgeable in terms of meta linguistics, grammatical rules and, even, English literature. However, these students still often would make mistakes as they were not able to apply the knowledge that they had obtained. This also shows the importance between lower-order and higher-order learning. If we refer to Bloom's Taxonomy, those students would be placed into the category of 'knowledge' or 'comprehension,'  however, they have not yet obtained higher-order learning such as 'evaluation' and 'analysis.'

 The second point that Lightbrown & Spada made that was interesting to me was their point about motivation. Specifically, that motivation is the best predictor of success in second language acquisition. This is particularly interesting to me because I studied psychology in school, as I have mentioned before. Lightbrown & Spada stated that, "teachers have no influence over learners' intrinsic motivation for learning a second language." (2013) I think this is a great point but can be very difficult for teachers to grasp and accept. It certainly made my opinions stronger on this subject as it only reaffirmed what I have already mentioned about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. All we can do as teachers is provide an environment to students that will foster their extrinsic motivation by providing a classroom that is supportive and learner-centered. In turn, this could lead to an improvement in their overall intrinsic motivation but it may not and this is something teachers, especially in public schools, must accept. I say especially in public schools because the students classes are mandatory in those situations. My situation, for example, is a little bit different as my students choose and pay to come to class voluntarily.
Overall, I strongly agree with many of the points that Lightbrown & Spada made. We cannot assume that just because an idea in education is popular that it is true. All students need well-rounded language abilities not just a high IQ to be successful in language learners. Teachers cannot influence intrinsic motivation, only extrinsic. But as we continue to foster learning abilities and create supportive environments for our learners, we can guide ourselves and our students to further success in language learning.

 Additional Resources:

 https://theinspiredclassroom.com/2013/07/how-motivation-affects-learning/

 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042811007075
References

 Fractus Learning (n.d.) Bloom’s Taxonomy Verbs - Classroom Chart. Retrieved from https://www.fractuslearning.com/blooms-taxonomy-verbs-free-chart/

Lightbown, M. & Spada, N., (2013). How languages are learned (4th ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

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