Memory and Language

There are two fundamental kinds of memory: declarative and nondeclarative.  Declarative memories are the kind of memories that we can declare; when we talk about our "first memories" we are talking about our first declarative memories.  Nondeclarative memories are things like muscle memories or skills that we acquire throughout life: walking, writing, skiing, trapeze, and supernatural Halo ability are all nondeclarative memories.  

Mastery of traditional Japanese arts like aikido and shodo is based on the formation of nondeclarative memories.  The reason students of karate practice the same blocking move over and over again even when there is no opponent is to fuse this movement into their nondeclarative memory systems so that it can be recalled as a fixed action pattern when the situation arises.  It's literally a case of true mastery coming without effort. 

When we apply this neurophysiology to language learning, we see that the style of cerebral (literally), textbook learning prefered by obsessive compulsive central planners such as those at the Japanese Ministry of Education comes up short.  Today I taught three classes each with 38 gifted students at the local magnet school.  My lesson - as prescribed by the Ministry of Education - was on the proper pronunctiation of foreign loan words in Japanese.

And here's the thing about kids: they don't struggle with pronunciation.

I see no problem with this style of lesson per se, provided parents and authorities have realistic expectations of what students will get out of such a class, which is the formation of declarative memories; i.e. no skills will be learned or developed.  In traditional classroom settings, students are not learning how to speak a language - they are learning declarative facts about a particular language.  (Such a lesson style would be more appropriate for history, but only because we have no time machines!) 

If the ability to recall factual knowledge about English were the goal, then the Japanese education system would be top notch, but since the goal is communicating in English, the Japanese standardized English education program is an abject faillure,  Accordingly, after six years of formal lessons, it should surprise no one that Japanese students are incapable of speaking even basic English.

Good English lessons engage the students and intrude upon their comfort zones like a Zen master tormenting his disciples (albeit kindly).  An English teacher should ask himself three and only three questions after each lesson: (1) Did the students learn lots of new English today?  (2) Did the students practice this new English by building on the English they already know? And (3) Was I an actor entertaining them or did I simply guide an emergent and nondeclarative, individually-directed and subjective process?