SECOND LANGUAGE SECOND LANGUAGE SECOND LANGUAGE SECOND LANGUAGE

ACQUISITION AND ACQUISITION AND ACQUISITION AND ACQUISITION AND

LEARNING LEARNING LEARNING LEARNING
NICOL NICOL NICOL NICOLS BRIAN S BRIAN S BRIAN S BRIAN
Training Course for English Teachers
Montevideo, Uruguay
February 18 22, 2013
ANEP CEIP
Departamento de Segundas Lenguas y Lenguas Extranjeras
possible
results of
classroom
activities
reasons
why some
activities
succeed
and others
fail
THEORIES
& MODELS
SECOND LANGUAGE SECOND LANGUAGE SECOND LANGUAGE SECOND LANGUAGE
ACQUISITION THEORY ACQUISITION THEORY ACQUISITION THEORY ACQUISITION THEORY
explain childrens acquisition FL / L2
help make the classroom a better place for
FLA
Psychological
interpretations
Linguistic
interpretations
Input in First Language Acquisition
Chomsky Language Acquisition Device (LAD)
LAD
output input
Content of sentences
heard by children from
parents, adults and
other children,
television, etc..
Adult competence in a
language that is
formally described by
a grammar of that
language.
Caretaker Caretaker Caretaker Caretaker Speech Speech Speech Speech
Slower rate of speech
Distinct pronunciation
Less complex sentences
Rephrasing and repetition
Meaning checks
Gestures and visual reinforcement
Concrete reference
Scaffolding increasing childrens responsibility
as participants in the conversation
MEANINGFULNESS MEANINGFULNESS MEANINGFULNESS MEANINGFULNESS
COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH
patterns
connections
context
emotion
K KK Kr rr ra aa as ss sh hh he ee en nn n' '' 's ss s
5 Hypotheses 5 Hypotheses 5 Hypotheses 5 Hypotheses
The Acquisition vs. Learning
Hypothesis
2 independent systems of FL performance
Acquisition
to L1 acquisition
requires meaningful interaction and natural
communication
speakers concentrated in the communicative
act
implicit, subconscious
informal situations
attitude
stable order of acquisition
Learning
formal instruction product
explicit, conscious
conscious knowledge about the
language (e.g.: grammar rules)
formal situations
simple to complex order of learning
communicative language: communicative language: communicative language: communicative language:
acquisition acquisition acquisition acquisition
fluency fluency fluency fluency: consequence of : consequence of : consequence of : consequence of
acquisition acquisition acquisition acquisition
teaching about the language: teaching about the language: teaching about the language: teaching about the language:
enables to develop their enables to develop their enables to develop their enables to develop their
monitor monitor monitor monitor
The Monitor Hypothesis
Rules learned formally
MONITOR used to check on
output as it arrives in the
mind
Monitor functions:
- Planning
- Editing
- Correcting

Conditions: 1) the language learner has sufficient time
2) he/she focuses on form and
correctness
3) he/she knows the rule
The learner can only apply formally learned rules
The Natural Order Hypothesis
Students acquire different grammatical morphemes in
regular and predictable sequences (natural order)
Studies: Dulay & Burt, 1974; Fathman, 1975; Makino, 1980; Krashen, 1987.
A language program
syllabus should not be
based on this order
- it should be based on
communicative uses of the
language.

