【重点Chapter 11 Language Acquisition Teaching Plan.doc

Chapter 11 Language AcquisitionObjectivesThe students will learn what learners acquire and how they go about it in learning a language so that they could become better-informed second language acquisition researchers and more competent English language teachers after they graduate.The students will learn about1) the nature and characteristics of a language developing in the mind of a learner,2) the factors affecting the process of learning a language, esp., learner differences, and3) the role of instruction in a learners acquisition of a language.Key Points1) Approaches to first language acquisition2) Stages of first language acquisition3) Theories of second language acquisition research4) Factors affecting second language acquisition5) Instructed second language acquisitionTime Required80 minsProcedure1. First language acquisitionl What is first language acquisition?first language acquisition; language learningl What is the difference between acquisition and learning?l What are the major approaches to first language acquisition?Behaviourism; Innateness approach; Interaction hypothesisSo, which approach do you prefer and why?l What are the typical stages of first language acquisition?Pre-language stage; One-word or holophrastic stage; Two-word stage; Telegraphic speech2. Second language acquisitionl What is second language acquisition?Second language acquisition; foreign language learningl What questions are addressed in second acquisition research?What and Howl What have been the major theories in the development of second language acquisition research?Contrastive Analysis (CA); Error Analysis (EA); Interlanguage (IL) Theory; fossilizationl What are the major factors that affect second language acquisition?learner-external factors (e.g., sociocultural context, input, interaction, etc.); learner-internal factors (e.g., UG, L1 transfer, learning process, etc.); learner differencesl What are the generally accepted learner differences?n Language aptitudeDo you rank yourself high or low in language aptitude?n Cognitive styleAre you a field dependent or field independent second language learner, then? Are you a reflective or impulsive L2 learner?n Personality traitsAnyway, are you more extroverted or more introverted? n Learning strategiesDo you often use any strategies to solve your problems in L2 learning? What are they?3. Instructed second language acquisitionl Rationale for research on instructed SLAl Form-focused instructionl Learner-instruction matchingl Strategies training3Lecture Note1. First language acquisition1.1 The conceptFirst language acquisition (L1 acquisition) refers to the process whereby children become speakers of their native language (NL) or languages, although some linguists prefer to use the term language learning.1.2 Acquisition and learningThe term acquisition, when used of language, refers to the gradual development of ability in a language by using it naturally in communicative situations. The term learning, in contrast, applies to the process of consciously accumulating knowledge of a language, particularly through formal instruction.1.3Approaches to first language acquisition1.3.1 The behaviorist approachBefore the 1960s, the study of child language was dominated by the behaviorist approach to language and language learning. According to the behaviorist view, language learning is like any other form of human behavior, being a process of habit-formation. In language learning, a child receives a stimulus and gives a linguistic response to it; he or she imitates speech around it, using a process of trial and error. The childs language use is either reinforced in these imitations or discouraged from them, by the degree of success it achieves in communicating. There is nothing linguistic in the mind of a newborn infant; all the internal linguistic knowledge of an individual is the direct result of combining the linguistic events that the individual has observed. This is a standard “stimulus-response-imitation-reinforcement” approach.1.3.2 The innateness approachThe behaviorist hypothesis of first language acquisition has been strongly challenged from the 1960s onwards, especially under the influence of Noam Chomskys linguistic theories and cognitive psychology. An innateness hypothesis was put forward that the ability to acquire a human language is part of the biologically innate equipment of the human being, born and built-in, which is linked in some manner to physiological maturation, with some degree of weakening after the time of puberty.1.3.3 The interactionist approachSome people came in between the two views and adopted some form of an interaction hypothesis, sometimes called a “weak” innate hypothesis. An interactionist would say that children are born, not with specific knowledge of grammatical rules, but with a potentiality for organizing experiences in certain ways, deciding certain kinds of relationship and comprehending symbols. This potentiality cannot be brought into full operation unless it interacts with the environment.In conclusion, the nature of language acquisition is still an open question but more and more people seem to agree that something about language must be innate in the infants mind and that the question now is only what.1.4 Stages of first language acquisition1.4.1 Pre-language stageInvoluntary crying: when feeling hungry or uncomfortable; Cooing and gurgling: showing satisfaction or happiness, and suggesting some awareness of sounds and their potential significanceBabbling: more language-like sounds, at about six months of age, often consisting of consonant-vowel sequences with no meaning attached1.4.2 One-word or holophrastic stageBetween 12 and 18 months, children begin to produce a variety of recognizable single unit utterances for everyday objects such as “milk”, “cookie”, “cat” and “cup”.1.4.3 Two-word stageThe two-word stage