Lecture 2 Behaviorist learning theory

Lecture2 BehaviorismVsMentalism Questionstoconsider WhatisSLA Howtodistinguishbetween secondlanguage and foreignlanguage acquisition and learning WhataretheobjectivesofSLAstudy Whatdoyouthinkofthenatureoflanguagelearning OneofthetwomajortasksofSLAistodescribethecomplicatedprocessesoflanguagelearning Attemptstodescribelearnerlanguageandacquisitionprocessesleadtomanyquestionswhichresearchersarestilltryingtoanswertoday Forinstance islanguageacquisitionapurelymentalactivityorpartofhumanbehaviour 1 Behavioristlearningtheory Uptothelate1960s therewerestillveryfewattemptstostudytheactuallearnerlanguageortoexaminetheprocessoftheSLA Viewsoflanguagelearninginthoseyearswerealmostentirelyderivedfromthebehaviouristpsychology Accordingtothistheory apersonlearninganL2startsoffwiththehabitsformedintheL1andmoveontothenewhabit formationofL2 SLAisthusviewedasahabit formationprocessofstimulus responseconnection andit sbasicallyakindof shapingbehavior Thisviewwasderivedfromatheoryoflearningingeneral BehavioristpsychologistlikeWatson 1924 andSkinner 1957 setouttoexplainbehaviorbyobservingtheresponsesthattookplacewhenparticularstimuliwerepresentedonanimals Watson Oneofthebestknownstudiesis theSkinnerbox experiment Itcontainsoneormoreleverswhichananimalcanpress oneormorestimuluslightsandoneormoreplacesinwhichreinforcerslikefoodcanbedelivered Skinner InSkinner sexperiment astarvedratwasintroducedintothebox Whentheleverwaspressedbytherat asmallpelletoffoodwasdropped Theratsoonlearnedthatwhenhepressedtheleverhewouldreceivesomefood anditwouldpresstheleverrepeatedly Inthisexperimenttheleverpressingbehaviorisreinforcedbyfood Ifpressingtheleverisreinforced theratgetsfood whenalightisonbutnotwhenitisoff responses pressingthelever continuetobemadeinthelightbutseldominthedark Therathasformeddiscriminationbetweenlightanddark Whenoneturnsonthelight aresponseoccurs HereSkinnerdemonstratedtheideasof operantconditioning 操作性条件反射 and shapingbehavior Operantconditioningistherewardingofanactthatapproachesanewdesiredbehavior Shapingbehavior meansthatbehaviourorperformanceisshapedbytheoutsidestimulus eventhoughitisdominatedorcontrolledbythemind Psychologyisactuallytheresponseoftheoutsidestimulus Ifthestimulusoccurssufficientlyfrequently theresponsebecomespracticedandthereforeautomatic Thelearningbehaviouroftheratprovedallthis Skinnerappliedhisfindingsaboutanimalstohumanbehaviorandevendevelopedteachingmachinessostudentscouldlearnbitbybit Computer basedself instructionusesmanyoftheprinciplesofSkinner stechnique AccordingtoBehaviourism theprocessoflanguageacquisitionistheprocessofhabitformation Habitareformedwhenlearnersrespondtostimuliinthelanguageenvironmentandsubsequentlyhavetheirresponsesreinforcedsothattheyareremembered Thus alanguagehabitisastimulus responseconnection Evidencescanbeeasilyfoundinchildren sfirstlanguageacquisition Forachildlearningtotalk ifthechildsays wantamilky andgetssomemilkfrommotherorthecaretaker shemaymakethesameutteranceagainnexttimeshewantsmilk Therepeatedrewardofgettingsomemilkservesasreinforcementandhelpstoestablishthehabitofcallingmilk milky Secondlanguageacquisitionwasthusviewedasaprocessofovercomingthehabitsofthenativelanguageinordertoacquirethenewhabitsofthetargetlanguage Thiswastobeaccomplishedthroughthepedagogicalpracticesofdialoguememorization imitation patternpracticeandreinforcement Accordingtobehavioristlearningtheory oldhabitsgetinthewayoflearningnewhabits WhereSLAisconcerned previouslearningofL1preventsorinhibitsthelearningofnewL2habits thisiscalledinterferenceorproactiveinhibition InordertodevelopthenewhabitsofL2 