EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY FOR LANGUAGE LEARNERS

Educational Psychology for language learners



Educational Psychology for Language Learners

Introduction

Learning, in education and psychology, is commonly referred as the process that combines the influences of cognition, emotion and environment. These processes are used for enhancing, acquiring or changing a person's values, skills and knowledge.

As a process, learning focuses on the happenings at the time when learning is taking place, which is also termed as the learning theory. It attempts to describe as to how people learn. ( Holzman, 1997)

Discussion

Educational Theory

Education started achieving great attention in the late 19th and early 20th century. Many philosophers and psychologist started focussing their work on education. Educational theories have been associated with two great people who proposed and enhanced the theories related to education. ( Greenberg, 1987)

John Dewy (October 20, 1858 - June 1, 1952) was an American psychologist, philosopher and an educational reformer. He believed that learning was an act if active schooling and not unnecessary long and restrictive lectures. ( Holzman, 1997)

Paulo Reglus Neves Freire (September 19, 1921 - May 2, 1997) was an educator from the Brazilian region. He was a very influential theorist who attempted to link society and education.

Both these philosophers and psychologists enhanced the concepts of learning and education, which enabled many people to develop efficient educational systems. Their work in relation to learning and education has evolved the process of learning greatly in the past few decades. ( Greenberg, 1987)

Educational Psychology

The study of the way people gain knowledge including topics such as instructional process, student outcomes, gifted learners, individual differences and learning disabilities.

This branch of psychology not only involves the learning process in the early childhood and teenage, but also includes emotional, social and cognitive processes. These processes are involved throughout the entire life span of a person. ( Holzman, 1997)

Behaviourism

Behaviourism theory is a very substantial theory in the field of psychology. Behaviourism, in the field of education it relates to the dominance of a teacher in the behaviour modification programs. However, it can be applied to understand the unintended learning. Behaviourism is relevant mainly in the skill development and the learning processes.

Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive psychology is the study of the mental processes that include the way people perceive, think, learn and remember. Cognitive psychology mainly focuses on the way people process, acquire and store information. ( Caine & Renate, 1994)

Cognitive psychology is more concerned with the internal state of mind, while behaviourism, unlike cognitive psychology, focuses only on the observable aspects of behaviours. It focuses on the language, memory, intelligence, decision-making, judgement and Perception. Teachers and educators along with curriculum developers closely study the cognitive approaches in order to succeed in their various fields of job. ( Greenberg, 1987)

Constructivism

Constructivism is a learning theory that provides explanations of human learning as an attempt to develop meaning of the world around us. It focuses on the person's desires and ability to learn while the teacher is only there to assist and guide the self-directing learning ...