Language Acquisition Theories A

7/31/2019 Language Acquisition Theories A

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Modern research on child language acquisition dates back to the latter part

of the 18th century ,when German philosopher Dietrich Tiedeman recorded

his observation of the psychological and linguistic development of his young

son. For a century and a half few ,if any were made in the study of child

language.

Not until the second half of the 20th century did researchers begin to

analyze child language systematically and try to discover the nature of the

psycholinguistic process that enables every human being to gain fluentcontrol of an exceedingly complex system of communication.


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There are dozens of differences between first and second language

acquisition; the most obvious difference ,in the case of adult second

language learning, is the tremendous cognitive and affective contrast

between adults and children. It is important to take an overview of first

language acquisition in order to build an understanding of principles of

second language learning.

This power point provides an overview of various theoretical positions that

can be related to first language acquisition.


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To say that second language learning is a complex process is obviously

trite. There are so many separate ,but interrelated factors that have

influence on the acquisition of a second language that all have to be

considered .


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(Yorio,1976) proposed a taxonomy for second language acquisition that includes alist of influential factors that must be taken into consideration in a theory of SLA.

1.A theory of SLA includes an understanding of what is language, what is

learning, and for classroom context what is teaching.

2.Knowledge of childrens learning of their first language provides essentialinsights to an understanding of SLA.

3.A number of differences between adults and child learning and between first

and second language acquisition must be accounted for.

4.Second language learning is a part of the general principles of human

learning and intelligence.

5.There is a tremendous variation across learners in cognitive style and within

a learner in strategy choice.


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Was a Swiss linguist whose ideas laid a foundation for many significant

developments in linguistics in the 20th century. He is widely considered one

of the fathers of 20th-century linguistics.

Saussure's theory holds that linguistic signs are composed of the arbitrary

combination of sound patterns and concepts. The sound pattern or signifier

is the material vehicle of the meaning, its concrete dimension; the concept

or signified is its "abstract" side. While the signifier and the signified can beseparated for analytical purposes, in reality they are inseparable.


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The behaviorist position claims that children come in to the world

with a tabula rasa ,with no preconceived notions of the world or the

language. Children are then shaped by the environment and slowly

conditioned trough the reinforcement of different behaviors.


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Behaviorists claimed that learners learn by undergoing training and

practice through a series of stimulus and response chains and

operant conditioning. The environment provides the stimulus and

the learner provides the response. According to the Behaviorist

theory, reinforcement motivates the formation of a language habit.


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Verbal behavior , like any other behavior its controlled by its consequences.

When consequences are rewarding, behavior is maintained and is

increased in strength and perhaps frecuency.When consequences are

punishing ,or when there is lack of reinforcement, the behavior is weakened

and eventually extinguished

Behaviorist


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Effective language behavior is the production of correct

responses to stimuli.

If a linguistic response is reinforced, it becomes habitual

or conditioned; otherwise is abandoned.


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PavlovSkinner


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The Cognitive Theory states that the conditions for learning

language are the same conditions that are necessary for any kind of

learning.

They believed that human beings have the capacity for developing

logical thinking. Acquiring knowledge is a cognitive process which

involves automatic processing.


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In the cognitive view FL learners are thought to creatively use their

skills of cognition in order to figure out the L2 on their own. The learners

notice a pattern and construct their own rules accordingly, then go back

and change the rules if they are faulty. In this approach to L2

acquisition, the learners benefit from their mistakes because they are

playing an active role in the FLL process and learning first-hand how

the language works.


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What children learn about language is determined by what they already

know about the world.

Cognitive development is at the center of the human organism --

language is dependent upon and springs from cognitive development;

Cognitive or mental structure: scheme.

Meaning is constructed based on previous background knowledge

structures.


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The constructivist position states that children come into this world

with a specific innate knowledge ,predisposition, and biological

timetables, but that children learn to function in a language chiefly

trough interaction and discourse.


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Language is based on the relationship of cognitive development

and the construction of meaning in the environment.

Language is seen as one manifestation of the cognitive and

affective ability to deal with the world, with others, and itself.

