TEMA
6
APORTACIONES DE LA LINGÜÍSTICA A LA ENSEÑANZA DE LAS LENGUAS EXTRANJERAS. EL PROCESO DE APRENDIZAJE LINGÜÍSTICO: SEMEJANZAS Y DIFERENCIA ENTRE LA ADQUISICIÓN DE LA PRIMERA LENGUA ESCOLAR Y DE LA LENGUA EXTRANJERA 1. Presentation 2. Objectives 3. Contents 3.1. Contribution of linguistics to the teaching of foreign languages 3.1.1. Research on second language learning and acquisition 3.1.2. Some contributions of Linguistics to language teaching 3.1.3. Linguistic basis that influence the methodology of foreign language 3.2. The language learning process. Similarities and differences between first and second language acquisition 3.2.1. First language acquisition theories 3.2.2. Bilingualism and Multilingualism 3.2.3. The teaching of a foreign language in class 3.2.4. Second language acquisition theories 3.2.5. Similarities between first and second language acquisition 3.2.6. Differences between first and second language acquisition 3.3. Factors that influence the learning of a second language 3.3.1. Individual variations 3.3.2. Affective factors 4. Activities 5. Self-evaluation 6. Answers to self-evaluation 7. Glossary 8. Bibliography
Publicaciones ICSE
121
Cuerpo de Maestros
1.
PRESENTATION
In these last decades we have observed that a wider conscience has been developed regarding the complexity that entails the teaching of a foreign language. This is the reason why a solid theory has been developed. This foundation has been taking form thanks to disciplines as diverse as psychology (the learning theory), psycholinguistics (the theory of languages), sociolinguistics (the study of the use of language in society) and general linguistics that shows us a theory of language and its description. Teachers have often gone to linguists in search of guidance on how to teach languages —as what is taught is the object of study by linguists, and, it is described in terms of linguistic methods and theories—. This is the reason why, the way in which the teacher carries out his daily practice is under the influence of a theory regarding the learning of languages, which in turn is based on a linguistic theory. It is after the 1950´s that a series of linguistic innovations in the linguistic theories emerge and which are of capital importance in the development of the teaching of languages. For a better understanding of the changes occurred, it will be necessary to carry out a brief revision of those theories that have had a greater influence, as the changes that have taken place in linguistic theories, that have caused the revision and the introduction of new methods and approaches in education.
2.
OBJECTIVES - To learn about the development and change of L2 acquisition over the years. - To understand the way children and students acquisition of L2 works and how it is applied to teaching situations. - To recognize the factors which determine that students’ will or will not learn L2, and in consequence be able to act accordingly.
CEP 122
Editorial CEP
Inglés. Volumen I
3.
CONTENTS
3.1 Contribution of linguistics to the teaching of foreign languages Linguistics is the science that studies language; it is a relatively modern science. With respect to the contributions of linguistics to foreign language teaching, we can say that in language teaching, linguistic disciplines —such as grammar, syntax, semantics, psycholinguistics or sociolinguistics— are implemented by means of applied linguistics. Applied linguistics collects data and interprets the results that helps achieve its aim which is to use its findings to carry out its own experimental research. Linguistics has had a great influence in language teaching such as Bloomfield’s structuralist linguistics, Chomsky’s generative and creative vision, and the most recent approach: socio linguistic and the pragmatic vision of language. Sociolinguistics is the study of the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context, on the way language is used. Sociolinguistics overlaps to a considerable degree with pragmatics. It also studies how lects differ between groups separated by certain social variables, e.g., ethnicity, religion, status, gender, level of education, age, etc., and how creation and adherence to these rules is used to categorize individuals in social class or socio-economic classes. As the usage of a language varies from place to place (dialect), language usage varies among social classes, producing sociolects which are the object of study of sociolinguistics. Pragmatics, on the other hand, is the study of the ability of natural language speakers to communicate more than that which is explicitly stated. The ability to understand another speaker’s intended meaning is called pragmatic competence. An utterance describing pragmatic function is described as metapragmatic. Another perspective is that pragmatics deals with the ways we reach our goal in communication. Pragmatics is regarded as one of the most challenging aspects for language learners to grasp, and can only be truly learned with experience. Applied linguistics has to do with all these theories and with analyzing how they can be useful in language teaching to proceed afterwards with their pedagogical application.
