Transfer of Learning Transformed

Abstract

Instruction is motivated by the assumption that students can transfer their learning, or apply what they have learned in school to another setting. A common problem arises when the expected transfer does not take place, what has been referred to as the inert knowledge problem. More than an academic inconvenience, the failure to transfer is a major problem, exacting individual and social costs. In this article, I trace the evolution of research on the transfer of learning, in general, and on language learning, in particular. Then, a different view of learning transfer is advanced. Rather than learners being seen to “export” what they have learned from one situation to the next, it is proposed that learners transform their learning. The article concludes by offering some suggestions for how to mitigate the inert knowledge problem from this perspective.

Teacher Educators’ Understanding of Their Language-Oriented Development in Content-Based Classroom Interaction

“…These outcomes are in line with previous research, where participant-oriented engagement in subject-specific classrooms included interactions among students to not only promote students' learning of content but also to advance their use of language and their direct involvement. Consequently, developing learning and language becomes synchronized (Larsen-Freeman, 2013). In this context, language-oriented development can be considered not only a strategy that involves applying regulatory and explanatory language but also a pedagogy that connects academic and subject-specific knowledge with interpersonal-oriented language.…”

Dynamic testing and transfer: An examination of children's problem-solving strategies

“…The ability to generalize that what has been learned to new, related tasks, however has been and still is a major challenge (Bransford & Schwarz, 1999;Day & Goldstone, 2012;De Corte, 2003), and has been subject of research for more than a century (Engle, 2012;Larsen-Freeman, 2013). According to Holyoak (1984), transfer requires individuals to perceive the underlying relationship between two problems with some level of similarity (see also Brown, 1982;Brown, Bransford, Ferrara, & Campione, 1983).…”

Discipline specificity and students’ English writing proficiency: A case of collaborative teaching for transfer

“…On the other hand, despite being minimal, students’ disciplinary writing competencies probably optimized the chances of transfer of academic writing skills. This phenomenon can be scrutinized via a learner agency approach that focuses on the students’ preliminary knowledge and conditions of acquisition and learning (Larsen‐Freeman, ). On this subject, Marginson, Nyland, Sawir, and Forbes‐Mewett () maintain that participants’ initial competence can be considered as a means to maintain a stable capacity for self‐determining learning agency throughout the series of instruction, practice, and assessment; therefore, it could be assumed that the discipline‐specific approach of this experiment activated participants’ learning agency that led to learning security, which in turn involved not only the protection of individuals in the collaboratively designed learning environment but also improved their capacity to write correctly.…”

“…Transfer of learning is an ongoing practice of the knowledge and skills gained through training by learners to other contexts. Transfer integrates both maintenance of the same skill and its generalization to new settings (James, , ; Larsen‐Freeman, ). Researchers have sought to answer why learners often fail to activate their learned knowledge in later settings; however, there is little agreement among scholars about the nature of transfer, its underlying mechanisms, and the extent to which it might occur (Barnett & Ceci, ; James, ; Shooshtari, Biparva, & Bates ).…”