Becoming fluent : how cognitive science can help adults learn a foreign language

190 Pages·2015·1.16 MB·English

by  Kreuz

Becoming Fluent
Becoming Fluent
How Cognitive Science Can Help Adults
Learn a Foreign Language
Richard Roberts and Roger Kreuz
The MIT Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
© 2015 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval)
without permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-262-02923-0 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-262-33047-3 (retail e-book)
2014048125
We dedicate this book to our parents:
Michaela Whitaker and Richard Roberts
and Paul and Ila Kreuz
Contents
Prologue
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
1 Terms and Conditions
2 Set Yourself Up for Success
3 Aspects of Language
4 Pragmatics and Culture
5 Language and Perception
6 Cognition from Top to Bottom
7 Making Memories …
8 … And Making Memories Work for You
Epilogue
Notes
Suggestions for Further Reading
References
Index
Prologue
Adulthood is the perfect time to expand one’s horizons through the study of
other languages. All too often, however, the pleasure that should be
inherent in learning to speak another language is marred by negative
thoughts and experiences—past and present, real and perceived. As a result,
we wrote this book for adults of all ages who want to study a foreign
language but don’t know where to begin.
Growing older confers on adults knowledge and abilities that more than
offset any age-related decline. Through this book, we strive to show adult
foreign language learners how to take advantage of their considerable
strengths. To do so, we have drawn upon relevant research from cognitive
science, as well as our own experiences teaching, conducting research,
learning languages, and working and traveling abroad. Nothing would give
us greater pleasure than to know that this book has encouraged adults to
think about the advantages that only experience can bestow, and then to
apply those advantages to language learning.
Acknowledgments
There are many people to whom we owe a debt of gratitude for their
assistance with this book. All readers, however, should be grateful to
Andrew Garen, whose expert advice made the book more readable (and
shorter). Gina Caucci’s thoughtful editing saved us from many
embarrassing errors, big and small. Alyssa Blair, David Kovaz, and Monica
Riordan kindly gave us helpful suggestions. We also thank Cierra Wilson,
who crafted the cognitive science starfish that appears as figure 1.1.
Thomas Santos advised us on pedagogy from the perspective of English as
a Second Language. We also thank Welcome Kim for allowing us to share
his language-learning experiences. Richard Blackwood gets all the credit
for the Sherpa analogy, which he graciously allowed us to steal. Jeonghoon
Lee deserves thanks for refusing to teach Richard how to swear in Korean
and for making sure Roger saw more of Korea than just downtown Seoul.
Rick Marcus’s teaching acumen and steadfastness as a friend more than
make up for his ability to beat Roger at Scrabble. At the Foreign Service
Institute (FSI), without the heartfelt enthusiasm of Priscilla Lujan, Doug
Gilzow, Lauren Russell, and Mary Kim, this book might never have left the
ground. We would also like to thank Leslie Barrett and Alexi Kral, whose
feedback after reading the manuscript was a source of optimism and
motivation in the final stages of compiling the book. We also thank Michele
Trahan, of Old Orchard Beach, Maine, whose hospitality and
encouragement we greatly value.
In Seoul, Keunhyun Shin and Inseop Lee were charitable with their
praise, smiling through clenched teeth as Richard butchered Korean.
Thanks also go to Richard’s teachers at FSI’s field school, Soon Kwak,
Young Hee Lee, Yoon Jean Lee, and Hea Park Sung, who are caring and
dedicated educators personally invested in the success of all their students.
Tahk Sooyean deserves special mention for the gallons of coffee she drank
Saturday afternoons, helping Richard prepare for his Korean language
exam. In Okinawa, Momoe Miyagi took it upon herself to mentor Richard
during his Japanese immersion trip. And many years ago Erica Urena’s love
of Portuguese ignited Richard’s passion for it too. In Tokyo, Yoshihiro
Kitagawa never tired of Richard’s endless questions about Japanese
language and culture. Fumiko Ito was more than Richard’s sensei; she
brought him into her family. Portugal could have no finer representatives
than Kimon Oppermann and Alexandre Marques da Cruz, whose love of
the Portuguese language, inquiring spirit, and goodness to all make them
beloved teachers and friends. In Brazil, Angelica Monnerat personified
dedication in teaching. In the Korean language department at FSI, Eunice
Kim, Jessica Welter, Chung Ha, Yeonmi Bae, Sun Il Kim, Chris Song, and
Kookhee Park made learning Korean fun and interesting at bathhouses,
restaurants, parties, coffee shops, and even in the classroom. In the
Japanese department, Yoshie Zorn, Kenichi Haramoto, Meiko Inouye,
Masako Nanto, Miyuke Tsuchiya, and Setsuko Okabe deserve credit for
bringing Richard’s Japanese up to a level fit for proper society. Tyrone
Parker showed inexhaustible patience over long evenings spent helping
Richard with his French. Greg Morgan’s love of language curiosities and
wordplay never fails to entertain, and was responsible for our learning
about the Unspeakableness project. And because Jeff Newbern is both a
skilled teacher and such a generous friend, several examples from his
classes now grace this book.
Roger would like to thank his teachers of German: Eric Paderi, Sherri
Gruber Wagner, and Marianne Bigney. Jason Braasch and Jenny Roche
made helpful suggestions that are greatly appreciated. For their support and
encouragement through all phases of the writing of this book, he is
especially grateful to his department chair, Frank Andrasik, and Laura
Simpson, his administrative assistant. And for his role in turning a terrified
twenty-one-year old into an experimental psycholinguist, Roger
acknowledges his huge debt to Sam Glucksberg.
Finally, at the MIT Press, we are indebted to Senior Editor Philip
Laughlin and Acquisitions Assistant Christopher Eyer for believing in this
project and bringing it to fruition. Without Judy Feldmann’s deft editing,
the book would be much less comprehensible. We also thank three
anonymous reviewers whose comments on the proposal greatly sharpened
our thinking on this topic. Because Richard works for the US Department
of State, he would like to make clear that the contents of this book are his
opinions and not those of the US government. Any errors of fact, omission,
or commission are entirely Roger’s … just kidding—they are Richard’s,
too.
Richard and Roger
Memphis, Tennessee
August 2014