What Works: Helping Students Reach Native-Like Second-Language Competence, by Coalition Of Distinguished Language Centers

While at times the hiding of one’s name behind an unusual nickname is a sign of a lack of confidence in one’s work, that is not the case here. The end of the book contains a lengthy list of short biographies of the authorial contributors of this work and it is pretty impressive. The book is written by an authorial collective made up of Rajai Al-Khanji, James Berhardt, Gerd Brendel, Tseng Tsent Chang, Dan Davidson, Christian Degueldre, Madeline Ehrman, Surendra Gambhir, Jaiying Howard, Frederick Jackson, Cornelius Kubler, Betty Lou Leaver, Maria Lekic, Natalia Lord, Michael Morrissey, Boris Shekhtman, Kenneth Shepard, and Svetlana Sibrina, and one of the more notable and striking aspects of the authors’ familiarity with the process of learning near-native competence in a variety of second languages–English, French, German, Arabic, Russian, and Chinese are all mentioned prominently here–includes the striking insight that not only are no two languages the same in terms of what sort of mastery has to be done in what order, but also that no two learners are exactly the same in how they best learn another language or what they need in order to move from being a competent speaker and writer of a language to one who is viewed at the same level as a native. Despite this, the authors note from their combined experience as learners of languages and as teachers of these languages to diverse audiences that where languages have more of an overlap in terms of cognates and grammatical structures, language proceeds more rapidly. They also note that those students who struggle in learning languages can sometimes surpass those who make a high degree of initial progress because the slower students may have more ambitious aims while students who are quicker to learn may be content to remain at a lower level of competence than they could achieve with effort. They also note, though, paradoxically, that learners of a language who reach native-like competence are often judged more harshly because they are viewed as natives, rather than being given credit as speaking the language well for foreigners, and that can discourage those who make the transition to near-native second or more language competence.

As one can see from the foregoing, this book, although it is small, contains a great deal of insight into the process of learning languages. One of the aspects of this book that greatly surprised and pleased me was that although I am by no means a distinguished or even formally trained teacher of English as a second language, a great many of the techniques of this book that the authors discuss are ones that I have independently uncovered in my own efforts to teach English to others. I have found, for example, that one needs a personalized approach to language and that it is best to take into account the learner’s own desired use of the language as well as their own background and interests. I have also found that it is useful to teach music and learn language through poetry, as there is often a high degree of resonance in poetic and lyrical forms. On the other side, I have also found that dictionaries are of limited use, though better dictionaries that provide some sense of the nuance of language do a better job than basic dictionaries that simply provide the most obvious or narrowest view of a word without discussing its connotation or other senses of the word that enrich its meaning. 

Although this book is a short one at just over 100 pages, it offers a great deal of wealth in terms of information and insight that is crammed into almost 30 short chapters. The book begins with acknowledgements and an introduction. After this the authors give titles to their chapters that are full of the language of professional education but that do not do justice to the insights contained within the pages, with chapters titles like: Individualize the learning plan (1), conduct periodic diagnostic assessment (2), incorporate sensitivity to learning styles (3), treat learners as peers and according to their personality types (4), promote learner autonomy (5), break limiting forms of strategic competence (6), develop memory (7), but also expand students’ repertoire (13), reduce students’ accents (15), build an understanding of genre (17), build a deep understanding of culture through film and television and social events (18), encourage voracious reading (19), ask students to find materials and teach class (20), teach dialects (22), encourage the use of models and native speakers rather than dictionaries (23), devise appropriate study abroad programs for higher levels (24), teach music and through music (26), provide the appropriate kind and quantity of work (27), and finally, choose an appropriate approach and teaching method (28). Finally, the book discusses the contributors themselves as well as the coalition of distinguished language centers.

Although this book is a brief one, it is deeply interesting on a variety of levels. One of the more striking insights of the book is that the authors comment (correctly) that advanced students are often far more demanding than less advanced ones. Some people are of the mistaken belief that it is easier to teach those who are more advanced because the lack of knowledge of beginner learners creates a heavy burden to communication, but advanced learning brings with it a high degree of demands on the part of those who have already learned much, and not all teachers are able to address the individualized concerns of advanced learners. It is of the utmost importance to recognize how it is that native speakers and writers use their native language. They focus on meaning and do not stop top think of grammatical form at all, letting it take care of itself as they focus on the message that they wish to convey. They vary their tone with ease depending on the audience that they are talking to, speaking one way with close friends, another way with important people, and still another way to speak to audiences of men, or mixed audiences, or with children. They mirror back expressions that they do not understand by bringing to attention unclear utterances with subtlety and politeness. They are able to move easily between dialects for the use of humor as well as bringing a point home in striking expression. To teach this repertoire of skills to a language learner is an ambitious task, but it is a worthwhile one nonetheless.