Modern research on child language acquisition dates back to the latter part

of the 18th century ,when German philosopher Dietrich Tiedeman recorded

his observation of the psychological and linguistic development of his young son. For a century and a half few ,if any were made in the study of child language.

Not until the second half of the 20th century did researchers begin to analyze child language systematically and try to discover the nature of the psycholinguistic process that enables every human being to gain fluent control of an exceedingly complex system of communication.

There are dozens of differences between first and second language

acquisition; the most obvious difference ,in the case of adult second
language learning, is the tremendous cognitive and affective contrast between adults and children. It is important to take an overview of first language acquisition in order to build an understanding of principles of second language learning.

This power point provides an overview of various theoretical positions that

can be related to first language acquisition.

To say that second language learning is a complex process is obviously trite. There are so many separate ,but interrelated factors that have

influence on the acquisition of a second language that all have to be

considered .

(Yorio,1976) proposed a taxonomy for second language acquisition that includes a

list of influential factors that must be taken into consideration in a theory of SLA.

1.A theory of SLA includes an understanding of what is language, what is learning, and for classroom context what is teaching. 2.Knowledge of childrens learning of their first language provides essential insights to an understanding of SLA. 3.A number of differences between adults and child learning and between first and second language acquisition must be accounted for. 4.Second language learning is a part of the general principles of human learning and intelligence. 5.There is a tremendous variation across learners in cognitive style and within a learner in strategy choice.

Was a Swiss linguist whose ideas laid a foundation for many significant

developments in linguistics in the 20th century. He is widely considered one

of the fathers of 20th-century linguistics.

Saussure's theory holds that linguistic signs are composed of the arbitrary
combination of sound patterns and concepts. The sound pattern or signifier is the material vehicle of the meaning, its concrete dimension; the concept

or signified is its "abstract" side. While the signifier and the signified can be
separated for analytical purposes, in reality they are inseparable.

The behaviorist position claims that children come in to the world with a tabula rasa ,with no preconceived notions of the world or the language. Children are then shaped by the environment and slowly conditioned trough the reinforcement of different behaviors.

Behaviorists claimed that learners learn by undergoing training and practice through a series of stimulus and response chains and operant conditioning. The environment provides the stimulus and the learner provides the response. According to the Behaviorist theory, reinforcement motivates the formation of a language habit.

Behaviorist
Verbal behavior , like any other behavior its controlled by its consequences. When consequences are rewarding, behavior is maintained and is increased in strength and perhaps frecuency.When consequences are punishing ,or when there is lack of reinforcement, the behavior is weakened and eventually extinguished

Effective

language behavior is the production of correct

responses to stimuli.
If

a linguistic response is reinforced, it becomes habitual

or conditioned; otherwise is abandoned.

Pavlov

Skinner

The Cognitive Theory states that the conditions for learning language are the same conditions that are necessary for any kind of learning. They believed that human beings have the capacity for developing logical thinking. Acquiring knowledge is a cognitive process which involves automatic processing.

In the cognitive view FL learners are thought to creatively use their skills of cognition in order to figure out the L2 on their own. The learners notice a pattern and construct their own rules accordingly, then go back and change the rules if they are faulty. In this approach to L2

acquisition, the learners benefit from their mistakes because they are playing an active role in the FLL process and learning first-hand how the language works.

What

children learn about language is determined by what they already

know about the world.

Cognitive

development is at the center of the human organism --

language is dependent upon and springs from cognitive development;

Cognitive Meaning

or mental structure: scheme.

is constructed based on previous background knowledge

structures.

The constructivist position states that children come into this world with a specific innate knowledge ,predisposition, and biological timetables, but that children learn to function in a language chiefly trough interaction and discourse.

Language is based on the relationship of cognitive development

and the construction of meaning in the environment.