can begin around 18 to 20 months when a variety of two-word combinations such as baby chair, mommy eat, cat bad occur. An adults interpretation of such combinations is very much tied to the context. The adult around may behave as if communication is taking place and gives the baby a feedback which may reassure him that his utterance works, treating the baby as a conversational partner.1.4.4 Telegraphic speechBetween two and three years old, the child begins producing a large number of utterances which could be categorized as multiple-word utterances. The salient feature of these utterances is no longer the number of words, but variation in word-forms which begins to occur. Inflectional morphemes appear and utterances are characterized by strings of lexical morphemes in phrases such as Andrew want ball, cat drink, and this shoe all wet. These utterances are telegraphic because they usually leave out certain words that adult omit in telegrams, such as articles, auxiliary verbs and prepositions. The child has clearly developed some sentence-building capacity by this stage and can order the forms correctly.By the age of two and a half, the childs vocabulary is expanding rapidly and the child is actually more talkative. By three, the vocabulary has grown to hundreds of words and his pronunciation has become closer to the form of the adult language. The child is capable of carrying on a conversation in just the same way as an adult, although not on the same scale. Utterances containing multiple clauses appear, at first coordinating two clauses as in Theres his face and hes Mister George Happy. Later, the child subordinates one clause to another with subordinators like because, so and if in the early stages and then why and what: Me dont know where box is now; Why did you give to her when her been flu?By the age of five, the child reaches the adult grammar stages/he is a competent speaker already.2. Second language acquisition2.1 The conceptSecond language acquisition (L2 acquisition, SLA) generally refers to the development of ability in any other language after one has acquired his or her first language.A distinction is sometimes made between second language acquisition and foreign language learning. Second language acquisition takes place in a context where the target language functions as a recognized way of communication, while foreign language learning takes place in a context where the language plays no major role in the community and is primarily learnt in educational settings.Nevertheless, second language acquisition is generally used as a cover term for both second language acquisition and foreign language learning.2.2 Research questions for SLATwo broad questions are usually addressed in second language acquisition: What is acquired in the process of picking up a second language and how the process develops. Answers to these broad questions inevitably cover the nature and properties of the developing language system in the mind of the L2 learner, the factors that might affect second language acquisition, and the role of instruction in the process as well.2.3 Major theories in SLA2.3.1 Contrastive AnalysisBefore the SLA field was established, from the 1940s to 1960s, researchers typically conducted Contrastive Analysis (CA), systematically comparing native languages (NLs) and target languages (TLs) in order to identify similarities and differences. This was motivated by the Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis that where two languages are similar, positive transfer, or facilitation, would occur, and where they are different, negative transfer, or interference, would result. It was believed that with CA, L2 features difficult or easy for learning could be identified and predicted so as to improve the efficiency of foreign language teaching.Nevertheless, contrastive analysis was more successful in phonology than in other areas of language, and declined in the 1970s as learning difficulties began to be explained by other factors apart from mother tongue interferences.2.3.2 Error AnalysisError analysis (EA) refers to the analysis on errors made by second and foreign language learners. It developed as a branch of applied linguistics, and as an alternative to contrastive analysis, in the late 1960s, and achieved considerable popularity in the 1970s. It was motivated by the assumption that learners errors are not indications of imperfect learning; instead, errors are significant in that they may open a window into the learners mind, revealing processes of learning that might actually be creative.Attempts were made to develop classifications for different types of errors on the basis of the different processes that were assumed to account for them. A basic distinction was drawn between intralingual errors and interlingual errors.A learner may produce “He is comes”, based on a blend of the English structures “He is coming”, “He comes”. The errors of this kind are called intralingual errors, because they result from faulty or partial learning of the target language, rather than from language transfer. Errors which result from language transfer, that is, which are caused by the learners native language influence are called interlingual errors. For example, the incorrect English sentence “He comes from China, Beijing” is produced according to the word order of Chinese, instead of the correct English word order “He comes from Beijing, China”.2.3.3 Interlanguage TheoryHowever, on close examination, the language produced by learners contains a large number of “errors” which seem to have no relationship with the forms of either L1 or L2. Evidence of this sort suggests that there is some in-between system while acquiring L2, which certainly contains aspects of both L1 and L2 but is also an inherently variable system with rules of its own. This system is called an interlanguage and is now considered to be the basis of all L2 