(Second) Language Acquisition

Student’s Name/ ID ： Vivian 9722609

Betty 9722609
Yuri 9722616
Instructor ： Philip Lin
Date ： Sep. 29th, 2008
SLA –Question of Chapter 1
 Question 3 ：
What are primary differences between a b
ehaviorist’s, a cognitivist’s and a Constru
ctivist’s understanding of language and l
anguage learning? Name some scholars
and teaching techniques associated with
each approach.
Content
 Behaviorism
 Cognitivistism
 Constructivistism
 Comparative
 Discussion
Behaviorism
 Behaviorism is a study of the behavior of organisms
(including humans) by focusing centrally on publicly
observable responses that can be objectively and
scientifically perceived, recorded, and measured.

 Typical behavioral models were classical and operant

conditioning, rote verbal learning, instrumental learning,
discrimination learning, and other empirical approaches to
studying human behavior.

 A behaviorist might consider effective language behavior to

be the production of correct responses to stimuli. If a
particular response is reinforced, it then becomes habitual,
or conditioned.
Behaviorism

 B.F. Skinner’s classic, Verbal behavior (1957) ：

 Skinner’s theory of verbal behavior was an extension of his

general theory of learning by operant conditioning. Operant
conditioning refers to conditioning in which the human bein
g gives a response, or operant without necessarily observa
ble stimuli; that operant is maintained (learned) by reinforc
ement.
 According to Skinner, verbal behavior, like other behavior, i
s controlled by its consequences. When consequences are
rewarding, behavior is maintained and is increased in stren
gth and perhaps frequency.
Behaviorism
 The Audiolingual Method ：
It is known as the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) or the “Ar
my Method”. Characteristic of these coursed was a great deal of oral a
ctivity-pronunciation and pattern drills and conversation practice-with v
irtually none of the grammar and translation found in traditional classe
s. （ H. Douglas Brown, Teaching by Principle, P.23 ）

 The characteristics of the ALM ：

 New material is presented in dialogue form.
 There is dependence on mimicry, memorization of set phrases, and ov
erlearning.
 Structures patterns are taught using repeating skills.
 There is little or no grammatical explanation.
 Vocabulary is strictly limited and learned in context.
 Great importance is attached to pronunciation.
 Very little use of the mother tongue.
Behaviorism

 The aids of the ALM ：

There is much use of tapes, language labs, and visual aids.

 The goal of the ALM ：

There is a great effort to get students to produce error-free utteran
ces.

 The drawback of the ALM ：

1.Language was not really acquired through a process of habit
formation and overlearning.
2.Errors were not necessarily to be avoided at all costs.
3.Structural linguistics did not tell us everything about
language that we needed to know.
Cognitivistism
 Cognitive psychologies asserted that meaning,
understanding , and knowing were significant
data for psychological study and tried to discover
psychological principles of organization and
function.

 Discover underlying motivations and deeper

structures of human behavior by using a rational
approach.

 They freed themselves from the strictly empirical

study typical of behaviorists and employed the
tool to derive explanations for human behavior.
Cognitivistism
 Chomsky
human language cannot be scrutinized simply in term
of observable stimuli and response or the volumes of
raw data gathered by field linguists.

 Ferdinad de Saussure-
a. Parole (What skinner “observes" and what
Chomsky called performance)
b. language (akin to the concept of competence, or
our unobservable language ability)
Cognitivistism
 Interest in the ultimate question why
1. What underlying factors- innate,
psychological social, or environmental
circumstances
2. Why the person did
3. What the person’s motivation and
psychological state
4. What might have been the cause of the
behavior
Constructivistism
 Constructivism- A Multidisciplinary Approach ：

Constructivists think that all human beings construct their own ve

rsion of reality, and therefore multiple contrasting ways of knowi
ng and describing are equally legitimate. Moreover, they think t
his theory is based on the idea that the dialectic （註 1 ） or int
eractionist （註 2 ） process of development and learning throu
gh the child's active construction should be facilitated and prom
oted by adults. Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky, named often ass
ociated with constructivism, Piaget stressed the importance of in
dividual cognitive development as a relatively solitary act. Biolo
gical timetables and stages of development were basic; social-in
teraction was claimed only to trigger development at the right m
oment in time. On the other hand, Vygotsky (1978), described a
s a “social” constructivist by some, insisted that social interactio
n was foundational in cognitive development and rejected the no
tion of predetermined stages.
Constructivistism
 Constructivism- A Multidisciplinary Approach ：

