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Book Report on
Introduction
Second Langue Acquisition
Introduction
Second
Langue
Acquisition
was
written
by
Muriel
Saville-Troike
who
was
a
famous
American
professor
in
Arizona.
She
contributed
a
lot
to
the
research
of
sociolinguistics
and
applied
linguistics.
She
did
many
researches
and
wrote lots of books on these fields.
This book is one of her masterpieces. The book
was
published
by
Foreign
Language
Teaching
and
Research
Press
and
Cambridge
University Press in 2008.
I
choose
this
book
for
several
reasons.
Firstly
It
is
a
book
paying
attention
to
second language acquisition (SLA) . I
am interested in SLA and want to know more
about
this
field.
Secondly
after
its
publishment,
it
became
one
of
the
most
popular
books in SLA. Many
learners and teachers learn more knowledge on SLA
from this
book. Thirdly it analyzes SLA
from linguistics, psychology and social contexts.
This
can let me have a whole
understanding of SLA.
There
are
seven
chapters
in
this
book.
Through
those
chapters
it
shows
some
basic
knowledge on SLA from linguistics, psychology and
social context. The whole
book tries to
answer three questions from three scopes. What
exactly does the second
language(L2)
learner
come to
know? How
does the learner acquire the
knowledge?
Why
are
some
learners
more
successful
than
others.
Then
the
book
analyses
these
questions
in
the
following
first
chapter
is
an
introduction
of
SLA.
I
know the
exactly definition of SLA,the difference between a
second language and a
foreign language
and have a better understanding of first language
(L1).The second
chapter
discusses
foundations
of
SLA.
I
was
shocked
by
the
prevalence
of
multilingualism when I learned this
chapter. The logical problem of language learning
promotes researchers to develop
different theories to solve it in SLA. The
following
three chapters are the main
body of the whole book. The third chapter is the
research
on SLA from a linguistic
perspective. The fourth chapter is the psychology
of second
language
fifth
chapter
is
about
social
contexts
of
second
language
acquisition.
The
last
two
chapters
are
about
the
practical
use
of
SLA.
The
sixth
chapter is about acquiring knowledge
for L2 use. The last chapter is L2 learning and
Teaching. Among this book, I am more
interested in some theories in the third chapter.
The
reason
is
that
I
am
in
favor
of
linguistics .
These
theories
help
me
realize
the
importance
of
linguistic
factors
in
SLA
and
have
a
better
understanding
of
the
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relationship between
linguistics and SLA.
This third chapter
is bout the linguistics of second language
acquisition. I know
several approaches
about the study of SLA that have been heavily
influenced by the
field of linguistics.
They can be divided into two categories: the
internal focus and the
external focus.
The internal focus is based on Chomsky's Universal
Grammar while
the
external
focus
is
based
on
Functionalism.
I
pay
more
attention
to
theories
of
internal focus such as Contrastive
Analysis, Error analysis and Interlanguage .
1
About
Contrastive Analysis
Contrastive
Analysis
(CA)
is
an
approach
to
the
study
of
SLA
which
involves
predicting and explaining learners
problems based on a comparison between L1 and
L2 to determine similarities and
differences. It was a great success in that
period. The
way connecting two
languages or more languages together gave people a
new method
to
study
and
teach
L2.
It
is
very
necessary
for
L2
learners
or
teachers
to
learn
this
theory and take
advantage of these positive aspects of it.
1.1
The development of Contrastive Analysis
During 1940s and 1950s Structuralism
and Behaviorism were extremely popular.
CA appeared just under their affection.
CA is
a theory
whose nature
is
pedagogical
and is
created for increasing efficiency in L2 teaching
and testing.
CA
was
first
stated
clearly
by
Robert
Lado
in
his
book
Linguistics
Across
Cultures
which
was
published
in
1957.
Robert
Lado
who
was
an
excellent
applied
linguist intended to find the problems
that foreign language learners would have in the
process of learning their L2.
This
theory
looks
the
study
of
L2
as
a
contrastive
process.
According
to
the
notions,
CA analyses the surface forms of both L1 and L2
systems. It also describes
and
compares
the
languages
following
a
We
are
all
very
familiar that linguistics contains
phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax,
semantics
and
pragmatics.
When
learners
begin
to
learn
a
foreign
language,
they
will
truly
contrast
L1 and
L2. Then it must has
a
sequence that decides which one should be
contrasted
first.
