Second Language Acquisition Semester 1, 2005

1. Second Language Acquisition 1 Second Language Acquisition Semester 1, 2005 Week 9 Input and interaction

2. Second Language Acquisition 2 Input and intake Input: what is available to the learner Intake: what is actually internalised.

3. Second Language Acquisition 3 Comprehensible Input Input must be comprehensible if it is to play a role in learning: where does it come from?

4. Second Language Acquisition 4 Linguistic adjustments to Non-Native Speakers (NNS) �foreigner talk� ( Ferguson, 1975) NS switching to ungrammatical forms when speaking to NNS. Three types: omission: deletion of articles, copulas, etc. �Why you go?� expansion: addition of unanalysed tag questions: �You like Coke, yes?� replacement/rearrangement: pre-verbal negation �no like?�, uninverted sentence forms �Sister me no like man�

5. Second Language Acquisition 5 Why does foreigner talk occur? 1. zero or very low SL proficiency in NNS 2. perceived or actually higher status of NS 3. prior experience with low proficiency NNS 4. spontaneity of the conversation

6. Second Language Acquisition 6 NS linguistic adjustments in delivery & grammar > slower, more careful pronunciation, stress or increased volume on key words > shorter t-units > grammatical relations made explicit He asked to go >> He asked if he could go > less complex syntactically or propositionally more present tense markings more yes/no questions topic-comment structure �John, I like him�

7. Second Language Acquisition 7 NS adjustments in vocabulary > restricted vocabulary size, lower type/token ratio > fewer pro forms

8. Second Language Acquisition 8 Interactional adjustments to NNS > content: narrower range of topics, here and now orientation > interactional structure: acceptance of topic shifts, confirmation checks, clarification requests, questions and answers > paraphrase: approximation, circumlocution > transfer: literal translations avoidance: topic avoidance

9. Second Language Acquisition 9 Teacher talk > Similar to foreigner talk > Particularly evident in Initiate-Respond-Feedback (IRF) transmission mode of education

10. Second Language Acquisition 10 Do input modifications actually help make input more comprehensible? (1) 1.Comprehension is usually increased by linguistic simplification, although simple sentences alone do not always help and may even hinder. 2. Simplification and elaboration often co-occur, but when their effects can be distinguished, simplification is not consistently superior to elaboration, and some studies find elaboration more effective. 3. Comprehension is consistently improved by interactional modifications, and by a combination of simplification and elaboration.

11. Second Language Acquisition 11 Do input modifications actually help make input more comprehensible? (2) 4. Modifications are more useful to NNSs of lower L2 proficiency. 5.Apart from rate of delivery, isolated input or interactional adjustments, such as shorter sentence length or greater topic saliency, are insufficient to improve the comprehensibility of whole texts. (Long, 1996:422-423) 6.NNSs� perceived comprehension is greater when speech has been modified for them.

12. Second Language Acquisition 12 Comprehensible input is necessary, but is it sufficient? 1. Persistent errors by L2 learners despite rich input (Schmidt, 1986; Swain, 1991). 2. Inability of advanced L2 learners to incorporate L2 vocabulary and grammar. Inability to form relative clauses (Keenan & Comrie, 1997; Pavesi, 1983)

13. Second Language Acquisition 13 Comprehensible input is necessary, but is it sufficient? (2) 3. Learnability arguments: the need for negative evidence. Example: Adverb placement by French ESL learners (White, 1989) Je bois toujours du caf� (* I drink every day coffee) The English FSL learner will get positive evidence that the adverb can appear between the verb and direct object. If the French ESL learner transfers the L1 verb-adverb-direct object order, negative evidence is needed to change. Comprehension is not enough.

14. Second Language Acquisition 14 Conclusion Comprehensible input (= the environment) is not enough to explain learning. Learner internal variables must also be considered. These include attention, awareness and focus on form.

