Bilingualism & Language Learning Flashcards
WHat’s the best way to each/learn a second language? 5
- immerse yourself in their culture
- in a small group
- dont teach for an exam
- motivated teacher
- exchange abroad
what does learning a language depend on? 4
- age
- purpose (why the lagnuage is being learned)
- the learner group
- motivation
language is learnt mainly through imitation?
NO
- can explain learning some regular and routine aspects of sepech, but cant explain the majority of language elanring (i.e. complex grammatical structures)
- Most language is built upon PATTERN EXTRACTION from language input + recognising the link between a meaning function and its linguistic representation
parents usually crorect young children when they make grammatical errors?
NO
- postive reinforcement
- don’t want to famage their motivation
- feedback is typically on menaing, not grammatical accruacy of L1 acquistion
highly intelligent people are good language learners
in NATURALISTIC leaning contexts, IQ is not such a major fact becuase the ability to extract patterns is no directly realted to to intelligence
in INSTRUCTED contexts, more-cognitive capacity may be a big advantage, especially in ‘subject-based’ classes
BUT EVEN IN INSTRUCTED CONTEXT IT DEPENDS on the type of class
the earlier a SL is introduced in school programmes, the greater the likelihood of successes in learning
NO
cognitive capacity
- older learns learn faster than younger learners; have a great cognitive capacity
BUT with enough exposure, earlier starters have an advantage
- high (native) level of proficiency = earlier is better
- basic (non-native) level of proficiency = later can be better
most of the mistales that SLL make are due to interference from their first language
L! does cause errors, but usally not the most important factor … it affects
- pronunciation (most affected)
- vocabulary
grammar
discourse (least affected)
it is essential for learners to be able to pronounce all the individual sounds in the second language?
NO
- the overall PROSODY (the pattern of pitch and stress) of a language is more important for comprehension than the accurate pronunciation of individual phonemes
- different dialects pronounce the same phoneme different anyway
one learners know roughly 1000 words and the basic structure of a language, they can easily participate in convesatoin with native speakers
NO
- this will enable some limited communication but only on a limited number of familiar topics
- 2000/3000 word families would be a better minimum goal
- to enable spoken proficiency over a wide number of topics and situations, the vocabulary requirement may be closer to 6000/7000 word families
what doe sit mean to learn a word? 9
meaning pronunciation grammar frequency connotation formality collocations associations spelling
ways of repsonding to an error (4)
- rephrasing erroneous language (RECAST)
- but may not be recognised as feedback by lower-level learners (may be seen as confirmation of meaning)
- explicit correction with correct form supplied
- point out location of error, learner corrects it
linguistics
studying the system of language
whats the strcutre of language, and how does it fit together.
more focused on the language itself
traditional role of linguistics (2)
linguistics has traditonally looked at language proper and tried to divide the stream of sounds we produce when we communicate into systematic categories such as:
- PARTS OF SPEECH (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositoins)
- PARTS OF SENTENCE (subject, predicate, object, etc.)
grammar
the mainobject of linguistics has been to provide DESCRIPTIVE RULES and PATTERNS OF THE LANGUAGE SYSTEM
Syntactic Structure: Noam Chomsky
- language is learn by exposure, imitations and repetition (behavourism)
- chomsky argued that it is a lot to do with the cognitive process as well …. it is in the mind’- for young children, learing words are innate :. different from behaviourism
- formulas that make up language
theory of syntax (generative grammar)
- it sums up the rules that will correctly predict which combinations of words will form grammatical sentences
- it can be seen as an ALGORITHM to predict grammar with a sentence - the DEEP STRCTURE
- language itself is merely the SURFACE STRUCTURE of marginal improtance
dell hymes
- he accepted Chomsky’s theory of linguistic competence, but argued that the ability to communicate requires further systematic language knowledge
:. communicative competence involves not only knowing grammatical rules of language, but also what to say, to whom, in what circumstances, and how to say it
:. GRAMMAR = USELESS WITHOUT THE RULES OF LANGUAGE
language isnt just rulesm we use it for communication … what we’re trying to achieve makes a differnce in what language we use = the social context
we need to know the rules, but we need to be able to recognise the context too
Sociolinguistic competence
hymes drew on sociolinguistics to explore the systematic nature of the ‘surface strcture’ or the ‘performance’ side of language
- where ppl come from makes a differnece
- who we talk to makes a difference
- the way ppl react to eacho othe rin society and how we work with each other effects our language
Yes we need linguistic competence like Chomsky said, but we need to use it approaitly in contexts :. We need sociolinguistic competence
what is sociolinguistic inlfuenced by (3)
- cultural norms and expectations
- contextual factors such as the type of situatoin
- the characteristics of the participants (gender, status, power-relations)
communicative competence
an umbrella term whihc includes every aspect of language knowledge that is needed for SUCCESSFUL COMMUNICATION
it contains rules that describe the accurate and appropriate language use
5 aspects of communicative competnece
linguistic competence sociopragmatic competence pragmalinguistics competence discourse competence strategic competence
linguistic competence
knowledge about the elements of language
this is what most people call grammar and vocabulary
sociopragmatic Competence
knowing how to express messages within the overall social and cultural context of communication = is it necessary to respond to something, and att what level (do we have to apologise, and does it have to be a big or small intelligence) Sociocultural
part of sociolinguistics
pragmalinguistic competence
FORMULAIC LANGUAGE
competence in conveying communicative intent with apparoiate linguistic form
Discourse Competence
: there is certain ways of communicating with someone.
