Acquisition of Language in Informal Contexts

Maria Pia Gomez LaichMathurin Leelasetakul (Mint)

Qin WangJamie Kim

APLNG 491: Second Language AcquisitionThe Pennsylvania State University

October 25th, 2011

“A solution to language teaching lies not so much in expensive equipment, exotic new methods, or sophisticated language analysis, but rather in the full utilisation of the most important resources: native speakers of the language in real communication.” (Krashen, 1982, p.1)

Informal learning compared to formal learning was first introduced and popularized by Knowles in his pioneering work Informal Adult Education (1950).

In focusing on the notion of informal education, Knowles pointed to the informal environment in many adult learning situations, the flexibility of the process of learning, and the use of experience.

Coombs and Ahmad (1974): the definition of informal education is widely accepted in the field of language learning as the process of developing knowledge and skills in a highly uninstitutionalised and unstructured setting.

Informal learning: lifelong process of learning by which every individual acquires and accumulates the required knowledge, skills, attitudes, and insights from exposure to the environment at home or at work (Rogers, 2004).

This sort of unconscious learning mainly occurs through reading newspapers andbooks or by listening to the radio or viewing films or television (Coombs and Ahmed, 1974).

Informal learning is: mostly unorganized, unsystematic, and even unintentional at times.

Marsick and Watkins contrast formal learning with informal learning as follows:

“Formal learning is typically institutionally sponsored, classroom based, and highly structured. Informal learning, a category that includes incidental learning, may occur in institutions, but it is not typically classroom based or highly structured, and control of learning rests primarily in the hands of the learner. Informal learning can be deliberately encouraged by an organization or it can take place despite an environment not highly conductive to learning” (Marsick & Watkins, 1990, p.12).

Eraut: “Formal learning is provided by an educational institution, structured in terms of learning objectives, time and support and leading to certification. Informal learning, however, takes place in day-to-day life activities, related to work, family or leisure and may be intentional but in most cases it is non-intentional or incidental and random” (Eraut, 2000).

There are very few studies on the effectiveness of language learning beyond the classroom.

HOWEVER,the number of studies of language learning beyond the classroom is growing.

WHY?1) Partly in response to interest in autonomy and independent learning (Benson, 2011; Lamb and Reinders, 2008), and

2) Partly in response to interest in qualitative case studies of language learners´ lives (Benson and Nunan, 2005; Kalaja, Menezes and Barcelos, 2008).

Some key issues that need to be addressed when doing research on language learning beyond the classroom are:

1) the kinds of places, other than conventional classrooms, where language learning takes place,

2) the characteristics of these places,

3) the kinds of learning activities that take place in them, and

4) their role in the wider picture of individuals´ language learning.

Three distinct dimensions of language learning beyond the classroom:

1) Location ´Out-of-class´, ´Out-of-school´, ´after-school´, ´extracurricular´ and

´extramural´ learning all focus on location or setting and usually imply something that is supplementary to classroom learning and teaching.

´Out-of-class´ and ´Out-of-school learning´ are often used to describe non-prescribed activities that students carry out independently to broaden their knowledge of a subject, while ´after-school´, ´extracurricular´ and ´extramural´ usually refer to additional programmes in school that are less formal than regular lessons and possibly organized by students themselves.

2) Formality

The terms ´non-formal´ and ´informal´ contrast with ´formal´ teaching and learning, which are generally understood to take place in educational institutions and to involve classroom teaching and officially recognized qualifications.

´Non-formal´ education: classroom or school-based programmes that are taken for interest and do not involve tests or qualifications.

Informal education: non-institutional programmes or individual learning projects. In the context of adult education, Livingstone (2006: 211) defines informal learning as “anything people do to gain knowledge, skill, or uderstanding from learning about their health or hobbies, unpaid or paid work, or anything else that interests them outside of organised courses.”

The dimension of formality basically refers to the degree to which learning is independent of organized courses leading to formal qualifications.

Concept of public pedagogy (Giroux, 1994): Sandlin, Schultz and Burdick (2010:2) describe public pedagogy as being concerned with “informal spaces of learning such as popular culture, the Internet, public spaces such as museums and parks, and other civic and commercial spaces.” And: “public pedagogy

has come to signify that schools

are not the sole sites of teaching,

learning or curricula, and perhaps

they are not even the most influential.”

3) PedagogyThe terms ´self-instructed´, ´non-instructed´ and

´naturalistic´ learning contrast with ´instructed´ language learning on a dimension concerned with the roles and types of pedagogy involved in language learning beyond the classroom.

The term ´instruction´ is usually understood as a particular type of pedagogy involving formal processes, such as sequencing of material, explicit explanation, and testing. (e.g.: when learners watch a TV soap opera in a foreign language, we are not likely to say that the show is “instructing” them in the use of the language).

In naturalistic learning, there is no instruction or specially designed materials and, in principle, no desire to learn.