3.1.1Research on Second Language Learning and Acquisition As for the research on second language learning and acquisition, there has been a deep change in the way second language acquisition has been conceived and the nature of man’s linguistic faculty. Behaviourist theories in the US conceived a child’s mind as a tabula rasa (blank state) and the child acquired his first language by accumulating stimuli-answers and by reinforcing the correct answers. But, as Chomsky observed, this theory did not explain how a child was able to produce sentences that he had never produced before. Chomsky’s generativist theory is the view that humans have an innate language faculty and that the universal principles of human language reflect intrinsic properties of this language faculty. In learning their native languages, children acquire specific rules that determine the sound and meaning of utterances in the language. These rules interact with each
Publicaciones ICSE
123
Cuerpo de Maestros
other in complex ways, and the entire system is learned in a relatively short time and with little or no apparent conscious effort. The most plausible explanation for the success of human language learners is that they have access to a highly restrictive set of principles which does not require (or permit) them to consider many alternatives in order to account for a particular construction, but instead limits them to a few possible rules from which a choice can be made —if necessary, without much further evidence. Since there is no evidence that the principles that define the class of possible rules and systems of rules are learned, it is thought that these principles serve as the preconditions for language learning, forming part of the innate capacity of every normal child. Viewed in this light, the principles we are attempting to discover are part of the genetic endowment of all humans. It follows that an understanding of these principles is necessary to an understanding of the mental makeup of the human species. Also, as Hymes pointed out, the problem was that the behaviourist theory was based on observing the system itself and not using it. He talked about a term coined by him: communicative competence. This linguistic term refers to a learner’s L2 ability. It not only refers to a learner’s ability to apply and use grammatical rules, but also to form correct utterances, and know how to use these utterances appropriately. The term gathers the view of language learning implicit in the communicative approach to language teaching. He states that the student learns through the process of communicating. The student that takes a risk will be the one that learns most since he is subjecting his system to continuous risks and challenges, whereas the learner who does not take any risks and communicates only what he knows will not progress quickly. The teacher should find a system that will enable his students to produce correctly what they are asked for but with a flexible and understanding attitude towards mistakes.
3.1.2 Some Contributions of Linguistics to language teaching In this respect, we can foreground the ASTP (Army Specialized Training Programme) in the USA, created with the advent of the Second World War before there was need for people to speak and understand different languages. The programme stressed the acquisition of conversation above all else. In Europe language teaching was slowly changing and linguists were mainly concerned about oral language as a means of communication. Emphasis was laid on what was heard or said, thus developing the aural/oral method with conversation as the main focus of the class. A method that became popular was the so-called Mimicry/Memorization. Bloomfield and the linguists who prepared the courses gave this method great importance. Finally, the application of structuralism in language teaching was developed after the Second World War. There are four common ideas regarding structuralism that form an intellectural trend: firstly, the structure is what determines the position of each element of a whole; secondly, structuralists believe that every system has a structure; thirdly, structuralists are interested in ‘structural’ laws that deal with coexistence rather than changes. And finally those structures are the ‘real things’ that lie beneath the surface or the appearance of meaning. The structuralists studied structures of the first and second language being studied, and analyzed which structures were similar and which ones caused interference.
CEP
124
Editorial CEP
Inglés. Volumen I
The vast majority of language learning texts used today are still based on structuralist principles.
3.1.3 Linguistic basis that influence the methodology of a foreign language Linguistic basis that directly influences the methodology of a foreign language is exposed as follows. However, firstly it is well-worth mentioning the distinction of the following terms: signifier (concept) and signified (acoustic image); the difference between synchrony (concrete moment) and diachrony (evolution), language (system) and use (expression), competence (the capacity to express something with the given elements) and performance (the production of actual utterances) and text and discourse. The most useful modern terms to define the process of teaching-learning could be those of ephistemic language which is the language for reflection, how the teacher plans to structure a lesson; and the deontic language which implies what type of language, that is, the performance and the language actually carried out in that class. In this way we shall be able to evaluate the success of the planning. If the linguistic concepts which are introduced in the concepts and the planning are interesting, the lesson will be successful. In conclusion, we can assert that a teacher who cares about level, function and interaction will get a richer and more workable programme.
