Learning Mandarin in Later Life, 2013
Some years ago I conducted a case study of myself as learner of Mandarin. I considered the impact of age (Shleppegrell, 1987), hyperpolyglot status (Erard, 2011), and language strategy expertise (Oxford, 2011; Cohen, 2011) on foreign language learning. I began my study of Mandarin – my 12th language after English – at the age of 67, completing a 150-hour, 3-DVD course called Fluenz Mandarin and a series of over 80 lessons with a Chinese-language instructor from the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications on a Fulbright in the U.S. and then back in Beijing, via Skype, Face Time, and iPhone communication. The instruction focused primarily on material generated by me, consistent with my life experiences and professional interests as an applied linguist. The learner chose to learn pinyin, which provided me the tones for the vocabulary, and to avoid learning Chinese characters at this stage. I created electronic flashcards for words and phrases using Flash My Brain (Mode of Expression, 2007). The instructor kept an Excel file with details of every session and with feedback from the learner.
The presentation answered the following: (1) What is the impact of age on an elderly English L1 learner of Mandarin? (2) How does the previous learning of many other languages influence the learning of this FL? (3) What role does a sophisticated language strategy repertoire play in the learning and performance in Mandarin? I gave a presentation in March of 2014 which reported on my results as viewed from my vantage point, paying particular attention to vocabulary (e.g., the use of measure words and the overabundance of homonyms and near homonyms), grammar (e.g., word order), and pronunciation (e.g., the perception and production of the four tones and challenging contrasts in consonants such as /zh/, /j/, /q/, and /ch/).
Cohen, A. D. & Li, P. (2013). Learning Mandarin in later life: Can old dogs learn new tricks? Contemporary Foreign Language Studies, 396(12), 5-14. Doi: 10.3969/j. issn. 1674-8921.201312.002
Fine-Tuning Comprehension of Vocabulary in Mandarin FL by a Hyperplyglot (i.e. someone who has studied 12+ languages)
The purpose of this study was to describe the strategies used by me as a hyperpolyglot to fine-tune my understanding of Mandarin vocabulary through accessing on-line programs, apps, and human resources. Analysis of videotaped verbal report revealed that the subject used strategies for managing vocabulary resources (i.e. planning, organizing, monitoring, and evaluating their use) and for processing the information in the resources (i.e. finding word equivalents in Chinese for English words, fine-tuning the word meanings, and verifying the word meanings). Half of my strategies were combined with other strategies in sequences, another third in strategy pairs, and the remainder used separately, with just a few being strategy clusters. A major finding was that while I successfully fine-tuned 57% of the vocabulary items, nonetheless my fine-tuning efforts were unsuccessful 43% of the time. The effectiveness of my strategic fine-tuning depended largely on my skill in finding the information I needed, my ability to apply my knowledge regarding numerous aspects of word knowledge, my ability to monitor and evaluate my performance, and the nature of the specific dictionary entries that I accessed.
Cohen, A. D., & Wang, I. K.-H. (2019). Fine-tuning word meanings through mobile app and online resources: A case study of strategy use by a hyperpolyglot. System, 85, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2019.102106