I landed in Lansing, Michigan for my interview for the position of assistant professor in educational technology at Michigan State University. I was greeted by the ever gracious and engaging Professor Patrick Dickson. We started talking about technology and education right away. Patrick, an educational psychologist with in interest in child development and a pioneer in thinking about the educational potentials of technology, asked me a question that has challenged my thinking ever since. I don’t remember the exact wording, but the gist is:
With the technological advancement that enables easy access to native speakers and language learning resources around the world, how would you explain if someone does not become fluent in another language?
“Motivation,” was my answer, as I remember.
Almost 20 years later, technology has way surpassed the expectations of most people. In 1996, the Internet and Web was still in its infancy. We were thrilled that we could view pictures and watch a short video after a long wait. We were even more amazed when we could see grainy slow moving black and white images via CU-Seeme, the first multi-point Internet-based video conferencing system. There was no Google, no Skype, no Wiki, no Netflix, no Facebook, no Twitter, no Youtube, and no Internet-enabled smart phones or mobile devices—virtually everything we use frequently did not exist in 1996. Watching a feature length film in HD or having a video chat on a phone was unimaginable.
There were only 36 million Internet users in December 1996. Nearly 70% of them lived in the United States. Today, we are approaching 2 billion users worldwide.
But the number of people fluent in another language has not changed much, nor has the way language is learned and taught in most schools. Why?
“Motivation” is still my answer.
A genuine purpose for learning a foreign language and culture is lacking in most situations. While the most authentic and motivating reason for learning a language is to communicate with others, to understand other cultures, to decipher information written in another language, and to socialize with people speaking another language, the dominant purpose for most language learners in schools remains getting a good grade or passing tests. For this purpose, there is no need to exploit the potentials of technology—no need to watch TV shows or read newspapers in the target language, no need to interact with native speakers of the target language, and certainly no need to create and publish works in the target language. Textbooks and teacher instructions are sufficient and perhaps more efficient for obtaining the grade and passing the test.
"ON A SNOWY DAY IN MARCH 1996
YONG
ZHAO