Mikhail teaches English at a Moscow university, he wrote a letter criticizing our course. We decided to take into account his wishes and are already finalizing the materials. In the meantime, on occasion, we asked him about the development of language abilities.

What, in your opinion, is necessary first of all to master a language?

We know our native language not so much because we learn it from childhood, but due to the fact that every day we scroll through words and sentences in our heads a thousand times, that is, we think. This daily practice is the cornerstone of learning any language.

Previously, English was taught in schools and higher education institutions, but there was no real need to study it, since trade and economic ties did not develop. Fortunately, today the situation is different. Globalization is doing its job, and English is relevant for all segments of the population. The development of the World Wide Web and the ability to immerse oneself in the language environment creates excellent conditions for daily practice.

What is the fundamental difference between adults and children who learn a language?

A child perceives everything more easily than an adult. He quickly immerses himself in the language environment and immediately tries to repeat, without burdening himself with an intellectual understanding of grammar. Children build rules from the knowledge they already have.

Adults act according to a clear algorithm, which often leaves no room for improvisation. In principle, the capabilities of each person are individual, but adults certainly have a lot to learn from children.

What difficulties might a neophyte encounter when learning English?

Any European language begins with understanding the basics of grammar, which is essentially a linguistic skeleton on which vocabulary is built up, like muscles. From this point of view, English is quite simple.

English is an analytical language; it lacks personal endings, but has a very developed system of tenses.

For many, it is difficult to learn prepositions, which are presented in great abundance and have meaning-forming functions.

Many students give up the language because of the supposedly complex tense system. But this is the alphabet of the language, which is worth focusing on; in the future, learning will be easy.

This is more of an “excuse” than the real state of affairs. It doesn't matter how developed your working memory or imagination is. If a person does not suffer from brain injuries or is not sick, then he can learn a language using the right methodology in about a year. You need to change your psychological attitude and things will improve.

Give advice to those who are studying English on their own

Try to spend at least 30 minutes a day studying! Practice total immersion in learning the language, divide words into topics - cutlery, items of clothing, interior design, stick stickers with foreign words around the house. Constantly talk through everything you see around you. Get to know. Dare, discover new facets of your intellect, expand the boundaries of consciousness and you will succeed!

LANGUAGE ABILITIES. MYTH?

Have you often encountered people who complain about their lack of language ability? Words don't stay in my head. They can’t say anything intelligible, although the phrases seem to line up in their heads. ... Maybe you yourself are one of these people?

Don’t rush to dismiss your own “linguistic cretinism.” Better listen to the expert:

Alina Karelina – course leader of the “Foreign Language” discipline, director of the VI - SHRMI FEFU (Oriental Institute - School of Regional and International Studies) for development and head of the department of professionally oriented translation:

“Almost every day of my teaching activity, I am forced to answer one question that worries not only students, but also the directors of some FEFU schools: “Why should I/the students of my school (underline as appropriate) learn English if I/they have no ability for it? Why are students forced to drop out due to poor performance in a foreign language?”

Why are students so unsure when?

For them, I always have one answer - unless you have a mental disorder (such as aphasia or a speech disorder) or a physical disability, you cannot have difficulty learning a foreign language.

However, I am ready to admit that “language abilities” still exist. Here it is necessary to clarify that people who do not have a language ability do not always distinguish between the ability to speak and the ability to communicate freely.

Statistics say that 5% of the total population of the planet has the ability to use language as a sign system. In this ability, an important role is played by the analytical functions of the intellect, that is, understanding the structure of a foreign language. And it doesn’t matter what language we are talking about: Chinese, or native, for example, Russian.

Thus, I am sure that there are no people who are absolutely incapable of languages. The ability to communicate linguistically is inherent in humans from birth. Due to the characteristics of the brain, consciousness and character, people can comprehend a non-native language faster or slower. We simply tend to justify unsystematic behavior in learning a foreign language, lack of motivation, laziness, unsuccessful methods of teaching a foreign language and unprofessionalism of teachers as an inability to learn a foreign language.”

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Foreign language aptitude

One gets the impression that some people assimilate and with enviable ease. I., while for others, even with a high level of motivation, it is given with great difficulty. This suggests that people differ in S. to i. I. Throughout the 20th century. Tests and techniques were being developed that would make it possible to predict the success of a particular person in mastering and. I.

It is necessary to distinguish S. to and. I. from the ability to master their native language. The ability to acquire a first language—the “mother tongue”—appears to be a universal characteristic of humans as a species, although individuals may differ in the rate and quality of their first language acquisition. The ability to acquire a first language probably also extends to the simultaneous acquisition of two or more languages, e.g. in a bilingual and multilingual environment. Strictly speaking, S. to i. I. refers to the ability to acquire a second language after a person has already mastered the first language and has passed the age (approximately 5 to 7 years) beyond which the ability to acquire a first language is no longer involved in the acquisition of a second language.