#1: Informal Language Learning via Interactive Television (iTV)Dewey and Vygotsky

Learning is socially and culturally mediated.

Situated Learning (Lave and Wenger)Learning takes place from the process of

engagement in a community of process

Vicarious LearningPeople learn from observing and modeling

behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of other learners

Informal Language Learning via Interactive Television (iTV)

Interactivity from rich multimedia experienceselect from alternative audio and video streamsmake their own choice amongst subtitling or

captioning optionsview supplementary information on screenuse communications tools such as chat and

email

Informal Language Learning via Interactive Television (iTV)Limitations

iTV helps develop listening and comprehension skills

But it may not be very useful in developing speaking and writing skills

Informal Language Learning via Interactive Television (iTV)Participants’ response

Did not want to watch language learning programs

Preferred to watch mainstream programs

Informal language learning is something that is naturally and playfully induced.

Informal Language Learning via Interactive Television (iTV)“Language learning is self-constructed

knowledge (i.e. not reliant on teacher input) that may be acquired by receiving comprehensible input, observing others and participating in social interactions.”

#2: From Milk Cartons to English Roommates

“From milk cartons to English roommates: Context and agency in L2 learning beyond the classroom”By Paula Kalaja, Riikka Alanen, Åsa Palviainen, and

Hannele Dufva.Benson, P., & Reinders, H. (Eds.). (2011). Beyond the

Language Classroom. The Theory and Practice of Informal Language Learning and Teaching. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

From milk cartons to English roommates

Agency = the socioculturally mediated capacity to act

L2 learners social agents collaborating with other people and

using the tools and resources available to them in their surrounding environment

active participants in the learning process, exercising his or her will or agency, and acting accordingly.

(Kalaja, Alanen, Palviainen, & Dufva. 2011)

From milk cartons to English roommatesExplore the relationship between language learners’ agency

and their contextOut-of-class L2 learning experience of Finnish learners of

English and Swedish English= no official status

MediaPopular cultureWorking life

Swedish= one of the two official languagesMediaSwedish-speaking schools and institution Spoken language in some parts of Finlandproducts made in Finland required to have food labels in Finnish and

SwedishAmbivalent attitude: imposed/obligatory vs cultural & pragmatic value

From milk cartons to English roommates

Open-ended surveyFirst year university students of English (N = 116)First year university students of Swedish (N = 83)

Focus on what students said they had learned about Swedish and Finnish both in and out of school

From milk cartons to English roommates

In classroomEnglish

Grammar and vocabulary‘all the basics’, ‘most of it’

SwedishGrammar and vocabulary‘quite a lot of grammar’

From milk cartons to English roommatesBeyond classroom

English Words, phrases, idioms, pronunciation, culture TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, Internet, other people An English roommate who stayed with the student for a week Learners actively sought out opportunities for learning “I learn something”, “I learned quite a lot”

Swedish Vocabulary (no elaboration), pronunciationTV, radio, movies, music, newspapers, magazines, InternetProduct package or labels (quote from milk carton)Only a few mentioned people as sources of learning“I don’t think I learned anything outside school”, “I didn’t learn

much”, “I learned very little”, “I learned to understand Swedish better outside school”

From milk cartons to English roommates

Conclusion?The significance of their own will to search for

opportunities to use and learn the languagesStudents of Swedish:

Some acknowledged that they could have been more active in using the media in learning

Some explained that there are not a lot of native Swedish speakers (but there are not a lot of native English speakers either)

There are a variety of contexts for L2 learning outside of class and it largely depends on the learners’ perception of and willingness to exercise their power and agency

Autonomous Learning

—based on a research

Something about

#3

IntroductionBackground shortage of language teachers being challenged by out-of-school means of learning

Context of the research: over four years urban high school promote the study of a second foreign language

Ethnographic method: questionnaires, observations, recordings and research interviews.

What to Study: The purpose of academic goals

Students’ identity and family history

Love for something

12 languageswere identified

How to learnSerious

Doing grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, comprehension and expression exercises;

Learning the alphabet; Learning by heart; Writing down grammar rules; Using dictionaries; Taking notes in a notebook; Assessing language progress

by reference to a grade or mark.

Using school material from previous FL classes;

Translating unknown words; Translating sentence.

Lighter

Watching Japanese animes or reading mangas;

Using almost exclusively songs by their favorite singer;

Having conversations with a native speaker;

Chatting with a friend in the target language;

Watching an Anglo-American blockbuster movie or serial in another language;

Playing games on the Internet; Watching football results on an

Italian TV channel; Going to the kebab restaurant to

listen to conversation in Turkish; Reading a book written in French

about the target country; Using a traveller’s phrase-book

Difficulties

improve language skills: gathering reliable sources

getting human help

living in a language-learning-friendly environment

monitor the learning process: hard to assess what students have learned

individuals have different learning styles and contents.