How is communication done in that domain .. ‘genre etc’
.Strategic Competence
communicative first aid devices to be used when something goes wrong in conversation … allows a person to compensate for deficiencies in communication
- Silence in conversation while thinking of a word is a signal to the other person that you are not finished (i.e. time gain fillers)
10 strategic competence strategies
message replacement circumlocution approximation word coinage use of all-purpose words use of fillers and other hesitation devices other-repetition asking for repetition asking for clarification appeal for help
message replacement
substituting the original message with a new one because eof not feeling capable of executing it
circumlocution
describing or exemplifying the target word you cannot remember (i..e the thing you open the bottles with = corkscrew)
approximation
using an alternative term which expresses the meaning of the word you cannot remember as closely as possible
word coinage
creating a non-existing L2 word based on a supposed rule
use of all-purpose words
extending a general, ‘empty’ lexical item to contexts where specific words are lacking (i.e. ‘that think in the corner)
use of fillers and other hesitation devices
using filling words to fill pauses (hmmm, now let me see, well)
other repetition
repeating something the interlocutor said to gain time
asking for repetition
repeating something the interlocutor said to gain time
asking for clarification
requesting explanation of an unfamiliar meaning structure
appeal for help
facial expressions
language is more than
a mere communication code/ cogntive system
- it stands at the centre of human affairs, from the most proasic to the most profound
- the acquistion of language is one of the mostimpressive and fascinating aspects of human development
psychology and language
the mental process/ structure whereby people:
- understand language
- produce language
- remember and store language
- acquire language`
neuroimaging
the introduction of various brain-scanning and neuroimaging procedures – have made it possible to make direct links between:
a) What we say and
b) What we think while we say it
2 main goals of neuroimaging
- Spatial resolution: what parts of the brain are actually involved in working with language
- Temporal resolution: to gain accurate real time records of neural processes
Electrophysiological
= based on the recognition that the neural activity produces smalchanges in voltage, which can be measured
- Good temporal resolution but poor spatial resolution
- The most common method is EEG (electroencephalography)
Haemodynamic
map the changes in blood supply of the neurons – increased neural activity involves a local increase in the cerebral blood flow
- Good spatial resolution but poor temporal resolution
- The most common methods is fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging which focuses on the oxygen content of the brain
avenues for SLL (5)
bilingualism instructed SLA immersion course CLIL MUltilingualism/ l3 learning
Bilingualism
where the acquistion of at least 2 languages happens simultaneously or overlap considerably
bilingualism can either be (4)
SIMULTANEOUS: children who are exposed to 2 or more languages from birth
SEQUENTIAL” ppl who larn additional languages after first language is acquired
BALANCED: l1 and l2 learnt at the same time
UNBALANCED: i.e. freuqnetly visit a family member who speaks anotherlanguage
balanced bilinguals
people who are fully competent in both languages
this is close to impossible = bilinguals never function like two monolinguals
why is balanced bilingualism almost impossible to achieve (3)
- people rarely use 2 languages in the same situation - balanced bilinguals use their languages for DIFFERENT PURPOSES
- they will always have preferences
- in certain areas, one or the other language will always dominate (spoken vs written, personal vs professinal topics
how to bilinguals gain their language skills
LANGUAGE CONTACT
200 countries, 6000 languages = inevitable language contact
- from parents
- from family
- in playground
- at school
costs of bilingualism 3
INTIAL WORRY: delay in cognitive developemnt
VOCABULARY SIZE in each language *due to different exposure)
DELAYSin the discrimination of certain PHONETIC CONTRASTS
benefits of bilingualism 4
CONGITVE ADVANTAGE in certian taks due to the fact bilinguals are required from an early age to deal with 2 languages by SWITCHING & INHIBITING the competition between them
superior CREATIVE thinking and FLEXIBILITY of thought - emerges from being able to see things from two perspectives as a function of being in possession of two linguistic systems
higher levels of cognitve control beyond the age 60 = dleay in the onset of symptons of dementia by 4 years
instructed SLA
opposite to naturalistic SLA
most common form of SLL
important aspects of SLA (2)
the role of educational environment
the conscious manipulation of the learning process by human agents (i.e. teachers,, syllabus designers, teaching material writers)
immersion courses
most naturalistic way
immerging the child in the SL (leading research done in Canada)
students at immersion schools in canada fround to do equally well/ outperform those at non-immersion schools
pros of immersion schools 3.
