Situational language learning is a theory of language acquisition whose primary concepts rely on behaviorism. Instead of addressing the conditions of learning, it puts the focus on processes, believing that a complete language education can be achieved by following a proper set of activities repeatedly.
The core beliefs in situational learning are:
- Language learning is all about forming habits. With this approach, creating automatic behavior that make using the language second nature is the way to ensure success.
- Mistakes are fine, but they should be avoided as much as possible. Why? Because constantly making mistakes can create patterns of behavior that lead to bad habits.
- Use analogies when trying to understand concepts. They’re easier to wrap your head around than long-drawn analysis.
- Forget memorizing a dictionary. In this approach, learning words is best achieved within a linguistic and cultural framework.
As you can tell from the core concepts, this approach relies heavily on a strictly structured set of activities designed to build habits. Many language software tools can be used in this manner, especially ones with a heavy focus on drills and exercises that focus on context. To do it correctly, make sure you put a heavy premium on situational practice scenarios, as well as memorizing proper sentence patterns. That way, you’ll be as good as you can get when you do begin using it in low-risk real-world scenarios.