3.2 The language learning process. Similarities and differences between first and second language acquisition 3.2.1 First language acquisition theories Non-nativist theories include the Competition model and Social interactionism. Socialinteractionists, like Snow, theorize that adults play an important part in children’s language acquisition. However, some researchers claim that the empirical data on which theories of social interactionism are based have often been over-representative of middle class American and European parent-child interactions. Various anthropological studies of other human cultures, as well as anecdotal evidence from western families, suggests rather that many, if not the majority, of the world’s children are not spoken to in a manner akin to traditional language lessons, but nevertheless they grow up to be fully fluent language users. Many researchers now take this into account in their analyses. Furthermore, as any parent knows, children often pay scarce attention to what they are told to say, instead sticking to their own ungrammatical preferences. Before the 1960s, the study of child language was dominated mainly by the “behaviourist approach”, whose best known proponent is Skinner. He says that language is not a mental phenomenon but behaviour, so it is learnt by a process of habit-formation. This view was challenged from the 1960s onwards, especially under the influence of Chomsky’s linguistic theories and cognitive psychology. He states, as it was previously said, that language entails a complex system of rules that enable speakers to create and understand an infinite number of sentences, most of which they have never encountered before. Children learn an abstract knowledge of rules, or competence, and they are exposed only to people’s speech, or performance. This means that the child’s language is not simply shaped by external forces: it is Publicaciones ICSE
125
Cuerpo de Maestros
being creatively constructed by the child as he interacts with those around him. In this sense, the difference between acquisition and learning is that the former is limited to a certain age, while the child is constructing his own grammar, testing which rules are adequate and which are not. This theory states the active contribution of the student and the role of reason or linguistic competence as opposed to the mechanism of drills. Vigotsky establishes the three main stages in the first language acquisition: - At the beginning, for the child, language is only a means of external communication; - then, language becomes egocentric (external in form but internal in function) -language is used mainly to satisfy his needs-, - lastly, it is internalised and becomes verbal thought, which then guides cognitive development. When talking about the main stages of language acquisition in children, linguistics divide the child’s acquisition of a language into pre-linguistic and linguistic stages. However there is a disagreement as to what should be included in these periods. But most scholars agree that the earliest cries and whimpers of the newborn cannot be considered early language. Such noises are completely stimulus-controlled; they are the child’s involuntary responses to hunger, discomfort, the feeling of well-being, etc. a) The babbling stage (usually around the sixth month period). In this period, the infant begins to babble. The sounds produced in this period seem to include the sounds of human languages. The role of babbling is not clearly understood, but it is absolutely clear that in order for the language to develop finally, the child must receive some auditory input. b) The holophrastic stage (some time after children are a year old). They begin to use same string of sounds repeatedly to mean the same thing. Most children seem to go through the one word=one sentence stage. The child uses just one word to express concepts which will later be expressed by complex phrases and sentences. c) The two-word stage (around some time after their second birthday) Children begin to produce two-word utterances like: allgone sock, bye-bye boat, it ball, hi mommy, etc. During this stage there are no syntactic or morphological markers; that is, no inflections for number, tense, or person. The two words a child utters, which can later express a number of different grammatical relations, will also later be expressed by other syntactic devices. d) The telegraphic stage. It does not seem to be any three-word sentence stage. When a child starts stringing more than two words together, the utterances may be two, three, four, or five words or longer. The words in a sentence are not strung together randomly; from a very early stage, children’s utterances reveal their grasp of the principles of sentence formation. These first utterances of children which are longer than two words have a special characteristic: usually, the small function words such as to, the, can, is, etc. are missing; only the words which carry the main message –the “content” words- occur. Children often sound as if they were reading telegrams, which is why such utterances are called telegraphic speech. For example: Cathy build house, no sit here, car stand up table.
CEP
126
Editorial CEP
Inglés. Volumen I
As children acquire more and more language, or more closely approximate the adult grammar, they not only begin to use function words but also acquire the inflectional and derivational morphemes of the language. There seems to be a natural order of acquisition of morphemes. It seems that the suffixing is the earliest inflectional morpheme acquired. Eventually all the other inflections are added, along with the syntactic rules, and finally the child’s utterances sound like those spoken by adults.
3.2.2 Bilingualism and Multilingualism Contrary to common belief, children are quite capable of understanding and moving across languages from an early age. Bilingualism has wrongly been blamed for learning difficulties in children of migrant families. Research shows that learning a second language both “builds on the first language and consolidates it”. Children do not become confused when they are exposed in their early years to two or more languages, any more than confusion arises when they hear two parents expressing themselves differently in the same language. Like multilingual adults, children often use words from one language when speaking the other but this does not mean they are getting mixed up. They are simply switching between two or more modes of expression. Furthermore, a tremendous amount of research devoted to the effects of early foreign language acquisition have produced remarkable results in terms of the positive benefits reaped by those who have a second language ability while in school. Results indicate that students who have foreign language abilities are more likely to have better overall academic performance, stronger problem-solving capabilities and score statistically higher on standardized tests than those who do not. The conclusive evidence speaks volumes on the benefits of speaking a second language.
3.2.3 The teaching of a foreign language in class In Europe children begin to study a second language around 11 years old, except when they start at a nursery school or primary school. At 11 or 12, the most usual situation takes place in a class where the teacher faces his students, teaching them a new linguistic code and practicing exchanges directly related with real communicative needs. An essential objective is to foster the pupil’s stimuli when learning a foreign language, and the increasing importance of motivation that can be achieved by several means like: taking into account the natural wish to communicate; the pleasure found in the games practiced with a new code and the one derived from the understanding of that code; and the pleasure of discovering another culture through the contents of its language. In that sense, a foreign language is taught in primary school because children show an innate faculty to understand and imitate what they listen. They should be prepared linguistically attending to their psychological and cultural development. Therefore, by learning a new language at an early age, children are aware of other languages and cultures apart from their own. In Spain the teaching of English has been done from the age of six years old for a long time, and has now been promoted to the infant stage.
