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Kató Lomb’s Strategies for Language Learning and SLA Theory
Scott Alkire
Kató Lomb’s Strategies for Language Learning
and SLA Theory
Scott Alkire
Originally published in
The
International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, Fall 2005
© Scott Alkire 2005
Abstract
A
noteworthy yet relatively unknown text on language learning is Dr. Kató Lomb’s Így tanulok nyelveket [This is how I
learn languages] (Budapest: AQUA Kiadó, 1995, 4th ed.). The text is noteworthy for its
language-learning strategies, which closely correlate to language-learning
strategies of successful learners documented in major
The knowledge of foreign languages has always been important
in Continental Europe, and from at least the time of Comenius (1592–1670),
scholars have written serious discourses on foreign language teaching and
learning. In the last 40 years, important European contributions have been made
by Belyayev (The
Psychology of Teaching Foreign Languages, 1964), Lozanov (Suggestology and Outlines of Suggestopedy, 1978),
and Medgyes (The Non-native Teacher, 1994),
among others.
A
lesser-known but exceptional text on language learning from
This article presents Lomb’s learning
strategies and correlates them to learner strategies documented in major
Dr.
Kató Lomb (1909–2003) was
Largely
self-taught in languages (her doctorate was in chemistry), she first described
her learning strategies in This Is How I
Learn Languages. Upon publication
of the first edition in 1970, the book attracted scholarly and popular interest
across
In her book, Lomb describes her strategies for
learning a foreign language through the construct of a made-up language,
Azilian. She assumes that she has had no exposure to Azilian and that it shares
no cognates with her native language or any language she knows. Because of her
conscious application of strategies to learn languages, Krashen (1997) calls
Lomb’s experience “very relevant to foreign language education” (p. 41).
“First
of all, I try to get my hands on a thick Azilian dictionary. Owing to my
optimistic outlook I never buy small dictionaries; I go on the assumption that
I would fathom them too quickly and then the money I invested in them would end
up being wasted. If an Azilian-Hungarian dictionary does not happen to be
available, then I try to get hold of an Azilian-English, Azilian-Russian, etc.,
dictionary.
a) In
the beginning, I use this dictionary as my textbook. I learn the rules of
reading from it. Every language—and consequently every dictionary—contains a
lot of international expressions. The bigger the dictionary, the more such
expressions there are in it.
b) The
words for nations, countries and cities (especially names for smaller places
that are not in danger of distortion through frequent use) and the scientific
vocabulary that ‘transcends language’ reveal to me the relationships between
letter-characters and phonemes in the Azilian language. I remember that the
first thing I looked up in the Russian-English dictionary I bought in 1941 was
my own name: E________1.
c) I
do not memorize the words; I just scan and study them as though they were some
crossword puzzle to be solved. By the time I glean the rules of reading from
the above-cited vocabularies, my dictionary will have revealed a lot of other
things, too, about the Azilian language. I can see how it morphs the parts of
speech into one another: how it nominalizes verbs, how it forms adjectives from
nouns and adverbs from adjectives.
This
is just a first taste of the language. I am sampling it, making friends with
it.”
Lomb’s strategy of using a
L2–L1 dictionary as a beginning text for learning a language is unique; there
is no extant research on it. In terms of general dictionary use, her use of
bilingual dictionaries when beginning to learn a language is strongly supported
by
Although
it is not known if Lomb was familiar with bilingualized compromise
dictionaries, Laufer and Hadar (1997) suggest that these dictionaries (which
follow a bilingual dictionary format but include the “good features” of
learner’s monolingual dictionaries) may
represent an advance over bilingual and learner’s monolingual dictionaries. In
a study that compared the
use of learner’s monolingual, bilingual, and bilingualized compromise dictionaries
among 123 EFL learners in Israel, Laufer and Hadar found that irrespective of
the learners' proficiency level, the bilingualized compromise dictionary was
either as good as, or significantly better than, the other two dictionaries for
comprehension and production tasks.
“Following
this first assay, I buy a textbook and some works of Azilian literature, all
together. Of the first, I always buy one with answers provided for the
questions in the exercises, as I am an ALS, or average language student: i.e.,
because of time constraints, I mostly have to teach myself.
