Bob Wilson's autoenglish.org

Organic Language Acquisition Strategies

Bob Wilson now writes songs about the environment.


Organic Language Acquisition Strategies

I have been working to make English teaching more effective for many years. A key moment for me was the TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson 'Do schools kill creativity?'. Ken proved my hunch that standard language instruction in schools is ineffective because it ignores all the science. Over recent years I have been finding, adapting and creating strategies for effective and fast language acquisition for children at different stages in their cognitive, emotional and social developement. Here are a few facts to get you thinking:

  • All children love learning but not all of them enjoy school.
  • Mistakes are positives. No mistakes, no learning.
  • Repetition is central to the learning process.
  • Music is a memory enhancer of extraordinary power.
  • Students learn more from each other than they do from teachers.
  • A learning event is permanent when it is also an emotionally positive experience.
  • If children are having fun, they will learn everything you throw at them and fast.
  • All kids are unique, each one hiding talents teachers must find and liberate.
  • Children need opportunities to be creative so they can discover their powers.
  • Building children's sense of worth & self-confidence is vital to their education.
  • People live in societies so, logically, children need opportunities to work together.
  • Social interactions are our brains most taxing tasks. Children need practice.
  • The 3 top skills sought by employers are: problem-solving, critical thinking & teamwork.

The above proven facts about learning come from research in educational psychology, metacognitive neuroscience and the meta analysis of decades of data and research findings. My task is synthesizing all these findings into methodologies, syllabuses and activities ready for immediate implementation. My material is here for all the world to use and my mission is to take part in Sir Ken Robinson's education revolution. My approach is called The Bob Wilson Holistic Method. The introduction includes talks from all the clever people who have spent their lives researching learning. So, please help yourself.

The Bob Wilson Holistic Method

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