One of my biggest character flaws is definitely impatience. One way I’ve discovered this is through my drive to complete other people’s sentences. I usually do this when I want to speed up a conversation or help the person I’m conversing with get to the point. It is not a good way to be.
Anyways, to get to the point: today I read an article about the connection between the ability to complete other people’s sentences and the understanding of a language. The article was titled: "New Research Findings in Linguistics."
The article explained that the “ability to effectively predict the syntax of others in context” is the result of “linguistic probability.” The more exposure and experience a person has with a language, the higher their ability to accurately predict what’s coming next in a sentence or text. The researchers explained that the ability to predict someone else’s point can be 'remarkably' accurate. Not only does the ability produce accurate predictions in the basic meaning of what someone is going to say, but it also provides accurate predictions for word choice and phrasing.
While discussing the possible implications of this study, one idea posed was: “Educators engaged in foreign language instruction might effectively focus their initial efforts on the most probable sentence constructions.”
Which sounds pretty good… initially. But, being a hyper sentence predictor myself, I started thinking about all the times I’ve been wrong. Sometimes I’m right, but sometimes… I fail. Completely.
All of which made me compare the idea of trying to teach ESL students English by teaching them how to predict word choice and phrasing to a line from a Jim Gaffigan bit:
“Really, were going to rely on my acting skills?” (Predictably, I replaced the word ‘acting’ with ‘prediction’ during the comparison).
Not that teaching the words and phrases that are most frequently used in the English language is a bad idea. It’s not. But there’s got to be a lot more. Because of all the things I’ve learned in my life, it’s that predictions are often wrong. Yes, it’s possible to “remarkably and accurately predict things,” but it’s also very possible to be absolutely wrong. Let’s not teach ESL students how to read and speak English using an approach that we hope will help them predict the language faster. Let’s teach them in a way that will help them know the language faster.
Let’s teach them the sounds and the building blocks of the English language, so when they see an English word they know how to correctly pronounce it. Then transfer those skills to vocabulary and comprehension. Because, I’ve spoken the English language my entire life and I try and predict the ending of many a people’s sentences and I might be right a lot of the time but I’m wrong just as frequently.
“I think back on what I was teaching and how I was trying to explain the English language and it didn’t make sense. And, it made sense to me because I natively speak it, but I couldn’t communicate that to a non-native speaker. In my experience teaching in Mexico, everything I’m learning now I keep thinking: ‘oh, I wish I would’ve known that.’ Because I don’t think I taught them anything. But I can see that Reading Horizons is going to help my ESL students immediately.”
– Lisa Velarti, Dual Immersion Academy, UT
Language learners need a lot of exposure to the language they are learning and as they do it will help them predict the meaning of complicated words and phrases –but- ESL instruction should start with phonemic awareness and decoding strategies. It's always safer to rely on facts than on predictions. I’d trust a scientist over a gypsy with a crystal ball any day.
