Pattern-seekers. That’s one of
the latest buzzwords in the area of neuroscience (along with brain plasticity
and some others). In these days of lifelong learners and digital teaching, this last
addition to the vocabulary of language instruction might just be surprisingly helpful. Why? Because
one of the defining traits of successful language learners happens to be their
ability to spot patterns. That’s why most polyglots don’t need many grammar
explanations to grasp the basic structures of a language. Come to think of it,
that’s exactly what little kids do. They simply pay close attention to many spoken texts, then proceed to isolate the similar structures and deduce the common denominator. That explains why they come up with charming but incorrect REGULAR forms (e.g. I goed fast or I can’t
will today).
Let’s take a typically intermediate structure: he’s supposed to be here at five. Easy, right? Okay. The pattern seeker will
eventually come across this other sentence: he’s expected to be here at five.
She will notice the similarity and will somehow register those two phrases in
the same mental notebook. She will then find other sequences (Jack is bound to
succeed, we are meant to be together, etc.) The pattern seeker will soon identify
the structure: subject + verb to be + past participle + to + infinitive. Does she think in those technical terms? Of
course not! She just realizes the similarity and then goes on to put it to use and try it out. What’s the advantage of that approach? For starters, she will not have to remember five
different sentences but only one underlying structure. How's that for efficiency?
On a completely different note, I
would like to share something funny with you. You know how often I have
expressed my view that Donald Trump’s vocabulary is painfully limited, to the
point that any foreign intermediate student can follow his speeches without missing a
bit of information. As a matter of fact, Trump’s English would be pretty
useless in an advanced class, where lexical accuracy, cultural connotations and subtle nuances
are essential for attaining the required articulacy. To president Trump, accomplishments are either great or
tremendous, terrorists are simply bad dudes and the health care reform is just complicated. Well, it turns out a
lot of English teachers and learners have also latched onto that very
idea. So much so that Wired magazine decided to publish an article about it. Apparently the glorious simplicity of Trump-speak can really help beginners and intermediate students. Feast
your eyes.
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