SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT IN SECOND

LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

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•
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Structural Linguistics
and
Behavioral Psychology
Structural Linguistics & Behavioral Psychology

WHERE DO PEOPLE LEARN SECOND LANGUAGES?

• Learners are rarely corrected

• Learners are corrected
• Language is not presented step
• Language is presented step by
by step
step
• Learner is exposed to the
• Learner is exposed to the
language for hours
target language for a few
• Multiple interlocutors, mostly
hours each week
native speakers of the
• Single interlocutor, not
language
necessarily a native speaker
• Modified input is only
• Modified input is the norm
sometimes available

NATURAL CLASSROOM
ENVIRONMENT ENVIRONMENT
Structural Linguistics & Behavioral Psychology

ACQUISITION LEARNING
Structural Linguistics & Behavioral Psychology

STRUCTURALISM
Language Identification Syllabus
Analysis of Structures Development

BEHAVIORISM
Correct Positive
Behavior Reinforcement
Habit
Incorrect Negative
Formation
Behavior Reinforcement
Structural Linguistics & Behavioral Psychology

STRUCTURAL
BEHAVORISM LINGUISTICS
The theory that scientific An approach in which the
enquiry into behavior should structural view treats
consists only of what can be language as a system of
observed, such as stimuli and related elements to code
responses. meaning.
Structural Linguistics & Behavioral Psychology

B.F. Skinner

• He was an American Psychologist,

behaviorist, author, inventor, and social
philosopher.
• Skinner’s work had effects on education
• Skinner invented the Operant Conditioning
chamber also known as skinner box.
Structural Linguistics & Behavioral Psychology

Behaviorism in the classroom

• Rewards and punishments

• Responsibility for student learning rests
squarely with the teacher.
• Lecture-based high structured
 Structural Linguistics & Behavioral Psychology

Behaviorism in the classroom

Advantages: Disadvantages

• Easily controlled by the teacher • Ignores thought processes and emotions

• Some learners benefit from
repetition
• Rewards and punishments are
clear
• Repetition may become boring
• Does not account for processes taking place
in the mind that cannot be observed
• Advocates for passive student learning in a
teacher-centric environment

• Ease of motivation • Lack of natural creativity

Structural Linguistics & Behavioral Psychology

Leonard Bloomfield

• He was an American linguist who led the

development of structural linguistics in the
U.S. during the 1930s and the 1940s
• Bloomfield’s approach to linguistics was
characterized by its emphasis on the
scientific basis of linguistics, adherence to
behaviorism,
Structural Linguistics & Behavioral Psychology

Charles C. Fries

• He taught at the University of Michigan

where he developed programs in both
theoretical and applied linguistics
• He and his wife, Agnes Carswell developed
the university’s English Language Institute
(1941), which he pioneered methods and
materials for teaching English to foreigners.
Structural Linguistics & Behavioral Psychology

Ferdinand de Saussure

• A Swiss Linguist whose ideas laid

foundation for many significant
developments in linguistics in the 20th
century.
• He wasn’t satisfied with the historical
comparison of language. He stated that
such comparison only answered a language
comes from, but not what language is.
Structural Linguistics & Behavioral Psychology

Ferdinand de Saussure

• He is often considered the “Father of

Structuralism”.
• Central notion of his teachings is that
language may be analyzed as a formal
system of different elements.
• Examples of notion: linguistic sign, the
signifier, the signified, and the referent.
Structural Linguistics & Behavioral Psychology

1.) Language has a structure:

-Language is a structure in which each
elements interact.
2.) Language is a system of signs
- Noise is language only when it expresses
or communicates ideas,
Generative Linguistics
and
Cognitive Psychology
 Generative Linguistics & Cognitive Psychology

Generative linguistics is a school of thought within

linguistics that makes use of the concept of a generative
grammar.
The term "generative grammar" is used in different ways
by different people, and the term "generative linguistics"
therefore has a range of different, though overlapping,
meanings
 Generative Linguistics & Cognitive Psychology

The linguistic theory that grew out of Chomsky’s work is

called generative grammar. In this context, ‘grammar’
refers to all levels of language with a structure, that is, it
includes phonology, morphology and syntax as well as
(compositional, non-lexical) semantics.
 Generative Linguistics & Cognitive Psychology

• ‘Generative grammar’ is also often called

‘transformational generative grammar’.
• This is because a substantial amount of work in
generative grammar assumes that the directly
observable data constitute a so-called surface structure.
• ‘Transformation’ is the technical term for this linguistic
conversion apparatus
 Generative Linguistics & Cognitive Psychology

• In linguistics, it’s a set of rules that indicates the structure and

interpretation of sentences which native speakers of a language
accept as behavior of the language.
• Deep Structure: represents syntactic relations
Example: The bear was chased by the lion
• Surface Structure: derived representation of a deep structure.
Example: The lion chased the bear.
 Generative Linguistics & Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive linguistics is a contemporary approach to meaning,

linguistic organization, language learning and change, and
conceptual structure.
The objectives:
• To promote the learner’s insight into the foreign language system.
• To make learners learn by thinking about and trying to make sense of what
they see, feel and hear.
• To maximize communicative competence and accuracy in language use.
 Generative Linguistics & Cognitive Psychology

- It is a comprehensive and unified theory of linguistic structure.

- Grammar is strongly shaped by semantic and functional
considerations. A cognitive approach to language can also be a
pragmatic approach, for cognition figures crucially in linguistics
behavior, social interaction and contextual understanding.
Generative Linguistics & Cognitive Psychology
Generative Linguistics & Cognitive Psychology
Basic Conceptual Domains (Langacker, 1987)

Basic Domain Pre-conceptual Basis

• Space • Vision, touch, kinaesthesia

• Color • Vision
• Pitch • Hearing
• Temperature • Touch, somesthesia
• Touch, kinaesthesia,
• Pressure somesthesia
• Pain • Touch, somesthesia
• Odor • Smell
• Time • Temporal awareness
• Emotion • Affective system
 Constructivism:
A Multidisciplinary
Approach
 Constructivism: A Multidisciplinary Approach

What is constructivism?
• Constructivism is basically a theory -- based on observation and scientific
study -- about how people learn.
• It says that people construct their own understanding and knowledge of
the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences.
• When we encounter something new, we have to reconcile it with our
previous ideas and experience, maybe changing what we believe, or maybe
discarding the new information as irrelevant. In any case, we are active
creators of our own knowledge.
 Constructivism: A Multidisciplinary Approach

• Constructivist teachers encourage students to constantly assess

how the activity is helping them gain understanding.
• By questioning themselves and their strategies, students in the
constructivist classroom ideally become "expert learners."
• This gives them ever-broadening tools to keep learning. With a
well-planned classroom environment, the students learn HOW TO
LEARN.
QUESTIONS?
THANK YOU!