二语习得的研究综述

1、the recent history of second language learning research xxwe will limit ourselves to the post-war period, which has seen the development of theorizing about second language learning from an adjunct to language pedagogy, to an autonomous field of research. the period since the 1950s can itself be div

2、ided into three main phases. 1. 1950-19602. 19703. 1980-199030 xxii. the recent history of second language learning researchwe will start with the 1950s and 1960s and a short description of how second languages were believed to be learnt at the time. we will then describe the impact of the chomskyan

3、 revolution in linguistics on the field of language acquisition, initially on the study of first language acquisition, and subsequently that of second language acquisition. 30+ the recent history of second language learning researchw chomskyan revolutionw以转换 生成语法著称的乔式语言结构理论。1957年因他的句法结构的发表而使语言学研究革命化

4、。到 60年代中期，chomsky开始强调语言对研究人类心灵所起的关键作用。他认为语言学应视为认知心理学的一个分支，这一观点主要在语言与心理中作了论证。正是他思想的这一方面广泛吸引了语言学以外的学者，特别是在哲学界和心理学界。w 31 the recent history of second language learning researchw tg grammar (transformational-generative grammar)w a theory of grammar which was proposed by the chomsky in 1957. it has since

5、 been developed by him and many other linguists. chomsky attempted to provide a model for the description of all languages. a tg grammar tries to show, with a system of rules, the knowledge which a native speaker of a language uses in forming grammatical sentences.w转换生成语法试图用一套规则把操本族语者用以产生合乎语法的句子的知识显

6、示出来. 32 s np vpdetnv np thepoliceraisehisrevolverndetthe recent history of second language learning researchw 1. the 1950s and 1960sw in the 1950s and early 1960s, theorizing about language learning was still very much an adjunct to the practical business of language teaching. however, the idea that

7、 language teaching methods had to be justified in terms of and underlying learning theory was well established. at that time the general learning theory dominant in mainstream psychology was behaviorism. w the recent history of second language learning researchw behaviorismw a theory of psychology w

8、hich states that human and animal behavior can and should be studied in terms of physical processes only (including language) it led to theories of learning which explained how an external event ( a stimulus) caused a change in the behavior of an individual ( a response) without using concepts like

9、“mind” or “ideas”, or any kind of mental behavior. 34+the recent history of second language learning researchw行为主义是心理学的一个理论，说明人和动物的行为只能且必须从生理过程的角度来研究，受它影响而产生的学习理论解释了人是如何受外部事件（刺激）的影响产生行为变化（反应）而不需要“意向” 或“意念”或任何内心行为等概念。 35the recent history of second language learning researchw behaviorism in linguisti

10、cswin the behaviorist view, language leaning is seen like any other kind of leaning, as the formation of habits. it stems from work in psychology which saw the learning of any kind of behavior as being based on the notions of stimulus and response. this view sees human beings as being exposed to num

11、erous stimuli in their environment. the response they give to such stimuli will be reinforced if successful, that is if some desired outcome is obtained. through repeated reinforcement, a certain stimulus will elicit the same response time and again, which will then become a habit. the learning of a

12、ny skill is as the formation of habits, that is the creation of stimulus-response pairings which become stronger with reinforcement. w 36 xx e.g.the recent history of second language learning researchwxx from a teaching point of view, the implications of this approach were twofold. first, it was str

13、ongly believe that practice makes perfect; in other words, learning would take place by imitating and repeating the same structures time after time. second, teachers needed to focus their teaching on structures which were believed to be difficult, and as we saw above, difficult structures would be t

14、hose that were different in the l1 and the l2. w 37the recent history of second language learning researchw examples:w （与l1不同之处，是l2学习的困难之处）w 1. he studies englishw 2. he does not study english.w 3. does he study english?w 4. what does he study? w w 37+ the recent history of second language learning

15、researchw the logical outcome of such believes about the learning process was that effective teaching would concentrate on areas of difference, and that the best pedagogical tool for foreign language teachers therefore a sound knowledge of those areas. 38 the recent history of second language learni

16、ng researchw researchers embarked on the huge task of comparing pairs of languages in order to pinpoint areas of difference, therefore of difficulty. this was termed contrastive analysis. 38 +the recent history of second language learning researchw ca: the comparison of the linguistic systems of two

17、 languages, for example the sound system or the grammatical system. contrastive analysis was developed and practiced in the 1950s and 1960s, as an application of structural linguistics (based on the theory of behaviorism) to language teaching, and is based on the following assumptions:w a. the main

18、difficulties in learning a new language are w caused by interference from the first languagew b. these difficulties can be predicted by contrastivew analysis. 39w the recent history of second language learning researchw c. teaching materials can make use of contrastive analysisw to reduce the effect

19、s of interferencew contrastive analysis was more successful in phonology than in other areas of language, and declined in the 1970s as interference was replaced by other explanations of learning difficulties. in recent years, contrastive analysis has been applied to other areas of language, for exam

