Second Language Acquisition for Continuing Learners
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Continuing Learners Course Overview
- Have you been actively engaged in language and culture learning for months or years and now you need some help to reach a higher level of proficiency?
- Do you want to move beyond everyday conversations to use your new language in heart-language ministry or professional activities?
- Do you feel like you're stuck on a language learning plateau and can't seem to get "unstuck”?
Second Language Acquisition (SLA) for Continuing Learners is designed to help language learners improve upon their existing language to get to the next proficiency level. The course is highly customized to meet each individual’s needs and goals. It consists of four components: Individual Coaching via video call, Foundations, Language Learning Techniques (LLT), and Target Language Pronunciation. (See below for an explanation of each component.)
Audience
Most participants are on-field learners in the Novice-High to Intermediate-High proficiency range, which means that at a minimum they are able to carry on everyday conversations about the weather, understanding and giving directions, ordering a meal in a restaurant, talking about what they did yesterday and plan to do next week, handling basic phone conversations, etc.
Format, Duration, and Cost
Each week, you will complete work on your own schedule through our online course management system, learning about language learning theory, practical techniques for language learning, and the sound system of the language you are learning. Then, you will meet one-on-one with an expert instructor via video call to talk about what you've learned and your particular language learning situation. You will also work one-on-one to learn the phonetics (sound system) of your target language.
Our SLA courses are fully online and flexible to your schedule. This allows you to take it anywhere in the world and manage your own schedule. The course consists of 15 sessions (around 100 hours of course time), which you complete at your own pace. In the past, many learners have completed it in six weeks (approximately 3-4 hours a day every weekday) or at a more relaxed pace over 12 weeks (approximately 7-10 hours per week). But we can accommodate and individualize the course so that it works for your specific needs.
This course costs $1,300 and includes all course materials..
Although most students take the course for non-credit, you can also enroll for four hours of credit (summers only). Contact us for details about tuition and how to apply.
4 Course Components
Weekly one-on-one meetings via video call are designed to zero in on your specific needs. The initial meeting consists of an analysis of your short-term and long-term needs and goals, strengths, weaknesses, gaps in earlier learning, issues that are holding you back, etc. Then, each weekly session draws upon information from the other three components to equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to reach the advanced proficiency level and then to continue progressing in language and culture learning.
You will also meet one-on-one via video call with an instructor to work on the phonetics (sound system) of the language you are learning (see tab below to learn more.)
The Language Learning Techniques sessions give you an opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills gained in the course to the specific areas you have identified as your needs or gaps in your overall learning. This may include
- working one-on-one with a language helper to address your learning goals
- planning learning by setting short- and long-term goals
- developing lesson plans
- integrating specific language components (e.g., grammar) into your overall learning, expanding your conversational ability
- addressing personal roadblocks (e.g., confidence, risk-taking, motivation)
- handling sticky situations in the target language
- using self-assessment checklists
The Foundations sessions provide an overall framework for your continued language and culture learning. In these sessions, we examine a range of useful insights that deal with the "what" and "how" of effective language learning and help you relate these insights to your individual needs and specific learning situation. Some topics include:
- In order to reach a higher level of language proficiency, exactly what do you need to learn, and what skills must be developed?
- How should you go about the learning process?
- How can you capitalize on your innate learning strengths?
- How can you make the most of the resources you have available (e.g., language school, tutors, ordinary native speakers)?
- How can you learn from your successes, and how can you make your mistakes work for you?
If you need to improve your target language pronunciation, you can choose to focus heavily on developing pronunciation accuracy or you may want to give attention to only a few troublesome areas. Because each person's need for work on pronunciation is different, some give considerable time and attention to this component, while others give much less time to this area.
"Before this course, my go-to method of language learning was digging out the textbooks and trying to memorize the things that I did not already know. However, recently I realized that this method was not really working and I was feeling quite stuck. Having made learning goals for this course and used some of those goals in the projects, I can already see an increase in my [target language]. I now have a better understanding of how to organize my learning in order to see greater results in my language development."
~ past SLA student
Master's in TESOL at Wheaton
Are you passionate about teaching English? Interested in learning more about second language acquisition? Wheaton College has a Master's in Intercultural Studies and TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages).