Chapter 9 - Additional Language Acquisition Flashcards
balanced bilingualism
child grows up with exposure to roughly equal amounts of several languages
Rare, usually one language (one parent) is exposed more/society support one over the other
second language
when the additional language is the official language of the country
foreign language
language which is not one’s native one and is not one of the official languages of the state
heritage language
not an official language but the learner has an emotional connection with the language that was spoken by their ancestors
ESL, TESL
(teaching) english as a second language
ESOL, TESOL
(teaching) English to speakers of other languages (not necessarily second)
EFL, TEFL
(teaching) English as a foreign language
EAL, TEAL
(teaching) English as an additional language
FSL
french as a second language
L1
native language
L2
second or foreign language
L3
third or additional language
what’s problematic about L1, L2, L3
suggests chronological order
Learning language is split into…
Acquisition —> natural and subconscious
Learning —> conscious effort, conducted in a controlled and structured artificial environment
Language teaching pedagogy or methodology
investigates the best ways of teaching languages
Language acquisition research
concentrates on the psychological and social aspects of language learning
Applied Linguistics
applications of linguistic theory to other areas of human knowledge and functioning; native/additional language acquisition/teaching/learning is core component, together with studies of bilingualism
Differences between additional and native language acquisition
- L2 learners are more advanced in cognitive dev, can apply processes in L1 to L2
- L2 learners have advantage of using written language to support their language acquisition
- L2 learners have sources like Internet, friends, and outside community
- Younger children and teens have advantages in memory capacity, learn faster
- Younger brains have plasticity and adaptability
- Additional languages are stored in different places in older brains
- Fewer areas of the brain get activated for older brains, particularly in listening
What element of language acquisition is particularly influenced by the concept of critical period?
-pronounciation
L1 interference
a perception that L1 causes disruptions or inconveniences for L2 acquisition
Examples of negative interference —> foreign vowels are replaced by native vowels, gendered language doesn’t always match
Examples of positive interference —> Proficient L1 writers tend to be better in L2 writing too, concept of person and number present in most Indo-European languages are transferable
Interlanguage
account for a system of language representations in L2 learner’s mind
Errors in L2 production…
… up until the twentieth century, seen to be “evil” that needs to be eliminated, now considered important source of information about the L2 acquisition process
Transfer errors
features transferred from L1 that do not apply to L2
Developmental errors
errors resulting from insufficient knowledge of L2 and learner’s applications of over generalizations and analogies to L2 forms (Rouge chaperon “red hood” instead of the proper Chaperon rouge “hood red”)
fossilization
errors that persist for a while and resist correction
Should errors be corrected?
People do not notice their own errors and they may be fossilized unless corrected
-Issue of timing, social pressure to be perfect, error correction may embarrass learner
In addition to “structural” items of a language, learners are expected to develop…
inference, cultural awareness, strategic competence, textual competence
cultural awareness
knowledge of the target culture and the rules of spoken or written discourse construction
strategic competence
ability to construct and manage a dialogue in the target language and achieve particular goals, the ability to infer meanings from context and guess the true intent (aka illocution)
textual competence
an ability to construct a coherent sequence of sentences and phrases/utterances in one whole unit
When has additional language proficiency been achieved?
