Tuesday's Tip for Language Learning: The Brain Scape

 



Excerpt from Think Yourself into Becoming a Language Learning Super Star

The Brain Scape

in

Language Learning


There are some psychological phenomena that exist that are not exactly cognitive distortions but have a similar effect on learning capacity and performance. They might be called cognitive distractions, except that they also have a strong emotional component.

Three representative “cognitive distractions” include tolerance of ambiguity, ego boundaries, and mental management. The uniqueness of this trio is that they are continua with strong poles and weak poles. The strong poles—ability to tolerate ambiguity, thin ego boundaries that allow you to approach the native speaker with comfort, and mental management that puts you in charge of your own performance.

Tolerance of Ambiguity

Do you feel lost if you cannot understand 100% of everything going on around you in your classroom, including every single word you hear? Do you need to know every work in a reading text, broadcast, or movie before you can understand what you are reading or listening to? If you answered yes to these questions, then you have a low tolerance of ambiguity.

We meet ambiguity in many places in life. Anywhere we find things less than black-and-white, we meet ambiguity. Gray areas intrigue some people; they have high tolerance of ambiguity. Gray areas trouble other people; they have low tolerance of ambiguity. For some people, ambiguity is even perceived as an existential threat (Budner, 1962).

Unfortunately for language learners, languages are high in ambiguity, especially if you are looking for direct correspondences with your own language and culture. There is no way around it: if you want to become a good language learner, you will need to work on developing a level of comfort in dealing with ambiguity.

 

Defining tolerance of ambiguity

Ambiguity occurs when you are not sure what you have heard or read. It could mean one thing; it could mean another; or, you cannot get enough of the thought to understand anything at all. 

It is important to realize that language (not just foreign language), by its very nature, is ambiguous. People are different one from another; their thoughts differ; and the way in which people express their thoughts differ. So, there is always room for misunderstanding—even in your native language. In a foreign language classroom, the problem is compounded; a great amount of contradictory information is encountered in learning a foreign language, but it must be managed to be a successful learner (Brown, 2007).

If you feel uncomfortable in any of the following situations, chances are you have a low tolerance of ambiguity and will need to work to improve if you want to succeed in your language class:

·       Words have multiple meanings; context decides, as in mumkin in Arabic which can mean perhaps, maybe, yes, or no (welcome to the Arabic highly contextualized way of speaking!);

·       You feel lost entering a subway system in the country of the language you are studying; it does not look at all like the subway system at home; and/or

·       You are pulled into a game with native speakers and have no idea how to play it; it is not like anything you have played before.

 

never done, never seen, queasy stomach, shaky hands = low tolerance of ambiguity

never done, never seen, sheer excitement = high tolerance of ambiguity

 

Tolerating (managing) ambiguity

Most of the ambiguity you will probably encounter in the classroom relates to reading texts that seem unclear or not understanding some cultural differences you see in a film. However, if you are participating in a study abroad experience, changes are you will meet ambiguity many times a day. The more the culture differs from yours, the higher the amount of ambiguity. I have lived and worked in 24 countries, and even though I had learned my way around Europe, Latin America, and the Soviet Union, I still was not completely prepared for Asia or the Middle East—or, for that matter, Russia once the USSR fell.

In addition to acquiring good cognitive language learning strategies for when you encounter ambiguity in reading or listening (see Oxford, 2017), here are some ways to improve your tolerance of ambiguity:

·       Accept ambiguity as part of communication in any language, realizing that expecting to understand everything in another language is unrealistic (even in your own language, you do not always understand everything); 

·       Look for what you can understand and ignore what you cannot; 

·       Use means other than language to figure out what you do not understand: context, body language—and, when you cannot express yourself with adequate language, point, gesture, body language, and other non-linguistic cues; and/or

·        Let your brain, which is an extraordinary organ, do the work of unconsciously putting meaning to the stream of words coming at you; though you may not be fully aware of it, your brain is processing incoming information, categorizing it, and organizing it.

