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Module 2
Module 2
Prepared By: Dr. Emma Alicia Garza Assistant Professor Texas A&M University-Kingsville
Learner Strategies
Learner strategies are defined as deliberate behaviors or actions that learners use to make language learning more successful, self-directed and enjoyable.
Cognitive strategies relate new concepts to prior knowledge. Metacognitive strategies are those which help with organizing a personal timetable to facilitate an effective study of the L2. Social strategies include looking for opportunities to converse with native speakers.
Strategies
repetition (imitating a word or structure); memorization (recalling songs, rhymes or sequences by rote); formulaic expressions (words or phrases that function as units i.e. greetings); verbal attention getters (language that initiates interaction); answering in unison (responding with others); talking to self (engaging in internal monologue); elaboration (information beyond what is necessary); anticipatory answers (completing anothers phrase or statement); monitoring (self-correcting errors); appeal for assistance (asking someone for help); request for clarification (asking the speaker to explain or repeat); and role-playing (interacting with another by taking on roles).
Theory
Theory
Behaviorist Theory dominated both psychology and linguistics in the 1950s. This theory suggests that external stimuli (extrinsic) can elicit an internal response which in turn can elicit an internal stimuli (intrinsic) that lead to external responses.
The learning process has been described by S-R-R theorists as a process forming stimulus-response-reward chains. These chains come about because of the nature of the environment and the nature of the learner. The environment provides the stimuli and the learner provides the responses. Comprehension or production of certain aspects of language and the environment provide the reward. The environment plays a major role in the exercise of the learners abilities since it provides the stimuli that can shape responses selectively rewarding some responses and not others.
Theory
When the learner learns a language, this learning includes a set of stimulusresponse-reward (S-R-R) chains.
Imitation provides the learner with a repertoire of appropriate, productive responses. The learner learns to imitate or approximate the productive responses provided by the environment. The characteristics of human and non-human learners include the ability to: 1. 1. 2. 3. respond to stimuli in a certain way; intuitively evaluate the reward potential of responses; extract the important parameters that made up the stimulus response (positive reward chains); and generalize these parameters to similar situations to form classes of S-R-R chains.
Theory
Nativist Theory views language acquisition as innately determined. Theorists believe that human beings are born with a built-in device of some kind that predisposes them to acquire language.
This predisposition is a systematic perception of language around us, resulting in the construction of an internalized system of language. Nativists are on the opposite end of the theoretical continuum and use more of a rationalist approach in explaining the mystery of language acquisition.
Chomsky (1965) claimed the existence of innate properties of language that explain a childs mastery of his/her native language in a short time despite the highly abstract nature of the rules of language.
This innate knowledge, according to Chomsky, is embodied in a little black box of sorts called a Language Acquisition Device (LAD).
Theory
McNeill (1966) described the LAD as consisting of four innate linguistic properties:
the ability to organize linguistic events into various classes that can be refined later; knowledge that only a certain kind of linguistic system is possible and that other kinds are not; and the ability to engage in constant evaluation of the developing linguistic system in order to construct the simplest possible system out of the linguistic data that are encountered.
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Nativists have contributed to the discoveries of how the system of child language works. Theorists such as Chomsky, McNeill, and others helped us understand that a childs language, at any given point, is a legitimate system in its own right.
Theory
Cognitivists say that the conditions for learning language are the same conditions that are necessary for any kind of learning. The environment provides the material that the child can work on.
Cognitivists view the role of feedback in the learning process as important for affective reasons, but non-influential in terms of modifying or altering the sequence of development.
Theory
Learning a language involves internal representations that regulate and guide performance. Automatic processing activates certain nodes in memory when appropriate input is present. Activation is a learned response. Memory is a large collection of nodes. Controlled processing is not a learned response. It is a temporary activation of nodes in a sequence. Skills are learned and routinized only after the earlier use of controlled processes have been used. Learner strategies contain both declarative knowledge i.e. knowing the what of the language-internalized rules and memorized chunks of language, and procedural knowledge i.e. know the how of the language system to employ strategies.
