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learners to move from one institution to another as their language learning
careers progress.
In this section we will examine these principles and a few of their implications.
In subsequent chapters of this document, as we propose goals and suggest
ways to implement them, there will be discussion of some typical local
conditions and the effect they might have on the implementation of goals.
Principle 1: The acquisition of Russian--like any language, native or foreign--
is sufficiently difficult that learners need to view it as a life-long learning
process.19For learners, this means that they are the only ones who can have a
long-range view of their careers, and it is thus their responsibility to assess their
progress and the extent to which different institutions and learning strategies
meet their needs. Part of the learning process should address this principle and
seek to operationalize it at all levels of learner behavior, from daily assignments
to college and career choices. As we--teachers and administrators--design
programs at our various institutions, this principle implies that we must be aware
of the fact that articulation is a critical issue. In order to act responsibly,
therefore, as we design our curricula, we must look for ways to allow learners to
enter and exit with as little disruption to their language learning careers as
possible.
Principle 2: If the learning process is life-long and, of necessity therefore
managed by the learner, then our programs must be learner centered. By this it
is meant that programs should operate for the benefit and at the convenience of
the learner, not teachers and institutions. That is, our approaches to teaching
must recognize that learners are characterized by different personalities and
learning styles, that the extent of learners' motivation will vary, and that human
factors--gender, age,socioeconomic backgrounds, and so on--will play a role
in determining how an individual learner will respond to the learning environ-
ment. As we plan our lessons, teachers need to be aware not just of what is a
comfortable style of teaching, but of what the needs of the different individual
learners are.
Principle 3: Our focus on the learner further implies that our programs must be
learning centered. Just as each learner has certain unique characteristics, so
do we all possess certain common cognitive processes. Further, general
cognitive processes vary in their generalizability at different stages of intellec-
tual development. We must be aware, for instance, of two major types of know-
ledge: procedural (the ability to perform = "act") and declarative (the ability to
declare, or explain, knowledge = "fact").20These two types of knowledge are
acquired in very different fashions and at very different times: the latter becomes
19See Coppedge (DATE?); note also opposition to idea that all curricula should be
geared to life-long learners. Especially in the case of random HS learner this is a
nonsensical presupposition. Opposition to the extreme form does not, however,
undermine the need to develop curricula that facilitate movement into college programs.
20This is a central distinction in cognitive psychology; see, for example, chapter 8 of
Anderson 1985.
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