Week 11: Second Language Acquisition

1. Week 11: Second Language Acquisition Language Classroom

2. Rod Ellis: Principles of instructed language learning • SLA research and theories contribute to how the language should be instructed, or taught. • Some controversies • What approaches? • The efficacy of teaching explicit knowledge • Types of corrective feedback • Etc.

3. Principle 1: Instruction needs to ensure that learners develop both a rich repertoire offormulaic expressions and a rule-based competence. • Formulaic expressions  fluency • A rule-based competence (knowledge of specific grammatical rules)  complexity and accuracy • Problem of traditional classroom instruction: Focus on forms • Teaching of specific grammatical rules through the systematic teaching of pre-selected structures • Criticism: rote learning, suitable for young beginner learners

4. Principle 1: Instruction needs to ensure that learners develop both a rich repertoire offormulaic expressions and a rule-based competence. • Teaching implications • Teach formulaic expressions first • Teach grammar later • Notional-functional syllabus • Focus on functions and pragmatic purposes of the language • Introductions, greetings, good-byes; • Invitations, Apologies, Condolences; • Gratitude, Compliments, Congratulations; • Requests, Commands, Warnings, Directions; • Offers, Seeking Permission; • Advice, Intention; • Pleasure, Displeasure; • Expressing your opinion

5. Principle 2: Instruction needs to ensure that learners focus predominantly on meaning • Two kinds of meaning • Semantic meaning • the meanings of lexical items or of specific grammatical structures • Pragmatic meaning • the highly contextualized meanings that arise in acts of communication

6. Principle 2: Instruction needs to ensure that learners focus predominantly on meaning • Main focus on pragmatic meaning • Optimal learning conditionis created when learners are engaged in decoding and encoding messages in the context of actual acts of communication; • Pragmatic meaning leads totrue fluencyin an L2 learners; • Tasks aimed at creating pragmaticmeaning is intrinsicallymotivating.

7. Principle 3: Instruction needs to ensure that learners also focus on form. • Conscious attention to form helps acquisition  more attention results in more learning • Teaching implications • Grammar lessons • Inductive approach (to encourage students to notice pre-selected forms) • Deductive approach (to establish an awareness of the grammatical rule)

8. Principle 3: Instruction needs to ensure that learners also focus on form. • Focused tasks • Comprehension + processing of particular grammatical structures in the input; • Production of the structures when performing the task • Methodology that induces attention to form • E.g. the provision of time for strategic and on-line planning and corrective feedback • A combination of both intensive and extensive grammar instruction approaches

9. Principle 4: Instruction needs to be predominantly directed at developingimplicit knowledge of the L2 while not neglecting explicit knowledge. • Implicit knowledge • Procedural i.e. unconscious; verbalizable when made explicit; accessed rapidly and easily; available for use in rapid, fluent communication = competence

10. Principle 4: Instruction needs to be predominantly directed at developingimplicit knowledge of the L2 while not neglecting explicit knowledge. • Explicit knowledge • Conscious, learnable, verbalizable, typically accessed through control processing (to overcome difficulty in using L2) • Analysed knowledge = a conscious awareness of how a structural feature works • Metalingual knowledge = knowledge of grammatical metalanguage and the ability to understand explanations of rules

11. Principle 4: Instruction needs to be predominantly directed at developingimplicit knowledge of the L2 while not neglecting explicit knowledge. • Teaching implications • Communicative tasks (a lot of practice, focus more on meaning, then on form) to encourage the development of implicit knowledge • Controversies on the teaching of explicit knowledge • Is explicit knowledge of any value in and of itself? • Is explicit knowledge of value in facilitating the development of implicit knowledge?

12. Principle 4: Instruction needs to be predominantly directed at developingimplicit knowledge of the L2 while not neglecting explicit knowledge. • Krashen and explicit knowledge • The monitor hypothesis • Learners use explicit knowledge only when they monitor, they focus on form and have sufficient time to access the knowledge • Limited use of explicit knowledge

13. Principle 4: Instruction needs to be predominantly directed at developingimplicit knowledge of the L2 while not neglecting explicit knowledge. • Interface hypothesis • An account for whether explicit knowledge facilitates the development of implicit knowledge • Non-interface • Explicit and implicit knowledge are entirely distinct. • Explicit knowledge can not be converted into implicit knowledge. • Explicit and implicit memories are neurologically separate.

14. Principle 4: Instruction needs to be predominantly directed at developingimplicit knowledge of the L2 while not neglecting explicit knowledge. • Interface • Explicit knowledge become implicit knowledge given plentiful communicative practice. • Weak interface • Explicit knowledge leads to noticing. • Explicit knowledge of a grammatical structure makes learners attend to the structure in the input and cognitively compare between the input and their output.

15. Principle 4: Instruction needs to be predominantly directed at developingimplicit knowledge of the L2 while not neglecting explicit knowledge.

