Chomsky & Krashen 1

THE 03
 Agenda

01 02 03 04
Quiz Review Chomsky Krashen’s Homework
& Hypotheses
Behaviorism
Review
01

Quiz Review
Pp. 15-24
Quiz 1 Review

Each question is worth .2 points for a total of 1 point on this quiz.

5/5 questions correct is 100% on this quiz. 100% on a quiz in your Google Classroom grade is 1/1
4/5 questions correct is 80%, etc.
Behaviorism Summary
● Before the 1960s- Primarily a behaviorist approach to learning.

● “L2 learners were viewed as acquirer’s of new habits, and these habits were learned using the same
constructs as in L1 acquisition: stimulus, response, feedback, and their correlates. The situation
was seen to be more complicated for the L2 learner because while learning new habits, the learner
had to suppress old habits– the habits of the L1.”

● What was known as the “army method” of learning (i.e. focus on constant grammar drilling and
repetition) became widely used in academic environments from the late 1950s. This approach in
education became known as the Audiolingual Method.

● With a behaviorist approach, errors were seen as either failure to learn or intrusive in the learning
process. What is more, the L1 was considered to be the source or all errors.
Group Discussion-
Behaviorism
In your groups, discuss your thoughts on the behaviorist view of errors in language
learning.

[Errors are a failure to learn. They are intrusive in the learning process.]

Is it true that errors in language are a result of a failure to learn?

Do errors disrupt the learning process?
Behaviorism- Errors in Language
Can errors be good?

They can be indications of progress, but of course, always be aware when it comes to language learning
that student laziness/lack of study can also be a factor.
Behaviorism- Errors in Language

p. 20
02

Chomsky
Critic of behaviorism
Behaviorism- Changing Ideas
B.F skinner was one of the leading behaviorists at the time, but in 1959, linguist Noam
Chomsky wrote a famous critical review of Skinner’s book Verbal Behavior.

Chomsky had 2 main issues with the ideas that Skinner (and many others) believed:

1.Language is far more complex than habits learned through repetition. (This led to Chomsky’s
theory of Generative Linguistics)

2.Language cannot be explained with Operant Conditioning

p. 11
Chomsky- Generative Linguistics
During the 1960s Chomsky began to discuss his idea of “Generative Linguistics” more
and more.

He claimed that people should understand language as a mental representation

(competence) and not as a set of patterns observable in verbal behavior (some kind of
performance)

p. 16
Chomsky’s View
Language is more than internal habits. It is a complex mental system.

We can understand context and multiple meanings.

“So we can introspect and determine that the word himself in John knows himself well refers to John and
not somebody else.

But we can also think about the sentence John told Bobby to buy the picture of himself and determine
that himself can only refer to Bobby and not to John.

Then there’s a third sentence, John showed Bobby a picture of himself, and we might say ‘Geez. Himself
can refer to either Bobby or John.’ and Finally we might consider the sentence Himself knows John pretty
well and say, ‘Well, that sentences is just not possible.’”

p.15
What about Korean? How important is context in
Korean?
Language is more than internal habits. It is a complex mental system.

We can understand context and multiple meanings.

저는 예쁜 민지의 동생을 봤어요 .

What could it mean?

아버지가 방에 들어 가세요 .
어버지 가방에 들어 가세요 .

p.15
Chomsky- Generative Tradition (Innateness
Hypothesis)
Learners are not blank slates and are predisposition to learn language.

Universal Grammar (UG) is human specific and innate (i.e. no other animals have UG as
they lack syntax, morphology, etc.)

In other words, language learning according to this theory is a sort of biological trait.

Chomsky claims that within about 4-5 years, a child can attain the grammar o their first language without
aunty formal education.
Chomsky- Universal Grammar
What does Universal Grammar point to?

● Every language has a way to ask a question.

● Every language has a way to make something negative.
● Every language has a way to identify gender.
● Every language has a way to show that something happened in the past or present.
● Every language has something noun-like.
● Every language has something verb-like.
● Etc.

But… examples often come up and UG has to be explained differently in order to make it fit. Also, new research
contradicts UG.
Chomsky- Generative Tradition (Innateness
Hypothesis)
Nicaraguan sign language can be seen as proof of Chomsky’s theory?

