Lecture 13

1. Lecture 13 Second Language

2. What is second language? According to UNESCO, second language is a language acquired/ learned by a person in addition to his mother tongue.

3. Second Language Acquisition SLA

4. Terminology • L1 – first language • L2 – second language • SL – second language • FL – foreign language • NL – native language (=L1) • TL – target language (=L2) • IL – interlanguage

5. SL vs FL

6. The broad sense of SL • Any language learned after the learning of L1. • It can be one’s first, second, third, fourth or … non-native language. • Its acquisition can occur in a classroom situation, as well as in more “natural” exposure situations.

7. The narrow sense of SL • A non-native language learned in the environment where that language is spoken. • E.g. Chinese speakers learning English in America

8. Foreign language • A non-native language learned in the environment of one’s native language. • E.g. Chinese speakers learning English in China.

9. Broadly speaking, SL includes FL

10. Narrowly speaking, SL differs from FL • This difference is mostly ignored in our course.

11. First language acquisition unconscious successful

12. Second language learning painstaking unsuccessful

13. Adult foreign language learning Child language development Conscious memorization of grammar rules General adult skill acquisition Problem solving Internally driven growth Bley-Vroman’s Fundamental Difference Hypothesis

14. Child L1 acquisition • A process better described as “growth” than “learning”. • Universally successful • The knowledge acquired is largely of an unconscious sort.

15. Bley-Vroman on SLA • Lack of success • General failure • Variation in success, course, and strategy • Variation in goals • Fossilization • Indeterminate intuitions • Importance of instruction • Native evidence • Role of affective factors

16. The learner’s perspective

17. Why are some individuals more successful in learning an L2 than other individuals? • Age • Aptitude • Motivation • Attitude • Socio-psychological factors

18. Age

19. Some facts • Individuals generally do not achieve a native-like accent in a second language unless they are exposed to it at an early age. • Older individuals cannot reasonably hope to ever achieve a native accent in a second language. • Second language learners cannot achieve complete mastery of syntax.

20. Aptitude

21. Carroll: “Standard ‘four component’ view of language aptitude” • Phonemic coding ability • Grammatical sensitivity • Inductive language learning ability • Memory and learning A person who is excellent in one or more of these abilities would seem to be at an advantage in learning a second language Skehen suggested that these be combined into one ability: language analytic ability

22. Motivation

23. Gardner: • Integrative motivation: coming from a desire to integrate with the TL community; it is hypothesized to be a better predictor of second language success than instrumental motivation. • Instrumental motivation: coming from the rewards that might come from learning (e.g. learning English in order to be able to study mathematics at an English-speaking university). It is more utilitarian.

24. Anxiety

25. Motivation and anxiety • If a learner is not at all anxious, she or he is unlikely to be motivated to make any effort. • High motivation with little subjective hope of achievement increase anxiety. • Anxiety is linked to personality.

26. The learning perspective

27. SLA is the study of how learners create a new language system with only limited exposure to a second language.

28. No worry for the error *Do you know where is Mrs. Irving? A mark of a stage of the development of the learner’s L2.

29. Corder (1967) • Errors are evidence of the state of a learner’s knowledge of the L2. • They are evidence of an underlying rule-governed system. • They are not the product of imperfect learning. • They are not a reflection of faulty imitation.

30. Corder: Error vs. mistake • Mistakes are akin to slips of the tongue. That is, they are generally one-time-only events. The speaker who makes a mistake is able to recognize it as a mistake and correct it if necessary. • An error, on the other hand, is systematic. That is, it is likely to occur repeatedly and is not recognized by the learner as an error. The learner in this case has incorporated a particular erroneous form (from the perspective of the TL) into his or her system.

31. Types of Language Errors i. Pre-systematic Errors. Random errors made by the learner when he is unable to express himself. These errors are marked by (a) the learner cannot explain why ; (b) he cannot self-correct them. ii. Systematic Errors. Errors made by the learner systematically showing that he is formulating some incomplete rules. These errors are marked by (a) the learner can explain why; (b) he cannot self-correct them.