“I
go through the lessons and do all the written exercises in sequence, as they
come in the book. I write ‘breezily,’ leaving ample room for corrections. Then
I look up the correct answers in the key and write them beside/above my own
incorrect variations. In this way, I get a very visual representation of ‘the
history of my folly.’2
“I scold myself for the errors made and then promptly
forgive myself. I always leave enough space in my notebook to be able to write
five–six correct words or sentences, similar to the ones I got wrong…. This is
very helpful in imprinting the corrected formulas.
“As all this is a bit tedious, right from the outset I start
reading Azilian plays or short stories. If I’m lucky, there will be ‘adapted’
texts available. If not, I just start on any literature published before 1950.
(I can have trouble understanding the style of modern novels, even in my native
Hungarian.) I always buy books in pairs: this increases the chance that at
least one will be comprehensible.
“I start on the comprehensible novel immediately. To go
from incomprehension to half-understanding to complete understanding is an
exciting and inspiring journey of discovery worthy of the spirit of a mature
person. By the time I finish the journey, I part with the book feeling that
this has been a profitable and fun enterprise.
“At first reading, I only write out words that I manage to
understand, that is, words whose meaning I have been able to figure out from
context. Naturally, I do not write them out in isolation, but in the context
they appeared. It is only after a second or third reading that I look up words
unknown to me. Even then, I do not look up each and every one. With those that
I record in my notebook, I include the vortex of meaning supplied by the book
or by any contemporary dictionary worthy of the name.”
Notes
No studies could be found on
the value of answer guides in language textbooks. Lomb’s systematic use of them
suggests that they are important for language learning, at least independent
language learning.
The
research on whether adapted texts are superior to authentic texts in aiding L2
acquisition is inconclusive. One practical solution, supported by many recent
studies, is to have students choose their own texts (“free voluntary reading”).
This would be consistent with Lomb’s strategy. Krashen (2003) writes that free
voluntary reading “is now perhaps the most thoroughly investigated and
best-supported [language learning] technique we have in the field of
second-language pedagogy” (p. 26).
Lomb’s strategy of learning
vocabulary in context is strongly supported by SLA research (see Seal, 1991;
“All
this, however, does not teach one of the most important of the four aspects of
language learning: verbal comprehension. In addition, I have not gotten an
accurate picture of Azilian pronunciation (the phonetic transcriptions of the
textbook are always of somewhat dubious value). For this reason, at the very
beginning of my language study I set aside some time for scanning the Azilian
airwaves. I figure out when and at what frequency I can hear Azilian speech
live on the radio. Somewhere, sometime, I am sure to catch the idiom I am
interested in from the ether.
“News bulletins generally reflect the most important
international events of the day in their main outlines. For this reason—even if
the news items are selected according to the probable interests of Azilia’s
inhabitants—they are usually the same in the broadcasts of different languages.
So I always listen to the news in some other, familiar, language as well. Thus
I am given a key—almost a dictionary—to what I can expect, in advance. If an
unknown word crops up along the way, I write it down. After the broadcast, I
look it up immediately in my big dictionary. The reason for this is that at
that time, immediately after the broadcast, the word still resounds in my ear
with its entire context and if I misheard it (which happens many times), the
context, still fresh in my memory, helps redress the error.
“If I find the word in the dictionary, a little
self-congratulation is in order again, and this makes learning a pleasant
pastime instead of a burdensome task.
“Then, not immediately, but after a day or two, I record in
my glossary the knowledge thus acquired ‘from the air.’ This temporally
staggered approach is advisable because this way I am forced to revisit fading
memories—unfortunately, quite often not for the last time.
“Once a week, I tape the broadcast. I keep the recording
for a while and play it back several times. On these occasions, I always
concentrate on pronunciation. Alas, I must admit that based on the announcer’s
native pronunciation, sometimes I have to reacquaint myself with words that I
thought I already knew from books.”
Notes
Studies by Crookall (1983),
Norbrook (1984), and Imhoof and Christensen (1986) show that radio, whether used
naturalistically or formally, has positive effects on the acquisition of an L2.
Although
television- or Internet-based technologies may eventually prove to be superior
to radio in facilitating L2 acquisition, in much of the world radio is still
the only language-learning technology available for little or no cost to
learners. It must be noted that Lomb herself preferred radio to television: “I simply believe it [television] to be a
time-wasting activity. My favorite is the radio…. When considering pronunciation
it is indispensable.” (Varga,1996, p. 4).