Language

is seen as one manifestation of the cognitive and

affective ability to deal with the world, with others, and itself.
The main influences are: The rules of grammar (Abstract part of language development) The meaning constructed from social interaction.( Functional part of language development)

Bloom

Vygotsky

Perhaps the most influential figure of the 20th Century Linguistics. His contributions have been twofold :

Generative Linguistics Universal Grammar (UG)

Universal Grammar was proposed by Chomsky, to explain how children acquire language, which is a complex task, at such a early age with such speed and efficiency. Is an innate unconscious ability present at birth ,a knowledge of grammar. With U.G. set in place at birth ,the child is able to take on whichever language it is exposed to ,as all languages have common elements and are inter-translatable.

Claimed the existence of innate properties of language to explain the childs mastery of a native language in a short time despite the highly abstract nature of the rules of language.

Children

construct meaning trough social contact. learning occurs within a socio-cultural level and is

Childrens

internalized to the cognitive level.

The term Nativist is derived from the assertion that language acquisition is innately determined, that we are born with the genetic capacity that predisposes us to a systematic perception of language around us ,resulting in the construction of an internalized system of language.

Nativists claimed that language learning is biologically determined. Each person is born with an innate ability to learn

language.
The basic innate language learning capacities are referred to as the Language Acquisition Device (LAD). This view asserts that the

environment only serves to trigger the Language Acquisition Device

(LAD) which determines what children acquire. Children acquire much of their language ability before coming to school, thus

supporting the innate structures argument.

Social integrationists believe that human language emerged from the social role that language plays in human interactions. They further believed that the environment plays a key role and that adults in the childs linguistic environment are instrumental in language acquisition. Language learners need many opportunities for using the target language in order to develop competence.

Social interaction is the key to language processing. Input from the social interactions provides a model for negotiation opportunities. Vygotsky (1978) believed that learners bring two levels of development

to the learning: an actual developmental level and a potential developmental level. These two levels are referred to as the Zone of
Proximal Development. Learners can move from actual development to proximal development through social interactions with others.

Language Social

is used for communication, therefore it has a social function.

interaction, through language, is a pre-requisite to cognitive

development; every child reaches his or her potential development in part, through social interaction.
Language

and thought are distinct and develop independently; when the

two systems fuse with the development of inner speech, logical reasoning
develops.

Lev Vytgosky

Zone of Proximal Development

Behavioristic
Classical Operant

Cognitive Skinner , Watson Governed by consequences

Emitted Response

Constructivist
Rogers PauloFreire,Jean Piaget ,Lev Vitgosky

(Pavlov) Respondent Conditioning

Elicited Response

(Ausubel)
Meaningful=Powerful

Rote=Weak
Subsumption Association Systematic Forgetting

Fully Functioning Person

Learn how to learn

S ---- R

R --------S ( Reward)
No Punishment

Community of learners
Empowerment

Note: S = Stimulus R = ResponseReward

Programmed Instruction

Cognitive Prunning

Behaviorist
Tabula Rasa Stimuli=Linguistic Response Conditioning Reinforcement

Mediation Theory Mediating Response

Nativist Innate Predisposition Systematic, rulegoverned acquisition Creative construction Parallel distributed processing

Functional
Constructivist Social Interaction Cognition and Language Functions of Language Discourse

Innatist Krashen
Subconscious acquisition superior to learning and monitoring Comprehensible Imput Low affective filter Natural order of acquisition

Cognitive Mc Laughlin /Bialystok Controlled

processing Focal/peripheral attention ,automatic

Constructivist Long
Interaction hypothesis Intake trough Social Interaction Output Hypothesis

Restructuring
Implicit vs. Explicit Unanalyzed vs. analyzed knowledge Form-focused instruction

Stephen Krashen is a professor at the University of Southern California. Dr. Krashen has published more than 350 papers and books, contributing to the fields of second language acquisition, bilingual education, and reading. He is credited with introducing various influential concepts and terms in the

study of second language acquisition, including the acquisition-learning hypothesis, the input hypothesis, the monitor hypothesis, the affective filter
hypothesis.