the nearest we can get to NATURALISTIC LEARNING environments in schools
strong state/ government support
a foundation year offered in advance to give grounding in the second language
disadvantages of immersion school 4
students obtain high levels of fluency but some other areas of language can suffer
has to be funded by the government to maximise success
some more complex grammaatical structures were not learnt
students were also not learning grammatical features not needde for communication
CLIL (content and language integrated learning)
the European immersion model
= content based instruction
= a watered down version of immersion schooling
= no foundation year
= only a small proportion of the school day taught in the target language
= very strong financial support from Brussels
disadvantages of CLIL 3
students can be required to start learning from zero or little language proficiency
too many compromises from immersion schooling
it must fit into existing school structures and timetables
multilingualism/ 3rd language learning
this happens when a billingual person learns a new language
why is L3 differnt from L2 learning? 2
learners prior expereince of an L2
metalinguistic awareness - the ability to reflect on language, focusing on its strcture and functions
? but how long is prior experinence … was it 5 months ago, or 5 years ago?
? exact meaning of ‘experience’
l3 learning advantages 4
- they are expereinced language learners/ users and their expiernce allows them to approach the new language in a more efficient wat
- cognitive advantages in alnguage learning tasks
- ‘linguistic reservoir’ that enables the tansfer of strategies and concepts to learning the new language
- metalinguistic awareness
l3 disadvantges (2)
- transferring negative learning experience
- comapring languages - preference?
L1 VS L2: differntial success
l1 = invariably successful l2 = usually less-than-perfect
L1 VS L2: motivation
l1 = automatic l2 = optional
L1 VS L2: cognitive maturity
l1 = konwledge of L1 and the wprld = parallel
l2 = knowledge of l2 and the world = imbalanced
L1 VS L2: pre-existing l1 knowledge
l1 = zero
l2 = native like
L1 VS L2: language inut
l1 = superior quantity and quality
L1 VS L2: learning mechanism
l1 = primarily implcit, with little feedback on errors
l2 = combination of implicit and explicit, with considerable focus on errors
Young or Old?
in NATURALISTIC LANGUAGE ENVIRONMENTS young learners do better than their older counterparts :. younger is better
in FORMAL SCHOOL LEARNING CONTEXTS: young learners do worse than their teenage counterpoarts
:. starting before the age 11 is unlikely ot have substanial lingistic benefits :. younger is better
:. IT ALL DEPENDS
what is a thoery
a coherent explanation of the way things workd
there are pros and cons to all thoeries
because of the complexity of language, no alnguage theory is comprehensive.
3 main language learning theories
behaviourism
universal grammar
usage-based approaches
classical condiotning
Pavlov’s: the dog and the bell
comes down to stimulus and response
= you can train a response on a stimulus, even if there was no association beforer
behavioursm
LANGUAGE IS A SET OF HABITS WE DEVELOP
all the things that happen in the world are playing on us, and we are being conditioned without knowing
= the way we behave is due to our worldly exposure
the whole world is our stimulus, and we learn through it
works on classical conditioning
what are feelings and actions?
collateral effects of the causes’ that is, merely by products of OPERANT CONDITIONING and the SOCIAL ENIVRONMENT
what is operant condiotning?