In support of the idea that people differ in S. to i. I., one can apparently refer to the results of the study, according to the Crimea, exact measurements taken before the start of the study and. i., significantly - and sometimes quite highly - correlate with the success achieved at the end of its study. This is because people differ in their max. or the optimal rate of assimilation for them and. I. (i.e., high-ability individuals can achieve a satisfactory level of knowledge in a relatively shorter time than low-ability individuals, and training can be tailored to their higher potential). This explanation does not imply that people with low abilities are unable to master i. I., which only means that they need much more time to achieve a certain level of knowledge than people with high abilities.

As with any attempt to construct an ability test, the researchers began their work by analyzing the mastery task itself. I. in a typical textbook. situations, trying to determine which individual characteristics may interact with this task. The language consists of several. interconnected systems that must be learned when studying it: phonetics (systems of sound units and their combinations from which words and expressions are made), grammar (system of rules for generating meaningful oral statements and written sentences) and vocabulary (an extensive stock of words and idiomatic expressions , which are used in the generation of oral statements and written speech). In addition to this, and. I. usually has a specific writing and spelling system that a person must master if he is going to read and write in that language.

It can be assumed that cognitive abilities interact differently with these aspects of the system and. I., and this is true. S. k i. I. are not an indivisible whole, it is rather a set of abilities, having which, a person can cope with various aspects of the task of mastering and. I.

To date, several have been created. effective test batteries S. to i. I. These tests measure approximately the same set of cognitive abilities that predict success in learning and. I.

Cognitive abilities underlying S. to i. I.

Researchers have concluded that there are at least four specific cognitive abilities that underlie successful learning. I. in traditional studies. programs, especially those aimed at teaching spoken language.

The ability to phonetic coding (phonetic coding ability) is a type of mnemonic ability, thanks to which a person perceives sounds and. I. and sound forms of words and expressions, “encodes” them in long-term memory and subsequently finds them and reproduces them. Apparently, it does not include the ability to distinguish foreign sounds; The vast majority of students are able to learn to distinguish phonemes with the appropriate learning conditions. Rather, it involves increased attention to the exact phonetic forms of foreign sounds and words and their retention in active memory, especially if they contain phonetic features that are absent in the learner’s native language. This ability can be tested in various ways: loosely, by presenting the examinee with foreign sounds or words and trying to reproduce them after several times. seconds of distracting activity, and more strictly, for example, requiring the examinee to memorize the connections between sounds and phonetic signs.

Grammatical sensitivity, or the ability to perceive grammatical relations in and. I. and understand the role of grammar in the production and translation of utterances and sentences. In one form of the test, the examinee is required to perceive cognate grammatical relations in his native language.

Mechanical associative memory (rote associational memory) has long been identified in factor-analytic studies. cognitive abilities; its necessity has been proven for the assimilation of a large number of arbitrary connections between words and their meanings, which must be mastered. The presence of this ability can be tested using the method of selective analysis of activity samples, requiring the examinee to memorize a certain number of such arbitrary associations. and then selectively demonstrate their knowledge (for example, using artificial language material).

Inductive ability is a general cognitive ability measured in multiples. batteries of tests of cognitive abilities, - the ability to see and derive rules that govern the formation of stimulus patterns. In tests S. to i. I. tests how well the examinee can infer and apply relevant rules and relationships by working with selected material from real or fictitious contexts. I.

Indicators of tests S. to i. I. significantly correlate with scores on tests of general intelligence, but this correlation is most likely due to the fact that some of the special abilities necessary for successful mastery of i. i., are also factors measured in intelligence tests. This fully applies to inductive ability, but to a lesser extent to the other above-mentioned abilities. Tests S. to i. I. usually yield higher correlations with measures of achieved success in mastering and. i. than tests of general intelligence, due to the fact that they include the necessary measurements of special abilities.

Predictive validity of foreign language ability tests

Average coefficients of validity of tests S. to i. I. turn out to be one of the highest in the applied area. psychology. Over the course of a number of years, the test scores of S. to i. I. were an important criterion in the selection of volunteers for the US Peace Corps, since most of them required knowledge and. I. to work in host countries. At the same time, validity coefficients on average from 0.5 to 0.6 were regularly recorded. Peace Corps candidates were highly motivated both in passing tests and in the process of studying in intensive courses, etc. I.

The degree of predictive validity demonstrated by an aptitude test can be influenced by many variables. Motivation in passing a test and in mastering a language is only one of them. The other is the type of training - intensive, systematic and intense as opposed to lengthy, relatively unsystematic and tolerant of student errors and failures.