3.2.4. Second language acquisition theories Krashen has contributed to the fields of second language acquisition (SLA), bilingual education, and reading. He is credited with introducing Publicaciones ICSE
127
Cuerpo de Maestros
various influential concepts and terms in the study of second language acquisition, including the Acquisition-learning hypothesis, the Input Hypothesis, Monitor Theory, the Affective Filter, and the Natural Order Hypothesis. Most recently, Krashen promotes the use of free voluntary reading during second language acquisition, of which he says “I believe that it is the most powerful tool we have in language education, first and second.” The Monitor Hypothesis asserts that a learner’s learned system acts as a monitor to what they are producing. In other words, while only the acquired system is able to produce spontaneous speech (according to this theory), the learned system is used to check what is being spoken. Before the learner produces an utterance, he or she internally scans it for errors, and uses the learned system to make corrections. Self-correction occurs when the learner uses the monitor to correct a sentence after it is uttered. According to the hypothesis, such selfmonitoring and self-correction are the only functions of conscious language learning. The Monitor Model then predicts faster initial progress by adults than children, as adults use this ‘monitor’ when producing L2 utterances before having acquired the ability for natural performance, and adult learners will input more into conversations earlier than children. There are three Conditions for the use of the Monitor according to Krashen in order for it to be successfully used: 1. The acquirer/learner must know the rul. This is a very difficult condition to meet because it means that the speaker must have had explicit instruction on the language form that he or she is trying to produce. 2. The acquirer must be focused on correctness. He or she must be thinking about form, and it is difficult to focus on meaning and form at the same time. 3. The acquirer/learner must have time to use the monitor. Using the monitor requires the speaker to slow down and focus on form. Nevertheless, there are many difficulties with the use of the monitor, making the monitor rather weak as a language tool: - Having time to use the monitor. There is a price that is paid for the use of the monitor, the speaker is then focused on form rather than meaning, resulting in the production and exchange of less information, thus slowing the flow of conversation. Some speakers over-monitor to the point that the conversation is painfully slow and sometimes difficult to listen to. - Knowing the rule. This is a difficult condition to meet, because even the best students do not learn every rule that is taught, they cannot remember every rule they have learned, and cannot always correctly apply the rules they do remember. Furthermore, every rule of a language is not always included in a text nor taught by the teacher. - The rules of language make up only a small portion of our language competence: Acquisition does not provide 100% language competence. There is often a small portion of grammar, punctuation, and spelling that even the most proficient native speakers may not acquire (for example- the lie/lay distinction in English). While it is important to learn these aspects of language,
CEP
128
Editorial CEP
Inglés. Volumen I
since writing is the only form that requires 100% competence, these aspects of language make up only a small portion of our language competence. Due to these difficulties, Krashen recommends using the monitor at times when it does not interfere with communication, such as while writing. The most recent theory according to Krashen is that there are five hypotheses on second language acquisition. The distinction between acquiring and learning was made by Krashen (1982) as part of his Monitor Theory. According to Krashen, the acquisition of a language is a natural subconscious process, a process similar to the way children develop ability in the first language; whereas learning a language is a conscious one which refers to a conscious knowledge of a second language. This hypothesis states that adults also have the ability to acquire. In the former, the student needs to partake in natural communicative situations. In the latter, error correction is present, as the study of grammatical rules isolated from natural language. Not all educators in second language agree to this distinction; however, the study of how a second language is learned/acquired is referred to as Second Language Acquisition or SLA. The Natural Order hypothesis, by which it is reported that the acquisition of grammatical structures occurs in a predictable order: noun, adjective, verb. The affective filter is an impediment to learning caused by negative emotional (affective) responses to one’s environment. It is a hypothesis of second language acquisition theory, and a field of interest in educational psychology. According to the affective filter hypothesis, certain emotions, such as anxiety, self-doubt, and mere boredom interfere with the process of acquiring a second language. They function as a filter between the speaker and the listener that reduces the amount of language input the listener is able to understand. These negative emotions prevent efficient processing of the language input. Besides, the hypothesis states that the blockage can be reduced by sparking interest, providing low anxiety environments and bolstering the learner’s self-esteem.