deals with reinforcement and punishment:
bad consequences = action unlikely to be repeated
good consequences = action moree liekly to be repeated
skinner’s rat experiment
the rats were condtioned to act in a way because of consequences
learning as a result of conscious teaching
behaviourism: language learning is just like any other language …
- children IMITATE the language they hear around them
- the receive POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT for the correct itterances
- stimulus > response > reinforcement sequence
universal grammar
Noam Chomsky strongly opposed Skinner’s view; and argued that grammar was far too complex to be learned simply by copying other people, especially for young children
the ‘poverty of stimulus’ paradox
- children come to know more about language than they observe from experience = we seem to know more than we could possibly learn
- The universality of acquiring the L1 is indeed remarkable, particularly with children who come from environments which offer merge input
- What fills the input gaps? How can it be that the fundamental grammatical competence of some children is not patchier than others?
generative linguists = followers of universal grammar
what is uniersal grammar
UG is thought to be biologically fitted as part of the human genome
the capacity to learn language is a unique property of the human mind
it is an unnate endowment - the LANGUAGE ACQUISITION DEVICE (LAD) - that is responsible within the brain for language acquistion
what does universal grammar consist of>
it contains the core PRINCIPLE underlying any human language, and the PARAMETERS for any allowable variation that these languages can manifest
these principles and parameters :. help to accomodate both COMMANLITIES & DIFFERENCES among languages in a systematic framework.
problems with UG 6
LACK OF NEUROBIOLOGICAL VALIDITY (difficult to identify any brain regions or cicruits that might constitue UG)
THE INNATISM ISSUE (too easy to say this = no scientific evidence)
SPPED OF LANGUAGE ACQUISTION (its actually quite slow)
THE SELECTIVE NATURE OF UG (focus on grammar only = most of the meaning is learnt through vocabulary, gestures … grammar doesnt allow communication; just because we now how to order words, doesnt mean we could hold a conversation)
NOTHING TO SAY ABOUT SLA (does not explain language acquistion in general)
ALTERNATIVE THEORIES
nativist apprach
= universal grammar
infats bring genetically coded linguistic endowment to the lnaguage acquistion process
non-nativist approach
children are no endowed with language (specific knowledge at birth) … their general learning capacties/ mechanism are sufficient to develop L1 competence
usage based thoery
grammatical structures do not come directly from the human genome, but are the outcome of the automatic implicit mastery of an inventory of LANGUAGE ITEMS/ CONSTRUCTIONS from the language that chldren hear around them
how does usage-based theory work
- Grammatical structures do not come from UG; but are an emergent process
- Language acquisition is based firmly on language experience , the frequency with which words are spoken and used
- Each time a child hears a word/grammatical rule/phrase it is stored in the brain. Child language draws on this to extract patterns and create their language output
- In short; a strong focus on INPUT
what did Affrnas research in 1996 show?
that children are really good at picking out patterns
computing frequency statistic
- The pattern-finding function of the child’s language processor is heavily frequency-biased
- The implicit computation of frequency statistics is like the tuning of the language system through use
- The internal tallying takes place on many multiple dimensions at once
- The only way our brain can keep track of frequencies is by recording in our memory a trace of every occurrence of every item we hear, resulting in an accumulated count.
problems with usage based thoeries 4
- Most applied linguistics would agree that the learners’ language experience matters, which means that this experience is computed shomehow in the brain. The question is how and where?
- Simplistics frequency counts do not do full justice to the system – a more precise specification of the nature of the human language acquisition device is needed
- While it makes good theoretical sense to argue for the existence ofunconcious statistical learning mechanism in mother tongue acquisition, it is less clearhow relevant these mechanisms are for SLA
- Input in SLA is far less and is qualitatively different
need for explicit learning?
SLA involves a prominent explicit component = its not implicit like L1 is
the explicit-implicit dichotomy
explicit has something to do with consciousness
implicit is assocaited with unconscious, automatic or idirect process
explicit learning
treated as a CONCEPTUALLY UNAMBIGUOUS PROCESS
the learners CONSCIOUS & DELIBERATE attempt to master some material or solve a problem
it involves the conscious attention to find REGULARITIES and to identfy RULES & CONCEPTS that are usful to caputre these regularities
learning type is most used in SCHOOL INSTRUCTION, either by:
1) DEDUCTIVE LEARNING
2) INDUCTIVE LEARNING
Deductive learning
presenting the learners with concepts and rules up front
Inductive learning
encouraging them to derive and test hypothesis themselves
Implicit learning
some of the skills and knowledge that make humans competent in dealing with each other and with thier environment are not acqired through explicit learning process but WITHOUT CONSCIOUS AWARENESS
closely link with intuition (when you feel whether soemthing is correct or incorrect but are unable to verbalise why)
young children are better at learning implicitly when compared to adults
older learners can do both explicit and implicit learning, but children can only really learn implicitly
who done an experiment on implicit learning, and what did it show?
