Design a power point presentation of 15 slides to explain how humans learn in general and how they learn a foreign language.

1. How humans learn in general
and
how they learn a foreign
language.

2. Learning
We learn from the things that happen to us - our experiences. For example,
we learned that lightning is followed by thunder, we learned not to tell lies
because it can cause us to lose our credibility and to lose our friends, or
that we learned how to dance by watching others demonstrate dance steps
to us. We can say that we have learned these things because we have
acquired appropriate responses for them - we cover our ears when lightning
strikes, we try to avoid telling lies, and we dance.
Learning is acquiring relatively permanent change in behavior through
experience. We experience things and learn to modify our behaviors based
on what we know.
Learning applies not just to humans, but also to animals. For us humans,
learning extends beyond the scope of proper education. Prior schooling, we
learned how to tie our shoes, how to write, and maybe, even how to read.
For animals, learning could mean knowing how to hunt for food, how to climb
trees, and when to avoid predators. Learning about the environment is
important for adaptation and survival.

3. There are two different types of learning - observational and
associative learning.
Observational Learning is learning by watching others engage in
different behaviors. Probably have learned to dance by watching your
teacher demonstrate some dance steps to you. You also probably have
learned how to write by watching your mother demonstrate hand
strokes for various letters and numbers.
How humans learn in general.

4. Associative Learning is learning by establishing connections between events.
Conditioning is the method for teaching associations, and there are two types
of conditioning - classical and operant conditioning.
Classical conditioning is the method teaching associations between two
different stimuli. We learned the connection between lightning and thunder
because they almost always occur together. Because of this, whenever we see
lightning, we cover our ears in anticipation of thunder. On the other hand,
operant conditioning is the method of teaching associations between
behaviors and consequences. Operant conditioning uses rewards and
punishments to strengthen or weaken behaviors.

5. Factors that Affect Learning
Despite the popularity of the use of experiments in uncovering the
principles of learning, most of the time, learning occurs in not-so ideal
situations. Have you ever witnessed, for example, a dog speaking fluent
English, even if it seemingly demonstrates basic understanding of the
language? Have you ever had problem remembering names when you went
through zero sleep last night? And lastly, do you know how to tell if a plant
is poisonous or not? Probably no. This is because there are biological,
cognitive and cultural factors in learning.

6. Classical Conditioning
Classical Conditioning is the method of teaching connections between two
stimuli. It is the process of associating, and consequently, providing meaning to a
neutral stimulus with another meaningful stimulus, in order to elicit similar
response.
For example, we cover our ears when lightning strikes. This is because we have
learned through classical conditioning that thunder occurs after the strike of
lightning. We incorporate the meaning of thunder to lightning, such that we
elicit the same behavior (covering of ears) we attribute to thunder.
Classical conditioning makes use of our reflexes to teach associations. Almost all
of us exhibit the same reflexes upon birth, although some fade in time.
Reflexes are automatic stimulus-response connections, such as when we salivate
with food, we feel nauseated with spoiled food, we shiver in response to low
temperature, we cough with clogged throat, our pupils constrict in response to
bright light, and we withdraw from blows and burns. Because reflex responses
are automatic, they are almost always involuntary. Using the example posed
earlier, we have learned to cover our ears when lightning strikes because that is
our automatic response to loud sounds. Through classical conditioning, we have
learned to transfer this response from thunder to lightning as well.

7. Basic Processes of Classical Conditioning
Classical conditioning works like this: A neutral stimulus is paired with a
meaningful stimulus (the reflex stimulus), until the neutral stimulus gains
the meaning of the other stimulus. The neutral stimulus then becomes a
conditioned stimulus, and the original automatic response (the reflex
response) from the original meaningful stimulus is transferred to the
neutral stimulus and becomes the conditioned response. From the example
above, the meaningful stimulus is thunder, and the automatic response to
that sitmulus is "covering of ears". Through continued pairing with thunder,
lightning, which was originally a neutral stimulus, acquires the meaning of
thunder and becomes a conditioned stimulus. Consequently, we elicit similar
response to ligthning, so that "covering of ears" becomes a conditioned
response. Thus, we no longer just cover our ears in response to loud sounds
(like thunder), but also to lightning.

8. Acquisition. Acquisition is the initial learning of the stimulus-response
link. Two important aspects of acquisition are contiguity and
contingency. Continguity is the time interval between the occurrence
of the meaningful stimulus and the neutral stimulus. The optimal time
interval between the two stimuli is 0.25 second. Contingency, on the
other hand, is the predictability between the two stimuli (Roscoria,
1966 & 1988). Ideally, the two stimuli should always be paired
together until acquisition occurs. For example, if thunder doesn't
always come after lightning, we would never learn to cover our ears
when lightning strikes. Learning through classical conditioning doesn't
take much time.
If we plot the number of times we exhibit the same response to the
neutral stimulus as tha pairing goes, we would come up with a half-
parabola. (A half-parabola looks like the left half of a hill.) This means
that we learn quite easily with classical conditioning. To demonstrate
how fast we learn with classical conditioning, imagine the first time
you heard the kettle whistle. It probably took you less than 3 trials to
know that the water started to boil.