Comprehensible input Though there are many theories as to how we acquire language, both first and second, one of the most prominent modern theories in the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) is the Comprehensible Input Hypothesis. This theory was originally called the Input Hypothesis. According to Krashen, we acquire language only when we receive comprehensible input (CI). This hypothesis claims that we move from i to i+1 by understanding input that contains i+1. In this equation, i represents previously acquired linguistic competence and extra-linguistic knowledge which includes our knowledge of the world and of the situation- that is the context. The +1 represents new knowledge or language structures that we should be ready to acquire The Comprehensible Input hypothesis can be restated in terms of the natural order hypothesis. For example, if we acquire the rules of language in a linear order (1, 2, 3...), then i represents the last rule or language form learned, and i+1 is the next structure that should be learned. It must be stressed Publicaciones ICSE
129
Cuerpo de Maestros
however, that just any input is not sufficient; the input received must be comprehensible. According to Krashen, there are three corollaries to his theory: A. Corollaries of the Input/Comprehension Hypothesis 1. Talking (output) is not practicing Krashen stresses yet again that speaking in the target language does not result in language acquisition. Although speaking can indirectly assist in language acquisition, the ability to speak is not the cause of language learning or acquisition. Instead, comprehensible output is the result of language acquisition. 2. When enough comprehensible input is provided, i+1 is present That is to say, that if language models and teachers provide enough comprehensible input, then the structures that acquirers are ready to learn will be present in that input. According to Krashen, this is a better method of developing grammatical accuracy than direct grammar teaching. 3. The teaching order is not based on the natural order Instead, students will acquire the language in a natural order by receiving comprehensible input.
3.2.5. Similarities between First and Second Language Acquisition Here, we include the interlingual development —as the process that a learner must go through or build before being able to speak fluently or as well as a native speaker— and it constitutes, together with Generativism, a new field of investigation. At this first stage, the second language learner does not usually produce anything. This stage is called the silent period. The second stage is the pre-syntactic, in which the learner produces his first sentences. The term was created by Selinker who considers acquisition and learning from a psycho linguistic perspective. It is based on the idea that working with linguistic elements follows a common route that depends on age, culture and context. The goal is L2 but not many get there, they build a language between L1 and L2 with interference and generalization which are the tools of Interlanguage. When the student uses the mechanisms acquired both in his first and second languages, he does so subconsciously. Likewise, not all language learners follow the same path; individual variations like psychological, personality factors and others also come into play. A continuing theme has been whether people acquire a second language in the same way as the first one. If the L2 stages outlined above are also followed by L1 children, both groups are probably using the same learning process. The L2 sequence for English grammatical morphemes was similar, though not identical, to that found in L1 acquisition by Brown (1972), the greatest differences being the irregular past tense (broke), articles (the), copula and auxiliaries (Dulay, Burt & Krashen, 1982). Other similar sequences of syntactic acquisition have been found in L1 and L2 learning. L2 learners, like L1 learners, start by believing that John is the subject of please in both John is easy to please and John is eager to please and only go on to discover it is the object in John is easy to please after some time (Cook 1973; d’Anglejan & Tucker 1975). L2 learners, like L1 children, at first put negative elements at the beginning of
CEP
130
Editorial CEP
Inglés. Volumen I
the sentence No the sun shining and then progress to negation within the sentence That’s no ready (Wode 1981). A sub-theme underlying several of the questions discussed here is that L1 acquisition is completely successful, L2 learning is not. Take two representative quotations: ‘Very few L2 learners appear to be fully successful in the way that native speakers are’ (Towell & Hawkins, 1994: p.14); ‘Unfortunately, language mastery is not often the outcome of SLA’ (Larsen-Freeman & Long 1991: 153). The evidence for this deficiency is held to be the lack of completeness of L2 grammars (Schachter, 1988) or the fossilisation in L2 learning where the learner cannot progress beyond some particular stage (Selinker, 1992), both familiar ‘facts’ in some sense. Part of the interest in SLA research is explaining why L2 learners are usually unsuccessful. However, this alleged failure depends upon how success is measured, as we shall see. The answer to the question is far from settled. While there are many similarities between L1 and L2 learning, the variation in situation and other factors also produces many differences. One difficulty is filtering out differences that are accidental rather than inevitable. L1 children mostly acquire language in different settings with different exposure to language than L2 learners and they are at different stages of mental and social maturity (Cook, 1969). It may be inherently impossible to compare equivalent L1 and L2 learners. A more precise version of this question asks whether adults still have access to Universal Grammar in the mind.