Source: http://www.maldura.unipd.it/ddlcs/GeD/Jelena_Runic_G&D_5.pdf
 Nature or Nurture?
Were we born with it or Is it the result of our
environment/teaching?
Nature or Nurture?

crawling
Nature or Nurture?

driving a car
Nature or Nurture?

bouncing
Nature or Nurture?

laughing
Group Discussion- Innateness Hypothesis

In your groups, discuss some things that humans

learn by being taught (nurture) and some things
that humans learn without being taught (nature).
(p.26)

What is your overall opinion on language?

Do you agree with the Innateness Hypothesis?

Chomsky Quotes

“I think 90% of it [teaching] is motivation: what methods you use can affect the motivation. There are ways of teaching
that simply drive away any sensible person’s curiosity and interest, no matter what you’re teaching. In 2012, programs
<teaching to tests> are deadening the mind: They just undermine any likelihood of the children wanting to learn or gain the
capacities to proceed on their own. I think the same is true with language teaching.”

“What’s important for any person, at any level, is cultivating their own abilities to think for themselves. [...] And that can
be encouraged from young child to graduate school. Then, it doesn’t really matter what you learn, because you are capable
of learning what matters to you. [...] There used to be this world-famous physicist who taught freshman classes in physics,
and was famous for when he was asked in class: “What are we going to cover this semester?”. He would say: ‘It doesn’t
matter what we’ll cover, it matters what you discover.’”
03

Krashen
5 Hypotheses for real students
Chomsky to Krashen

Chomsky’s theories are certainly interesting and have been hugely influential, but there’s also a lot of
what he says which is clearly focused on a linguistic point of view rather than one that is involved in
day to day classroom activities.

You may find yourself thinking, “Ok, well, this Innateness Hypothesis is interesting and all, but how
can it help me in my classroom?”
Krashen- 5 Hypotheses
The Comprehensible Input Hypothesis

The Monitor Hypothesis The Natural Order Hypothesis

The Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis The Affective Filter Hypothesis

Krashen- Comprehensible Input
Hypothesis
Language is best acquired when language input (listening or reading)
is one level beyond the student’s current level of competence (i+1).

+1

The student’s The student’s

current current
language level language level

What the student already What input teachers should

understands. provide.
Krashen- Comprehensible Input
Hypothesis
Krashen at KOTESOL in 2011
Krashen- Comprehensible Input
Hypothesis

i+1

known Overload
Group Discussion- Comprehensible Input
With your group, discuss the following sentence. Decide how you could make

this paragraph align more with the Comprehensible Input Hypothesis (i+1).
(p.27)

Looking through the northernmost window of the house,

Goldilocks saw the three bears approaching the rustic
cottage and so, in a great panic, made haste for the
southernmost door and sprinted through the maze of trees in
the forest until she was safe in her own town.

Imagine your students are around 7 year old novice level.

Krashen- 5 Hypotheses
The Comprehensible Input Hypothesis

The Monitor Hypothesis The Natural Order Hypothesis

The Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis The Affective Filter Hypothesis

Krashen- Affective Filter Hypothesis
Language is acquired best in an environment where
anxiety and defensiveness are low.

anger
fear
Other
Books stude
nts

I+1
Learner
boredom
ie
T he mov
hunger

te a ch er s
Group Discussion- Affective Filter
In your group, discuss things that could “raise” or “lower” the
affective filter of a language learner. (p.27)
Raising Affective Filter Lowering Affective Filter
The teacher Other students The teacher Other students

I… I…

The task At home/ outside of school The task At home/ outside of school

Making it harder to learn Making it easier to learn

04

Homework
What you need to prepare for next week
 Homework

Read Quiz Prepare Next Week

pp. 29-36 Complete the reading quiz Choose topics for your solo We will finish up with
Development & before class next week. presentations Krashen’s 3 remaining
Universal Grammar hypotheses

Have a great week!

Assignments
Solo Presentation- 15 Points

You will have 7-10 minutes to present during class in week 5

You can present on the topic of your choice from week 1-4: Behaviorism,
Chomsky, or Krashen. Students will need to create a PPT or other appropriate
visual to support their presentation.

A Sign-up sheet will be posted in the Google Classroom to decide presentation

order and list the titles of your presentations before week 5.