Could outdated language development programs founded on old-fashioned methodologies be costing your company millions?
Could old-fashioned methodologies be putting your workforce to sleep?
You can’t disagree with the fact that today’s globalized business world is dramatically different from what it was 10 years ago. So why then, do multinational organizations continue to implement outdated language learning programs that are founded on old-fashioned methodologies proven to be ineffective while they willingly adopt more effective, modern technology?
Well, my recent paper points the finger directly towards seven commonly held learning myths that are holding back language development programs at global corporations. My paper, The 7 Myths of Language Learning, puts the case to rest once and for all as I dispel seven myths still too frequently thought of as fact.
I personally believe that these myths prevent many companies from providing world-class resources to their workers thereby restricting both the employee and the enterprise from reaching their full potential. Don’t you think it’s time for more corporate leaders, especially those responsible for language development and training, to catch up with the 21st century?
This post, along with six others in the “myth busting” series, addresses the myths you must challenge today—myths I’ve seen have a direct correlation between employee and employer frustration, low productivity and lost revenues, far too frequently in global business.
Myth #1: Adults Should Learn Like Children
The first myth I address is the notion that adults should learn a foreign language just the way children learn a language. This is one of the more widely perpetuated myths—and promoted by some “natural language” learning systems—but it is fundamentally based on a fallacy.
Myth #1: Adults Should Learn Like Children
The assumption is that since children are so successful at a very young age acquiring language skills, why don’t we simulate that process for adults learning a new language? Well, there’s a couple key reasons why you cannot make this inference.
First because children are developmentally different from adults! It should come as no shock to you that biologically, a child’s brain is very different from an adult’s brain causing them to learn quite differently. The brain of a child is still developing physically, with new synapses being created well into their school years, and a certain level of abstract reasoning develops as children become teenagers.
Granted, children can memorize things very well—and often have better memories than adults—but part of the reason why children appear to learn languages so easily is that they’re learning WHILE their brains are developing. It does not follow then that using techniques that appear successful with children would work on adults.
Also, learning a second language is very different from learning a first language. Countless volumes of research have shown that the process in the brain for absorbing a second language is very different from the process of acquiring a first, in both children and adults. When anyone, particularly an adult, starts learning a second language, they already know a language—with a specific frame of reference—so it’s impossible for them to learn the new language without some level of abstract comparison to their native language.
The bottom line—I suggest you look at claims about this “natural language” approach with much skepticism. Remind yourself who is really learning, under what context he/she is learning, and how this person can best succeed.
Ensure your workforce can effectively develop the language skills required to communicate globally by downloading the entire 7 Myths of Language Learning report now! And to read the next post “Myth 2: Traditional instruction is best” subscribe to our blog here.