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Theory
the importance of a childs interactions with parents and other caregivers; the importance of motherese; contributions of context and world knowledge; and the importance of goals
Glew (1998) claims that learners have to be pushed in their negotiation of meaning to produce comprehensible output. The classroom context needs to provide adequate opportunities for target language use to allow learners to develop competence in the target language.
Theory
Human language emerged from the social role that language plays in human interaction; The environment plays a key role in language development;
Adults in the childs linguistic environment are viewed as instrumental in language acquisition.
Social interactions are the key element in language processing and input from social interactions provides a model for negotiation opportunities.
The Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis claims that we have two independent ways of developing language ability:
Language Acquisition is a subconscious process. It occurs very naturally in a nonthreatening environment. The research strongly supports the view that both children and adults can subconsciously acquire languages. Language Learning is what occurs at school in an academic setting. It is a conscious process. When we talk about rules and grammar of language, we are usually talking about learning.
The Natural Order Hypothesis claims that we acquire parts of a language in a predictable order. Some grammatical items tend to come earlier in the acquisition than others. For example, the ing progressive is acquired fairly early in first language acquisition, while third person singular s is acquired later.
developing survival vocabulary; following demonstrated directions; playing simple games; engaging in face-to-face interactions; and participating in art, music and physical education activities.
participating in hands-on science and mathematics activities; making maps, models, charts, and graphs; solving math computational problems; making brief oral presentations; understanding academic presentations through the use of visuals, demonstrations, active participation, realia, etc.; and writing academic reports with the aid of outlines, structures, etc.
engaging in telephone conversations; reading for personal purposes; and writing for personal purposes: notes, lists, sketches, etc.
understanding academic presentations without visuals or demonstrations (lectures); making formal oral presentations; solving math word problems without illustrations; writing compositions, essays, and research reports in content areas; reading for information in content areas; and taking standardized achievement tests.
Grammatical competence means understanding the skills and knowledge necessary to speak and write accurately. Grammatical competence includes:
1) vocabulary 2) word formation 3) meaning 4) sentence formation 5) pronunciation 6) spelling
Sociolinguistic competence involves knowing how to produce and understand the language in different sociolinguistic contexts, taking into consideration such factors as:
1) the status of the participants 2) the purpose of the interaction; and 3) the norms or conventions of the interaction.
Performance consists of the use of this grammar in the comprehension and production of the language.
Communicative competence is that aspect of the language users competence that enables them to convey and interpret messages and to negotiate meanings interpersonally within specific contexts. Language is a form of communication that occurs in social interaction. It is used for a purpose such as persuading, commanding, and establishing social relationships. No longer is the focus on specific knowledge of grammatical form. Instead, the competent speaker is recognized as one who knows when, where, and how to use language appropriately.
Language Learning
Behaviorists views of language learning and of language teaching were predominant in the two decades following the second world war. These views drew on general theories of learning propounded by psychologists such as Watson (1924), Thorndike (1932), and Skinner (1957). Dakin (1973) identifies three general principles of language learning derived from these theories.
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According to the law of exercise, language learning is promoted when the learner makes active and repeated responses to stimuli. The law of effect emphasizes the importance of reinforcing the learners responses and correcting non-target-like ones. The principle of shaping claims that learning will proceed most smoothly and rapidly if complex behaviors are broken down into their component parts and learned bit-by-bit.
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For this reason, behaviorist theories of L2 learning emphasized the idea of difficulty. This is defined as the amount of effort required to learn an L2 pattern.
The degree of difficulty was believed to depend primarily in the extent to which the target language pattern was similar to or different from a native language pattern.
Language
Transfer
The role of native language in second language acquisition has come to be known as language transfer. It has been assumed that in a second language learning situation learners rely extensively on their native language.
According to Lado (1957) individuals tend to transfer forms and meanings, the distribution of the forms and meanings of their native language and culture to the foreign language and culture.
This transfer is productive when the learner attempts to speak the language.
This transfer is receptive when the learner attempts to grasp and understand the language and culture as practiced by native speakers.
Lados work and much of the work of that time (1950s) was based on the need to produce pedagogically relevant materials. A contrastive analysis of the native language and the target language was conducted in order to determine similarities and differences in the languages.
