Psycholinguistics by Mariana De Luca

First Language Acquisition Theories Behaviorism Imitation Reinforcement Analogy Skinner The Innateness Hypothesis Universal Grammar Grammar Construction Chomsky

Do Children Learn through Imitation?

Do Children Learn through Correction and Reinforcement?

Stages in Language Aquisition Pre-linguistic stage (birth to six months): The baby cries, coos, laughs, and makes other sounds. Babbling (six to 12 months): The baby makes nonspecific sounds from all human languages. One-word (holophrastic) stage (1 year): The child speaks single words in isolation, in his or her first language. Two-word stage (24 months): The child forms two-word phrases or strings that reflect the language being acquired. The vocabulary increases; the child begins to learn words at the rate of one word every two waking hours. Telegraphic speech (30 months): Children begin to utter short phrases like telegraph messages, without formal grammatical structure. Fluent speech (three years +): The child learns grammar and syntax (patterns of sentence formation) with surprising rapidity and accuracy; sentences increase in length and complexity.

Pre-linguistic Stage

Babbling Brrrr, brrrr, bbbb, dadada, lala…

Holophrastic or Word Stage Up! Down! Cheerios!

Two Word Stage Hi Mommy! Bye bye boat More wet

Telegraphic Stage Cat stand up table What that? Andrew want that. No sit there. Ride truck Show mommy that

Language Explosion Look mommy, how I climb I know what to do I like to play with something else

The Acquisition of Pragmatics

Theories of Second Language Learning -Tabula rasa -Stimuli -Conditioning - Reinforcement -Innate predispositions -Systematic, rule governed acquisition -Creative construction -Whole person -Social interaction -Cognition and context -Discovery Learning -Learn how to learn Empowerment BehavioristCognitiveConstructivist

Bilingualism vs. Second Language Acquisition BilingualismSLA Simultaneous acquisition of two languages Acquisition of L1 Acquisition of L2 Unitary system hypothesis Separate systems hypothesis Fundamental difference hypothesis Same stages of LA as monolingual children L2ers construct interlanguage grammars Unconscious processConscious process CodeswitchingL1 Interference

An Innatist Model: Krashen’s Input Hypothesis 1. Acquisition – Learning Hypothesis 2. Monitor Hypothesis 3. Natural Order Hypothesis 4. Input Hypothesis 5. Affective Filter Hypothesis

Instructional Implications Behaviorist Language from dialogues, and drills from teachers Structured by grammatical complexity Similar proficiency levels Structured repetitions and drills Students repeat immediately Errors corrected immediately Cognitive Natural language from the teacher, classmates or books Unstructured but made comprehensible by teacher Similar proficiency levels Language production is expected to occur naturally Silent period Errors not corrected Constructivist Natural language from the teacher, classmates or books Unstructured but focused on communication ELL and native speakers Speaking occurs naturally No pressure to speak Meaning negotiated

Key terms From “Principles of Language Learning and Teaching” Transfer, Interference, overgeneralization (pp.102,103) Zone of Proximal Development (p.13) Fossilization (p.270) Codeswitching (p.139) Interlanguage (p.256)