production.Interlanguage Theory is an appropriate starting point because it was the first major attempt to explain L2 acquisition. The key questions addressed by interlanguage theory are: (1) What processes are responsible for interlanguage construction? (2) What is the nature of interlanguage? and (3) What explanation is there for the fact that most L2 learners do not achieve full target language competence?Central to the concept of interlanguage is the concept of fossilization, which means that learners become permanently established in an interlanguage in a form, deviant from the TL norm, that continues to appear in performance regardless of further exposure to the TL. Aspects of pronunciation, vocabulary usage, and grammar may become fossilized in second or foreign language learning. The process of fossilization in L2 pronunciation is one obvious cause of a foreign accent. However, an interlanguage is not designed to fossilize. It will naturally develop and become a more effective means of communication, given appropriate conditions. What the nature of the interlanguage is, how fossilization occurs, and what count as the appropriate conditions for more successful IL development are some important questions for second language acquisition studies.2.4 Factors affecting SLAThe major factors that affect second language acquisition may include learner-external factors (e.g., sociocultural context, input, interaction, etc.), learner-internal factors (e.g., UG, L1 transfer, learning process, etc.), and learner differences.2.5 Learner differences2.5.1 Language aptitudeIt has been suggested that people differ in the extent to which they possess a natural ability for learning an L2. This ability, known as language aptitude, is believed to be partially related to general intelligence but also to be in part distinct. Language aptitude is thought to be a combination of various abilities, such as the ability to identify sound patterns in a new language, the ability to recognize the different grammatical functions of words in sentences, and the ability to infer language rules, and so on.The two well-known tests that have been devised, and which claim to be able to identify the components of language aptitude and measure them, were both written in North America in the 1960s. They are Carrolls Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT) and Pimsleurs Language Aptitude Battery (LAB). Both consist of a series of subtests that can measure a persons overall aptitude for language learning. According to Carroll, the components of language aptitude are:Phonemic coding ability: the ability to identify the sounds of a foreign language so that they can be remembered later. This ability is also regarded as related to the ability to handle sound-symbol relationships, for instance, to identify the sound which “th” stands for.Grammatical sensitivity: the ability to recognize the grammatical functions of words in sentences, for example, the subject and object of a sentence.Inductive language learning ability: the ability to identify patterns of correspondence and relations between form and meaning, for example, to recognize that in English “to” can denote direction and “at” location.Rote learning ability: the ability to form and remember associations between stimuli. This is believed to be important in vocabulary learning.Research concerning language aptitude has focused on whether and to what extent language aptitude is related to success in L2 learning. There is strong evidence that it is. Learners who score highly on language aptitude tests typically learn rapidly and achieve higher levels of L2 proficiency than learners who obtain low scores. In addition, research has shown that this is so whether the measure of L2 proficiency is some kind of formal language test or a measure of more communicative language use. Thus, it seems that aptitude is an important predictor of second language acquisition.2.5.2 Cognitive styleA cognitive style refers to an individuals preferred way of mentally processing (perceiving, conceptualizing, organizing, and recalling, etc.) information. Cognitive styles often affect learners individual preferences or needs for different learning conditions, which are called learning styles. Field dependenceField dependence and field independence have been studied as a difference of cognitive style in language learning. Field-independent learners are analytical, able to separate self, or objects viewed, from the surrounding context, tending to perceive elements independently of a context or field and focus on details. They tend to analyze L2 information that they are given and determine whether it is correct or not. They are predicted to develop a broader and deeper understanding of the L2 structure than those who take all L2 input at face value. They have a strong sense of personal identity and often seem insensitive to and distant from other people. They might, therefore, be expected to be less interested in developing communication skills in the L2.Field-dependent learners are more relational, operating holistically and having trouble separating self, or objects, from the surrounding field, tending to perceive the whole field or situation and focus on general meaning. They tend to accept L2 information exactly as it is presented to them by the teacher, with little personal analysis. They are very reliant on other peoples judgment of them and positive feedback in L2 learning. They tend to be seen as outgoing and interested in others and so would be expected to develop good interpersonal communication skills in the L.2 ReflectivityAnother dimension of cognitive style concerns the difference in reflectivity (or impulsivity). Reflective learners are usually more systematic and cautious in learning L2, tending to make slower and more calculated decisions. Impulsive learners are usually more intuitive and more willing to take risks in learning L2, te