

Stage three of language learning



In stage three the learner can understand new information , but it still helps if that information is still specially geared to a new speaker's needs. This means that meanings must often be negotiated. In order to keep increasing in comprehension fluency during this stage, the key ingredient is coming to understand the background information that everyone in the culture knows about , and in particular, learning this information in connection with the language that is associated with them.


Because the learner can by now understand a lot of the linguistic content, it is possible to develop more ability for top-down processing of “new” information of the non-linguistic content. IF there is adequate input, the learner should be developing a sense of the different discourse genres and registers of speech.


The result of getting through stage three is that the learner is able to comprehend language related to a vast range of topics, situations and contexts, as well as easily process many social nuances.


In stage three, the learner has increasing facility to produce connected narrative discourse (as in the ACTFL Advanced stage).


Greg Thomson, personal communication

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Page content last modified: 23 October 1998

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