Areas of

Applied Linguistics?
• You’ve seen the definitions of
the term AL and how this science
tries to solve problems arise in area
of language learning or acquisition.
Now we’ll see what areas AL can
cover.
Areas of AL

•Language teaching
•Language policy & language planning
•Speech pathology/therapy
•Lexicography and dictionary making
•Translation & interpretation
•Computer assisted language learning
Language Teaching

AL can be seen as providing

the intellectual basis for advances
in language teaching in numerous
contexts in a number of countries.
Language Teaching

AL does not take developments in

linguistics and look for ways of
applying them to teaching. Instead,
the problems faced in language
teaching are solved with the help of
linguistics
Language Policy and Language Planning

AL assists language planners by

providing answers to questions like:
to whom the policy/plan applies and
at what level.
AL also plays a vital role in planning
the national or local language(s) of
concerned countries.
Speech Therapy/Pathology

Speech therapy/pathology is activities

and exercises designed to help relieve
or overcome language problems or
speech defects or to help someone
regain the use of speech after having
suffered speech loss.
Speech Therapy/Pathology

AL incorporates into many

professional training courses for
treating patients with speech
disorders by speech therapists.
Lexicography and Dictionary Making

A new generation of lexicographers

has emerged whose loyalty lie with
AL. Sinclair’s Cobuild Dictionary
(1987) is a principal example of the
way applied linguists contribute to
lexicography.
Lexicography and Dictionary Making

This dictionary is a computerized

database designed to link the
learning of vocabulary thematically
to real-world communicative
contexts.
Translation and Interpretation

The training of translators and interpreters

now often includes training in AL,
specifically in the area of contrastive
analysis where the translator is trained
to point out the areas of similarities and
differences between languages concerned.
Computer Assisted Language Learning

Many programmes and software

have been developed to assist in
learning and teaching languages.
 CALL / CAI

A. Teaching programme presented

by a computer in a sequence.
The student responds on the
computer, and the computer
indicates whether the responses
are correct or in correct.
 CALL / CAI

B. The use of computer to monitor

students’ progress and direct
them to the appropriate lessons,
material, etc.
 CALL / CAI

C. The use of computer to provide

exploratory environments for
language learning by presenting
problems in need for resolution
and providing tools for further
learning.
We have so far discussed some of
the applications of the findings of
AL in relation to other sciences
like psychology, education,
medicine, computer science, etc.
In relation to our main aim as
language teachers, we will see how
AL concentrates on the study of
second and foreign language learning
and acquisition. It concentrates
more on the language learner. In
fact, it considers the language
learners as the centre of the whole
learning process.

See this…
 Applied Linguistics

acquisition behaviour
strategies The processing of
Learne the language
motivation
r
attitude errors
& aptitude
15 / 1
INTERACTIONISTS

The INTERACTIONISTS say

that language develops as a
result of the complex
interplay between the child
and the environment in
which he/she grows:

15 / 1
INTERACTIONISTS

CHILD ENVIRONMENT

parents

other children

15 / 1
INTERACTIONISTS

 The INTERACTIONISTS say that

parents or older children do not
talk to small children in the
same way as they talk to other
adults.

15 / 1
INTERACTIONISTS

 Rather they adapt their

language to give the child
maximum opportunity to
interact and learn.
 This adaptation is called
‘caretaker talk or speech.’

15 / 1
INTERACTIONISTS

 The caretaker talk or speech

has a number of
characteristics which
distinguish it from normal
speech between adults:

15 / 1
INTERACTIONISTS

1. It is generally spoken more

slowly and clearly.

2. It contains shorter
utterances.

15 / 1
INTERACTIONISTS

3. The utterances are

considerably simplified,
especially with respect to
their grammar and meaning.

15 / 1
INTERACTIONISTS

4. It contains fewer complex

sentences.

5. There is less variety of

tenses.

15 / 1
INTERACTIONISTS

6. The range of vocabulary is

more limited. The meanings
are chiefly ‘concrete’,
relating to the present
situations in which the
mother and child interact.

15 / 1
INTERACTIONISTS

7. Extra information is
provided by the mothers
and sentences may be
repeated for clarification.

15 / 1
INTERACTIONISTS

Note…
Caretaker talk or speech
seems well suited to help the
child learn the rules and
meanings of the language.