individualized, no universal or ultimate goal
Age + L2 Performance
RLA - reduced lexical access, or word retrieval failures
TOT - tip of the tongue phenomenon
Memroy decline - causes RLA, TOT, use of less complicated grammatical forms and syntactic structures
-Decline in ability to form new associations between concepts
-Decline in word categorization techniques
-Decline in attention span
-Decrease in language processing skills, poor recognition performance at faster speech rates and limited time or text presentation
-Loss of hearing and vision
-Creaky voice quality, drop in pitch height
Motivation/Emotions and L2 Acquisition
Motivation divided into instrumental (immediate practical goals such as immigration, communicating with a foreign lover, getting a job, etc) and integrative (less specific and does not yield immediate practical results but can give gratification of expanding one’s worldview, learning about different cultures, developing personality, etc)
Specific Features of Classroom Language Interactions
modified input, modified interaction, form vs meaning
modified input
“Teacher Talk” and textbooks; when teachers talk slowly the students can comprehend better, on the negative side they do not develop the ability to process language spoken at a normal speed
modified interaction
“Classroom Language”; learning words and phrases that are remote from actual life situations
form vs meaning
in real life, people do not correct meaning if utterance is grammatically incorrect, while in the classroom, there is rarely focus on meaning (paraphrase, translate, fill in the slots with forms of the verb, etc)
The only expatiation for teachers that was held as important in British, Japanese, and Russian learners was “Friendly”
British: encouraging, enthusiastic, helpful, patent, sympathetic, positive, relaxed
Japanese: deal with students fairly, approachable, kind, gentle
Russian: respectful, good willing, not familiarize with students, strict, not condescending, relaxed, free casual attitude
Bottom up reading
highly traditional, follows grammar translation, not changed for 600 years. Recognition of letters > words > phrasal meaning> textual meaning
top down reading
reader gets pre-concept of what the text may mean and this helps the reader identify sentences and words in them. Textual meaning > phrasal meaning > words
interactive
treats reading like a psycholinguistic guessing game, where identification of some words leads to guessing the meaning of a sentence, some inferences about the whole text and the knowledge of the text helps identify pr guess word meanings. Combination of bottom up and top-down.
Critical Mass
vocabulary required to be able to read at basic proficiency levels, ~2300 words, reading develops with exposure. extensive reading is key to begin successful after critical mass vocabulary has been learnt
Why is listening so hard?
Initially, the brain fails to process speech in a foreign language because it is not yet accustomed to picking up the “word boundary identifiers” such as stress, tones, sound combinations that signal word beginning and ends.
Speaking; two types of approaches:
Direct —> based on systematic teaching of various micro-skills and strategies involved in spoken communication, whereby one or more of these skills and strategies is selected for each lesson and is taught by means of awareness-raising and focused communication activities
Indirect —> assumes that competence in speaking will emerge as long as learners are given sufficient opporutnies to engage in spoken interaction
Genres - frameworks for discourse
Include customary topics, openings, closures, structures, degree of formality, kind of vocabulary and grammar applied to specific task
Backchanneling
signals indicating “I am with you, I am listening, and I am fine with you continuing talking”
Grammar-Translation
- Oldest method
- Originated in medieval Europe for teaching Latin (and Ancient Greek and Hebrew)
- Goal was reading and writing, not speaking
- No native speakers were around
- Written form was only form acquired
- Heavy reliance on textbooks with grammar explanations, texts to be translated to and from etc
- Teacher-centered
Direct (Natural) Method
- Learning language the same way babies do
- Teaching should be done through demonstration and action
- Emphasis on correct pronunciation and oral language
- Reading and writing is delayed until certain proficiency in speaking is achieved
- Teacher centred
- Relies on similarities between L1 and L2 acquisition, but they are cognitively different
Oral Approach
- Teacher centred
- Vocabulary was proved to be the most important factor in language learning
- Grammar was systematized to illustrate patterns in grammar structures and internalize them with ease
Communicative Approach
- Emphasiss on communication
- Prohibits explicit grammar and pronunciation teaching, drills/route excersises of any kind
- Learners are expected to spend most classroom time employing language resources in problem solving tasks
- Task-based activities
- Over the years, prohibition on grammar and pronunciation drills has been lifted
- Teacher centred
Cooperative Learning
-Pedagogal approach, incorporates use of small peer groups and encourages cooperation among students who work toward specified, shared learning goals
-Goal was to raise the achievement of all students who are gifted or academically handicapped
build positive relationships among students
give students the experiences they need for healthy social, psychological, and cognitive
development
replace the competitive organizational structure of most classrooms with team-based,
high performance organizational structure
-Grading is tricky, success of all is required for individual success
-Testing is to be avoided when possible
-Encourages group work
Autonomous Learning
- Learner centred
- “Learning language inside out”
- Learners set their own goals, chose own learning activities and materials, monitor learning processes and evaluate outcomes
- Teacher still gives grades, rules, and helps shape curriculum and content
- Student input
- Requires exceptionally high degrees of insight, independence, and maturity from learners
Conciliatory Approach
- Veronika’s
- Learner and Teacher centred
- Double focus on language as a system and as a social function
- Teacher responsible for positive psychological environment as well as general curriculum development
- Students determine topics, readings, etc
- Emphasizes the differences between learner types