thelearnerhastoovercomeproactiveinhibitionofL1 Transferwillbenegativewhenthereisproactiveinhibition Inthiscaseerrorswillresult Transferwillbepositivewhenthefirstandsecondlanguagehabitsarethesame Inthiscase noerrorswilloccur ThusdifferencesbetweenL1andL2createlearningdifficulty whilethesimilaritiesfacilitaterapidandeasylearning Thebehaviouristtheorywasresponsiblefortheextensiveuseoftheaudio lingualmethodinL2teaching themethodofrepeatedlisteninganddrillingofthesamesentences Thestartingpointofaudiolingualmethodisalinguisticsyllabus whichcontainsthekeyitemsofphonology morphology andsyntaxofthelanguag Correctpronunciation stress rhythm intonationandsentencepatternsofthedialogueareemphasized asstimula Drills imitation repetitionandmemorization formthebasisofaudiolingualclassroompractice Overlearning throughimitationandreinforcementwillmakestudents utterancebecomeautomatic Qustionsfordiscussion WhatdoyouthinkoftheBehavioristtheory HaveyoufoundanytracesinyourpastlearningofEnglish Implications Comprehensibleinputasstimuli morepracticeasresponse likememorization patterndrills imitation roleplay etc senseofachievementasreinforcement morepraiseandencouragement lesscriticismandblameCultivatetargetlanguagethinkingmode avoidthenegativetransferofmothertonguehabit Defects 1 BehavioristaccountsofL2acquisitionemphasizeonlywhatcanbedirectlyobserved i e the input tothelearnerandthelearner sown output andignorewhatgoesoninthe blackbox ofthelearner smind 2 BehaviorismcannotadequatelyaccountforL2acquistion Actually learnersfrequentlydonotproducethesameoutputasinput differentlearnersmayrespondtothesamestimulusdifferentlyforvariousreasons eventhoughtheyareallactivelyinvolvedinthesamelearningactivity Inshort learningisnotjustaresponsetoexternalstimuli 2 Mentalistviewoflanguagelearning TheobviousinadequaciesofbehavioristexplanationsofL2acquisitionledresearcherstolooktowardsanalternativetheoreticalframework Researchersswitchedtheirattentionfrom nurture i e howenvironmentalfactorsshapelearning to nature i e howtheinnatepropertiesofthehumanmindshapelearning Inthe1960sand1970sameantalisttheoryoffirstlanguage L1 acquisitionemerged representedbyChomsky Accordingtothistheory 1 Onlyhumanbeingsarecapableoflearninglanguage 2 Thehumanmindisequippedwithafacultyforlearninglaguage referredtoasLanguageAcquisitionDevice LAD Thisisseparatefromthefacultiesresponsibleforotherkindsofcognitiveactivity forexample logicalreasoning 3 Chomskyalsobelievesthattherearesomeuniversalgrammaticalpropertiesthatallnaturallanguageshare UG andthatenablechildrentolearntheirnativelaguageswithamazingfacilityandspeed Cook 1985 summarizedtheChomskyanposition defining universalgrammar as thepropertiesinherentinthehumanmind Universalgrammarconsistsofasetofgeneralprinciplesthatapplytoalllanguagesratherthanasetofparticularrules 4 Inputisneeded butonlyto trigger theoperationofthelanguageacquisitiondevice ChildrenareassumedtobeabletointerpretandunconsciouslyanalyzetheinputtheyreceiveandconstructtheappropriateL1grammar AsChomsky 1995 contended achilddoesnotonlylearnhisfirstlanguagebyimitation butbycreativehypothesis testingofthelinguisticinputintheLanguageAcquisitionDevice LAD Thechildhearsallkindsofutterances buthechoosesonlyfitshisneed Forexample hemayhear Givemesomemilk Passmethemilkplease or Iwantsomemilk butwhenheishungry heonlysays Mummy milk Thisshowsthatheisnotrepeatingwhatheheard butisproducingnewutterances Tosumup BehaviouristaccountsofSLAemphasizetheimportanceofenvironmentalfactorsandlearner simitationandresponse Mentalismemphasizesthelearner sinnatementalcapacitiesforacquiringalan