Wilga Rivers

Rivers’ first book The Psychologist and the Foreign Language Teacher, published in 1964, became a popular topic in the linguistic community following its publication. The success of the book bolstered her international reputation, leading her to be widely sought for teaching positions in the United States. She latched onto this opportunity in 1971, accepting a position as a Professor of French at the University of Illinois. It was there that she began sculpting her own method of language teaching that she became so renowned for. A few years later, in 1973, she received the opportunity to become the Coordinator of the Romance Language program and a full-time professor in the Department of Roman Languages at Harvard University, becoming the first woman to hold those positions. She spent the rest of her career at Harvard, and continued to push her ideas of language pedagogy forward. Even after her retirement in 1989, she continued her work in foreign language teaching and pushed her international reputation further. She spent the rest of her life in the Massachusetts area, dying in Watertown on 23 June 2007.

In her later work on the relationship between cognitive psychology and language acquisition, Rivers’ studies further showed that a student’s understanding of how to learn and use language greatly affected their ability to learn a new language. 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. The monolingual learners, on the other hand, still needed to devise a strategy that suited their own preferences. In a similar fashion, Rivers’ research also demonstrated that students were faster in memorizing and accessing memorized language material if that material was related to their own interests and needs. Rivers claimed that active use of language is one of the best ways to foster a student’s understanding of the language they are learning. Students demonstrated that they were able to access words and syntactic structures that concerned their interests and habits more quickly because they used them more often. As a result of these findings, Rivers advocated that students should be encouraged to choose and acquire vocabulary that suits their interests, as they would learn the material at a faster pace.

Rivers’ stance on the use of technology in language teaching was initially met with some opposition. In 1991, linguists James Pusack and Sue Otto published an article that regarded Rivers’ models of fully integrating LLLs with reluctance. 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 two also claimed that Rivers gave too much credit to technology. They argued that Rivers focuses too much on the need to understand the technology and materials used in LLLs, and doesn’t emphasize enough the importance of an instructor working in tandem with technology in order for it to be effective. Pusack and Otto also asserted that with the current technology, it would be far too difficult to create a completely tailored, individualized teaching strategy for each student as Rivers promoted.

Rivers also advocated that foreign language pedagogy be structured based on the preferences of the students, a stance in opposition of the traditional system of extensive grammar and writing of language. She reasoned that students would be more encouraged to engage in language learning if the instruction matched their own interests. To support her claim, she analyzed and released the results of a survey that she conducted at the University of Illinois at Urbana in her 1973 article The Non-Major: Tailoring the Course to Fit the Person--Not the Image. 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). Through analyzing the data, Rivers found that 63% of elementary and intermediate level language students desired more discourse and communication exercises in their curriculum, and 62% wanted more reading. Furthermore, two-thirds of this number specifically wanted these readings to be newspapers and magazines in the language of their study. The survey also showed that there was very little interest among students for courses to contain more grammar and writing exercises. Based on these results, Rivers concluded that foreign language students were much more interested in the applications of the languages they were learning, their use in communication, discussion of current events, and media being primary areas of interest. The data supported Rivers’ claims that interaction is key for language pedagogy and encourages students to engage with language more than grammar-based practices.

Following her primary and secondary education, Rivers attended the University of Melbourne with a scholarship and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts honors degree in 1939. Now able to teach, she spent the next few years teaching various subjects in a number of high schools in Australia. She was still determined to become a language teacher and kept up with her studies when she was off work. In 1949, she graduated from the University of Melbourne once again with a master’s degree, and soon after moved to England to pursue her dream of teaching French. She spent three years teaching in England, before returning to Australia to teach for 5 more years. She moved to the United States in 1959 in pursuit of continuing her education, graduating with a doctorate in 1962 from the University of Illinois. During her time studying there, she also served as a teaching assistant in the French department. In 1964, she returned to Australia and took up a position in the French department in Monash University in Melbourne.

Rivers also distinguished herself as an avid supporter of using technology and language learning laboratories (LLLs) in conjunction with language teaching. Language labs first began appearing in the late 1920s and early 1930s, providing a new service for students learning foreign languages. In the 1950s, however, a mass outcry from students concerning their distaste of language laboratories caused language teachers to step back and reassess whether LLLs were ultimately beneficial to language teaching. 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.

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.

Wilga Rivers was born on 13 April 1919 in Melbourne, Australia. Her impoverished working-class family was of mixed European heritage: her father was of British descent while her mother was of German. She and her family spent her childhood in the Melbourne suburbs. Rivers stayed in Australia for the majority of her early life and education. She attended public school for both her primary and secondary education. During this time, she became fascinated with the French language. This fascination spurred a desire in her to master the French language and become a French teacher.