FIRST AND SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

INTRODUCTION

• Grammar Translation Method • non-communicative approach that relies on reading and translation,

mastery of grammatical rules and accurate writing

• Audiolingual Method • non-communicative approach that involves heavy use of mimicry,

imitations and drill. Speech, not writing is emphasised

• Communicative Language Teaching • is based on the assumption that learners do not need to be taught

grammar before they can communicate but will acquire it naturally as part of the process of learning to communicate

BASIC THEORIES OF L2 ACQUISITION

• "Comprehensible Input" hypothesis (by Stephen Krashen) • learners acquire language by "intaking" and understanding language that is a

"little beyond" their current level of competence

• "Comprehensible Output" hypothesis (by Merrill Swain and others) • providing learners with opportunities to use the language and skills they have

acquired, at a level in which they are competent, is almost as important as giving students the appropriate level of input

• Affective Filter hypothesis (by Krashen and Terrell) • individual’s emotions can directly assist in the learning of a new language

FOUR KEY PRINCIPLES FOR AN EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION

• Increase Comprehensibility

• involves the ways in which teachers can make content more understandable to their students

• Increase Interaction • language skills are used in real-life situations

• Increase Thinking/Study Skills

• advanced thinking skills are developed

• Use a student’s native language to increase comprehensibility

TEN THINGS THE TEACHER CAN DO TO IMPROVE INSTRUCTION1. Enunciate clearly, but do not raise your voice. Add gestures, point

directly to objects, or draw pictures when appropriate

2. Write clearly, legibly, and in print—many ELL students have difficulty

reading cursive 3. Develop and maintain routines. Use clear and consistent signals for

classroom instructions

4. Repeat information and review frequently. If a student does not understand, try rephrasing or paraphrasing in shorter sentences and simpler syntax. Check often for understanding, but do not ask "Do you understand?" Instead, have students demonstrate their learning in order to show comprehension

TEN THINGS THE TEACHER CAN DO TO IMPROVE INSTRUCTION

5. Try to avoid idioms and slang words

6. Present new information in the context of known information

7. Announce the lesson’s objectives and activities, and list instructions step-by-step

8. Present information in a variety of ways

9. Provide frequent summations of the salient points of a lesson, and always emphasize key vocabulary words

10. Recognize student success overtly and frequently. But, also be aware that in some cultures overt, individual praise is considered inappropriate and can therefore be embarrassing or confusing to the student

CHARACTERISTICS OF FIRST LANGUAGE ACQUISITION : It is remarkable for its speed In normal conditions language acquisition

generally occursSmall differences in a range of social and cultural

factors have, according to various studies, no meaning

Belief that there is some “innate” predisposition of human child to acquire language exists

TRUTH: Each human child posses a language-faculty.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR FIRST LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Biological aspects must be fulfilled

This process requires interaction

Language must be culturally trasmitted

VARIATION IN CHILD LANGUAGE

Variation in rateVariation in route

TYPES OF VARIATION:

Child's linguistic behaviour

Inherited attributes:

Sex, intelligence, personality and learning style

Situation: setting, activity, number of participants

Style of linguistic interaction: interpersonal relations etc.

Social background:

Family structure, cultural environment, social group affiliation

DIRECT & INDIRECT INFLUENCES

Indirect influence: Social background

Direct influences: Inherited attributes Situation Style of linguistic interaction

INHERITED ATTRIBUTES:

Sex no genetic superiority of girls

Intelligence correlation between language and

intelligence strongly related to environmental variation

Personality and learning style no strong evidence for such

relationship, still demands researching

SITUATION:

Setting Activity Number of participants

all factors are very significant

for child's linguistic behaviour

SOCIAL BACKGROUND:

Family structure

cultural environment

social group affiliation

child's linguistic behaviour depends, for sure, on all these factors, however, the size and nature of this variation is unknown

PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Content• Introduction

• Piaget‘s Theory

• Vygotsky‘s Theory

• Conclusion

PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITIONINTRODUCTION

Language acquisition does not take place in a vacuum. As children acquire language, they acquire a sign system which bears important relationships to both cognitive and social aspects of their life.

PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITIONINTRODUCTION

Psychosocial aspects of language acquisition are

mainly concerned about how language, thought

and social interaction interrelate in the child‘s

development.

Does social interaction influence the child’s language acquisition?

PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITIONPIAGET’S THEORY

The child’s cognitive development is relatively

autonomous, not only independent from

language, but also from social interaction.

social interaction as secondary

social interaction explained in logical

mathematical principles

PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITIONPIAGET’S THEORY

EgocentricityThe child’s egocentricity results from his lack of decentering. His language, having private characteristics, is at first not adapted to social communicative situations. It becomes socialized at a later point in development as in decentering the child’s cognitive organization allows him to participate in socialinteraction.

