Ch.8
Looking at Interlanguage
Processing
By
Kelly 黃宣綺
Gass, S. M., & Selinker, L. (2008). Second language
acquisition: An introductory course (3rd ed.). New York:
Routledge.
8.1 Introduction
Emphasis on Psycholinguistic processing:
Actual processing mechanisms.
8.2 connectionist / Emergentist
Models
Connectionism: A cover term that includes a
number of network architecture.
- PDP: Parallel Distributed Processing
- Activation or use.
- Learning: Through exposure to repeated patterns
- Frequency affect. N. Ellis andSchmidt (1997)
- A function of age : less establishing connestionist
pattern. (Sokolik 1990)
Competition Model
- Conflicts between native language and target language
cues and cue strengths.
- Form and function cannot be separated.
- Concerned with how language is used.
- Speakers must have a way to determine relationships
among elements in a sentence.
Cue: word order / meaning and animacy / morphology
* (8-1) The cows eat the grass (P.222, English / Italian)
* (8-2) The grass eats the cows. (Competition)
* (8-3 ~ 8-6, P.223)
Question:
Speech-processing mechanism:
NL to TL. How???
Possibilities:
- L2 sentence interpretation (8-7, p.223)
- Meaning-based / grammar-based
- Difficulty in the interpretation:
1. L2 proficiency
2. Differences between syntax-based languages
and meaning-based languages.
8.3 Processing approaches
Processing mechanisms
Capacities of the human brain
How they operate when dealing L2
1. Processability Theory (8.3.1)
2. Information processing: automaticity,
restructuring, and U-shaped learning.(8.3.2)
3. Input Processing (8.3.3)
8.3.1 Processability Theory
Relies on the Concept of a linguistic
processor - deal with movements.
How processor made for prediction –
developmental paths that learners take.
1. Canonical order strategy.
2. Initialization/finalization strategy
3. Subordinate clause strategy (p.227)
Table 8.1 (p.228)
Processability Hierarchy: grammatical information.
- ordering of procedures - : p.229
1. no procedure (ef. Single word utterances)
2. category procedure (eg. adding a plural morpheme
to a noun)
3. noun phrase procedure
4. verb phrase procedure (e.g. movement of elements within a verb
phrase)
5. sentence procedure (e.g. subject-verb agreement)
6. subordinate clause procedure
(e.g. use of a particular tense based on something in the main
clause)
- Learners : to avoid the complexity of
movement.
e.g. (8-11) Where the cats are?
(8-12) What the cat doing in your picture?
(8-13) Do you have an animal?
(8-14) Does in this picture there is a cat?
8.3.2 Information processing: automaticity,
restructuring, and U-shaped learning
Assumption of Automaticity and Restructuring:
- Human beings have a limited capacity for processing.
Automaticity: To control over one’s linguistic knowledge.
One must bring together a number of skills from
perceptual, cognitive and social domains.
Restructuring:
- The changes made to internalized representations as a
result of new learning.
- Additional information which must be organized and
structured.
8.3.2.1 Automaticity and restructuring
Automaticity:
- e.g. play tennis: auto reaction to move your feet and
racket.
- fast, unconscious, and effortless
- A consistent and rgular association between certain
kind of input and some output pattern, automatization
may result.
e.g. Speaker 1: Hi.
Speaker 2: Hi, how are you?
Speaker 1: Fine, and you?
Speaker 2: Fine.
Role of Monitoring is important:
- Pay attention to one’s speech
- Through careful monitoring of one’s own speech, one
can pick out successful utterances and use them as a
basis for future practice. (see Crookes, 1991)
-
- Controlled processing is another mechanism of language
use.
- Slower response
- Various ways in which learners can “attack” the process
of learning a second language. (Table 8.2)
Restructuring:
- Which take places:
1.When qualitative changes occur in
internal representation in SL
2. In the change in the use of procedures.
>from “inefficient” to “efficient”
3. Table 8.3 Evidence of restructuring
(restructuring takes place at Time 3)
8.3.2.2 U-shaped learning
A consequence of restructuring
Three stages of linguistic use
- Figure 8.1 Schema of U-shaped behavior (P.237)
Stage 1: Learner produces some linguistic form
that conforms to target-like norms.(i.e. error free)
Stage 2: Learner appears to lose what have
known at Stage 1.
Stage 3: Again correct TL usage as Stage 1.
E.g. French learners of English among
sixth, seventh, and eighth grade:
- Use of ing (Figure 8.2 p.238)
Grade 6: He is taking a cake.
Grade 7: He take a cake.
Grade 8: He is taking a cake.
8.3.3 Input Processing
•
•
•
•
How learners comprehend utterances?
How learners assign form-meaning relationships?
1. The primacy of Meaning Principle
2. The First Noun Principle
Other approaches to the processing of in input:
1. Computational system
2. Autonomous Induction: example-inputgeneralizations.
3. Parsing system: adult – syntactic info. /
children – semantic info.
•
8.4 Knowledge types
Acquisition – Learning (8.4.1)
- Acquisition:
1. Subconscious process
2. “feel” and “sound” for correctness and
grammatical sentences.
- Learning:
1. Conscious knowledge.
2. Being able to talk about the rules.
8.4.2 Declarative / procedural
- Declarative: Declarative memory
underlies learning and storage of facts.
(e.g. Newfoundland dogs are generally black)
- Procedural: To motor and cognitive skills that
involve sequencing information.
8.4.3 Implicit / explicit
- Implicit:
1. Acquisition of knowledge about input.
2. naturally, simply and unconscious of
complex, structure processing.
- Explicit: Conscious operation.
8.4.4 Representation and control
- Representation: the level of analysis and
mental organization of linguistic information.
e.g. (8-19~8-22 ,p.244)
Lookit, like that.
Looky, chicken.
Lookit gas.
Lookit four.
- Control: Use linguistic knowledge to control output.
e.g. (8-26~8-29 p.245)
I wanted him to come.
I persuaded him to come.
I enjoyed talking to my teacher.
I stopped sending packages to my friend.
8.5 Interface of knowledge types
No interface (8.5.1)
Weak interface (8.5.2)
We only think about what we said when
we stumble.
Strong interface (8.5.3 )
Practice is necessary to ensure that
particular behaviors are quick, and with
diminished attention paid to the particular
task.
8.6 Psycholinguistic constructs
Attention (8.6.1)
- The concentration of the mental powers
upon an object.
- Major component: Detection
- From the perspective of its differential
role on different parts of the grammar
(lexicon, morphosyntax, syntax)
Gass, Svetics, and Lemelin (2003)
Working memory (8.6.2)
- The structures and processes that humans use
to store and manipulate information.
- E.g. When you want to remember a phone
number and you do not have pen and paper to
write it down, you will repeat the number over
and over until you can get to a phone to dial the
number or can find pen and paper to write it
down.
Monitoring (8.6.3)
- Figure 8.3 Acquisition and learning in second
language production. (p.253)
- Three conditions: 1. Time
2. Focus on form
3. Know the rule
- Self-correction is the result of monitoring.
8.7 Conclusion
-
-
Psycholinguistic approaches to the study
of SLA.
L2 learners organize their SL knowledge
How learner use L2 knowledge
How subsequent learning affects the
restructured organization of L2 knowledge
Suggestion: move to social and contextual
variables