TARONE’S CAPABILITY

CONTINUUM HYPOTHESIS
SLA- FACULTAD DE FILOSOFÍA Y LETRAS, UNT
CAPABILITY CONTINUUM (E. TARONE,
1983)

-DEFINITION

- HOW IT IS RELATED TO VARIABILITY

- FACTORS THAT DETERMINE WHICH STYLE IS ACTIVATED

- WHAT HAPPENS TO NEW ITEMS

CAPABILITY CONTINUUM HYPOTHESIS
(E. TARONE, 1983) DEFINITION

CAPABILITY

CAPACITY + ABILITY

THE CAPACITY OT EXECUTE AND IMPLEMENT OUR LANGUAGE

COMPETENCE IN A REAL COMMUNICATIVE SITUATION

KNOWLEDGE READY TO BE ACCESSED- IT IS NOT FIXED- VARIABLE

IN A CONTINUUM
CAPABILITY CONTINUUM HYPOTHESIS
(E. TARONE, 1983) DEFINITION

CAPABILITY

“that which underlies and guides regular language behaviour of an L2

learner”

“ that which underlies regularities in learner production and

perception, reading and writing, as well as in making judgements on
grammaticality”
CAPABILITY CONTINUUM (E. TARONE,
1983)
CAPABILITY CONTINUUM (E. TARONE,
1983) FACTORS DETERMINING STYLE
ACTIVATION

1) ATTENTION
2) INTERLOCUTORS, SOCIAL CONTEXT, INTERPERSONAL
FACTORS
3) AFFECTIVE FACTORS
4) TYPE OF TASK: SPONTANEOUS- PLANNED DISCOURSE
5) DEMANDS AND PRESSURES OF THE TASK
CAPABILITY CONTINUUM (E. TARONE,
1983) VERNACULAR STYLE

1) MOST STABLE AND SYSTEMATIC

2) HIGHER LEVEL OF INTERNAL CONSISTENCY
3) UNMONITORED CAPABILITY
4) PRIMARY BASIC STYLE
CAPABILITY CONTINUUM (E. TARONE,
1983) LEVEL OF COMPLEXITY OF A TASK

1) PERCEPTION GAP

THE GAP THE LEARNER PERCEIVES BETWEEN THE

TYPE OF TASK AND USE OF LANGUAGE THAT IS
REQUESTED
CAPABILITY CONTINUUM (E. TARONE,
1983) NEW ITEMS

THEY ENTER THROUGH ANY STYLE ACTIVATED

AND EXPAND THROUGHOUT THE CONTINUUM TO
OTHER STYLES