8 - The Role of L1 in L2A Flashcards
This includes Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis, Error Analysis Hypothesis, and Interlanguage Hypothesis
How do children and adults differ in their ability to learn L2?
Children are uniformly successful whereas adults can be all over the map.
- There are very successful adults and very unsuccessful ones, but most people are somewhere in between.
What are the beginning and end states for children?
Start with UG and end with adult grammar
What are the beginning and end states for adults?
Adults start with L1, create an interlanguage grammar, and come out with an L2 that is different from an L1.
How was the Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH) developed?
- With roots in Behaviourism, it developed as a response to pedagogical needs.
- Developed by Lado who said that habits formed in L1 interfere with those needed for L2 (both positively and negatively)
What does CAH do?
- Systematically compares the similarities and differences between L1 and L2
- Starts examining from the base (e.g. phonology) and works its way up (e.g cultural system)
- The goal is to predict difficulties and errors for the most effective teaching plans
What are the claims upon which CAH is based?
- A difference between L1 and L2 will create difficulty, and a similarity will create ease
- The greater the differences between the languages, the harder L2 will be to learn
- The differences are what must be learned
- L2A involves fighting old habits of L1 and forming new ones of L2
How does CAH explain the concept of language transfer?
- L2 learners rely heavily on their L1, and so transfer forms and meanings to L2
- Positive transfer facilitates learning
- Negative transfer impedes learning
What are some critical responses to CAH?
- Many errors that were predicted did not occur
- Many errors that occurred were not predicted
- Some errors in L2 are similar across a variety of L1 backgrounds
- And thus, Error Analysis was born
How did Error Analysis (EA) develop?
- In response to the difficulties with CAH, EA seeks to explain errors that occur rather than predict them.
- Developed by Corder who said that not all errors that occur originate from L1, they merely provide evidence of a system.
- In CAH, the majority of errors could not be traced back to L1
Who first established EA and what were his underlying theories?
- EA was established in 1967 by Pit Corder
- He said that errors were important in and of themselves and that they provide evidence of a system.
- Errors are not a faulty production of L2 but rather contained within an independent system
What is the difference between a mistake and an error?
A mistake happens by accident (such as a slip of the tongue), whereas an error stems from an absence of knowledge.
What is the major criticism of EA?
The actual origin or source of errors is hard to identify and it is difficult to be sure of where they come from.
What is the Interlanguage Hypothesis?
A hypothesis stemming from the EA that says that learner language is of its own grammar system which is independent of either the L1 or resulting state of L2.
Who first established ILH and what were his underlying theories?
- Larry Selinker coined the term in 1972
- He believed that errors originate from neither the L1 or L2, but rather from the learner internally (the UG)
What does it mean to say that interlanguage is developmental, dynamic, and variable?
- Developmental - it evolves over time
- Dynamic - it is constantly changing
- Variable - everyone has their own unique interlanguage