“Of
course, I try to seek out a teacher who speaks Azilian. If I find a
professional educator, I’ve got it made. If there isn’t a bona fide teacher
available, I try to at least get a native speaker student who is staying in my
country on a scholarship.
“I confess that I prefer to be taught by a woman. Perhaps
this is because it is easier to chat with women. I have long been intrigued by
the question of why women talk more than men do (generally speaking)….
“To return to my method of language study, what I expect
from my Azilian teacher is what I cannot get from either books or from the
radio. Firstly, I ask the teacher to speak at a slower than average speed so
that I can catch as many words as possible from the context, and secondly, I
expect him or her to correct my Azilian, mainly on the basis of written
assignments that I diligently prepare for each class.
“At first, I write free compositions because it’s easier.
Often these are disjointed texts, made up of elements not connected with each
other, just loose sentences that I use to hang new, just seen/just heard words
and grammatical phrases on. On the basis of the teacher’s corrections, I verify
whether I grasped their meanings and functions properly. When I reach a higher
level of knowledge, I begin to translate. At this stage, an already given text compels me to give up
using well-practiced formulas and, under the pressure of the translating
discipline, employ others that I am not so certain of.
“Uncorrected mistakes are very perilous! If one keeps
repeating wrong formulas, they take root in the mind and one will be inclined
to accept them as authentic. Written translations pinpoint one’s errors ruthlessly,
while a listening ear might be prone to just glossing over them….
“I would like to emphasize another great advantage of
written translations over holding conversations. To speak a foreign language is
a matter of practice, and a wise person learns not to get out of his depth….
[unfortunately,] this does not lead to an increased vocabulary or an enhanced
ability to create sentences....an ALS….must learn how to expand the framework
and then fill it….”
Notes
Lomb recognizes the value of
the trained teacher regardless of native tongue over the native speaker who is
not a trained teacher. This is consistent with ELT theory (see Medgyes, 1994).
In addition, Lomb acknowledges the value of the untrained native speaker as an
informant. This is consistent with ELT theory as well (see Krashen, 1993).
Lomb’s
strong belief in written corrections runs contrary to much ESL theory for
teaching writing. Gray (2004) cites several studies that show that written
corrections do not serve to improve students’ writing, and that they can
actually be harmful to students’ “performance and development.” However, Gray
notes that most
students “strongly expect” teachers to notice their writing errors and comment
on them.
Harmer
(2001) suggests self-assessment: “Where students are involved in their own
assessment there is a good chance that their understanding of the feedback
which their teacher gives them will be greatly enhanced as their own awareness
of the learning process increases” (p. 104).
Lomb’s
assertion that translations advance one’s knowledge of a foreign language and
“pinpoint one’s errors ruthlessly” is noteworthy; translations are an important
part of foreign language instruction in most countries. However, to be most
effective they generally require that the students and the instructor share the
same L1. This is rare in most ESL programs in English-speaking countries.
“Those
who had the patience to read through my musings about mastering the Azilian
language might find two things lacking in them. Any self-respecting
language-learning manual’s writer would now say something like: ‘…I make an
effort to familiarize myself with the history, geography, social, political,
and economic conditions of Azilia as thoroughly as possible.’
“Such study cannot hurt, of course, as it brings us closer
to our goal: as comprehensive and precise a knowledge of the language as is
possible. If I write this with some degree of reluctance, it is mainly because
this ‘trans-linguistic’ field (as I call it) is often abused.
“It
is much simpler to attend (or give) lectures on these aspects of Azilia in
one’s own language than to torment oneself (or one’s students) with the
vocabulary and grammar involved….
“If I am able to
travel to Azilia, the trip’s effect on my Azilian may depend on two factors.
One is the extent to which I am able to observe the natives’ speech with
conscious attention and to make a record of what I hear for subsequent
reinforcement. The other factor is the extent of my knowledge of Azilian at the
time of departure.
“It is a grave delusion that a stay in the country of the
language one is studying functions as a funnel through which knowledge just
pours into one’s head. I think people have been misled by the Latin proverb:
‘Saxa loquuntur,’ or ‘Stones talk.’
