Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands as a Learner of English as a Second Language

Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands had an English governess, Miss Winter, from when she was six years old. Because of this, Wilhelmina quickly acquired the English language at a young age. Her progress in learning English, is clearly visible in the many letters that she wrote to Miss Winter from 1886 to 1936. Most of these letters were transcribed by me, and were studied in order to determine to what degree Wilhelmina learned to master the English language, and how her acquisition of English progressed over time, which is the leading intention of this study. The letters were studied on several points: spelling, lexis and grammar, in which a distinction was made between various phases of the language learning process. The letters that Wilhelmina wrote were divided into three periods: 18881892, 18931896 and 18971898. In this situation, the communicative approach that was used to teach Wilhelmina English was very effective when it comes to learning grammar and vocabulary. It...Show moreQueen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands had an English governess, Miss Winter, from when she was six years old. Because of this, Wilhelmina quickly acquired the English language at a young age. Her progress in learning English, is clearly visible in the many letters that she wrote to Miss Winter from 1886 to 1936. Most of these letters were transcribed by me, and were studied in order to determine to what degree Wilhelmina learned to master the English language, and how her acquisition of English progressed over time, which is the leading intention of this study. The letters were studied on several points: spelling, lexis and grammar, in which a distinction was made between various phases of the language learning process. The letters that Wilhelmina wrote were divided into three periods: 18881892, 18931896 and 18971898. In this situation, the communicative approach that was used to teach Wilhelmina English was very effective when it comes to learning grammar and vocabulary. It appears that only by regular contact with native speakers a person can improve his proficiency in a second language the way Wilhelmina did in such a short time. Even though spelling is only fully acquired somewhat later, proper instruction can quickly cause this to catch up. Thus, in this thesis I demonstrated the positive effect of teaching methods focused on communication rather than on grammar and writing, such as the Communicative method and the Task-based approach.Show less

Leiden University Student Repository

Documents

In Collections

Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands as a Learner of English as a Second Language