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PsycCRITIQUES
January 18, 2016, Vol. 61, No. 3, Article 5
© 2016 American Psychological Association
An Interdisciplinary Approach to
Foreign Language Learning: Myths and
Strategies for Success
A Review of
Becoming Fluent: How Cognitive Science Can Help Adults Learn a
Foreign Language
by Richard Roberts and Roger Kreuz
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2015. 226 pp. ISBN 978-0-262-029230.
$24.95
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0040083
Reviewed by
Jeanette Altarriba , Stephanie A. Kazanas
Becoming Fluent: How Cognitive Science Can Help Adults Learn a Foreign Language is many
things: a foreign language coach, a cognitive science primer, and a motivational resource.
At its core, it is designed to place second language instruction within the context of
interdisciplinary work spanning many areas of research, including psychology, linguistics,
and philosophy. The authors, Richard Roberts and Roger Kreuz, did that and more.
The volume is organized in a way that encourages its audience toward current and future
success. Roberts and Kreuz begin by describing myths surrounding second language
acquisition, particularly with regard to adult learners. For example, many of us believe that
adults cannot acquire foreign languages as easily as young children. This belief is often
confirmed when we meet an adult who has tried to learn a new language, but failed. At the
same time, we’re also more likely to disregard an adult who has succeeded with foreign
language instruction. Roberts and Kreuz remind their readers that plenty of adults
successfully master a new language, and that adult learners have a vast number of
advantages relative to young children. One important advantage is that of transfer. Positive
transfer, as is the case with cognates, can assure even the most apprehensive student that
knowing one language will certainly help them learn another—though the authors astutely
remind their readers to beware of false friends. Another important advantage resides at the
conceptual level of language mastery, where having knowledge and a lifetime of
experiences will assist in mapping a new word onto a well-organized conceptual structure.
Importantly, the strategies and techniques that adults adopt can also have a significant
impact on their progress and overall mastery. Describing these strategies and techniques
within the context of empirical research, theory, and overarching cognitive principles
comprises the majority of this volume (for additional methodology and empirical research,
see Altarriba & Mathis, 1997). At times, the authors describe previous research in great
detail, only to make a subtle connection to foreign language learning, as was the case with
their discussion of the McGurk effect, script errors, and the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon.
At other times, their discussions were both informative and useful, as was the case with
learning theories and strategy formation. Two major strategies discussed throughout the
volume are overlearning and distributed practice. According to the authors, language
learning is facilitated by a great deal of hard work and real effort, contrary to what we might
perceive as a speaker’s natural ability. Spacing this hard work by learning a little bit at a
time, rather than cramming, is also beneficial, as it allows new information to incubate: a
process in which the new language begins to integrate with the more familiar, native
language.
One additional strategy described within the volume, and perhaps the most important, is
that of elaborative processing. Thinking about new words—including those that lack a direct
translation with words in one’s native language—in a meaningful way is far more beneficial
than shallow processing. For example, the self-reference effect described by the authors
details a very robust finding in which life experiences can provide retrieval cues for new
words. Other elaborative strategies include paraphrasing and connecting the new word to
other words. Although these methods certainly reduce the amount of new material that can
be learned each day, deeper and more meaningful processing will ensure better overall
language mastery.
Of great value to their readers, Roberts and Kreuz emphasize the role of culture in foreign
language acquisition (for additional commentary, see Altarriba, 2008). Learning a new
language, along with the culture in which it is spoken, has many advantages. Roberts and
Kreuz note the importance of successful use of pragmatics, as foreign language learners
must master not only a language’s vocabulary, accent and literal meanings, but also its
idioms, colloquialisms, and cultural references. Thus, learners would benefit from
incorporating pragmatics very early on in language instruction, as this will lead to more
natural-sounding dialogue. Moreover, findings from the bilingual literature indicate that the
proper usage of pragmatic elements such as idioms can promote self-understanding and
awareness in clinical settings (Santiago-Rivera, Altarriba, Poll, Gonzalez-Miller, & Cragun,
2009).
One oversight in this volume is its terse discussion of the role of word type effects in the
bilingual and multilingual experience. Recent research findings have indicated that
translation difficulty differs across concrete, abstract, and emotion words (Basnight-Brown &
Altarriba, 2015). Moreover, with regards to accurately identifying emotional expressions,
processing speed and accuracy are affected by both the positive-negative valence dimension
and the degree to which the word directly labels an emotional state (Kazanas & Altarriba,
2015). As mentioned by Roberts and Kreuz, negative emotion words are particularly difficult
to master and incorporate into conversational language.
On the other hand, the greatest strength of Becoming Fluent is the inclusion of Roberts’ and
Kreuz’s own foreign language learning experiences. Readers will appreciate reading the
successes and failures of these authors—at times, comically described—because they offer
realistic expectations for adult language learners. Without these personal stories, readers
could certainly assume that the advice offered by experts may not assist such a novice
learner. Instead, readers should rest assured that everyone struggles (often!) when taking
on such an ambitious endeavor. One final piece of advice offered by the authors is that
readers should approach learning with not only a healthy mind and body, but also with a
References
positive attitude toward the learning process itself. Roberts and Kreuz shine here, as they
inspire their readers to truly embrace the language and culture they have adopted.
This volume is appropriate for a variety of audiences, but ideally it is suited for the novice
foreign language learners looking to adopt new techniques to further their training, as well
as the cognitive psychologist looking to learn new applications for their research. Both of
these audiences will greatly appreciate the expansive list of references and additional notes.
Becoming Fluent is also a very timely volume, with recent findings within the bilingual
literature purporting a variety of cognitive and neurological advantages that accompany
regular use of multiple languages (but see Paap, 2014; von Bastian, Souza, & Gade, 2015,
for challenges to these assertions). Importantly, the empirical research described within the
contents of this volume greatly enhances the work, and it is likely to leave the reader
wanting more.
Altarriba, J. (2008). Expressions of emotion as mediated by context. Bilingualism: Language
and Cognition,11, 165–167. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1366728908003295
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Basnight-Brown, D. M., & Altarriba, J. (2015). Multiple translations in bilingual memory:
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