“Houses,
walls and buildings do not undertake the task of teaching. It may be that they
talk, but their speech, alas, is in stone language. It is quite possible to
pick up a few colloquial, idiomatic expressions or clever turns of phrase under
the influence of the local environment, but these generally do not amount to
any more than what one would have acquired anyway by applying oneself to
diligent study at home for the same time period.
“Neither reminiscing with your émigré compatriots who live
in Azilia (‘Do you remember Alex from sixth grade?’) nor comparative window
shopping (or Schaufenster lecken in
German, meaning ‘shop window licking’) will do anything for your Azilian.
Frequent hearing of spoken Azilian,
however, will. Local papers usually publish information on what museums or
galleries offer guided tours. Then there must be an Azilian version of the
Society for Popular Science Education that is sure to organize free lectures to
educate the public. Whenever I am abroad, I frequent all these types of events
and take copious notes every time. Studying a language also provides an
excellent excuse to go to the movies. I spent three weeks in
“The ideal solution, of course, is to maintain active
relationships with native speakers of one’s ilk and interests, with lots of
shared activities—especially if these natives are willing to correct your
mistakes, and if one is resolved not to get mad when they do.
“The other factor that decides the impact of a trip on
one’s knowledge of the language is one’s level of mastery at the time of
departure…. ‘A’ and ‘F’ students will benefit the least from trips. Those who
know nothing at the outset will probably return with virgin minds. For those at
a very advanced level, improvement will be difficult to detect. The best
results will show—given the ideal conditions listed above—at the intermediate
level.”
Notes
Lomb’s claim that “trans-linguistic”
(i.e., content-based) instruction is “often abused” is provocative though
unsupported by
***
“The
thoughts distilled in the course of my linguistic excursions are organized into
the little compendium below. Heaven forbid that we should call them Ten Commandments—let us perhaps call
them Ten Requests.
I.
Spend time tinkering with
the language every day—if there is no more time available, then at least to the
extent of a ten-minute monologue. Morning hours are especially valuable in this
respect: the early bird catches the word!
II.
If your enthusiasm for
studying flags too quickly, don’t force the issue but don’t stop altogether
either. Move to some other form of studying, e.g., instead of reading, listen
to the radio; instead of assignment writing, poke about in the dictionary, etc.
III.
Never learn isolated units
of speech, but rather learn words and grammatical elements in context.
IV.
Write phrases in the margins
of your text and use them as ‘prefabricated elements’ in your conversations.
V.
Even a tired brain finds
rest and relaxation in quick, impromptu translations of billboard
advertisements flashing by, of numbers over doorways, of snippets of overheard
conversations, etc., just for its own amusement.
VI.
Memorize only that which has
been corrected by a teacher. Do not keep reading texts you have written that
have not been proofread and corrected so as to keep mistakes from taking root
in your mind. If you study on your own, each segment to be memorized should be
kept to a size that precludes the possibility of errors.
VII.
Always memorize idiomatic
expressions in the first person singular. For example, ‘I am only pulling your
leg.’ Or else: ‘Il m’a pose un lapin’—‘He stood me up.’
VIII.
A foreign language is a castle.
It is advisable to attack it on all fronts at once: via newspapers, the radio,
un-dubbed movies, technical or scientific articles, textbooks, or via a visitor
at your neighbor’s.
IX.
Do not let the fear of
making mistakes keep you from speaking, but do ask your conversation partner to
correct you. Most importantly, don’t get peeved if he or she actually obliges
you—a remote possibility, anyway.
X.
Be firmly convinced that you
are a linguistic genius. If the facts demonstrate otherwise, heap blame on the
pesky language you aim to master, on the dictionaries, or on this little book,
not on yourself.”
Notes
All of Lomb’s “requests,”
with the exception of VII (a minor point), have been validated as strategies of
“good” language learners in research and studies by Stevick (1989), O’Malley
and Chamot (1990), Oxford (1990), Rubin and Thompson (1994), Naiman et al.
(1995), Cook (1996), Gethin and Gunnemark (1996), Chamot et al. (1999), and
Lightbown and Spada (1999). More broadly, Lomb’s requests fall under the two
holistic strategies that Nation (1983) found employed by good language
learners: abstraction (non-analytical learning; requests I, II, V, VIII, X) and
rule induction (analytical learning; requests III, IV, VI, VII, IX).