Stephen Krashen introduced the acquisition-learning hypothesis, which makes a distinction between conscious language learning and subconscious language acquisition. Krashen argues that only subconscious acquisition can lead to fluency.

Krashen

Input Hypothesis

Learners gain implicit knowledge by processing target-language input without consciously giving attention to acquiring the forms and structures of the language. On the other hand, learners get explicit knowledge of a

language when they process language input with the conscious intention of
discovering the structural rules of the language. Ellis has found empirical confirmation for the distinct constructs of implicit and explicit language knowledge

States Krashen's view that a number of 'affective variables' play a facilitative, but non-causal, role in second language acquisition.

These variables include: motivation, self-confidence and anxiety.

The Monitor Hypothesis

Explains the relationship between acquisition and learning. The monitoring function is the practical result of the learned grammar. The following

conditions must be met :

The acquirer/learner must know the rule: This is a very difficult condition to meet because it means that the speaker must have had explicit instruction.

The acquirer must be focused on correctness: He or she must be thinking about form, and it is difficult to focus on meaning and form at the same time.

Mc Laughlin

Attention Processing Model

Is Based on a Cognitive Theory and states that : Second language learning is a mental process Assumes a hierarchy of complexity of cognitive skills Structured practice leads to automatization and integration of linguistic patterns

Second language learning is a skill. Second language learning requires automatization of component sub-skills. Humans have a limited capacity to manage controlled processes. Second language processing skills become more efficient via automatization.

From Brown 1994: 285

Attention to Formal Properties of Languages

Controlled: new skill capacity limited

Automatic: well-trained practicedskill capacity is relatively unlimited

Focal Intentional Attention

(Cell A) Grammatical explanation of a specific point Word definition Copy a written model The first states of memorizing a dialog Prefabricated patterns Various discrete-point exercises (Cell C) Simple greetings The later stages of memorizing a dialog TPR/Natural Approach New L2 learner successfully completes a brief conversation

(Cell B) keeping an eye out for something Advanced L2 learner focuses on modals, clause formation, etc. Monitoring oneself while talking or writing Scanning Editing, peer-editing (Cell D) Open-ended group work Rapid reading, skimming Free writes Normal conversational exchanges of some length

Peripheral/ Incidental Attention

Implicit and Explicit Models

In the explicit category are the facts that a person knows about language

and the ability to articulate those facts in some way. Implicit knowledge is
information that is automatically and spontaneously used in language tasks. Ellen Bialystok equated implicit and explicit with the synonymous terms unanalyzed and analyzed knowledge. These same models feature a distinction between automatic and non-automatic processing. Knowledge

that can be retrieved easily and quickly is automatic. Knowledge that takes time and effort to retrieve is non-automatic.

Long's interaction hypothesis- proposes that language acquisition is strongly facilitated by the use of the target language in interaction. The Interaction Hypothesis claims that comprehensible input is important for language learning. In addition, it claims that the

effectiveness of comprehensible input is greatly increased when learners have to negotiate for meaning.

States that the development of language proficiency is promoted by faceto-face interaction and communication. There are two forms of the

Interaction Hypothesis: the "strong" form and the "weak" form. The "strong"
form is the position that the interaction itself contributes to language development. The "weak" form is the position that interaction is simply the way that learners find learning opportunities, whether or not they make productive use of them.

Brown, D. (2007). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to

language pedagogy

Nagle, Stephen J., & Sanders, Sara L. (1986). Comprehension Theory and Second Language Pedagogy. TESOL Quarterly, 20(1), 9-26.

Brown, H. (1994). Principles of language learning and teaching / H. Douglas

Brown. Englewood Cliffs, NJ : Prentice Hall Regents, c1994.

Daz-Rico, L. (2008). Strategies for teaching English learners, New York,

Pearson