15 / 1
INTERACTIONISTS

Note…
The child by interacting with the
environment has time to become
familiar with the language. When a
child does not understand, the adult
may repeat or paraphrase in order
to keep the communication and
learning going on.
15 / 1
CONCLUSION
 One way to bring the views of
behaviourists, innatists,
cognitists, and Interactionists
together is to see that each may
help to explain a different
aspects of child’s language
development.

15 / 1
15 / 1
INNATISTS
Innatism / Nativism
Chomsky (1959) attacked on Skinner and
behaviourist theories of L1 acquisition
 First Language Acquisition
(FLA)
is complex system of rules.

Language Acquisition Device

Input Output
(LAD) Universal Grammar (UG)
INNATISTS

Language acquisition,
according to INNATISTS is
a complex system of rules
which enable the child to:
1. Understand
2. Create an infinite number
of sentences
INNATISTS

Understanding takes place

according to the following
steps:

1. The child receives (hears)

the language.
Understanding

2. His/her brain starts naturally

working to discover or recognize
the shape of the sounds of this
language (what is it?)

3. The brain then analyses these

sounds (to see how this language
operates).
 INNATISTS

The creativity of the child can

be noticed from the child’s
ability to extract abstract
knowledge of rules from concrete
examples.
 creativity

For example, the child, from the

language he hears, may generalize the
past –ed sign for all verbs he uses
without thinking that there are some
exceptions.
Human infant is born with an innate
predisposition to acquire language.

He/she must be exposed to language

for the acquisition process to start.

He/she possesses an internal

mechanism which enables
him/her, from the limited data
available to him/her, to
construct a grammar of a
particular language.
INNATISTS

This led many people to believe

that children are born with an
innate capacity for acquiring
and developing the language.
INNATISTS

The brain of the child is ready for

the language.
When the child is exposed to
speech, certain general principles
for discovering or structuring
language automatically begin to
operate.
 INNATISTS

These principles constitute a

child’s Language Acquisition
Device LAD.
 INNATISTS

How LAD works?

1. The child uses its LAD to
make sense of the
utterances (the primary
linguistic data) heard
around him.
How LAD works?

2. Deriving from these

utterances (the primary
linguistic data) hypotheses
about the grammar of the
language.
How LAD works?

3. This knowledge is then used to

produce sentences. These
sentences go through many
stages until they correspond
those in adult speech.
When LAD works?

LAD works when stimulated at the

right time (the time which starts
from the day of birth till puberty).
This period is called the critical
period.
INNATISTS

LAD UG
LAD is commonly known
now as UG (Universal
Grammar).
INNATISTS

UG consists of
principles which are
common to all
languages.
UG

Children have to learn the ways

by which their own language
makes use of these principles
and the variations on these
principles which may exist in
particular language they are
learning.
 Questions to be answered…

1- How are the children able to

acquire the language in such a
short period of time?
 Questions to be answered…

2- How to explain children’s

similarity in the way they
acquire grammatical
patterns in different
languages?
Questions to be answered…

3- How children are able to extract

abstract knowledge of rules
from the primary linguistic data
(the adult speech) although
this speech is too complex and
disorganized?
The idea of Sociological Approach
In late 1970s and early
1980s research attention
began to be given to the
social context of adult
SLA.
This becomes known as
Acculturation/sociological
Approach
 Acculturation?
What is
Acculturation is the
process of becoming
adapted to the culture
of the new or second
language.
 Acculturation

A result of the social and

psychological distance
between the learner and the
native speakers of the L2.
 Social Distance

The learner believes that no need

to communicate with the L2
society. This will increase social
distance which will affect the
learner’s L2 to become simple
(simplified L2 grammar), sufficient
only for communicative success.
Example of the simplification:

Omission of the morphological

inflections (-’s, -ing), function words
(determiners & auxiliaries), subordinate
clause, etc.:

*He run quickly instead of

He is running quickly.
Example of the simplification:

*I’m come by bus.

*She very pretty
*They written good English
Note….
- The more decreasing the
social distance between the
learner and native speakers of
the L2, the faster the
development towards the L2
norm.
Note….

