st
1
nd
2
and
Language Acquisition
Part 1
First Language Acquisition
Disneyland
• Disneyland visit as recounted by a 5 year old and a 2 year
old
Brainstorm
• How do children learn language?
• 5 minute think tank and presentation to answer the question as
comprehensibly as possible. Audience = Someone who knows absolutely
nothing about language…or children.
• Each group gets one piece of computer paper to construct their
argument in visual/textual form.
• How could we prove these ideas?
Three Theories of L1 Acquisition
1. Behaviourist (the role of imitation)
2. Nativist/Innatist & Universal Grammar (Chomsky)
1. Modern Chomsky on Language’s great mysteries
3. Interactional developmental (Vygotsky)
4. Stage theory (Piaget)
Language Acquisition Device
• Chomsky’s theory that says we are born with the basic structures
of language already present in the brain.
• The child’s task then is not to learn the structures (if they already
have them) but to identify which language structure (out of all the
languages) they have been born into.
• “Children are born with the built-in knowledge that the language
they hear will have a word to show position. The child must figure
out whether the position word precedes the noun or follows it and
what the position words are.”
• Like driving a rented car. You have the ability to drive but you
need to figure out how the new car works (blinker, transmission,
radio, windows, seat, etc.) METAPHOR –YAY!
Stages of L1 Acquisition
• Pre-babble:
• 3-5 months: Crying, cooing, palatal sounds, turns head/eyes towards
speaker, laughter
• Babble:
• 6 months: [ma], [mu], [da], or [di] (parent words)
• Which came first? The sound or the word for mother/father?
• 8 months: increase in frequency, uses intonation, uses utterances to
signal emphasis and emotions
• 10 months: sound-play by mixing vocalizations with gurgling, bubble
blowing, tries to imitate but often unsuccessfully (may also be in single
word stage at this age)
Stages of L1 Acquisition
• One Word:
• 12 months: replicates identical sounds with high frequency (mamma,
dadda), shows definite signs of understanding some words and simple
commands (body parts)
•
Two word:
• 18-24 months: semantic relationship between 2 word utterances
(baby sleep, sit chair, block red), some syntax is also evident.
• Big Bird is washing Cookie Monster
• And Beyond!
Contact hours
• I studied (language) for (No. of years) and I don’t remember
any of it? Why is this so common?
• 20,000 hours by age 5 or 6
• How many hours might you spend studying a language in
college?
Critical period hypothesis
• Genie Study
• L1 vs. L2
BILINGUALISM: THE BALANCE
THEORY
• Bilinguals will either have half
developed two languages or
something like 75% developed in
one language and only 25%
developed in the other. Full
competency in one language and
partial in another (or full) doesn’t
seem possible.
• May seem like a logical theory but
what about the millions of children
who grow up bilingual throughout
the world without any sort of
linguistic disadvantage?
BILINGUALISM: ICEBERG
THEORY
• Lexical representations may
be separate (as evidenced
by the two emerging
icebergs and through
language production)
• Conceptual ideas are shared
and are stored together.
A note on deep and surface structures
• “Visiting linguists can be boring”
• We typically have a specific thought/idea in mind when we produce
an utterance. Sometimes the utterance does a good job of describing
that thought and sometimes not (ambiguity)
• Many surface structures representing the same deep structure vs. multiple
deep structures being represented by the same surface structure
• There is a fork in the road (same surface, split deep)
• I like you, Heeeyyy (split surface, same deep)
Implications for the classroom
• ZPD
• Scaffolding
• Communicative approach
• Schema theory
• Graphic organizers
• Background activation
Scenario
• You teach kindergarten and you’ve had a parent tell you
that they’re worried about their child’s language
development. The child is reluctant to talk to others and
when he does, his speech is sometimes incomprehensible to
the other students. However, his parents and siblings are
often able to understand him with some extra effort. He
certainly doesn’t seem at the level of his peers but he also
doesn’t seem to be severely disadvantaged when it comes to
language use.
• What are your thoughts and how might you discuss the issue
with the parent?
Part 2
2nd Language Acquisition
Professor Sebastian’s list of things to know
about SLA
• Current best practices
• Future Shock
• Affective filter
• Error Correction
• Krashen’s hypotheses
Current best practices
• communicative language teaching
• task-based instruction
• role of L2 in instruction
• authentic texts
• Evolution of methodology
• Motivation
• World-readiness standards
Future Shock
• What is it?
• How can it help?
• How might it apply to contexts outside of SLA?
Affective Filter
• Not too hot, not too cold
• Tolerance for ambiguity- does this apply to other contexts?
Error Correction
• When
• Interfere with meaning
• Are of high frequency
• Are the subject of pedagogical focus
Error
Correction
Types
Krashen’s hypotheses
•
H1 – Learning vs. Acquisition
• Conscious of learning but not conscious of acquisition
• These ideas are not mutually exclusive
• Sometimes learning occurs without acquisition
•
H2 – Natural Order
• Just as L1 follows a natural order, so dose L2
• The order depends on the L2 being acquired
•
H3 – Monitor
• Self evaluation in real time.
• Optimal use of the monitor involves checking to avoid major errors while keeping
the focus on the message
Krashen’s hypotheses
• H4 – Input
• (i + 1)
• Techniques to employ include, pausing, repeating, visuals, etc.
• Swain’s theory of comprehensible output
• H5 - Affective Filter
• Anxiety and nervousness that can interfere with acquisition.
Scenario
• This semester your school will be accommodating several
foreign exchange students from various countries. You have a
number of these students in your class. Discuss the following:
• What adjustments will you make to your daily instruction to
accommodate these students?
• What kinds of things might you do to keep the students’ affective
filters as low as possible?
• How might you encourage the class to support these students and to
welcome them to their school?
Part 3
Activities
Circumlocution
pomegranate
Circumlocution
Pocket watch
Matamoscas
bread
milk
steak
apples
cup
napkin
Pictionary
Gestures
Order of events
My friend tells me about a great deal for flights to Hawaii.
I go online and book the ticket for super cheap.
I pack my bags and make sure I have everything I need.
I
I
I
I
arrive at the airport and check my luggage.
wait in line to go through security.
took off my shoes.
put my bags on a conveyor belt which then pass through an x-ray machine.
I put my shoes back on.
I sit in the waiting room until my boarding zone is called.
I board the plane and find my seat.
I realize I’m in the wrong seat and so get back up to find the right one.
I fall asleep on the plane.
I arrive at the Honolulu airport.
I catch a taxi to my hotel by the beach.
Dictogloss
I have done many things in my life. I have visited 10 different
states including Hawaii and Alaska. I have met many
wonderful and interesting people. I have eaten delicious and
exotic foods from all over the world. Once someone asked me,
why I like to travel so much and my response was simply “I
like how new experiences help me to see the same things in
different ways.”
Info-gap: schedules
Student 1
Mon
8-9am
Algebra
Algebra
Algebra
9-10am
Psychology
Psychology
Psychology
10-11am
5-8pm
8-10pm
Soccer
practice
Tue
Wed
Thu
Biology 101
Biology 101
Soccer practice
Soccer practice
Concert in
Langroise
Biology study
group
Fri
Soccer practice
Artistic expression
• Command forms and pamphlets, advertisements
Technology integration
• Video productions, dubbing, short films