COGNITIVE INFLUENCES ON LANGUAGE LEARNING

COGNITIVE INFLUENCES ON LANGUAGE LEARNING

1. Cognitive factors refer to the emntal conditions, strategies or processes wich the learner has access to while learning a foreign language

   • INTELLIGENCE OR THE "G" FACTOR
     • Intelligence has been defined and measured in terms of linguistic and logico-mathematical abilities. IQ (Intelligence Quotient) test, for example, have traditionally focused on one´s ability to interpret or manipulate language (linguistic ability).
       • Gardner reformulated previous theories of intelligence and referred to seven different forms of knowing.
         • The multiple intelligences are:
           • Logico-mathematic
           • Linguistic
           • Spatial
           • Musical
           • Bodily-kinesthetic
           • Interpersonal
           • Intrapersonal
           • Naturalistic
           • Spiritual
     • WHAT DOES RESEARCH SAY ABOUT THE EFFECT OF INTELLIGENCE ON LANGUAGE LEARNING?
       • Some studies seem to show that intelligence may influence the acquisition of some skills associated with SLA, particulary those used in he formal study of an L2 such as reading, writing, language analysis, and vocabulary study. In contrast, intelligence is much less likely to influence the acquisition of oral fluency skills.
         • Intelligence may be a predictor os succes of language learning in formal instruction contexts, but this will not be the case in naturalistic settings, that is, in those enviroments where language instruction plays a minor role.
   • LANGUAGE APTITUDE
     • Aptitude is considered to be the "natural ability" which we have to learn language, and people possess it to varying degrees.
       • The importance in SLA is underlined by researchers such as Skehan who believes that "aptitude is consistently the most successful predictor of language learning success".
         • More recent aptitude test such as carroll and Sapon´s Modern Language Aptitude Test(MLAT, 1959) and Pimsleur´s Language Aptitude Battery (LAB, 1966, 1968) represent not only a more progressive and scientific approach to aptitude test construction but they also reflect the audiolingual principles in fachion at the time.
           • Carroll and Sapon´s MLAT identified four main components in language aptitude:
             • Phonemic or phonetic coding ability
             • Grammatical sensitivity
             • Inductive language learning ability
             • Rote learning ability
   • COGNITIVE STYLE
     • Refers to the manner in which the learner perceives, monitors, conceptualises and recalls linguistic information.
       • Wilkins define it rather more grandly as: A characteristic self-consistent mode of functioning which individuals show in their perceptual and intellectual abilities.
         • By Brown is considered as a combination of affect and congnition and he groups the following specific variables as characteristic of it:
           • Reflective-impulsive thinking
           • Broad-narrow categorizing
           • Skeletonizing-embroidering
     • Reid (1987) and Willing (1987) distinguish other types or modalities of learning styles.
       • Visual learning
       • Auditory learning
       • Kinaesthetic learning
       • Tactile learning
     • Willing too identified four main learning styles used by ESL learners in Australia.
       • Concrete learning style
       • Analytic style
       • Communicative learning style
       • Authority-orientated learning style
   • LEARNING STRATEGIES
     • STRATEGY TRAINING
       • In the 1980s and 1990s a good number of teaching materials were developed with the aim of introducing strategy training in general language courses. These books generally provided teachers with tasks, data and explanations to acquire the skills and knowlege necessary to help their students to become more autonomous learners.
     • OUT-OF-CLASS LEARNING STRATEGIES
       • In an EFL situation, we are all aware of the limited opportunities our students actually have for coming into contract with the target language outside the classroom walls. Self-motivated language learners will make the effort to improve their English outside of formal instruction, by using strategies such as going to the cinema to see original version films , reading newpapers in English.
     • Are defined by Oxford and Crookall as: Steps taken by the learner to aid the acquisition, storage and retieval of information.
       • Ellis probably provies the clearest and simplest definition: Learning strategies are the particular approaches or techniques that learners employ to try to learn and L2. They can be behavioural or they can ce mental.
         • Characteristics or features of language learning strategies
           • Contribute to the main goal
           • Allow learners to become more self-directed and autonomous
           • Expand the role of teachers
           • Are problem-oriented
           • Are specific actions taken by the learner
           • Involve many aspects of the learner, not just the cognitive
           • Support learning both directly and indirectly
           • Are not always observable
           • Are flexible
           • Are influenced by a variety of factors
           • Can be taught
           • Are present in all learners
           • Are often conscious
     • Different types of strategies
       • Cognitive strategies
       • Memory strategies
       • Compensation strategies
       • Metacognitive strategies
       • Social strategies
       • Affective strategies
       • Communication strategies

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