Language
Transfer
The L1 system is used for both comprehension and production. The interlanguage system is also used in comprehending and receiving messages. The L1 system is used in hypothesis construction responsible for interlanguage development. Comprehensible input serves as a major source of information for hypothesis construction. L2 output may be used for hypothesis construction.
Theory
An important distinction not always made in discussions of transfer is between transfer in L2 communication and transfer in L2 learning. Transfer in communication involves the use of the L1 either to receive incoming messages (reception) or to process output (production). Transfer in learning occurs when the learner uses the L1 in an attempt to develop hypotheses about L2 rules. There are several possibilities for transfer: 1) it is primarily a characteristic of communication 2) it is primarily a feature of learning 3) both communication and learning transfer are significant and interrelated aspects of L2 acquisition.
Language
Language Transfer
Transfer
Where the two languages were identical, learning could take place through positive transfer to the native-language pattern.
Where the two languages were different, learning difficulty arose and errors occurred resulting from negative transfer.
Chomsky (1959) set in motion a re-evaluation of many of the behaviorists claims. This re-evaluation included area such as:
the dangers of extrapolating from laboratory studies of animal behavior to the language behavior of humans were pointed out; 2. the terms stimulus and response were exposed as vacuous where language behavior was concerned; 3. analogy could not account for the language users ability to generate totally novel utterances; and 4. studies of children acquiring their L1 showed that parents rarely corrected their childrens linguistic errors, thus casting doubt on the importance of reinforcement in language learning. All this led to the reconsideration of the role of L1 in L2 learning.
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The interlanguage continuum consists of a series of overlapping grammars. Each share some rules with the previously constructed grammar, but also contains some new or revised rules.
A rule has the status of a hypothesis.
Error Identification
An error can be defined as a deviation from the norms of the target language although questions are raised as to which variety of the target language should serve as the norm. The general practice where classroom learners are concerned is to select the standard written dialect as a norm. The distinction between errors and mistakes is a concern in this type of research. Errors take place when the deviation arises as a result of lack of knowledge. Mistakes occur when learners fail to perform their competence. Overt errors are deviations in form i.e. I runned all the way. Covert errors occur in utterances that are superficially well-formed but which do not mean what the learner intended them to mean i.e. It was stopped. What does it refer to? Should the analysis of errors examine only deviations in correctness or also deviations in appropriateness? Correctness errors involve rules of language use i.e. learner invites a stranger by saying I want you to come to the cinema with me. The code was used correctly it was not used appropriately. There are three types of interpretation of errors: 1) normal- can assign a meaning to an utterance based on the rules of the target language; 2) authoritative-involves asking the learner to say what the utterance means in order to make an authoritative reconstruction; and 3) plausible-can be obtained by referring to the context in which the utterance was produced or by translating the sentence literally into the learners L1.
Learner Errors
Error Analysis is used for examining errors as a way of investigating learning processes. Much of the early work on learner errors focused on the extent to which L2 acquisition was the result of L1 transfer or creative construction (construction of unique rules similar to those which children form in the course of acquiring the native language). The presence of errors that mirrored L1 structures was taken as evidence of transfer (interlingual), while those errors similar to those observed in L1 acquisition were indicative of creative construction (intralingual). The study of learner errors showed that although many errors were caused by transferring L1 habits, many more were not. It was found that learners went through stages of acquisition and the nature of errors varied according to their level of development. Error analysis could not show when learners resorted to avoidance and it ignored what learners could do correctly.
Error Analysis
Error
Analysis
The conceptualization and significance of errors took on a different role with the publication of an article by Pit Corder (1967) entitled The Significance of Learner Errors. Errors are not just to be seen as something to be eradicated, but rather can be important in and of themselves. Errors provide evidence of a system (learners attempt to figure out some system). This evidence can provide information on the state of a learners knowledge of the L2. They are not to be viewed solely as a product of imperfect learning. The distinction of error and mistake is also important in EA. Mistakes are slips of the tongue. The speaker who makes a mistake is able to recognize it as a mistake and correct it if necessary.