Child talks about what he does and is not concerned about being understoodSpeech does not seem to have a real function

PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITIONVYGOTSKY’S THEORY

Vygotsky’s approach to the inter-relations of

language, thought and social interaction is to

view language as a multifunctional and context-

dependent system mediating simultaneously

cognitive and social development.

PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITIONVYGOTSKY’S THEORY

Vygotsky defines language as primary, context-dependent and social natured.

Language development is the principal motor of development, as it mediates the child’s participation inboth the intellectual and social life surrounding him.

PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITIONVYGOTSKY’S THEORY

• He sees a constant interaction between language development and cognitive development, such that thought is neither autonomous from language nor causally prior to it.

• The use of a sign system such as language is necessary for the development of uniquely higher mental functions.

PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITIONVYGOTSKY’S THEORY

EgocentricityAt first, speech accompanies ongoing actions in the context of utterance, serving as a means of social contact with others. At a later point, when speech has been differentiated it forms a system which is multifunctional for the adult:• used externally - social function• used internally – mental function change in different functions

PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITIONCONCLUSION

Contrast between Piaget and Vygotsky:• Whether or not they give language development a

special status in relation to other aspects of developments

• Whether or not they see language as inherently social or more precisely as multifunctional

SOCIAL AND DISCOURSE ASPECTS OF INTERLANGUAGE

• Accomodation Theory (Giles)• Convergence Divergence

• Speakers indicate cohesiveness or distinctiveness from a social group

• L2 acquisition = long-term convergence• Acculturation model (Schumann)

• Willingness or ability to become part of the new culture• Social distance

• How do the L2 group and the target language group see each other?

• Are they equal? • Does the target language group want the L2 group to become a

part?• Etc.

• See also stylistic continuum (Tarone) and Social Identity (Peirce)

• Social aspects influence• The opportunity for conversations• The kind of conversations• The commitment to learning the language

SOCIAL AND DISCOURSE ASPECTS OF INTERLANGUAGE

DISCOURSE ASPECTSTHE ROLE OF INPUT AND INTERACTION• Foreigner talk

• Ungrammatical• Often implies lack of respect

• Certain grammatical features are left out, such as be, modal verbs (can, must), base forms instead of past tense, etc.

• Grammatical• Slower pace

• Simplified: e.g. shorter sentences, avoidance of subordinate clauses, no complex grammatical forms, lengthening of phrases, etc.

EXAMPLES:

Baseline talk You won‘t forget to buy ice-cream on your way home, will you?

UngrammaticalForeigner talk

No forget buying ice-cream, eh?

Grammatical foreigner talk

The ice-cream – you will not forget to buy it on your way home – get it when you are coming home. All right?“

• Negotiation of meaning• Example:

And then he put it in his knee.

He put it on his knee?

DISCOURSE ASPECTSTHE ROLE OF INPUT AND INTERACTION

The relevance for L2 learning:

- Foreigner talk = comprehensible input- Negotiation of meaning

negative evidence corrected input concerns aspects they have not mastered yet

- See also theories by Krashen (Input hypothesis), Long (interaction hypothesis), Hatch and the ‚activity theory‘ based on Vygotsky

DISCOURSE ASPECTSTHE ROLE OF INPUT AND INTERACTION

CONCLUSION

• Social aspects determine

• Extent/kind of contact

• Commitment

• Discourse aspects may contribute

• Modified input

• Negotiation of meaning

PSYCHOLINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF

INTERLANGUAGE

INTRODUCTION

Psycholinguistics is the study of the mental structures and processes involved in the acquisition and use of language.

L1 transfer

the role of consciousness

processing operations

communication strategies

L1 TRANSFER L1 transfer refers to the influence of the learner’s L1 on the acquisition of a L2. The learner’s L1 is one of the sources of error in learner language, this influence is called negative transfer

Nevertheless, in some cases, L1 makes an acquisition of L2 less difficult.

Example: The man whom I spoke to him is a teacher

positive transfer

The influence of L1 can also result in avoidance

Example: Chinese and Japanese languages don’t contain relative clauses

Japanese and Chinese learners of English avoid the usage of these structures

On the other hand, L1 transfer may be reflected in the overuse of some forms Example: Chinese learners tend to overuse expressions of regret in English, because of norms of their mother tongue

L1 TRANSFER Influence of behaviourism: it was believed that habits of the L1 prevent the learner from learning the habits of the L2

contrastive analysis

In the early 1970s behaviourism falls out of favour – two developments

The first one – some theorists try to play down the role of L1

The other one (represented by Larry Selinker) – learners don’t construct rules in vacuum, they work with whatever information is at their disposal. Knowledge of L1 is included. Selinker identifies language transfer as one of the mental processes responsible for fossilization

According to Eric Kellerman, learners are able to distinguish between potentially transferable and non-transferable features

Example: Hij brak zijn been. (He broke his leg.) Het ondergrondse verset werd gebroken. (The underground resistance was broken.)

