10. Toward a Theory of Second Language Acquisition
* what is SLA?
: is a subset of general human learning
: involves cognitive variations
: is closely related to one's personality type
: is interwoven with second culture learning
: involves interference, the creation of new linguistic systems, and the learning of discourse and communicative functions of language
: is often characterized by stages of learning and developmental trial and error processes
1) Building a theory of SLA
: a theory of SLA includes an understanding, in general, of what language is, what learning is, and for classroom contexts, what teaching is
: in comparing and contrasting first and second language acquisition, it is impossible to ignore affective and cultural variables and differences between adult and child cognition
: no single component of this 'theory' is sufficient alone: the interaction and interdependence of the other components are necessary
1-1) Hypotheses and Claims
Lightbown, 1985 (p.288-289)
Lightbown &Spada, 1993 (p.289)
* Are the Claims Right?
: debatable
: all such claims are the beginnings of theory buildings
: as we carefully examine each claim, add others to it, and then refine them into sets of tenable hypotheses, we begin to build a theory
1-2) SLA based on Chaos/Complexity Theory (Larsen-Freeman, 1997)
① beware of false dichotomies (many concepts in SLA fields are on continua)
② beware of linear, causal approaches to theorizing (so many interacting factors)
③ beware of overgeneralization
④ beware of reductionist thinking/ oversimplification
1-3) Criteria for a Comprehensive Theory of SLA (Long, 1990)
① account for universals
② account for environmental facts
③ account for variability in age, acquisition rate, and proficiency level
④ explain both cognitive and affective factors
⑤ account for form-focused learning, not just subconscious acquisition
⑥ account for other variables besides exposure and input
⑦ account for cognitive/innate factors which explain interlanguage systematicity
⑧ recognize that acquisition is not a steady accumulation of generalizations
2) Hot Topics in SLA Research
2-1) Explicit and Implicit learning
: explicit learning involves conscious awareness and intention
: explicit learning is input processing to find out whether the input information contains regularities and, if so, to work out the concepts and rules with which these regularities can be captured
: implicit learning is learning without conscious attention or awareness, or in the words of John Williams
: implicit learning occurs without intention to learn and without awareness of what has been learned
: intentional and incidental learning
: focal and peripheral attention
2-2) Awareness
: it seems to be quite advantageous, for learners to become aware of their own strengths and weaknesses and to consciously wield strategic options in their acquisition process
2-3) Input and Output
2-4) Frequency
*
-Behavioristic Approaches -> No viable behavioristic model of SLA
-The Nativist/Cognitive Approaches -> An innatist model, two cognitive models
-Functional/Cognitivist Approaches -> A social constructivist theory
3) An Innate Model: Krashen's input hypothesis
3-1) Five Hypotheses
① Acquisition-Learning Hypotheses
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acquisition
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subconscious and intuitive process of constructing the system of a language
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learning
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learners attend to form, figure our rules, and are generally aware of their own process
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: fluency in second language performance is due to what we have acquired, not what we have learned
: adults should do as much acquiring as possible in order to achieve communicative fluency
: learning cannot 'become' acquisition
② Monitor Hypotheses
: monitor is involved in learning
: only once fluency is established should an optimal amount of monitoring, or editing, be employed by the learner
③ Natural Order Hypotheses
: we acquire language rules in a predictable or 'natural' order
④ Input Hypotheses
: the acquirer understand input language that contains structure 'a bit beyond' his or her current level of competence
: if an acquirer is at stage or level i, the input he or she understands should contain i+1
: speech will 'emerge' once the acquirer has built up enough comprehensible input (i+1)
⑤ Affective Filter Hypotheses
: the best acquisition will occur in environments where anxiety is low and defensiveness absent, in contexts where the 'affective filter' is low
3-2) Evaluations of the Five Hypotheses
: SLA is not as simply defined as Krashen would claim
: his assumption have been hotly disputed
① fussy distinction btw subconscious (acquisition) and conscious (learning) processes (: too simplify)
② continuum: no interface-no overlap-btw acquisition and learning
③ meaningfulness, subsumability: the notion of i+1 is nothing new. Not defined i and 1
④ Krashen's i+1 also closely approximates Vogotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
: ZPD comes out of an entirely different set of premises, namely, a social interactionist perspective that emphasizes the importance of others to aid learners in what they cannot do alone