20、ple the discourse systems. w 40the recent history of second language learning researchw ca: a.对比分析 学习一门新的语言，其主要困难来自第一语言的干扰 b. 困难可以通过对比分析来预测 c. 运用对比分析来编写教材，可以减少干扰的影响。到了70年代 error analysis 取而代之。w 41the recent history of second language learning research behaviorism under attackw starting in the 1950s

21、and continuing 1960s, both the fields of linguistics and of psychology witnessed major developments. linguistics saw a shift from structural linguistics （based on behaviorism）, which was based on the description of the surface structure of a large corpus of language, to generative linguistics （havin

22、g the ability to create sentences by using a persons innate language ability, not learn from others, producing sentences by oneself）which emphasized the rule-governed and creative nature of human language. this shift had been initiated by the publication of syntactic structures, the first of many in

23、fluential books by noam chomsky. 43the recent history of second language learning researchw structuralist linguisticsw 结构语言学用来指任何一种注重用结构和系统明确描写语言特征的语言分析法。一般的索绪尔式的结构主义思想已溶入语言学的每一个学派。但是结构主义还有一个较狭窄的定义，指的是布龙菲尔德式的方法，即强调话段（即乔姆斯基后来称作表层结构的）有形特征的切分和分类程序，不怎麽考虑语言抽象的底层结构（乔姆斯基的深层结构）。正是这种强调遭到乔姆斯基式语言理论的强烈批评；因此对生成语

24、言学而言，这个名词常带有贬意。 44 the recent history of second language learning researchw structuralist linguisticsw an approach to linguistics which stresses the importance of language as a system and which investigates the place that linguistic units such as sounds, words, sentences have within this system. w结构

25、语言学强调把语言作为一个系统来研究的重要性结构语言学强调把语言作为一个系统来研究的重要性, 并研究语并研究语音音,单词单词 ,句子等语言单位在这个系统中的地位句子等语言单位在这个系统中的地位.wstructuralist linguistics is often used to refer to a group of american linguists such as bloomfield and frics , who published mainly in the 1930s a to 1950s. the work of these linguists was based on the

26、 theory of behaviorism and had a considerable influence on some language teaching methods. (audiolingual method is based on behaviorism; language is learned through forming habits) 语言通过形成习惯而习得. the recent history of second language learning researchw structural linguistics was established to focus o

27、n language structures, primarily those which are different from those in typical indo-european languages. w structural linguistics would emphasize that a sentence have a noun and verb in agreement, while traditionally, a sentence needs to be a complete thought. the recent history of second language

28、learning researchw structural linguists also believed that the linguistic behaviors of the members of a speech community were based on orderly structures that each member of the community shared. the recent history of second language learning researchw structural linguistics has been proven very use

29、ful in the analysis of the process of linguistic behavior. we now have a better way of learning how people acquire language and also how speakers communicate meaning to their listeners. this type of information is useful to teachers of english as a first or a second language and similar teachers of

30、language around the world. it is also useful in understanding the way that different cultures communicate their intentions to each other, as well as communication which occurs within a single culture. the recent history of second language learning researchw in the field of psychology, the pre-eminen

31、t role for the environment which was argued by skinner in shaping the childs learning and behavior was losing ground in favor of more developmentalist views of learning, such as piagets (皮亚杰) cognitive developmental theory, in which inner forces drive the child, in interaction with the environment.

32、w 45 the recent history of second language learning researchw jean piaget, the pioneering swiss philosopher and psychologist, spent much of his professional life listening to children, watching children and poring over reports of researchers around the world who were doing the same. he found, to put

33、 it most succinctly, that children dont think like grownups. after thousands of interactions with young people often barely old enough to talk, piaget began to suspect that behind their cute and seemingly illogical utterances were thought processes that had their own kind of order and their own spec

34、ial logic.the recent history of second language learning researchw his researches in developmental psychology and genetic epistemology had one unique goal: how does knowledge grow? his answer is that the growth of knowledge is a progressive construction of logically embedded structures superseding o

35、ne another by a process of inclusion of lower less powerful logical means into higher and more powerful ones up to adulthood. therefore, childrens logic and modes of thinking are initially entirely different from those of adults. the recent history of second language learning researchw piagets genet

36、ic epistemology 发生认知论发生认知论wa term used to describe the theories of developmental psychology of the swiss psychologist jean piaget (1896-1980). he listed several different stages which children pass through in mental development. the first stage is the sensorimotor stage (感觉运动期)，from birth to about 2

37、4 months. it lasts from birth to about two years old. as the name implies, the infant uses senses and motor abilities to understand the world, beginning with reflexes and ending with complex combinations of sensorimotor skills.they can use mental combinations to solve simple problems, such as puttin

38、g down a toy in order to open a door. and they get good at pretending. instead of using dollies essentially as something to sit at, suck on, or throw, now the child will sing to it, tuck it into bed, and so on. 46the recent history of second language learning researchw the next three stages are a mo

39、vement towards more abstract processes. during the pre-operational stage(前运思期), from about two to seven years. the child has mental representations and is able to pretend, it is a short step to the use of symbols. a symbol is a thing that represents something else. a drawing, a written word, or a sp