CONCLUSION

L1 influences the acquisition of L2 (positive and negative)

the role of consciousness is one of the most controversial issues in SLA

all acquisition models represent more theoretical material than practical application and demand further investigation

CONTRASTIVE LINGUISTICS

WHAT IS ‘CONTRASTIVE LINGUISTICS’?

- it means comparing the structures of two present-day languages

- goal is an immediate desire like improving instruction in one of the languages examined

- it is:

- synchronically oriented

- not concerned with genetic similarities

- two languages

- bound to a particular linguistic theory

- divided into applied and theoretical sections

- we will focus on the applied sections

INTERFERENCE

- transferring of structural features of one’s native language when learning a second language

- positive and negative transfer

- negative transfer is called interference

- four main types of interference:

- substitution: a learner uses an already acquired element for one he does not yet possess, e.g. [w] for [r] in [wein] rain

- over-and under-differentiation: in early language acquisition clause types are under-differentiated, as more parataxis than hypotaxis is used; over-differentiation: use of several different verbs by English speakers of German, where Germans would just have machen

- Over-indulgence and under-representation: repeated use of structures, words,…; lack of special structures, words,…

- over-generalisation: e.g. Mama comed home

CONTRASTIVE PHONOLOGY

- tradition of incorrect pronunciation, e.g. /berlin vs. ber/lin; pronounced consistently in an incorrect manner

- transfer from principle in German to English, although it is incorrect; e.g. voiced vs. voiceless s after n,l,r – conversation

- mixed pronunciation, e.g. Hifi [haifi] vs. [haifai]

- allophonic differences, e.g. (ch) in Buch or Pech

- contrastive stress - phenomenon of level stress in English where two or more elements

have equal stress- different stress in noun and adjective, e.g. /content (noun) and con/tent

(adjective)

CONTRASTIVE MORPHOLOGY

- comparative forms of adjectives: in English: Romanic vs. Germanic, e.g. tall taller-tallest vs. terrible-more terrible-most terrible

- two cases in English vs. four cases in German

- affixation in German vs. Lexicalisation in English: e.g. ver- used as a prefix to indicate a reversal in meaning, in English different words

mieten-vermieten rent-let

kaufen-verkaufen buy-sell

- compounding: German favours compounding whereas the English equivalents are lexicalised or arrived at by paraphrase, e.g.

DIFFERENCES IN THE NOMINAL AREA

• use of the definite article: not used with abstract terms, only if a qualifying clause or element follows, e.g.

• She is interested in philosophy. vs. The philosophy of Kant.

• formation of plurals

• prepositional usage

CONTRASTIVE SEMANTICS

-unusualness of English words: many words are not very common in everyday usage, e.g. sibling vs. brothers and sisters

-differing range: e.g. Freundin – female friend, girlfriend

- false friends: a word in the native language sounds similar to one in the foreign language; different meaning

e.g. aktuell ‘topical’ actual ‘tatsächlich’

dumm ‘stupid’ dumb ‘stumm’

Gift ‘poison’ gift ‘Geschenk’

sensibel ‘sensitive’ ‘sensible’ ‘vernünftig’

-equivalents: one word in German often has more than one equivalent in English and the other way round, e.g.

glücklich happy, lucky

seit for, since

dress Kleidung, Kleid

go gehen, fahren

IDIOMS AND COLLOCATIONS

-collocation: a sequence of words or terms which co-occur more often than would be expected

-equivalents can have different collocations

-idioms:

- small number of idioms which are identical, e.g. Too many cooks spoil the broth.

- idioms which are not quite the same, i.e. they are similar in their content, but slightly different in their form

e.g. Zwei Fliegen mit einer Klappe schlagen

To kill two birds with one stone.

-rhyme-motivated compounds vs. alliterations

e.g. shop till you drop

dream-team

CONTRASTIVE PRAGMATICS

-use of discourse particles, e.g. oder? in German as a discourse particle is not or? in English

-third person reference: In England it is regarded as very impolite to refer to a third person who is present by means of a pronoun. In German it is quite acceptable.

CONCLUSION

- in Contrastive Linguistics the structures of two present-day languages are compared to achieve an immediate aim

- in many respects (phonology, morphology, syntax,…) English and German differ in their structure

- learners should be constantly aware of these differences to avoid too much interference

- teachers should be aware of the danger of interference and should prevent this by naming the differences and talking about them in class, so that pupils cannot make up negative transfer on their own