Chapter 10 – Facing Fears and Finding Opportunities
Introduction
Faith Adler; Bibi Halima; and Keli Yerian
We’ve come quite far on this journey together! Now that we’ve learned so much about language learning and how to plan our process and strategies, let’s make a few more connections in this final chapter and work on bringing together all that you have learned.
In the first section, we’ll talk about retention and integration of the language skills into everyday life. Life can get busy, and it can feel like a chore to maintain language skills over time, especially when you’re not prompted to use it regularly as you would in an immersion context. We will introduce a few ideas for how to make languaging across languages part of your daily routine.
Then, we’ll discuss some of the potentially unforeseen roadblocks in language learning like language anxiety, plateauing, and motivation. These “walls” can feel intimidating when we run into them. It’s important to start adding the right tools to our toolbox ahead of time so that when we come face to face with them, the walls don’t feel so tall!
To help with motivation, we’ll highlight some of the benefits and opportunities that bilingual individuals get to experience regardless of what language they might be learning. Of course, there are some wonderful benefits that immediately come to mind for most, but we will also discuss some of the less recognized benefits of language learning that linger below the surface.
Finally, we will end with several inspiring stories and media that describe the diverse language paths of some of our students in LING 144.
Chapter Goals
By the end of this chapter, I will be able to
- Consider ways to incorporate languaging into my everyday routine
- Have a strategy in place to overcome various “walls” I may run into during my language learning journey
- Recognize the many benefits and opportunities of learning languages
References
Wittgenstein, L. (1922). Tractatus logico-philosophicus. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
A verb form of the word "language" emphasizing the fact that using language is an action of active communication, not just an object of study (a noun)
Reasons and objectives that inspire people to learn a new language(s). It can be intrinsic motivation that comes from within and linked to personal fulfillment. It can also be extrinsic that is influenced by external factors such as learning a language as an academic requirement to complete a degree program