Why train, why not let the learning happen on the job instead?

Someone asked this question after reading my post about ‘Learning only truly happens when…’

This is a relevant question because there are so many types of content being learnt each day in the corporate world. Some content need a structured, expansive curriculum but there are those which can be dispensed at point of need. I will focus on the domain area of language for this moment.

It is said that Mathematics, Music and Language learning are similar because all 3 involve syntax. It is also observed that a person who is good in one of these is usually also good at the other 2.

I happen to belong to those who is not good in all 3. I believe that because of my learning ‘handicap’ [borrowed from the context of Golf] in my formative years, I needed a stronger foundation and greater stimulation from my teachers in Math.

The year of my birth, the school where I studied, the teachers I had, the environment at home etc., had decided the amount of stimulation and foundation that I could get. My non-inclination towards rule based learning [including syntax] had been sealed by the time I was 15.

Recently, partly due to the writing of this blog, I am especially attentive to grammar and sentence construction, etc. It is not my strength so I need to pay extra attention to edit my content, over and over again. I found myself reviewing other people’s grammar and mentally editing the grammar consequently. It caught my attention that when I tried to focus on the syntax, I lost the focus of the message and vice versa. I admire those who can stand up and talk [or write] with perfect grammar. I know that when I am training a class or giving a presentation, I cannot be focused on the grammar – can only hope that I do not make great blunders – or else I lose the focus on the content.

When I learn a non-native language, it is typically due to some of the following reasons :

• My parents wanted me to
• School requirements [I do not have another choice]
• My job requires it
• My marriage requires it
• My new country of adoption requires it
• I am bored and wanted to learn something new
• My friend is doing it so I joined him / her
• I want to follow the dramas / movie / songs better

Do you know which one of these [there are more of course] will be the most effective motivator for a person who is learning a foreign language?

Aside from the teaching method [which I will address later], rehearsing / practice opportunities, a hardworking and disciplined learner etc., the eventual fluency is largely dependent on the learner’s motivation [drivers] and implication of non performance [conditioning and ‘punishment’].

If my ability to speak fluently and correctly has no consequence [no loss of job, no reputational loss, no one will suffer harm, no one will sue, etc.], then I would have minimal interest to perfect the ability to speak well. In addition, if the reason I am learning the language is not of my own, I would not have ownership of the result. If, however, the reason is part of a far reaching goal, I would more likely persevere [eg. I would like to live and work amongst the hill tribes of Thailand], and vice versa.

These elements are outside the control of the facilitator / teacher.

That which the teacher can influence is the method of instruction. Why teach so much in the class? Isn’t it better to just let the person learn on the job? It depends on the factors I highlighted above [reason for learning].

Most of us learn informally to speak in another language without knowing syntax. We get laughed at a lot. I speak a smattering array of dialects / local languages – enough to get a point across but with very poor grammar and enunciation. I had picked them up by listening and observing others over a long period of time [TV included]. But I will not sit in a class to learn them through the formal process.

Most methods of instructions focus on learning the syntax, with practice and good examples. All of us are familiar with the rote memory approach, and we can survive rule based learning when the rules are well explained.

If a learner has a native language / 1st language, the facilitator needs to start with the schema already reinforced in the brain of that learner. The syntax of the 1st language will always interfere with the learning of the syntax rules of the 2nd language.

Learning to write is very different from learning to speak. I can edit my sentence over and over again if I am writing but when I am speaking, my grammar / sentence construction must be right on 1st try.

My English proficiency journey goes something like that:

• Started reading Enid Blyton when in Secondary school [my contemporaries did it in Primary schools] and Nancy Drew in Junior College [my contemporaries did it in Secondary schools]
• My English Teachers were not trained in Language Instruction and their enunciation were not proper though their methods were the conventions of those days
• I barely made the grade in Junior College and my General Paper Teacher did not have nice words for me
• My undergraduate days were insignificant – English was a language for communication but not my focus at all. I did not care if I spoke correctly or not
• My first job [at the Science Centre] did not require sophisticated writing. My supervisor wrote very simple sentences and I liked that
• My 8 years in the US had the most impact. I had to speak in English [do not have choice to speak in dialects / Mandarin]. I was assessed as poor in English [actually it was because I was using British spelling and sentence construction]. I was very conscious of my language proficiency.
• I started to read the Bible and lots of Christian literature and the constant reading increased my vocabulary
• The year before I returned to Singapore, I had plenty of time so I read voraciously

It was the opportunity, in tandem with strong motivation, and a deepened sense of confidence, [a new found self who felt free to express] that gave me the ‘horsepower’ to drive my English proficiency.