Learning Model vs. Acquisition Model

Sometimes it seems that language is something that just happens.  Parents have watched in awe as their children develop language.  Every mother is overcome with joy the first time their baby calls them “Mama”.  Before long, the child has developed a repertoire of words and they begin to experiment with ways to combine words in an effort to have their needs met.  Missionaries visit a different country and before long, they are able to speak fluently with the native population.  Many of us took a second language in high school and college.  Some people have successfully learned a language through these more formal courses that focus on the individual pieces of language before putting the pieces together and creating fluent language.   

Experts have studied how language is developed.  The question is whether language is acquired or learned.  If we look at toddlers as they learn to speak or missionaries who go to a different country without knowing the language and eventually find they can speak the language fluently, we might say that language is acquired.  No one taught them formally how to speak the language, but through total immersion, they managed to develop the language.  On the other hand, high school and college courses have broken foreign languages down into manageable portions for us to practice and learn.  Many people have learned to speak a foreign language this way.  Of course, there are those who maintain that once a person gets to a certain age, he can no longer learn a second language at all regardless of the method. 

Experts (specifically, Krashen) have determined that language can be developed in one of two ways.  Language can be learned or acquired.  The traditional strategies used to help people develop a new language follow the learning model.  More recently, the acquisition model has risen to favor.   After reading about the two models, I wonder if a combination of these strategies would be more successful for the second language learner. 

Learning Model	Acquisition Model
Language is taught through a series of exercises and drills on portions of language (vocabulary, verbs, pronunciation).	Language is subconscious and taught through immersion.  The second language learner learns the language by using it.
Language learned through the Learning Model is learned in a classroom and can be tested.	Learning Language through the Acquisition Model does not necessarily need to happen in school and cannot be tested.
Language learned through the Learning Model may be quickly forgotten if not used immediately and regularly.	Second Language Learners using the Acquisition Model not only learn specific vocabulary, but how to speak the language accurately.
Specific errors can be corrected so second language learners understand how the language components fit together.	Errors will occur, but the focus is on maintaining meaning and being understood.

Although there are people who are able to learn a second language through the Learning Model, I have not been successful with those strategies.  I believe I would more effectively learn a second language through the Acquisition Model.  In circumstances where I have needed to use second language skills regularly, I was more successful in learning and retaining the second language.  I have also learned that if you don’t use it, you lose it.  It has been several years since I used my second language skills and I’m not sure I would be terribly effective anymore.  That being said, it appears that the jury is still out on the exact formula for successful second language acquisition.  Some research has suggests that children who are learning English are more successful when they learn their first language alongside English as their second language.  However, it appears that complete immersion in an exclusively English only environment may not be as successful as some have suggested.  “Studies have shown that when students have full native language proficiency, including the ability to do academic reading and writing, they can transfer this knowledge from their first language to the second.”  (Freeman & Freeman, 2004). 

As is so often the case, balance appears to be the solution.  Students  engaged in a balanced bilingual program that offers both immersion and more formal classroom opportunities  are likely to be more successful than those in programs that offer English immersion or formal study exclusively.  

The Students:
L: Look up words in the dictionary to write definitions
A: Make a Venn Diagram to compare two stories
L:  Practice Sounding Out words
L: Read in Round Robin Fashion
A: Correct Peers when they make a mistake during reading
L: Identify words on a big book page that start with the same sound.  

L:  Group cards with classmates' names by a criterion on such as first or last letter
A: Write rhyming poetry and then discuss different spellings for the same sound
A: Ask the teacher how to spell any word they don't know
A: Read a language experience story they have created with the teacher
A: Work in pairs to arrange words from a familiar chant into sentences
L: Divide words into syllables
L: On a worksheet, draw a line from each word to the picture that starts with the same sound
A: Make alphabet books on different topics

The Teacher:
L: Preteaches vocabulary
A: Does a shared reading with a big book
A: Makes sure that students read only books that fit their level
L: Has students segment words into phonemes
A: Writes words the students dictate for a story and has the students help with the spelling of difficult words
L: Asks students to look around the room and find words starting with a certain letter
A: Uses decodable texts
L/A: Sets aside time for SSR (Silent Sustained Reading) each day
L: Teaches Latin and Greek roots
A: Has students meet in literature circles
L: Conducts phonics drills
A: Chooses predictable texts
A: Teaches students different comprehension strategies
A: Does a picture walk of a new book
L:  Uses a variety of worksheets to teach different skills

Reference

Freeman, D. & Freeman, Y. (2004).  Essential Linguistics: What You Need to Know to Teach 

            Reading, ESL, Spelling, Phonics, Grammar.  Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.