Education and demonstration – Language – Foreign
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-07
2002-01-29
Ackun, Jr., Jacob K. (Department: 3712)
Education and demonstration
Language
Foreign
Reexamination Certificate
active
06341958
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and system for learning a foreign language by first switching-off subconscious translation into a native language with the help of special drills consisting of simultaneous: reading of a lesson in a foreign language; listening to the recording of the same lesson; and repeating the lesson.
Learning a foreign language in adulthood (i.e. age twelve or older) is a difficult task for most people. Prevailing methods of language instruction are typically characterised by one common feature, i.e. comparison between the native language and a foreign language. Even in cases when instructions are given exclusively in a foreign language, e.g. so-called direct method or total immersion method used in Berlitz schools for more than hundred years, adults in most cases subconsciously translate foreign language into their native language. In other words, most adults encounter the difficulty in learning a foreign language while using conventional methods because they try to add a foreign language to their native language and labor under a number of misconceptions:
1.) Adults try to use the knowledge of a foreign language grammar which they have acquired as explanations in the native language. But this is practically impossible since there is no time for this kind of analysis during automatic fluent speech in a foreign language.
2.) Adults first formulate the sentence in the native language, then try to translate it quickly into a foreign language whereas they try to perform a grammatical analysis before attempting to speak the construed sentences in a foreign language. This formulation is practically impossible since, first, there is no time for this kind of analysis, and second, speech is a subconscious process that does not provide either time nor means for conscious activity.
The literature of the art of learning foreign languages documents various methods, beginning with the oldest, most traditional one—the translation method—to more modern ones, such as the audio-lingual method, the direct method and the total immersion method. The translation method is a classical language teaching method based on logical analysis of the language, memorization of complicated rules, explained in the native language, and conscious application of said rules in speech. According to this method adults attempt to formulate the sentence first in the native language, then translate it to a foreign language trying to analyze at the same time the grammatical structure of a sentence. For centuries this classical method was considered as a logical method of learning a foreign language by adults. Although this method is notoriously inefficient, it is the most widespread method used in most schools and colleges.
The audio-lingual method is aimed at teaching language skills in the order of listening, speaking, reading and writing. To this end, material is presented in a spoken form, and the emphasis in the early years is on the language as it is spoken in everyday situations, whereas reading and writing at this stage play supportive roles. At advanced levels, students are introduced to more literary forms of expression. At all stages, listening and speaking are done separately so that the main barrier in acquiring a foreign language—subconscious translation into the native language—is still in place and that is why although this method exhibits better efficiency in comparison to the translation method, especially for teenage learners, it has not found widespread application among adult learners of foreign languages.
The direct method attempts to develop in learners direct association of words and phrases with objects and actions without the use of the native language either by the teacher or the student. The ultimate goal according to this method is to develop the ability to think in the language terms, whether one is conversing, reading or writing. This method requires professional teachers who are trained to use the direct method in a class or group environment and is not practical for self-instructional study by adults. The direct method was successfully used in Israel for acquiring the Hebrew language during the influx of immigrants but did not reach the main stream of methods used in schools, colleges and language schools of the USA and Europe.
The total immersion method basically involves setting up informal situations where students communicate with each other and their teacher, and through this communication they acquire a new language. According to this method, a relationship of acceptance and equality between students and teacher, and among the students must exist. Trust, belief and confidence are key words. Since the student is not taught explicitly but learns through experience, the total immersion method is an active inductive approach to language acquisition. Implementation of this method also requires specially trained teachers and could be used in a class or group environment but is not practical for self-instructional study by adults. The total immersion method was first introduced by Benedectin Berlitz in 1892 when, after two weeks of vacation from a theological school, where he taught French language, he noticed remarkable progress in his class because his substitute teacher was a Frenchman without a knowledge of English. In spite of more than a century of application, the total immersion technique did not become universally used since it is not applicable for self-study and does not give an adult an instrument for overcoming the main barrier in learning a foreign language—the subconscious translation into the native language. According, in everyday life beyond the language school, where the total immersion method is used, a learner usually reverts back to his or her old habit of subconscious translation.
Another known statistical fact—if an adult lives in a foreign language environment, he or she becomes more or less fluent in the foreign language after N years, where N=age divided by 6 (age/6). So that a 30 year-old adult will speak a language in 5 years of natural immersion, and a 60 year-old adult after 10 years of total immersion. This explains why the total immersion method, successfully used in prestigious schools in many countries of the world for more than hundred years, still is far from the leading position among language acquisition methods.
The market of language learning further offers several audio-visual courses which are basically lessons filmed in live action. These courses teach all four language skills and make extensive use of dialogues as is done in a classroom. Many of these courses are used as a supplement to the class curriculum.
The prior art methods exhibit the following deficiencies, among others:
1.) They do not furnish an explanation to the problem: why most adults encounter difficulties in acquiring a foreign language.
2.) They do not furnish an instrument for adults to kick the habit of subconscious translation into and from the native language and to stop the fruitless attempts of adding a foreign language to the native language.
3.) They do not explain and use in acquisition methods the principle that people, who learn a second language in adulthood and speak it fluently, possess a second independent foreign language speech center in the brain. The fact that bilingual adults have two language centers in the brain was confirmed by scientists from Cornell University Medical College and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
The results of their investigations were published in the journal Nature (Jul. 10, 1997, vol. 388, p. 171).
4.) They do not explain to adults that the mechanism of speech in the native language and in a foreign language should be the same—automatic, i.e., subconscious expression of images or code language of our thoughts.
5.) They do not explain to adults that attempts to memorize foreign words as translations into the native language are fruitless because while conversing in a foreign language there is no time for conscious construction of sentences in a foreig
Ackun Jr. Jacob K.
Fernstrom K
Standley & Gilcrest LLP
LandOfFree
Method and system for acquiring a foreign language does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Method and system for acquiring a foreign language, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method and system for acquiring a foreign language will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2874313