arthur Reber 1940
it was soon found that implicit mechanisms operated in a wide variety of domains, ranging:
- from the somewhat simplisitc concept of classical conditioning in behavourism
- to compelling complex areas such as language acquistion
what did baars 1997 say
most knowledge is tacit knowledge; most learning is implicit
characteristics of implicit learning
- BOTTOM UM MECHANISM: picking up patterns that are presented in environmental displays or stimuli
- NO CONSCIOUS LEARNING implicit learning takes places naturally, without any conscious attempt on the part of the individuals to learn the specific target material so much so that they are not even aware that learning is taking place
- AUTOMATIC PROCESS: it follows from the lack of any conscious learning operations that implicit learning is fully automatic
- LACK OF AWARENESS OF THE RESULT: the process leads to results that the individual is unaware of, that is, to ‘implicit knowledge’
learning a second language in school contexts (problem and consequence
PROBLEM: implicit learning, which does a great job in generating native-speaking L1 proficiency, does NOT seem to work efficiently when we want to master an L2 at a later stage in our lives, especially if the learning takes place in a school setting
IN CONSEQUENCE: the ineffectiveness implicit learning mechanisms makes it necessary for SLL to draw on the additional resources of various EXPLICIT LEARNING PROCEDURES
the declarative-procedural dichotomy
DECLARATIVE KNOWLEDGE: ‘knowing what’ … the facts
PROCEDURAL KNOWLEDGE: ‘know how’ … the doing
- Used with regard to knowledge and the memory that stores this knowledge
- For all practical purposes, declarative and procedural knowledge correspond to explicit and implicit knowledge, respectively
skill learning theory
- Skill learning theory is based on the recognition that the learning of a wide variety skill (i.e. driving, playing the piano or speaking an L2)
Shows a remarkable similarity in development
o From the initial encounter with the domain
o To eventual fluent, spontaneous, largely effortless, and highly skilled behaviour
the central premise of skill learning theory is that skill acquisition proceeds through what three characteristic stages?
- Declarative (knowing how)
- Procedural (actually doing)
- Automatic
a gradual move from the laboured, conscious and overtly controlled DECLARATIVE processes of the novice to the smooth, unconscious and covertly controlled PROCEDURAL processes of the expert
declarative stage
- the learning of a specific skill always has a distinct starting point when we perform the skill for the first time
- this early stage typically requires some kind of explicit direction to provide relevant facts and guidelines (= declarative/ explicit knowledge about the skill)
- you need to prepare learners for the task before throwing them in at the deep end though VERBAL (or WRITTEN instruction or explanation
- or by MODELLING the skill through
a) a DEMONSTATION
b) through EXAMPLES
c) by ANALOGY TO AN EXISTING SKILLL
the first trials of the new skill rpesent a assive load to the working memory in terms of remebering the sequence of things to do and what to pay attention to
- the resulting perforamnce is error prone, arduous process that does not usually last longer than a few trials
procedural stage
PROCEDURALISATION = shift from relying on declaritive facts to’procedural knowledge’
- the development of condition-action-rules
- often by SKIPPING or COMPOUNDING stwps that were presented in the first phase
automatic stage
- involves continuous improvement in the performance of a skill that is already well established
- creation and fine tuning of highly specialised procedural rules through extended practice
- The level of automaticity and fluency increase while cognitive involvement decreases, so much so that learns often lose the ability to verbally describe how they do the task
- Reaching this stage, however, requires a large amount of practice
language skill learning
- In accord with the phases of the skill learning process, a systematically designed language teaching sequence will include
o An initial DECLARITVE INPUT STAGE
o And subsequent EXTENDED PROACTICE
- The practice stage can be further divided into:
o Controlled practice (corresponding to the procedural stage of skill learning)
o An additional open-ended practice (corresponding to the automatic stage of skill learning)
The explicit-implicit interface in SLA
Manifestations of implicit knowledge
- Fluent L2 speech is largely atomised
- L2 learners are aware of FREQUENCY EFFECTS of the language input (i.e. they develop a sense of what is common or what is rare)
- They also become competent using FORMULAIC LANGUAGE AND collocations, many (if not most) of which are not learn explicitly (i.e. we say heavy rain, not strong rain)
The cooperation of explicit and implicit learning 5
- Explicit registration of linguistic information facilitates implicit fine-tuning
- Explicit practice creates implicit learning opportunities
- Explicit knowledge channels implicit learning
- Explicit rote learning can provide materials for implicit processing
- Explicit knowledge (i.e. grammar rules/ corrective feedback) fills the gaps of implicit knowledge
Explicit VS Implicit language teaching
