teaching of Grammar
Overview of L& S Ch. 4
Explaining Second Language Learning
- Big Idea: How can we move from L1 acquisition to L2 acquisition using different language acquisition theories?
- Behaviorism
- Second language applications: Mimicry and memorization
- The Innatist perspective: Universal Grammar
- Second language applications: Krashen’s ‘monitor model’
- Current psychological theories: The cognitive/developmental perspective
– Information processing
– Usage-based learning
– Competition model
– Language and the brain
- Second language applications: Interacting, noticing, and processing
- The social-cultural perspective
-Comprehensible output hypothesis
-Learning by talking
-Collaborative dialogue
- Second language applications: Learning by talking
The Behaviorist Perspective
The Behaviorist Perspective
Based on the idea that language learners mimic language in the environment and learn by “habit”
Linked to the Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis because learners would have to start with the habits of their L1, and those would transfer to the L2.
Fails to explain the many errors learners make that are not based on L1.
Error study indicates that there is a more complex explanation for L1 influence on L2 development.
*Review of behaviorist perspective
The Innatist Perspective
Krashen’s Monitor Model
Krashen’s Monitor Model: The Five Hypotheses
Acquisitioned learning: acquire vs learn
Monitor: learners draw on “acquired” language to engage and use learned information to “monitor” or edit their language use
Natural order: learning unfolds in a predictable sequence
Comprehensible input: i+1, acquisition occurs when learners are exposed to language that a step beyond their current level
Affective filter: explains why emotions (anxiety, fear, boredom, etc) get in the way of some students’ development
The cognitive perspective
- The study of cognition––how humans acquire, process, store, and retrieve information
- In contrast to innatists, cognitive psychologists argue that there is no mental module devoted to language acquisition. Rather, all learning and thinking are based on the same cognitive processes.
- Learning a first or a second language draws on the same learning processes; what’s different are the circumstances of learning and how learners’ prior knowledge of language shapes their perception of a new language.
Information processing
- Language acquisition is the building up of knowledge that can eventually be used automatically for speaking and understanding.
- New information must be noticed before it can be learned.
- There is a limit to how much information a learner can pay attention to.
- Through experience and practice, information that was new becomes easier to process.
Skill learning
- New information may first be internalized as declarative knowledge––learner is aware of the information and can report noticing it.
- Through practice, declarative knowledge is proceduralized, and the learner acquires the ability to use the information appropriately.
- With further practice, the information can be accessed automatically. So automatically, in fact, that the learner forgets having learned it.
Restructuring
- Not all knowledge seems to follow the declarative-procedural-automatic path.
- Learners may practise something for a while and then appear not to use what they have practised but rather to recognize the relevance of other knowledge.
- For example, after saying I saw or I went, a learner may begin to use the regular past ending on these irregular verbs (e.g. I seed or I goed).
Usage-based learning
- An approach to understanding learning that sees learning as the creation of links (connections) between bits of information
- Unlike innatists, connectionists do not assume that there is a neurological module specifically designed for SLA. All learning is based on the same processes.
- Unlike skill theorists, connectionists do not assume that new knowledge must first be declarative.
Usage-based learning (Cont.)
- The frequency with which information is encountered is a strong predictor of how easily it will be learned.
- Neurological connections are made between language and a particular meaning or a situation (e.g. people usually say Hello when they answer the phone) and between elements of language itself (e.g. noticing that say always occurs with I or we/you/they and that says always occurs with he/she/it).
The competition model
- Proposed to account for both L1 and L2 learning
- Through exposure learners come to understand how to use the ‘cues’ that language uses to signal specific functions (e.g. word order; animacy).
- English speakers tend to use word order; Italian speakers use animacy with a sentence like:
- Il giocattolo guarda il bambino. (The toy – is looking at – the child.)
Language and the brain
- Challenges to the assumption that language functions are located in the left hemisphere of the brain.
- Research shows activation in both areas of the brain while language is processed.
- Differences have been observed between first and second language learners.
