CHAPTER 4. EXPLAINING SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING

Question 1

What does the following description refer to?

explained learning in terms of imitation, practice, reinforcement (or
feedback on success), and habit formation. Much of the early research within behaviourist theory was done with laboratory animals, but the learning process was hypothesized to be the same for humans.

Answer 1

Behaviourist Perspective

Question 2

What do the following items refer to?

• The acquisition-learning hypothesis He contrasts these two terms.
• The monitor hypothesis
• The natural order hypothesis
• The input hypothesis
• The affective filter hypothesis

Answer 2

Krashen’s “Monitor model”

Question 3

What does the following description refer to?

We ‘acquire’ as we are exposed to samples of the second language we understand in much the same way that children pick up their first language-with no conscious attention to language form.

Answer 3

The acquisition-learning hypothesis - He contrasts these two terms

Question 4

What does the following description refer to?

We ‘learn’ on the other hand through conscious attention to form and rule learning.

Answer 4

The acquisition-learning hypothesisHe contrasts these two terms

Question 4

What does the following description refer to?

The acquired system initiates a speaker’s utterances and is responsible for spontaneous language use.

Answer 4

The monitor hypothesis

Question 5

What does the following description refer to?

or ‘monitor’, making minor changes and polishing what the acquired system has produced. Such monitoring takes place only when the speaker/writer has plenty of time, is concerned about producing correct language, and has learned the relevant rules.

Answer 5

The monitor hypothesis

Question 6

What does the following description refer to?

It was based on the finding that, as in first language acquisition, second language acquisition unfolds in predictable sequences.

Answer 6

The natural order hypothesis

Question 7

What does the following description refer to?

The language features that are easiest to state (and thus to learn) are not necessarily the first to be acquired.

Answer 7

The natural order hypothesis

Question 8

What does the following description refer to?

Acquisition occurs when one is exposed to language that is comprehensible and that contains i + 1.

• The ‘i’ represents the level of language already acquired
• The ‘+1’ is a metaphor for language (words, grammatical forms, aspects of pronunciation) that is just a step beyond that level.

Answer 8

The input hypothesis

Question 9

What does the following description refer to?

The fact that some people who are exposed to large quantities of comprehensible input do not necessarily acquire a language successfully is accounted for by Krashen’s affective filter hypothesis.

• The ‘affective filter’ is a metaphorical barrier that prevents learners from acquiring language even when appropriate input is available.

Answer 9

The affective filter hypothesis

Question 10

What does the following description refer to?

Krashen suggests that we ‘acquire’ language as we are exposed to samples of
language that we understand in much the same way that children pick up their first language—with no conscious attention to language form.

We ‘learn’ on the other hand through conscious attention to form and rule learning

Answer 10

acquisition/learning hypothesis

Question 11

What does the following description refer to?

second language users draw on what they have acquired when they engage in
spontaneous communication. They may use rules and patterns that have been learned as an editor or ‘monitor’, allowing them to make minor changes and polish what the acquired system has produced

Answer 11

monitor hypothesis

Question 12

What does the following description refer to?

It was based on the finding that, as in first language acquisition, second language acquisition unfolds in predictable sequences. The language rules that are easiest to state (and thus to learn) are not necessarily the first to be acquired

Answer 12

natural order hypothesis

Question 13

What does the following description refer to?

acquisition occurs when one is exposed to language that is
comprehensible and contains i + 1. The ‘i’ represents the level of language already acquired, and the ‘+ 1’ is a metaphor for language (words, grammatical forms, aspects of pronunciation) that is just a step beyond that level.

Answer 13

comprehensible input hypothesis

Question 14

What does the following description refer to?

is proposed to account for the fact that some people who are exposed to large
quantities of comprehensible input do not necessarily acquire language successfully. The ‘affective filter’ is a metaphorical barrier that prevents learners from acquiring language even when appropriate input is available. Affect refers to feelings of anxiety or negative attitudes

Answer 14

Affective filter hypothesis

Question 15

What does the following description refer to?

a new perspective known as cognitive psychology began to take hold. It focuses on mental process. This area of psychology is concern with memory, thinking, problem solving, language and decision-making. (

Answer 15

The cognitive perspective

Question 16

What does the following description refer to?

Cognitive psychologists, working in an information-processing model, see SLA as the building up of knowledge that can eventually be called on automatically for speaking and understanding.Norman Segalowitz (2003) and others have suggested that learners have to pay attention at first to any aspect of the language that they are trying to understand or produce.

Answer 16

Information processing

Question 17

What does the following description refer to?

Information that we have and we know we have. (knowledge that)

Answer 17

Declarative knowledge

Question 18

What does the following description refer to?

knowledge that underlines fluent or automatic performance. ( knowledge how)

Answer 18

Procedual knowledge

Question 19

What does the following description refer to?

this approach was proposed by Tomasello, M (2008).

Answer 19

Usage based learning

Question 20

What does the following description refer to?

Usage based learning is an approach to understanding learning that sees learning as the creation of links (connections) between bits of information.

Answer 20

Usage based learning

Question 21

What does the following description refer to?

Unlike innatists, connectionists do not assume that there is a neurological module specifically designed for SLA. All learning is based on the same process

Answer 21

Usage based learning

Question 22

What does the following description refer to?

Unlike skill theorists, connectionists do not assume that new knowledge must first be declarative.

Answer 22

Usage based learning

Question 23

What does the following description refer to?

The frequency with which information is encountered is a strong predictor of how easily it will be learned.

