Transcript Second Language Acquisition

Second Language Acquisition
Yueh-chiu Helen Wang
National Penghu University
The Definition of Language
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A language is considered to be a system of
communicating with other people using
sounds, symbols and words in expressing a
meaning, idea or thought. This language
can be used in many forms, primarily
through oral and written communications as
well as using expressions through body
language.
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Communication of thoughts and feelings
through a system of arbitrary signals, such
as voice, sounds, gestures, or written
symbols.
Such a system, including its rules for
combining its components such as words.
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Such a system as used by a nation,
people, or other distinct community,
often contrasted with dialect.
Body language; kinesics
Verbal communication
The Definition of Critical
Period
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It is a term used in biology to refer to a
limited phase in the development of an
organism during which a particular
activity or competency must be
acquired if it is to be incorporated into
the behavior of that organism.
Strong version
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It may imply that even if language
acquisition begins within the critical
period it does not continue beyond the
end of that period.
weak version
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The earlier language learning begins
after the onset of the critical period the
more efficient it will be, and that
beyond a certain point language
learning potential declines markedly
even if it does not disappear entirely.
Critical Period Hypothesis
(CPH)
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Lenneberg (1967) interprets critical
period is to be seen as beginning
around this age of two years: Language
cannot begin to develop until a certain
level of physical maturation and growth
has been attained. Between the ages
of two and three years language
emerges by an interaction of maturation
and self-programmed learning (p.158).
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Current evidence suggests that there is
no stage in the infant’s development
when language is not in the process of
being acquired.
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The general notion that caregiver-child
shared activity prepares the ground for
and is continuous with the development
of linguistic interaction incontrovertible.
The shared activity commences as soon
as the child emerges from the womb.
The end of the critical period
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The age most posited as the upper limit
of the critical period is the early teens,
the stage at which childhood is ending
and adolescence, with the onset of
puberty, beginning.
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Taking the examples of ‘Genies’ case
and a wild boy of Victor’s case.
Genie was physically punished by the
father if she made any sounds.
According to the mother, the father and
older brother never spoke to Genie
although they barked at her like dogs.
The mother was forbidden to
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spend more than a few minutes with
Genie during feeding. (Fromkin et al.
1974). Nevertheless, her phonological
development approximated to that of
normal children. As far as syntax is
concerned, Genie learned to combine
words in three-and four-word strings
and to produce negative sentences.
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Broadly, her progress in the acquisition
of language though slower than is usual,
parallelled that of normal Englishspeaking children. She can actually
understand and produce speech,
whereas Victor’s communication
through language was all but confined
to the written medium.
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Genie’s language development has
been interpreted as evidence both for
and against the critical period
hypothesis.
Genie represents a case of firstlanguage acquisition after the critical
age of puberty.
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To be sure, her development is
laborious and incomplete, but the
similarities between it and normal
acquisition outweigh the differences.
Penfield & Roberts (1959) report that
children are normally able to re-learn
language when injury or disease
damages speech areas in the dominant
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Hemisphere, whereas speech recovery
in adults is much more problematic, and
that whereas in young children the
speech mechanism is frequently
transferred with complete success from
the injured dominant hemisphere to the
healthy minor hemisphere, such
transfers do not seem to occur in the
case of adults.
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Lenneberg’s conclusion is that the
relevant neurological development must
be completed by around age five.
Vocabulary development continues in a
natural, almost unnoticed fashion as
long as one lives and is interested in
new things.
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The evidence most frequently cited in
support of the claim that a critical
period of ‘language readiness’ begins
around age two, which comes from the
language development of deaf children,
is susceptible to an alternative
interpretation.
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Other evidence strongly indicates that
language acquisition is a continuous
process which begins at birth.
First language acquisition continues well
into adulthood and even, at least in
some of its aspects, into middle and old
age.
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With regard to the weaker version of
the critical period hypothesis, i.e. the
notion that language learning capacity
peaks early in childhood and thereafter
declines.
Krashen’s Five Hypotheses
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The
The
The
The
The
Acquisition-learning Hypothesis
Monitor Hypothesis
Natural Order Hypothesis
Input Hypothesis
Affective Filter Hypothesis
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The Acquisition-learning Hypothesis:
*Acquisition is a ‘subconscious process
identical in all important ways to the
process children utilize, in acquiring
their first language.
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*Learning is a conscious process that
results in “knowing about” language
(1985).
Acquisition comes about through
meaningful interaction in a natural
communication setting.
The Monitor Hypothesis
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The Monitor Hypothesis states that
‘Learning has only one function, and
that is as a Monitor or editor’ and that
learning comes into play only to ‘make
changes in the form of our utterance.
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Krashen’s position is that conscious
knowledge of rules does not help
acquisition, but only enables the learner
to ‘polish up’ what has been acquired
through communication.
three conditions for monitor use
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(1) Time: In order to think about and
use conscious rules effectively, a second
language performer needs to have
sufficient time.
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(2) Focus on form: To use monitor
effectively, time is not enough. The
performer must also be focused on form,
or thinking about correctness.
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(3) Know the rule: We can be sure that
our students are exposed only to a
small part of the total grammar of the
language, and we know that even the
best students do not learn every rule
they are exposed to (Krashen, 1982,
p.6).
Three types of Monitor users
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Over-users: These are people who
attempt to monitor all the time,
performers who are constantly checking
their output with their conscious
knowledge of the second language.
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Under-users: These are performers who
have not learned, or if they have
learned, prefer not to use their
conscious knowledge, even when
conditions allow it. Under-users are
typically uninfluenced by error
correction, can self-correct only by
using a ‘feel’ for correctness.
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The optimal users: Performers who use
the monitor when it is appropriate and
when it does not interfere with
communication. Many optimal users
will not use grammar in ordinary
conversation, where it might
interfere….(1982, p.19-20)
3. The Natural Order
Hypothesis
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The hypothesis states that we acquire
the rules of language in a predictable
order, some rules tending to come early
and others late (Krashen, 1985, p.1).
4. The Input Hypothesis
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This hypothesis states that humans
acquire language in only one way—by
understanding messages, or by
receiving ‘comprehensible input’… We
move from i, our current level, to i+1,
the next level along the natural order,
by understanding input containing i+1
(Krashen, 1985, p. 2).
5. The Affective Filter
Hypothesis
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According to this hypothesis,
comprehensible input may not be
utilized by second-language acquirers if
there is a ‘mental block’ that prevents
from them fully profiting from it
(Krashen, 1985).
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The affective filter acts as a barrier to
acquisition: If the filter is ‘down’, the
input reaches the LAD and becomes
acquired competence; if the filter is up,
the input is blocked and does not reach
the LAD.
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The filter is that part of the internal
processing system that subconsciously
incoming language based on what
psychologists call ‘affect’: the learner’s
motives, needs, attitudes, and
emotional states ((1982, p. 46).
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It determines which language models
the learner will select.
It determines which part of the
language will be attended to first.
It determines when the language
acquisition efforts should cease.
It determines how fast a learner can
acquire a language.
Universal Grammar (UG)
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The Chomskyan generative grammar
approach assumes that the firstlanguage learner comes to the
acquisition task with innate, specifically
linguistic, knowledge, or Universal
Grammar.
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The claim is that certain principles of
the human mind are, to a degree,
biologically determined and specialized
for language learning.