- Premature to consider implications of neurolinguistics research for L2 teaching.
Cognitive perspectives applied to second language learning
Interaction hypothesis
- How does input become comprehensible?
- Modified interaction
- Comprehension checks
- Clarification requests
- Self-repetition or paraphrase
- Revised version of interaction hypothesis
- More emphasis on corrective feedback
Cognitive perspectives applied to second language learning (Cont.)
Noticing hypothesis
• Nothing is learned unless it is noticed.
- Importance of awareness and attention in L2 learning
Input processing
• Learners have difficulty focusing on form and meaning at the same time.
*
Cognitive perspectives applied to second language learning (Cont.)
Processability theory
• German L2 acquisition
– Developmental sequences in syntax and morphology are affected by how easy they were to process.
– Developmental and variational features
– Teachability hypothesis
Cognitive perspectives applied to second language learning (Cont.)
The role of practice
• Practice that characterized audiolingual instruction often failed to make connections between language forms and their meanings.
• From a cognitive perspective, practice is not mechanical and not restricted to production––it is also relevant for comprehension.
• Practice should be interactive, meaningful, and focus on task-essential forms.
The sociocultural perspective
- Cognitive development arises as a result of social interaction.
- Learning occurs through interaction.
- Speaking (and writing) mediates thinking.
- Difference between ZPD and i+1
- Interaction versus sociocultural perspectives
Sociocultural perspectives applied to second language learning (Cont.)
Learning by talking
-Traditionally, ZPD was restricted to a novice and an expert; the term has been broadened to include novice–novice interaction.
Swain’s comprehensible output hypothesis
-Research investigating how learners co-construct knowledge while engaged in collaborative dialogue that focuses on form and meaning at the same time.
Wong Ch 2
Overview
Overview of W Ch. 2: SLA Theory, Research and Real-World Teaching
- Second language acquisition
- Acquire VS. Learning
- Predictable sequences in SLA
- Knowing a language rule V.S. Use it in communicative interaction
- Native-like command of a second language
- SLA research and class practice
- Connection
- Implication
- Effective second language teaching and learning methods
What is Second Language Acquisition About?
Interested in discovering how people “learn” a language other than their first language both in school and the everyday world
Not concerned about the best way to teach any particular concept
Instead, searching for what effect formal instruction has on SLA the first place.
Questions SLA Researchers Are Interested In
How do learners of a native language incorporate the linguistic system of another language?
What does the second language look like and what kinds of errors are made?
How are language rules similar to their L1?
How many factors affect their acquisition?
How does fluency develop?
How does sociocultural factors such as motivation or desire to identify with native speakers affect acquisition?
Accepted Generalizations about SLA
Self-Reflection: Do you agree the following accepted generalizations about SLA? Explain if you think that they are good ideas to implement in a SLA classroom based on your reading.
Adults and adolescents can “acquire” a Second language
Learner creates a systematic interlanguage
Uses predictable sequences that certain structures have to be acquired before others can be integrated
Practice does not make perfect
Knowing a language rule does not mean one will be able to use it correctly while communicating
Isolated Explicit Error Correction is Usually Ineffective
Accepted Generalizations about SLA
Learner’s task is enormous because language is tremendously complex
Learner’s ability to understand language in a meaningful context exceeds their ability to comprehend decontextualized language and to produce language of comparable complexity and accuracy
One cannot achieve Native speaker language command of the second language in one hour a day format
SLA Theory and the Relationship to Real World Teaching
Not an eclectic approach, nor a one size fits all
SLA Theory supports best and effective practices
Many current instructional material do not always reflect SLA Theory and research
SLA offers realistic expectations about teaching and learning
SLA Theory and the Relationship to Real World Teaching to Considering Research Reports
- These factors will impact the final results of any SLA study and should be kept in mind as we further our own studies in SLA.
- Age of Subjects
- Target Structure
- Assessment Measures
- Level of Learners
- Number of Instructional Contact Hours