麻豆传媒在线

What does it mean to learn? Many people believe that learning is about discovering information they didn't have before, taking it in, and memorizing it. However, when we read a text or listen to a lecture, how exactly does that information enter (.....) us?

We cannot record and store texts or lectures word-for-word like a recording device. On the contrary, we can only take in and remember a small fraction of the content. Taking information in and memorizing it is something we do every day, but the "Schema" plays a vital role in that process. As I mentioned in my book, "Eigo Dokushu-ho" (Iwanami Shinsho), a schema is like a "cluster of implicit knowledge" that we are not even aware of possessing. Schemas are created unconsciously by individuals as they generalize their own experiences; they unconsciously select information, aid understanding, and are deeply involved in incorporating information into memory and retrieving information from memory. "Understanding" information is nothing other than interpreting information by filling in the gaps between pieces of external information with a schema. If a schema cannot be recalled and the gaps cannot be filled, that information can hardly be understood. And because it cannot be understood, it naturally cannot be memorized.

Schemas are not always correct. For example, many children hold the incorrect schema that numbers exist solely for counting objects. This is because they frequently hear number words (one, two, three...) from infancy, but in almost all cases, they are used in the context of counting objects. This incorrect schema later makes it difficult for children to learn mathematics. Numbers used for counting objects are limited to natural numbers. Since the concept of fractions contradicts this schema, children experience significant difficulty in learning fractions.

Schemas are also deeply involved in language learning. While learning language, children do not just memorize the meanings of words; they notice patterns and regularities hidden within the vocabulary itself and create schemas. For example, with names of objects, they can apply a learned word to objects with similar shapes rather than similar colors, materials, or sizes. For action words (verbs), they can apply a learned word to the same movement rather than the same agent or object of the action. Children grow their vocabulary guided by these types of schemas.

However, here too, if a schema is incorrect, it causes the learned words to be extended in the wrong direction. This problem becomes prominent in foreign language learning. People have very rich schemas regarding their native language (first language). When learning a foreign language, beginners do not have a schema for that language. However, without a schema, it is difficult to infer the meaning of words. Children discover the structure of vocabulary while learning native words and build schemas for learning their native language. Adults, however, already have a native language schema and unconsciously use it when learning a foreign language. For example, when language structures differ greatly, as with Japanese and English, the schemas are inevitably different. Using a native language schema for a foreign language leads to various problems.

For example, when learning nouns, English speakers always pay attention to whether the noun is countable or uncountable. Children discern this from adult speech and use it to infer the meaning of nouns. In English, actions are often clearly distinguished from states or results using different verbs. When learning a verb, they pay attention to whether that verb is frequently used in the "-ing" progressive form. Verbs used with "-ing" have a high probability of being verbs that represent actions rather than states or results. Conversely, verbs not used with "-ing" are likely to be verbs representing states or results. They create such schemas to infer the meanings of unknown verbs.

In Japanese, nouns are not distinguished as countable or uncountable from the start. In sentences like "I bought a computer recently" or "I drank some water just now," both nouns are used as-is, and one cannot tell from the form that the former is countable and the latter is uncountable. Similarly, in Japanese, the distinction between action verbs and verbs representing states or results is ambiguous. When you want to say "Put on your coat because it's cold" versus "You are wearing a cute coat," English requires completely different verbs ("put on" for the former, "wear" for the latter), but Japanese uses "kiru" for both the action and the state. Furthermore, the conjugation "...te-iru" is used for both actions and states, as in "I am changing my clothes right now" or "Where did you buy the clothes you are wearing now?" Becoming accustomed to Japanese like this from infancy makes it difficult to pay attention to conceptual distinctions that are very important for acquiring and using English, such as the distinction between countable/uncountable or action/state. One implicitly creates an equation like "whenever I want to say 'kite-iru,' it's 'wear'." Incidentally, this (the perception that native and foreign words correspond one-to-one) is a typical "incorrect schema" that foreign language learners tend to have.

Ultimately, in order to learn a foreign language after establishing a native language, a process is required to analyze and consciously replace the differences between the schemas one holds in their native language and the schemas held by native speakers of the foreign language being learned.

Mutsumi Imai

Iwanami Shinsho

282 pages, 968 yen (tax included)