Language and the Mind
Prof. R. Hickey
SS 2006
First and Second
Language Acquisition
Deborah Simshäuser (LN Grundstudium)
Michail Tsiropoulos (LN Grundstudium)
Sandra Breian (LN Grundstudium)
Marcel Kalisch (LN Grundstudium)
Nadja Hoeckesfeld (TN Grundstudium)
Hannah Link (LN Grundstudium)
Meryem Gögdagöz (TN Grundstudium)
Julia Sadokhina (TN Hauptstudium)
Overview
• Describing and Explaining L2 Acquisition
• The Nature of Learner Language
• Interlanguage
• Discourse aspects of interlanguage
• Social aspects of interlanguage
• Psychoanalytic aspects of interlanguage
• Linguistic aspects of interlanguage
• Individual differences in L2 Acquisition
Introduction: describing and
explaining L2 acquisition
• What is `second language acquisition`?
• It is the systematic study of how people acquire a second language
(L2),
• it is a recent phenomenon and
• it belongs to the second half of the twentieth century.
• Definition:
L2 acquisiton is the way in which people learn a language
subsequent to their mother tongue, for instance, naturally as a
result of living in a country where it is spoken or through
instructions in a classroom.
• Second language acquisition (SLA) is the study of this.
Introduction: describing and
explaining L2 acquisition

The aims of SLA:
The question one has to ask is how learners acquire a second
language?

So one of the aims is the description of L2 acquisition, one collects
and analyses samples of learners language (the language learners
produce when they have to use an L2 in speech or writing).

Another aim is explanation one figures out internal and external
factors which play a role for learners who acquire an L2:
a) Internal factors like cognitive mechanisms and knowledge
b) External factors like the social milieu and the input
Introduction: describing and
explaining L2 acquisition

Two case studies

Definition:
A case study is a detailed study of a learner´s acquisition of an
L2. These studies are longitudinal (samples of the learner´s
speech or writing are collected over a period of time).

The first case study is a study of an adult learner learning English in
surroundings of daily communication.

The second case study is a study of two children learning English in
a classroom.
Introduction: describing and
explaining L2 acquisition
• Methodological issues and investigations:
The second study is more typical of SLA because researchers
have to focus on some specific aspects of Language rather than
on the whole complex phenomenon.
One has to make a distinction between their knowledge and what
learners can do.
One possibility to measure whether acquistion has taken place or
not is to consider the overuse of linguistic forms.
• Issues in the description of learner language
• Issues in the explanation of L2 acqusition
The Nature of
Learner Language
Errors and error analysis I
•
Identifying errors
•
•
•
comparison of sentences produced by the learners with
the "correct" sentences in the target language
distinction: error <–> mistake
Describing errors
•
classification into types – 2 ways:
1.
2.
classification into grammatical categories
try to identifiy general ways in which the learners utterances differ
from target-language utterances
- omission
-> leaving out items which are required for
- misinformation
- misordering
grammatical correctness
-> use of one grammatical form instead
of another
-> putting words in a wrong order
The Nature of
Learner Language
Errors and error analysis II
•
Explaining errors
•
systematic errors
-> L2 learners create rules on their own – different to the rules of
the target language
•
universal errors
-> L2 learners commit the same grammatical errors
•
Error evaluation
-> purpose: to help learners to learn an L2.
•
•
Global errors
Local errors
The Nature of
Learner Language
Developmental patterns I
•
The early stages of L2 acquisition
- silent period
- formulaic chunks -> use of fix expressions
- propositional simplification
•
The order of acquisition
Interlanguage
= the mental system of a learner‘s L2 knowledge
 To understand the concept of interlanguage we need to consider two major
learning theories:
1. Behaviourist learning theory:
•
•
•
(1950s & 1960s)
language learning involves habit formation
 habit = stimulus-response connection
emphasize on what can be directly observed
ignorance of what goes on in the `black box´ of the learner`s mind
 cannot adequately account for L2 Acquisition (L2A), because learning is not
just a response to an external stimuli !
Interlanguage
2. Mentalist theory of language learning:
(1960s & 1970s)
•
major shift in thinking in psychology and linguistics
•
researchers switched their attention from the role of `nurture´ to that of
`nature´
•
•
`nurture´  how environmental factors shape learning
`nature´  how innate properties of the human mind shape learning
mentalist view of L1 Acquisition:
•
•
•
•
•
only human beings are capable of learning language
they are equipped with a faculty for this, referred to as Language Acquisition
Device
it is the primary determinant of LA
input is needed, but only as a `trigger´
 The concept of interlanguage draws directly on the mentalist theory with
elements from cognitive psychology !
Interlanguage
What is interlanguage ??
•
•
•
term was coined by the American linguist Larry Selinker
it is a unique linguistic system that draws, in part, on the learner`s L1, but
also differs from it as well as from the target language
the concept involves some premises about L2A:
•
•
•
•
•
the learner constructs a system of abstract linguistic rules
 mental grammar
the learner´s grammar is permeable
outside influence  learner  inside influence
the learner´s grammar is transitional
learners employ various learning strategies
the learner´s grammar is likely to fossilize
Interlanguage
Results:


Concept offers a general account of how L2A takes place, but it
does not offer a precise explanation!
Can be viewed as a metaphor of how L2A takes place!
A model of L2A:
Input
intake
L2 knowledge
output
Social aspects of interlanguage
1. different styles of language use depending on the condition of the
use
Elaine Turon:
stylistic continuum
careful style
Howard Giles:
vernacular style
accommodation theory
convergence
divergence
Social aspects of interlanguage
2. determination of the input by social factors
John Schumann:
acculturation model
social distance
Social aspects of interlanguage
3. social identities
Bonny Pierce:
relationship between social context and
L2 acquisition
subject to
subject of
 investment
Discourse aspects of interlanguage
- Goals in the study of learner discourse in SLA
- Acquiring discourse rules
- Example: compliment + response
- more research is needed
Discourse aspects of interlanguage
• The role of input and interaction in L2 acquisition
•
•
•
•
behaviourist, mentalist & interactionist view
foreigner talk: ungrammatical & grammatical
negotiation of meaning (examples)
linguists views on that topic:
- Krashen: input hypothesis
- Long: interaction hypothesis
- Hatch: scaffolding
• The role of output in L2 acquisition
• Does speaking L2 help learning L2?
Discourse aspects of interlanguage
Example 1
Baseline talk:
-> You won’t forget to buy the ice-cream on your way home, will you?
Ungrammatical foreigner talk:
-> No forget buying ice-cream, eh?
Grammatical foreigner talk:
-> The ice-cream – You will not forget to buy it on your way home – Get it
when you are coming home. All right?
Example 2
A: A man is drinking coffee with the saucer of the coffee set in his knee.
B: in him knee
A: uh on his knee
B: yeah
A: on his knee
B: so sorry: on his knee.
Psychoanalytic aspects of
interlanguage
Psycholinguistics: study of mental structures and processes involved in
the acquisition and the use of language
L1 Transfer + Communication Strategies:
negative transfer / interference
positive transfer
paraphrasing
avoidance
overuse
substitution
borrowing
 Interlanguage development takes place by transfer but mainly by
forming interim rules!
 not interference but cognitive process
SELINKER: choice of communication strategy reflects learners´ stage of
development
Psychoanalytic aspects of
interlanguage
1. Stephen KRASHEN
acquired vs learned L2 knowledge
2. Richard SCHMIDT
consciousness as: intentionality, attention, awareness
a) intentionality: intentional vs incidental
b) attention: conscious attention to features of the input is always required
subconscious learning is not the same as learning without conscious
attention!
c) awareness
whether the learner is conscious of acquiring L2 knowledge
Different kinds of knowledge:
-
implicit knowledge
explicit knowledge
 explicit knowledge can at least help indirectly to process the input and the intake!
Psychoanalytic aspects of
interlanguage
Processing operations
a) Operating principles:
•
•
SLOBIN (L1): general strategies to extract and segment linguistic
information from the input, eg `avoid interruption and rearrangement of
linguistic units´, `avoid exceptions´
ANDERSEN (L2): macro principles
eg one-to-one-principle (one meaning—one form)
b) Processing constraints:
•
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multidimensional model able to explain learners´ differences
rules either sequential or at any stage to acquire
1. Developmental axis: to move from one stage to another
2. Variational axis: socio-psychological factor (wilingness to integrate)
Psychoanalytic aspects of
interlanguage
Two Types of Computational Model
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•
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mental processes involved in constructing and using an interlanguage
not directly to be viewed but inferred from learners´ behaviour
Cognition = black box: extracts information from the input, works on it,
stores it and uses it in input
1. Serial processing:
Series of sequential steps which results in some kind of rule or strategy
2. Parallel distributing process:
several mental tasks simultaneously worked out: mental network
Psychoanalytic aspects of
interlanguage
Conclusion:
L1 TRANSFER + COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES
 avoiding, borrowing, paraphrasing, substituting
 interlanguage development takes place by transfer but mainly by forming interim
rules!
 choice of communication strategy reflects learners´ stage of development
THE ROLE OF CONSCIOUSNESS
a) learned vs acquired
b) intentionality, attention, awareness
 explicit knowledge is often helpful for implicit knowledge


PROCESSING OPERATIONS
operating principles
processing restrictions: Multidimensional model (developmental & variational axis)
TWO TYPES OF COMPUTATIONAL MODEL
a) serial processing
b) parallel distributing process
Linguistic aspects of interlanguage
How does language influence development?

First example:
Typological universals: relative clauses
 Some languages have relative clauses, others do not
Effects of relative clause structure on L2 acquisition
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It is easier to learn a L2 with relative clauses if you already know them from your
L1.
There are two ways to use relative clauses in English: attached to the end of a
sentence or interrupting a main clause.
Learners of L2 English tend to use the first possibility.
The accessibility hierarchy of relative clauses
In most cases (languages) relative clauses with a subject pronoun (who) are
used more often than those with an object pronoun (whom).
Linguistic aspects of interlanguage

6 relative pronoun functions:
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Subject
Direct object
Indirect object
Object of preposition
Genitive
Object of comparative
It is not really clear if or how far the accessibility hierarchy influences the
acquisition of relative clauses.
But it is an important example of the relation between SLA and linguistics.
Linguistic aspects of interlanguage
Universal Grammar


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Based on Noam Chomsky´s theory of Universal Grammar which says that
there are “highly abstract principles that provide parameters which are
given particular settings in different languages”
Reflexives: `Local binding`, for example, is permitted in English, whereas
`Long –distance binding` is forbidden. But other languages, such as
Japanese, permit both.
Result: Japanese Learners of L2 English do have to learn that reflexives in
English permit only local binding. The question if they are able to do
so could not be answered clearly. Not even by a number of studies. It
is not absolutely clear, although very important.
Linguistic aspects of interlanguage
Learnability

Main question: Are children able to learn a language (L1) only on the basis
of input or do they rely on innate knowledge of language (as Chomsky
maintains). The argument is that children can not acquire their L1
successfully only with the help of input.

Chomsky: Children can not learn the full grammar of their mother tongue
only through input. They must have some information about grammar
in their biological endowment.

Some mistakes which can be found in L2 acquisition do not seem to appear
in L1 acquisition because they are forbidden by Universal Grammar.
Individual differences in
L2 acquisition
The success depends on:
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
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Language aptitude
Motivation
Learning strategies
Language aptitude – a natural ability
for learning an L2:
- auditory ability
- linguistic ability
- memory
Individual differences in
L2 acquisition
Motivation
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Instrumental motivation
learning for some functional reason, e.g. to get a
better job
Integrative motivation
interest in the people and culture
Resultative motivation
motivation is the result of learning
Intrinsic motivation
interest in learning activities
Individual differences in
L2 acquisition
Learning strategies
Cognitive, metacognitive and social/affective
strategies
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Successful language learners pay attention to both form
and meaning
Good language learners are very active
Show awareness of the learning process and their personal
learning styles
Are flexible and appropriate in their use of learning
strategies
References
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•
Ellis, Rod 1997. Second Langauage Acquisition.
Oxford: University Press.
Byram, Michael 2000. Routledge Encyclopedia of Language
Teaching and Learning. London and New York:
Routledge.