16. Principle 5: Instruction needs to take into account the learner’s built-in syllabus. • Natural order and sequence of acquisition  learner’s built-in syllabus • Learners would automatically proceed along their built-in syllabus as long as they had access to comprehensible input and were sufficiently motivated. • Grammar instruction played no role in the development of implicit knowledge (acquisition). • Grammar instruction could contribute only to explicit knowledge (learning).

17. Principle 5: Instruction needs to take into account the learner’s built-in syllabus. • What are some teaching possibilities given the learner’s built-in syllabus? • Adopt zero grammar approach (with task-based activities) • Ensure that learners are developmentally ready to acquire a specific target feature (probably impractical, highly individualized

18. Principle 5: Instruction needs to take into account the learner’s built-in syllabus. • Focus the instruction on explicit rather than implicit knowledge • Consider “Developmental complexity vs. Cognitive complexity” when deciding the order of instruction • E.g. the teaching of subject-verb agreement in English in traditional syllabuses

19. Principle 6: Successful instructed language learning requires extensive L2 input. • FLA: the amount and quality of input affect the speed of acquisition of children • SLA: more exposure (extensive input) = more and faster language learning • The positive relationship between length of residence in the country where L2 is spoken and language proficiency • Positive correlations between the amount of reading and proficiency/literacy

20. Principle 6: Successful instructed language learning requires extensive L2 input. • Teaching implications • Maximise use of the L2 inside the classroom (L2 used as the medium and the object of instruction) • Create opportunities for students to receive input outside the classroom. • Extensive reading programmes (e.g. graded readers) • Self-access centres for students to use outside class time

21. Principle 6: Successful instructed language learning requires extensive L2 input. • If the only input students receive is in the context of a limited number of weekly lessons based on some course book, they are unlikely to achieve high levels of L2 proficiency.

22. Principle 7: Successful instructed language learning also requires opportunities for output. • Controlled practice exercises  output limited in terms of length and complexity • Oral and written tasks allow students to interact with each other in the classroom. • Caveat: ‘pushing’ students to speak (when they are not ready to speak but have to) can put a lot of stress on them, causing anxiety and frustration (of not being able to communicate effectively) • Increasing output does not guarantee the language acquisition • Language acquisition can actually take place without interaction (i.e. through reading and listening)

23. Principle 8: The opportunity to interact in the L2 is central to developing L2 proficiency. • Interaction automatises existing linguistic resources and create new resources. • Interaction hypothesis: • Interaction fosters acquisition when a communication problem arises and learners are engaged in negotiating for meaning. • Interaction makes input more comprehensible, provides corrective feedback and pushes learners to modify their own output in uptake.

24. Principle 8: The opportunity to interact in the L2 is central to developing L2 proficiency. • 4 key requirements to create an acquisition-rich classroom • Create contexts of language use • Provide opportunities for learners to use the language to express their own personal meanings • Help students to participate in language-related activities beyond their current level of proficiency • Offer a full range of contexts catering for a full performance in the language

25. Principle 8: The opportunity to interact in the L2 is central to developing L2 proficiency. • Ideally, students should have control over the discourse topic (vis-à-vis the traditional IRF, Initiation-Response-Follow-up) • (Small) group work may encourage interaction, but there may be excessive use of the L1 in monolingual groups

26. Principle 9: Instruction needs to take account of individual differences in learners. • Learning is more successful when • the instruction is matched to students’ particular aptitude for learning • “prediction of how well, relative to other individuals, an individual can learn a foreign language in a given amount of time and under given conditions” • the students are motivated • Teachers can do little to influence students’ extrinsic motivation but there is a lot they can do to enhance their intrinsic motivation

27. Principle 9: Instruction needs to take account of individual differences in learners. • Learner strategies training can raise students’ awareness of approaches to learning (and learners can be flexible in the use of approaches) • Teachers should motivate students to learn. • Improve the quality of teaching, e.g. making instruction clear through simple explanation and teach at a pace that’s not too fast and not too slow • Bear in mind that it’s the teacher’s responsibility to ensure that students are motivated and stay motivated.

28. Principle 10: In assessing learners’ L2 proficiency it is important to examine free as well as controlled production. • 4 types of measurement in classroom: • Metalinguistic judgement (e.g. grammaticality judgement test) • Selected responses (e.g. multiple choice) • Constrained constructed response (e.g. gap filling exercise) • Free constructed response (e.g. communicative task)

29. Principle 10: In assessing learners’ L2 proficiency it is important to examine free as well as controlled production. • Multiple choice (2) and gap filling exercise (3) are more effective in measuring form-focused instruction • A communicative task (4) is the least effective. • 4 is best used to measure learners’ L2 proficiency. • The ability to get a multiple choice question right does not mean the student is able to use the target feature in actual communication.

30. Principle 10: In assessing learners’ L2 proficiency it is important to examine free as well as controlled production. • Learner performance can be assessed in 3 ways • A direct assessment of task outcomes • Most promising, but best with a single correct outcome • Discourse analytic measures • Not suitable for busy classroom teachers • External ratings • Practical but require considerable expertise to ensure the validity and reliability of the ratings of learner performance.