The Immersion Effect

Abstract

This project seeks to improve foreign language and cultural acquisition methods for active component (AC) psychological operations (PSYOP) personnel. This project leverages official documents and empirical evidence, and data to determine the requisite levels of foreign language and cultural proficiency. Various methods of foreign language and cultural acquisition are reviewed to determine a method suitable for PSYOP personnel. These methods are then compared against those used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Foreign Area Officer, and the United States Army Special Warfare Center and School language and culture acquisition programs to determine the effectiveness of each. This research concludes that immersion is a critical and necessary element of foreign language acquisition. Immersion replicates natural language acquisition, similar to the process by which children learn to speak. This research offers methods by which advanced language and culture proficiency can be achieved through an immersion-based language acquisition program.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 2016
Accession Number
AD1031490

Entities

People

  • Andrew A. Potts

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Doctrine
  • Foreign Languages
  • Geographic Regions
  • Grammars
  • Information Operations
  • Language
  • Linguistics
  • Military Education
  • Military Science
  • Military Training
  • Personnel Management
  • Psychological Operations
  • Students
  • United States
  • United States Special Operations Command
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Instructional Design and Training Evaluation.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.