3-3) The Output Hypothesis
: success in a foreign language must be attributed to input alone
: it is important to distinguish between input and intake
: intake is the subset of all input that actually gets assigned to our long-term memory store
: Seliger(1983)-learners who maintained high levels of interaction (High Input Generators) in the second language, both in the classroom and outside, progressed at a faster rate than learners who interacted little (Low Input Generators) in the classroom
* Output Hypothesis
: output was as significant as input in explaining learner success
: output serves an important role in second language acquisition because it generates highly specific input
the cognitive system needs to build up a coherent set of knowledge
: Swain (2005, 1995), learners may notice their erroneous attempts to convey meaning, and that the act of producing language itself can prompt learners to recognize linguistic shortcoming
: output serves as a means to 'try out' one's language, to test various hypotheses that are forming
: speech (and writing) can offer a means for the learner to reflect (productively) on language itself in interaction with peers
: TESOL Quarterly, extended opportunities to produce output and receive relevant input were found to be crucial in improving learners' use of the grammatical structure
4) Cognitive models
4-1) McLaughlin's Attention-Processing Model
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controlled
processes
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capacity limited and temporary
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as typical of anyone learning a brand new skill in which only a very few elements of the skill can be retained
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automatic
processes
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relatively permanent
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refer to processing in a more accomplished skill
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generally characterized as fast, relatively unstoppable, independent of the amount of information being processed, effortless, and unconscious
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is accomplished by a process of restructuring
* restructuring is conceptually synonymous with Ausubel's construct of subsumption
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(p.300)
: both can occur with either focal or peripheral attention
：focal and peripheral attention actually occur simultaneously, and the questions: what occupies a person's focal and peripheral attention?
: all of these perceptions, from highly focal to very peripheral, are within the awareness of the child
: there is no long-term learning(of new material) without awareness
: How does McLaughlin's model apply to practical aspects of learning a second language?
: McLaughlin's Attention-Processing Model to SLA (p.302)
4-2) Implicit and Explicit Models
: explicit category are the facts that a person knows about language and the ability to articulate those facts in some way
: implicit knowledge is information that is automatically and spontaneously used in language tasks
: implicit processes enables a learner to perform language but not necessarily to cite rules governing the performance
* Bialystock, unanalyzed and analyzed knowledge
: unanalyzed knowledge is the general form in which we know most things without being aware of the structure of that knowledge
: but at the analyzed end, learners can verbalize complex rules governing language
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automatic
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knowledge that can be retrieved easily and quickly
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nonautomatic
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knowledge that takes time and effort to retrieve
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: both forms of attention can be either analyzed or unanalyzed
: the length of time that a learner takes before oral production performance can be indicative of the perceived complexity of certain language forms in a task
: Mehnert (1998), planning time had a significant effect on the accuracy and fluency of second language learners' production
5) A Social Constructivist model: Long's interaction hypothesis
: the innatist model and the two cognitive models of SLA, both focus to a considerable extent on the learner
: the social constructivist perspectives emphasize the dynamic nature of the interplay between learners and their peers and their teachers and others with whom they interact
: the interaction between learners and others is the focus of observation and explanation
* interaction hypothesis: comprehensible input is the result of modified interaction
: interaction and input are two major players in the process of acquisition
: principles of awareness, autonomy, and authenticity lead the learner into Vygotsky's (1978) zone of proximal development (ZPD), in which new language through socially mediated interaction
: Long's hypothesis centers us on the language classroom as a place where the contexts for interaction are carefully designed, not just as a place where learners of varying abilities and styles and backgrounds mingle
