Session 4: How students learn languages:

Insights from second language acquisition

Nguyen Dinh Thu

November 5th, 2022
How students learn languages: Insights from second language acquisition

Learning and Acquisition

Interlanguage
Errors
Input and Output
SLA and the language syllabus
Lessons for the classroom
 Learning vs. Acquisition

• Learning a second language ≠ SLA

+conscious, instructed language learning
+ subconscious naturalistic language acquisition

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 Behavioursim and Mentalism
Learning as a process of conditioning, of habit formation (B)
Skinner (1957)  Audiolingualism  S – R – Rein
Structural linguistics (Leonard Bloomfield)

Learner imitate model of correct language (S)

Positive reinforcement if correct
Negative reinforcement if incorrect

Learning is not just a response to external stimuli

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 Behaviourist school: Rewards and motivation

• Learners require some reward or ‘reinforcement’ for learning

• Reinforcement should follow the desired behaviour ASAP.
• Learning proceeds step by step rather than happening all at once,
and is strengthened by repeated success.
• We remember what we have experienced frequently and recently.

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 Mentalism
Language acquisition: not habit formation and the environment
but by the mind and thought processes (M)
TG Grammar (Noam Chomsky, 1957, 1965)
- Children do not learn L1 by samples of language from parents or
teachers (environmental input)  cannot explain the complexity
of language.

(?) Children learn L1 effectively because of an innate language

faculty (language acquisition device: LAD)
+ ex: irregular verb  discover and internalize rules exposed to
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What is learner language?

• Second language learner language is also called

“interlanguage” – learners’ developing second language
knowledge (Selinker,1972).

• Interlanguage is a developing system with its interim

structure, rather than an imperfect imitation of the TL.
• it is systematic, predictable but also dynamic, continually
evolving as learners receive more input and revise their
hypotheses about the TL.

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 Interlanguage
• Interlanguage has the following characteristics:
1)some characteristics influenced by the learner’s previous
learned language(s),
2)some characteristics of the L2, and
3)some characteristics which seem to be general and tend to
occur in all or most interlanguage systems.

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 Learner language and errors

• The study of L2 learner language includes

• What types of errors learners make
• How their errors show their TL knowledge and ability to use the TL
• How L2 learners develop their interlanguage
• What factors influence their interlanguage

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 Purpose of studying learner language
The study of leaner language helps teachers to assess teaching
procedures in the light of what they can reasonably expect to
accomplish in the classroom.

It also helps learners to be aware of the steps that they go

through in acquiring L2 features.

It provides a deeper understanding of errors that L2 learners

make. An increase in error may not result from a lack of practice
or transfer from L1; rather, it can be an indication of progress
(e.g., due to overgeneralization).
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 Learner language and errors
Errors are a natural, inevitable and indeed essential part of the
acquisition process

 During the 1960s:

 Most people regarded L2 learners’ speech as an incorrect version of the TL.
 Their errors were believed to be the result mainly of transfer from their L1.
 Contrastive analysis was the basis for identifying differences between the L1 and
the L2 and for predicting areas of potential errors (i.e., based on CAH).

Teaching should practice intensively aspects of the FL affected by

‘interference’ or ‘negative transfer’ (Lado,1964)
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 Mistakes vs. Errors
Human learning : fundamentally a process involving the making
of mistakes.
Mistakes, misjudgements, miscalculations, erroneous assumptions
form an important aspect of learning.

Mistake: refers to a performance error failure to utilize a

known system correctly. Mistakes reflect occasional lapses/ slips
in performance; because in a particular instance, the learner is
unable to perform what s/he knows
Error: is a noticeable deviation from the adult grammar of a NS.
Errors reflect gaps in a learner’s knowledge; they occur because
the learner does not know what is correct (Ellis, 2000)
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• During the 1970s:
• The research goal was to discover what learners really know about the TL. Their
errors reflect their current understanding of the rules and patterns of the TL.
• Error analysis replaced contrastive analysis. It did not set out to predict L2
learners’ errors; rather, it aims to discover and describe different kinds of errors in
an effort to understand how learners process the L2.
• Error analysis is based on the assumption that L2 learner language is a system
in its own right – one which is rule-governed and predictable.