- If the social distance fails to

decrease, the L2 learner’s
grammar will fossilize (that
is, his grammar becomes
simplified).
 Psychological Distance

It is a result of personal factors:

e.g. language shock, culture

stress, motivation, needs, etc.
Note….
- When the psychological
distance is high, the learner
will fail to convert input into
intake (that is fail to get the
best of this input and make it
available any time the learner
calls).
 Pidgin Language

When there are hindrances

(difficulties) to acculturation, the
L2 learner will not make progress
beyond the early stages of
acquisition of the L2, and his
language will stay pidignized.
Examples of pidgin language:

*No have money

*When he come here

*Jack book
Note….
- Acculturation model for SLA
shows us why L2 learners often
fails to achieve native-like
competence
due to social and/or
psychological distance.
 Approaches to
Learner’s Performance
 Environment

INPUT
Processing

OUTPUT
Actual utterances
(Learner’s performance)
 GENERAL POINTS...

Learner’s performance contains

both acceptable and non-
acceptable utterances.

Non-acceptable utterances are

considered important
determinants of SLA process.
 GENERAL POINTS...

The non-acceptable utterances

attracted the attention of the
researchers in order to answer the
following questions:

1. Why do learners make these non-

acceptable utterances or errors?
 GENERAL POINTS...

2. What are the characteristics of

these errors?
3. What are the reasons behind these
errors?
4. Are these errors bad or good sign
of learning? Etc…..
 GENERAL POINTS...

In order to answer these questions, or

deal with errors made by L2 learners,
three approaches will be discussed here:
1. Contrastive Analysis CA.
2. Error Analysis EA.
3. Interlanguage IL.
 Contrastive Analysis
Why CA?
CA is a term introduced by the
behaviourists in order to explain
how L1 habits interfere with or
affect the L2 learning process.
 Contrastive Analysis

The goal of CA was to

“identify and catalogue the
structural similarities and
differences between
languages.”
 Contrastive Analysis
The importance of CA:
Are predicted to aid
Areas of
the acquisition
similarities process

Areas of Are predicted to

impede the
differences
acquisition process
 The rationale of CA

Practical experience of L2 teachers

The theory of transfer

 CA
 L2learners transfer elements or
even skills from their L1 to the L2.
 Those elements in the L1 which
differ from the L2 will create
problems for the learners.
 They will lead him to make errors.
Transfer
Facilitates learning or
has a positive influence
Positive on the command of a
skill or part of the L2
due to similarity
between L1 & L2.
Negative
Mango‫ﻣﻧﻘو‬, Lemon ‫ﻟﯾﻣون‬
Transfer
Impedes learning or has
a negative influence on
Positive the command of a skill
or part of the L2 due to
differences between L1
& L2.
Negative
This Huda.
 Factors of Negative Transfer

Age

Focus

Limited quantity of L2 input

Linguistic distance between L2 and L1

 CA Assumptions
1. The difficulties are mainly due
to the differences between L1
& L2.
 CA Assumptions

2. The greater these differences

are the harder the difficulties
will be.
3. The results of the comparison
are needed to predict the
difficulties and errors which
will occur in learning the L2.
 CA Assumptions

4. The differences found by CA

will be the focus of language
teaching.
CA Hierarchy of difficulty
AL1
It form
exists
has in anL2
two
in L1but
forms is the
not
or same
more,
in L1:
L2or roughly
(Arabic
has one:
L1
the has
English
sameone form
nouns L2 has
havenegators,
as many
a forms
form natural
in L2:two or
gendermore:
Split (Arabic
doesn’t
(Arabic
Arabic
(past
English
has
have
has
nouns
simple
but English
one
have
in
has has
/b/
mainly
of indefiniteness
English
‘a’grammatical
English
&one and
‫ ﻟم‬،‫ﻟن‬/p/،‫&ﻣﺎ‬،‫ﻻ‬/b/)
has
’) gender
‘notArabic)
‘an’)

New Category
Absent Category
Coalesced forms
Complete correspondence
 CA Technique
• Note…
Before any CA study takes
place, accurate and clear
descriptions of L1 & L2 are
needed.
 CA Technique
1. Select a task or tasks to be
compared.
Note that one cannot select
prepositions in English and
compare them with articles in
Arabic.
 CA Technique

