Theories of second language acquisition (week four) Group work Presentation By Miqdad Ali MA Student in Applied Linguistics

Variability versus uniformity of language development The nativist position is that every child is programmed to construct a grammar for his native language, containing the universal categories and relations of which he has knowledge. Though in its pure form, the claim is about knowledge not about performance it has seemed to many people that the identical and invariant knowledge that all children have should be reflected in their performance; in the way they understand and produce utterances in the course of their development. The claim about innate knowledge has no necessary implication for performance.

If the knowledge is to have any psychological reality, the performance data should be in conformity with what can be predicted from the postulated knowledge. Regardless of theoretical models, if the innate component is large, the effect of the child’s general cognitive capacities and of his environment should be comparatively small, and there should be a large degree of uniformity for all children both in the way the development takes place, and in the general standard reached.

If any variation is found it should be predictable from consideration of associated factors, such as the general learning ability of the children and the kind of environment they grow up in. Or it could be a matter of individual variations, children taking different paths for no obvious external reasons.

Associated Factors: 1. General Cognitive Capacities: Beginning to speak early is popularly taken as a sign of intelligence, and cross-sectional studies have confirmed over and over again the relationship between early language development and general learning ability. The disparity between children can be very large. Graham (1968) showed in an experiment the importance of memory for sentence processing. He found that children who could repeat correctly two unconnected items could also repeat correctly There is a bird flying in the air. but they could not repeat The dog that chased the duck is black. The children who could repeat five unconnected items could also manage the second sentence.

Demonstrations that language development and general cognitive development are closely related can be interpreted in two ways: Nativists will argue that Graham experiment shows that it is only the limitation on memory span which prevents a child from applying his knowledge of the structure of sentences. Non-nativists would take the findings to show that children can begin to learn to process structures such as inserted relative clauses only when they have developed the cognitive capacity for dealing with them.

L2 acquisition Theoretical and practical importance How L is presented in the mind How L are learned leads to effective teaching TEQ

Linguistic and Psychological theories Theories of l2 learning Linguistic and Psychological theories Some linguists have suggested that language acquisition is based on the presence of a specialized module of the human mind containing innate knowledge of principles common to all languages. in contrast, most psychologists have argued that language is processed by general cognitive mechanisms that are responsible for a wide range of human learning and information processing and requires no specialized module.

UG UG: Universal grammar is a theory in linguistics that suggests that there are properties that all possible natural human languages have. Usually credited to Noam Chomsky, the theory suggests that some rules of grammar are hard-wired into the brain, and manifest themselves without being taught. There is still much argument whether there is such a thing and what it would be. Some language researchers noted that parents did not provide systematic feedback when young children produced speech that did not match the adult language. Chomsky inferred that children must have an innate language faculty, this faculty originally referred to LAD, and later as UG The UG of human language originated with Chomsky’s (1968) view on L1 acquisition. He argued that, the kind of information which mature speakers of a language eventually have of their L1could not have been learned from the language they hear round them. This problem came to be called the ‘logical problem of language acquisition Children learn L1 while they face difficulties in grasping other kinds of knowledge. (cognitive development) Children with impaired intellectual ability can learn “logical problem of language acquisition” LAD and later UG Children have L principles, they just have to use them.

UG and L2 Critical age hypothesis and UG in L2, a controversial issue In L1 no feedback on errors In L2 competence is monitored not the performance (The tiger chases the lion or contrary of it?) This is to test a child’s competence through performance

focuses on communicating messages and meanings Monitor theroy An early and influential model of second language acquisition was the “Monitor Model”, developed by Krashen in 1970, and it is based on five basic hypotheses: The Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis The Monitor Hypothesis The Natural Order Hypothesis The Comprehensible input Hypothesis The Affective Filter Hypothesis It shares a number of UG’s assumptions but its scope is L2. L2 is acquired without instruction or feedback on errors. Krashen draws a line between acquisition and learning focuses on communicating messages and meanings described as a conscious process

