Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
2015
Second Language Acquisition
What does SLA study?
It studies children’s speech.
How does SLA study children’s speech?
It does so by collecting and analyzing children’s speech, and accumulating evidence for the
patterns revealed by the data analyzed.
Example
(data collected from a 2-year-old Yemeni child). Data in this course collected from the same child
/tita:b/ كتاب
/pa:t/ فاس
/tusi/ كرسي
/mu:ta/ موزه
Analysis
The child is able to produce /t, p, b/ but has trouble producing /s, z, f/. The child replace /s/ with /t/,
/z/ with /t/, and /f/ with /p/
Generalization
Yemeni children at the age of 2 can produce stops but have trouble producing fricatives. They also
replace fricatives with stops with the closest place of articulation.
Second Language Acquisition
Theories of Language Acquisition
“The Behaviorist theory” and “The Innate (mentalist) theory”
Behaviorism
Period of popularity Late 19 the century to 1960s
Bes-known proponent of B. F. Skinner , and the title of one of his most major books is
the theory Verbal Behavior (1957)
Essence of the theory Language is behavior
How the theory explains Language is learnt by a process of habit-formation. It has the
language acquisition following components: 1. The child is faced with a stimuls and
produced a response by imitating language (imitation)
2. People appreciate the child’s attempt and
reinforce it by approval (reinforcement)
3. To obtain more approval, the child repeats
language produced (repetition)
4. The child’s language is conditioned or shaped until it
becomes a habit (habit-formation)
Second Language Acquisition
1. Imitation fails to account for the fact that children produce sentences they never
heard before in their environment (creativity in language)
2. Imitation fails to account for the fact that children make mistakes they never heard in their
environment (e.g. *daddy goed now.)
3. Imitation fails to account for the fact that from a finite set of rules, children can produce
an infinite number of sentences.
4. Imitation fails to explain how by the age of 5, a normal child will have internalized all the
rules of language with exceptional ease and speed.
5. Imitation fails to explain how children exposed to different input (e.g. different dialects of
the same language) ultimately derive the same rules of the language.
Second Language Acquisition
Chomsky’s alternate theory: The innate language-learning capacity
Mentalism
Period of popularity 1960s onwards
Bes-known proponent of Noam Chomsky
the theory
Essence of the theory Language is innate
How the theory explains Children are born with an innate capacity for acquiring language,
language acquisition which is called the Language Acquisition Device (or LAD).
Dan Soblin (1979) proposes seven communicative functions of these two-word utterances:
1. Locating or naming this milk /ada na:na:/
2. Demanding or desiring more milk /di: na:na:/
3. Negating no milk /ba:ti na:na:/
4. Describing an event car not working /ba:ti bi:b/
5. Indicating possession Noor’s pen /nu: bagan/
6. Describing a person/thing bad pen /bu: ri bagan/
7. Questioning Where pen? /bein bagan/
Second Language Acquisition
2. The development of inflections and function words
There are three criteria for the order of acquisition of morphemes:
1. Observability of the referent (i.e., how observable the thing or event is to the child)
2. Meaningfulness of the referent (i.e., how meaningful the thing or event is to the child)
3. Distinctiveness of the sounds (i.e., how easy the production of the sound is for the child)
2. The negative element is inserted into the sentence (no or not). Children may use don’t but it won’t be
inflected for person or tense.
Examples:
I no want milk.
He not come.
He don’t want.
2. Children produce structures with a question-word but no appropriate question word order.
Examples:
Where daddy going?
Where my spoon goed?
3. Children produce structures with a question-word but the appropriate question word order.
Examples:
Where did he go?
Where are you?
Second Language Acquisition
4. Complex operations
In the last stage, children perform more complex operations such as:
1. Join two or more clauses into a complex sentence
2. Use conditional
3. Use passive structures
4. Use a range of forms for making requests, commands, offers, etc.
Examples:
I think it is the wrong way.
If you are coming, I will be happy.
He was left along in the house.
Can I have a minute, please?
Second Language Acquisition
Operating principles governing children’s speech
1. Avoid exceptions (this explains why children acquire and produce regular forms first)
2. Meaning relationships must be marked clearly (this explains why active structures are acquired and produced
before passive structures).
Caretaker Speech
Caretaker speech is the language addressed to small children by mothers, other adults, or older children.
But when old language patterns (from L1) cause problems in acquiring new language patterns (in L2), this is
negative transfer. In this way, differences between the two languages lead to intereference, which is the cause
of learning difficulties and errors.
Examples of errors caused by negative transfer from L1
* He is angry from you.
* I bough the book with $110.
* Please write by a pen.
* It is part from the plan.
* She has a car new.
* She has car new.
Second Language Acquisition
Causes of Errors: 2. Overgeneralization of L1 rules
When a child/learner learns a rule in the target language, they tend to apply the rule to
all new words where the rule could be applied. They overgeneralize the rule.
Contrastive Analysis is the systematic study of a pair of languages with a view to identifying their
structural differences and similarities. Analysis results in hypotheses about the similarities and
differences between the two languages, which are used in designing appropriate teaching
materials and choosing appropriate teaching methods.
Error Analysis is the study of the types and causes of language errors. Analysis results in
hypotheses about the types and causes of errors by the language learner, which are also used in
designing appropriate teaching materials and choosing appropriate teaching methods.
