Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | A | Academic Exchange Quarterly

New era of language learning.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

The two general learning streams in psychology, namely behaviorism and cognitivism, have so far provided the agenda for the education system. With the tremendous and multi-faceted changes and demands of the new millenium, it is a propitious time to infuse fresh inspirations into the education in general and second/foreign language education in particular. Thus, this article reconsiders behaviorism and cognitivism on philosophical and theoretical grounds, attempting to show that the two theories are not removed from each other. This fact justifies the introduction of a new learning theory, i.e., constructivism in the area of second/foreign language learning.

Introduction

The education system is in constant change to remain consistent with and responsive to the requirements of the new millenieum. The belief is that traditional approaches to education can no longer help with the learning phenomena effectively. The two general views of learning, namely behaviorism and cognitivism, have so far fed the education system in general, and language education in particular. The reductionist view of learning or behaviorism, which was modelled on the animals' behaviour, was soon recognized inefficient and replaced by a mentalistic view called cognitivism. The idea was developed in linguistics as a result of Chomsky's introduction of transformational grammar. Over the past decades, cognitivism has diversely exerted influence on the language learning in the context of communicative approaches. Though cognitivism dismissed a pure instructive and prescriptive model of language pedagogy as claimed by behaviorists it has not accounted for the failures and drawbacks of the behaviorism. It seems that cognitivism is theoretical behaviorism and behaviorism is experimental cognitivism (Harnad, 1982).

The fact that cognitivism is not far removed from behaviorism justifies the emergence of a new competitive learning theory. Learning in this epistemology (constructivism) is an active process handled by an individual and likely to lead to various results. Therefore, the language pedagogy should also enjoy the fresh draught and comply with the changes. The post-communicative era is thus supposed to stay faithful to the new vision to bear fruit. This article is intended to explore the dimensions of behaviorism and cognitivism, and contend that an epistemology change in the second/foreign language learning milieu is necessary at present.

Philosophical background

Objectivism or realism is a philosophy which underlies both behaviorism and cognitivism (Driscol, 1994). This school in philosophy maintains that knowledge is objective and independent of the learner, and that the teacher can convey the objective knowledge to his students. Nolla (1998: 32) believes that objects, phenomena, and processes are in this philosophical position considered independently viable, even if no human exists to perceive and conceive them. It is...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!