Transcript Some basic facts about language.  Benefits of bilingualism.  Second language phonology.  Age effects.  Special populations. 

Some basic facts about language.
 Benefits of bilingualism.
 Second language phonology.
 Age effects.
 Special populations.


Who am I?
› A linguist with an interest in the study of
learning second (or other) languages.
› Someone with a past life as an ESL teacher
at the credit and non-credit level.

Who am I not?
› Someone who has a lot of experience with
the population in question for this
conference
How many languages are there? Close
to 7,000.
 There are no primitive languages;
understudied languages may have
surprising properties:

› Inalienable possession
› Evidentiality

All languages have a grammar; share
basic properties
Even the native speakers may feel that their
language is somehow “inferior”
 Remember that prestige judgments are
social not linguistic

› Double negatives: Old English vs Modern English;
urban dialects

We have ample evidence that even if the
speakers are nervous about the status of
their L1 that it will be a robust natural
language
So, writing systems are not essential
components of human languages
 But they have decided socio-economic
implications in many societies

Bilingualism and multilingualism is the
norm on this planet
 Monolingualism is the exception

What effects does learning a second language
have?
 It has both linguistic and non-linguistic benefits.

We know that exposure to an L2 can enhance the
complexity of syntax used in producing the first
language. Studies have shown that the
sophistication of language actually increases
when there is knowledge of a second language.
 Not only does knowledge of another language
not harm your first language, it can actually
enhance it.


We know that exposure to a second language can
enhance language use skills (things like narrative
strategies, both reading and writing literacy skills
in the L1, and vocabulary scores).

We know that bilinguals have greater metalinguistic awareness – which leads to better
performance in tasks when we need to pay
attention to structure (e.g. writing), and also to
increased sensitivity to the needs of the listener

We know that bilinguals have cognitive
advantages as demonstrated in scores on tests of
analogical reasoning and visual-spatial skills.
We know that being taught in one language
doesn’t lead to a reduced capacity in the other
language. In fact, maintaining bilingual
proficiency (rather than becoming monolingual
in the socially dominant language) can actually
benefit school performance.
 The goal is not to become a monolingual
English speaker.


Grade 3 students were tested and it was found
that students who had studied a foreign
language had significantly higher scores on the
mathematics subtest of the Iowa Tests of Basic
Skills than did students who did not take a
foreign language.
More than pronunciation
 It’s about a system of knowledge;
mental representation
 It’s about what you know (not just what
you can do)

Consonants and vowels
 New languages may have new contrasts

Learning English [θ] (as in ‘think’)
 Learning the difference between the ‘l’
in “leaf” and the ‘l’ in “fall”
 L1 phonology, universal patterns, and L2
phonetics all influence the acquisition of
L2 sounds

Imagine learning the French [ü]
 English speakers tend to substitute an [u]
sound
 Portuguese speakers tend to substitute
an [i] sound
 L1 properties may explain this


Syllables have internal structure:
› The onset consonant comes before the
vowel
› The coda consonant comes after the vowel
› E.g., “cat”

Consonant clusters?
› Yes: English
› No: Korean
Yes ++: Swedish, Polish

Coda consonants?
› Lots: English
› Some: Japanese
› None: Hawaiian
Epenthesis versus deletion as repair
strategies
 Epenthesis: “went” -> “wenti”
 Deletion “went” -> “wen”

Epenthesis (over deletion) increases as
task formality increases
 Epenthesis (over deletion) increases as
proficiency increases

Some languages have stress and some
do not
 Stress: English, French, Spanish, Finnish
 Tone: Chinese, many African languages
 Pitch Accent: Japanese
 L2 learners can acquire new settings


Even L1s that lack stress are able to
acquire representations that include
stress. E.g., Chinese and Japanese
learners of English stress

Stress can be predictable:
› Polish: penultimate
› French: Final
› Czech: Initial
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Or variable:
› English, Russian
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The L1 stress rules can influence L2
production and perception
Mis-perception as basis of foreign
accent
 L2 sounds shoe-horned into L1 categories

› E.g., [q] as [k]

Actually hearing things that aren’t in the
input string (Japanese listeners of
French): ebzo/ebuzo
Japanese has 1 liquid [ɾ]
 Japanese learners lend to hear English [r]
and [l] as examples of [ɾ]
 English speakers tend to hear French [ü] as
[u]