3.2.6. Differences between First and Second Language Acquisition a. The contrast analysis in Structuralism. The contrast analysis tried to predict the errors the second language learner would commit when contrasting it with his native language. It does not take into account the psychological moments, only the linguistic ones which made it fail. Many of the errors the students commit cannot be predicted, and others they commit have not been predicted. The reason for this is that many of the errors do not occur due to interference but to other causes like: generalization of rules, applying rules incompletely, and inappropriate teaching, amongst others. b. The Critical Period Hypothesis. It refers to a biologically determined period of life when language can be acquired. The critical period hypothesis claims that there is such a biological timetable. Initially, the notion of a critical period was connected only to first language acquisition. Pathological studies of children who acquired their first language, or aspects thereof, became fuel for arguments of biologically determined predispositions, timed for release, which would wane if the correct environmental stimuli were not present at the crucial stage. The “classic” argument is that a critical point for second language acquisition occurs around puberty, beyond which people seem to be relatively incapable of acquiring a native like accent of the second language. This has led some to assume, incorrectly, that by the age of 12 or 13 you are over the hill when it comes to the possibility of successful second language learning. In order to examine these issues we will look at neurological and psychomotor considerations first; these will then be followed by an examination of cognitive, affective, and linguistic considerations.
Publicaciones ICSE
131
Cuerpo de Maestros
c. The Generativism’s error analysis. This substituted the contrast analysis and its basis is not only linguistic, since the error is understood as part of the learning of a second language. The error becomes a methodological instrument and it is used in the acquisition of L1 and the learning of L2. In a didactic sense, the error must be analyzed bearing in mind different aspects: the context, the identification of the error, the classification, the explanation and the evaluation. L1 ACQUISITION
L2 (FOREIGN LANGUAGE) ACQUISITION
Overall success
children normally achieve perfect L1 mastery
adult L2 learners are unlikely to achieve perfect L2 mastery
General failure
success guaranteed
complete success rare
Variation
little variation in degree of success or route
L2 learners vary in overall success and route
target language competence
L2 learners may be content with less than target language competence or more concerned with fluency than accuracy
Fossilisation
unknown
common, plus backsliding (i.e. return to earlier stages of development
Intuitions
children develop clear intuitions about correctness
L2 learners are often unable to form clear grammaticality judgments
Instruction
not needed
Negative evidence
correction not found and not necessary
correction generally helpful or necessary
Affective factors
not involved
play a major determining success
FEATURE
Goals
helpful or necessary
role
Figure 1: Differences between L1 and L2 acquisition Ellis 94 (based on Bley-Vroman 1988)
3.3. Factor that influence the learning of a second language Research on variation between individual learners seeks to address the question: Why do some learners do better than others? A flurry of studies in the 1970s, often labelled the good language learner studies, sought to identify
132
CEP Editorial CEP
Inglés. Volumen I
the distinctive factors of successful learners. Although those studies are now widely regarded as simplistic, they did serve to identify a number of factors affecting language acquisition. More detailed research on many of these specific factors continues today. Amongst those factors affecting language acquisition, we find individual variations and affective factors, which we will herewith develop:
3.3.1. Individual Variations a. Language aptitude Tests of language aptitude have proven extremely effective in predicting which learners will be successful in learning. However, considerable controversy remains about whether language aptitude is properly regarded as a unitary concept, an organic property of the brain, or as a complex of factors including motivation and short-term memory. Research has generally shown that language aptitude is quite distinct from general aptitude or intelligence, as measured by various tests, and is itself fairly consistently measurable by different tests. Language aptitude research is often criticized for being irrelevant to the problems of language learners, who must attempt to learn a language regardless of whether they are gifted for the task or not. This claim is reinforced by research findings that aptitude is largely unchangeable. In addition, traditional language aptitude measures, such as the Modern Language Aptitude Test strongly favour decontextualized knowledge of the sort used in taking tests, rather than the sort used in conversation. For this reason, little research is carried out on aptitude today. However, operators of selective language programs such as the United States Defense Language Institute continue to use language aptitude testing as part of applicant screening. b. Talent for languages A talent for languages does not coincide necessarily with intelligence, but depends on certain factors like the brain’s ability to register and memorize specific phonetic material; the sensibility to understand the grammatical intricacy of the linguistic system; the memory capacity to discover linguistic forms and rules without any help. We must take into consideration that effort and motivation can counteract lack of talent. c. Age It is commonly believed that children are better suited to learn a second language than adults. However, general second language research has failed to support the Critical Period Hypothesis in its strong form, which argues that full language acquisition is impossible beyond a certain age. d. Strategy use The effective use of strategies has been shown to be critical to successful language learning. We cannot forget that Canale and Swain (1980) included strategic competence among the four components of communicative competence. Research here has also shown significant pedagogical effects. This has given rise to strategiesbased instruction.