In light of the abov3, it is understandable why language teaching methodology has followed FLUCTUATING PATTERN over the past century, alternating between:
a) Emphasis on the explicit teaching of linguistic features such as GRAMMAR and VOCABULARY
b) The promotion of COMMUNICATIVE FLUENCY in a more implicit manner
the iconic language teaching approaches (4)
grammar translation
audiolingual method
communicative language teaching (CLT)
principled communicative apporach
grammar translation
focus is on READING and TRANSLATING L2 TEXTS = no real concern with developing communicative skills
class work is highly STRUCTURED, with the teacher controling the activities
instruction is given in the L1 of the students; the teacher dos not have to be able to speak the L2
emphasis on correctness, not about fluency and complexity = ABOUT ACCURACY AND NO ERROS
this method extends traditional approaches used to teach Latin and Greek
typical grammar translation classroom activities
translating l2 sentences in the L1 practising and memorising grammar rules memorising vocabulary lists finding antonyms/ synonyms fill in the blanks answering questions (often in writing)
why is grammar translation widespread? 5
it is SAFE & EASY TO IMPLEMENT; it uses well-established and highly structured classroom actiivties, and relies heavily relies on TEXTBOOKS
it requires relatively little preperatoin
it can be deilever without fluent use of L2
it can be used with large class sizes
can easily be assessed by discrete-point tests (multiple choice)
from a psycological point of view, grammar translation is interesting because (4)
an almost manifestation of an explicit teaching approach
with hardly any chance of/ ambition for any implicit learning components
emphasis on learning ABOUT the L2, rather than the L2 itself
the overt goal is to generarte agreat deal of explicit METACOGNITIVE KNOWLEDGE y focusing on RULES and REGULARITIES
limitatoins of the Grammar translation approach (4)
learners acquire INSUFFICIENT ORAL SKILLS
method = very mechanical = BORING
students learn the language as a SUBJECT rather than a skill
usually cant use explicit knowledge outside the classroom
the audiolingual method
it draws on BEHAVOURIST PYSCHOLOGY (Skinner); first language teaching method with an explicit scientific base
believed that language learning is the acquistion of correct LANGUAGE HABITS = takes place through repetition and rote learning
developed in the US during WW2; the military needed people with ACTIVE COMMUNICATION SKILLS - popular lang teaching in 1950s/60s
drilling (audiolingual)
students practice patterns until correct ‘habits’ of language use emerge
they get postive reinforcement for correct utterances, and mistakes are punished
students “over learn” a range of STIMULUS-RESPONSE CHAINS, that is, develop atomised responses - PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT PRINCIPLE
dialogue teaching (audiolingual)
new vocabulary + structures are presented through DIALOGUES
these are learned through IMITATION and REPETITION: mimicry and memorisation are seen as a key to habit formation
audiolingual from a psychological perspective
compatible with skill learning theory in its emphasis on its shift from attentional to unconscious processing through automisation
:. emphais in promoting IMPLICIT LEANRING in order to develop productive, communicative language skills
why did audiolingual disappear 4
rather MISGUIDED IMPLEMENTATION of the theoires in audiolingual practice
donminated by MEANINGLESS PATTERN DRILLING
MECHANICAL DIALOGUE TEACHING compared unfavourably with the merging meaningful and creative role-play activties advocated by communicative language teaching
DISCONNECT FROM REAL WORLD MEANING
communicative language teaching (CLT)
focused on COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE
focus on IMPLICIT LEARNING
developed in the 1970s and has been popular since
key features of CLT 3
activites promote real communication –> engage learners in the AUTHENTIC FUNCTIONAL USE OF LANGUAGE
classroom communicative situations should resemble REAL LIFE COMMUNICATION as much as possible
fluency > accuracy
examples of CLT
role plays discussins simulations projects games problem solving tasks
CLT (4)
focus on meaning
information gap = student A knows somehting Student B doesnt
authentic/ authentic like material = exists in the real world, not just for learning purposes (i.e. newspaper) … may be a watered down version tho
uses alot of group work/ pair work, but this does not mean that errors are passed between students = just facilitates language learning
problems with CLT 4
its focused primarily on the LINGUISTIC COURSE CONTENT
language is learnt through DOING = communicative competence develops automatically through thier active participation in seeking SITUATIONAL MEANING = so many situations in the worldwe cant teach them all
CLT does not properly address the psychology pf learning
vaguness in ‘situational meaning’ = diverse varities of CLT around the world
The Principled Communicative Approach (PCA) 7
the personal significance principle
the controlled practice principle
the declarative input principle
the focus on form principle
the formulaic principle
the language exposure principle
the focused interaction principle
PCA - the personal significance principle