The L1 grammar does transfer to the L2
and influence the new grammar
 At first transfer effects are prevalent, and
then the system starts to adopt L2 rules
and become a kind of hybrid system

Just because someone has an L2 accent
doesn’t mean their speech is impossible to
understand
 Intelligibility is a measure of whether the
words can be understood by native listeners
 Comprehnsibility is a measure of how
difficult it is to retrieve the words being
spoken
 Some errors are more difficult to process
than others

Just because you lack certain things in
your L1 doesn’t mean you can’t learn
them
 It’s not like a door has closed

› Chinese learners of English [l]/[r]
› English learners of Japanese [t]/[tt]
› Japanese learners of Russian [r]

Even nativelike global accent is not
unattainable for late learners (though
rare)
Adults can acquire nativelike ability
 Late learners’ speech rate is slower


There are some advantages but it’s
never too late.
Attainment potential not inferior to L1A
Similar ends can be reached by different
means

ERP components reveal certain differences
between the brain activation of L1 and L2
speakers.

Age of Acquisition of L2 has an effect on the
pattern of brain activation as revealed by ERPs.

High proficiency in L2 results in patterns of
activation quite similar to those of native
speakers.
Syntactic
LANs
Lexical-Semantic
P600
N400
Content words were treated similarly in all
groups.
 However, function words showed very definite
age effects.
 Age doesn’t affect all areas equally

High proficiency in L2 results in patterns of
activation quite similar to those of native
speakers.
 Age isn’t the only relevant factor.

IRREGULARS
REGULARS
Stored in & retrieved
from associative
memory (along with
arbitrary facts, dates,
lists, etc.)
Computed in procedural
system (responsible
for coordination of
motor & cognitive
skills, symbol
manipulation, etc.)

So, can anyone do this?
Dyslexia
 Developmental delay

 Students
with language or other
impairments require special
support regardless of the
language of instruction
It can be difficult sometimes to diagnose
learning disability in second language
learners (Case & Taylor 2005)
 We need to try to provide effective L2
instruction and accommodate learning
difficulties (Artiles & Artiz 2002)

Teach basic skills or concepts
 Reteach via different approaches to
those who fail to meet expected
performance levels
 Refocus instruction
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Ortiz, A. (1997). Learning disabilities occurring with linguistic
differences.
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Children with developmental disabilities
attending Jacaranda school in Nairobi are
speakers of not only English and Kiswahili but
also indigenous languages.
Kenyan children with developmental delay
perform equally well in multiple languages
(including reading and writing) as their
monolingual American counterparts
Candelaria-Greene, J. (1996). A paradigm for
bilingual special education in the USA: lessons from
Kenya.
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Can be difficult, though not impossible,
to diagnose
Cline, T. & N. Frederickson (1999). Identification and
assessment of dyslexia in bi/multilingual children. International
Journal of bilingual Education and bilingualism 2(2): 81-83.
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One study looked at Norwegian dyslexics
acquiring English as an L2.
Helland, T. & R. Kaasa (2004). Dyslexia in English as
a second language. Dyslexia 11(1): 41-60.
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The authors recommended that the higher
proficiency dyslexic group would be
successful in foreign language courses with
extra aid in spelling (such as a computer
spell checker). The lower proficiency group
was recommended for adjusted L2
education to match their level of L2
development.

Another study debunks the assumption that
L1 difficulties due to dyslexia will necessarily
manifest in L2 learning. Individuals identified
as dyslexic may experience anxiety in their
L1 inhibiting learning; L2 learning offers the
pupil a chance to be equal with nondyslexic peers and develop confidence
and a fondness for language learning
unknown to them in their L1.

Learning an L2 is not a special skill
available only to an elite few
When attempting to learn the sound
system of a new language, lowereducated second language learners are
engaged in a very complex task
 Yet, research shows that it is a feasible
task

 Neither
age nor education are
barriers to success
Many special populations are able to
acquire second languages
 Of course, it’s hard work, it’s stressful, and
there is a great deal riding on the
outcome of the journey they are on
 But teachers can help, and the learners
are equipped with the necessary
hardware and software they need to
succeed.

Research can inform what is possible,
and where our sights should be set.
 Achieving these goals involves policy
and resource commitments (so, we’ve
got to lobby)
 But the frontline workers are the most
crucial for ensuring that this most special
population is not marginalized.


Thank you for your work, and thank you
for your time.

[email protected]