SCHOOL:

NOMBRES:

PSYCHOLOGY AND LANGUAGE LEARNING

FECHA: OCTUBRE – FEBRERO 2008

1

Econ. Ana Gates

Lic. Eliana Pinza

Languages

The study of the people and of the process

Areas of study are both the formal and informal settings for SLA

The broad questions in SLA are:› What does the second language learner

come to know?› How do they come to know it?› Why are some more successful than others?

Linguists: › They want to know about the differences and

similarities between languages being learned› They want to understand the linguistic competence, or

the underlying knowledge and linguistic performance, or what is being produced, at different stages in the language learning process

Sociolinguists:› They are interested in how differences in the learners

themselves accounts for their communicative competence, or the ability to successfully communicate in the second language

Social Psychologists:› They are curious about how the social context of

learners influences the process

They may take one or many approaches to understanding language acquisition but their final goal is to identify the implications of research findings in the teaching realm.

They are our allies, as they help us to be scientifically grounded, and therefore, better teachers

Each field of SLA study approaches the questions from different angles

Sometimes findings conflict and contradict

Each offers insight to one or more aspects of this very complicated process

Linguistics of Second Language Acquisition

What do all languages have in common› Languages are systematic› Languages are symbolic› Languages are social

Lexicon (vocabulary)› Meaning› Pronunciation, spelling, › Part of speech› Collocations

Phonology (sound system)› Phonemes (sounds that make a difference in

meaning› Possible sequences of vowels and consonents› Intonation patterns (stress, pitch, duration)› Rhythmic patterns (starts and stops)

Morphology (word structure)› Morphemes › Inflections that have grammatical information› Suffixes and prefixes that change meaning or

grammatical category Syntax (grammar)

› Word order› Agreement between sentence elements (nouns

and verbs, articles and gender, etc.)› Ways to form questions, negate assertions, etc.

Discourse› Ways to connect sentences, paragraphs,

etc.› Ways to tell stories, have conversations,

etc.› Scripts for interacting and events

FACTS: Children come to master all these

aspects of language by the time they are 6, with further refinement as they mature and gain more experience

Second language learners rarely master all linguistics categories

Contrastive Analysis (CA)› Predicts and explains SL learner problems

by comparing and contrasting L1 and L2› Goal was to improve language teaching

and testing

Assumes language learning to involve mainly habit formation› Stimulus-Response-Reinforcement (S-R-R)

SLA success in part attributed to the differences and similarities of the L1 and L2

More important are insistences of good or poor habit formation› Warns against attaining fluency too soon in

the SLA process

Compares and describes languages level by level in a specific order from smaller to larger units› Phonology› Morphology› Syntax› Lexicon (little emphasis)› Discourse (very little emphasis)

Gives more importance to structure than to meaning for language learning› hence the term Structural Linguistics

Elements habituated in L1 are applied to the learning of the L2

Positive transfer (same structures present in both languages) eg. Plurals indicated by adding an “s” to the end

of the noun. This rule is the same in English and in Spanish

Negative transfer (when L1 structures are applied when they don’t exist in the L2) eg. Page 36 has several examples

Described L1 and L2 at each level Analyzed comparable segments of the

languages in search of things that are likely to cause problems for the L2 learner

These elements were given attention in the development of lessons and determine› What needs to be practiced › What order to present structures

CA doesn’t explain how learners know more than they have heard or have been taught (Logical problem of language learning)

CA analysis not always validated by actual learner errors› Some expected errors didn’t happen› Some unexpected errors did› Not as much positive transfer as expected

happened Not very useful as a pedagogical tool

› Too language specific, doesn’t work in a multilingual L1 classroom (may work better in EFL classrooms

Focus on learners creative abilities Based on actual learner errors, rather than

predicted errors By 1970’s had pretty much replaced CA for

the following reasons:› Real learner errors couldn’t be explained by

transfer of L1 to L2› Shift in linguistics focus from surface structures to

underlying rules› Behaviorist assumptions called into question

Mentalism (focus on innate capacities)› Shift away from purely teaching concerns› Norm Chomsky’s theories

Inner forces work with environment for language acquisition› Child is active participant in the process, not

simply the receiver of stimuli Child language and SL learner language

come to be regarded in their own right

Not considered bad habits

Offer insight to the process of language learning

Errors are part of learning itself

Collected of a sample of learner language Identified errors

› Errors vs. mistakes Described errors

› Usually as one of the linguistic categories of language

Explained errors› Interlingual (interference, techniques from CA)› Intralingual

Incomplete L2 knowledge Over-generalizing L2 rules

Evaluated errors› Seriousness of error in communication

Ambiguity in classification (how do we really know what has occurred is an error or a mistake?)

