-
17. Second language acquisition / learning
17.1
Acquisition
barriers
17.2
Acquisition
&
Learning
17.3
The affective filter
17.4
Educational approaches and
methods
17.4.1 Focus on
method
Grammar-translation method
Audiolingual method
Communicative approaches
17.4.2 Focus on the learner
Errors
Creative construction
Transfer
Interlanguage
Motivation
17.5
Input
&
Output
17.6
Communicative competence
Grammatical competence
Sociolinguistic competence
Strategic competence
17.7
Applied linguistics
17.1
Acquisition barriers
?
Most
people
attempt
to
learn
another
language
during
their
teenage
or
adult
years,
in
a
few
hours each
week of school time (rather than via the constant
interaction experienced by a child),
with a lot of other occupation (the
child has little else to do), and with an already
known language
available for most of
their daily communicative requirements.
?
Adults
?
tongues
?
get
stiff
?
from pronouncing one
type of language (e.g. English) and just cannot
cope with the new sounds of another
language (e.g. French or Janpanese).
(It
?
s a cute
idea, but there is no physical evidence to support
it.)
17.2
Acquisition
&
Learning
acquisition
learning
?
the gradual development of
ability in a language by
?
a
conscious
process
of
accumulating
using it
naturally in communicative situations
knowledge
of
the
vocabulary
and
grammar of a language. (e.g.
Mathematics
is learned, not acquired)
?
Activities
associated
with
acquisition
are
those
experienced by the
young child and, analogously, by
those
who
?
pick
up
?
another
language
from
long
periods
spent
in
social
interaction
(daily
use
of
the
language) in another country.
?
Activities associated with
learning have
traditionally
been
used
in
language
teaching
in
schools,
and
tend,
when
successful, to result in knowledge
?
about
?
the language studied.
?
Those whose L2 experience
is primarily a learning one tend not to develop
the proficiency of
those who have had
an acquiring experience.
?
Even in ideal acquisition
situations,
very few adults
seem to reach native-like proficiency
in
using a second language. There are
individuals who can achieve great expertise in
writing, but not
in speaking.
One
example
is
the
author
Joseph
Conrad
1
,
whose
novels
have
become
classics
of
English
literature,
but
whose English speech is reported to
have retained the strong Polish accent of his
first language.
?
This
might
suggest
that
some
features
(e.g.
vocabulary,
grammar)
of
a
second
language
are
easier to acquire than others (e.g.
phonology).
?
Although it continues to be a matter of some
debate, this type of observation is sometimes
taken
as evidence that, after the
Critical Period has passed (around puberty), it
becomes very difficult to
acquire
another language fully.
?
In
support
of
this
view,
the
process
of
lateralization
of
the
brain
(Chapter
15)
is
cited
as
a
crucial
factor.
We
might
think
of
this
process
in
terms
of
the
?
language-
faculty
?
being
strongly
taken over by the
features of the L1, with a resulting loss of
flexibility or openness to receive the
features of another language.
?
Against this view, it has
been demonstrated that students in their early
teens are quicker and
more effective L2
learners than, for example, seven-year-olds. The
optimum age may be during
the years
from ten to sixteen when the
?
flexibility
?
of the
language acquisition faculty has not been
completely lost, and the maturation of
cognitive skills allows a
more
effective
?
working
out
?
of
thee
regular features of the L2 encountered.
17.3
The
affective filter
Teenagers are typically much more self-
conscious than young children.
?
If
there
is
a
strong
element
of
unwillingness
or
embarrassment
in
attempting
to
produce
the
?
different
?
sounds of
other language, then it may override whatever
physical and cognitive abilities
there
are.
?
If this
self-consciousness is combined with a lack of
empathy
2
with the
foreign culture (e.g. no
identification
with its speakers or their customs), then the
subtle affects of not wanting to sound
like a Russian or an American may
strongly inhibit the acquisition process.
?
This
type
of
emotional
reaction,
or
affect
3
,
may
even
be
associated
by
dull
textbooks,
unpleasant classroom surroundings or an
exhausting schedule.
?
The
term
affective
filter
4
is often
used to describe a kind of barrier to acquisition
that results
from negative feelings or
experiences
?
