Janet, Heide and all,

The reasons for wanting to learn a language, or improve in a language, are
important, because they are the immediate short term goals, as I
mention in another
article <http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhr5gc97_214ftqr44dz> on
Pickthebrain. However, the short term goal is just the start, and it can be
the start of a long journey.

For me, the goal of language improvement should be fluency, not perfection,
but comfortable literate fluency. I do not believe there are short cuts as
in  "I will just learn how to fill out this form". "I will just learn enough
to do my job." " I will just learn enough for the test." This is true, in my
opinion, for ESL learners and native speakers who are functionally
illiterate.

I believe that language learning is an ongoing journey, in one's own
language as well as other languages. The main task of a teacher is to spark
the interest, if that spark is missing, and then to encourage the learner to
continue to study, as independently as possible, not just or even primarily
in the classroom, but even more on his or her own.

I do not believe it matters so much how much the learner gets involved with
the classroom. What matters more is what the learner does away from the
classroom. With the accessibility of books, audio material, the Internet,
and MP3 players, we can all create our own world of language learning. The
teacher can touch many more learners via the web than can be accommodated in
classrooms.

I think that if we are going to attack literacy, teachers need to be
reaching out to far more people than is the case right now, when only a few
% of people facing literacy obstacles are doing much to improve their
skills. Language and literacy practitioners need to look beyond the
classroom.

Steve





-- 
Steve Kaufmann
www.lingq.com
1-604-922-8514
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