First and second language acquisition 2

Characteristics considering first language acquisition : It is remarkable for its speed  In normal conditions language acquisition generally occurs  Small differences in a range of s

HS: Language and the Mind

Overview

Instruction and Second Language Acquisition

Tatiana Prozorova

Irina Novikava

Structure

 main theories dealing with instruction in L2 acquisition

 effectiveness of instruction

 key principles for an effective instruction

 instructions appropriate to each acquisition stage

 ten things the teacher can do to improve instruction for ELL students

 Grammar Translation Method

 non-communicative approach that relies on reading and

translation, mastery of grammatical rules and accurate writing

 Audiolingual Method

 non-communicative approach that involves heavy use of mimicry, imitations and drill Speech, not writing is emphasised

 Communicative Language Teaching

 is based on the assumption that learners do not need to be taught grammar before they can communicate but will acquire it naturally

as part of the process of learning to communicate

Basic theories of L2 acquisition

 "Comprehensible Input" hypothesis (by Stephen Krashen)

 learners acquire language by "intaking" and understanding language that

is a "little beyond" their current level of competence

 "Comprehensible Output" hypothesis (by Merrill Swain and others)

 providing learners with opportunities to use the language and skills they have acquired, at a level in which they are competent, is almost as

important as giving students the appropriate level of input

 Affective Filter hypothesis (by Krashen and Terrell)

 individual’s emotions can directly assist in the learning of a new language

Basic theories of L2 acquisition

 Basic interpersonal communications skills (BICS) and cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP)

 Context-embedded communication

 provides several communicative supports to the listener or reader(objects, gestures, vocal inflections)

 Context-reduced communication

 provides fewer communicative clues to support understanding

 Cognitively undemanding communication

 requires a minimal amount of abstract or critical thinking

 Cognitively demanding communication

 requires a learner to analyze and synthesize information quickly and contains abstract or specialized concepts

Four key principles for an effective instruction

 Increase Comprehensibility

 involves the ways in which teachers can make content more understandable to their students

 Increase Interaction

 language skills are used in real-life situations

 Increase Thinking/Study Skills

 advanced thinking skills are developed

 Use a student’s native language to increase

Examples of Instructional Strategies

 Silent/ Receptive Stage I

 Use of visual aids and gestures

 Slow speech emphasizing key words

 Do not force oral production

 Write key words on the board with students copying them as they are presented

 Use pictures and manipulatives to help illustrate concepts

 Use multimedia language role models

 Use interactive dialogue journals

 Encourage choral readings

 Use Total Physical Response (TPR) techniques

Examples of Instructional Strategies

 Early Production Stage II

 Engage students in charades and linguistic guessing games

 Do role-playing activities

 Present open-ended sentences

 Promote open dialogues

 Conduct student interviews with the guidelines written out

 Use charts, tables, graphs, and other conceptual visuals

 Use newspaper ads and other mainstream materials to encourage language interaction

 Encourage partner and trio readings

Examples of Instructional Strategies

 Speech Emergence Stage III

 Conduct group discussions

 Use skits for dramatic interaction

 Have student fill out forms and applications

 Assign writing compositions

 Have students write descriptions of visuals and props

 Use music, TV, and radio with class activities

 Show filmstrips and videos with cooperative groups scripting the visuals

 Encourage solo readings with interactive comprehension checks

Examples of Instructional Strategies

 Intermediate /Advanced Proficiency Stages IV & V

 Sponsor student panel discussions on the thematic topics

 Have students identify a social issue and defend their position

 Promote critical analysis and evaluation of pertinent issues

 Assign writing tasks that involve writing, rewriting, editing, critiquing written examples

 Encourage critical interpretation of stories, legends, and poetry

 Have students design questions, directions, and activities for others to follow

 Encourage appropriate story telling

Ten Things the Teacher Can Do To

Improve Instruction

1. Enunciate clearly, but do not raise your voice Add gestures, point

directly to objects, or draw pictures when appropriate

2. Write clearly, legibly, and in print—many ELL students have

difficulty reading cursive

3. Develop and maintain routines Use clear and consistent signals for

classroom instructions

4. Repeat information and review frequently If a student does not

understand, try rephrasing or paraphrasing in shorter sentences and simpler syntax Check often for understanding, but do not ask "Do you understand?" Instead, have students demonstrate their learning

in order to show comprehension

Ten Things the Teacher Can Do To

Improve Instruction

5. Try to avoid idioms and slang words

6. Present new information in the context of known information

7. Announce the lesson’s objectives and activities, and list instructions

step-by-step

8. Present information in a variety of ways

9. Provide frequent summations of the salient points of a lesson, and

always emphasize key vocabulary words

10. Recognize student success overtly and frequently But, also be

aware that in some cultures overt, individual praise is considered inappropriate and can therefore be embarrassing or confusing to the student

