MSI Press Blog

  Many language learners plateau at Level 3—Professional Proficiency—not because they lack motivation or exposure, but because they’ve unknowingly become trapped in a phenomenon known as linguistic fossilization. Fossilization refers to deeply ingrained errors in grammar (morphology and syntax), vocabulary, intonation, and pronunciation. These errors persist despite continued use of the language, often because they’ve been repeated so frequently that they become automatic. And here’s the catch: Level 4 proficiency demands not just fluency, but accuracy—a level of precision that fossilized habits simply can’t support. The late Boris Shekhtman, a revered Foreign Service Institute instructor and author of How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately , was a master at helping learners break free from this linguistic quicksand. He coined the term “self-drilling” to describe how learners inadvertently reinforce errors through repetition. His solution? Drill correct forms two to thr...

  The field of language acquisition has been revolutionized by transformative language learning and teaching (TLLT), a methodological approach that fundamentally reimagines how adults acquire language proficiency. Unlike traditional language teaching methods, TLLT leverages deep cognitive transformation processes to achieve remarkable results. At its foundation, transformative language learning draws heavily from Mezirow's transformative learning theory in adult education. As Davidson (2019) explains, "TLLT applies Mezirow's framework of perspective transformation to the specific domain of language acquisition, targeting not just linguistic knowledge but the fundamental frames of reference through which learners engage with the target language." This integration of adult learning principles with language pedagogy represents a significant paradigm shift. The pioneering work of Leaver and Campbell (2020) established that "transformative approaches produce proficien...