Design your own Activity-Based second language course

At the end of my last post, we came to the conclusion that we would do well to make second language learning approximate the process that had been so successful with first language learning. Here are some of the features that characterised the first language learning process:

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1. Language was acquired incidentally while you were busy doing other things such as playing, developing relationships, getting food, etc.
2. You made use of any tools at your disposal (both verbal and non-verbal) to attempt to successfully negotiate these activities.
3. It didn’t seem to worry you (or anybody else) when you made grammatical errors.
4. The process by which you acquired the rules of your first language was largely unconscious.
5. But we can infer from your language use that it is based on a grammatical rule system that you use to generate (unconsciously) all the language you need to function within your environment.
6. Most of your language learning occurred as the result of interaction with people who were emotionally close to you, such as parents, siblings, other family members and friends.

Now, if you were able to replicate these features in the second language learning process, then it would be a reasonable assumption that you could expect to experience a level of success similar to what you achieved in the first language.

However, second language learning is different in the following ways:

1. Limited exposure to the second language – this is especially the case if the language is being learnt as a foreign language (e.g. like French being learnt in Australia where it is heard only rarely outside the classroom.)
2. Second language learners are generally older and therefore more cognitively developed than first language learners. Their tendency to engage in abstract reasoning is a major difference which may make second language learning a more conscious process than first language learning. While it is not clear whether this is an advantage or disadvantage for second language learning, it certainly cannot be ignored.
3. Issues of identity development may become relevant to the second language learning process.
4. Related to this, second language learners develop their own particular learning styles and strategies.

Combining the features of the first language learning process with the relevant differences that apply to second language learning, it is possible to suggest some potentially useful features of a second language learning course which you might design to fit your own personal situation.

Activity-based language learning

The starting point for first language learning was the activities that the child wanted to engage in. This should be the departure point for second language learning too. Ask yourself what you want to do and then seek out the language that  you will need to make it happen. This is particularly the case if you are learning in a real second language environment, such as learning French in a French-speaking country. Here, survival suggests the activities which, in turn, suggest the language you should be learning.

If you are learning in a foreign language context (e.g. French in Australia) I suggest that you imagine the activities you might need if you were in a second language context and use these as the basis for your choice of language features to be learnt.

How you acquire this language will depend on your particular circumstances. You might attend formal classes, or you might choose to supplement your more naturalistic language learning by following a commercially produced course, either in print format or audio, or via the Internet. What you choose should depend on your understanding of what best suits your individual learning style. If you are uncertain about what styles match your preferred way of learning, you can get a good idea by taking an on-line learning style test.

Whatever sources of instruction you choose, you should take responsibility for both the content of your course as well as the way you go about learning the content.