Thank you for sharing. Language learning is definitely a nuanced process influenced by several factors.

You rightly point out factors like individual attitudes, learning environments, and cultural nuances. These all influence the language learning experience. I think it’s still OK to classify language acquisition into 5 stages… but a one-size-fits-all approach is still inadequate when dealing with such a diverse range of learners… that’s because each one has their own unique needs.

Does this article oversimplify teaching and learning English? I agree with you that it does. But still, it can be a useful framework for some.

As we all know, a lot goes into teaching language, attitudes are different, time periods for learning (length and duration of course, amount of time per day allotted, etc.), and so many more variables and contingencies too numerous to bore you with here — it’s a wonder we have any “standards” at all. I think we pattern-seeking humans need something to “center” any subject we teach, to whom, and peg each student on some kind of scale.

For instance, I’ve taught English to blind and deaf 8 year olds who only could speak Portuguese. They learned faster, on average, than many of my best 8 year olds with no disabilities. Why? We’re still trying to find out. Need? Want? Desire? Innate sense? Who knows?

My military intel candidates had six months to learn Arabic. It took me five; the average is eight for a premier, top-of-class student. And, as you can imagine, they had to speak it like it was their mother tongue, with all the nuances and “insider” references with respect to nationality, tribes and context. And if you think that Arabic or Mandarin or Pashto can be analyzed like any run-of-the-mill Western language, you’d be mistaken.

Let’s get serious here and stop categorizing language learning like someone learning the piano. It’s more complicated and takes into account all the things I’ve mentioned, plus cultural norms and customs.