Language Learning

1. Do we know and learn our first language(s) in the same way as we learn additional languages?
2. When we learn additional languages, do we learn more than 'just' vocabulary and grammar?
3. The concept of intercultural understanding means the ability to demonstrate an understanding of cultural diversity and/or similarity between the target cultures and one's own. To what extent is this definition true?
4. "Those who know nothing of an additional language know nothing of their own" (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, playwright, poet, novelist, dramatist, 1749-1842). By learning another culture are we able to enrich our own?
5. We can learn grammar intuitively, without conscious thought, or formally, by stating rules. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. Are these the same for learning in other parts of the curriculum?
6. To what extent does membership of a group (a cultural group, a gender group or another group) affect how we come to linguistic knowledge?