Showing papers on "Second-language acquisition published in 1980"

Principles of language learning and teaching

Abstract: Preface to the Fifth Edition Chapter 1 Language, Learning, and Teaching Questions about Second Language Acquisition Learner Characteristics Linguistic Factors Learning Processes Age and Acquisition Instructional Variables Context Purpose Rejoicing in Our Defeats Language Learning and Teaching Schools of Thought in Second Language Acquisition Structural Linguistics and Behavioral Psychology Generative Linguistics and Cognitive Psychology Constructivism: A Multidisciplinary Approach Nineteen Centuries of Language Teaching Language Teaching in the Twentieth Century Topics and Questions for Study and Discussion Suggested Readings Language Learning Experience: Journal Entry Guidelines for Entry 1 PART I. AGE FACTORS Chapter 2 First Language Acquisition Theories of First Language Acquisition Behavioral Approaches Challenges to Behavioral Approaches The Nativist Approach Challenges to Nativist Approach Functional Approaches Issues in First Language Acquisition Competence and Performance Comprehension and Production Nature or Nurture? Universals Systematicity and Variability Language and Thought Imitation Practice and Frequency Input Discourse First Language Acquisition Insights Applied to Language Teaching Topics and Questions for Study and Discussion Suggested Readings Language Learning Experience: Journal Entry 2 Chapter 3 Age and Acquisition Dispelling Myths Types of Comparison and Contrast The Critical Period Hypothesis Neurobiological Considerations Hemispheric Lateralization Biological Timetables Right-Hemispheric Participation Anthropological Evidence The Significance of Accent Cognitive Considerations Affective Considerations Linguistics Considerations Bilingualism Interference Between First and Second Languages Order of Acquisition Issues in First Language Acquisition Revisited Competence and Performance Comprehension and Production Nature or Nurture? Universals Systematicity and Variability Language and Thought Imitation Practice and Frequency Input Discourse Some "Age-and-Acquisition-Inspired" Language Teaching Methods Total Physical Response The Natural Approach, 79 Topics and Questions for Study and Discussion Suggested Readings Language Learning Experience: Journal Entry 3 PART II. PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS Chapter 4 Human Learning Learning and Training Pavlov's Classical Behaviorism Skinner's Operant Conditioning Ausubel's Subsumption Theory Rote vs. Meaningful Learning Systematic Forgetting Rogers's Humanistic Psychology Types of Learning Transfer, Interference, and Overgeneralization Inductive and Deductive Reasoning Language Aptitude Intelligence and Language Learning Learning Theories in Action: Two Language Teaching Methods in Contrast The Audiolingual Method Community Language Learning Topics and Questions for Study and Discussion Suggested Readings Language Learning Experience: Journal Entry 4 Chapter 5 Styles and Strategies Process, Style, and Strategy Learning Styles Field Independence Left- and Right-Brain Dominance Ambiguity Tolerance Reflectivity and Impulsivity Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic Styles Autonomy, Awareness and Action Strategies Learning Strategies Communication Strategies Avoidance Strategies Compensatory Strategies Strategies-Based Instruction Identifying Learners' Styles and Strategies Incorporating SBI into the Language Classroom Stimulating Strategic Action Beyond the Classroom Topics and Questions for Study and Discussion Suggested Readings Language Learning Experience: Journal Entry 5 Chapter 6 Personality Factors The Affective Domain Affective Factors in Second Language Acquisition Self-Esteem Attribution Theory and Self-Efficacy Willingness to Communicate Inhibition Risk-Taking Anxiety Empathy Extroversion Motivation Theories of Motivation Instrumental and Integrative Orientations Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation The Neurobiology of Affect Personality Types and Language Acquisition Measuring Affective Factors Intrinsic Motivation in the Classroom Topics and Questions for Study and Discussion Suggested Readings Language Learning Experience: Journal Entry PART III. SOCIOCULTURAL FACTORS Chapter 7 Sociocultural Factors Culture Definitions and Theories Stereotypes or Generalizations? Attitudes Second Culture Acquisition Social Distance Teaching Intercultural Competance Language Policy and Politics World Englishes ESL and EFL Linguistic Imperialism and Language Rights Language Policy and the "English Only" Debate Language, Thought, and Culture Framing Our Conceptual Universe The Whorfian Hypothesis Culture in the Language Classroom Topics and Questions for Study and Discussion Suggested Readings Language Learning Experience: Journal Entry 7 Chapter 8 Communicative Competence Defining Communicative Competence Language Functions Halliday's Seven Functions of Language Functional Approaches to Language Teaching Discourse Analysis Conversation Analysis Corpus Linguistics Contrastive Rhetoric Pragmatics Sociopragmatics and Pragmalinguistics Language and Gender Discourse Styles Nonverbal Communication Kinesics Eye Contact Proxemics Artifacts Kinesthetics Olfactory Dimensions CC in the Classroom: CLT and Task-Based Teaching Communicative Language Teaching Task-Based Instruction Topics and Questions for Study and Discussion Suggested Readings Language Learning Experience: Journal Entry 8 PART IV. LINGUISTIC FACTORS Chapter 9 Cross-Linguistic Influential and Learner Language The Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis From the CAH to CLI Markedness and Universal Grammar Learner Language Error Analysis Mistakes and Errors Errors in Error Analysis Identifying and Describing Errors Sources of Error Interlingual Transfer Intralingual Transfer Context of Learning Communication Strategies Stages of Learner Language Development Variation in Learner Language Fossilization or Stabilization? Errors in the Classroom: A Brief History Form-Focused Instruction Categories of Error Treatment Effectiveness of FFI Topics and Questions for Study and Discussion Suggested Readings Language Learning Experience: Journal Entry 9 Chapter 10 Toward a Theory of Second Language Acquisition Building a Theory of SLA Domains and Generalizations Hypotheses and Claims Criteria for a Viable Theory Hot Topics in SLA Research Explicit and Implicit Learning Awareness Input and Output Frequency An Innatist Model: Krashen's Input Hypothesis Five Hypotheses Evaluations of the Five Hypotheses The Output Hypothesis Cognitive Models McLaughlin's Attention-Processing Model Implicit and Explicit Models A Social Constructivist Model: Long's Interactive Hypothesis Out on a Limb: A Light-Hearted "Horticultural" Theory of SLA From Theory to Practice A Reciprocal Relationship, Not a Dichotomy Suggestions for Theory Building The Believing Game and the Doubting Game The Art and Science of SLA The Role of Intuition Topics and Questions for Study and Discussion Suggested Readings Language Learning Experience: Final Journal Entry Bibliography Glossary Index

