TEACHER'S POINT OF VIEW ON SOME MYTHS WHEN LEARNING A SECOND LANGUAGE 1

Teacher's point of view on some myths when learning a second language

Sheyla J. Tovar

Universidad del Atlántico

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Introduction

Like everyone else, teachers are also affected by beliefs or myths that often exist about

learning and teaching a second language. In this essay, we will talk about these myths, the

teacher's point of view, and why and how to avoid them in classrooms.

 Languages are learned mainly through imitation.

One of the most popular beliefs that can be heard among people when learning a second

language is that languages are learned through imitation, which is true but only in some cases.

For example, children learn primarily by imitation and observation. When they listen to their

elders speak, they copy not only words or expressions but also intonation, pronunciation, and

even body language, facial expressions. However, if we let a beginning learner learn exclusively

by imitation, this will not be of much use as it will be difficult for them to practice or make

themselves understood. On the other hand, for some advanced students who are determined to

improve their pronunciation, listening and imitating with attention can be valuable and useful,

since they will not merely rely on imitation to learn the language, but having already known how

it works the language, it will be useful for them to listen and imitate to improve what they

already know. The examples mentioned above were necessary to reveal the role of a teacher in

these kinds of beliefs. Some teachers think this way so they base their lessons plans only on

having students repeat what he or she does without taking into account the factors mentioned

above (if the student is a beginner or not if it is a child, an adult or an adolescent) without

realizing that this could be a serious mistake since the same mode of imitation teaching cannot be

applied, because an adolescent or an adult who is starting in their process of learning a second

language because this will result in stagnation and will not be effective. On the other hand, it
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could work for a child because although their process of imitating is selective, it could work in

some respects.

 The earlier a second language is introduced in school programs, the greater the likelihood

of success in learning.

As teachers, we must understand that this is not the best way or the best option. While it is

true that learning a second language is very important today, it could be frustrating for students

to study the second language for years and see that they did not progress much since it is evident

that only two hours a week (which is the time which usually applies to non-bilingual school

programs) are not going to be of much use if they want to learn at least the basics of a language.

Second language learners often overgeneralize the rules (be it grammar, pronunciation, or

vocabulary) of their mother tongue. That means that it is common for them to compare and relate

the rules of their mother tongue with those of the second language that are learning, which often

leads to mistakes and interference between the second language being learned with the mother

tongue. From the point of view of a teacher, there is not much that can be said about it since this

is directly related to the student and I can say in my experience as a student in Colombia that it

did not serve me much all the years of primary and secondary school in learning the English

language (which is the second language taught in Colombia in schools), since I only attended

English classes twice a week and it was not very helpful and unfortunately, the teachers I had

throughout my school years were not the best, I learned English on my own and finished

reinforcing that knowledge at university. What we can do as English or French teachers is to give

our best and not give mediocre teaching, in this way the students will learn something instead of

nothing, and at least they will not feel frustrated for having been teaching classes for a second

language for so many years and not having learned anything.

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 Teachers should present grammatical rules one at a time, and learners should practice

examples of each one before going to another.

Even though this is presented as a myth, I fully agree with the statement, since, again, in my

experience as a student and from my point of view doing it this way brings much fewer

complications. If this is the first time a grammar topic is being taught, it is better to do it this way

as it will be easier for the student to understand each grammar rule one by one. In my opinion,

the ideal would be to teach one rule at a time and when they have already learned to teach the use

of all of them together. This seems to be a bit more complicated for teachers since it takes more

time and effort, but in the same way as teachers, we must know, understand and take into

account that not all students learn at the same pace or speed and above all, they do not learn in

the same way. It could be said that some students learn "slower" than others and have a much

harder time understanding, so they will not have satisfactory learning if they are taught grammar

structures together.

 Teachers should teach simple language structures before complex ones.

Focusing on this statement, we could say that naturally, no matter what language is being

learned some structures come before others. Every teacher knows that for a language to be

learned correctly, some things must first be taught and then others since there are things that we

must know first to give way to other topics. For example, in the case of English, to learn about

the past continuous you had to have learned about the simple past and in French, before learning

about the compound future you had to have learned about the simple future. There are

components of some subjects that are strictly necessary to learn other subjects. From my

experience as a student and as a teacher, I can say that there are "less advanced" subjects that are

more difficult to learn and teach, or at least that is the perception that students and I have as a
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teacher. In addition, it is a fact that the more the level and capacity of the student advance in

terms of language, the more the teacher increases the complexity of what he teaches.

 Learners ’errors should be corrected as soon as they are made in order to prevent the

formation of bad habits.

As teachers, this is a sensitive issue that we have to take into account. Some believe that if a

student makes a mistake during class and it is not corrected right away, it can become a bad

habit, although it is true that when a mistake is common and persistent in class it is important to

mention it, it must be taken into account the way the teacher lets the student know about their

mistake: the ideal would be not to say it in front of the whole class, it may not be very useful as it

will only create insecurities in the student (s) and will make them lose motivation at the moment

Also if you let the student know his mistake immediately after committing it, it will not

guarantee that the mistake will be corrected immediately. From the point of view of a teacher, it

is important to highlight the extreme care that must be taken with this type of attitudes (correct

mistakes immediately, in front of all the student's classmates) since we cannot know which

student is more sensitive and which is less emotionally sensitive, a bad word from the teacher

towards the student or an embarrassment that the student experiences can be critical in their

process of learning the second language, since, as mentioned above, this could make students

lose their motivation when speaking.

Conclusion

Summarizing what has been raised, we can say that every teacher needs to unlearn old ways

of thinking in order to learn new ones. These old ways of thinking are no longer valid because

everything changes over time, and that also includes what is known about children's behavior
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and ways of learning. Every teacher must pay special attention to avoid these myths in any way,

and if someone had these beliefs, unlearn them to learn what is real and valid concerning

teaching.

Bibliography

 Kuo, J. Popular ideas about language learning.