Challenges of learning a new subject in a second (or third, etc) language.

Factual Questions
1

Sorry for the clumsy title. I am having a hard time searching for research articles done on this subject, maybe my wording is off.

I have a project about cognition and I thought a great subject would be about learning a subject in a second language. I teach care aide (nursing assistant, support worker, other terms may apply) skills, and for about 75% of our students, English is a second or later acquired language.

I thought my project could be on the difficulties for the second language learners of concentration in theory based learning vs the psychomotor learning that occurs in the hands-on skills part of the course. Unfortunately, I am having trouble finding articles about the topic. It’s supposed to work out to be a 5-minute presentation, so no, conducting my own research and doing the stats etc is not something I am prepared to do. Maybe for a further project down the road, but not this week. I’m currently visiting my parents so I don’t have any good libraries handy and this small project is not supposed to require many citations. Main article, summary, discuss.

Is my Google-fu off, or is there really a dearth of articles about how learning is affected when you learn a new subject in a second language. Is there something obvious I am missing in search terms? Most of my searches obtain results on learning a second language, vs learning IN a second language.

Any assistance is appreciated, and if someone is going to say go do your own homework, well that is fair.

2

You might try Google Scholar, for example:
https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C16&q=learn+new+subject+second+language&btnG=

Each of the articles when you do the search will have “Cited by …” and “Related articles”

So when you find an article which is relevant you read those two lists of other articles.

3

I wrote a paper that touched on this in one of my undergrad babby’s-first-linguistics classes. It comes up because learning in a new language is, no surprise, harder.

I’m on business travel right now and if I have any material from back then, it’s probably hoarded away in some mystery box. So I’m unlikely to be able to point you to any references. But I recall research being cited when trying to optimize ESL education. Learn how to read, then learn how to read in language 2? Or jump right to learning how to read in language 2? I’ll be back if I stumble across any useful search terms.

4

Thanks.

I am going to look into this subject more, but not for this small presentation. I’m just really confused that with various search parameters I am not finding much research on the subject. I speak and read French enough to get by but I would be intimidated by learning something completely new in my second language.

5

Have you tried a more specific search? You should find good articles on the difficulties of learning math as an ESL student, difficulties in learning science for ESL students, etc. You could then extrapolate from those articles. Alternatively, you could call a school that’s set up a training program for ESL CNA’s and ask for resources. One such school is the Carlos Rosario International Charter School, which researched before setting up just such a program.

Hope this helps. Best of luck!

6

Just personal anecdote, but I took a second law degree in French and didn’t find it that difficult. It was a different area of law than my first law degree, but aside from being tired at the end of the day sometimes, it worked okay for me.

7

Here’s an example of a book directly addressing the OP.

http://www.petaa.edu.au/imis_prod/w/Store/Item_Detail.aspx?iProductCode=PET037&Category=%20BOOK

I’ve read quite a bit on the subject, so I know that there is literature concerning the subject.

8

Mona Lisa, it’s hard to tell from your OP what exactly you want to present in 5 minutes, because the situation you’re describing can go off in so many directions.

Obviously for “LEP” (“limited” English proficiency) students, the theoretical component (the readings, etc.) to care-giver training is more challenging than the clinicals. That’s pretty much a given. So then where do you want to go from there?

Do you want to just generally address the challenges of reading technical materials in a second language? (ESP – English for specific purposes). There’s a lot of material on that which goes way back, generally as part of the literature on best pedagogical practices (actually andragogical practices, because these are not children, and that makes a big difference).

This article is not about adult learners, strictly speaking, but it addresses the cognitive issues facing the students in your class:LEP Students and the Integration of Language and Content: Knowledge, Structures and Tasks – (Mohan, 1989)This article more directly addresses adult English learners in CTE classes, but is mostly a teaching guideline: Bridging the Communication Gap: Tips for Teaching the LEP Student (Lopez-Valdez, 1982)
However, probably of greater interest (and more current) for a 5-minute presentation would be the increasingly stronger push now tied to federal funding of programs like yours (through WIOA) for IET (integrated education and training), or IBEST type models, wherein the English language learning is combined with the CTE.

It has been shown that adult English language learners will learn English much more rapidly and effectively when it is directly tied to training, because the students have a much stronger motivation and clearer idea of the content they are reading, which is authentic, and not fake articles made up for English text books. Yes, it’s a struggle, but with proper scaffolding, they get it, and retain it better.

If you look through the references at the end of this dissertation from a couple of years ago, which deals with IET, you might find an article that is more current, addressing the cognition issues, and which more closely suits what you want to do for this presentation: Integrated ESL with Career and Vocational Training Program to Achieve Employability (Boyer, 2017)
I don’t know–I don’t have time to go through it, but take a look. Good luck–if you have any specific questions, send a PM.