2. The selected tasks should be

compatible from the theoretical
point of view. That is, they
should have similar deep
structure even if they are
different on the surface
structure.
 CA Technique

3. The selected tasks should be

described in the same way, i.e.
using the same model of
description (traditional,
structural, generative)
 CA Technique

4. Find out points of similarity

and contrasts or differences.
 CA Technique

5. Build your hypotheses on the

similarity and contrasts points
(similarity will lead to possible
positive transfer while contrast
will lead to negative transfer).
 CA Technique

6. Check these hypotheses or

predictions against data from
L2 learner’s performance by
using oral or written tests.
 CA Technique

7. Analyze the data and accept or

reject your hypotheses or
predictions.
 CA Technique

8. Build your teaching materials

on the obtained results
That is more emphasis is given to
the predicted areas of negative
transfer, i.e. areas of contrasts.
 CA Technique: An example

Yes/No questions in English

& Arabic:
1. Arabic Yes/No questions description.
2. English Yes/No questions
description.
3. Carry out the contrast.
Arabic Yes/No questions:
Make this sentence a Y/N question:

.‫ ھدى طﺎﻟﺑﺔ ﻣﺟدة‬-

‫ أ ھدى طﺎﻟﺑﺔ ﻣﺟدة؟‬- ‫ ھل ھدى طﺎﻟﺑﺔ ﻣﺟدة؟‬-

Where we have only inserted a question
word ( ‫ھل‬/‫ ) أ‬without altering/changing
the sentence.
English Yes/No questions:

Make this sentence a Y/N question:

- They are good boys.
- Are they good boys?
We have only moved the verb are to the
front to make the sentence a question.
English Yes/No questions:

• She came late.

• Did she come late?
1. We have inserted the verb do (FV) to the
front to make the sentence a question.
2. We have chosen the appropriate form of
the verb do
3. We have also brought back the MV to
the infinitive form.
 Contrast of Yes/No questions in English & Arabic
Contrast (Similarities & Differences)

Differences
1. In Arabic we insert a question word and no
change in word-order of the sentence.
2. In English we only move the FV are to the
front.
Hypotheses
- We predict that our students won't move the
FV: They are good boys? (rise intonation )
 Contrast of Yes/No questions in English & Arabic
Contrast (Similarities & Differences)
Differences
1. In Arabic we do not have similar FV like do.
2. In English we insert the FV do at the front and
choose the appropriate form of do.
3. We also in English bring back the MV to the
infinitive form.
Hypotheses
- We predict that our students will commit errors in all
these types of differences (in 1-3).
 CA and L2 Teaching
1. The most effective materials to be
learned by L2 learners are those
that are based upon a CA between
a learner’s L1 and L2. More
emphasis is given to the areas of
contrast.
 CA and L2 Teaching

2. CA is used as a criterion for

selecting testing items.
3. CA is used to help in choosing
teaching material (to prevent L1
transfer and remedying errors).
 CA and L2 Teaching

4. CA could be very helpful in

drawing up curriculums.
5. CA is very useful in
homogeneous classroom more
than in heterogeneous
classroom.
 CA Critics

1. CA is based on the notion of

‘habit-formation’.
2. The researcher’s knowledge of
languages to be contrasted
cannot be fully trusted.
 CA Critics

3. Some of the predictions of

errors, which based on the results
of CA, are not confirmed by the
actual performance of the L2
learners (the over predictions),
such as word-order differences
between Arabic & English.
 CA Critics

4. Under prediction of errors.

Certain errors cannot be
discovered on the basis of CA
(such as goed, comed.)
 CA Critics

5. Contrast between an L1 & L2

alone does not tell much about
how a learner goes about the
learning process of a task.
 CA Defense

1. Almost third of the errors

committed by L2 learners
are referred to transfer theory,
hence, CA is important in
explaining L1 transfer into
L2 learning.
 CA Defense

2. Overprediction

poor analysis avoidance

or prediction strategy
about what is
difficult and
what is not
 CA Defense
avoidance strategy
If a student finds a particular construction
in the L2 difficult to comprehend, he may
avoid producing it.
Examples: Preference for:

(phonological) words easier to pronounce

(morphological) a regular verb to an

irregular
COGNITISTS

This chapter tries to answer the

following questions:
1. How’s child’s language
developed?
2. What strategies the child uses in
the process of understanding
and developing the language?
According to the COGNITISTS,
language is developed
simultaneously with the
child’s intellectual growth.
COGNITISTS

Linguistic structures will

appear and later develop in the
language of the child, only if
there is an already-established
cognitive foundation.
 Child’s Language Development
Number of words per a sentence

Five
Four
Three
Two
One word

Child’s age in month 6 12 18 24 30 36

COGNITISTS

This means that less complex

structure appears (acquired)
in the language of the child
earlier than more complex
structure.
COGNITISTS

e.g. present progressive

(She is writing…) is acquired
before present perfect
(She has written…) or
present perfect progressive
(She has been writing…)
COGNITISTS

The child follows a number of

strategies in order to
understand and develop the
language.
These strategies are called
operating principles:
COGNITISTS

1. AVOID EXCEPTIONS
Children tend to follow rules of the
language without thinking of any
exceptions. This’s called
Generalization Strategy
e.g. children may produce breaked,
mans for broke, men. This proves that
regular rules are acquired before
irregular ones.
COGNITISTS

2. Words inside the sentence should

have clear meaning-relationships
There seems to be a natural
tendency to prefer the first noun
in a sentence as the subject and
the second as the object:
1) Huda drinks tea after dinner
2) Tea is drunk after dinner
This shows why active is easier
than passive.
COGNITISTS

3. Grammatical markers help to make

semantic sense of what the child hears
Children tend to use grammatical markers
in order to understand the patterns they
hear. This accounts for the late acquisition
of –marked adult category:
1) I will appears before I’ll
2) The pen which he used
appears before The pen he used
COGNITISTS

The study of such strategies or

operating principles may lead to
better understanding of what is
easy for the child (which appears
first) or difficult (which appears
later) and why.
FIRST LANGUAGE
ACQUISITION
GENERAL POINTS...

 Language is something specific to

human.

 Human beings are provided with

tools to acquire language from
infancy stage.
GENERAL QUESTIONS

 How can children make use of these tools

in order to comprehend and produce the
language?

 What is that enables a child not only

to learn words, but to put them
together in meaningful sentences?
GENERAL QUESTIONS

 What motivates and pushes children

to go on developing complex
grammatical language even though
their early communication is
successful for most purposes?
 SCHOOLS OF FIRST LANGUAGE
ACQUSITION

Bhaviourists

Innatists

Cognitists

Interactionists
BEHAVIOURISTS

 Language is behaviour acquired

according to the following steps:
– 1) Imitation & Repetition
– 2) Reinforcement:
 a. Positive
 b. Negative

– 3) Habit formation
Behaviorism

Language Acquisition
is simply a behavior
Skinner(1957)

Imitation and Repetition

Reinforcement
Habit Formation
Imitation & Repetition

Children imitate the sounds and

patterns which they hear around
them. They repeat what they hear
when they receive positive
reinforcement for doing so.
Reinforcement

The reinforcement could be

POSITIVE: that’s the child may
receive support or aid from the
people around him (e.g. rewards
or approval or just successful
communication),
Reinforcement

The reinforcement could be

NEGATIVE: that’s the child could be
corrected by the people around him
(e.g. by saying to child “no you
should not say this word or sentence
this way, you should say it that way”).
Habit formation

Encouraged by the environment, the

child continues to imitate and
practice (repeat) these sounds and
patterns until he/she forms ‘habits’
of correct language use, i.e. coincide
with the result models or forms of
the adults- correct use of language.
BEHAVIOURISTS

 Note..
Within this theory, a child’s
MISTAKES or ERRORS are simply
considered as a result of
imperfect learning.
BEHAVIOURISTS

 Criticism
This theory faced 2 critical points
regarding:

1. What children produce

2. What children do not produce
Criticism

 What children produce

Children sometimes say goed and
taked instead of went and took or
they say mouses and sheeps
instead of mice and sheep.
Criticism

 What children do not produce

For example, in the following
dialogue where a child proved
unable to use a pattern, even
though the parent presented the
correct adult model several times:
Criticism

 What children do not produce

CHILD: Nobody don’t like me.

