A student demonstrated this to me with a listening exercise. The passage contained the text “(some people) are unable to …” and try as he might he couldn’t hear the “un”. So, we played it back and sure enough I couldn’t hear the “un” either! But I had absolutely no doubt about what had been said, because my brain was inferring the meaning using the surrounding words and context. He, on the other hand, did not yet have the language familiarity required to do that, so the presence or lack of “un” had the potential to change the meaning entirely.

This is one reason why developing fast reading/listening (gist and scanning) skills is so important, but also that unconscious competence in grammar of the target language is acquired at the same time, and the best way I’ve found for that is repeated production using an SRS and whole sentence prompts. Many people stop with language at conscious competence, but that just isn’t fast enough to match the speeds required for spoken interaction.

I hope two write more about this when I have more supporting evidence for my ideas, and have successfully applied them to my own study! In the meantime, I hope these “ideas in progress” are helpful!

I want to pursue teaching and I believe I can do better with teaching the English language. I’m planning to take a tefl course London. I’m wondering if there’s a good apartment near Manchester area where I can rent my accommodation? I prefer something that is clean, quiet and safe. It doesn’t have to be a high-end apartment, average ones will do as long as it’s convenient, comfortable and affordable! If you know any please let me know. Looking forward. Thanks a lot!

Although I would perhaps like to experience it once to see what it’s like