How Essentialist Reasoning about Language Acquisition Relates to Educational Myths and Policy Endorsements

Autor/inn/en	Sun, Xin; Nancekivell, Shaylene E.; Shah, Priti; Gelman, Susan A.
Titel	How Essentialist Reasoning about Language Acquisition Relates to Educational Myths and Policy Endorsements
Quelle	In: Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 8 (2023), Artikel 27 (15 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Sun, Xin)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
DOI	10.1186/s41235-023-00481-2
Schlagwörter	Learning Processes; Language Acquisition; Individual Differences; Misconceptions; Educational Policy; Second Language Learning; Language Research; Multilingualism; Correlation; Language Aptitude; Second Language Instruction; Bilingual Education; Teaching Methods; Native Language; Policy Formation + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Learning process; Lernprozess; Sprachaneignung; Spracherwerb; Individueller Unterschied; Missverständnis; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Sprachforschung; Mehrsprachigkeit; Multilingualismus; Korrelation; Sprachbegabung; Spracheignung; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Bilingual teaching; Bilingualer Unterricht; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Politische Betätigung
Abstract	How people conceptualize learning is related to real-world educational consequences across many domains of education. Despite its centrality to the educational system, we know little about how the public reasons about language acquisition, and the potential consequences for their thinking about real-world issues (e.g., policy endorsements). The current studies examined people's essentialist beliefs about language acquisition (e.g., that language is innate and biologically based), then investigated how individual differences in these beliefs related to the endorsement of educational myths and policies. We probed several dimensions of essentialist beliefs, including that language acquisition is innate, genetically based, and wired in the brain. In two studies, we tested specific hypotheses regarding the extent to which people use essentialist thinking when reasoning about: learning a specific language (e.g., Korean), learning a first language more generally, and learning two or more languages. Across studies, participants were more likely to essentialize the ability to learn multiple languages than one's first language, and more likely to essentialize the learning of multiple languages and one's first language than the learning of a particular language. We also found substantial individual differences in the degree to which participants essentialized language acquisition. In both studies, these individual differences correlated with an endorsement of language-related educational neuromyths (Study 1 and pre-registered Study 2), and rejection of educational policies that promote multilingual education (Study 2). Together, these studies reveal the complexity of how people reason about language acquisition and its corresponding educational consequences. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01