Publicaciones ICSE
133
Cuerpo de Maestros
Strategies are commonly divided into learning strategies and communicative strategies, although there are other ways of categorizing them. Learning strategies are techniques used to improve learning, such as mnemonics or using a dictionary. Learners (and native speakers) use communicative strategies to get meaning across even when they lack access to the correct language: for example, by using pro-forms like thing, or nonlinguistic means such as mime. Communicative strategies may not have any direct bearing on learning, and some strategies such as avoidance (not using a form with which one is uncomfortable) may actually hinder learning. Learners from different cultures use strategies in different ways, as a research tradition led by Rebecca Oxford has demonstrated. Differences in strategy use between male and female are related to this: numerous studies have shown that female learners typically use strategies more widely and intensively than males; this may be related to the statistical advantage which female learners enjoy in language learning.
3.3.2. Affective Factors Affective factors relate to the learner’s emotional state and attitude toward the target language. Research on affect in language learning is still strongly influenced by Bloom’s taxonomy, which describes the affective levels of receiving, responding, valuing, organization, and self-characterization through one’s value system. It has also been informed in recent years by research in neurobiology and neurolinguistics. a. Affective Filter Furthermore, researchers believe that language learners all possess an affective filter, which affect language acquisition. If students possess a high filter, they are less likely to engage in language learning because of shyness, concern for grammar or other factors. Students possessing a lower affective filter will be more likely to engage in learning because they are less likely to be impeded by other factors. The affective filter is an important component of second language learning. b. Anxiety Although some continue to propose that a low level of anxiety may be helpful, studies have almost unanimously shown that anxiety damages students’ prospects for successful learning. Anxiety is often related to a sense of threat to the learner’s self-concept in the learning situation, for example if a learner fears being ridiculed for a mistake. c. Personality Factors Second language acquisition is defined as the learning and adopting of a language that is not your native language. Once you have acquired a foreign language, you have mastered that language. Second language acquisition may be more difficult for some people due to certain social factors. One highly studied social factor impeding language development is the issue of extraverts versus introverts. Regarding this last issue, studies have shown that extraverts (or unreserved and outgoing people) acquire a second language better than introverts (or shy people). One particular study done by Naiman reflected this point. The subjects were 72 Canadian high
CEP
134
Editorial CEP
Inglés. Volumen I
school students from grades 8, 10 and 12 who were studying French as a second language. Naiman gave them all questionnaires to establish their psychological profiles, which also included a French listening test and imitation test. He found that approximately 70% of the students with the higher grades (B or higher) would consider themselves extraverts. Extraverts will be willing to try to communicate even if they are not sure they will succeed. Two scientists, Kinginger and Farrell, conducted interviews with U.S. students after their study abroad program in France in 2003. They found that many of the students would avoid interaction with the native speakers at all costs, while others jumped at the opportunity to speak the language. Those who avoided interaction were typically quiet, reserved people, (or introverts). Logically, fear will cause students not to try and advance their skills, especially when they feel they are under pressure. Just the lack of practice will make introverts less likely to fully acquire the second language. d. Motivation The role of motivation in SLA has been the subject of extensive scholarship, closely influenced by work in motivational psychology. Motivation is internally complex, and Dörnyei (2001a, p. 1) begins his work by stating that “strictly speaking, there is no such thing as motivation.” There are many different kinds of motivation; these are often divided into types such as integrative or instrumental, intrinsic or extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation refers to the desire to do something for an internal reward. Most studies have shown it to be substantially more effective in long-term language learning than extrinsic motivation, for an external reward such as high grades or praise. Integrative and instrumental orientations refer to the degree that a language is learned “for its own sake” or for instrumental purposes. Studies have not consistently shown either form of motivation to be more effective than the other, and the role of each is probably conditioned by various personality and cultural factors. Some research has shown that motivation correlates strongly with proficiency, indicating both that successful learners are motivated and that success improves motivation. Thus motivation is not fixed, but it is strongly affected by feedback from the environment. Accordingly, the study of motivation in SLA has also examined many of the external factors discussed above, such as the effect of instructional techniques on motivation. An accessible summary of this research can be found in Dörnyei (2001a). In their research on willingness to communicate, MacIntyre et al (1998) have shown that motivation is not the final construct before learners engage in communication. In fact, learners may be highly motivated yet remain unwilling to communicate. e. Fossilization In the process of the acquisition of L2, there is a phenomenon that often appears which does not in the learning of L1. Many of the students do not really achieve speaking a language correctly; most of them stop or fossilize in elementary stages. The causes of the fossilization are due to the type of teaching the student receives and on the motivation and personal characteristics of the student.
Publicaciones ICSE
135
Cuerpo de Maestros
In spite of all the theories, hypothesis and teaching instructions that have to be considered when teaching a foreign language in the classroom, a very important factor has to be taken into account, and that is, that often the poor success that many students achieve during Primary Education does not depend on any of the factors controlled here, but on the poor preparation that many teachers have when it comes to initiating small children in the study of a foreign language, and we must never forget that lack of talent for languages can be counteracted by effort and motivation.