***
“As
seven of the biblical Ten Commandments are in the negative, let me now approach
the question from a forbidding angle and list what not to do if you aim to achieve an acceptable level of linguistic
mastery within an acceptable time frame.
1. Do not postpone
embarking on learning a new language—or restarting such a study—until the time
of a prospective trip abroad. Rather, try to gain access to native speakers of
your target language who are on a visit to your country and who do not speak your
language. They could be relatives or friends. If you accompany them and show
them around, they will help you solidify your knowledge of their language out
of gratitude; they will enrich your vocabulary and overlook the mistakes you
make.
2. Do not expect the
same behavior from your compatriots. Do not practice on them because they will
be prone to giving prime time to your errors—or at the very least, they will be
inclined to employ meaningful facial gestures—to demonstrate how much better
they are at it.
3. Do not believe that
instruction by a teacher in a course, however intense and in-depth that might
be, gives you an excuse not to delve into the language on your own. For this
reason you should, from the outset, get into browsing through illustrated
magazines and into listening to radio programs and/or prerecorded cassettes.
4. In
your browsing, do not get obsessed
with words you don’t know or structures you don’t understand. Build
comprehension on what you already know. Do not automatically reach for the dictionary
if you encounter a word or two that you don’t understand. If the expression is
important, it will reappear and explain itself; if it is not so important, it
is no big loss to gloss over it.
5. Do not miss
noting down your impressions in your own words, with familiar expressions.
Write in simple sentences; words you can’t think of at the time can be replaced
by words from your own language.
6. Do not be deterred from
speaking by the fear of making mistakes. The flow of speech creates a chain
reaction: the context will lead you to the right track.
7. Do not forget to
store a large number of filler expressions and sentence-launching phrases in
your memory. It is great when you can break the ice with a few formulas that
are always on hand and can help you over the initial embarrassment of beginning
a conversation, such as ‘My English is kind of shaky’ or ‘It’s been a while
since I spoke Russian,’ etc.
8. Do not memorize any
linguistic element (expression) outside of its context, partly because a word
may have several different meanings: e.g., the English word ‘comforter’ may
refer to someone who is consoling another, or it can mean a knitted shawl, a
quilt or eiderdown, or yet again a baby’s pacifier. In addition, it is good,
right off the bat, to get used to the practice of leaving the vortex of
meanings around the word in your own language alone and reaching out to its kin
word in the new language or to the context you have most frequently encountered
it in.
9. Do not leave
newly learned structures or expressions hanging in the air. Fix them in your
memory by fitting them into different, new settings: into your sphere of
interest, into the reality of your own life.
10.
Do
not be shy of learning poems or songs by heart. Good diction
plays a more significant role in speech performance than the mere articulation
of individual sounds. Verses and melodies impose certain constraints. They set
what sounds must be long and which ones must be short in duration. The rhythm
inherent in them guides speakers and helps them avoid the intonation traps of
their native language.”
Notes
All of Lomb’s “no’s,” with
the exception of Point 2, have been validated as traits of “good” language
learners in research and studies by Stevick (1989), O’Malley and Chamot (1990),
Oxford (1990), Rubin and Thompson (1994), Naiman et al. (1995), Cook (1996),
Gethin and Gunnemark (1996), Chamot et al. (1999), and Lightbown and Spada
(1999). As with Lomb’s requests, her no’s fall under the two holistic
strategies that Nation (1983) found employed by good language learners:
abstraction (non-analytical learning; no’s 1, 2, 3, 4, 6) and rule induction
(analytical learning; no’s 5, 7, 8, 9, 10).
Conclusion
Lomb’s text is noteworthy, it has been shown, for its
language-learning strategies, which closely correlate to the language-learning
strategies of successful learners documented in major
1. This transcribes as
“Yekatjerina,” the Russian version of “Catherine.”
2. This is a reference to the title of a romantic Hungarian movie.
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Dr. Kató Lomb (1909–2003)
was an interpreter and translator based in
Scott Alkire has taught
English as a Foreign Language for the Open Society Fund in the
Kornelia DeKorne is a
certified member of the American Translators Association.
Copyright
held by author
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