Ease of learning is not the same thing as apparent
simplicity or complexity.
Krashen suggests the following is the common order of
acquisition of grammatical morphemes for learners of
English as a Foreign Language (adults and children alike):
I.
Progressive (-ing)
Plural
Verb "to be"
II.
Auxiliary verbs
Articles (a, an, the)
III.
Irregular past
IV.
Regular past
Third person singular (-s)
Possessive(s)
SLA STAGES SLA STAGES SLA STAGES SLA STAGES
Stage Stage Stage Stage
About how About how About how About how
many words? many words? many words? many words?
Pre-production (the "Silent
Period")
500 receptive words
Early Production 1000 receptive/active words
Speech Emergence 3000 active words
Intermediate Fluency 6000 active words
Continued Language
Development
Content Area Vocabulary
The Input Hypothesis
Linguistic progress lies in the effort made to comprehend
comprehensible input.
Stage i +1
Second
language
comprehensible
input one step
beyond his / her
present stage.
Stage i
Learners
current stage
of linguistic
competence.
Learner
E
X
P
O
S
E
D
T
O
Acquisition takes place when:
Natural communicative input - each learner will receive some
i+1 input
Enough non-linguistic cues to enable the learner to decipher
the message without understanding everything in the text.
INPUT INPUT INPUT INPUT IS IS IS IS
NECESSARY, NECESSARY, NECESSARY, NECESSARY,
BUT BUT BUT BUT OUTPUT OUTPUT OUTPUT OUTPUT IS IS IS IS
CRUCIAL CRUCIAL CRUCIAL CRUCIAL
Necessary Necessary Necessary Necessary condition condition condition condition: :: :
COMPREHENSIBLE OUTPUT (Swain, Snow)
REGULAR, PLANNED, SCAFFOLDED,
MEANINGFUL OPPORTUNITIES FOR
PRODUCTION
Attempts at communication should be:
valued
shaped to make them acceptable and understandable
( communicative means of correction)
The Affective Filter Hypothesis
Input must be experienced under conditions that lower the
anxiety, and raise the motivation and self-image of the
learner.
Learner
Self-
confidence
Motivation
Anxiety
The affective filter is a mental block.
INTERLANGUAGE INTERLANGUAGE INTERLANGUAGE INTERLANGUAGE
FL LEARNERS ERRORS:
native language
foreign language
systematic, not random
The learner progresses along an acquisition
continuum (Seliger, 1988) from zero competence to
near native competence in the FL
Teacher, teacher, dame un pencil
Interlanguage Interlanguage Interlanguage Interlanguage

Separate linguistic system used in communication
while progressing toward nativelike speaker FL
competence.
This interlanguage:
not the Native Language
not the FL
contains elements of both.
gradually develops towards the rule-system of the FL
INTERLANGUAGE: the various shapes of the
learner's language competence.
(Selinker, 1972
Interlanguage and SLA Interlanguage and SLA Interlanguage and SLA Interlanguage and SLA
L1 L1 L1 L1
FL FL FL FL
Interlanguage 1
Interlanguage n
Interlanguage ....
Interlanguage 3
Interlanguage 2
L
E
A
R
N
I
N
G
S
T
A
G
E
S
All FL speakers are on some stage of interlanguage.
Errors are not signs of failure, but evidence
of the learner's developing system.
These forms WILL emerge when the
learner is attempting to express
meaning in the FL, as opposed to
practicing structured exercises.
ERROR CORRECTION ERROR CORRECTION ERROR CORRECTION ERROR CORRECTION
(Dulay, Burt, Krashen 1982) - direct error correction
has little or no influence on the accuracy of
messages.
Correction that responds to the meaning of the
message has a much greater likelihood of making a
difference for the speaker.
Frequently correcting grammatical errors tends to
shift the students attention away from the message
being communicated and to inhibit their willingness
to speak.
INTERLANGUAGE FEATURES INTERLANGUAGE FEATURES INTERLANGUAGE FEATURES INTERLANGUAGE FEATURES
REGRESSION REGRESSION REGRESSION REGRESSION
The learner fails to express herself in areas
(phraseology, style or vocabulary) he mastered earlier
OVERGENERALIZATION OVERGENERALIZATION OVERGENERALIZATION OVERGENERALIZATION
The learner searches for a logical grammar of the
FL that would cover every aspect of it, or seeks to find
every aspect of existing grammars confirmed in the
FL.
The learner draws on aspects of the FL already
learned and overuses them.
E.g.: dont= negative
I dont eat. You dont eat. They dont eat. *She dont eat.
OVERELABORATION OVERELABORATION OVERELABORATION OVERELABORATION
The learner wants to apply complex theoretical
structures to contexts that may call for simpler
expression.
INTERFERENCE FROM L1 INTERFERENCE FROM L1 INTERFERENCE FROM L1 INTERFERENCE FROM L1
"Language interference, i.e. transferring linguistic habits
of the L1 to the FL (and possibly vice versa), is an
inevitable outcome of the language contact which occurs
in the process of learning a FL" (Krzeszowski 1967: 34)
It is natural, and affects all levels of language:
accent
pronunciation
syntax
morphology
vocabulary, etc.
While phonological interference is the most common
example, syntactic interference and semantic interference
are also possible (e.g., so called false friends)
First Language Influence on Interlanguage example:
Transfer:
Yo tengo diez aos * I have ten years