Lack of positive data› What the learner knows› Correct use overlooked

Potential for avoidance› Learners avoid difficult language

Term coined by Larry Selinker in 1972

Refers to language states in progress towards the final state of L2

Creative process Inner forces in interaction with the

environment Influenced by L1 and target language Considered as a language of its own

› World English?

Systematic› During stages of L2 development, language is governed

by rules or internal grammar› Rules can be discovered by analyzing the grammar

used by the learner at any point in L2 development Dynamic

› Rules are frequently changing Succession of interim grammars Moves from plateau to plateau

Variable› Different contexts results in different language use

Reduced system› Form› Function

Boundaries unclear› Begins when a person first attempts to

express meaning in L2 or when some grammatical structures change?

› Ends when learning permanently stops

Fossilization› Disagreement about at what level of L2

achievement is considered to complete the process Accents? Grammatical errors that don't interfere with

communication?

Is there a natural order or universal sequence for learning a second language across languages?› If so, does L1 transfer really exist?

Is this natural order that same in L2A and L1A?

L1 and L2 order of acquisition very similar L2 order of acquisition almost identical

independent of the L1 of the learner These conclusions provide further

evidence of innate language acquisition Later studies made to see if syntactical

order the same in L2 acquisition

Assumes a Language Acquisition Device Made up of 5 hypotheses

› Acquisition-learning hypothesis› Monitor hypothesis

What is learned serves only to alter what has been acquired

› Natural order hypothesis› Input hypothesis (Comprehensible input)› Affective Filter Hypothesis

This model made a huge impact in the teaching field› Communicative approach

Indirect grammar teaching

Claims not scientifically verifiable Definitions vague and imprecise

What is being acquired in SLA is a rule governed system› Development is progression through

dynamic interlanguage which differs from L1 and from L2

› Final state of L2 differs from the native speaker system

How SLA takes place?› Creative mental process› Development follows predictable

sequences similar for both L1 and L2 acquisition

Why some learners are more successful in SLA than others?› Relative success attributed mostly to the

age of the learner

Norm Chomsky Two questions still of interest in the

linguists field:› What do language learners really know

about the language they are learning?› How do learners know more than the input

they receive? Logical problem of language learning

=Poverty of the stimulus

Learner competence only explainable by an innate capacity› Genetically endowed ability-Language Faculty› All children born with the general knowledge

needed to learn language› All children already “know” the rules that govern

all natural languages Language Faculty a potential solution to the

Logical Problem› Children only need to build upon an already

existing system.› Social interaction determines what is built upon

the innate system

So what is happening in the mind of the language learner?

Principles are the elements that all languages of the world share

Some principles have parameters, or limitations depending on the specific language

Since P&P are innate, the child is able to interpret and analyze input to construct the correct grammar

UG strictly constrains the process, which explains why children lean so quickly

Lexical items include rich specification of properties

These important because needed for parameter setting and other features of grammar and semantics

Knowing a word means knowing its meaning, pronunciation, place in the sentence

The Initial State of L1A is UG.› What is acquired in the process is information

from input (especially vocabulary) that learner matches with UG options

The Final State of L1A is adult grammar The Intermediate States are:

› The initial state transformed by experience and determined by the processes of maturation

› Several stable stages, finally end at about puberty

Natural, instinctive, internal to the cognitive system

Attitudes, motivation and social context (beyond minimal input) play no role

What is the initial state in SLA? What is the nature of interlanguage? How does interlanguage change over

time? What is the final state of SLA

At the beginning of L2A, the learner has already gone through the process of L1A

Some L1 knowledge is transferred to L2 Circumstances of L2 learning When L1 and L2 parameter settings are

the same, positive transfer is likely When L1 and L2 parameter settings are

different, negative transfer (interference) may occur

Disagreement about whether or not L2 learners have access to UG

Four Possibilities› Learners have full access to UG in L2

learning› Learners have partial access› Learners retain indirect access, through

what they know in the L1› Learners have no access, but must learn

the L2 through different means

Interlanguage=intermediate states of L2 development=interim grammars

If some access to UG is available, IL is a matter of “resetting” the parameters on the basis of input of new language› This happens because new input doesn’t match the L1

parameters› Choices limited and thus new language won’t deviate

from UG If learning principles that are part of the language

faculty are still available there is enough information is available to make changes› Positive Evidence: input from natural or formal setting› Negative Evidence: explicit correction