 The main theories dealing with instructions in L2 acquisition have been considered

 Instruction can be both successful and non-successful

 Four key principles for an effective instruction have been

pointed out

 Examples of concrete instructions appropriate to each

acquisition stage have been introduced

 Rod Ellis Second Language Acquisition Oxford University Press

 Thank you for your attention!

NEXT PART

Language and the Brain

 Characteristics considering first language

acquisition

 Basic requirements for first language acquisition

 Variation in child language

Characteristics considering first language acquisition :

 It is remarkable for its speed

 In normal conditions language acquisition

generally occurs

 Small differences in a range of social and cultural factors have, according to various studies, no

meaning

 Belief that there is some “innate” predisposition

of human child to acquire language exists

TRUTH: each human child posses a

Basic requirements for first language acquisition

 Biological aspects must be fulfilled

 This process requires interaction

 Language must be culturally trasmitted

Variation in child language

Types of variation:

Child's linguistic behaviour

Inherited attributes:

Sex, intelligence, personality and learning style

Situation: setting, activity, number of participants

Style of linguistic interaction:

interpersonal relations etc.

Direct & indirect influences

Inherited attributes:

no genetic superiority of girls

correlation between language and

intelligence strongly related to

environmental variation

no strong evidence for such

relationship, still demands researching

Style of linguistic

Interpersonal relations

Parental child-rearing methods

relationship between experience of linguistic interaction and patters of language learning is very complex

and variable

Social background:

child's linguistic behaviour depends, for sure, on all these factors, however, the size and nature of this variation is

language acquisition

of variation in child's language behaviour

these factors

integrating all observations and results

 Wells, Gordon , “Variation in child

language”, In: Fletcher, Paul and

Garman, Michael 1997 Language

Acquisition Cambridge: University

Press

 Yule, George 1996 The study of

language Cambridge: University Press

THE END!!!

Thank you for your

attention!

Psychosocial Aspects of Language Acquisition

Psychosocial Aspects of Language Acquisition Introduction

Language acquisition does not take place in a vacuum As children acquire language, they acquire a sign system which bears important relationships to both cognitive and social

aspects of their life.

Psychosocial Aspects of Language Acquisition

Introduction

Psychosocial aspects of language acquisition are

and social interaction interrelate in the child‘s

development.

Does social interaction influence the

child’s language acquisition?

Psychosocial Aspects of Language Acquisition Piaget’s Theory

Piaget focuses on the child’s cognitive

development, which he describes as resulting from the internalization of the means-ends

organization of the sensorimotor activity

achieved in early development.

Psychosocial Aspects of Language Acquisition Piaget’s Theory

He sees the children’s use of language as one among many behavoirs following principles of organization and mechanisms of development

autonomy and causal priority

cognitive development is in principle both autonomous from language development and causal prior to it

Psychosocial Aspects of Language Acquisition

Piaget’s Theory

The nature of children’s language at any

of the many symptoms which reflect a

particular stage in their underlying cognitive

structure.

language as one phenomena among others,

Psychosocial Aspects of Language Acquisition Piaget’s Theory

The child’s cognitive development is relatively autonomous , not only independent from

language , but also from social interaction

logico-mathematical principles

Psychosocial Aspects of Language Acquisition Piaget’s Theory

Critique

reasoning about social or nonsocial objects.

interaction, which cannot be reduced to

individual units.

Psychosocial Aspects of Language Acquisition Piaget’s Theory

Egocentricity

The child’s egocentricity results from his lack of

decentering His language, having private

characteristics, is at first not adapted to social

communicative situations It becomes socialized at a

later point in development as in decentering the child’s cognitive organization allows him to participate in social interaction.

child talks about what he does and is not concerned about being understood

Psychosocial Aspects of Language Acquisition Vygotsky’s Theory

Vygotsky’s approach to the inter-relations of

language , thought and social interaction is to

context-dependent system mediating simultaneously

cognitive and social development.

