View Content #21403

Christopher Daradics is a graduate student of linguistics at the University of Oregon.

"Something you feel will find its own form." Jack Kerouac

At the end of our month together spent looking at language learning outside of the classroom the big question on my mind is, how exactly can we help an individual go from being a student in a classroom to being a language learner in the wild?

I believe some compelling answers to this question come from Ecology which is, fundamentally, the study of processes in context. For us the process in question is language learning, and the contexts are the language classroom and the world at large.

As a masters student in the UO’s LTS program I have developed an ecological language learning framework to raise student awareness and to build the skills, habits, and outlook necessary for students to embrace lifelong language learning. I think this ecological approach to language learning can help us better understand the difficulty students face in making the transition and it also illuminates some specific steps students and teachers can take to help students work towards engagement and autonomy. The ecological framework gives students a structured and detailed process for transitioning out from the guided instruction of a classroom towards the independent exploration of an
intrepid and cosmopolitan language learner. The model has three parts: branching (outward, world facing activities), rooting (reflection/analysis) and trunking (planning and self-evaluation).

Branching activities encourage students to engage in the world around them. Branching shows students that anywhere can be ground for an authentic experience, linguistic or otherwise. Within the ecological framework, the branching activities generate authentic language material "leaves" which in turn become the "soil" for rooting activities. Rooting activities are thoughtful, introspective, and analytical activities that help learners better understand the forms, functions, and uses that were at play when they collected their language material during the branching activities.

As teachers we desire that our students leave our watch better able stand and function on their own. Trunking, in the ecological model, allows students to begin taking on more of the evaluation and planning they will need as they mature and integrate with their environment. Trunking then is the scaffolded transition of responsibility which allows students to support, plan for, and stabilize their own growth.

Think of a tree firmly rooted and flourishing. Perhaps it’s along the bank of a river. Think of all that makes the branches reach up towards the sun; think of what makes the roots burrow down deep into their grounding soil; and think about what makes the trunk able to stabilize and support the branching and rooting processes. Trees start with a pattern for their kind, much in the same way that students in our classroom are provided with a pattern of how to learn a language by our instruction, but as they mature into adults they find their way into a life of their own making.

"Something [our students] feel will find its own form." What are the feelings of your target language and how can your students branch, root, and trunk into those feelings such that they find their own form?

See the Activity of the Week for an ecological activity adapted for the classroom.