Second Language Acquisition
Terminology 2 (continued)
Intra-lingual and Inter-lingual errors are also called systematic errors. They are called so because
these errors result from the fact that the child has internalized a language system. A third kind of
systematic errors is simplification by reduction. These are sentences in which inflections and other
morphemes are eliminated, resulting in sentences like * Go bathroom?
Another group of errors is called non-systematic errors. These are not the result of conflicting
language systems but the result of other influences. A learner may try to express something for
which they lack the adequate vocabulary. To compensate for this adequate knowledge, they use
communication strategies such as gestures, paraphrase, etc. These communication strategies
lead to errors, e.g, * I eat fruit. (in paraphrase of I had an apple).
Learners may also make errors of performance. These are errors caused by external factors. The
learner may be distracted, tired, upset or angry and make errors, e.g., * I didn’t said that (by an
angry English student). These errors are also called mistakes. Learners will be able to recognize
and correct them on sight.
Second Language Acquisition
Terminology 3 (continued)
Interlanguage (IL)
is the intermediate form of language between the first language and the
target language. Its system is neither that of the first language nor that of
the target language, but contains elements of both.
Second Language Acquisition
First is the communicative need for a second language. A person is most likely to be drawn towards
learning second language if he perceives a clear communicative need for it.
The second aspect is attitudes towards the second language community. The learner with more
favorable attitudes will wish for more intensive contact with the second language community. If the
attitude is negative, there may be strong internal barriers against learning.
There are two basic kinds of motivation for learning a second language. The first is integrative
motivation – learning a second language is important for communication. The second is instrumental
motivation – learning a second language is a useful instrument towards employment (getting a job).
Second Language Acquisition
Accounting for differences between learners
2. Opportunities for learning
Another important influence on the proficiency a learner achieves in second language is the quality
of the learning opportunities which the environment offers. There are four aspects of this
influence.
First is the opportunities to use a second language. It is important that the learner should have
access to situations where the language is used as a natural means of communication.
The second aspect is the emotional climate of the learning situation. In an environment where the
learner feels anxious or insecure, there are likely to be psychological barriers to communication. In
the typical language classroom, learners are often asked to perform in a state of ignorance and
dependence. When they don’t perform adequately, they may be subjected to comment and
correction. This can be frustrating.
The third aspect is the nature of the linguistic input. The nature of the speech addressed to
second language learners is an important factor in influencing how well they learn. The ideal input
is similar to the input received by the child: comprehensible, relevant to their immediate interests,
not too complex, but not strictly graded either.
Second Language Acquisition
Accounting for differences between learners
The fourth aspect is the effect of formal instruction. In formal instruction, teachers attempt to
affect the course of learning. Mainly by controlling the learner’s exposure to the language,
providing opportunities for practicing the language, and providing feedback. A number of other
factors also affect the learning of second language, such as the methodology of teaching, the
personality and skill of the teacher, the ability of the learner, and the availability of time and
resources.
The first aspect is the cognitive factors. It has been found that there is a link between general
intelligence (IQ) and second-language learning ability.
The second aspect is personality. The personality traits of the learner can affect his second
language learning. Learners who are extrovert and outgoing get involved more in social
interaction, attract more attention from teachers, and are less inhibited when asked to display
their proficiency (e.g. presentations). Also, a learner with high self-esteem is less likely to feel
threatened when communicating in a strange language in an unfamiliar situation.
Second Language Acquisition
The fourth and last aspect is the active learning strategies. Successful language learners employ a wide
variety of strategies which demonstrate, above all, their active involvement in learning. For example,
they may repeat silently to themselves the sounds they hear from the teacher or other students. When
the teacher puts a question to another student, they often think out their own answer and compare it
with the answer accepted by the teacher. Outside the classroom, they exploit every opportuity to use
the language as a means of communication, for example by seeking personal contacts, listening to the
radio, or reading newspapers.
Second Language Acquisition
Communicative Strategies
Second language speakers often have communicative
intentions which they find difficulty in expressing,
because of gaps in their linguistic repertoire. In such
cases, they try to find alternative ways of getting the
meaning across. These alternative ways are called
communicative strategies. Some of these strategies
are:
Second Language Acquisition
1. Avoid Communicating
When learners are aware of gaps in their repertoire, an
obvious strategy is to avoid occasions which will present
difficulty. For example, learners may avoid discussing
topics for which they know they lack the necessary
vocabulary.
Second Language Acquisition
3. Use Paraphrase
A learner may use paraphrase – for example,
circumlocution or description – in order to express the
meaning which he wants to communicate.
Example
(kettle) the thing that you boil water in
Second Language Acquisition
4. Use Approximation
A learner may decide to use words which express the
meaning as closely as possible.
Example
(pineapple) some fruit
Second Language Acquisition
8. Seek Help
A learner may seek help from outside – use a bilingual
dictionary or invoke the cooperation of the listener by
signaling that he is in difficulty.
Second Language Acquisition
The Effect of Errors on Communication in Second
Language
Methods of L2 Teaching
Terminology
Communicative Competence: the the general ability to use
language accurately, appropriately, and flexibly.
Grammatical Competence
The ability to use words and structures accurately.
Socio-linguistic Competence
The ability to use words and structures appropriately – in the
appropriate social situation.
Strategic Competence
The ability to compensate, via strategies,for any difficulties with
communication.