SLA – A brief overview
SLA – a brief overview
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Research on how languages are learned from
the 1940s onwards
Recognised as a discipline in its own right in the
1970s
Heavily influenced by research on first language
acquisition
SLA – a brief overview
Three major theoretical positions:
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Behaviourist position “Say what I say”
Innatist/mentalist position “It’s all in your mind”
Interactionist position “What do you mean?”
The behaviourist position:
“Say what I say“
Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1957) Verbal Behaviour
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Speech as observable behaviour
LA1 = acquisition of a set of behaviours in a
process of imitation and habit formation
Stimulus response reinforcement
The behaviourist position:
“Say what I say“
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LA2 = process of overcoming habits of the SL in
order to acquire new habits of the TL.
Pedagogical implications: imitation, dialogue
memorisation and pattern drill
Errors = first language habits interfering with the
acquisition of second language habits
 Contrastive analysis (CA)
Contrastive Analysis (CA)
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Robert Lado
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Hypothesis: Where there are similarities
between the two languages, the learner will
acquire the target language structures with ease;
where there are differences, the learner will have
difficulty.
 positive and negative transfer
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But: over- / underprediction of errors!
Challenging the behaviourist
position
Behaviourist view accounts for some of the
regular and routine aspects of language learning;
however, it cannot explain more complex
grammatical structures and creative wordformation processes.
The innatist/mentalist position:
“It‘s all in your mind.”
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1959: Noam Chomsky’s review of Skinner’s
Verbal Behaviour.
Innate abilities; biologically programmed for
language
Talking is like walking
The innatist/mentalist position:
“It‘s all in your mind.”
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Language Acquisition Device / Universal
Grammar
contains all and only the principles universal to
all human languages.
Samples of the language serve as a trigger to
activate the LAD / UG
Child then matches innate knowledge to the
structures of the particular language in the
environment  acquisition
The innatist/mentalist position:
“It‘s all in your mind.”
Eric Lenneberg: Critical Period Hypothesis
LAD works successfully only if stimulated at the
right time.
The innatist/mentalist position:
“It‘s all in your mind.”
Influence on SLA  creative construction theory
Creative Construction Theory
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Stephen Krashen
Learners ‘construct’ internal representations of
the language being learned.
2 separate mental processes: conscious
learning and subconscious acquisition
Input hypothesis (i+1)
Creative Construction Theory
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Pedagogical implications:
...supply comprehensible input in low anxiety
situations, containing messages that students
really want to hear. ... do not force early
production in the second language, but allow
students to produce when they are 'ready',
recognizing that improvement comes from
supplying communicative and comprehensible
input, and not from forcing and correcting
production. (Krashen)
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Formal grammar instruction of limited utility as it
fuels conscious learning rather than
subconscious acquisition.
Challenging mentalist and
creative construction theories
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They do not explain how children and LA2
learners figure out how to interact with other
speakers and how to use language appropriately
in certain situations.
Chomsky and Krashen claim that all you need is
input to start the LAD or creative construction,
but not any input works.
What is needed is interaction with speakers of
the language which is being acquired.
Interactionist position “What
do you mean?”
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Michael Long
Language develops as a result of the complex
interplay between the uniquely human
characteristics of the child and the environment
in which the child develops.
Crucial element is the conversational give-andtake between children and adults.
Motherese / Caretaker talk
Interactionist position “What
do you mean?”
In LA2 the crucial element is the modification of
the native speaker’s utterances, which is
negotiated in the interaction.
Examples: comprehension checks, clarification
requests, self-repetition or paraphrase
Interactionist position “What
do you mean?”
Collaborative discourse
The formation of linguistic hypotheses springs
from conversational interaction, insofar as
learners build their utterances on those of native
speakers.
= scaffolding
Interactionist position “What
do you mean?”
Pedagogical implication:
Give learners opportunities to negotiate meaning.
The study of learner language
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Error analysis
Interlanguage
Developmental sequences
Communication strategies (CS)
The study of learner language
Error analysis
 Representative: Stephen Corder
 Mistakes vs errors
 Errors as signs of learners’ hypothesis testing
 normal & healthy part of learning process
 Error classification: interlingual and intralingual
errors
The study of learner language
Interlanguage
 Larry Selinker
 = system which has some characteristics of TL,
some characteristics of SL and some general
characteristics independent of TL and SL.
 Continually evolves as learners receive more input
and revise their hypotheses about the target
language.
 Fossilisation
The study of learner language
Developmental sequences:
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Manfred Pienemann
Sequences or stages in the development of
particular structures, e.g. grammatical
morphemes or negation
Sequences similar across learners from different
backgrounds (and similar to sequences in LA1)
The study of learner language
Developmental sequence: grammatical morphemes:
1) present participle –ing; plural –s
2) definite and indefinite articles
3) irregular past tense
4) regular past tense –ed; 3rd pers sg –s; possessive –s
Due to speech processing constraints: acquisition depends
on complexity – complexity determined by demands on
short term memory
Research on classroom
interaction
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Teacher – learner:
teacher questions/instructions, learner
responses, teacher feedback; turn-allocation
behaviour
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Learner – learner:
communication strategies and the relation
between task types, learner interaction and
opportunities for negotiation of meaning
Research on classroom
interaction
General development:
Shift from teacher fronted, traditional language
instruction to communicative, task-based
language teaching.
Research on classroom
interaction
Traditional instruction
Communicative language
teaching
Errors frequently corrected
Limited amount of error
correction and meaning
emphasised over form.
Negotiation of meaning: the
teachers and students work to
understand what the other
speakers are saying.
Limited range of discourse
types (typically just questionanswer-feedback)
A variety of discourse types is
introduced through stories, role
playing and the use of “real life”
materials.
Research on classroom
interaction
Traditional instruction
Communicative
language teaching
Input is simplified by structural Input is made comprehensible
grading, i.e. linguistic items are by the use of contextual cues,
props, and gestures.
presented and practised in
isolation in a sequence of
simple to complex (pattern
drill exercises).
Great pressure to speak or
write correctly from the very
beginning.
Little pressure to perform at
high levels of accuracy.
Display questions: questioner
knows the answers.
Genuine questions: questioner
does not know the answer.
Current trends in SLA and
language teaching
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Awareness of complexity of LA2: social and
interpersonal as well as psychological dimensions
to acquisition
Input and output both important.
Acquisition is an organic rather than linear
process; learners do not learn one thing perfectly
at a time but numerous things simultaneously;
rate and speed dependent on complex interplay
of factors such as speech-processing constraints
and pedagogical intervention.
Current trends in SLA and
language teaching
Communicative language teaching plus guided,
form-based instruction and correction in specific
circumstances.
Recomended reading
Lightbown, Patsy M.; and Nina Spada. 1999.
How languages are learned, 2nd edition.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
 Bibliography