4.
ACTIVITIES 1. Are bilingualism and multilingualism practical targets for state schools? State your ideas and opinions and justify them. 2. Make a diagram of this module, writing down only the most important facts.
CEP 136
Editorial CEP
Inglés. Volumen I
5.
SELF EVALUATION 1. The ability to understand another speaker's intended meaning is called… a) applied linguistics b) sociolinguistic c) pragmatic competence 2. Hymes tells us that… a) the student who risks most is the one that learns most b) the student learns through the process of communicating c) both 3. The language used in class to reflect is called… a) Deontic language b) Ephistemic language c) Diachronic language 4. When the child starts stringing more than two words together, it is called… a) the holophrastic stage b) the telegraphic stage c) the babbling stage 5. The results of research prove that the effects of early foreign language acquisition… a) results in getting mixed up b) neither c) is better overall academic performance 6. English is taught in Primary School because children… a) love it b) show an innate faculty to understand and imitate what they listen c) like travelling 7. The Monitor model a) has aspects that make it rather weak as a language tool b) it is ideal to use as a language tool c) it helps to emit utterances
Publicaciones ICSE
137
Cuerpo de Maestros
8. Acquiring and learning is part of the theory developed by a) Hymes b) Asher c) Krashen 9. Comprehensible output is the result of a) Language acquisition b) Language learning c) Acquiring structures 10. Language acquisition students a) always follow the same path b) never follow the same path c) not always follows the same path
6.
ANSWERS TO THE SELF-EVALUATION 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
c
b
b
a
c
b
a
c
a
c
CEP 138
Editorial CEP
Inglés. Volumen I
7.
GLOSSARY - TO ENTAIL:
Implicar
- TO ENDOW:
Dotar
- THE MAKEUP:
Composición, estructura
- TO SUBJECT:
Subordinarse
- TO CHALLENGE:
Desafiar, retar, cuestionar
- INFLECTIONAL MORPHEME:
Morfema de inflexión
- DERIVATIONAL MORPHEME:
Morfema Derivacional
- TO REAP:
Recoger
- TO STORE:
Preparado, acumular
- TO ASSIST:
Ayudar
- FAR FROM SETTLED:
Lejos de estar establecido
- FUEL:
Combustible
- THEREOF:
Del mismo
- TO WANE:
Menguar, decrecer
- NATIVELIKE:
Autóctono, natural de …
- BEARING IN MIND:
Teniendo en cuenta
- A FLURRY:
Ráfaga, oleada
- SEEK:
Buscar
- SHORT-TERM:
A corto plazo
- TO FAVOR:
Favorecer
- DECONTEXTUALIZED:
Sacado de contexto
- INTRICACY:
Complejo, intrincado
- AFFECT:
Afectar, afecto
- TO HINDER:
Dificultar
- SCHOLARSHIP:
Beca
- TO BE WILLING:
Estar dispuesto
- EFFORT:
Esfuerzo
Publicaciones ICSE
139
Cuerpo de Maestros
8.
BIBLIOGRAPHY - DEWAELE, J. AND FURNHAM, A. Personality and Individual Differences. Personality and Speech Production: A Pilot Study of Second Language Learners 28 (2000): 355-365 - NAIMAN, N., FROHLICH, M., AND STERN, H. The Good Language Learner: A Report. Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (1975). - KRASHEN, S.D. The natural approach. Language acquisition in the classroom. Pergamon Press. Oxford, 1984. - LITTLEWOOD, W (1984), Foreign and Second Language Learning, Cambridge: CUP - WIDDOWSON (1984), Explorations in Applied Linguistics, Oxford, OUP. - COOK, V.J. 1969. The analogy between first and second language learning. IRAL VII/3, 207-216. - COOK, V.J. 1973. The comparison of language development in native children and foreign adults. IRAL XI/1, 13-28. - D’ANGLEJAN, A. & TUCKER, G.R. 1975. The acquisition of complex English structures by adult learners. Language Learning, XV/2. - LARSEN-FREEMAN, D. & LONG, M. 1991. An Introduction to Second Language Acquisition Research. Longman, London & New York. - SCHACHTER, J. 1988. Second Language Acquisition and its relationship to Universal Grammar. Applied Linguistics 9, 3, 219-235. - WODE, H. 1981. Learning a Second Language. Tübingen: Narr. - V.COOK (2000) ‘Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition: One Person with Two Languages’ Aronoff & Rees-Miller, Blackwell Handbook of Linguistics. - GASS, SUSAN M., LARRY SELINKER. Second Language Acquisition. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers, 2001.
CEP 140
Editorial CEP