註1
 Everything is transient and finite, existing in the medium of
time (this idea is not accepted by all dialecticians).
 Everything is made out of opposing forces/opposing sides
(contradictions).
 Gradual changes lead to turning points, where one force
overcomes the other (quantitative change leads to qualitati
ve change).
 Change moves in spirals not circles. (Sometimes referred
to as "negation of the negation")
註2
promotes the idea that nothing in society is determined, and
that people can break free of a label as individuals ）
Constructivistism
 Constructivism- A Multidisciplinary Approac
h：

Researchers studying first and second lan

guage acquisition. They figured out that in
many ways constructivist perspectives arte
a natural successor to cognitive studies of u
niversal grammar, information processing,
memory, artificial intelligence, and interlang
uage systematicition.
Constructivistism
 Constructivism: Cognitive constructivism, social con
structivism
1.Nowadays, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky’s theor
ies are not by any means new to the scene of langu
age studies. Yet, in a variety of post-structuralist th
eoretical positions, constructivism emerged as a pre
vailing paradigm only in the last part of the twentieth
century, and is now almost orthodoxy. A refreshing
characteristic of constructivism is its integration of li
nguistic, psychological, and sociological paradigms,
in contrast to the professional chasms that often div
ided those disciplines in the previous century.
Constructivistism
 Constructivism: Cognitive constructivism, social con
structivism

2.Two branches of constructivism:

cognitive version: emphasis is placed on the importance of le
arners constructing their own representation of reality. “Learn
ers must individually discover and transform complex informati
on if they are to make it their own, [suggesting] a more active r
ole for students in their own learning than is typical in many cla
ssrooms”(Slavin, 2003, pp.257-258), this theory seemed to me
et Piaget’s thought, but have taken that long to become widely
accepted views. For Piaget, “learning is a developmental proc
ess that involves change, self-generation, and construction, ea
ch building on prior learning experiences”(Kaufman, 2004, p.3
04).
Constructivistism
 Constructivism: Cognitive constructivism, social
constructivism

2.Two branches of constructivism:

Social version: emphasis that the importance of social
interaction and cooperative learning on constructing both
cognitive and emotional images of reality. Spivey(1997,
p24)noted that constructivist research tends to focus on
“individuals engaged in social practices,…on a collaborative
group, [or] on a global community.” The champion of social
constructivism is Vygotsky (1978), who advocated the view
that “children’s thinking and meaning-making is socially
constructed and emerges out of their social interactions with
their environment” (Kaufman, 2004, p.304).
 Comparative
School of Typical Themes Scholars Approaches
Thought
 Outside performance  B.F Skinner Audiolingual Method
 Repetition/habitual

 Charles Osgood Series Method
Learning
 Performance (Gouin)
Structuralism ＆  Description Direct Method
behaviorism  Observable performance (1930s-1940s)
 Scientific method
 Empiricism/ experience
 Surface structure
 Conditioning/reinforcement
 Analysis/insight  Noam Chomsky Georgi Lozanov’s(1979)
 Explanation-why

 David Ausubel -Suggestopedia
Intuition
Rationalism ＆ c  Mentalism
 Generative linguistics
ognitive psy  Acquisition/innateness
chology  Interlanguage systematicity
 Universal grammar
 Competence
 Deep structure
 Individual differences  Jean Piaget 1970’s-meaningful communic
 Social

 Lev Vygotsky ation
Practice
 Context Silent Way
Constructivism  Interactive discourse Community Language
 Sociocultural variables Krashen-Natural Approach
 Cooperative group learning
 Interlangrage variability
 Interactionist hypotheses
Discussion
 ★First language acquisition （ FLA ）
 ＊ Behaviorist of FLA= Behaviorism of SLA
 ＊ Nativist of FLA= Cognitive of SLA

