explain expected stages and patterns of language development as related to first and second language acquisition (critical period hypothesis– Proficiency levels).

explain how first language development affects development of English (Transferability Theory- Threshold Hypothesis).

To Think About:

Is it better to learn a second language when one is young or when one is older? Why?

Discuss your ideas with a partner.

The Critical Period Hypothesis (Eric Lenneberg (1967)

Lenneberg stated that:

L2 is best learned between age 2 and puberty

Ability to learn language is negatively affected by the completion of process of lateralization

Critical Period Hypothesis Laterialization is when each side of

the brain develops its own specialized functions

Young learners use the same part of the brain for learning both languages

Older learners use different parts of the brain

Lenneberg stated that Lateralization is completed by puberty Therefore, L2 should be learned between

age 2 and puberty (according to Lenneberg)

More recent research has indicated that lateralization actually is completed by age 5

Therefore, young learners (before age 5) are actually native speakers of both languages

They learn both L1 and L2 the way a native speaker does

Advantages to being a younger learner

More likely to develop a native-like accent

Less to learn to be considered proficient More likely to receive comprehensible

input

Advantages to being an older learner

Can consciously use strategies to aid learning

Has knowledge from L1 to draw from Has greater control over input

Proficiency includes grammatical, sociolinguistic, discourse and strategic competence

Grammatical Competence• Mastery of language code

Lexicon (vocabulary)Word formation rulesSentence formation rulesPronunciation rulesSpelling

Sociolinguistic Competence

• Mastery of appropriate language use in different contexts

• How to speak to a friend• How to speak to someone in authority• How to speak socially vs.

professionally

Discourse CompetenceMastery of how to combine meanings and forms

to create a text in different modes

Examples:

Telephone inquiry

Narrative text

Oral report

Strategic CompetenceMastery of verbal and non-verbal strategies to compensate for breakdowns in communication

Examples:

How to ask for helpHow to rephrase a statement

If you wanted to learn another language, how long do you think it would take you to speak and understand that language? How long would it take you to read and write?

Discuss your ideas with a partner.

BICS ( Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills)

2 to 3 years

Ability to converse and understand every day discussions

CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency)

4 to 10 years

Ability to read, write, speak, and listen at an academic level

How can you identify a learner’s language acquisition level?

Discuss with a partner how the language acquisition level can be determined. In other words, how do you know if a learner is a beginner, an intermediate, or advanced learner of the L2?

Instead of using beginner, intermediate and advanced, a more specific classification system can be used.

A learner can be at the preproduction, early speech, speech emergence or intermediate fluency stage

1) Preproduction/Comprehension Stage Characteristics

Silent period Can respond non-verbally Will be able to understand more than

they can produce The teacher should NOT force the learner

to talk The teacher should ask the learner to

draw, point, act out, label

2) Early Speech Production Characteristics -Can understand more than can produce

-Can produce one or two words at a time

-Will pick up phrases (He cutted.)- The teacher should ask the learner yes/no questions- The teacher should ask the learner choice questions

(Is this a ___ or a ___?)

3) Speech Emergence Characteristics

-Speaks in phrases-Makes lots of errors-Interlanguage occurs (a mixture of vocabulary and structures from both languages)

- The teacher should ask the learner questions such as What is this? What does ___ do?

4) Intermediate Fluency Characteristics-Appear orally fluent-Errors are same errors native speakers make-Struggle with content area reading and writing.

-The teacher should modify higher level questions. For example, instead of asking a student to compare two items, the teacher should ask the student how two items are the same. Then the teacher should ask how they are different

Look at the next slide which illustrates a Dual Iceberg Representation of first and second language development. What does this illustration mean?

common underlying proficiency

Dual Iceberg Representation 

  surface features surface features L1 L2 

Many skills and concepts are common or interdependent across languages.

A skill or concept learned in one language transfers to another language when the necessary vocabulary is acquired

For example, a learner only learns to read once. If a learner can read, he/she can read in another language, once the vocabulary is learned.

What needs to be explicitly taught in the other language are the features that are different.

Directionality

Sequencing

Ability to distinguish shapes and sounds

Knowledge that written symbols correspond to sounds and can be decoded in order and direction

Activation of semantic and syntactic knowledge

Knowledge of text structure

Learning to use cues to predict meaning

Awareness of the variety of purposes for reading and writing

Confidence in oneself as a reader and writer

Critical and Cultural Literacy(interpretation of text given a specific cultural world view)

From: C. Roberts. (1994). Transferring literacy skills from L1 to L2: From theory to practice. In The Journal of Educational Issues of Language Minority Students, v. p. 209-221

The threshold hypothesis states there is a threshold level of ability that needs to be reached in one language in order for a learner to be successful in another language

The threshold hypothesis also states that high levels of bilingualism have positive cognitive effects

The better developed the L1, the better developed the L2 can be.

High level of proficiency in L1-high level of proficiency in L2 is possible

A low level of proficiency in L1-lower level of proficiency in L2

With a partner, list 3 new things you have learned

today.

Compare between first language learner and second language learner ( minimum 5 points)