1. From practice to theory in language teaching Dick Hudson Sarajevo May 2016 1

2. My main message Cognition uses mental networks. e.g. My language is a network. Metacognition tends to use boxes and boundaries. e.g. I think of each language as a separate mental box. But metacognition should use networks, like cognition. e.g. I should think of my ‘language network’. Boxes and boundaries are for babies. What we need are links and likelihood. 2

3. Plan 1.The crisis in foreign languages in the UK 2.A proposed solution 3.Grammatical theory to the rescue! 4.Welcome to Word Grammar 5.Going beyond language 6.Boxes in metacognition 7.Back to the crisis 3

4. 1. A serious problem in the UK Foreign-language teaching is dying in our schools. Foreign languages are mainly French, German and Spanish. Seen most clearly at ‘Advanced level’ (years 12 and 13) where: each student chooses three or four subjects so student choice is a measure of popularity. Foreign languages are deeply unpopular at school, so numbers at Advanced level are steadily declining, except in private, fee-paying schools, and Europe is a threatening place where they speak unlearnable languages. 4

5. The decline of foreign languages in England 5

6. Why? Many reasons, including: Separation of English and FL in schools and in universities. each language is paired with its own literature and culture, not with other languages. In schools, L1 English gets much more teaching time than FL Separation of different FLs. Transition problem from primary to secondary. 6 Foreign languages

7. In short... Too much separation of things that are actually connected. Too little consideration of the connections. The separation is part of metacognition. The connections are in ordinary cognition. My message: Ordinary cognition uses links and likelihood. Metacognition tends to use boxes and boundaries, but should use links and likelihood too. 7

8. 2. A proposed solution Create a new subject ‘language’ that: unites different languages English, French, German.... unites different kinds of learners L1, L2, FL,... unites different educational focuses: language skills knowledge of language knowledge about language knowledge about culture and literature. 8

9. A major cultural challenge for Anglophones!! This requires a cultural change in: schools, where English and FL teachers need to collaborate. universities, where English and FL departments need to collaborate. And both need to take language seriously. Politicians and pupils need to accept that: FL is equal in importance to English. FL and L1 can support each other. Understanding how language works can be interesting. How? Ask a grammarian, of course! 9

10. 3. Grammatical theory to the rescue! Language is a window on the mind (Chomsky) because language is NOT a special mental faculty (cognitive linguistics). Language is unusually clearly structured because it’s socially constrained in fine detail because it’s a badge of social identity. So language is an unusually clear window on the mind i.e. a window on ordinary cognition. And what research shows is that language structure is a network not a collection of boxes. 10

11. Language: boxes or networks? Some traditional language boxes and their boundary problems: a ‘grammar’ box and a ‘lexical’ box boundary-problem: ENOUGH versus SUFFICIENTLY a ‘meaning’ box and an ‘encyclopedia’ box boundary-problem: ‘apple’ versus ‘pear’ : a ‘language’ box and a ‘non-language’ box boundary-problem: The train went [woo]. etc. So maybe language is a network of links and likelihood? 11

12. Links meaning realization artefact word morph syllable/bʊk/ ‘book’ {book} ‘library’ /blʊk/ {Z} HARDBACK BOOK 12 isa

13. Likelihood in language Likelihood = probability: probability of occurrence probability of ‘coming to mind’ = accessibility. It’s a variable quantity. It reflects ‘usage’ = experience of others speaking frequency recency salience. But it also reflects individual interests and priorities. 13

14. The evidence for mental networks: priming e.g. BOOK primes PAPER so PAPER is measurably easier to retrieve after hearing BOOK. So activation from BOOK spills over, randomly, to PAPER So BOOK and PAPER must be ‘network neighbours’ So semantic priming exists So semantic knowledge must be a network. But BOOK also primes BOOKING – morphological priming LOOK – phonological priming 14

15. Syntactic priming For example: ditransitives e.g. I told the children a story. contrast: I told a story to the children. This is primed by an earlier sentence with the same syntax e.g. The teacher gave the students good marks. but not by: The teacher gave good marks to the students. 15

16. And speech errors Errors generally involve network neighbours in: Phonology: orgasms (target: organisms) Morphology: slicely thinned (target: thinly sliced) Syntax: I’m making the kettle on (target: making some tea + putting the kettle on) Meaning: crosswords (target: jigsaws) But they may also involve the non-linguistic environment: (Addressee is sitting at a computer.) You haven’t got a computer (target: screwdriver) have you? 16

17. And neuro-imaging 17 existed, discovered universe, origin belonging, belongs, belonged pictured, framed, transformed antique, ancient, goddess, magical statue, statues, sculptures size, GIGANTIC From Berkeley gallantlab.org

18. Networks are all we have in language Network nodes correspond to: units (words, forms, phonemes, etc) and unit-types relations (dependency, meaning, realization, etc) and relation types. Lexical items are just lexemes and their sub-lexemes Not boxes of information. Constructions are just lexemes or sub-lexemes linked by dependencies Not boxes of information. 18

19. Linguistic categories are prototypes A typical English noun has a plural containing the suffix {Z} e.g. COW > cows So the general pattern links COW to a network including: ‘noun’, ‘plural’, ‘suffix’, {Z}, ‘contain’. It applies to COW because COW ‘isa’ noun. But there are exceptions e.g. MOUSE > mice, CRISIS > crises. I.e. generalisations apply in a network by default inheritance. 19