School of Typical Themes Scholar

Thought
 Tabula rasa  B.F Skinner
 Stimuli : linguistic responses  MacCorquodale
 Conditioning
Behaviorist  Reinforcement
 Observable
 Performance
 Habitual
 Innate predispositions (LAD/UG)  Noam Chomsky
 Systematic/rule-governed acquisition  Eric Lenneberg
 Creative construction  McNeill
 “Pivot” grammar
 Parallel distributed processing
Nativist  Natural
 Biologically
 Cognitive
 Creativity
 Rule-governed
Discussion
 ★First language acquisition （ FLA ）
 ＊ Behaviorist of FLA= Behaviorism of SLA
 ＊ Nativist of FLA= Cognitive of SLA

School of
Typical Themes Traits
Thought

Constructivist ＊ Language was one manifestati

Social interaction on of the cognitive and affective
Cognition and ability to deal with the world and
language others.
Functional Functions of language ＊ The generative rules were pro
(no scholar) discourse posed under the nativistic framew
ork were abstract, formal, explicit
and quite logical with form of lan
guage deeper functional levels of
meaning.
 Discussion
Schools of
Difference Approach
thought

* Focused on publicly observable response-those that ca Gouin-Series Method

n be objectively perceived, recorded, and measured -1.use target language
. 2.No translation
* The unrealizable of observation of states of consciousn 3.No analysis of grammar rules
ess, thinking, concept formation, or the acquisition Direct Method
of knowledge made such topics impossible to exam (1930s-1940s)
in a behavioral framework. -oral communication skills were build up in a car
* The scientific method was rigorously and therefore su efully trade profession organized around qu
Structural ch concept as consciousness and intuition were reg estion-and-answer exchanges between teach
Linguistics arded as mentalistic, illegitimate domain of inquiry ers and students in small, intensive class.
and . Audiolingual Method
Behavioral * Bases on certain learning modals 1. ALM was firmly grounded in linguistic and
Psychology (a) operate condition –Skinner psychological theory.
(b) instructional learning 2. conditioning and habit-formation--drill , pat
(c) discrimination learning tern practices
(d) rote verbal learning
More interest in the what question
1.what question about human behavior-objective
measurement of behavior in controlled circumstance
2.what happen
3.the physical description
Discussion
Schools of
Difference Approach
thought
Chomsky –human language cannot be scrutinized simply in Georgi Lozanov’s(1979)
term of observable stimuli and response or the volumes of raw -Suggestopedia
data gathered by field linguists.
Ferdinad de Saussure-
1.Parole (What skinner “observes" and what Chomsky called
performance)
2.language (akin to the concept of competence, or our
unobservable language ability)
Cognitive psychologies asserted that meaning, understanding ,
Generative and knowing were significant data for psychological study and
Linguistics tried to discover psychological principles of organization and
and function.
Cognitive Discover underlying motivations and deeper structures of human
Psychology behavior by using a rational approach.
They freed themselves from the strictly empirical study typical
of behaviorists and employed the tool to derive explanations for
human behavior.
Interest in the ultimate question why
1.what underlying factors- innate, psychological social, or
environmental circumstances.
2. Why the person did
3.What the person’s motivation and psychological state
4.What might have been the cause of the behavior
Discussion
Schools of
Difference Approach
thought
The characteristic is its integration of linguistic psychological 1970’s-meaningful communication
and sociological paradigms Silent Way
Emphasis both the learner’s role in construction meaning out of Community Language
available linguistic input and the importance of social interaction Krashen-Natural Approach
in creating a new linguistic system. 1.The goal is to build the
Two branches of constructivism basic communication skills necessary f
Cognitive & social or everyday language situations.
Cognitive-Piaget 2.the initial task of teachers
a.“Learners must individually discover was to provide comprehensible input ,t
and transform complex information if they are make by their hat is ,spoken language that is understa
own” ndable to the learner or just a little bey
a.“ learning is a developmental process that involves change ond the learner’s level
Constructive
,self-generation, and construction ,each building on prior
structure
learning experiences”
Social constructivism-Vygotsky
a.“individuals engaged in social practices....on a collaborative
group, or on a global community”
b.emphasizes the importance of social interaction and
cooperative learning in constructing both cognitive and
emotional image of reality.
e. ZPD
(Zone of proximal development)
--the distance between learner’s existing developmental state and
their
Potential development
Thank you for listening ！