1、First Language Acquisition,Presented by : #,Introduction,Chai,Xie,Wang,Lian,Ma,Ma,Wu,Wei,Xie,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,2,1. Stages of Researches on First Language Acquisition in ModernTimes,First stage Second stage Third stage Fourth stage,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,3,First Stag
2、e,1. In the latter part of the 18th century, modern research on child language acquisition came into being, when the German philosopher Dietrich Tiedemann recorded his observations of the psychological and linguistic development of his young son.,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,4,Second Stage,2
3、. For a century and a half, few if any significant advances were made in the study of child language; for the most part, research was limited to diary like recordings of observed speech with some attemps to classify word types.,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,5,Third Stage,3. Not until the seco
4、nd half of the 20th century did researchers begin to analyse 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.,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,6,Fo
5、urth Stage,4. In a matter of a few decades, some giant strides were taken, especially in the generative and cognitive models of language, in describing the acquisition of particular languages, and in probing universal aspects of acquisition.,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,7,2. Helpfulness to L
6、earn First Language Acquisition,Is FLA helpful for second language learners? We can build an understanding of principles of second language learning through the issues in first language acquisition outlined in Chapter 2. A coherent grasp of the nature of first language learning is an invaluable aid
7、in the construction of a theory of second language acquisition.,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,8,3. Language Development from Babyhood to School Age,5 Stages : As small babies, children babble and coo and cry and vocally or nonvocally send an extraordinary number of messages and receive even m
8、ore messages. An example: my nephew(7 months) video,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,9,As they reach the end of their first year, children make specific attempts to imitate words and speech sounds they hear around them, and about this time they utter their first “words.”,2019/3/16,First Language
9、 Acquisition,10,By about 18 months of age, these words have multiplied considerably and are beginning to appear in two-word and three-word “sentences”一commonly referred to as “telegraphic” utterancessuch as “allgone milk,” “bye-bye Daddy,” “gimme toy,” and so forth. The production tempo now begins t
10、o increase as more and more words are spoken every day and more and more combinations of two- and three-word sentences are uttered.,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,11,By about age three, children can comprehend an incredible quantity of linguistic input; their speech capacity mushrooms as they
11、become the generators of nonstop chattering and incessant conversation, language thereby becoming a mixed blessing for those around them! This fluency continues into school age as children internalize increasingly complex structures, expand their vocabulary, and sharpen communicative skills.,2019/3/
12、16,First Language Acquisition,12,At school age, children not only learn what to say but what not to say as they learn the social functions of their language.,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,13,4. Major Theories on First Language Acquisition,Behavioristic Approaches The Nativist Approach Functio
13、nal Approaches,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,14,Behavioristic Approaches,ideas about learning representativestheir assumptions on FLAcriticisms issues,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,16,What are the basic behaviouristic ideas about learning? Conditioning Habit formation The importance of
14、 the environment,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,17,ConditioningLearning is seen as a question of developing connections (known as stimulus-response bonds) between events. The process of developing connections is called conditioning.,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,18,Habit formationBehavi
15、orists believed that learning was a mechanical process of habit formation. When the behavior to be learned was complex, it might be broken down into small parts, and each part would be taught one at a time, until eventually the whole complex behavior is build up.,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition
16、,19,Examples:highschool ring, basketball(dribble, shooting, offence, defence)language learning(pronounciation, vocabulary, sentence sructure, grammar) mind behavior,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,20,The importance of the environment Environment refers to anything external to the organism (The
17、person or animal that does the learning.), such as an event or a situation, or even another person (a teacher or a parent, for example). Different learning theories give different degrees of importance to the organism and the environment. In behaviorism, the environment is all, and the role of the o
18、rganism is considered insignificant.,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,21,Who are the representatives?Five of the principal protagonists: Ivan Pavlov, an early 20th.c Russian; John Watson and Edward Thorndike, early 20th.c Americans; Burrhus Skinner and Charles Osgood, mid-20th. c Americans,2019/
19、3/16,First Language Acquisition,22,What are their assumptions on FLA?,Skinner: Viewpoint: LL is a kind of behavior similar to other human behavior. Language is learnt in much the same way as anything else is learnt. 都是经过刺激一反应而逐渐形成习惯的结果 stimulus organism response lg input the learner imitatione.g. Th
20、is is a pencil. This is a pencil.,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,23,four steps for a child to acquire his/her L1: imitationreinforcementrepetitionhabituation模仿 强化 重复 成形positive negative good habit bad habitpositive reinforcement: praise or rewardnegative reinforcement: corrections good habit:
21、correct performancebad habit: errors,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,24,Operant conditoning:A learning theory proposed by the American psychologist Skinner, and an important aspect of behaviourist psychology. It is a type of conditioning in which an organism (a child learning L1) produces an ac
22、tion (eg. an utterance) which achieves an outcome or purpose for the child (e.g. to get food). e.g. (page 23),2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,25,This action is called operant. If the outcome is favourable and the operant is likely to occur again, and is said to be reinforced. It is positively r
