CLL 40 Years On - The Learner's Role as a Member of the Learning Community

Ron and Susan Zemke (1981) enumerated in "30 Things We Know for Sure About Learning," thirty "truisms" about adult learning and adult learners in three categories: learner motivation, curriculum design and classroom practice. Concurrent with new and revolutionary theories in adult training and education occurring during the late 1970's - late 1980's, informed by advances in psychology and an emerging social awareness, the field of second language acquisition by adults also abounded with alternative approaches, methodologies and techniques to teaching.

Community Language Learning (CLL) developed by Charles Curran and his associates, combines principles of learning theory with counseling attitudes and techniques. Its proponents were influenced primarily by insights from 1950's holistic psychological counseling approaches. More recent writings on CLL theory refer to language acquisition as a social process.

The learner's role is to become a member of the given language learning community -- whether in a traditional classroom setting, or in some alternative place -- and to learn by interacting with fellow members of that community. Its syllabus emerges from the interaction between the learner's expressed communicative intentions and the teacher's expression of these into suitable target language mastery goals. The learner is seen as starting out somewhat dependent upon the teacher and other classmates, but developing into an independent learner -- growing even to take on a leadership role in the classroom. Instructional materials: evolve out of the interactions of the community; actually, in CLL, the textbook is not considered a necessary component. More about CLL:

• CLL operates out of what learners feel they need to know.
• In CLL the teacher/knower is counselor, supporter, and facilitator.
• CLL is rooted in in a communal relationship between learners and teachers acting supportively and in concert.
• CLL language practice is innovative, with an emphasis on language production.
• CLL holds that learning is multimodal (Curran 1976: 79), and sees learners' commitment, attention, and group participation as central to overcoming barriers of embarrassment, aversion to risk, learning styles and preferences (i.e., the affective domain).

Even though it's 40 years old, Community Language Learning can still be relevant when incorporated, as appropriate, into your curriculum design and classroom practice as part of an effective, eclectic approach to adult language education.

LEARN MORE:

Curran, Charles. 1976. Counseling-Learning in Second Languages. Apple River, IL: Apple River Press.

Richards, Jack C. and Theodore S. Rodgers. 1986. Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. A Description and Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Zemke, Ron., and Susan Zemke. "30 Things We Know for Sure About Adult Learning," TRAINING Magazine, June 1981. Minn: Lakewood Publications. (Revisited in June 1995 -- they asked themselves, "Has anything changed?") Found at: http://www.trainingmag.com/sites/default/files//TrainingMagazine_1995_AdultsLearning.pdf