15. Second Language Acquisition 15 The role of conversation (naturalistic NS�NNS interaction) in learning �language learning evolves out of learning how to carry on conversations� (Hatch, 1978: 404) Can grammatical structure emerge from interactional adjustments?

16. Second Language Acquisition 16 Dealing with communication breakdowns Communication involving L2 learners often leads to problems in understanding and breakdown. Frequently, one or more of the participants � the learner or the interlocutor � attempts to remedy this by engaging in interactional work to secure mutual understanding. This work is often called �negotiation of meaning�. (Ellis, 1994: 716)

17. Second Language Acquisition 17 Negotiation of meaning is characterized by interactional modifications such as comprehension checks and requests for clarification. The goal is to make the input more comprehensible.

18. Second Language Acquisition 18 The Interactionist account �... negotiation of meaning, and especially negotiation work that triggers interactional adjustments by the NS or more competent interlocutor, facilitates acquisition because it connects input, internal learner capacities, particularly selective attention, and output in productive ways.� (Long, 1996: 451)

19. Second Language Acquisition 19 Interactionist principles 1. The linguistic characteristics of target language input need to be made salient. 2. Learners should receive help in comprehending semantic and syntactic aspects of linguistic input. 3. Learners need to have opportunities to produce target language output. 4. Learners need to notice errors in their own output. Learners need to correct their linguistic output.

20. Second Language Acquisition 20 Interactionist principles (2) 5. Learners need to correct their linguistic output. 6. Learners need to engage in target language interaction whose structure can be modified for negotiation of meaning. 7. Learners should engage in L2 tasks designed to maximise opportunities for good interaction. Chappelle, 1998, p. 23-25

21. Second Language Acquisition 21 Negative evidence Negotiation Other types of correction Notice error Search input Input available Input not available Confirm/Disconfirm

22. Second Language Acquisition 22 Comprehensible output: Is production necessary? The role of output 1. Testing hypotheses about the structures and meanings of the target language. 2. Receiving crucial feedback for verification of these hypotheses. 3. Developing automaticity in IL production. 4. Forcing a shift from more lexical and semantic processing of the second language to a more syntactic mode. (Swain & Lapkin 1995; Krashen 1998)

23. Second Language Acquisition 23 The input processing model  The input processing model (IP) is an account of how L2 learners make initially makes sense of L2 input. It was first proposed in VanPatten (1996) and has since been developed and refined.

24. Second Language Acquisition 24 Definition of key terms in IP processing refers to making a connection between form and meaning (not the same as perception of a form or noticing ) noticing refers to any conscious registration of a form, but not necessarily with any meaning attached to it (Schmidt, 1990) - similar to perception intake refers to that subset of the input that has been processed in working memory and made available for further processing (i.e., possible incorporation into the developing system)

25. Second Language Acquisition 25 IP: A definition Input processing is about making form-meaning/function connections during real time comprehension. It is an on-line phenomenon that takes place in working memory.

26. Second Language Acquisition 26 IP Principles (1) Principle 1. The Primacy of Meaning Principle. Learners process input for meaning before they process it for form. Principle 1a. The Primacy of Content Words Principle. Learners process content words in the input before anything else. Principle 1b. The Lexical Preference Principle. Learners will tend to rely on lexical items as opposed to grammatical form to get meaning when both encode the same semantic information .

27. Second Language Acquisition 27 IP Principles (2) P1c. The Preference for Non-redundancy Principle. Learners are more likely to process non-redundant meaningful grammatical form before they process redundant meaningful forms. P1d. The Meaning-before-nonmeaning Principle. Learners are more likely to process meaningful grammatical forms before nonmeaningful forms irrespective of redundancy. P1e. The Availability of Resources Principle. For learners to process either redundant meaningful grammatical forms or nonmeaningful forms, the processing of overall sentential meaning must not drain available processing resources. P1f. The Sentence Location Principle. Learners tend to process items in sentence initial position before those in final position and those in medial position.

28. Second Language Acquisition 28 End of Week 9 lecture slides.