MOTHER: No, say ‘Nobody likes me.’
(Eight repetitions of this dialogue)
CHILD: Oh, Nobody don’t likes me.
The Natural-Order

The idea of the Natural-Order

Learners may follow a

more or less similar order
in the acquisition of formal
grammatical features.
The Natural-Order of Acquisition
The Natural-Order of Acquisition

 When the Natural-Order works?

The natural or standard order

works when the L2 learner is
engaged in natural
communication tasks.
The Natural-Order of Acquisition
 When the Natural-Order works?

When the L2 learner is

engaged in tasks that require
the use of metalinguistic or
grammatical knowledge a
different order will emerge.
 What is Input?

Input is what the learner

hears, reads, sees, or feels
inside and outside the
classroom.
The Input
 The importance of Input

Input is the most important

factor in SLA. It affects the
progress of the learner in
learning the L2.
The Input
 How Input takes place?

If the learner has to make a

progress beyond a given
stage of acquisition, he must
be exposed to the most
comprehensible input (i + 1).
 Learner’s i+
current
competence
i 1
+ new
morpheme or syntactic
feature =

should be
comprehended i + new
element
The Input
 The characteristics of Input

Input, in order to be
comprehensible, should
have the following three
characteristics:
 The characteristics of Input

1. Comprehensive:
Covers the area to be presented
2. Adequate:
Up to the level of the learners
3. Clear/Correct:
In the pronunciation and grammar
 What is the affective filter?
The affective filter is an
imaginary barrier (mental
faculties) which prevents
learners from using input
available in the environment.
 The mental faculties

emotional
motives attitudes
stress
needs

tense anxious bored doesn't like

screen out input No acquisition

 The Filter

up down

The learner The learner is

is stress, self- relaxed and
conscious, or motivated
unmotivated
Creative Construction (CC)
The idea of CC
L2 learner constructs a series of
internal representations of the
L2 system. That is, the learner
makes images of the elements
(sound & structure) of the L2 in his
mind.
Creative Construction (CC)

car

Cartoon River

Cat
Creative Construction
The idea of CC
This will happen when the
learner is exposed to the
L2 in communication
situations.
Creative Construction

The idea of CC
This exposure will activate
the natural processing
strategies (e.g. generalization,
transfer) to internalize (acquire)
the L2 system.
INPUT
L2 exposure

Natural processing strategies

Internal representation of L2

Learner’s actual utterances

OUTPUT
Creative Construction
Note…

INPUT
It is which operates
the internal processing
mechanisms (natural processing
strategies) not learner’s practice
or repetition.
Natural processing strategies

generalization Thinked,mouses

transfer Layla good girl

redundancy He,the boy,came late

simplification The letter sent to Ali

Creative Construction
HOW ACQUISITION TAKES PLACE?

Acquisition takes place

internally as learners hear and
read samples of the language
that they understand.
Creative Construction
 HOW ACQUISITION TAKES PLACE?

The learner’s production is

seen as an outcome of the
learning process rather than
the cause of learning.
Creative Construction
 Evidence of CC
The evidence of CC comes
from the analysis of the
learners’ ERRORS and the
order of sequence which
certain structures are
acquired.
 Creative Construction
Five hypotheses constitute the CC:
1. The Acquisition-Learning.
2. The Monitor.
3. The Natural Order.
4. The Input
5. The Affective Filter
Acquisition-Learning

 It is the type of INPUT which

makes a difference between
acquisition and learning:
Acquisition-Learning

 If the learner lives in a rich

environment where he is
actively involved, INPUT
becomes intake.
This is called Acquisition.
Acquisition-Learning

 But, if INPUT is only available

to him through explicit
teaching of grammatical rules,
then he will process INPUT
differently.
This is called Learning.
 Acquisition

a subconscious process

Learners are not usually aware that

they are acquiring the language, but
are only aware that they are using the
language for communication.
 Learning

a conscious process

Learning is knowing the rules,

having a conscious knowledge
about grammar.
Acquisition-Learning

In performance,

Acquired knowledge serves as

the major source for initiating
both the comprehension and
production of utterances.
Acquisition-Learning