Most successfully and... i. will probably be mastered by those who have an above average or higher level of development of all or almost all special abilities necessary for success.

See also Aptitude Testing, Cognitive Abilities, Psycholinguistics

Knowledge of foreign languages ​​opens up enormous opportunities and prospects in our lives. First of all, knowledge of foreign languages ​​gives you great chances to profitably get a prestigious, highly paid position both in our country and abroad. In addition, knowledge of the language will not be superfluous for those people whose activities or lifestyle involve frequent stays abroad. And of course, the need to learn one or another foreign language arises among those who plan to change their permanent place of residence to live in another country. There are indeed many reasons that can be an incentive for learning foreign languages, but many of us have probably encountered a situation where, having made a firm intention and having a desire to learn a foreign language, we are faced with the problem that the first or any other chosen methods do not give any results . This question immediately has the simplest and easiest answer - a person simply does not have the ability to learn foreign languages.

Firstly, do not panic and refuse further training. This judgment is absolutely unfounded and incorrect. We can agree with the fact that children are more receptive to science than adults, but there are no people incapable of foreign languages! Even the laziest can be taught a foreign language at the user level in approximately 7-9 months, which already speaks volumes for those who want to achieve good results and master a foreign language perfectly.

No one claims that learning and mastering a foreign language perfectly is quite simple. To do this, you will need to show diligence, patience, you will have to concentrate all your attention on the learning process, and you will need to spend more than one hour of your free time learning the basics, but if the result is important to you, you should not refer to the excuse of a learning disability and stop halfway . If there is a goal or need, it all depends only on you!

As a rule, in most cases the main reason that hinders the teaching of foreign languages ​​is an incorrectly selected methodology. Inconvenient training schedule or, in some cases, psychological incompatibility with the teacher. We can also highlight a situation where a person already speaks several foreign languages ​​and for one reason or another, a certain psychological barrier may appear that interferes with the perception of another foreign language. The reasons may be of different nature, but in order to achieve further results it is necessary to identify them and correctly select the right “key” to eliminate them.

Unfortunately, the most acute problem is the outdated and traditional methods of teaching foreign languages ​​in many educational institutions - schools, lyceums, universities. Also, many tutors, adhering to these methods in the case of private tuition, pay great attention to the study of grammar, complex speech patterns or boring rules, but in most cases, for students, it is more important to master a foreign language at the level of communication, so they have absolutely no need for complex grammar.

Taking into account statistical data, 70-80% of students need to master spoken language. Thus, a very important point in teaching is to divide students into linguists and ordinary users. Considering the statistics, 70-80% of students need to master conversational speech, which they need for communication, correspondence, reading literature, or if they are abroad. In other words, at the moment it is high time to divide But, despite the poor and ineffective results in the case of language education on the old basis, the state continues to allocate huge amounts of money to the general education system, and this is one of the most common problems.

As for the “inability to learn foreign languages” - if we rely on widespread statistics, about 6-15% of the population really have an inclination to learn any foreign languages. Besides, these are just statistics. Indeed, there is a tiny percentage of people who can perfectly master a foreign language and at the same time not “give away” their characteristic accent in a conversation. Even a professional philologist or translator with many years of experience cannot always “hide” or get rid of a characteristic accent, since this is a very complex and sometimes not even possible process, down to the special structure of the speech apparatus. The acting skills and psychological qualities of each person also play a big role. But in this situation we are not talking about perfect pronunciation and knowledge of a foreign language.

In most cases, for many of us, learning a foreign language is necessary in order to express ourselves and understand, so we need to find our own acceptance and our own approach when learning and mastering a foreign language. Quite often, the teaching method chosen by the teacher for one student is absolutely not suitable for the rest, but, following the set goal, the teacher persistently and to no avail tries to impart knowledge. Unfortunately, this situation happens quite often, which leads to the fact that because of this, many people lose any desire, for example, and there is a strong opinion that a person simply “does not have the ability to learn a foreign language.” You can also consider the situation, perhaps comical at first, that even from school days, many students “pop up” the image of a not entirely correct teacher, classes with whom cannot be compared with a comfortable learning moment. Childhood and youth memories are quite strong, so during the learning process the image of the teacher involuntarily emerges, but, nevertheless, this is a long time ago. For example, communicative teaching methods and all kinds of immersion in the language environment are contraindicated for people of a melancholic disposition. For people with this type of nervous organization, it is better to calmly and measuredly learn a foreign language, with the help of tutorials or audio programs. For those who cannot decide on the choice of the right method or course in mastering a foreign language, psychological testing will help, but this is only if the person himself understands that he needs to pass a psychological test and receive recommendations from psychologists.