New study may revolutionize languagelearning27 January 2009

(PhysOrg.com) -- The teaching of languages couldbe revolutionised following ground-breakingresearch by Victoria University, New Zealand, PhDgraduate Paul Sulzberger. Dr Sulzberger hasfound that the best way to learn a language isthrough frequent exposure to its soundpatterns--even if you haven't a clue what it allmeans.

"However crazy it might sound, just listening to thelanguage, even though you don't understand it, iscritical. A lot of language teachers may not acceptthat," he says.

"Our ability to learn new words is directly related tohow often we have been exposed to the particularcombinations of the sounds which make up thewords. If you want to learn Spanish, for example,frequently listening to a Spanish language radiostation on the internet will dramatically boost yourability to pick up the language and learn newwords."

Dr Sulzberger's research challenges existinglanguage learning theory. His main hypothesis isthat simply listening to a new language sets up thestructures in the brain required to learn the words.

"Neural tissue required to learn and understand anew language will develop automatically fromsimple exposure to the language—which is howbabies learn their first language," Dr Sulzbergersays.

He was prompted to undertake the research afterspending seven years teaching Russian to NewZealand students and observing drop-outpatterns.

"I was very conscious of the huge difficultiesstudents have when they tackle another language,especially at the beginning. Many drop outbecause they feel they are not making progress."

Dr Sulzberger says he was interested in whatmakes it so difficult to learn foreign words when weare constantly learning new ones in our nativelanguage. He found the answer in the way the braindevelops neural structures when hearing newcombinations of sounds.

"When we are trying to learn new foreign words weare faced with sounds for which we may haveabsolutely no neural representation. A studenttrying to learn a foreign language may have few pre-existing neural structures to build on in order toremember the words."

Dr Sulzberger looked for ways people coulddevelop these structures to make the learningprocess easier. His finding was simple: extensiveexposure to the language, something made easierby globalisation and new technology.

"It is easier to learn languages these days becausethey are so accessible now. You can go home andwatch the news in French on the internet."

He says people trying to learn a foreign language intheir home country are at a disadvantage comparedto those who travel to another country and immersethemselves in its sounds and culture. For the samereason, he says, we need to rethink the waylanguages are taught.

"Teachers should recognise the importance ofextensive aural exposure to a language. One houra day of studying French text in a classroom is notenough—but an extra hour listening to it on the iPodwould make a huge difference," Dr Sulzbergersays.

"Language is a skill, it's not like learning a fact. Ifyou want to be a weight lifter, you've got to developthe muscle - you can't learn weightlifting from abook. To learn a language you have to grow theappropriate brain tissue, and you do this by lots oflistening—songs and movies are great!"

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Provided by Victoria University of Wellington, NewZealand

APA citation: New study may revolutionize language learning (2009, January 27) retrieved 15 July 2018from https://phys.org/news/2009-01-revolutionize-language.html

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