The introductory study of a language
sketches its principal grammatical features and teaches students
some of its basic qualities–its sound and music, for instance, and its
idiomatic characteristics. Intermediate courses extend this
knowledge, teaching students to read effectively with the
assistance of a dictionary, and enabling them to communicate in
many or even most ordinary language situations. The important
thing about study at these levels is that it provides a key to further
learning, and that key is essential for two reasons. The first is
that many students will never return to formal studies after they
graduate. The second is that it is very difficult to acquire a
second language without some experience of formal study. That
experience of formal study is what introductory and intermediate
language courses offer. They provide the equivalent of a language map on
which students can place additional knowledge, even when it is
acquired informally, and at a later date. Though this benefit
falls short of the "new perspective" promised to advanced
students, it means that such a gift may someday be possible. But
it is the corollary to that benefit that may be most important: without
language study at the introductory and intermediate levels, most
students will be doomed to live their life in a single language,
and that represents a personal loss, a social loss, and possibly a
professional loss.Languages @ Western
Introductory or Intermediate Study ?
"Monolingualism is curable"
See also:
Western Linguistics
Also of interest:
