Languaculture: Re(de)fining
Advanced Proficiency
Jim Lantolf
Penn State University
Distinguished Language Proficiency
ACTFL
Shows strong sensitivity to social and cultural
references and aesthetic norms by processing
language from within the cultural framework.
ILR
Use the language fluently and accurately on all levels
normally pertinent to professional needs. Organizes
discourse well, using appropriate rhetorical speech
devices, native cultural references, and
understanding.
The Encirclement
Language Segregated from Culture
Saussure Builds the Wall

Language = inventory of systematically organized
symbols
Bloomfield Builds a Higher Wall

“ripped” language out of the ethnographic research
program [of Boas]
• linguistics = the study of the sound system and
grammar.
• study of meaning assigned to psychology
(Agar 1994, see also Crowley 1996)
Consequences for Language
Teaching
Encased-linguistics framed the way applied
linguistics construes language.
•Pedagogy
•Language Assessment
Triumph of Structure
(Fauconnier & Turner 2002)

We live in an age of the triumph of form. In
mathematics, physics, music, the arts, and the
social sciences, human knowledge and its progress
seem to have been reduced in startling and
powerful ways to a matter of essential formal
structures and their transformations… scientific
knowledge is only a matter of finding deep hidden
forms behind ostensible forms.
Meaning, Mind & Culture
Anthropology argues that culture is meaning
Antipsychological stance
• Pushed psychology out of anthropology
• Geertz, sustaining Saussure’s dualism, insisted
meaning resides exclusively in signs and relations
between them
 Cognitive Anthropology -- meaning resides in individuals
& collectives (Strauss & Quinn 1997)
 Cultural Psychology – organic & dialectical relationship
between psychological and cultural processes meaning
organizes and imbues humans with mental
intentionality (Vygotsky 1987)
Learning a Second Language

Learning inside-the-wall
• Make a few minimum frame changes, and you’re
ready to communicate (Agar 1994).
• Inside the wall most aspects of language are
perceptual, indexical, iconic, or denotative
• FL learners rely on word definitions because the
experience in which concepts emerge are not open
to this group (Kecskes & Papp 2000).
 – Fork = Gabel, tenedor, forchetta, etc.
• L2 laid down on L1 inner speech (Ushakova 1994)
Learning Outside the Wall
Re-establish connection between language and
culture – languaculture (Agar 1994)
•The Challenge:
 Development of new L2 conceptual base
(Lantolf 1999)
•Learner centeredness: concern with learning
richness of the L2 system’s symbolic resources
rather than with ‘creatively’ expressing
personal meanings or applying learning
strategies and styles, a frequent interpretation
in FLED (Byrnes 2002)
Conceptual Proficiency

Conceptual Proficiency = know how the
target language reflects or encodes its
concepts on the basis of metaphorical
structuring and other cognitive
mechanisms. Conceptual knowledge also
serves as a basis for grammatical and
communicative knowledge. (Kecskes &
Papp 2000)
Problem of L2 Conceptual Development


Are new conceptual systems learnable ?
•Does this entail experiential replication ?
•If so, which experiences are open to adult
L2 learners ?
Are new conceptual systems teachable ?
(Valeva 1996)
Motion Events
Six criteria:
 Figure: object moving/located with respect to
another object (ground)
 Ground: reference object in relation to which the
figure moves
 Path: trajectory of figure
 Motion: changes of locatedness
 Manner: how motion is performed
 Cause: efficient origin of change in motion or
location (Talmy 2000)
Talmy’s Motion Event Typology


Verb-Framed Languages: conflate path of motion
with verb and express manner lexically, through
gesture or not at all.
• Romance Languages (Spanish, French,
Portuguese, Rumanian, Italian, Catalan, etc.);
Japanese, Korean, Turkish
Satellite-Framed Languages: conflate manner of
motion with verb and express path through a
satellite mentioning the ground against which figure
moves.
• English, German, Dutch, Russian, Chinese
Motion Event Examples
S-Language
The cat crawled/scrittered up inside the drainpipe
[Figure]
[Manner]
[Satellite … Ground]
V-Language (Type 1)
El gato
subio
The cat climbed up
[Figure] Path
el canalon.
the drainpipe
Ground
V-Language (Type 2)
payswukwan sok-ulo
tul-e
drainpipe
interior-via
enter-INF
(a cat) goes into the drainpipe
ka-se<e>
go-and
Manner of Motion



The cat rolls out of the drainpipe
El gato sale rodando del canalón
The cat exits rolling from the drainpipe
koyangi-ka tasi ccwulwulwuk nayly-e
cat-NM
again
ONM
descend-INF
wa-ss-eyo.
come-PST-POL
Thinking for Speaking


Slobin (1996): in activity of speaking,
thinking takes on a particular quality as
experiences are filtered through languages
into verbalized events.
TSF not merely influence how people talk
about events but how they experience those
events “they are likely to talk about later”
(Slobin, 2003, p. 179).
Manner Saturation


English lexicon highly saturated with
conflated manner verbs: trudge, shinny,
swagger, plop, scamper, leap frog, slog,
skip, barrel, etc.
Spanish lexicon has conflated manner
verbs, but not saturated: tambalearse,
trepar, agitar
•(Slobin 2003)
Gesture/Speech Interface


Growth Point: integration of distinct verbal
and imagistic “semiotic architectures” into
a single meaning system (McNeill 1992)
Gestures: “material carriers of thinking”
and therefore provide "an enhanced
window into mental processes“ (McNeill &
Duncan 2000)
Gesture and Motion


V-languages: gestures synchronize with
path verbs & optionally used to express
manner.
S-languages: gestures synchronize with
path satellites or conflated manner verb,
depending on focus
(McNeill & Duncan 2000)
Negueruela, Lantolf, Jordan & Gelabert (2004)
Spanish L1 > English L2
3 Speakers Residing in U.S. 1 > 6 years
English L1 > Spanish L2
3 Speakers Enrolled in Spanish Graduate Program;
min. 1 year abroad
English L1 control = 3
Spanish L1 control = 3
Task: Narrate Frog Goes to Dinner
L1 Speakers Path
L1 Spanish: La rana [se ha metido en el saxofon]
The frog [got into the saxophone]
PATH = hand cupped describes trajectory,
other hand mimicking the bell of the
saxophone)
L1 English The frog … jumps out of boy’s pocket,
through the restaurant, into a saxophone
(Path = three strokes, one on each satellite –
hand emerges from pocket with index
finger extended, moves away from body,
moves downward index still extended
L2 Speakers: Path
Spanish L1: the [frog appears] … from
inside the salad.
PATH = hands move toward face
English L1: y me parece que se va a caerse
[pa detras]
Path = hand and body leaning
back with stroke of gesture on
invented satellite
L1 Speakers: Manner
Spanish L1: la ensalada [echa un
desastre]
‘the salad [is a disaster]
Manner = hand shaking
English L1: the plate’s [kind of tumbling
a little bit]
Manner = hand shaking
L2 Speakers: Manner
Spanish L1: and [the cup, the plate, the fork are
all falling off the table]
MANNER + PATH = four consecutive
strokes with both hands, palms facing
each other, vigorously moving upward
English L1: la ensalada [está ... como en medio
aire] ‘the salad [is ... like in mid-air]’
MANNER = hand shaking palm down
Choi & Lantolf: L2 Korean & L2 English
Path Gestures
L2 Korean:
[RH ku phai/phu] [<u> a<a>n-ulo tul-e ka
pipe
inside-via
enter-INF go-and ^se<e>
/silpeysuthe-ka][<a>
Sylvester-TC
Sylvester enters inside the pipe.
Right hand, with all fingers extended, moves up passing through
left hand which is holding a shape of a pipe: path only
information.
Choi & Lantolf: Path Gestures
L2 English

climbing <uh> up the building [# <uuhh>] [RH /
through the gutter / ]
While left hand holds a gutter shape, right hand, with
all digits extended, rises up from lap and moves up
through left hand: path only information.
Choi & Lantolf: Manner Gestures
L1 Korean
kulayse mak [BH
oll-a
ka-nun][RHtey
so
ascend-INF go-and
So (the cat) went up and
Both hands, with chopping motions, move upward to
depict Sylvester’s climbing up the drainpipe: manner
+ path information marked in gesture only
L1 English
so you [BH see this [big] [bulge] [coming] up the
gutter]

