Investigating the Association between Moroccan EFL College Students' Language Development, Appropriate Language Use & Experiential Learning: A Correlational Study

Abstract

This study is largely driven by the assumption that much of human learning is caught, not taught (Davies, 1998). This assumption indicates that human learning is inextricably context specific and experience based. Conveniently, this study intervenes to investigate the correlation, if any, between context and experience and Moroccan EFL college students’ of language use and appropriacy. More specifically, the study investigates the association between 1) having direct contact and meaningful interactions with others and being exposed to the language in Moroccan EFL students’ day to day experience and 2) their linguistic and pragmatic development. This study largely reflects on Schön’s knowledge in action (1983) and Kolb’s experiential learning theory (1984), which view learning as a product of our experiences and actions. The findings of the study reveal that Moroccan EFL students’ language development is associated with their everyday experiences and actions. Expectedly, the findings demonstrate that the participants’ day to day experience has significantly 1) contributed to their language development, 2) enhanced their appropriate language use, and, importantly 3) promoted their intercultural communicative competence. Additionally, the linguistically and culturally-rich learning experiences that the participants go through and the opportunities of genuine contact and exposure to authentic language in its meaningful context they experience significantly foster the participants’ language development in general and appropriate use in particular.