32. iii. Post-systematic Errors. Errors made by the learner when he has not formed the habit of correctly using L2. These errors are marked by (a) the learner can explain why; (b) he can self-correct them.

33. Errors: interlingual vs. intralingual • Interlingual errors = negative L1 transfer e.g. serve for people (NL: Chinese) • Intralingual errors = indicators of the IL stages e.g. He comed yesterday. (NL: all) • Interference error • Developmental error

34. Identify the source of errors • L1 • Development • Convergence from both

35. In the first month of a Japanese-speaking child learning English in an English speaking country, she formed questions like: Do you know? How do you do it? Do you have coffee? Do you want this one? During her second month of residence, the following questions were uttered by the same child: What do you doing, this boy? What do you do it, this, froggie? What do you doing? What do you drinking, her? Accuracy ≠ acquisition

36. A Progress Obviously, the English this small girl acquired in the first month of learning was very limited. Though the questions she made were free of errors, she could only use the second person in them. In the second month she attempted to use third-person in her questions, but she did not know the way to change person. So she changed in her own way – with the third person reference as a tag of the second person question. This self-created error type marks a progress in L2 question acquisition.

37. The teaching perspective

38. Input: what learners hear and read • Krashen’s Input Hypothesis: L2 is acquired by receiving comprehensible input • Comprehensible input: the bit of language that contains structures a little bit beyond their current level of competence • ‘i+1’ notion: current stage of knowledge as i and the next stage as ‘i+1’ • A number of researchers see comprehensible input as a major causative factor in L2 acquisition, and the main task for L2 teachers is to ensure that their students receive comprehensible input.

39. Output: learners’ speaking and writing • Krashen holds that speaking is the result of acquisition, not its cause; learner production does not contribute directly to acquisition. • Swain argues that input alone is insufficient for acquisition. • Her evidence: Canadian children learning French in immersion schools progressed very slowly without emphasizing output

40. Swain on comprehensible output • Comprehensible output refers to the need for a learner to be “pushed toward the delivery of a message that is not only conveyed, but that is conveyed precisely, coherently, and appropriately.” • Output “would seem to have a potentially significant role in the development of syntax and morphology.”

41. The research perspective

42. Interlanguage • S1 S2 creation; hypothesis testing Definition: Interlanguage is the language produced by a nonnative speaker of a language (i.e., a learner’s output)

43. The basic assumption in SLA research Learners create a language system, known as an interlanguage (IL). The learners themselves impose structure on the available linguistic data and formulate an internalized system.

44. The Interlanguage Structural Conformity hypothesis All universals that are true for primary languages are also true for interlanguages. The range of the domain of language universals is all human languages, including learner languages.

45. Peirce: social identity and investment • L2 acquisition involves a “struggle” and “investment”. Learners are not computers who process input data but combatants who battle to assert themselves and investors who expect a good return on their efforts. • Successful learners are those who reflect critically on how they engage with native speakers and who are prepared to challenge the accepted social order by constructing and asserting social identities of their own choice.

46. Erroneous output and L2 identity • Many ungrammatical sentences are meaningful to the native ears. E.g. * That woman beautiful is my mother. * I’ll happy if I can get your paper. • Such sentences serve as evidence of the speaker’s L2 identity.

47. Interlanguage pragmatics • The area of pragmatics is perhaps one of the most difficult areas for learners because they are generally unaware of this aspect of language and may be equally unaware of the negative perceptions that native speakers may have of them as a result of their pragmatic errors. • E.g. NS: I’m really upset about the book because I needed it to prepare for last week’s class. NNS: I have nothing to say.

48. Conversation between an NNS & an NS • I have a favor to ask you. • Sure, what can I do for you? • You need to write a recommendation for me.

49. Interlanguage pragmatics, in dealing with how people use language within a social context, must take into consideration not only how language is used (i.e., how grammatical forms are used to express semantic concepts), but also what it is being used for and who it is being used with.

50. Example • Context: Graduate students addressing a faculty advisor. • Advisor: OK, let’s talk about next semester. • NS: I was thinking of taking syntax. • NNS: I will take syntax.