The Experience of Learning a Subsequent Language 1

The Experience of Learning a Subsequent Language

Isabell C. Camillo, BA

Brock University

October 8 2010

2,048 words

I certify that this is my own work and does not contain any unacknowledged material taken from
other sources without appropriate acknowledgement.
 The Experience of Learning a Subsequent Language 2

The Experience of Learning a Subsequent Language

I learned to speak, read and write English by being completely immersed in the culture,

living in an English speaking community, surrounded by British, North American and Australian

expatriates. I was placed amongst native speakers younger than me to facilitate my acquisition of

spoken English. My learning was reinforced through private one-on-one instruction provided by

a native British-English teacher. Once I had acquired adequate English verbal skills, I was

accepted into the Muscat English Speaking School in Oman, where I was placed in an intensive

reading program to help expand my vocabulary skills. Although not fluently, within a span of

five months, I had acquired the ability to effectively communicate in the target language.

According to Brown (2007), “total commitment, total involvement, a total physical,

intellectual, and emotional response are necessary to successfully send and receive messages in a

second language” and “few if any people achieve fluency in a foreign language solely within the

confines of the classroom” (p. 1). I attribute my successful learning of English (my subsequent

language) to total immersion in the target language and its culture, and have always believed this

method of acquisition to be the most successful.

My mother tongues are German and Italian, which I learned simultaneously as an infant

living in Europe with my German-born mother and Italian-born father. In 1982, when I was eight

years old, we embarked on the adventure of a lifetime that landed us in the Sultanates of Oman. I

didn’t speak a word of English or Arabic yet there I was in a strange country, exposed to a

different culture. I was enrolled in the Muscat English Speaking School but my registration was

denied on the basis that they didn’t have the resources necessary to teach English as a second

language. At the request of the school, my parents employed a private English tutor to help

expand my vocabulary and develop my verbal skills. I would visit the tutor twice per week and
 The Experience of Learning a Subsequent Language 3

during these one-hour visits, she would show me pictures of objects and clearly read aloud the

matching word. I would then repeat these words back to her until she felt my pronunciation was

correct. This process of correlating, repeating and memorizing was very effective and I began to

develop a knowledge base of everyday words.

At the same time, I was registered in a Kindergarten program at the Muscat

InterContinental Hotel where we lived. In September, I was placed with native speakers that

were younger than me to help strengthen my developing verbal skills. Since the language used

by younger children is simpler, the administrators of the Muscat English Speaking School

believed this would be a more relaxed and natural atmosphere for me to learn English. In this

informal community, I was able to practice my vocabulary and grammar knowledge to

manipulate my new environment. Through group work, interactive play stations, show and tell

sessions, story time, and a multitude of other “play and learn” activities, I began to physically

experience the words I was learning.

By December I had mastered the English verbal skills appropriate for my age and grade

level, my application to the school was once again submitted and this time accepted. In January

of 1983 I was happily placed in “fifth year section E”, the level equivalent to a North American

grade four class. I enthusiastically participated in all activities even though I couldn’t always

understand the lessons. I listened, watched and imitated my classmates to the best of my abilities.

I was then placed in a special enrichment program at the school where I would spend an hour

each afternoon listening to and reading everyday vocabulary with the assistance of a trained

resource teacher. The following September I joined my classmates in “sixth year” as a fluent

English-speaking student, able to fully participate in all aspects of the British-based curriculum.
 The Experience of Learning a Subsequent Language 4

The methods used by those responsible for my English language education resemble the

principles and procedures of the Direct Method. According to Larsen-Freeman (1986), “the

Direct Method received its name from the fact that meaning is to be connected directly with the

target language, without going through the process of translating into the student’s native

language”. The author continues by saying that “the goal [of the method] became learning how

to use a foreign language for communication…” (p. 18).

Speaking together with classmates was encouraged; grammatical forms were related to

objects and pictures, and only the target language was used within the classroom (Harmer, 2007,

p. 63). The teacher would demonstrate rather than explain and students would make direct

association between the target language and meaning. The main purpose of language learning

was communication and grammar was taught indirectly (Larsen-Freeman, 1986, p. 22-23).

For me, the process of learning via the Direct Method was highly successful because I

learn best if the task acquired is defined within a familiar context, relating to my “real-life”

outside of the classroom. Total immersion, [learning in a natural setting], calls upon every

human function: instinctive, moving, emotional and intellectual, and thus promoting successful

learning (Kowalick, 1998). I was fully immersed in the language and its culture, and feel I

acquired English quite simply through “osmosis” (Flowerdew and Miller, 2005, p. 6); through

the subtle absorption of my environment had to offer. Although I did have some formal

instruction via intensive reading and vocabulary practice, I was “forced [by those around me] to

make communication attempts... [I] saw the different ways in which similar concepts could be

expressed, thus exposing [me] to a different culture. [I] learned in the most natural way possible”

(Khoh, 2009).
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Most educators believe that to learn another language to the point of fluency, one must be

immersed in its culture (Altarriba and Heredia, 2008, p. 194) and that “students need

considerable exposure to language for without it there is no chance of any [successful]

acquisition… [teachers feel] one kind of repetition is of vital importance in language learning

and that is the repetition of encounters with language” (Harmer, 2007, p. 56). In other words, the

more exposure one has to the language, the better chance one will have to grasp the complexities

of the language. Only through total interaction, through the repetition of tasks and being able to

manipulate their environment by using these new skills, will a person fully acquire the target

language, much like a child learns their L1 through “osmosis” (absorption of your environment)

or in a “natural way”.