Psychosocial Aspects of Language Acquisition Vygotsky’s Theory

Vygotsky defines language as primary ,

context-dependent and social natured

Language development is the principal motor of

development , as it mediates the child’s participation in both the intellectual and social life surrounding him.

cognitive development is not independent from signs

Psychosocial Aspects of Language Acquisition Vygotsky’s Theory

He sees a constant interaction between

language development and cognitive

development, such that thought is neither

Psychosocial Aspects of Language Acquisition Vygotsky’s Theory

The cognitive development is necessary

dependent on the fact that language is

multifunctional :

 It’s a sign system which is simultaneously used for

abstract representation

 and for social interactive contexts.

The context-dependent indicatory aspects of

communication in social interaction are primary and constitute the foundation for the development of

Psychosocial Aspects of Language Acquisition

Vygotsky’s Theory

Zone of proximal development

It can be generally described in terms of the

processes of social interaction between adults

and children which allow children to organize

complex series of actions in problem-solving

situations before they have the mental

capacities to decide on the actions on their

own.

shift from interpsychological to intrapsychological

function

Psychosocial Aspects of Language Acquisition Vygotsky’s Theory

How does this shift in function take place?

mediation, there are specifically

communicative processes, and most

importantly the processes that involve

language, which make this shift possible

Psychosocial Aspects of Language Acquisition

Vygotsky’s Theory

Egocentricity

At first, speech accompanies ongoing actions in the context of utterance, serving as a means of social contact with others At a later point,

when speech has been differentiated it forms a

change in different functions

Psychosocial Aspects of Language Acquisition Conclusion

Contrast between Piaget and Vygotsky:

development a special status in relation to other aspects of developments

inherently social or more precisely as

multifunctional

Psychosocial Aspects of Language Acquisition

Thanks for your attention!

Psychosocial Aspects of Language Acquisition

Literature

language acquisition”, In: Paul Flether

&Garmen, Language Acqusition ,

Language and the Mind

 Accomodation Theory (Giles)

 Convergence  Divergence

 Speakers indicate cohesiveness or distinctiveness from a social group

 L2 acquisition = long-term convergence

 Willingness or ability to become part of the new

culture

 Social distance

 How do the L2 group and the target language group see each other?

 Are they equal?

 Does the target language group want the L2 group to become a part?

 Etc

Identity (Peirce)

 Social aspects influence

Discourse aspects

- the role of input and interaction

 Ungrammatical

 Often implies lack of respect

 Certain grammatical features are left out, such as be, modal verbs (can, must), base forms instead of past tense, etc

 Grammatical

 Slower pace

 Simplified: e.g shorter sentences, avoidance of subordinate clauses, no complex grammatical forms, lengthening of phrases, etc

ice-cream on your way home, will you?“

 Negotiation of meaning

„And then he put it in his knee.“

„He put it on his knee?“

The relevance for L2 learning:

- Foreigner talk = comprehensible input

- Negotiation of meaning

 negative evidence

 corrected input

 concerns aspects they have not mastered yet

- See also theories by Krashen (Input hypothesis), Long (interaction hypothesis), Hatch and the ‚activity theory‘

References

Psycholinguistic Aspects of Interlanguage

Nadiya Sowa (Hauptstudium LN)

 Psycholinguistics is the study of the mental structures and processes involved in the acquisition and use of language.

 L1 transfer

 the role of consciousness

 processing operations

 communication strategies

L1 transfer

 L1 transfer refers to the influence of the learner’s L1 on the acquisition of a L2 The learner’s L1 is one of the sources of error in learner language, this influence is called negative transfer

 Nevertheless, in some cases, L1 makes an acquisition of L2 less difficult.

Example: The man whom I spoke to him is a teacher

 The influence of L1 can also result in avoidance

Example: Chinese and Japanese languages don’t contain relative clauses

 Japanese and Chinese learners of English avoid the usage of these structures

 On the other hand, L1 transfer may be reflected in the overuse of some forms

Example: Chinese learners tend to overuse expressions of regret in English,