Error
Analysis
An error is systematic. It is likely to occur repeatedly and is not recognized by the learner as an error. The learner has incorporated a particular erroneous from the perspective of the target language into his/her own system. The learner has created a systematic entity called an interlanguage. Errors are only errors with reference to some external norm such as the target language. For example, if a learner produces No speak. or No understand. and if we assume that these are consistent deviations and form a part of a learners system, then it is only possible to think of them as errors with regard to English, but not with regard to the learners system. Error analysis is a type of linguistic analysis that focuses on the errors learners make. The comparison made in EA is between the errors a learner makes producing the target language and the target language form itself. Research in EA was carried out within the context of the classroom. The goal was pedagogical remediation.
Language Acquisition for School: The Prism Model Thomas & Collier, 1997
Social
and Cultural Processes L1 + L2 Cognitive Development
Cognitive Development
The cognitive dimension is a natural subconscious process that occurs developmentally from birth to the end of schooling and beyond. An infant initially builds thought processes through interacting with loved ones in the language of the home. This is an important stepping-stone to build on as cognitive development continues.
It is important that cognitive development continue through a childs first language at least through the elementary years.
Extensive research has demonstrated that children who reach the threshold in L1 by around age 11 to 12 enjoy cognitive advantages over monolinguals.
Academic Development
Academic development includes all school work in language arts, math, the sciences, and social studies for each grade level, K-12. With each succeeding grade, academic work dramatically expands the vocabulary, sociolinguistic, and discourse dimensions of language to higher cognitive levels. Academic knowledge and conceptual development transfer from first language to second language. It is most efficient to develop academic work through the students first language, while teaching second language during other periods of the school day through meaningful academic content. In earlier decades, schools in the United States emphasized teaching second language as the first step and postponing the teaching of academics. Research has shown that postponing or interrupting academic development is likely to promote academic failure.
Language Development
Linguistic processes consist of the subconscious aspects of language development, an innate ability all humans possess for acquisition of oral language, as well as the metalinguistic, conscious, formal teaching of language in the school and acquisition of the written system of language. This includes the acquisition of the oral and written systems of the students first and second languages across all language domains, such as phonology, vocabulary, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics and discourse. To assure cognitive and academic success in a second language, a students first language system, oral and written, must be developed to a high cognitive level at least through the elementary school years.
Sociocultural Processes
At the heart of the figure is the individual student going through the process of acquiring a second language at school. Central to that students acquisition of language are all of the surrounding social and cultural processes occurring through everyday life within the students past, present, and future, in all contexts-home, school, community, and the broader society. Sociocultural processes may include individual student variables such as self-esteem, anxiety, or other affective factors. At school the instructional environment in a classroom or administrative program structures may create social and psychological distance between groups. Community or regional social patterns such as prejudice and discrimination expressed towards groups or individuals in personal and professional contexts can influence students achievement in school, as well as societal patterns such as the subordinate status of a minority group or accuturation vs. assimilation forces. These factors can strongly influence the students response to a new language, affecting the process positively only when the student is in a socioculturally supportive environment.
expectations of success; the confidence to take risks and make mistakes; a willingness to share and engage; the confidence to ask for help; and an acceptance of the need to readjust.
respect for and interest in the learners language, culture, thought and intentions; the ability to recognize growth points, strengths and potential; the appreciation that mistakes are necessary to learning; the confidence to maintain breadth, richness and variety, and to match these to the learners interests and direction; to stimulate and challenge; and a sensitive awareness of when to intervene and when to leave alone.
Bibliography
Cummins, J. (1979a). Cognitive/academic language proficiency, linguistic interdependence, the optimal age question and some other matters. Working Papers in Bilingualism. No. 19 (pp. 197-205). Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Ellis, R. (2003). The study of second language acquisition (10th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gass, S.,& Selinker, L. (2001). Second language acquisition (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Krashen, S. D. (1981). Second language acquisition and second language learning. Oxford: Pergamon press. Thomas, W., & Collier, V. (1997). School effectiveness for language minority students. National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education Resource Collection Series, No. 9.
Graphics and slide design by: JoAnn McDonald and Sheryl Roehl