Monitor theroy An early and influential model of second language acquisition was the “Monitor Model”, developed by Krashen in 1970, and it is based on five basic hypotheses: The Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis The Monitor Hypothesis The Natural Order Hypothesis The Comprehensible input Hypothesis The Affective Filter Hypothesis

The Monitor Hypothesis: What has been learned could be used as a monitor for the L2 learner to focus on the accuracy of the message. Natural order hypothesis: Learners go through the same predictable stages that the L1 learners do. Comprehensible input hypothesis: exposure to the varied and meaningful linguistic input. The affective filter hypothesis: the motivation of the learner is important for L2 learning.

Definition of behaviourism Behaviourism is described as a developmental theory that measures observable behaviours produced by a learner’s response to stimuli. Responses to stimuli can be reinforced with positive or negative feedback to condition desired behaviours. Punishment is sometimes used in eliminating or reducing incorrect actions, followed by clarifying desired actions.

Behaviourism According to B. Theory all learning including L learning occurs through a process of imitation, practice, reinforcement and habit formation Environment provides feedback on learners performance Chomsky attacked it and said that children utter novel words they do not repeat only. One of the points of B. Is that L1 habits which the learners have interfere with new habits in L2.

Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH) says L1 helps in L2 learning in case of similarities between L1 and L2 structures. But in case of existence of differences between L1 and L2 problems would face L2 learners. Finally many researches concluded that L1 does not support learning L2.

Cognitive psychology Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies mental processes including how people think, perceive, remember and learn. As part of the larger field of cognitive science, this branch of psychology is related to other disciplines including neuroscience, philosophy and linguistics.

Cognitive psychology No need for brain linguistic structure as linguists say Learner should exert efforts and pay attention Theorists say L is acquired via Declarative knowledge which is intentional learning, then it becomes procedural knowledge Other theorists use Controlled and Automatic processing.

Controlled processing Controlled proc. is not always intentional In controlled proc. the learner access new or complex information Controlled proc. requires mental efforts. Someone is good in social conversation but not good in another field.

Automatic processing It occurs quickly and with minimal attention and effort Language itself is largely automatic, attention can be focussed on the content Via repeated practice controlled knowledge becomes automatic

information processing model Learning accurse through repeated practice, controlled knowledge becomes automatic.

restructuring It is a cognitive process in which the previously acquired information that has been somehow stored in separate categories is integrated and this integration expands the learner’s competence. New errors are made: Do you know what the children are doing? *Do you know what are the children doing? Some researchers of second language acquisition have argued that nothing is learned without (noticing)

(chunk of information are stored in brain) connectionism Connectionists, emergentist and parallel distributed approach, all of them hypothesizes development of strong association between items that are frequently encountered together (events and objects too). She goes. I go. (chunk of information are stored in brain)

Multidimensional model One of the central questions within psychological accounts of second language acquisition is why it is that L1 and L2 learners go through a series of predictable stages in their acquisition of grammatical features? Multidimensional model was originally developed as a result of the acquisition of German word order and on the basis of research with L2 learners of English. L2 learners acquire certain syntactic and morphological features of the L2 in predictable stages. These features were referred to as developmental, variation: appeared to be learned by some of the learners.

Developmental features: L2 learners acquire certain syntactic and morphological features in predictable stages Within L2 acquisition the multidimensional model represents a way to relate underlying cognitive processes to stages in the L2 learner’s development. Each stage reflected an increase in complexity; a learner had to grasp one stage before moving to the next.

Pedagogical implication One of the pedagogical implications drawn from the research related to the multidimensional model is the (teachability hypothesis) that learners can only be taught what they are psycholinguistically ready to learn.  