40、oken word comes to be understood as representing a real dog. the use of language is, of course, the prime example, but another good example of symbol use is creative play, wherein checkers are cookies, papers are dishes, a box is the table, and so on. by manipulating symbols, we are essentially thin

41、king, in a way the infant could not: in the absence of the actual objects involved! 47the recent history of second language learning researchw the concrete operational stage（具体运思期)from about seven to eleven years is the period when children begin to use mental operations and acquire a number of conc

42、epts of conservation. the word operations refers to logical operations or principles we use when solving problems. in this stage, the child not only uses symbols representationally, but can manipulate those symbols logically. quite an accomplishment! but, at this point, they must still perform these

43、 operations within the context of concrete situations. w the younger child may start putting things in order by, say size, but will quickly lose track. now the child has no problem with such a task. since arithmetic is essentially nothing more than classification and seriation, the child is now read

44、y for some formal education! the recent history of second language learning researchw during the formal operational stage（正式运思期）, from about eleven onwards, children are able o deal with abstract concepts and propositions, and to make hypotheses, inferences, and deductions.the recent history of seco

45、nd language learning researchw the concrete operations child has a hard time applying his new-found logical abilities to non-concrete - i.e. abstract - events. if mom says to junior “you shouldnt make fun of that boys nose. how would you feel if someone did that to you?” he is likely to respond “i d

46、ont have a big nose!” even this simple lesson may well be too abstract, too hypothetical, for his kind of thinking. w from around 12 on, we enter the formal operations stage. here we become increasingly competent at adult-style thinking. this involves using logical operations, and using them in the

47、abstract, rather than the concrete. the recent history of second language learning researchw piagets genetic epistemology 发生认知论w 1. birth 2 sensorimotor stage (感觉运动期)w 2. 2 7 pre-operational stage (前运思期)w 3. 7 11 concrete operational stage (具体运思期)w 4. 11 - formal operational stage (正式运思期)the recent

48、history of second language learning researchw the clash of views about the way in which we learn language came to a head at the end of the 1950s with two publications. these were skinners verbal behavior in 1957 which outlined in detail his behaviorist view of learning as applied to language, and ch

49、omskys review of skinners book, published in 1959, which was a fierce critique of skinners views. 48the recent history of second language learning researchw chomskys criticisms centered on a number of issues.w 1. the creativity of language: children do not learn and reproduce a large set of sentence

50、s, but they routinely create new sentences that they have never learnt before. this is only possible because they internalize rules rather than strings of words; extremely common examples of utterances such as it breaked or mummy goed show clearly that children are not copying the language around th

51、em but apply rules. the recent history of second language learning researchw chomsky was incensed by the idea that you could compare the behavior of rats in a lab, learning to perform simple tasks, to the behavior of children learning language without direct teaching, a fundamentally different task

52、because of its sheer complexity and abstractness. 49the recent history of second language learning researchw 2. given the complexity and abstractness of linguistic rules (for example, the rules underlying the use of reflexive pronouns in english), it is amazing that children are able to master them

53、so quickly and efficiently, especially given the limited input they receive. the recent history of second language learning researchw furthermore, children have been shown not to be usually corrected on the form of their utterances but rather on their truth values. then correction does take place, i

54、t seems to have very little effect on the development of language structure. 50 exthe recent history of second language learning researchw 2. the 1970sw in the 1970s researchers found striking similarities in the language learning behavior of young children, whatever the language they were learning,

55、 it seems that children all over the world go through similar stages, use similar constructions in order to express similar meanings, and make the same kinds of errors. the stages can be summarized as follows:w language stage beginning agew crying birthw cooing 6 weeks 51the recent history of second

56、 language learning researchw babbling6 monthsw intonation patterns8 monthsw one-word utterances1 year*w two-word utterance18 monthsw word inflections2 yearsw questions, negatives2 years 3 monthsw rare or complex constructions 5 yearsw mature speech10 years 52 xxthe recent history of second language

57、learning researchw roger browns so-called morpheme study is probably the best-known l1 study of that time, and was to be very influential for second language acquisition research. in an in-depth study of three children of different backgrounds, he compared the development of fourteen grammatical mor

58、phemes in english. he found that although the rate at which children learnt these morphemes varied, the order in which they acquired them remained the same for all children, as listed below in a simplified form. w 53the recent history of second language learning researchw present progressiveboy sing

59、ingw prepositionsdolly in carw plural sweetiesw past irregularbrokew possessivebabys biscuitw articlesa carw past regularwantedw 3rd person singulareatsw auxiliary behe is running. 54the recent history of second language learning researchw what is striking is that, not only do children acquire a num

60、ber of grammatical morphemes in a fixed order, but they also follow fairly rigid stages during the acquisition of a given area of grammar. (ellis) 55 xxthe recent history of second language learning researchwstage 1: negative utterances consist of a nucleus (i.e. the positive proposition) either pre