Towards An Experiential Approach To Foreign Language Education

Experiential learning, one of the oldest approaches to learning, has been widely recognized as an effective approach in business education and training and in some other subjects such as geography. However, there is relatively little practice and research done in the field of language education. The present study attempts to justify the role of experiential learning in foreign language education and then develop a systematic look at how experiential learning can be built into foreign language education.It starts with a systematic examination of experience and experiential learning in the hope that a relatively solid foundation can be laid for further discussion. In discussing definition and types of experience, a three-dimensional view of experience is developed. When it comes to the discussion of experiential learning, besides its definitions, principles, characteristics, and forms, David Kolb's (1984) experiential learning cycle is introduced in detail as the basic model of experiential learning. The experiential learning model regards learning as a cyclic process that integrates concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization and active experimentation. Based on Kolb's model and some of others', a seven-stage experiential learning cycle is proposed for foreign language education, taking three-dimensional experience as the primary focus.After clarifying the notions of experience and experiential learning, efforts are made to justify the application of experiential learning in foreign language education. The major arguments for the justification are: 1) experiential learning helps to keep up with current trends in society, education, and foreign language teaching; 2) experiential learning reflects the nature of knowledge, language learning and whole-person development in learning society; and 3) experiential learning is considered as a natural process of learning in relation to three paradigms in language education. In the subsequent part, the author attempts toconsider the question of how experiential learning can be incorporated into foreign language education. In order to establish a theoretical framework for experiential foreign language education, the author briefly reviews Viljo Kohonen's (2001) theoretical framework for experiential foreign language education, identifies the position of experiential learning in language education with reference to H. H. Stern's (1992) three dimensions of language teaching strategies and then proposes to achieve coherence among language teaching methods through experiential learning. Pedagogical implications for foreign language education are also addressed. The thesis points out remaining problems with experiential learning and limitations of the present study.