Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Language Acquisition and Language Learning
Language Acquisition and Language Learning
Felix
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foreign language m a t e r i a l be p r e s e n t e d in order to be
e f f e c t i v e ? How does the student r e s p o n d to different
m a t e r i a l ? How can we make sure the student learns what
we want h i m to learn? And most important, how does a student learn a foreign language in the first place? I.e.,
h o w does his linguistic competence d e v e l o p and how does
this d e v e l o p m e n t c o r r e l a t e with the didactic intentions
of the i n s t r u c t o r ?
P a r t i c i p a n t s of the M u n i c h c o n f e r e n c e repeatedly voiced
their belief that in the long run foreign language educational p r o g r a m s c a n n o t be successful unless these and
similar basic q u e s t i o n s are answered. At present, however,
b r o a d c a s t e r s felt themselves to be in very much the same
s i t u a t i o n as c l a s s r o o m teachers who, in the absence of
more a p p r o p r i a t e guidelines, follow their own individual
e x p e r i e n c e and intuition.
Nevertheless, r e s e a r c h on foreign language learning and
teaching has been very intensive during the past years
(see W i e n o l d 1973, C h a s t a i n 1976). It has p r i m a r i l y foc u s e d on the d e s c r i p t i o n and analysis of those situational
v a r i a b l e s that are b e l i e v e d to g o v e r n language learning in
a c l a s s r o o m context. Motivation, aptitude, affectivity,
teaching m e t h o d and teachers' b e h a v i o r are among those
v a r i a b l e s that have been studied in g r e a t detail (see
S c h u m a n n 1975, S o l m e c k e 1976). The rationale behind this
type of r e s e a r c h is that if we s u c c e e d in c o n t r o l l i n g the
c o n t e x t u a l v a r i a b l e s of foreign language learning we will
thereby be able to c o n t r o l the learning process itself.
This a s s u m p t i o n reflects the belief that learning a foreign
language is a p r o c e s s totally d e p e n d e n t on and g o v e r n e d by
external factors, a p r o c e s s that is - at least in p r i n c i p l e
- i n f i n i t e l y v a r i e d a c c o r d i n g to the c o n t e x t u a l conditions
under w h i c h it takes place.
Recent studies on second language a c q u i s i t i o n (Dulay & Burt
1974, B a i l e y & M a d d e n & K r a s h e n 1974, F e l i x 1978) indicate,
however, that the p r o c e s s of learning a second language is
not totally a function of its contextual conditions; rather,
there seem to be c e r t a i n universal and i n v a r l a n t regularities in the w a y e v e r y L2 learner a c q u i r e s the target language. T h e s e findings have led to a n e w p e r s p e c t i v e in
w h i c h the learner h i m s e l f and his verbal b e h a v i o r are the
center of attention. The crucial q u e s t i o n s are: how does
a student process the linguistic structures he is e x p o s e d
to? Are there any r e g u l a r i t i e s in the learning process
itself that reflect basic p r i n c i p l e s of m a n ' s a b i l i t y to
acquire l a n g u a g e ( s ) ?
The Kiel P r o j e c t on L a n g u a g e A c q u i s i t i o n (Wode 1976a, F e l i x
1978) has a t t e m p t e d to look at p r o b l e m s of foreign language l e a r n i n g / t e a c h i n g from a still b r o a d e r perspective.
The p r o c e s s of learning a foreign language is not seen as
65
L1 a c q u i s i t i o n , i.e.
tongue.
(Wode 1976b,
how children
1977a)
learn
their mother
b. n a t u r a l i s t i c L2 a c q u i s i t i o n , i.e. h o w c h i l d r e n or
a d u l t s a c q u i r e a s e c o n d l a n g u a g e in a n a t u r a l e n v i r o n m e n t , t h a t is w i t h o u t a n y type of f o r m a l c l a s s r o o m
instruction.