 In performance,

Learnt knowledge is available

for use only by the Monitor!
 The Monitor

 The Monitor is a device that

learners use to edit their
own language performance:
 The Monitor

 This device makes use of the

learnt knowledge (the
grammatical rules) by modifying
utterances generated from
acquired knowledge. This
occurs either before or after
the utterance.
Learned competence
(The Monitor)
The Monitor
 There are three conditions
which have to be met for the
monitor to come into use:
1. The learner has knowledge of
the specific grammatical rule
required;
The Monitor

 Conditions of the Monitor

2. The learner needs sufficient

time to sort out through
various linguistic possibilities;
The Monitor
 Conditions of the Monitor

3. The learner’s attention is

focused on the L2, specifically
on the location and nature of
the grammatical form.
1
COGNITISTS

Cognitive factors
involve the system of
showing how an
individual acquires
something.

2
COGNITISTS

According to the
cognitists SLA is viewed
as the acquisition of a
complex cognitive skill.

3
 COGNITISTS
’ This skill is composed of
various aspects of
performances, e.g.
’ performance A new pattern or
expression;
’ performance B tense;
’ performance C preposition or
conjunction, etc.

4
COGNITISTS
’ These aspects of
performances must be
practiced and integrated
to achieve fluent language
performance.

5
SKILL
Performance A

Performance B
Fluency
Performance C

Performance D

6
COGNITISTS

• This requires the

automatization of
component sub-skill.

7
COGNITISTS

Whole/Total-Skill conversation

sub- + sub-
skill skill
Ask for Negative
permission sentence

8
Automatization
• Through experience and
practice, L2 learners
become able to use some
of their knowledge so
quickly that they are not
even aware of doing it.

9
Automatization
• This automatization use of
the language can be reached
when the learner has already
gone through certain mental
processes.
• On the top is the
restructuring process.

10
COGNITISTS

Restructuring
There is an interaction
between the element the
learner is learning and the
knowledge he has already
acquired.

11
Restructuring
elements the learner is learning

INTERACTIONS

12
COGNITISTS
Restructuring

This may restructure the

system (language) the
learner has.

13
Restructuring

L2 learner’s performance
improves and develops
through constant
reorganizing and
restructuring of information
contained in this system.

14
Restructuring

This allows an L2 learner

to simplify and unify
linguistic information, and
to gain increasing control
of language performance.

15
Do we need really to learn
foreign language?!!

16
SECOND
LANGUAGE
ACQUISITION
GENERAL POINTS...

Second Language (L2) can

be acquired or learnt in
different situations:

2
 L2 can be acquired with L1

simultaneously successively

Age Stage Environment

childhood L1
instruction
adolescence
L2
adulthood natural 3
WHAT IS SLA?
SLA is a complex process
involving many interrelated
determinants:
the learner,
the environment,
the effect of L1, etc.) 4
WHAT IS SLA?

SLA investigates how people

attain proficiency in a language
which is not their mother
tongue.

5
QUESTIONS...

1. How do individuals acquire

an L2?

2. Why do learners vary in

acquiring an L2?

6
QUESTIONS...
3. What are the different
thoughts that have been offered
in order to explain the process of
SLA?

7
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

SLA
Improve the way
1950s-1960s in which an L2
were taught.

The focus shifted

1970 on... from the teacher
to the learner. 8
SCHOOLS OF SECOND LANGUAGE
ACQUSITION (SLA)

Bhaviourists
Cognitists or Psychologists
Creative Constructionists

Sociologists
9
10
BEHAVIOURISTS

Bloomfield and Skinner said

that:
“SLA is a process of imitation
and reinforcement.”

11
BEHAVIOURISTS

That is learners attempt to:

1. copy what they hear,
2. by regular practice they
3. establish a set of
acceptable habits in
the new language.
12
BEHAVIOURISTS

Lado said that SLA is a task

of overcoming the L1
habits (the L1 structures
and elements) and learn
in their place the habits
of the L2.
13
BEHAVIOURISTS

‫أﺣﻤﺪ‬ Ahmed Ahmed

is
‫رﺟﻞ‬ strong
a
strong
‫ﻗﻮي‬ man
man
14
BEHAVIOURISTS

In this case, the learners

compare the elements of the
L1 with those of the L2.
Only those elements of the
L2 which differ from L1 are
considered important for
learning.
WHY? 15
BEHAVIOURISTS

Because L2 learners
move or transfer
elements or even skills
(such as: vocabulary,
structures, tenses, word-order)
from their L1 to the L2.
16
BEHAVIOURISTS

Transfer is a strategy that

L2 learners follow in
order to acquire the L2.

