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What is learning?

What is learning?

 

When looking at this term from three different perspectives: neuropsychology, personal development and education we may find out that ‘learning’ is one of the most important mental functions of humans. It is based on the development of different types of knowledge supported by perceived information.

 

When learning, humans develop skills, understanding, attitudes, values, and preferences. They increase they experience as individuals and as a group. Depending on the purpose of learning it can be conscious or unconscious.

 

People unconsciously learn certain behaviours which are rewarding to a life, e.g. survival, looking for food and accommodation, etc., and therefore those will be continued. Conscious learning occurs when there is a goal, a need to acquire more complex activities, such as e.g. play, exams passing, etc.

Conscious learning will therefore require a motivation from the student.

From the social perspective, learning will be the goal of teaching and the goal of education.

 

Learning has been seen by many as a product and as a process.

Learning as product is seemed as a change in behaviour, which mean is approached as an outcome-the final product of some process. This final product can be recognised or seen. However, there can come a question does we need to perform to learn? Can behaviour be caused by other factors? And finally a question from Merriam and Caffarella (1991:124) can the change involved include the potential for a change? While the permanent change in behaviour (or potential for a change) is a result of experiences, not all changes in behaviour resulting from experience involve learning.

 

Learning as a process needs to be seen through some learning theories about how or why change occurs?

The theory represented by Skinner B.F is based upon the idea that learning is a function of change in behaviour. According to this the change in behaviour occurs due to humans’ response to the events (stimuli). Such response produces a consequence such as defying a word, solving a problem, etc. When a particular Stimulus-Response (S-R) pattern is reinforced (rewarded), the individual is conditioned to respond. Skinner named this form of behaviourism, the Operant Conditioning which distinctive characteristic relative to previous forms of behaviourism (e.g., Thorndike, Hull) is that the organism can emit responses instead of only eliciting response due to an external stimulus.

 

The supporters of behaviourism believe that humans learn in the same way, emphasising that it is important to have a particular form of behaviour reinforced by someone in aim to control and modify what is learned. In class, the teacher provides the reinforcement and rewards to accelerate learning. The positive reinforcement instead of its lack or punishment is what emphasises this theory.

 

Opposite to this view the cognitive theory sees learning as not as a change in behaviour but a change in the way a student thinks, understands or feels. This theory focuses on what is going on inside student’s mind. There are two main models linked to this view which are information processing model and social interaction model.

 

The first information processing model says about internal structures in the student’s brain which select and process incoming material, then store and retrieve it, use it to produce behaviour, receive and process feedback on the results.

 

The social interaction model emphasises that learning and subsequent changes in behaviour occur as a result of interaction between the student and the environment. Both models have a lot in common as they stress the importance of reinforcing behaviour and measuring changes.

 

In my opinion the ability to learn is what makes us significant and outstanding. Learning  is a part of our entire life. Since the birth we learn to adapt to the new circumstances, to survive and be accepted by those who are closest to us and later by the rest of the society. Therefore, learning is first quite an unconscious process in aim to assimilate, then once we aware of our role in the society and aware of our part in it we learn to reach specific goals. As we are also involved in education, the learning process is very conscious and reinforced by us and by those who take part in, e.g. teachers.

I believe that learning is a change in behaviour as a result of experience as the way we perceive, think, feel and do may change due to a learning experience. However, I am reluctant to believe that we all learn in the same way. Of course, there must be a pattern due to our natural biological condition, knowing how the brain works, but from my own experience and from what I observed in class there can be much more to say about it than just a theory that applies to everyone. I just do not see strong evidence to entirely support the cognitive theory and believe that there are still experiments carried on regarding this, although I agree that both behaviourism and cognitive theories can be useful learning theories for planning, managing, and conducting teaching is to include the best features of each major theory. This would provide a way to measure behavioural outcomes and promote cognitive learning, however as they are quite opposite views, combining them would not be a simple approach to do.

What is language?

What is language?

 

Generally speaking, language is a system of visual, auditory or tactile symbols of communication and the rules used to manipulate them. Although, I think there can be said more from teaching and learning perspective as well as and people’s lives and experiences. Living within a society we can observe that language is the basic method by which we do things cooperatively. It gathers shared meaning of common ground, activities we do and the way we response, behave and act.

 

Language is considered to be a human mode of communication and it is the very essence of what makes as humans.

 

To have a brief understanding of its origin we need to look into the past studies on it.

In ancient Greece language was studied in regards of its proper use and purpose. The word “logos” was used as a term for both language or speech or reason. Modern studies focused on its production and perceive. The English word “language” derived from “Lingua”, Latin for “tongue” which refers only to expressions of reason that can be understood by others by speaking.

 

Talking about language we need to look at it from different perspectives: as a social fact, as natural behaviour, as a mental organ, or as an abstract object.

 

As a social phenomenon, language was first described by Ferdinand se Saussure who claimed that providing only historical description of languages should not be the only approach to this complex entity. Saussure believed that the essential information about language can be obtained from its common users, natural speakers. He called this social aspect of using language or speech “parole”, while the underlying knowledge of linguistic structure was known as “langue”.

 

Language as behaviour.

Linguists who studied this view focused on different languages used by various people rather than on linguistic universals. They believed that by observation of human behaviour and interaction we can gather the linguistic data.

According to them, language is the totality of utterances that can be made in speech community.

 

The third approach to language was represented by Noam Chomsky who recognised language as a mental organ. He believed in an existence of special mental ability in human brains to use language. He noticed certain similarities among languages, therefore he believed that those cannot be explained by environmental factors or be accidental.

As much as I would agree with Chomsky that we have a natural ability to speak I cannot deny the fact that without social interaction we would not be able to speak, e.g. child without being exposed to speech would not develop any language, despite crying, giggling, etc.

In his work, Chomsky defined language by means of Generative Grammar, a finite set of rules which would enable its users to make an unlimited number of expressions. Supporters of this view believe that it is not particular languages that should be analysed but Universal Grammar, or the mental organ that allows humans to speak.

The last view is constituted by scholars who believe that language is an abstract object and does not occupy any space or time. This claim contradicts with Chomsky’s idea but those who support this claim justify that the analyzing of the best abstract models of language can bring helpful effect of the entire area of study.

 

Personally, I like the idea of language as a mean of telling of thoughts and transferring of an idea of one person to another one. This can be done by talking, writing, pointing and touching. I think people communicate naturally and find ways to communicate naturally. By studying language we are trying to find the patterns, rules, utterances by which people develop communication and to understand how language works, its origin, the development and the role in human’s life.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog, designed for my studies in English language and my professional development in the field of teaching and lecturing. This site is the place where I can reflect on my teaching work, my role in education and my knowledge and understanding of teaching and learning. I hope that those of you who are involved in delivering English as a second and as a foreign language from all around the world, would share your thoughts and experience with me, contributing to the idea of a language study, a cooperative teaching and a professional development.