should be MEANING FOCUSED and PERSONALLY SIGNIFICANT as a whole
(CLT principle)
PCA - the controlled practice principle
skill learning theory suggests that PCA should also include CONTROLLED PRACTICE ACTIVITIES to promote the automation of L2 skills
(audiolingual principle)
PCA - the declarative input principle
to facilitate automation, PCA should involve EXPLICIT INITIAL INPUT components that are then PROCEDURALISED through practice
(audiolingual principle)
PCA - the focus on form principle
while maintaining an overall meaning orientated approach, PCA should also pay formal attention to the FORM and STRUCTURAL ASPECTS of the L2 that determine accuracy and appropriateness
(grammar translation theory)
PCA- the formulaic principle
PCA should include the teaching of vocabulary and especially ‘formulaic language’ as a featured component
(new psycholinguistic principle)
PCA - the language exposure principle
PCA should offer learners extensive EXPOSURE TO LARGE AMOUNTS OF L2 INPUT that can feed learners implicit learning mechanisms (CLT principle)
in order to make the most of this exposure, learners should be given some EXPLICIT PREPARATION in terms of pre-task activites, tp prime them for maximum intake (Explicit-Implicit interface principle)
PCA - the focused interaction principle
PCA should offer learners ample opportunities to participate in genuine L2 interaction (CLT principle)
for the best effect, such communicative practice should always have a specific FORMAL or FUNCTIONAL FOCUS and should be associated with target phrases to practice (Explicit-implicit interface principle)
individual differences
refers to dimensions of enduring personal characteristics that are assumed to apply to everybody and on whihc people differ by degree = they concern stable and systematic deviations from a normative blueprint
the main ID factors in SLA are (6)
language aptitude motivation learning styles learning straegies age gender
language aptitude
foreign lanugage is NOT A UNITARY FACTOR but rather a complx basic abilites that are essential to faciltate foreign language learning
In reality, language aptitude is usually equated with the scores of a LANGUAGE APTITUDE TEST , that is, language aptitude is what language tests measure
Language aptitude tests measure the learners’ ability to learn foreign languages at ZERO LANGUAGE proficiency. That is, these tests are always in the leaner’s mother tongue
language aptitude testing
originally developed for English speakers, but later also adapted for e=several other languages
3 steps in designing a test
- Based on some external criterion, select a group of people with high levels of the attribute under investigation and a second group with low levels
- Ask them to do a variety of tasks related to the attribute in question
- Choose the tasks that separate the two groups best without the different tasks correlating too highly with each other, as high correlations would indicate that the tasks do not provide unique information but only duplicate the others
modern language aptitude test (5)
NUMBER LEARNING: : students hear some numbers in a new language and are provided with some practice exercises to learn them. Then they must translate 15 number into English
PHONETIC SCRIPT: first students hear a set of short nonsense words while they follow their printed phonetic script (i.e. tik, tiyk, tis, tiz …). Then they hear one word at a time ad must choose from four printed phonetic alternatives
SPELLING CLUES: A modification of a vocabulary test, in which they key word is spelt approximately phonetically. Students are tested by having to choose the synonym of the jey word from five alternatives
(i.e. LUV [=love] … a) carry b) exist c) affection d) wash e) spy)
WORDS IN SENTENCES: first there is a key sentence in which a word is underlined. Then comes another sentence, in which 5 alternative words are underlined, and students must select the one which performs the same function as the underlined word in the key sentence
PAIRED ASSOCIATES: students have 4 minutes to memorise 24 Kurdish/English word pairs, then they must choose the proper equivalent for each Kurdish word from five English alternatives
john carroll’s language aptitude construct: 4
- PHONETIC CODING ABILITY: ability to identify, assimilate and memorise new sounds
- GRAMMATICAL SENSITIVITY: ability to recognise the grammatical function of words in sentences
- ROTE LEARNING ABILITY: ability to remember large amounts of foreign language materials
- INDUCTIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING ABILITY: ability to identify rules and patterns in the foreign language with a minimum of supervision or guidance
overall, language aptitude …
- Language aptitude does NOT predict whether an individual can learn a foreign language or not. Rather, it predicts the RATE OF PROGRESS the learner is likely to make under optimal conditions
- Recent research on language aptitude has focused on specific cognitive abilities and processes, particularly on WORKING MOEMORY, which involves the temporary storage and manipulation of information that is assumed to be necessary for a wide range of complex cognitive activities such as language processing.
motivation theories …
attempt to explain nothing less than why humans behave and think as they do.