Linguists
studying
CA
found
the
for
language.
Charles
Fries
,
who
was
a
leading
linguist
to
L2
teaching,
makes
this
priority
very
clear: '' In learning a new
language,...the chief problem is not at first that
of learning
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vocabulary
items.
It
is,
first,
the
mastery
of
the
sound
system...It
is,
second,
the
mastery of the features of arrangement
that constitute the structure of the
language
(Fries 1945:3)
1.2
Two
assumptions of Contrastive Analysis
The
first
assumption
is
under
the
affection
of
behaviorist
psychology.
In
CA
language
acquisition
was
first
treated
as
a
habit
formation
which
is
a
process
of
stimulus-response-reinforcement.
Under
this
assumption,
linguists
believe
that
practice makes perfect. People learning
L2 need to pay attention to listening, imitation
and repetition in order to help
learners form habits. This can be useful for L2
learners
to remember something .
Learners can say words and sentences
unconsciously. A long
time
repetition
can
give
learners
a
lifelong
impression.
But
we
must
recognize
that
this method has overtly disadvantages.
Learners just remember but they never try to
create
new
sentences.
Many
sentences
they
recited
are
meaningless.
For
example,
this?-This
is
my
eye.
We
never
use
this
sentence
in
a
daily
conversation.
Nowadays none use this method alone in
SLA.
The second assumption of CA is
that there is transfer in language learning. Every
normal people can grasp his or her L1
as young children. When we begin to learn a
L2, we will transfer some knowledge
acquired in L1 into L2 unconsciously. Because
of the differences and similarities in
these languages, there are positive transfer and
negative
transfer.
If
the
same
structure
is
appropriate
in
both
languages,
it
is
called
positive transfer. For example when the
sentence structure of Chinese and English are
both
as
students
to learn. Of course, there is negative transfer
when the L1 structure is used
inappropriately. For example, in French
every noun can be divided as feminine gender,
masculine gender and neutral gender
while English does not have this classification.
This will be strange when English
learners study French as L2. For learning L2, the
easiest
structures
are
those
that
exist
in
L1
with
the
same
form,
meaning,
and
distribution and can
have positive transfer into L2. As for the most
difficult structures
are those that
having partial overlap but have different form,
meaning and distribution
and can easily
make negative transfer.
How
to
take
advantage
of
the
positive
aspects
of
these
two
assumptions
is
a
problem that
needs lots of researches. As L2 learners we all
wish that we can use L2
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proficiently and
appropriately. On one hand we must try to realize
the positive transfer
between L1 and
L2. On the other hand we should try to avoid
interference.
1.3
Evaluations of Contrastive
Analysis
(1)
CA
stimulates
the
preparation
of
hundreds
of
comparative
grammars.
Its
analytic
procedures
have
been
usefully
applied
to
descriptive
studies
and
to
translation, including computer
translation.
(2)
There
has
been
a
more
recent
revival
and
revision
of
and
extension
of
the
scope of analysis to
domains of cross-cultural communication and
rhetoric.
(3)
Contrastive
Analysis
cannot
analyze
the
logical
problem
why
learners
can
know more than they have heard and they
have been taught.
(4) It lacks evidences to
support itself. Many errors analyzing by CA do not
occur
in practical language use.
(5)
CA
does
not
account
for
many
learners'
errors
and
much
predicted
positive
transfer does not materialize.
(6)
Instructional
materials
produced
according
to
this
approach
are
language-specific and
unsuitable for speakers with different native
languages.
2
About Error Analysis
Error Analysis (EA) is a great success
in the study of SLA. It is different from
any other prior theories. EA is the
first approach having an internal focus on
learners'
creative ability to construct
language. EA is different from CA that we have
discussed
before. EA is based on the
description and analysis of actual learner errors
in L2 not
just contrasts L1 and L2 from
a structural level.
2.1 The
development of Error Analysis
(1)
learners and researchers began to realize these
problems in CA. Linguists and
researchers find many problems in CA.
Firstly , many errors that CA analyzed don't
exist
in
real
L2
use.
Secondly,
people
cannot
find
enough
evidence
to
analyze
and
support
that
actual
errors
in
L2
learning
are
caused
by
transfer.
These
problems
promoting linguists
to discovery new approaches.
(2)
Following the population of Noam Chomsky's
Transformational-Generative
Grammar,
people began to realize the essence of learning a
language. It is not enough
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