Along with the application, all prospective participants are required to submit a 400-500 word response to the following statement: Jon McClelland, Harvard Psychologist, has stated that the three ingredients to successful learning are: Wanting to learn, Knowing how to learn, and Having a chance to learn. Discuss this in an essay using personal examples from your own learning (not limited to language learning). It is clear that learning process takes a long time to get knowledge consolidated and by this mean the three factors that Doctor McClelland stated are the principal formula for having a successful learning of English as a second language and I am totally agreed with that. The first ingredient is “wanting to learn” and I think is a priority in learning because this is what will take anyone to learn anything he or she wants without matter how they do it. Wanting to learn involves an intrinsic motivation letting the individual to act and be responsible for his or her own learning. Douglas Brown in his book “teaching by principles” states that there are two types of motivation, and one of these ones, is derived from inner part of individual which lets him or her to have the desire of acquiring new skills. Remembering that successful learners are motivated by what their goals represent in forms of career and life´s desires, so they get to know something well enough that they can put it into words. The second factor that doctor McClelland stated “knows how to learn” and I think that if learners have a winning attitude, they have the determination and self-discipline necessary to find the way how to make the learning their skill. Steve Thien, from Kansas state university makes references to Ten Commandments for effective study skills and I do relate them with the learning process. Also the UNESCO has stated there are four fundamental pillars into the education of one individuals and one of those is “knowing how to learn”, in short words McClelland has just stated what is being said by many philosophers. And the third ingredient to mention is “having a chance to learn” which I consider I was involved for having learnt English as a second Language. There were many circumstances I had to passed to get to this point, for instance I was not given a chance to study and become a professional, I had to work hard since I was 12, I worked on construction´s projects, in farms to survive; because my mother is one of the most common families in Nicaragua, A SINGLE MOTHER. However not all have the chance to overcome their obstacles like I did. Right now there some recognized barrier people face to have a successful learning such as: lack of money, shortage of money for courses fees and related expenses, there are courses organized at inappropriate times and inaccessible places, and the last one I see, lack of personal confidence. If a person does not have these he or she would have another story. In conclusion for having a successful learnings there are a whole range of factors that can help us in having succeed, such as: our motivation or preferred learning styles, as well as the external factor (opportunities) that we face every day to get knowledge and many other demands that our learning makes us to take.
