One of the key factors to learn something is to believe that you can learn it. Unfortunately, there is a widespread assumption that in many domains talent is essential to become successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
in this post I try to answer the following questions: Is intelligence genetically determined or can be learned? How this relates to (second) language acquisition?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My answer on this question is based on the book \u201cOutsmarting IQ\u201d by David Perkins, therefore this post can be considered a sort of book review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why does this matters?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The answer to this question do matters because if intelligence is only genetically determined we are left with no chances to improve it and, therefore, we are more likely to accept the notion that to be good at something we need talent. Talent is usually something that is supposed to be acquired from the birth , either you have it or you don\u2019t. Simple but also disempowering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Differently, if intelligence is learnable this means that we have ways to improve it during our life. This implies more responsibilities upon the learner but it is also more empowering as you can change your situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Perkins we can distinguish three different dimensions of intelligence:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neural intelligence depends on the speed of your neurons<\/strong>, it is physiological and genetically predetermined. This is the type of intelligence that makes some individuals more talented for certain tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Experiential intelligence is the result of the knowledge and\u00a0skills that have been acquired through long practice.<\/strong>\u00a0This intelligence is context-specific and results in \u201cperceptual intuition and fluent near-automatic responses\u201d. This is the type of intelligence that leads to expertise in a specific domain. This kind of intelligence has been popularized in the last decade with the concept of the 10000 hours of practice to become an expert in a domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reflective intelligence consists of thinking strategies and meta-cognition such as mental-management and self-monitoring.<\/strong>\u00a0Positive attitudes and mental dispositions, for example, open-mindedness, are part of this dimension of intelligence. Reflective intelligence consists of thinking about how you think,\u00a0learning to learn, or in other terms,\u00a0mindful learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The good news is that both the experiential and reflective intelligence are learnable and that talent is, in many cases, overrated. It is empowering to know that we can do much to improve ourselves. Now how does this translates into learning new knowledge and skills?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Learnable intelligence and language learning<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If we accept that only one of the three dimensions of intelligence is genetically predetermined it follows that language talent is overrated and that people can do a lot to improve their \u201clanguage intelligence\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The long practice is necessary to acquire in-depth experiential intelligence, and this makes complete sense if we think about\u00a0the importance of the long-term study of a language, perseverance, and the number of hours that we are exposed to the language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, I think that the most important conclusion, when looking at the different dimensions of intelligence, is that if we want to become more intelligent about learning languages in general we should focus on reflective intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also,\u00a0If we want to become more intelligent to learn a specific language, reflective intelligence will be most useful in the initial stage of learning\u00a0because to build up experiential learning more time is needed so it is reflective intelligence that would make the difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What do you think ?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of the key factors to learn something is to believe that you can learn it. Unfortunately, there is a widespread assumption that in many domains talent is essential to become successful. in this post I try to answer the following questions: Is intelligence genetically determined or can be learned? 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