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Error analysis (van Els, 1984)
Identification of errors

Description of errors

Explanation of errors

Evaluation of errors

Prevention/correction of errors
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 To correct or not to correct?
PROS

1. Correction works. - 44% improvement on content expression.

2. Learners want to be corrected.
3. No evidence that correction adversely affects learning
cognitively
4. Careful learners will not self correct. Without teachers
correction, they could be disadvantaged.
5. Teacher has to prompt the learner to alter their hypothesis
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 To correct or not to correct?
CONS

• (Krashen 1982) Correction can raise learners’ levels of anxiety

and that this impedes learning.
• Not all errors should be corrected, and those that are corrected should
usually not be "treated" immediately (Krashen 1987:74–76, 116–119; Doff
1988:186–192; Lewis 1993:164–179; Nunan and Lamb 1996: 68–80; Ur
1996:246–249).
• Errors are normal and unavoidable during the learning process.

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Learner language and errors - Discussion of Error Analysis

Advantage:
It permits a description of some systematic aspects of learner language.
Constraints:
It does not always give us clear insights into what causes learners to do
what they do, because
 It is very often difficult to determine the source of errors.
 Learners sometimes avoid using certain features of language which they perceive difficult.
The avoidance of particular features will be difficult to observe, but it may also be a part
of the learner’s systematic L2 performance.

 Language contrast represents a sound basis for curriculum planning. FL tutors

to be aware of why interference occurs.
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 A natural route of development?

• SLA research has revealed that

• L2 learners, like L1 learners, pass through sequences of development.
• In a given language, many of these developmental sequences are similar
for L1 and L2 learners.
• It is not always the case that L2 features which are heard or read most
frequently are easier to learn (e.g., articles - ‘a’ & ‘the’).
• Even among L2 learners from different L1 backgrounds and different
learning environments, many of these developmental sequences are
similar.

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 Universal Grammar
+ LAD helps children to constantly create new phrases and sentences
they have learnt or even heard before.
+ All languages in the world have several characteristics in common:
the so-called Universal Grammar (UG), which applies to all
languages
+ UG helps children to know in advance what shape a language will
take
!! UG focuses largely on syntax, not on psychological and social
aspects of language learning
 Competence rather than performance

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 Cognitive approaches
Unlike UG-based theorists, SLA researchers are mainly interested
in the learning aspects of the process

 Cognitivist school advocates:

+ learning is active, meaning-making process
+ We learn best by doing
I am told and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.
Knowledge ABOUT something is transformed into knowledge of HOW to
do something
 To learn a language is to learn a skill
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 Input and output

Affective filter

Language
Input ------------
AcquisitionL2 Acquisition
Device

Krashen’s Model (1985)

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 (Adapted from Ellis, 1985)

• Input-Intake-Output
Learner differences implicit

input intake FL knowledge (variable) output

explicit

situational factors

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 SLA and instruction
• Benefits of instruction are not just evident in careful language
use but also in free communication

• Implicit vs. explicit instruction

• FL learning in communicative programme benefits from

explicit grammar teaching and feedback on errors (Spada,
1997)

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SLA and the language syllabus: grammar and
communication
No matter who or where we teach, however, we can
begin to address the problem of differing expectations
by talking to our students on the metacognitive level
about errors, mistakes, and correction. What are their
expectations?
Do theirs differ from ours? Such a discussion can give
them a clearer understanding of our teaching, as well
as a better understanding of the language learning
process.
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Conclusion: lessons for the classroom

Errors are an inevitable and essential part of language learning

and show the stage of development the learner has reached

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