The main influences are:

The rules of grammar (Abstract part of language development)

The meaning constructed from social interaction.( Functional part of

language development)


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Bloom

Vygotsky


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Perhaps the most influential figure of the 20th Century Linguistics.

His contributions have been twofold :

Generative Linguistics

Universal Grammar (UG)

Universal Grammar was proposed by Chomsky, to explain how

children acquire language, which is a complex task, at such a early

age with such speed and efficiency.

Is an innate unconscious ability present at birth ,a knowledge of

grammar. With U.G. set in place at birth ,the child is able to take on whichever

language it is exposed to ,as all languages have common elements

and are inter-translatable.


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Claimed the existence of innate properties of language to explain

the childs mastery of a native language in a short time despite the

highly abstract nature of the rules of language.


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Children construct meaning trough social contact.

Childrens learning occurs within a socio-cultural level and is

internalized to the cognitive level.


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The term Nativist is derived from the assertion that language

acquisition is innately determined, that we are born with the

genetic capacity that predisposes us to a systematic

perception of language around us ,resulting in the

construction of an internalized system of language.


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Nativists claimed that language learning is biologically

determined. Each person is born with an innate ability to learn

language.

The basic innate language learning capacities are referred to as the

Language Acquisition Device (LAD). This view asserts that the

environment only serves to trigger the Language Acquisition Device

(LAD) which determines what children acquire. Children acquire

much of their language ability before coming to school, thus

supporting the innate structures argument.


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Social integrationists believe that human language emerged from

the social role that language plays in human interactions. They

further believed that the environment plays a key role and that

adults in the childs linguistic environment are instrumental in

language acquisition. Language learners need many opportunities

for using the target language in order to develop competence.


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Social interaction is the key to language processing. Input from the

social interactions provides a model for negotiation opportunities.

Vygotsky (1978) believed that learners bring two levels of development

to the learning: an actual developmental level and a potential

developmental level. These two levels are referred to as the Zone of

Proximal Development. Learners can move from actual development to

proximal development through social interactions with others.


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Language is used for communication, therefore it has a social function.

Social interaction, through language, is a pre-requisite to cognitive

development; every child reaches his or her potential development in part,

through social interaction.

Language and thought are distinct and develop independently; when the

two systems fuse with the development of inner speech, logical reasoning

develops.


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Lev VytgoskyZone of ProximalDevelopment


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Behavioristic Cognitive Constructivist

Classical Operant

(Pavlov) Skinner , Watson (Ausubel) RogersPauloFreire,Jean

Piaget ,Lev Vitgosky

RespondentConditioning

Elicited Response

S ---- R

Note:

S = Stimulus

R = ResponseReward

Governed byconsequences

Emitted Response

R --------S

( Reward)

No Punishment

Programmed

Instruction

Meaningful=Powerful

Rote=Weak

Subsumption

Association

Systematic Forgetting

Cognitive Prunning

FullyFunctioning

Person

Learn how to

learn

Community of

learners

Empowerment


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BehavioristTabula Rasa

Stimuli=LinguisticResponse

Conditioning

Reinforcement

MediationTheory

MediatingResponse

Nativist

InnatePredisposition

Systematic, rule-governed

acquisition

Creativeconstruction

Paralleldistributed

processing

Functional

ConstructivistSocial Interaction

Cognition andLanguage

Functions ofLanguage

Discourse


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Innatist Cognitive Constructivist

Krashen

Subconscious acquisition

superiorto learning and

monitoring

Comprehensible Imput

Low affective filter

Natural order of acquisition

Mc Laughlin /Bialystok

Controlled,automaticprocessing

Focal/peripheral attention

Restructuring

Implicit vs. Explicit

Unanalyzed vs. analyzed

knowledge

Form-focused instruction

Long

Interaction hypothesis

Intake trough Social Interaction

Output Hypothesis


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Stephen Krashen is a professor at the University of Southern California.

Dr. Krashen has published more than 350 papers and books, contributing to

the fields of second language acquisition, bilingual education, and reading.

He is credited with introducing various influential concepts and terms in the

study of second language acquisition, including the acquisition-learning

hypothesis, the input hypothesis, the monitor hypothesis, the affective filter

hypothesis.


