Language-learning websites, podcasts, and apps have skyrocketed in popularity in recent years, promising to make us more proficient in less time.
Yet, a recent study by UBC English professor
Dr. James Stratton suggests that, at least when learning a historically linked
language, learning a little bit of language history may be one of the greatest
strategies to accelerate your language learning. For more detail reach us at Bibliography
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In his study, pupils who learned
about the origins of words and how sounds have changed through time did
noticeably better than those who spent a comparable amount of time studying a
language using conventional methods. The pupils who had received historical
instruction were also able to accurately guess the meaning of cognates, which
are foreign terms with a common root.
In my opinion, the results are fairly
revolutionary because no one has ever empirically tested this before, at least
not to the amount that I have and on the languages I looked at, Dr. Stratton
stated. They hadn't encountered previously, and it demonstrates how historical
linguistics knowledge can have a useful use in society.
What did you learn from this study,
and how did you undertake it?
German from the third semester was used
in two portions. Regarding historical changes that affected English-German
cognates, one segment got instruction. The other portion spent time studying
vocabulary using the conventional teaching strategies currently employed in
second language classrooms, where the focus is more on communication than on a
clear comprehension of fundamental principles. The same instructor led both
sections of instruction. The type of education provided to the two groups was
the only meaningful distinction.
There were two key conclusions.
Secondly, I discovered that learners were better able to recall the meaning of
cognates when they were familiar with linguistic history. Second, and perhaps
most significantly, I discovered that students who were taught about the
different historical changes were better able to anticipate the meaning of
cognates they had never come across before.
Why are these results significant?
For language students and teachers,
these findings are crucial. They imply that you may essentially offer learners
access to the meaning of hundreds of words without even expecting them to
memorise their meaning by knowing just a few basic sound modifications. By
focusing only on the connections between the languages you currently know, like
English, it's a really effective approach to expand your vocabulary.
Could you give an example of how
historical linguistics might make it easier for you to determine the meaning of
new words?
In contrast to German, there were
sound modifications that happened in English. For instance, the 'k' sound in
English changed to a 'ch' sound before the vowels 'e' and I This difference in
sound explains why words like Kirche and Käse sound different in German and
English, respectively. If you are aware of this rule, you can anticipate the
meaning of unfamiliar terms. Now, if I ask you to guess what the German word
Kinn means in English, maybe you can figure it out. The letter "k"
became the letter "ch," making Kinn equal to chin. It is the word
"chin" in English. For more details visit us at Essay
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Why do you think that knowing how
words have changed over time is beneficial for language learning?
According to research, it is simpler
to recall a word or thing the more knowledge you have about it. Consider
splitting the class into two groups, like I did in my study. I instruct one
group of pupils to study the German phrase sterben, which means "to
die," as well as another 60 or so words. In the other group, I explain to
the students that sterben is connected to the English word "starve,"
which in Old English originally meant "to die," but over time its
meaning was linguistically reduced to refer to a certain kind of death, namely
death by hunger (thus, today's "starve").
The word's original meaning was
"to die," and it still has that meaning in German, but its meaning
has been condensed in English. Which group do you believe will be better able
to recall the word? As one might anticipate, students who were given the
historical context retained the word's meaning more clearly and for longer
periods of time as well. And the reason why is that people can relate to a
story, a historical narrative.