Theories and Second Language Acquisition

Dr. Amin AL-Mekhlafi

The Cognitive/Developmental Perspective

The Computer Analogy Storing Integrating Retrieving

They see no need to believe that: humans have language specific device. acquisition and learning are different.

They believe in:The general theory of learning (the gradual development of knowledge).

The Cognitive/Developmental PerspectiveInformation Processing Model

In IPM, SLA is seen as building up of knowledge

This knowledge becomes automatic during speaking and understanding

Paying Attention Practice

Automaticity

There is a limit to the amount of information a human can pay attention to and learn at one time.

Gradually, through experience and practice, learners become able to use certain parts of the language automatically.

Paying Attention

Paying attention uses some cognitive resources. Beginners vs. Proficient language users.

PracticePractice includes:Language productionBeing exposed to languageLanguage comprehension

Practice makes language processing easier and automatic.

Declarative Knowledge

Information that we have and know we have. All learning begins with declarative knowledge. It is sometimes referred to as 'knowledge that'.

Procedural Knowledge

Knowledge that underlies fluent or automatic performance. Also referred to as 'knowledge how’.

Information ProcessingOther cognitive psychologists say that SLA is like learning any other skill starting as declarative knowledge and then changing into procedural knowledge.

The Cognitive/Developmental PerspectiveInformation Processing

IPM SLA is like skill learning

Procedural Knowledge

Information that we have and know we have. All learning begins with declarative knowledge. It is sometimes referred to as 'knowledge that'.

Knowledge that underlies fluent or automatic performance. Also referred to as 'knowledge how’.

Information processing Restructuring Model:

Refers to the interaction of knowledge we already have, or on the acquisition of new knowledge (without extensive practice) which fits into an existing system and causes it to be restructured

Sudden bursts of progress and backsliding may not be explainable in terms of a gradual build-up of automaticity through practice.

They seem rather to be based on.

Connectionism Connectionists argue that innate is simply the

ability to learn, not any specifically linguistic structure.

They attribute greater importance to the role of the environment in language learning.

They see the frequency of the input as the principal source of linguistic knowledge.

Learners develops stronger mental ‘connections’ between language elements s/he has learned, and the situational or linguistic contexts in which they occur.

Connectionism

“He says” “I say” “She says”

The learner will produce the correct form not because he/she knows the rule, but because he/she has heard such uses very often and the presence of the subject ‘he or she’ activates the mind to call on the correct verb form.

The Interaction Hypothesis The Noticing Hypothesis Input Processing

The Interactionist Position

1. Researchers within this perspective argue that conversational interaction is an essential condition for second language acquisition.

2. Comprehensible input is important. 3. How to make input comprehensible?

The Interaction Hypothesis

The Interaction Hypothesis

Interactional modification makes input comprehensible.

Comprehensible input promotes acquisition.

ThereforeInteractional modification promotes acquisition.

The Interaction Hypothesis

Modified interaction does not always involve linguistic simplification. It may also include:

Elaboration Slower speech rate Gesture The provision of additional contextual cues

Comprehension checks Clarification requests Self-repetition or paraphrase

Examples of modifications

Nothing is learned unless it has been noticed. Learners realize certain language

features. These features will enter the learners’

own second language system.L2 learners could not begin to acquire a

language feature until they had become aware of it in the input.

The Noticing Hypothesis

The Sociocultural PerspectiveVygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory

Language development takes place in the social interactions between individuals.

L2 learners advance to higher levels of linguistic knowledge when they interact with knowledgeable speakers.

Learning occurs when the interaction takes place at the learner’s zone of proximal development (ZPD).

The Sociocultural Perspective

The ZPD is the difference between what a learner can do without help and what he or she can do with help.

The Sociocultural Perspective

Learning is thought to occur when an individual interacts with an interlocutor within his or her zone of proximal development (ZPD)-that is, in a situation in which the learner is capable of performing at a higher level because there is support from an interlocutor.

The ZPD

The Z P D is a metaphorical location in which learners co-construct knowledge in collaboration with an interlocutor.

The emphasis in ZPD is on development and how learners co-construct knowledge based on their interaction with their interlocutor.

Krashen's i+ 1

In Krashen's i+ 1, the input comes from outside the learner and the emphasis is on the comprehensibility of input that includes language structures that are just beyond the learner's current developmental level.

The Sociocultural Perspective

Summary (1)

There is no agreement on a “complete” theory of second language acquisition yet.

Each theoretical framework has a different focus and it has its limitations.

1. Behaviorism: emphasizing the role of the environment, but ignoring the mental processes that are involved in learning.

Summary (2)

2. Innatism: emphasizes the role of innate abilities. But it is based on intuitions and not solid evidence.

3. Information processing and connectionism: involving controlled laboratory experiments where human learning is similar to computer processing.

4. Interactionist position: modification of interaction promotes language acquisition and development.