The Cross-Lingual Dimensions of Language Proficiency: Implications for Bilingual Education and the Optimal Age Issue.

Abstract: It is argued that a dimension of cognitive/academic language proficiency (CALP) can be empirically distinguished from interpersonal communicative skills such as accent and oral fluency in both Li and L2, and that cognitive/ academic proficiencies in both L1 and L2 are manifestations of the same underlying dimension. This analysis of language proficiency and its crosslingual dimensions is applied to the interpretation of data on the effects of bilingual education programs and on the age issue in second language learning.

The pidginization process : a model for second language acquisition

Abstract: From the Abstract In the fall of 1973 a research project was undertaken to make a ten month longitudinal study of the untutored acquisition of English by six native speakers of Spanish-two children, two adolescents and two adults. Data collection involved the recording of both spontaneous and experimentally elicited speech. This book is a case study of one of 'the six subjects, a 33 year old Costa Rican named Alberto, who evidenced very little linguistic development during the course of the project. It was felt that by attempting to account for his lack of learning, significant insight could be gained about what is involved in successful second language acquisition in general. Alberto spoke a reduced and simplified form of English in which the negative particle was held external to the verb, questions were uninverted, inflectional morphemes tended to be absent and auxiliary development was minimal. Three causes for his lack of development were considered: ability, social and psychological distance from English speakers, and age. [...]

Inside the “black box”: methodological issues in classroom research on language learning

Abstract: Two basic approaches characterize classroom research on second language learning: interaction analysis and anthropological observation. Within each approach several methods are available for data collection and analysis. Procedures described are the use of behavioral observation systems, discourse analysis, ethnography, constitutive ethnography, and diary studies. Strengths and limitations of these methods and of both basic approaches are considered, and suggestions are made for the design of future research. This work needs to include a classroom observational component in which language acquisition as well as classroom process variables are treated. In this way it will be possible to test a theory of second language acquisition with the aid of formal instruction.

On the validity of affective variables in second language acquisition: conceptual, contextual, and statistical considerations 1

Abstract: This article reviews the proposition that achievement in a second language is related to attitudinal/motivational characteristics of the students. It uses as its starting point articles by Oller and Perkins, and demonstrates that their generalizations that such relationships are weak, and that they are due to the spurious effects of verbal intelligence and language proficiency are not founded in fact. Statistical, contextual, and conceptual issues relevant to their criticisms of this research area are reviewed, as are much more parsimonious interpretations of so-called “strange” findings. It is recommended that rather than argue over hypothetical relationships, we direct our research attention to unravelling the mysteries of second language acquisition, to the benefit of students and teachers alike.