20. 4. Welcome to Word Grammar Language is a network of atomic nodes, where links meet including richly classified relations, e.g. ‘subject’, ‘meaning’. The logic of language is default inheritance so concepts are prototypes, with exceptions. Language concepts relate to non-concepts: to motor programs to perception even to emotion. 20

21. For example (1): the phoneme /p/ consonant /p/........ percept........ motor 21

22. For example (2): the “Wh X!” construction Examples: What the Hell do you mean? Where on Earth did I put it? I was wondering who in Heaven’s name would do that? Why the.... did you say that? Very clear syntax: interrogative pronoun but not WHETHER or HOW ABOUT or HOW COME *I was wondering whether on Earth she would say yes. Always expresses a strong emotion. So this bit of grammar must be related directly to the speaker’s emotions. 22

23. A Word-Grammar analysis interrogative pronoun X! on Earththe Hell complement speaker emotion high strength 23

24. So what? 1: Language Language is a network of atomic nodes With variable strengths for the links. It has no natural internal boundaries e.g. between grammar and lexicon. It has no natural external boundaries e.g. The train went [wooo]. quantitative sociolinguistics shows links between items and speaker types. The network model explains everything So there is no need for boxes and boundaries. 24

25. Even syntactic structure is a network WhodoyouthinkIsaw? 25

26. So what? 2: Languages Even a language isn’t a box with boundaries. Most words can be classified for language but loanwords are complex mixtures e.g. my RESTAURANT = /ɹɛstɹɒ̃/ not typically English: /ɒ̃/ not typically French: /ɹ...ɹ/. But in an individual speaker they’re all part of the same network, so: speakers may be more or less multilingual L1 ‘interferes’ with L2 fluent bilinguals can code-mix speakers borrow freely. 26

27. My languages word THANKS language HVALA English Bosnian... language 27

28. 5. Going beyond language Many psychologists believe that all knowledge is a network. Their main evidence comes from language priming and from linguistic errors. But there are other kinds of priming e.g. by colour and in picture recognition. Network structures are particularly obvious in social relations, where boxes are particularly unhelpful e.g. who is in my family? 28

29. My family brother wife mother Gretta 29 brother Colinme husband Gaynor mother G ex-wife ??

30. Prototypes In classical logic, concepts are also boxes with boundaries defined by necessary and sufficient conditions e.g. mother of X gave birth to X (birth mother) cared for X (care mother). In cognition, concepts are network nodes defining typical members with exceptions e.g. typical mothers are both birth mothers and care mothers but there are also untypical mothers. 30

31. 6. Boxes in metacognition But boxes are very tempting in metacognition: In syntax: phrase structure (not dependency structure) In language architecture: grammar + lexicon (not lexicogrammar) In lexicography: lexical entries Between languages: English + Old English + Pidgin English..... Within languages: dialects In language education: English + French +.... In politics: Left + Right, Them + Us,... 31

32. Why? Boxes are simple but cognitive reality is complex Boxes are clear but cognitive reality is unclear Boxes feel safe but they’re really unsafe and misleading So one aim of education should be to discourage boxed-in thinking. encourage metacognitive networks. 32

33. 7. So back to the UK’s FL crisis Maybe the crisis is supported by boxed-in thinking: By thinking of different languages as unrelated boxes: English versus FL French versus German versus.... By thinking of the entire box when teaching any language eg: using authentic material not made-up examples. 33

34. So what’s to be done? Shift thinking towards networks rather than boxes. Target everyone: university staff in English and FL and in linguistics! school teachers educational administrators politicians parents but especially the next generation: pupils. Because major cultural shifts take generations. 34

35. We should challenge boxes: What is English? Which of the following sentences is in English? I like pears. Me liken pears. She was a-kickin on him. [> Scots?] He all right. Yupela i laik bagarapim Daniel a? You+fellow he like bugger-up-him Daniel [emphatic]? I am here since Christmas. Il marchait hors de la chambre. (‘He walked out of the room.’) 35

36. And in the classroom? Encourage explicit exploration by students e.g. Why do we spell /sɪ/ in CITY and SIT differently? Comment on the similarities and differences between UK English: I saw that film yesterday. Have you seen it yet? US English: I saw that movie yesterday. Did you see it yet? French: Je ai vu ce film hier. Tu l’as déjà vu? Teach explicit network analysis 36

37. Vocabulary networks: hyponymy movemannerresult gocomerisefallwalkrunamblecycle move how? move where? 37

38. Grammar networks: syntax might rainyesterdayI thought thatit ss s o c s a a 38 c Both possible, so ambiguous.

39. Conclusions Grammatical research shows that language is a network. By assumption, language is part of general cognition. So ordinary cognition is a network too. But metacognition uses boxes, not networks including educational thinking and planning. And maybe that’s part of the reason for our current crisis in the UK. So we need to fix it fast, before even FL French vanishes! And one way to do this is to teach grammar. But that’s a different talk! 39

40. Thanks i hvala This talk can be downloaded from dickhudson.com/talks 40