Natural learning principles provided the foundation for the Direct Method (Richards and

Rodgers, 2001 p. 11). These principles reflected a focus on language learning as natural for the

L2 learner as it was for the child to learn their L1. The Director Method came about as a result of

challenges placed on the Grammar-Translation Method for its lack of emphasis on listening and

speaking. The Direct Method advocated essentially a one-to-one correspondence between input

and output, and really took root when it was married to the theory of behaviourism. According to

Harmer (2007), when Watson and Raynor, two psychologists, published their results of a study

in the early part of the twentieth century, concepts such as conditioning emerged, where stimulus

elicited a specific response and reinforcement encouraged the same response time after time,

which subsequently then led to the theory of behaviourism (p. 51). Within the context of

language learning, this can be attributed to when students are asked to repeat vocabulary,

exercises or some other means of language practice correctly and are then rewarded for their

accurate responses by praise.

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Brown (2007) states that in second language acquisition, behaviourism translated to the

behavioural approach, which focused on the immediate perceptible aspects of linguistic

behaviour-the overtly observable responses-and the relationship or associations between those

responses and events in the world surrounding them. Children were thought to be born with a

tabula rasa, a blank slate; slowly conditioned through various schedules of reinforcement,

shaped by their environments, and were then capable of producing linguistic responses that were

reinforced (p. 26-27). My experience of acquiring English as a subsequent language was rooted

in the basic principles of behaviourism under the methodologies relating to the behavioural

approach. My behaviour subsequently changed and I became conditioned to respond to the

demands of my teachers. Responses were elicited and reinforcement was offered in the form of

praise, which motivated me to focus more intently and learn that much faster.

Altarriba and Heredia state that “L2 learners and users are far from random selection,

chosen by education, migration, job needs and many other factors” (2008, p. 249). For me,

learning English was necessary for survival, a means to fit in. Subsequent language acquisition

wasn’t a goal of mine at that time, rather it was a tool I required to be able to “operate on my

environment” (Brown, 2007), as Skinner would say. Looking back from an adult perspective, I

was highly motivated by fear of being left out and so I wanted to learn; I wanted to become like

the rest of my classmates, like the rest of the children who lived in my community. I was

friendly, intuitive, curious and energetic. I wanted to be able to communicate with those around

me as I had so much of myself to share. At only eight years old I had already traveled to several

different countries and was a balanced bilingual in my own right; experiences I was keen to share

with my new friends. Above all, I wanted to be accepted and liked by my peers. I was

determined to become a native English speaker and dedicated my efforts to that end.
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My teachers were native English speakers, passionate about their chosen careers, able to

interact with all ages. They had the technical knowledge required of the target language in order

to be able to explain its system to me. They were good communicators, supportive, inspiring

trust, dependability and creativity in their student. They were problem-solvers who responded to

individual and cultural differences, who motivated me and always remained calm and patient.

They were punctual, attentive and always prepared. Although classes were usually teacher-

centered, there was always active and respectful communication between me and my educators.

Because they were always so understanding, my learning experience was relaxed and friendly.

I attribute my successful learning of English (my subsequent language) to total

immersion in the target language and its culture. Today, I am fluent in all aspects of English to

the point where it has now become my native-like language, surpassing my abilities in my two

arterial ones. I speak English with a Canadian accent but once in a while traces of a Cockney

phoneme, such as /ɪә/ in the word here, sneak in and betray me, but never will you hear any trace

of a German or Italian accent. People are often surprised when I tell them that I’m not a native

speaker, especially when I tell them Canadian-English isn’t even the first form of English I

learned. They doubt me mainly because my speech is native-like and they hear no other accents

coming through when I speak. I learned my subsequent language through total immersion in the

target language and its culture, and have always believed this method of acquisition to be the

most successful.
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References

Altarriba, J. and Heredia, R. (2008). An introduction to bilingualism: Principles and processes.

New York: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Brown, H.D. (2007). Principles of language learning and teaching, 5th edition. White Plains,
NY: Pearson Education, Inc.

Flowerdew, J. and L. Miller. (2005). Second language listening: Theory and practice.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Harmer, J. (2007). The practice of English language teaching, 4th edition. England: Person
Education Limited.

Khoh, L. (2009). A general review of language immersion: History and background of

immersion education. Retrieved from http://www.suite101.com/content/a-general-
overview-of-language-immersion-a106982

Kowalick, J. (1998). Human functions, languages and creativity. Retrieved from http://www.triz-
journal.com/archives/1998/05/e/index.htm

Larsen-Freeman, D. (1986). Techniques and principles in language teaching. New York: Oxford
Press.

Richards, J.C. and Rodgers, T. (2001). Approaches and methods in language teaching, 2nd
edition. New York: Cambridge University Press.