(Felix 1976, 1978; W o d e 1976a)
c.
f o r e i g n l a n g u a g e t e a c h i n g , i.e. h o w s t u d e n t s l e a r n a
s e c o n d l a n g u a g e in a c l a s s r o o m s i t u a t i o n u n d e r formal
instruction.
(Felix 1977b-c)
The s t r i k i n g r e s u l t of t h e s e c o m p a r a t i v e o b s e r v a t i o n s
w a s t h a t d e s p i t e the c o n t e x t u a l d i v e r s i t y a n d d e s p i t e
c e r t a i n i n d i v i d u a l v a r i a t i o n s t h e r e is a c o r e of d e v e l o p m e n t a l r e g u l a r i t i e s c o m m o n to all l e a r n e r s and all
t y p e s of a c q u i s i t i o n . In o t h e r w o r d s , the w a y in w h i c h a
l e a r n e r t a k e s in, p r o c e s s e s , s t o r e s , a n d thus a c q u i r e s
l i n g u i s t i c s t r u c t u r e s is n o t i n f i n i t e l y v a r i e d , but s h o w s
s i g n i f i c a n t p a r a l l e l s a c r o s s d i f f e r e n t types of l a n g u a g e
learning situations.
T h e s e f i n d i n g s s u g g e s t t h a t the p r o c e s s of l e a r n i n g a
l a n g u a g e - e i t h e r as L1 or as L2, e i t h e r w i t h or w i t h o u t
formal instruction - follows certain invariant principles
w h i c h are i n d e p e n d e n t of c o n t e x t u a l v a r i a b l e s and w h i c h
a p p e a r to u n d e r l i e m a n ' s a b i l i t y to a c q u i r e language.
At l e a s t for L1 a c q u i s i t i o n t h e r e are s o m e a p r i o r i theoretical reasons suggesting that language learning cannot
be a p r o c e s s t o t a l l y d e p e n d e n t on and d e t e r m i n e d by external v a r i a b l e s . If t h i s w a s the case, t h e n c h i l d r e n f r o m
different cultural, ethnic, socio-economic, religious,
etc. b a c k g r o u n d s s h o u l d v a r y s i g n i f i c a n t l y in the c o m m a n d
of t h e i r m o t h e r tongue. W h i l e it is t r u e that p e o p l e m a y
d i f f e r in the w a y t h e y m a k e use of t h e i r l a n g u a g e , no
n o r m a l c h i l d has e v e r f a i l e d to a c q u i r e the p h o n o l o g y ,
m o r p h o l o g y or s y n t a x of h i s n a t i v e l a n g u a g e . No c h i l d is
k n o w n to s p e a k w i t h a n o n - n a t i v e a c c e n t or to be u n a b l e
to f o r m i n t e r r o g a t i v e or n e g a t i v e s e n t e n c e s due to unf a v o r a b l e c o n d i t i o n s of l e a r n i n g . C o n s e q u e n t l y t h e r e m u s t
66
successful a c q u i s i t i o n
the external circum-
67
A s y s t e m a t i c c o m p a r i s o n of first l a n g u a g e a c q u i s i t i o n and
n a t u r a l i s t i c s e c o n d l a n g u a g e a c q u i s i t i o n s h o w e d that L2
l e a r n e r s by a n d l a r g e f o l l o w the same or s i m i l a r b a s i c
p r i n c i p l e s as L1 l e a r n e r s (Felix 1978; W o d e 1976a). T h i s
is n o t to say t h a t L1 and n a t u r a l i s t i c L2 a c q u i s i t i o n are
t o t a l l y i d e n t i c a l p r o c e s s e s . In fact, t h e r e are m a n y significant differences
(Felix 1977a). H o w e v e r , b o t h L1 and
L2 a c q u i s i t i o n are s u b j e c t to o r d e r e d d e v e l o p m e n t a l seq u e n c e s . L2 l e a r n e r s - just as L1 l e a r n e r s - d e c o m p o s e
t a r g e t s t r u c t u r e s a n d r e - i n t e g r a t e t h e m by p a s s i n g t h r o u g h
various intermediate grammatical systems. Certain basic
d e v e l o p m e n t a l s t a g e s and the s t r u c t u r e s that c h a r a c t e r i z e
t h e m are, in fact, the s a m e in first a n d s e c o n d l a n g u a g e
acquisition.