Answer 23

Usage based learning

Question 24

What does the following description refer to?

Neurological connections are made between language and a particular meaning or a situation (e.g. people usually say Hello when they answer the phone) and between elements of language itself (e.g. noticing that say always occurs with / or we / you / they / and that says always occurs with he / she/ it)

Answer 24

Usage based learning

Question 25

What does the following description refer to?

It is closely related to the connectionist perspective.It is also based on the hypothesis that language acquisition occurs without the necessity of alearner’s focused attention or the need for any innate brain module that is specifically for language.It can be described as an explanation for language acquisition that takes into accounts not onlylanguage form but also language meaning and language use.

Answer 25

The competition model

Question 26

What does the following description refer to?

It proposes that one of most effective methods of learning a new language is through personal and direct interaction

Answer 26

The interaction hypothesis

Question 27

What do the following authors argue 
–Evelyn Hatch (1978)
–Michael Long (1983, 1996)
–Teresa Pica (1994)
–Susan Gass (1997)

Answer 27

The interaction hypothesis

Question 28

What does the following description refer to?

learners need is opportunities to interact with other speakers, working together to reach mutual comprehension through negotiation for meaning.

Answer 28

The interaction hypothesis

Question 29

What does the following description refer to?

efforts by the native speaker to ensure that the learner has understood (for example, ‘The bus leaves at 6:30. Do you understand?’).

Answer 29

Comprehension checks

Question 30

What does the following description refer to?

efforts by the learner to get the native speaker to clarify something that has not been understood (for example, ‘Could you repeat please?’). These requests from the learner lead to further modifications by
the native speaker.

Answer 30

Clarification requests

Question 31

What does the following description refer to?

the more proficient speaker repeats his or her sentence either partially or in its
entirety (for example, ‘She got lost on her way home from school. She was walking home from school. She got lost.’)

Answer 31

Self-repetition or paraphrase

Question 32

What does the following description refer to?

It states that we acquire language when we attempt to transmit a message but fail and have to try again

Answer 32

comprehensible output hypothesis

Question 33

What does the following information refer to?

A hypothesis that input does not become intake for language learning unless it is noticed. (Schmidt 1990

Answer 33

The noticing hypothesis

Question 34

What does the following information refer to?

“It claims that learner must attend to and notice linguistic features of the input that they are exposed to if those forms are to become intake for learning.”

Answer 34

The noticing hypothesis

Question 35

What does the following description refer to?

The claim that “noticing” but not “understanding” is required for learning

Answer 35

The noticing hypothesis

Question 36

What does the following description refer to?

“Learners cannot learn the grammatical features of a language unless they notice them.”

Answer 36

The noticing hypothesis

Question 37

What does the following description refer to?

“Noticing is the essential starting point for acquisition.”

Answer 37

The noticing hypothesis:

Question 38

What does the following description refer to?

According to Van Patten, (1996; 200), input directly affects the process of second language acquisition and Output plays the minimum role (accessing the developing system. The capacity of working memory is limited.

Answer 38

Input processing

Question 39

What does the following description refer to?

It was originally developed as a result of studies of the acquisition of German word order and, later, on the basis of research with L2 learners on English (Pienamann, 1989)

Answer 39

Processability theory:

Question 40

What does the following description refer to?

The research showed that the sequence of development for features of syntax and morphology was affected by how easy these were to process.

Answer 40

Processability Theory

Question 41

What does the following description refer to?

It integrates developmental sequences with L1 influence.

Answer 41

Processability Theory

Question 42

What does the following description refer to?

Learners do not simply transfer features from their L1 at early stages of acquisition.

Answer 42

Processability Theory

Question 43

What does the following description refer to?

They have to develop a certain level of processing capacity in the L2 before they can use their knowledge of the features that already exist in their L1.

Answer 43

Processability theory

Question 44

What does the following description refer to?

• Practice should be interactive.
• Practice should be meaningful.
• There should be a focus on task-essential forms.

Answer 44

‘cognitive-interactionist perspective (Lourdes Ortega, 2007)

Question 45

What does the following description refer to?

It views speaking and thinking as tightly interwoven. Speaking (and writing) mediates thinking, which means that people can gain control over their mental processes as a consequence of internalizing what others say to them and what they say to others

Answer 45

Sociocultural Perspective

Question 46

What does the following description refer to?

–It focuses on the social context as central to learning.

Answer 46

Sociocultural Perspective

Question 47

What does the following description refer to?

Stresses the importance of social interaction, communication and instruction in learning.

Answer 47

The sociocultural perspective

Question 48

What does the following description refer to?

The social environment is not just a place where learning happens, it is integral to it.

Answer 48

the sociocultural perspective

Question 49

What does the following description refer to?

–Explains individual differences in learning.

Answer 49

Sociocultural Perspective

Question 50

What does the following description refer to?

–Speaking (and writing) mediates thinking.

Answer 50

sociocultural Perspective

Question 51

What does the following description refer to?

–Differences between Zone Proximal development ZPD i+1

Answer 51

sociocultural perspective

Question 52

What does the following description refer to?

• Language acquisition takes place in the interactions of learner and interlocutor.
• Greater importance is attached to the conversations, with learning occurring through the social interaction.

Answer 52

Vygotsky ́s Sociocultural theory

Question 53

What does the following description refer to?

• Interaction needs to be modified and through negotiation for meaning.
• Emphasis is on the individual cognitive process in the mind of the learner.

Answer 53

Interaction hypothesis