Chapter 4: The psychology of
Second Language Acquisition
Saville-Troike, M. (2005).
Introducing second language
acquisition. New York:
Cambridge UP.
By Jasmine & Grace
Date: October 9, 2010
Preview
1. Language and the brain
2. Learning process: SLA
3. Differences among learners
Language and the brain
Principal hemispheric specializations (p69)
also see Brown (2007):p125
Left hemisphere
Right hemisphere
Phonology
Nonverbal (as babies’ cries)
Morphology
Visuospatial information
Syntax
Intonation
Function words and inflections
Nonliteral meaning and ambiguity
Tone systems
Many pragmatic abilities
Much lexical knowledge
Some lexical knowledge
Language and the brain
1. lateralization(側化現象) 2-puberty
2. Critical period hypothesis
3.Broca’s area/ Wernicke’s area- B&W
4. language activity /core linguistic processes
5. SLA-right hemisphere involvement
L2-learnt by many means; use more
memorization /L1-learnt by single means
* Multilingual speakers
 Coordinate bilingualism
 Compound bilingualism
 Subordinate bilingualism
Q1:When there is differential
impairment or recovery in the brain,
which language loses first and
recovers first?
Learning processes
1. Information processing (IP) (訊息處理)
(1) Attention-processing
(2) Skill Learning Theory
(3)Restructuring
2. connectionism (聯結論)
--PDP
Information Processing(訊息處理)
 Cognitive psychologists
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language acquisition →storing, integrating, and retrieving
information.

do not think that humans have a language-specific
module (i.e. LAD) in the brain.
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do not assume that ‘acquisition’ and ‘learning’ are distinct
mental processes.

L2 acquisition→ the building up of knowledge →
automatically
Stages of information Processing
Input
Central processing
Output
Perception
Controlled-automatic
processing
Production
Declarative –procedural
knowledge
Restructuring
noticed input→pay
attention to it →intake
(frequency, perceptual
saliency…p75)
practice
Fluency in speech and
writing
McLaughlin’s Attention-Processing Model
注意力處理模式(Brown. P299)
 Input: notice, pay attention→intake
 Brown (2007):p300, 302
- Controlled processes
- Automatic processes
McLaughlin’s Attention-Processing Model
also see Brown (2007):p300,302
Attention
controlled
automatic
Focal
(intentional attention)
Performance based on
formal rule learning
Performance in a test
situation
Peripheral
Performance based on
implicit learning or analogic
learning
Performance in
communication situations
From Brown (2007), p300
Anderson’s Skill Learning Theory
 Declarative knowledge
 Procedural knowledge
 Three stages:
(1) information is stored. (drowned-drown+ed)
(2) associative stage: (past tense…+ed)
(3) autonomous stage
Question 2:
 Anderson thinks that L2 learners do not reach
full autonomy as L1 learners. What factors
may influence the process of achieving
autonomy in L2 acquisition?
Restructuring
 L2 knowledge as continua of controlled-
automatic and explicit-implicit
 將訊息自動化需要重組的過程
 from exemplar-based to rule-based
 Restructuring :because L is complex,
hierarchical, not (necessarily) linearly
 Restructuring doesn’t necessarily happen all
at once, but over time
Restructuring
 U-shaped behavior is often evidenced during
restructuring
Stage 1
correct utterances
feet
Stage 3
feet
foots
Stage 2
incorrect utterances
Three psychological approaches
 Multidimensional Model
 Processability Theory
 Competition Model
Multidimensional model
 2 principal axes: developmental & variational
 grammatical structures (organized hierarchically)
 Individual variation
 Focus on the relationship between implicit knowledge
and output
 hierarchy:
(1) Canonical order strategy (COS)
(2) initialization /finalization strategy (IFS)
(3) subordinate clause strategy (SCS)
Processability
 Reorientation of Multidimensional model
 Hierarchy of processing skills
 (1) lemma/word access (ex:apple)
 (2) category procedure (ex: three apples)
 (3) phrasal procedure(ex: three big apples)
 (4) S-procedure (ex: There is an apple./

