by: Patrick Murrell

This question was the focus of a talk given by Professor Jane E. Hardy of the Indiana University Department of Second Language Studies.  Students and professors filled Detchon 209 to capacity last Friday and enjoyed pizza while Professor Hardy discussed new findings in language acquisition which show that all students learn a foreign language by the same process, regardless of intelligence.

            Professor Hardy showed research by several linguistics indicating that a certain process is used by all students in language acquisition.   The process is broken down into “steps” which must be reached by a student before they move to the next level.  This does not suggest that all students learn language at the same rate, but it does show why students often get discouraged when they are unable to stay up with a class.  For example, a student learning Spanish will first learn the suffixing before they learn to add an "s" to a vowel. 

            The significance of this discovery will allow teachers to help students learn a language by understanding where they are having trouble.  If teachers see that a student is stuck on a particular step, they can more effectively help that student by guiding them to the next step.  Professor Hardy reveals that “although this research is in its infancy, we hope that one day we might be able to apply its findings to a computer program, which would in turn help students to help themselves learn a language.”

            On behalf of myself and the entire Wabash community, I would like to thank Professor Hardy, as well as the Modern Language Department of Wabash College, for their efforts to improve the education at this school.