Starting early in life, the environment plays a siginifcant role in the learning, growth and development of a child. Scientific evidences show that people are predisposed to learn new things from their surroundings. When people are given the right opportunity and a conducive learning enviroment, they can readily assimilate new things and accommodate old experiences to their mental schema. Most research studies in various disciplines revealed that the learning environment have a direct impact on how people will learn, adopt and create new ideas for their own advantages and that of society (Davidson, 2012; Hannesdóttír, 2012).
Geographical location have an effect on the learning process. People who live in first worlds countries, such as the United States of America, have the resources to excel in their studies because of the variety of learning opportunities available to them. In America and in other English-speaking countries, English, being an international language, is enriched better because of the many professionals, researchers and laymen all over the world who use it . In this Internet Age, it is best to know how to use English with “a bit of proficiency.” Many learning materials are written in English as the primary medium for distance learning, knowledge generation, dissemination and acquisition . Most polyglots learn multiple languages since they are exposed, in their foundational years, to various geographical settings where there are a number of languages used. As early as the nineteenth century, the field of psychology revealed many interesting research findings about the significant relationship between geographical location and its effect on the learning process.
The economy also have an effect on the learning process. People who are talented, gifted and intelligent (with above average to high intelligence quotient) often come from the middle-class to well-off families. With proper nutrition because one’s family is financially-capable, there is a bigger chance that children learn better and more in schools/universities or elsewhere where opportunities abound. However, in areas where most families live under poverty, many children are malnourished/ undernourished, sickly and below in normal IQ. In many third world countries, the English-language acquisition of children are poor. Many of these children who attend schools have satisfatory to poor writing skills in English. They are not-so-good in conversational English because of the kind of environment they are in. Unlike in exclusive private schools among second language learners, teachers are better qualified to teach the language because they are also products of these private educational institutions and for having studied abroad where English is the native language. Although there are counties (e.g., Belgium, France and Greece) where people almost always use their own language as their medium of instruction, children learn better when there is more instruction time allotted for each subjects and other extraneous/surrounding factors.
In different parts of the world, different students have different ways of exposure to basic and higher levels of education. Apparently, there are significant differences in the aims, contents and methods of teaching-learning process. From the kindergarten to high school, in most developed countries, learners are exposed at a very young age to the practical side of psychological theories, computers and other digital technology-based learning resources that only stimulate and enhance their educational experiences . Considering that computers and an internet access bring with them an extraordinary vast repository of knowledge, students who are subjected to the many potential benefits of various instructional media gain more useful information. Learners have the required learning standards and resources to become competent students as they progress in their studies. Learners are taught of the importance and uses of critical and creative thinking at an early age using new breakthroughs in the sciences, arts and other fields. However, in third world countries, because of the scarcity of resources, learners are limited by the environment where they are in. Instead of having one book per student, students share it among themselves. There is also “clogging” or too many students in class. Instead of the ideal 15 to 30 students per class, there are more than 60 (or more) students per classroom. Other enviromental factors such as war in a particular area of a country also affects refugees’ skills to learn multiple languages because they have to live and adopt to a new surrounding. Nonetheless, there are different strategies, approaches and techniques to mitigate the effects that learning difficulties and deficits pose on people through conscious mind/ effort .
Whether due to demographic, economic or social reasons, the environment plays a critical role for people, especially, the younger generations, to acquire the many benefits of learning different languages. First, it is personally rewarding to the person who has the initiative to learn . Second, there is also a bigger chance of acquiring the best possible set of opportunities and benefits (e.g., learning a new culture). Third, because a young child’s enthusiasm learning a new language seems to be effortless or “miraculous,” it brings joy to parents and other people. This is especially true if a child has the “gift of tongue” – so to speak. Fourth, a new language make a strong bond between people. This is evident for people who have known each other over the Internet and later on establish an intimacy to go for a more personal relationship. Fifth, knowing a new language breaks the barrier for cultural misunderstanding. People from two different racial background, if one of them speaks the language of the other person, have the advantage to tolerate each other’s differences. Lastly, people from different countries can resolve their conflicts through understanding an understanding of the other party’s language.
References
Davidson, M. ( 2012). The Woman Who Changed her Brain: Unlocking the Extraordinary Potential of the Human Mind. Journal Of Scientific Exploration, 26(3), 703-706.
Guri-Rosenblit, S. (2009). Distance Education and Languages: Evolution and Change. (B. Holmberg, M. Shelley, & C. White, Eds.) American Journal Of Distance Education, 23(2), 116-119. doi:10.1080/08923640902858562
Hannesdóttír, S. (2012). Learning and Living Internationally With a Finger on the Future: An Interview with Dr. Allyson Macdonald. Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 79(1), 49-56.
Lavy, V., & Science, L. S. (2010). Do Differences in School's Instruction Time Explain International Achievement Gaps in Maths, Science and Language? Evidence from Developed and Developing Countries. Centre For The Economics Of Education, 118.
Neo, T., Neo, M., & Teoh, B. (2010). Assessing the Effects of Using Gagne's Events of Instructions in a Multimedia Student-Centred Environment: A Malaysian Experience. Turkish Online Journal Of Distance Education, 11(1), 20-34.