If L2 learners don't have access to UG then L2A needs to be explained in a fundamentally different process

Arguments against the no access hypothesis › No evidence that IL violates UG› L1 transfer and L2 input can’t account

entirely for the L2A process

Why are some SL learners more successful than others? Huge variability in learner “success”› All may not have same access to UG› Different relationships between L1s and L2s =

different levels of transfer› Different access to L2 input› Some learners more sensitive to the

mismatches in L2 input and L1 parameters› Different degrees of specification of lexical

features

Functional Approaches› Originate in Eastern Europe in the early

1900’s› Emphasize information of language

produced in real situations › Consider language as a means of

communication rather than a set of rules› Greater interest in discourse structure,

how language used for interaction, include aspects of communication beyond language

The Psychology of Second Language Acquisition

Languages and the brain

Pierre (1861, 1865) observed an area in the left frontal lobe appeared to be responsible for the ability to speak.

Wernicke (1874) identified a nearby area which is adjacent to the part of the cortex that processes audio input as also being central to language processing.

The following questions help us to know how the brain might be organized for multiple languages

How independent are the languages?

› Multiple language systems are neither completely separate nor completely fused.

› Ervin and Osgood (1954) suggested a three way possibility for how languages relate in an individual’s mind: coordinate, compound and subordinate

How are multiple language structures organized in relation to one another in the brain? Are both languages stored in the same areas?

› L1 and L2 are stored predominantly in areas of the left hemisphere, near the Sylvian fissure

Does the organization of the brain for L2 in relation to L1 differ with age acquisition, how it is learned, or level of proficiency?› Vaid (1983) concludes that individuals who acquire L2 later in

life show more right hemisphere involvement› Cook suggests that the variation in right hemisphere

involvement may be due to the lack of a single route to L2 knowledge

› The organization of L2 knowledge is more diffuse for lower levels of proficiency and more compact for highly fluent L2 users.

Do two or more languages show the same sort of loss or disruption after brain damage?› Obler and Gjerlow (1999) conclude rather that a significant

factor in initial recovery is which language was most used in the years prior to the incident which caused the damage, whether this is L1 or L2.

› Not only can different languages be affected differentially by brain damage, but different abilities in the same language may be differentially impaired.

› What is being added in the brain when a second language is acquired is not very different from, nor usually entirely separate from, what is already there for the first.

Learning processes

Learning language is essentially like learning other domains of knowledge

Information Processing Stages

› Input (Perception)› Central processing

Controlled-automatic processing Declarative-procedural knowledgeRestructuring

› Output (Production) Fluency

Theories regarding order of acquisition

Multidimensional Model › Learners acquire certain grammatical structures in a

developmental sequence.› Developmental sequences reflect how learners

overcome processing limitation› Language instruction which targets developmental

features will be successful only if learners have already mastered the processing operations which are associated with the precious stage of acquisition

Competition Model

› The form of a lexical item is represented by its auditory properties, and its function by its semantic properties; the forms of strings of lexical items are word-order patterns and morphological inflections, and their functions are grammatical

Differences in LearnersAGE• Younger advantage: brain plasticity, not analytical,

fewer inhibitions, weaker group identity, simplified input more likely

• Older advantage: learning capacity, analytic ability, pragmatic skills, greater knowledge of L1, real-world knowledge

SEX• Females: to be better at memorizing complex forms• Males: to be better at computing compositional rules

APTITUDE• Phonemic coding ability• Inductive language learning ability• Grammatical sensitivity• Associative memory capacity

MOTIVATION• Sigificant goal or need• Desire to attain the goal• Perception that learning L2 is relevant to fulfilling

the goal or meeting the need• Belief in the likely success or failure of learning L2• Value of potential outcomes/rewards

Cognitive style

It refers to individuals’ preferred way of processing, conceptualizing, organizing, and recalling information.

It is also related to and interacts with personality factors (imaginative, self-confident, risk-taking, etc) and learning strategies (behaviors and techniques they adopt in their efforts to learn a second language).

The effects of multilingualism

Multilingualism has positive effects on intellectual functions

› Advantages in tasks of both verbal and nonverbal abilities

› Advanced metalinguistic abilities › Cognitive and metalinguistic advantages › Advantages in the use of language for

verbal mediation

THANK YOU