9. Generalization and/or Discrimination.
Generalization is the application of learning to other similar stimuli. Using
the thunder -lightning example, if you are watching a movies, and lightning
striked in the movie, you would probably expect to hear thunder to follow.
Discrimination, on the other hand, is the process of knowing when not to
elicit similar response. Using the example of the whistling kettle above, if a
family member blows a whistle while you're heating kettle on the stove, you
would probably know that the whistle is not coming from the kettle and
water is not yet boiling, because the sound of the kettle whistle is not the
same as the one your family member just blew.
The process of generalization and discrimination is important in learning. For
example, herbivores should be able to distinguish edible plants from
poisonous ones. Similarly, educators use this process to check if students
understand the concepts taught in class. Multiple-choice questions are
oftentimes used to evaluate how a student can discriminate one concept
from another.

10. Extinction. Extinction is the process of unlearning the conditioned stimulus.
The philosophy behind acquisition and extinction is this: "If it can be learned,
it can also be unlearned." Extinction occurs with the absence of the
unconditioned or originally meaningful stimulus. With extinction, the
conditioned response weakens. If we plot the number of times we exhibit the
conditioned response to the conditioned stimulus when the unconditioned
stimulus is absent, we would come up with a half hyperbola. (A half-hyperbola
looks like the right half of a volcano.)
Spontaneous Recovery. Unlike acquisition, unlearning a conditioned stimulus
takes time. To demonstrate our difficulty to unlearn, spontaneous recovery is
the recurrence of the conditioned response despite continued absence of the
conditioned stimulus after a period of rest. If we continue to plot following
extinction, spontaneous recovery is a smaller half-hyperbola after a period of
no response. The good thing is that spontaneous recovery quickly dies out,
and the negative hyperbola gets even smaller in time.

11. How humans learn a foreign language.
One of the biggest questions over human behavior is whether our
actions are determined by our natures, or by our nurtures. In other
words, do we act the way we do because of genetic programming –
innate qualities that we have no power over – or is it the way we are
brought up, treated, educated, and so forth. This will be discussed
in more detail in human sciences, but the debate interests us in
language in the question over how we learn to speak. Is it an innate
human capacity, or is it purely a result of our environment, as we
first imitate our parents and family members, and then apply the
rules of grammar to perfect our powers of communication?

12. Learning language is something we’re born to do. it’s an instinct we have,
which is proven, as one research paper says, just by observation:
To believe that special biological adaptations are a requirement, it is enough
to notice that all the children but none of the dogs and cats in the house
acquire language.
As children, we learn to think, learn to communicate and intuitively pick up an
understanding of grammar rules in our mother tongue, or native language.
From then on, we learn all new languages in relation to the one we first
knew—the one that we used to understand the world around us for the first
time ever.
Although language is something we learn, research has shown that the
instinct to do so is present from birth. Not only are we inclined to process
and adopt language, but it seems that the human brain has common linguistic
constraints, regardless of the language we’ve learned. Certain syllables,
which aren’t common in any language, are difficult for the brain to process,
even in newborns who haven’t started learning any language yet.

13. Learning a foreign language
When it comes to learning a second language, adults are at a disadvantage. As
we age, our brain’s plasticity (its ability to create new neurons and synapses)
is reduced. Following brain damage that causes a loss of speech, for instance,
researchers have observed that children are more likely to regain the power
of speech, by creating new pathways in the brain to replace the damaged
ones.
One theory of why learning a foreign language is so hard for adults focuses
more on the process we go through to do so, rather than the loss of
plasticity. Robert Bley-Vroman explains in Linguistic Perspectives on Second
Language Acquisition that adults approach learning a new language with an
adult problem-solving process, rather than in the same way a child develops
language for the first time.

14. Although this means adults generally progress through the early stages
of learning a language faster than children, people who are exposed to a
foreign language first during childhood usually achieve a higher
proficiency than those who start out as adults.
There’s still hope, though. A study of secondary language pronunciation
found that some learners who started as adults scored as well as native
speakers. It’s also been shown that motivation to learn can improve
proficiency, so if you really want to learn a language, it’s not necessarily
too late.

15. Almost all human beings acquire a language (and sometimes more than
one), to the level of native competency, before age 5. How do children
accomplish this remarkable feat in such a short amount of time? Which
aspects of language acquisition are biologically programmed into the
human brain and which are based on experience? Do adults learn language
differently from children? Researchers have long debated the answers to
these questions, but there is one thing they agree on: language acquisition
is a complex process.
Most researchers agree that children acquire language through interplay
of biology and environmental factors. A challenge for linguists is to figure
out how nature and nurture come together to influence foreign language
learning.