Basically, if
you
?
re stressed,
uncomfortable, self-conscious or unmotivated, you
are unlikely to
learn anything.
?
Children seem to be less
constrained by the affective filter.
The literature on child L2 acquisition
is full of instances where such inhibitions appear
to have been overcome
by young children
acquiring a second language.
?
Adults can sometimes
overcome their inhibitions too.
In one
intriguing study, a group of adult L2 learners had
their ?self
-
consciousness?
l
evels reduced by having
their
alcohol
levels
gradually
increased.
Up
to
a
certain
point,
the
pronunciation
o
fthe
L2
noticeably
improved, but
after a number of drinks, as you might expect,
pronunciations deteriorated rapidly. Coursed on
“French
-with-
cognac
” or “Russian
-with-
vodka”
may provide a partial
solution, but the inhibitions are likely to
return with sobriety.
17.4
Educational
approaches and methods
17.4.1 Focus on method
Despite
all
these
barriers,
the
need
for
instruction
in
other
languages
has
led
to
a
variety
of
educational approaches and methods
which are aimed at fostering L2 learning.
?
Grammar-translation method
语法翻译法
-This
method has its roots in the traditional approach
to the teaching of Latin
-To treat
second, or foreign, language learning on a par
with any other academic subject.
-Long
lists
of
words
and
a
set
of
grammatical
rules
have
to
be
memorized,
and
the
written
language rather than the spoken
language is emphasized.
?
Its
emphasis
on
learning
about
the
L2
leaves
students
quite
ignorant
of how
the
language
is
used.
?
Learners
leaving school, having achieved high grades in
French class via this method, typically
find
themselves
at
a
loss
when
confronted
by
the
way
the
French
in
France
actually
use
their
language.
?
Audiolingual
method
听说法
-emphasizing the spoken language,
became, popular in the 1950s
-This
involved a systematic presentation of the
structures of the L2, moving from the simple to
the
more complex, often in the form of
drills
5
which the
student had to repeat.
?
This approach
was strongly influenced by a belief
that
the fluent use of a language was
essentially a
set
of
?
habits
?
which
could
be
developed
with
a
lot
of
practice.
Much
of
this
practice
involved
hours spent in a language laboratory
repeating oral drills.
This
approach
was
justified
by
claims
that
“
foreign-language
learning
is
basically
a
mechanical
process of habit
formation
”
(quoted in
Rivers, 1964).
?
Its critics point out that
isolated practice in drilling language patterns
bears no resemblance to the
interactional nature of actual language
use. Moreover, it can be incredibly boring.
?
Communicative approaches
交际法
-Based on a
view that the functions of language (i.e. what it
is used for) should be emphasized
rather than the forms of the language
(i.e. correct grammatical or phonological
structure).
?
Lessons are likely to be organized around concepts
such as
“
asking for
things
”
in different social
contexts, rather than
“
the forms of the past
tense
”
in different
sentences.
?
These
changes
have
coincided
with
attempts
to
provide
more
appropriate
materials
for
L2
learning
which has a specific purpose (e.g. English for
medical personnel or Japanese for business
people).
17.4.2
Focus on the learner
The most fundamental change in the area
of L2 learning in recent years has been a shift
from concern with the
teacher, the
textbook and the method to an interest in the
learner and the acquisition process.
?
Errors
?
One radical feature of
most communicative approaches is the toleration of
?
errors
?
produced by
learners.
?
Traditionally,
?
errors
?
were
regarded
negatively
and
had
to
be
eradicated.
Spanish
speaker?s
production of
In the room there are three
womens
is considered as simply a
failure to learn correct English (which
could be remedied by extra practice of
the correct form).
?
Now, an
?
error
?
is not something which hinders a
student
?
s progress, but is
probably a clue to
the active learning
progress being made by a student as he or she
tries out ways of communicating
in the
new language.
?
Just
as
children
acquiring
their
L1
produce
certain
ungrammatical
forms
in
the
acquisition
process, so we
might expect the L2 learner to produce
overgeneralizations at certain stages.
?
?
The
example
of
womens
might
be
seen
as
a
type
of
creative
construction
6
,
used
by
the