The p a r a l l e l s
t h a t a p p e a r in the w a y c h i l d r e n a c q u i r e a
f i r s t and a s e c o n d l a n g u a g e a g a i n s u p p o r t the a s s u m p t i o n
that the p r o c e s s of l e a r n i n g a l a n g u a g e is not m e r e l y a
f u n c t i o n of e x t e r n a l and c o n t e x t u a l v a r i a b l e s . R a t h e r ,
t h e r e m u s t be c e r t a i n g e n e r a l a n d u n i v e r s a l p r i n c i p l e s
of l a n g u a g e a c q u i s i t i o n w h i c h a c c o u n t for the s t r i k i n g
p a r a l l e l s b e t w e e n L1 and L2 l e a r n i n g d e s p i t e the e x t r e m e l y
divergent conditions under which a first and a second
language are most frequently learnt.
If t h e r e is i n d i c a t i o n t h a t l a n g u a g e l e a r n i n g , in g e n e r a l ,
f o l l o w s c e r t a i n u n i v e r s a l p r i n c i p l e s , an a p p r o p r i a t e t e s t
for t h i s h y p o t h e s i s w o u l d be to see h o w t h e s e p r i n c i p l e s
o p e r a t e - if at all - w h e n a s e c o n d l a n g u a g e is l e a r n t in
a c l a s s r o o m s i t u a t i o n u n d e r f o r m a l i n s t r u c t i o n . It has
frequently been claimed that naturalistic language acquisi
t i o n - in p a r t i c u l a r L1 a c q u i s i t i o n - a n d f o r e i g n l a n g u a g e
t e a c h i n g are two t o t a l l y u n c o m p a r a b l e p r o c e s s e s d u e to
their extremely different situational settings. Not only
do L1 l e a r n e r s d i f f e r from L2 s t u d e n t s in t e r m s of age,
m o t i v a t i o n , c o g n i t i v e m a t u r i t y etc., b u t a l s o the c l a s s r o o m s i t u a t i o n is c h a r a c t e r i z e d by the fact t h a t the
l e a r n i n g p r o c e s s is g u i d e d and c o n t r o l l e d by the t e a c h e r ,
w h i l e the L1 l e a r n e r has to c o n s t r u c t the g r a m m a r of the
t a r g e t l a n g u a g e on h i s o w n w i t h o u t the h e l p of f o r m a l
instruction.
F o r a p e r i o d of 8 m o n t h s a c l a s s of 34 G e r m a n h i g h s c h o o l
s t u d e n t s (10 a n d ii y e a r s old) w a s o b s e r v e d d a i l y . T h e s e
s t u d e n t s w e r e t a u g h t E n g l i s h 5 t i m e s a w e e k , * e a c h t i m e for
a p e r i o d of 45 m i n u t e s . All s e s s i o n s w e r e r e c o r d e d on
t a p e w i t h t h r e e o b s e r v e r s in the b a c k of the c l a s s r o o m
t a k i n g n o t e s on the s i t u a t i o n a l c o n t e x t and the s t u d e n t s '
b e h a v i o r (see F e l i x 1977b).
An a n a l y s i s of the s t u d e n t s ' u t t e r a n c e s s h o w e d t h a t a subs t a n t i a l n u m b e r of g r a m m a t i c a l e r r o r s h a d the s a m e s t r u c tural p r o p e r t i e s as t h o s e u t t e r a n c e t y p e s w h i c h in L1 and
n a t u r a l i s t i c L2 a c q u i s i t i o n m a r k c e r t a i n d e v e l o p m e n t a l
68
69
of E n g l i s h
of Kiel
70
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Felix,
Felix,
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Wienold,
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Miinch~n.
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L2 acquisition. Working Papers on B i l i n g u a l i s m
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