Both hands, with palms facing each other, draw a
shape of bulge three times while moving up: manner
+ path information.
Choi & Lantolf: Manner of Motion
L2 Korean
[mak
oll-a
ka-ss-eyo]
intensly
ascend-INF go-PST-POL
(the cat) went up
Both hands wave up and down, imitating Sylvester’s paws
climbing up the pipe while moving up: manner + path
information. [Manner fog]
L2 English
[BH so # (gesture) /][RH the cat was climbing through the* /
gutter but then<n> somehow the b^ird knew it # s^aw it # so]
Both hands, with chopping motion, imitate Sylvester’s paw:
manner only information. Right hand vertically rises up and
holds in the position: path only information.
Choi & Lantolf: Manner Salient
L2 English
so <uuhh> the cat was <uuhh > %laugh he* he* # so <uuhh> the
cat was <uuhh>
[/ I mean / rolling o* ][ //(stroke starts) on the s]treet <uuhh>
#
Both hands, with all digits extended, sweep from left to right: path
only information. Both hands repeat the previous path only
gesture: path only information. [No Manner conflated Path
Gesture typical of English
Choi & Lantolf: Manner Salient
L2 Korean
[RH mak
/ kil
nay][ ly-e
intensely
road descend-INF
(the cat) came down the road


wa-ss-eyo / ]
come-PST-POL
Right hand, with an index extended, bounces up and down while
diagonally moving down from left to right: manner + path
information. Right hand repeats a smaller version of previous
gesture, with less bouncing: manner + path information.
[RH mwe kunikka mwusun <m> mwe<we> # kwu<wu>*hamyense amwuthun]
what
so
what
m
what *roll (wrong form) dowhile anyway

Right hand, with an index extended, continuously draws circular
motions: manner only information.
NB:Manner Fog acceptable in Korean but not for speaker, who
searches for low frequency Korean verb to roll
Fictive Motion


Fictive Motion: metaphorize what is
factive stationariness as if it were in
motion; thus reflecting “a cognitive bias
toward dynamism” (Talmy 2000: 101).
FM emerges when a speaker holds two
discrepant representations in mind
• Belief about real nature of referent
• Representation of the literal reference of the
linguistic forms used in the utterance
Fictive Motion

The fence RUNS along the floor of the
valley.
• Literal representation = fictive
• Belief representation = factive
• Thus, fictive motion is integrated with factive
stationariness
Categories of Fictive Motion






Emanation
Pattern Paths
Frame-relative motion
Advent Paths
Access Paths
Coextension Paths
Coextensive Path
(English/Spanish)





The highway goes from State College to
Bellefonte.
La carretera va desde SC hasta Bellefonte.
The electric cord runs from the TV to the wall.
*El cable eléctrico corre de la tele a la pared.
El cable eléctrico va de la tele a la pared.

(Talmy: 105)
Emanation Path








The tree threw its shadow across the roof.
*El árbol tira/echa/arroja su sombra a lo largo
del tejado.
El árbol proyecta su sombra a lo largo del
tejado.
His shadow fell on her face.
Tenía la sombra de él en su cara.
The wallpaper shows through the paint
El papel se ve por debajo de la pintura
(sensory path).
Pattern Path





As I painted the ceiling, ants slowly progressed
across the floor.
Mientras pintaba el techo, las hormigas iban
avanzando lentamente por el suelo.
As I painted the ceiling, paint spots slowly
progressed across the floor.
*Mientras pintaba el techo, las manchas de
pintura iban progresando através del suelo.
Mientras pintaba el techo, iban cayendo
manchas de pintura por todo el suelo e iban
formando progresivamente una hilera.
Advent Paths




The palm trees clustered together around the
oasis.
Las palmeras se apiñaban alrededor del oasis.
(De repente había un montón de palmeras
alrededor del oasis (use gesture))
The beam falls away from the wall.
La viga está atravesada con respecto al muro.
(Gesture with one hand vertical and the other
slanted agains it. Needed because
‘atravesada’ can impart the idea that the
beam passes through the wall
SLA

Inside-the-circle: Linguistic Proficiency
•Grammar, phonology, lexicon
•Ultimate attainment = control of lexicogrammatical properties of new language
•discourse, pragmatics, identities ??
SLCA

Outside-the-circle: Conceptual Proficiency
• Conceptual knowledge and meaning, including
gesture/speech interface
• Ultimate attainment = making acceptable choices
“within the nexus of intended meanings available
resources, and privileged forms of expression as the
L2 speech community has evolved them” (Byrnes
2002).
• Thinking/communicating through the new
languaculture
• Teaching = bringing students to the language rather
than the language to the students