| Pimsleur Language Learning System |
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The Pimsleur language learning system is a Language Acquisition method developed by Dr. Paul Pimsleur . It is based on four main principles: Anticipation, Graduated Interval Recall, Core Vocabulary, and Organic Learning. The Pimsleur method works almost entirely through listening. The listener recalls and constructs phrases from memory, and speaks out loud with the set. The lessons are 30 minutes long and designed to be repeated until the student attains 70-80% comprehension, at which point he or she may move on to the next lesson. As the lessons repeat themselves and add new material, it is not necessary for the student to master each lesson perfectly before moving on to the next lesson. The learner is tested and retested on new material at varying intervals throughout the course to reinforce memory. METHODOLOGY
PIMSLEUR LEARNING PRINCIPLES The Principle of Anticipation Language courses commonly require a student to repeat after an instructor, which Pimsleur believed was a passive way of learning. Pimsleur developed the "challenge and response" technique, where a student was asked to come up with the correct phrase in the target language, which was then confirmed. This technique developed an active way of learning, requiring the student to think before responding. Thus, Pimsleur thought the principle of anticipation reflects real life conversations where a speaker must recall a phrase quickly. Graduated Interval Recall Graduated Interval Recall is a method of reinforcing learned vocabulary by having students rapidly recall learned material and then gradually reviewing the material at longer intervals. It is a version of retention through Spaced Repetition . For example, if a student learns the word ''deux'' (French for two), then it is tested every few seconds in the beginning, then every few minutes, then every few hours, and then every few days. Thus, the word gradually moves from short term into longer term memory. Pimsleur's 1967 memory schedule was as follows: 5 seconds, 25 seconds, 2 minutes, 10 minutes, 1 hour, 5 hours, 1 day, 5 days, 25 days, 4 months, 2 years. Core Vocabulary Studies have shown that a relatively small core vocabulary accounts for the majority of words spoken in a particular language. In English, for example, approximately 80 percent of any written text are members of the 2000 most common word families.http://www.er.uqam.ca/nobel/r21270/cv/Nation_2001.htmhttp://www1.harenet.ne.jp/~waring/papers/cup.html Corpus Linguistics compiled for various languages show what number of words is required to cover a certain percentage of the corpus. Data for Indian languages in the CIIL corpus show the number of words required for 50% coverage varies from 199 words in Hindi to 7,699 in Malayalam , while 80% coverage for those languages is 2,874 and 126,344 respectively.''Basic Statistical Analysis of Corpus and Cross Comparison among Corpora'' Akshar Bharati, et al. The Pimsleur method works by teaching core vocabulary that tend to be most often used in everyday activities (i.e. to do, to say, to be, numbers, buying, eating and drinking). Pimsleur rarely teaches grammar, rather letting the student infer the grammar through common patterns in phrases. Organic Learning With the belief that language is primarily speech, Dr. Pimsleur created his language programs in audio format because he believed that students of languages would learn better with their ears, not their eyes. This is achieved through what Dr. Pimsleur called "organic learning," which entails learning grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation simultaneously. Learning by listening can also teach the proper accent, which cannot be heard in written material. Effectiveness Paul Nation's comprehensive review of vocabulary learning, ''Learning Vocabulary in Another Language'', concluded that Pimsleur's "memory schedule" has been validated by research subsequent to Pimsleur's seminal paper. According to Nation's summary of the research, effective retention of vocabulary requires a certain amount of repetition over spaced intervals. Criticism The Pimsleur system does not teach how to read and write a language. A gradual understanding of word etymologies and how words are related to each other (which is facilitated by literacy) is key in developing beyond the beginner level in a language. One might have difficulty in responding to any variation of the phrases taught. Pimsleur rarely explicitly teaches grammar, instead relying on students picking up grammar by recognizing patterns in large numbers of sentences. Some critics believe this leads to a weaker understanding of grammar, and therefore, it may be difficult to comprehend sentence structures that were not encountered in Pimsleur. Although children acquire their native languages this way, they have much more exposure to the language than audio tapes provide. In addition, children receive feedback on grammar -- parents will correct it, whereas Pimsleur students only receive feedback on the phrases used in the Pimsleur program. In addition, the Pimsleur program is unimodal -- students learning the word for "orange" will only hear it spoken. They will not see an orange, or a picture of an orange. In addition, Pimsleur students do not receive feedback on their pronunciation. After they say a phrase, they will hear a native speaker say the phrase, and need to self-correct. This works well if the phonemes of the foreign and native language overlap, but if phonemes do not overlap, the student may not hear how they are mispronouncing something, and even if they do, they will not have been taught appropriate mouth position to make the foreign sound. Finally, since Pimsleur students primarily exercise speaking, many Pimsleur students initially have much better speaking skills than listening comprehension. REFERENCES
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