The formal and developmental selectivity of li influence on l2 acquisition

Abstract: This study applies structuralist insights into the mechanisms of contact-induced language change to an examination of the selectivity of L1 influence on L2 acquisition. The principle of selectivity refers to formal properties that make L2 structures immune or receptive to L1 influence as well as L2 developmental stages that activate L1 transfer along a time axis. Basic to the approach set forth is the structuralist assumption that a language will accept only those external influences that correspond to its own structural tendencies and systemic biases. It is proposed that areas of an L2 potentially susceptible to L1 influence can be identified through an examination of that L2's learner-language. This entity refers to developmental aspects of the acquisition of that L2 both as a first and as a second language. The paper examines in some detail the formal parameters that govern the selectivity of L1 transfer. The proposed approach is capable of accounting in a principled way for conflicting findings reported in L2 research on the occurrence and non-occurrence of structural transfer.

Sociolinguistic variation and style shifting in second language acquisition 1

Abstract: This paper presents empirical data (collected from nine Thai ESL learners) to support the claim that there is sociolinguistic variation and style shifting in interlanguage phonology, just as there is in the phonology of any natural language. The study addresses several theoretical questions: 1. Is interlanguage more permeable to a superordinate rule system in formal than in informal situations? 2. If it is more permeable, does the native language or the target language act as the superordinate rule system? 3. Does phonological transfer follow the sociolinguistic rules of the native language? 4. Does Monitoring operate on a continuum, increasing in formal contexts, and thereby producing a style shift? The findings are consistent with the point of view that interlanguage becomes permeable to a superordinate rule system in formal situations. In these data, the target language (English) acted as the superordinate rule system when the variable examined had no social meaning in the native language (Thai), but when the variable was in fact strongly marked for social value in Thai, the native language (Thai) was adopted as the superordinate rule system. The latter style shifting involved transfer of a socially appropriate variant. Finally, it was found that monitoring (attention to speech) and conscious Monitoring with a learned phonological rule operated on a sliding scale, increasing in formal contexts, and resulting in a style shift.

The Optimal Distance Model of Second Language Acquisition.

Abstract: The critical period hypothesis has been viewed in recent second language research as a biological or developmental phenomenon which explains the inability of learners to acquire certain aspects of a second language beyond a certain age. It is hypothesized here that such explanations are limited, and that sociocultural factors more successfully define a critical period. Research in four related areas-stages of acculturation, anomie, social distance, and perceived social distance-helps to define a socioculturally determined critical period for successful second language acquisition. This understanding of the critical period hypothesis is termed the optimal distance model of second language acquisition. Implications for teaching and further research are discussed.

Oral Communication Strategies for Lexical Difficulties.

Abstract: Recent emphasis in second language learning and language pedagogy has focused on the development of communicative competence (e.g. Savignon, 1972; Van Ek, 1975; Wilkins, 1976; Munby, 1978; Widdowson, 1978). While definitions for this ability differ, a distinction is generally maintained between 'linguistic competence' which refers to the learner's knowledge of the code as a formal system and communicative competence, the learner's ability to use that system in order to communicate effectively with others. Other models such as that of Canale and Swain (in press), posit linguistic or grammatical competence as a component of communicative competence. Regardless of the theoretical description, however, the learner's formal mastery of structures is considered to be independent of the ability to use those structures effectively.

Relationships between parental input frequencies and children's language acquisition: a reanalysis of Brown's data.

Abstract: To evaluate Brown's assertion that frequency of input is not a significant variable in language acquisition, some of Brown's data were reanalysed. The data pertaining to Adam, Eve, Sarah and their parents were predominantly obtained from Brown's (1973) book and were supplemented from the transcripts. Parental input frequency and the children's age at mastery were highly related for each of the three triads. Then Sarah's input and rate of language acquisition were compared with that of the other two children. The correlation between Sarah's relative input deprivation and her relative linguistic delay was 0·66. Finally, an analysis of Eve's acquisition of specific prepositional phrases involving the preposition in were made. Again it was found that frequency of input was highly related to frequency of production. Detailed analyses of parent-child interactions provided evidence also for short-term effects of input frequency.

Using Objective Methods of Attained Writing Proficiency to Discriminate among Holistic Evaluations.