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Stephen Krashen introduced the acquisition-learning hypothesis,

which makes a distinction between conscious language learning

and subconscious language acquisition. Krashen argues that only

subconscious acquisition can lead to fluency.


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Krashen Input Hypothesis


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Learners gain implicit knowledge by processing target-language input

without consciously giving attention to acquiring the forms and structures of

the language. On the other hand, learners get explicit knowledge of a

language when they process language input with the conscious intention of

discovering the structural rules of the language. Ellis has found empirical

confirmation for the distinct constructs of implicit and explicit language

knowledge


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States Krashen's view that a number of 'affective variables' play a

facilitative, but non-causal, role in second language acquisition.

These variables include: motivation, self-confidence and anxiety.


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Explains the relationship between acquisition and learning. The monitoring

function is the practical result of the learned grammar. The following

conditions must be met :

The acquirer/learner must know the rule: This is a very difficult condition to

meet because it means that the speaker must have had explicit instruction.

The acquirer must be focused on correctness: He or she must be thinking

about form, and it is difficult to focus on meaning and form at the same time.

The Monitor Hypothesis


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Mc Laughlin

AttentionProcessing Model


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Is Based on a Cognitive Theory and states that :

Second language learning is a mental process

Assumes a hierarchy of complexity of cognitive skills

Structured practice leads to automatization and integration

of linguistic patterns


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Second language learning is a skill.

Second language learning requires automatization of

component sub-skills.

Humans have a limited capacity to manage controlled

processes.

Second language processing skills become more

efficient via automatization.


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Attention to Formal Properties

of Languages

Controlled: new skill capacity

limited

Automatic: well-trained

practicedskill capacity is

relatively unlimited

Focal

Intentional Attention

(Cell A)

Grammatical explanation of a

specific point

Word definition

Copy a written model

The first states of

memorizing a dialog

Prefabricated patterns

Various discrete-point

exercises

(Cell B)

keeping an eye out for

something

Advanced L2 learner focuses

on modals, clause formation,

etc.

Monitoring oneself while

talking or writing

Scanning

Editing, peer-editing

Peripheral/

Incidental Attention

(Cell C)

Simple greetings

The later stages of

memorizing a dialog

TPR/Natural Approach

New L2 learner successfully

completes a brief conversation

(Cell D)

Open-ended group work

Rapid reading, skimming

Free writes

Normal conversational

exchanges of some length

From Brown 1994: 285


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Implicit and Explicit Models


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In the explicit category are the facts that a person knows about language

and the ability to articulate those facts in some way. Implicit knowledge is

information that is automatically and spontaneously used in language tasks.

Ellen Bialystok equated implicit and explicit with the synonymous terms

unanalyzed and analyzed knowledge. These same models feature a

distinction between automatic and non-automatic processing. Knowledge

that can be retrieved easily and quickly is automatic. Knowledge that takes

time and effort to retrieve is non-automatic.


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Long's interaction hypothesis- proposes that language

acquisition is strongly facilitated by the use of the target language in

interaction. The Interaction Hypothesis claims that comprehensible

input is important for language learning. In addition, it claims that the

effectiveness of comprehensible input is greatly increased when

learners have to negotiate for meaning.


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States that the development of language proficiency is promoted by face-

to-face interaction and communication. There are two forms of the

Interaction Hypothesis: the "strong" form and the "weak" form. The "strong"

form is the position that the interaction itself contributes to language

development. The "weak" form is the position that interaction is simply the

way that learners find learning opportunities, whether or not they make

productive use of them.


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Brown, D. (2007). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to

language pedagogy

Nagle, Stephen J., & Sanders, Sara L. (1986). Comprehension Theory and

Second Language Pedagogy. TESOL Quarterly, 20(1), 9-26.

Brown, H. (1994). Principles of language learning and teaching / H. Douglas

Brown. Englewood Cliffs, NJ : Prentice Hall Regents, c1994.

Daz-Rico, L. (2008). Strategies for teaching English learners, New York,

Pearson

Language Acquisition Theories A

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