= v. elusive concepts in the social sciences
motivation concerns the DIRECTION and MAGNITUDE of human behaviour, that is:
- The CHOICE of a particular action (i.e. why people decide to do something);
- The PERSISTENCE with it (i.e. how long they are willing to sustain the activity);
- The EFFORT expended on it (i.e. how hard they are going to pursue it)
language learning motviation
- Motivation research was inspired and spearheaded by social psychologist Robert Gardener in Canada
- Facing an ethnolinguistically split society, his main interest in motivation was the fact that the motivation to learn the other community’s language might be the key to the reconciliation of the Francophone and Anglophone communities
gardener’s theory: 2
- KEY ELEMENT: LANGUAGE ATTITUDES, referring to the language learners’ perceptions of the L2, the L2 speakers, as well as the sociocultural and pragmatic values. Benefits associated with the L2
- MAIN TENET: Success in language learning depends on the leaner’s attitudes towards the linguistic cultural community of the target language (i.e. L2 community)
most important motivation dimension:
- AN INTERPERSONAL/ AFFECTION DIMENSION: language learning is motivated by the positive attitudes towards members of the other language community and by the desire to communicate with them, and sometimes even to become like them = INTEGRATIVE MOTIVATION
secondary dimension
- A PRACTICAL/ UTILITARIAN DIMENSION concerning the concrete benefits that language proficiency might bring about (i.e. career opportunities, increased salary = INSTURMENTAL MOTIVATOIN
educational shift
- The 1990’s brought about a general dissatisfaction with the scope of Gardner’s theory
- While no one questioned the significance of the Canadian social psychological approach, the general message coming from the carious parts of the world was that THERE IS MORE TO MOTIVATION
results of the educational shift
- L2 motivation research became increasingly EDUCATION FRIENDLY, centred around motives associated with classroom learning
- It also adopted a SITUATED APPROACH, focusing on the main components of the learning situation (such as the teacher, the curriculum and the learner group)
- For this reason, this transformation is often referred to as the EDUCATIONAL SHIFT
Researchers therefore started to examine the motivational impact of the various aspects of the learning context, for example: (4)
- Course-specific motivational components
- Teacher-specific motivational components
- Group-specific motivational components
- Task-specific motivational components
parallel objective
to catch up with advances in motivational psychology by importing some of the most influential non-L2-specific motivational concepts of the 1980s
These concepts were almost entirely cognitive in nature, which reflected the effect of the ongoing cognitive revolution in psychology.
l2 Motivation self system
attempts to integrate a number of influential L2 thoeries with findings of SELF-RESEARCH in psychology
key component is the IDEAL L2 SELF
- The ideal self is the vision-like representation of all the attributes that a person would like to possess (i.e. hopes, aspirations, desires)
- If one’s ideal self is associated with mastery of an L2, that is, if the person that we would like to become is proficient in the L2, he/she is motivated to reduce the discrepancy between the actual and the ideal L2 selves
Ideal L2 self
the L2-specific facet of one’s ‘ideal self’ – if the person we would like to become speaks an L2, the ‘ideal L2 self’ is a powerful motivator to learn the L2 because we would like to reduce the discrepancy between our actual and ideal selves
ought to L2 self
the attributes that one believes one ought to possess to avoid possible negative outcomes (i.e. duties, obligations), and which therefore may bear little resemblance to the person’s own desires or wishes
L2 learning experience
which concerns executive motives related to the immediate learning environment and experience (i.e. the positive impact of success or the enjoyable quality of a language course)
Thus, the L2 Motivational Self System suggests that there are three primary sources of the motivation to learn a foreign/ second language:
a) The learner’s INTERNAL DESIRE to become an effective L2 user
b) SOCIAL PRESSURES coming from the leaner’s environment to master the L2
c) The ACTUAL EXPERIENCE of being engaged in the L2 learning process
