Second Language Learning (Essay Sample)

Second Language Learning
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Second Language Learning
With recent development in computer technologies, second language teachers have adopted latest technologies to aid students in the learning process. Among the technologies adopted includes the use of mobile application that can aid a student in understanding new vocabulary. These applications also assist students in spelling pronunciation and sentence construction. To assist me in learning English, I used the Youdao dictionary. Youdao dictionary is a Smartphone application that helps Chinese speakers translate, pronounce and construct English sentences. The application was used along with my communicative learning model that involved watching English movies and music. From the selected movies, I picked up new English words that I checked for meanings and use in sentence construction. From my evaluation results, one would not be wrong to assert that Youdao greatly helped me in improving my proficiency in English.
Learning a second language is a tough process during the early stages. On this regard, it would be appropriate for a student to adopt appropriate strategies in order to communicate effectively in the new language. Listening and constant communication are considered as one of the most effective strategies that one can consider while learning the language. One may also communicate more often with native speakers in their language with the hope of comprehending the language better. To learn the English language I adopted a listening based model. In the model, I watched an English movie two times every week. In the learning process, I hoped to achieve a considerable level of mastery of English within six weeks. Within the six-week period, I believe that I will be able to understand the plot underlying these movies without the guide of subtitles.
In the first week, I chose to watch the movie X-men without subtitles. I would then write a short preview of the movie and check the validity of my understanding with online reviews of the movie. The second involved watching the movies again but this time with English and Chinese subtitles. After watching the movies for a second time, I would then create a vocabulary list consisting of 50 words. Based on the extracted vocabulary, I would use my Youdao application to help me construct English sentences. The sentences that I create would then be evaluated using a vocabulary test. In the second week, I would watch the same movie and repeat the same procedure for week one. In the subsequent weeks, three to five, I selected Iron 2, Iron 3 and dragonfly. I would follow the same evaluation procedure as stipulated in week one for these movies. In week six, I would watch X-men movie (same movie for week one) and gauge my level of improvement as compared to my fist week of learning.
WeekPercentage of movie comprehension Week 1 30% Week 2 35% Week 3 40% Week 4 50% Week 5 60% Week 6 70%  Figure 1: Percentage level of comprehension of the movies in the six weeks of study
WeekVocabulary test results Week 1 80% Week 2 87% Week 3 78% Week 4 86% Week 5 84% Week 6 100%  Figure 2: Vocabulary test results in the six weeks
From figure 1, it is evident that my comprehension of the movies was quite low at 30%. However, there was a gradual increase in my level of understanding the movies' plots. My degree of comprehension was highest at week 6. The rise in my understanding of the movies shows that the strategy that I adopted in learning English was effective. One may argue that my performance would be considerably dismal if I chose a different learning approach. Figure 2 shows my performance with vocabulary use within the six-week period. From the results, it can be pointed out that my test results were commendably high. This is because my poorest performance was at 78% at week three, which is still a commendable result. The results also show that I was able to achieve a 100% performance on vocabulary use in week six. The great performance regarding vocabulary use could be credited to the Youdao application. The application does not only aid in creating good spelling and pronunciation practices but also helps learners construct good English sentences. On the other hand, the slight dip in week three could be attributed to fatigue resulting from the large quantities of tests performed.
By Using Youdao, one can argue that I was able to experience a smooth transition to the English language. The transition could have been tougher had I utilized other conventional learning models. Youdao was especially effective in helping in sentence construction where each of the selected words was used well both grammatically and semantically. On this regard, one can argue that the application corresponds to the semantic theory of second theory acquisition. The theory asserts that the meaning of a phrase in a second language is most critical element during the learning process. Accor...