9

ETA: I believe that dissertation provides an in-depth look at the points brought up in the article which nelliebly cited above.

10

Almost all of my schooling post High School was in what is my third language (English), and no ghere was no problem. Also a law degree.
Admittedly I had studied in English before.

11

“Home Language” would work better. I don’t know anything about the terms used academic research, but in practice “Home Language” is a term used precisely because “First Language” and “Second Language” are so loaded with language-learning content :slight_smile:

12

Yes, “home language” typically is used in literature on dual-language (or bilingual) education, but those studies are about children learning general academic content, and tend to focus on overall program issues, rather than the challenge for an individual adult studying a particular course such as CNA or care-giver. One term to use when searching to avoid results that are merely addressing language learning itself is “content,” but that still leads to mostly studies of children in dual language programs. Using “L1” and “L2” doesn’t make much difference, and “partner language,” again, is used exclusively for research in dual-language programs. Traditionally, the term “LEP” was used to identify the kind of students the OP is interested in, which of course is limited to English-speaking countries; the fact is, however, that most of the research in this has been done in English speaking countries. Also, that term has fallen into disfavor somewhat.

13

Wow, great information in all these posts. Thank everyone so much! I’m visiting my parents on Vancouver Island for the next few days, so I won’t spend much time going over it, but it will definitely be used in the future.

My assignment is about the Cognitive Science and learning. Find an article, summarize it, show it’s applicability to my practice, and show evidence of its validity. The presentation is in the form of a podcast or an uploaded video. My bright idea was to find an article about task-based vs theoretical learning in a later acquired language, use it to explain how information is stored in the language areas of the brain, and give the implications for my practice, etc etc. On review, this is a much bigger topic I will probably explore in another course in the program. I admit I have an agenda with this topic. I think our course is front-loaded with theory, which turns off students who are new to studying in English. I get about a month of blank stares before students start to warm up and relate more to the content. I feel that this completely goes against the principles of adult learning /andragogy. Some research may give me some concrete ways I can go to the administration and suggest changes to the order or way we deliver this required part of the curriculum.

Thanks for all the input! I have some amazing bookmarks and ideas for my later project!

14

Ah, well now that you clarify . . . this article is a good overview, with a lot of references:

Facilitating Student Learning Through Contextualization: A Review of Evidence (Perin, 2011)

Your sense of the matter is correct.

15

I get the same and I usually teach people in their own language. It’s linked to stuff such as “learning styles” (which some people tell me is a passé concept but I have found useful) and “communication styles”. Very often the kind of person who is attracted to physical work is also the kind of person who does better if there is a bit of theory, a bit of practice… rather than with a whole lotta theory followed by a whole lotta practice. With my own students (who tend to be either blue collar or engineers), I find that beginning by a bit of practice and then going into “why is it that way” or “how do we get it to work exactly that way” works better than the other way 'round; people from other backgrounds often prefer to start with “this is how we set up things”, then move to “this is how what we’ve set up comes out”.

I realize this is not particularly useful for the current situation, but it may come in handy long-term.

16

The “meat” of the course is section 500 and 700, where we learn body systems Anatomy and Physiology, and a few other Concepts (500 courses) then skills (700 courses). These start around week 7 of the course. So if on Monday we teach the digestive system, Tuesday we learn skills related to nutrition and feeding our clients, Wednesday we teach skills related to bowel elimination and Thursday we learn skills relating to parenteral nutrition. Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday are about 90 minutes of theoretical content and 6 hours of videos, student presentations and lab practice. I really enjoy teaching the 500/700 courses because the students enjoy the combination of theory and activity.

On the other hand, my personal bent is social sciences, and I’m great at learning and discussing theory. The 100 and 200 courses(first month of school) are Introduction to Practice and Concepts for practice. In one day, for example, I am supposed to provide 3.5 hours of introduction to health care law in Canada, and 3.5 hours of Ethics.(my lesson plans and source material are great, that’s not the problem) I have students who have barely met the English Language benchmarks for entry into the class, I have students who may be proficient in English but arrived in Canada a week earlier, and students who have been out of school for 20 years and decide that life might be more than mopping floors or being a stay at home parent. Then I have students who were RNs in their home country, and while they want to engage with the material they have a strong cultural learning curve ahead.

The rationale is good, my students do need an idea of what the role of the health care aide is, what they need to know about our system here, but I think there has to be a better way. And the more I read everyone’s posts the more I realize this will go into a project in one of my later courses. It is definitely not a subject for a 4-minute podcast or video.