 

acceptance of ambiguity = control over ambiguity

 

Don’t panic in ambiguous environments, find and focus on the familiar while accepting the unfamiliar!

Ego Boundaries

Ego boundaries, also called boundaries of the mind (Hartmann, 1991), refer to someone’s willingness to let someone into his or her inner circle and reflect the ego’s function of distinguishing between self and non-self (i.e. someone else). When that someone else comes from another culture, the ego boundaries of a language learner (or anyone) between self and the “other” can be either thick or think. Thick boundaries make it difficult for an individual to assimilate into another culture. Thin (permeable) boundaries make assimilation much easier. These differences are also called strong and weak ego boundaries.

 

Defining ego boundaries

Every learner has a barrier between “self” and “other.” This is normal; this is healthy. When the boundaries are very thick, however, they do not allow the learner to build a relationship with a native speaker from the culture of the language being studied. The barrier between them is too thick, too strong. Thin boundaries are generally viewed as more favorable for developing the kinds of foreign relationships needed for the development of good intercultural relationships.

Here are some examples of ego boundaries:

·        You do not like the taste of nearly any food in the foreign country or in your home country made by ex-pats of the country whose language you are speaking;

·        You do not like being touched by a native speaker, even casually, and you certainly could not walk arm-in-arm with someone from your gender though that is the custom in the country you are studying; and/or

·        If you are in a study abroad program, you look forward the diurnal ending of the daily required activities that require mixing in with native speakers.

 

ego boundary = barrier between self and other

 

Managing thick ego boundaries

Managing or overcoming ego boundaries, or, using another image, thinning your boundary, can be accomplished by anyone. Those with thin boundaries need no further thinning but to just leave the minimal barriers in place for safety. Too-thin boundaries blur the distinction between self and “other,” which is not good. Most activities associated with managing ego boundaries require interacting some way with the target population or culture.

Here are some ways to develop thinner boundaries:

·        Spend a lot of time in-country and become actively involved with native speakers there; since familiarity breeds discontent, over time, you will find yourself comfortable with your foreign counterparts; and/or

·        Develop a personal friendship with someone from the culture you are studying; it will improve your language skills and thin your ego boundaries.

 

familiarity = comfort level

 

Tear down ego walls between you and your foreign counterpart for more natural language learning success!


Mental Management

 

What is a goal without a plan? A dream?

Mental management techniques work at turning dreams into reality by requiring the setting of goals and establishing a clear and comprehensive (and do-able) plan. In his book, With Winning in Mind (2011, The Mentashowinl Management System), Lanny Bassham discusses the importance of setting goals and tracking progress. The right—and positive—mental attitude can definitely assist a person in accomplishing his or her goals.

 

Defining mental management

Mental management is the process of being able to improve your progress or show your prowess while under stress. Have you ever been under stress in a language course? Of course, you have!

If any of these following circumstances apply, you could benefit from training in mental management:

·        You draw a blank on a test even though you know the material well;

·        You have trouble sleeping the night before a big exam;

·        You are so nervous during class that you cannot learn new things because you are afraid that the teacher is going to call on you at any minute;

·        You have much trouble remembering the content of your assignments because you are spending time worrying about what the results of your work on your assignments will be; and/or

·        You feel nauseous during class because you are having trouble keeping up with your classmates.

 

stress during performance = need for mental management

 

Developing good mental management

If any of the conditions above describe you, time to develop some good mental management. Good mental management will get you though many difficult activities and help you improve your language performance.

Here are some ways to develop good mental management:

·        Control your conscious thought: don’t be distracted, focus on your goal, visualize you using your language well at an important event (this has the additional value of improving your self-image)—if you can visualize it, you can become it;

·        Plan how you will achieve each step of your goal and visualize those steps; and/or

·        Monitor your level of stress, keeping in mind that moderate amounts of stress release adrenaline which an actually improve performance by focusing your attention and giving you better endurance.

planning + monitoring + visualization = control

 

Take charge of your thoughts!

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