Mind, Brain and Education

Annie Murphy Paul wrote a nice piece in the New York Times called "The Trouble with Homework," in which she notes that written homework may or may not contribute to learning.

Mass market magazine articles and popular books for business executives, students, and self-improvement wonks, have generated enormous awareness of how various learning and memory systems rely on scientific discoveries about how our brains actually work. 

It is good to see that an academic discipline of Mind, Brain and Education is now recognized as a legitimate and important field of research.

Any serious researcher who would like to visit a QTalk classroom or construct a language acquisition study including the QTalk method relying on visual cues, neuromuscular rehearsal, and the QTalk four steps, is invited to contact us.

One more note about Chomsky's language module

The QTalk method is aimed at using the simplest technique to achieve this "awakening" effect, getting the dormant "language learner within" (Chomsky's language module in the brain) to WAKE UP! So that before you know it, you produce spontaneous speech! That is, you speak in your new language without thinking, just as you do in your native language.

We know that some people simply don't believe in Chomsky's language module, and that's fine.

What about this:
As a world language instructor you are familiar with the student saying, "I cannot do this," so then there is not the will to make the effort. We want to pre-empt this whole dynamic - just never even let the "I cannot do this" thought occur to the student. They must experience instant success, and this gives the incentive to continue to build on success until they are astonished at their own achievement.
 

This is Maurice:
“I believe the success of this discovery is aligned with our society’s need for immediate results.
When I first observed language classes, I was surprised that the most basic principles of short and long term memory where not implemented, what a shame to spend an average of 320 hours in Spanish and walk away with a mere ¿Cómo está? or Gracias.”

We are working on our website - soon you will see the reflection of this discussion in our profile and "About Us" pages. We hope you will let us know what you think about this topic.

Noam Chomsky first identified the innate language-learning skill, this magic part of the brain he calls the language module. This neurological marvel allows children to process an enormous amount of random information and naturally store it in place holders (during their sleep mostly), just as if they had created a vast network of cubicles in their mind. Unfortunately, this module gradually goes dormant from the age of 7 as we acquire the main infrastructure of our language.

The challenges is - how can we wake up this dormant language module?

Have you heard of the QTalk method, or have you tried the QTalk method in your classroom? 
What other instructional methods or techniques are able to accomplish this instant awakening of language learning capacity?