This quote from Berty Segal, who invented the questioning process before PQA even existed, is another way to say that learning a language is an unconscious process (Krashen). It was commented on here by PLC member Nathanial Hardt. I turned his comment into an article for ease of reference under the Unconscious category here. The careful reader will take much from this post and thank you Nathaniel for writing this:
Hey Ben:
I posted that [quote from Segal] on my wall to remind me of the need to talk to my students in Spanish in a way that they understand and to engage them. It is so easy to intellectualize language. It is so easy to make comments about similarities between L1 and L2. It is so easy to analyze and to share knowledge about the language. But language is acoustical. It goes from the ear to the unconscious.
It is there to remind me that I don’t have time to be erudite, because language is not intellectual. I only really have time to engage students, making statements, motioning for reaction, asking questions, expecting answers, providing answers when they have none, interviewing individuals, sharing my findings with the group, etc. And that time passes so quickly.
I see this “acoustical” component as a direction for something to do so that the unconscious business of the mind can do its work. Of course, there is also the visual component (reading), which is an extension of the acoustical. And there is all of the writing on the board which helps to transition from acoustical to visual.
And as you point out, is so complex when taken altogether. It should be the bulk of a teacher preparation program. (But the university would probably intellectualize it all and make it so unpalatable that nobody would want to try it. It is probably better for them to focus on useless forms so that new teachers are desperate for relevance and results.)
I am so grateful for this PLC. It is helping me refocus this year with a better PQA than I have ever had. Also, as I have shared some ideas gained through the PLC with a colleague he has refocused and taken courage. In fact, in our department meeting today he made the comment several times that, as a department, we have failed to have the discussion about how students learn. Hopefully, that discussion will be forthcoming. In the meantime I have the opportunity here for relevant discussion with likeminded colleagues.