17
BEHAVIOURISTS

Transfer is: any kind of

movement and/or influence
of concepts, knowledge,
skills or linguistic elements
(structures, forms), in either
direction, between the L1
and the L2.
18
BEHAVIOURISTS

Those elements in the L1

which are different from
the L2 will create problems
for the learners.

They will lead them to

make errors.
19
BEHAVIOURISTS

Transfer is divided into

two types:

positive
negative

20
Transfer
Facilitates learning or
has a positive influence
Positive on the command of a
skill or part of the L2
due to similarity
between L1 & L2.
Negative

Mango ‫ﻣﻧﻘﺎ‬, Lemon ‫ﻟﯾﻣون‬ 21

Transfer
Impedes learning or has
Positive a negative influence on
the command of a skill
or part of the L2 due to
differences between L1
Negative & L2.

22
BEHAVIOURISTS

In order to discover transfer

in the language of the L2
learner, the behaviourists
introduced the term
Contrastive Analysis (CA)

23
BEHAVIOURISTS
 The goal of CA was to
“identify and catalogue the
structural similarities and
differences between
languages.”
 Thiswill help show areas of
similarities and differences
among the languages concerned.
24
Criticism

1. Imitation alone cannot

explain how the L2 is
acquired. The acquisition
task is more complex than
just habit formation.
25
2. Transfer alone cannot
explain all types of errors.
Many of the predicted
errors could not be found.
Some of the errors found
are unrelated to the L1:

26
Criticism

L2 learners produced such

errors as goed and taked
instead of went and took or
they produced mices or
mouses and sheeps
instead of mice and sheep.

27
Criticism

3. L2 learners have
intuitions that certain
features of their L1 are
less likely to be
transferable than others:

28
Criticism

Idiomatic expressions cannot

be transferred directly or
translated literally:
‫ ﻓﻮق طﺎﻗﺘﻲ‬cannot be
translated into: ‘*over my
window’

29
Conclusion

All this suggests that the

influence of the learner’s L1
on learning an L2 is not
simply a matter of habits.
It is a much more complex
process.

30
31
 What is
Applied Linguistics?
 Try to think about these
questions before reading on..

• What is the difference

between linguistics and
applied linguistics?

• When was the term first

used?
Try to think about these questions
before reading on..

• What is the relation between

language teaching and applied
linguistics?

• How can applied linguistics help

in solving problems that arise in
the area of language teaching?
 GENERAL POINTS...

• The term Applied Linguistics (AL) is

an Anglo-American coinage.
• It was founded first at the
University of Edinburgh School of
Applied Linguistics in 1956.
• Then at the Center of Applied
Linguistics in Washington D.C. in
1957.
 GENERAL POINTS...

• AL use was propagated by those

who clearly wanted to be known
as scientists and not as humanists.

• AL in the past based itself mainly

on the findings of theoretical
linguistics especially in language
teaching.
 GENERAL POINTS...

By the time AL has been found to

make use of many sciences in
language teaching, like: linguistics,
psychology, sociology, and education.
 GENERAL DEFINITION

• AL is a field , the purpose of

which is to investigate problems
related to language and to put
some practical steps to solve
these problems.
 Definitions of AL

Corder 1974

Crystal 1985

Richards 1985

Streven 1992
 Corder 1974

AL is the utilization of the knowledge

about the nature of language achieved
by linguistic research for the
improvement of the efficiency of some
practical task in which language is a
central component.
 Crystal 1985

AL is a branch of linguistics where the

primary concern is the application of
linguistic theories, methods and
findings to the elucidation of language
problems which have arisen in other
areas of experience.
Richards et al. 1985

AL covers two main points:

1. The study of second and foreign
language learning and teaching.
2. The study of language and
linguistics in relation to practical
problems.
Streven 1992

AL is a multidisciplinary
approach to the solution of
language-related problems.
For further reading:

Please, refer to the course text-book

(A Course in Applied Linguistics
for EFL/ESL Arab Students) p. 13.
In our next lecture,
we’ll talk about
areas of AL.