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7.21.2008

Memory and Habit Formation: ALM & TPR


Wes touched on this in his post on ALM, Connor on TPR.

One of the conclusion of the ALM is that "language must be learned in context of the linguistics and culture." With that considered, I would think that the best way to learn a target language is in the the culture that has that language.


In the target languages home nation/culture for instance.


1. How novel was it to consider the role of culture in language learning? How are you as trainees going to capture, study, investigate the cultural milieu of your audience? What would be some practical ways?


The second question:

Why is it these were so easy to retain, while others I'm sure I "traced" more intensively than these slipped my grasp? I'd say it was that these expressions were particularly interesting to me. Learning Chinese, I've noticed that if, at the time a certain phrase is introduced to me, I believe I can use it fluently in conversations I'd like to have, I have little trouble retaining that phrase.


2. I have heard that you remember things most effectively when they are associated with 1) mirth, 2) awe or 3) pain. How does trace memory fit into this equation?

Thank you for your patience. This will be due a week from this post.

The original posts by Wes and Connor:

wes said...
as there is no prompt for posting, I am going to "wing" my entry for this week. What struck me the most about the material of the third week was the Audio-lingual and army methods of learning a foreign language. What I took from the book and the lecture is that ALM called for intense habitual exposure to and proper use of a target language in a meaningful manner. In WWII, the army took this idea to the extreme; but maybe did the best thing possible considering the global circumstances. One of the conclusion of the ALM is that "language must be learned in context of the linguistics and culture." With that considered, I would think that the best way to learn a target language is in the the culture that has that language. Well, since the U.S. was at war with Germany and Japan, it made sense that they do the next best thing, which was to have expert informants aid those students immersed in a second language. No wonder the army method was so successful.
I feel the the ALM/army method are very effective given a certain purpose under the right circumstances, but if those circumstances are absent, then there are better ways at getting one to learn a target language. In the target languages home nation/culture for instance.

July 19, 2008 4:43 PM


conor mckiernan said...
This week, "trace theory" sparked my interest; the idea that, "the more often or the more intensively a memory connection is traced, the stronger the memory association will be and the more likely it will be recalled" (73); this is the theoretical basis for the Total Physical Response Method.

How accurate is this? I don't doubt that if you're exposed to a particular thing a hundred times, you'll probably remember it the next time you encounter it; it's just that looking back on my own experience of learning Chinese I've noticed that since I've returned home I've lost a great deal of the expressions I studied through repetition (drills, flash cards, even chanting to myself) YET, I distinctly remember a number of expressions I'm certain were explained to me just once. Many of these had to deal with women.

Why is it these were so easy to retain, while others I'm sure I "traced" more intensively than these slipped my grasp? I'd say it was that these expressions were particularly interesting to me. Learning Chinese, I've noticed that if, at the time a certain phrase is introduced to me, I believe I can use it fluently in conversations I'd like to have, I have little trouble retaining that phrase. (This extends beyond the conversations I'd like to have with women) ;-)

What am I experiencing here?

I believe in the power of TPR, but I wonder whether the underlying cause for its effectiveness lies somewhere closer to kind of almost immediate internalization I described above rather than rote trace theory; could its physicality work to create the type of interest that drove me to retain those phrases?

The textbook seems to imply that in practice we should admit the power of TPR, even if its theoretical foundation is less than solid; "TPR practices . . . may be effective for reasons other than those proposed by Asher and do not necessarily demand commitment to the learning theories used to justify them" (79) I intend to do just that.