Abstract: Ten objective measures of writing proficiency were used to evaluate compositions written by advanced ESL students. Only those objective measures which take the absence of errors into account discriminated among holistic evaluations of the compositions by experienced ESL teachers. A standardized objective writing test failed to discriminate among the holistic evaluations as well as the error-free objective measures did.

On the Adult's Ability to Acquire Phonology

Abstract: During the preparation phase of research designed to test the strong version of the critical period hypothesis, the author noted a marked discrepancy between the perceptive and the productive performance of several English-French bilinguals who had evaluated the text instruments. Although these bilinguals spoke French with an English accent,; most were able to match the performance of native-speaking francophones on the initial version of the Foreign Accent Recognition Test especially prepared for the 1979 study. The inspiration for the research described here was drawn from the apparent asymmetry observed in the input and output of these fluent bilinguals. The Foreign Accent Recognition Test was administered to Englishspeaking students who were advanced learners of French and who had acquired their second language as adults. Although all Ss spoke French with traces of foreign accent, the investigator wished to know to what extent they could match the perceptive performance of native-speaking francophones. To assess the relevance of competence in L2 as a variable, another group of English-speaking adults who were less advanced in French was tested. The results of these follow-up studies are interpreted as tentative support for a dual model of linguistic competence. They also constitute, for the author, grounds for re-examining biological constraints in adult language learning as a psychomotor rather than psycholinguistic problem. When perusing the literature on child language, one notes with interest that learning ability is rarely discussed as a significant variable. Whether advocates of a species specific language acquisition device or proponents of a cognitive processing theory, first language acquisitionists accept without question that children possess the capacity to acquire native-like proficiency in their language at all linguistic levels. Although it has been shown that children vary in initial rate of acquisition and in the time at which they begin to use language systematically, these differences have not attracted serious attention in studies on first language acquisition. Our view of the child as indistinguishable from his peers with respect to language learning ability may change of course as a result of work conducted in the areas of pragmatics and individual

Language Acquisition and the Discovery of Phrase Structure.

Abstract: A computer program intended as a step towards an empirically adequate theory of first-language acquisition by children is presented. It has been tested on a sample of English transcribed as a sequence of word classes. The structures formed by the program correspond in many cases with recognized structures in English, and there is a significant correspondence between a parsing of the sample by the program and conventional surface-structure analysis. Anomalies in the program's performance are discussed.

The emergence of illocutionary skills

Abstract: A psycholinguistic experiment elicits highly reliable judgements from young English-speaking children aged 2; 6–3; 0 about illocutionary force of utterances presented in controlled contexts. Puppet play simulated extralinguistic features judged capable of constituting felicity conditions upon the illocutionary acts Request and Offer. The experimental data bear upon two questions: (1) What set of features, linguistic and pragmatic, constitute cues for the discrimination of illocutionary force by young children? (2) What is the lower developmental bound of the emergence of discrimination of illocutionary force for Requests and Offers? While grasp of illocutionary force for Offers was well-established by 2; 6, discrimination skills for Requests probably continues to develop between 2; 6 and 3; 0. Relevant pragmatic features are explicated, and a model of the comprehension of illocutionary force proposed in the light of the results.

L2 Data: Their Relevance for Language Universals.

Abstract: This article examines the relationship between language universals and language acquisition. To investigate this relationship we compared data from a) Sheldon's (1974) study of the acquisition of relative clauses by children learning their first language, b) Goodson and Greenfield's (1975) study of cognitive development in children as it relates to the results of Sheldon's study, c) Gass's (1979) study of the acquisition of relative clauses by adults learning a second language and d) universals of relative clause formation. We found that within the domain of relative clauses first language acquisition appears to be strongly affected by factors rooted in cognitive development, while second language acquisition is either completely immune to these factors or at least is much less affected by them. Thus, what surfaces for second language acquisition data are factors based primarily on language universals. Hence we claim that second language acquisition data provide a clearer window for the investigation and verification of language universals. One of the primary implications of the present study is that data from second language acquisition can be crucial to the construction of an adequate theory of language.

The acquisition of some Dutch morphological rules

Abstract: The acquisition of the morphological rules for plural, agentive, and diminutive suffixes in Dutch was studied. Subjects included 7- and 12-year-old native speakers, and second-language learners in three age groups (5–10 years, 12–18 years, and adult). The first- and second-language learners showed very similar orders of acquisition for the rule systems governing plural and diminutive, but the second-language learners showed a subtle form of interference from their first language in acquiring the agentive. The findings suggest that morphological acquisition proceeds piecemeal, with the learning of specific word ending + allomorph sequences, and that generalizations at the level of morphological rules may not be made even after several years of correct performance with the allomorph in question.