Innovation in Language Learning

There are two kinds of languages that human learned in their life, the first language (L1) and the second language (L2). The first language is human’s mother tongue, the language they first hear and acquire after they were born. While second language is the language that they learn after they have mastered their first language. Noticeably during the acquisition process of the second language, memory plays an important role. Memory is the process by which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved and it takes different forms. The biggest categories of memory are short-term memory (or working memory) and long-term memory, based on the amount of time the memory is stored. Working memory is commonly defined as a complement to long-term memory that allows for short-term activation of information while permitting the manipulation of the information in question (Shazia Ijaz and M. Phil, 2014). All the components of the memory system need to be working in synchronization. The prime role of instructors is to help in maintaining and retrieving the language in their students’ memory through strength of new connections, and by active usage of classified and organized information so that it gets stored in long term memory for easy retrieval. Because the elements which make up a memory reside in multiple cortical areas, the stronger the network linking the associated pieces together, the more resistant to forgetting it will be.

The human brain has an extensive repertoire of different types of memory strategies that are deployable for varying lengths of time on special occasions with distinctly different purposes and outcomes driven by multiple memory systems. The brain-based teaching strategies have proven to be effective for all students, regardless of their learning challenges (Renate and Geoffrey Caine, 2008).

It is the purpose of this paper to make a theoretical investigation of the long term and short term memory processes and how it can contribute to the second language acquisition, through examining the expedient brain-based learning style, which would activate the memory to achieve target learning.

Keyword: Memory the mental capacity of recalling or recognizing previous experiences; brain-based  a teaching method based on how the brain learns