Wilga Rivers

Wilga Marie Rivers (13 April 1919 – 23 June 2007) was an Australian linguist and Professor of Romance Languages. While she taught at both the secondary-education and college level throughout her life, she spent the majority of her career on the faculty of Harvard University. There, she served as a Professor of Romance Languages and Coordinator of Language Instruction in Romance Languages, fulfilling these roles until her eventual retirement in 1989.

Biography Wilga Rivers was born on 13 April 1919 in Melbourne, Australia.

Language acquisition At the start of Rivers’ career, the primary method of foreign language teaching was audiolingualism, a strategy that puts heavy emphasis on memorizing the phonology and grammar of the language. Rivers was largely in opposition of this pedagogical method; she instead promoted a teaching method focusing on interaction and communicative discourse. Her model divides language teaching into two parts: acquisition of language skills and use of language skills. Rivers believed that audiolingualism invested too much into acquisition of skills, leaving students relatively inexperienced in the practical use of the language they were learning. To counteract this, she suggested that more interactive and realistic language scenarios should be implemented into language teaching to help students practice how the language functions in normal discourse. This survey, distributed to language students of the university’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, aimed to determine what students desired in their language courses and see if their preferences were already reflected in their classes. The survey produced 1500 responses, a number which Rivers further divided based on proficiency level (elementary, intermediate, advanced). Rivers’ research showed that each of these three cognitive systems were nurtured with different modalities of instruction for language acquisition. She expressed that all three of these systems need to be developed simultaneously in order for students to acquire language effectively. In her 1991 article Mental representations and language in action, River’s research showed that multilingual learners were able to memorize a new language’s vocabulary much faster than monolingual learners. This was because the multilingual speakers had already determined a method of acquiring new vocabulary that best served their cognitive preferences. Rivers presented her own opinions on the issue in two articles published in the 1982 and 1990: LLLs had the potential to be a major benefit to language, but the way they were currently being used was detrimental to student. In her 1982 article Understanding the learner in the language laboratory, Rivers targeted three different areas that she believed needed reassessment in order for LLLs to be effective: Language Learning, Language Teaching, and the LLL Director and Instructor. The artificiality of technology at the time was one point of concern that they pointed out. As language programs began to be popularized in the 1980s, many scholars were skeptical of their ability to produce language in a way that seemed natural. The limited inputs and outputs of programs such as these also posed an issue, as the number of responses and simulations a program would have was finite. The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) also honors her impact on language education with The ACTFL Wilga Rivers Award for Leadership in World Language Education, awarded to annually to a member of the ACTFL that demonstrates active participation in a number of language organizations and committees.