 (5) Clause boundary
There are three apples)
Competition model
 Functional approach: L1 form-function
mapping→SLA
 Competition among cues that signal functions
 Cue strength: task frequency/ contrastive
availability/ conflict reliability
 Language process involves “competition”
among the various cues
 Reminder to teachers that Ss do not only
depend on L2 formal linguistic features as
their only tools for deciphering the target
language L2 –(Brown 2007, p.255)
Competition model
(form-function mapping)
 1. horse
-form: sounds [hors]
-function: 4 legs/ hay eating animal
 2. Horses eat hay.
- Word order-form: horses + V + hay
- Function: “horses” is S.; “hay” is O.
- inflection- _s: form; function: more than one
horse
(p79)
Connectionist approaches
 Focus on the increasing strength of associations
between stimuli and responses (IP: focus on the
inferred abstraction of “ rules” or restructuring.)
 Learning is change in the strength of these connections;
learning is not dependent on UG or rule-formation.
 Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP): a network of
nodes (units)→ repeated patterns of units (input)→
extract regularities→ probabilistic association
(connection strengths/patterns of activation)
 Frequency influences learning
IP
PDP
Attention is available for
controlled processing vs.
automatic processing
Attention is distributed in
local pattern
Not serial in nature
Processing is parallel pattern
Knowledge is not stored in
memory or retrieved as
patterns
Connection strengths
/Patterns being recreated
Question 3:
 Why are some L2 learners more successful
than others?
Differences in learners
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Age
Sex
Aptitude
Motivation
Cognitive style
Personality
Learning strategies
(the last three are closely related to and interact
with each other.)
Difference in learners: age
 Children are more successful L2 learners?
 1. initial rate learning (success) / older
learners have an advantage (popular belief)/
learners who are introduced to the L2 in
childhood (ultimate achievement)
 Critical period hypothesis(Lenneberg
hypothesis):Genie
Age difference in SLA
Younger advantage
Older advantage
Brain plasticity
Learning capacity
Not analytical
Analytic ability
Fewer inhibitions(usually)
Pragmatic skills
Weaker group identity
Greater knowledge of L1
Simplified input more likely
Real-world knowledge
Differences in learners: sex
 Female are better L2 learners?
 --verbal fluency
 --women’s brain may be less asymmetrically
organized than men’s for speech (Kimura
1992).
 --women: better at memorizing complex
forms/ men: better at computing
compositional rules (Halpern 2000)
 --differences related to hormonal variables
Differences in learners: aptitudes
(1/2)
• Phonemic coding ability: the capacity to
process auditory input into segments which
can be stored and retrieved. If the hearer
cannot analyze the incoming stream of
speech into phonemes in order to recognize
morphemes, input may not result in intake.
• Inductive language learning ability and
grammatical sensitivity concerned with
central processing.
Differences in learners: aptitudes
(2/2)
• Associative memory capacity: how linguistic
items are stored and with how they are
recalled and used in output (speaker fluency).
• Skehan (1998 )concludes that language
learning aptitude “is not completely distinct
from general cognitive abilities.”
Differences in learners:
motivation(1/2)
• Significant goal or need/desire to attain the goal/
perception that learning L2 is relevant to fulfilling the
goal or meeting the need/belief in the likely success
or failure if learning L2/value of potential outcomes or
rewards
Differences in learners: motivation
(2/2)
• 2 type of motivation(Brown 2007, p175)
• --integrative motivation: based on interest in
learning L2; emotional or affective factors are
dominant (learning by a member of the
dominant group in a society)
• --instrumental motivation: involves perception
of purely practical value in learning L2
(learning by a subordinate group member)
Differences in learners: cognitive style
 Refers to individual’s preferred way of
processing: (perceiving, conceptualizing,
organizing and recalling information.)
 Brown (2007):p120
Cognitive styles
Field-dependent
Field-independent
Global
-
Particular
Holistic
-
Analytic
Deductive
(top-down)
-
Inductive
(bottom-up)
Focus on meaning
-
Focus on form
Differences in learners: personality
 Anxiety :most attention in SLA research.
 Low anxiety facilitates language learning.
 Instructional context or task influences
anxiety and reporting. (oral performance)
 Systematic cultural differences are found
between groups of learners. (face concept)
 Low anxiety and high self-confidence
increase Ss motivation to learn.
Personality traits
Anxious
-
Self-confident
Risk-avoiding
-
Risk-taking
Shy
-
Adventuresome
introverted
-
Extroverted
Inner-directed
-
Other-directed
Reflective
-
Impulsive
Imaginative
-
Uninquisitive
Creative
-
Uncreative
Empathetic
-
Insensitive to others
Tolerant of ambiguity
-
Closure-oriented
Boldface print means positive correlation with success in L2 learning.
Differences in learners: learning
strategies (1/2)
• Metacognitive : preview a concept/ decide
specific aspects of input in advance/ rehearse
linguistic components/ self-monitoring of
progress and knowledge states
• Cognitive: repeat or translate/ remember
words by L1’s sounds/ create vivid images/
guess meanings through inferencing.
Differences in learners: learning
strategies (2/2)
 Social/affective: seek chances to interact with
native speakers/ work cooperatively with
peers/ ask Qs/ request repetition,
explanation, or examples
Good learners traits (Ellis 1994):
 Concern for language form (but also attention
to meaning)
 Concern for communication
 Active task approach
 Awareness of the learning process
 Capacity to use strategies flexibly in
accordance with task requirements
Question 4:
 How do you feel about multilingualism so far?
The effects of multilingualism (1/2)
 Positive effects:
1. foreign language study is good for “training the
mind.”
2. an essential characteristic of “educated” and
“cultured” members of society
3. on intellectual function based on “measures of
conceptual development, creativity, metalinguistic
awareness, semantic development, and analytic
skills” (p93)
The effects of multilingualism
(2/2)
 Negative effects:
1. negative impact on general intelligence
 2. capacity limitations for language
acquisition and maintenance, that
simultaneous bilingualism in childhood may
result in a narrower range of lexical
development in either language and that
intensive and continued use of L2 many
reduce accessibility of L1
Thank you for your attention!!