Interactionist perspective Social interaction has a role in L2 acquisition Speakers adjust their speech to the learners Learners use variety of techniques and adjustment in order to negotiate meaning Adjustments include simplification and modification of phonology, syntax, vocabulary, and discourse. Krashen puts focus on comprehension in language acquisition. But meaning negotiation is not the only way to develop L2, it needs vocabulary, syntax etc... Interactional adjustments improve comprehension and comprehension allows acquisition.

Sociocultural perspective There is a close tie between culture and mind All learning is first social then individual Dialogic conversation helps learners jointly construct knowledge then it is internalized by the individuals. The theorists in this field regard for the social, cultural and biological factors.

Learner language According to some researchers, the language produced by L2 learners did not conform to the target language, and the (errors) that learners made were not random, but reflected a systematic, knowledge of the L2. The term “Interlanguage” was coined to characterize this developing linguistic system of the L2 learner. Researchers found that many of the L2 errors were not influenced by L1. L1 and L2 learners of English over generalize the same errors (two mouses and she goed) Influence of L1 in L2 was completely rejected Researchers focus on similarities in all L2 learners in a particular language

Developmental sequences Brown’s longitudinal research on three children while acquiring L1 The three of them acquired the grammatical morphemes in the same way, they made the same mistakes (‘s and ...ed) They acquired interrogative and negative sentences in the same way They made the same errors (foot = *foots), this is logical generalization Thus language learning goes through an internal process

Eventually, according to researchers L2 learners, like L1 learners, governed partially by internal mechanisms L2 learners were observed to acquire other grammatical features of the language in a predictable order. They have been observed in the language of L2 learners learning a variety of target languages. For example in French and English, L2 learners acquire negative and integrative features in a similar way that they acquire L1 in their L. also in German L2 learners acquire word order features in predicable stages when they have L1 background .

L1 influnece Some researchers and teachers believe that learners build on their knowledge of other LS. when they try to learn a new one. Current studies show L1 influence on L2 developing. Learners can’t transfer all patterns from L1, they will learn more about the L1 and L2 differences by changes that take place. pronunciation and word order are more likely to show L1 influence than grammatical morphemes. Learners will learn it’s not possible to use grammatical rules of a language in other languages, the learners will find that some forms are unusual or idiomatic so they can’t be transferred.

L1 influence When learners reach a developmental stage, they may slowed down because of particular interlanguage pattern is similar to a pattern in their L1. e.g. Spanish learners may use pre-verbal negation (*I no like that) longer more than learners that their L1 does not have pre-verbal negation German English learners may say: (He plays not baseball) French learners of E, when reach an advanced stage: Accept (Can he play baseball?) but reject (Can John play baseball?)

Instruction and second language acquisition What is the role of instruction in L2? Instruction can have an important effect on L2 acquisition in terms of rate of learning and long term success to use language accurately so instruction does not prevent learners from developing According to Krashen instruction may interfere in the process of learning, for him exposure to the natural language is important as well as exposure to the comprehensible input. Certain type of instruction may appear to alter the developmental path of L2 acquisition. (exposure to one grammatical form after another in classroom) (in this way learners learn unusual learner characteristics)

Communicative and content-based language teaching are two good methods But still there are shortcomings, like not all that can be communicated outside the class could be taught. The tenses cannot be exactly taught, for instance in classes about history in French, or differences between tu and vous. Such teaching lack high level of accuracy, like grammatical accuracy

Learners can benefit from instruction while they make semantic or lexical errors, because they cause the flow of communication stop. But syntactic errors not. Errors that are influenced by L1 and do not interfere with meaning might be difficult. A French-speaking learner of English says “she is wearing a skirt red” Overall findings have shown learners in communicative and content-based classes benefit from opportunities to focus on language form when the instructional input is explicit in nature.

conclusion Since 960 L2 learning has received a lot of attention and has become a field in its own right. In 1980 it was possible to read everything written about L2 acquisition Today it has enormous scope and depth both in terms of variety of topics under investigation and the research approaches used to investigate them.