Steve and all

I don't think you're saying that English learning should be like music
appreciation ­ that one can enjoy either (language or music) with no basis
of prior expectation, concepts or assumptions?  That the language or the
music will just be heard and appreciated?

Surely, part of the language learning process involves
receiving/hearing/taking in.  But for learning to occur, active processes of
meaning-making have to happen.

In order to learn, to make meaning, there needs to be some basis of prior
understanding, of a world view, yes, of assumptions.  The critical thinking
part (in the target language, in this case English) may, for some, be merely
a matter of learning the words to translate thoughts from a first language
into English).  For others, it's a process of asking questions, weighing
options, learning more about possibilities and consequences.

Janet




From: Steve Kaufmann <steve at thelinguist.com>
Reply-To: The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List
<professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov>
Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:43:00 -0700



> I am of the opinion that beginner ESL learners should be allowed to listen to

the language and try to enjoy it, with little requirement to state what their
assumptions are on anything.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/professionaldevelopment/attachments/20080714/6f0f24ad/attachment.html