The best way to learn a foreign language is to build on what is already known, i.e. ‘going from the known to the unknown’. This ‘known language’ is more readily built upon in back-to-back intensive language training courses. The short amount of time between a morning session and an afternoon one or between an afternoon session and one on the following morning does not give the delegate time to forget what he/she has seen. Consequently, the trainer has the opportunity to build on the ‘known’ with more immediacy.
 © istockphoto.com/ Kdow |
On a classic one-session-a-week course, the delegate rarely finds that he/she is starting to ‘think’ in the target language. This is because outside the weekly one and a half-hour or two-hour training slot, the delegate is using his/her first language. It is only during an intensive period in which target language use outweighs first language use that the delegate starts to process the second language in a natural way (i.e. without translating).
In her research paper, Shona Whyte makes the following statement about second language acquisition ‘there is a general agreement that acquisition… implies a change in individual learners’ internal linguistic systems, which in turn occur through understanding and interacting in the target language, with some form of focus on linguistic features’.
This understanding and interaction is only going to occur after the delegate has started to feel comfortable in the target language and is willing to use this language in discussions, tasks and problem-solving. This moment arrives sooner on an intensive course than a course composed of weekly sessions. This comfort in the target language and willingness to interact is partly a result of the rapport that is built between the delegate and his/her trainer; a rapport that is quickly established on an intensive course. Some organisations, however, prefer to vary trainers during the week; this also has the advantage of exposing the delegate to different personalities, ways of training, experiences and accents.
The organisation of intensive language training courses enables the delegates to focus better on the task in hand. The fact that an intensive course is easier to reserve in the delegate’s professional agenda means that the number of distractions should be reduced significantly during the training period. Interruptions prevent the brain from focusing on the linguistic tasks and intersperse the target language with the delegate’s first language. This increase in L1 interference reduces the efficiency of the learning process.
The number of hours on an intensive training programme provides the trainer with the opportunity to vary the content, the tasks and the methodology of the course. Variety is the key to keeping the delegate’s interest and levels of motivation high. The volume of the content should be such that the delegate feels as though he/she is really making progress. This feeling of achievement further increases motivation and interest for future training.
Delegates usually follow language training courses because they require some professional knowledge and skills, the acquisition of which cannot always wait. Intensive training courses provide the delegate with the opportunity to learn a significant amount in a short period of time and consequently to be in a position of competence straight away.
© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010