23、einforced (positive reinforcement) if the operant is followed by something pleasant, and negatively reinforced (negative reinforcement) if the operant is followed by the removal of something unpleasant.,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,26,If there is no outcome, or if the outcome is unpleasant,
24、the operant is less likely to occur again. Skinner believed that children learn language according to the principle of operant conditioning.,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,27,Osgood: Neo-behavioristic theory: Neo-behaviorists, such as Jenkins and others, are more prepared to take internal proc
25、esses into account but attempt to describe them as far as possible in behavioural terms.,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,28,This is to broaden the base of behavioristic theory, in which meaning was accounted for by the claim that the linguistic stimulus (a word or sentences ) elicits a “mediati
26、ng” response that is called self-stimulation by Charles Osgood, a process that is really covert and invisible, acting within the learner. It was in fact a cognitive-rational theory masquerading as behavioristic.,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,29,what are the criticisms on the behavioristic the
27、ory? (1) The behavioristic theory in language learning failed to explain the abstract nature of language as a system and viewed language learning only as acquiring concrete linguistic forms and structures.,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,30,(2) It did not adequately account for the childs abili
28、ty to acquire language and creative use of language. (3) It failed to interpret the childs acquisition of complexity of meaning and communicative functions of language.,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,31,Issues in First Language Acquisition,Imitation Practice,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisitio
29、n,32,Imitation,The role of imitation in first language acquisition Two types of imitation and their interaction,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,33,The role of imitationImitation is one of the most important strategies a child uses in the acquisition of the L1. Echoing is a particularly salient
30、strategy in early language learning and an important aspect of early phonological acquisition.,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,34,Two types of imitationThe surface-structure imitationFor example, a repetition of sounds by the student without the vaguest understanding of what the sounds might po
31、ssibly mean.,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,35,The deep-structure imitationFor example, sentences like“The ball that is rolling down the hill is black”tend to be repeated back by preschool children as“the black ball is rolling down the hill”.,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,36,In fact, th
32、e imitation of the deep structure of language can literally block their attention to the surface structure so that they become, on the face of it, poor imitators. (see example on Page 39),2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,37,Practice,A behavioristic model of first language acquisition would claim
33、 that practice-repetition and association- is the key to the formation of habits by operant conditioning. Childrens practice seems to be a key to language acquisition.,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,38,It is believed that certain very frequent forms are acquired first: what questions, irregula
34、r past tense forms, certain common household items and persons. But nativists claim that frequency of meaningful occurrence may be more important in language acquisition.,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,39,Nativist Approach,Also called Innateness Hypothesis or Mentalist Theory. the term nativis
35、t is derived from the fundamental assertion that language acquisition is innately determined, that human beings are born with a build-in device of some kind which predisposes them to language acquisitionto a systematic perception of language around them, resulting in the construction of an internali
36、zed system of language.,Three representative leaders in this field: Noam Chomsky, Mc Neil, Eric Lenneberg.,Eric Lenneberg (19211975) was a linguist and neurologist who pioneered ideas on language acquisition and cognitive psychology, particularly in terms of the concept of innateness. Eric Lenneberg
37、 proposed that language is a “species- specific” behavior and that certain modes of perception, categorizing abilities, and other languagerelated mechanism are biologically determined. .,Lenneberg的理论基础是生物学和神经生理学。他把儿童语言的发展看做一个受发音器官和大脑等神经机制制约的自然成熟的过程,语言是人类独有的,人类具有一种先天的潜在的语言结构,有适合语言的生物学基础。 比如,人类的牙齿整齐无缝
38、,唇肌发达而灵活,口型小而张合迅速,肺部造型特殊,不讲话时呼吸时一种节奏,讲起话来呼吸又是另一种节奏,且无不快之感,这一切都是为发声而生的。人类有着任何动物都难以比拟的发达的大脑。伴随这年龄的增长,儿童的发音器官和大脑神经机制逐渐发展成熟,当与语言有关的生理机能的成熟达到一种语言准备状态时,只要受到适当的外部条件的激活,就能使潜在的语言结构状态变成现实的语言结构,语言能力就显露出来了。,Chomskys theory,Language Acquisition Device (LAD)Universal grammar (UG)Principle and Parameters,Language
39、Acquisition Device (LAD),Nativist strongly held the fundamental assertion that language acquisition is innately determined, that human beings are born with an innate or internalized system of language. This innate knowledge, according to Chomsky, is embodied in a “little black box” of sorts which Ch
40、omsky called the language acquisition device or LAD.,Four innate linguistic properties of LAD,the ability to distinguish speech sounds from other sounds in the environment.the ability to organize linguistic events into various classes which can later be refined.knowledge that only certain kind of li
41、nguistic system is possible and that others are not.the ability to engage in constant evaluation of the developing linguistic system so as to construct. McNeil (1966),Three Factors in LAD,1. Universal Grammar2. mechanism for hypothesizing 3. procedure of evaluation,1. Universal Grammar,UG is the bla
42、ck box responsible for language acquisition. It is the mechanism in the mind which allows children to construct a grammar out of the raw language materials supplied by their parents. In other words, all human beings inherit a set of universal principles which control the shape that human language ca
43、n take, and which make human languages similar to one another. Cook (1997),2. 进行假设的机制,儿童出生在许多不同的言语社团,并且能够同样轻松地选择他们所在社团的语言。当儿童置身于个别语言的话语环境中,他不得不找出与他相 联系的语言,形成假设。他从他身边的言语中寻找规则,然后以更多的语言信息为基础进行猜想和假设。为了做这一切,儿童需要LAD中的一种 假设机制。,3. 评价机制,儿童接触到的语言可以用几套不同的语法来描述和解释。儿童具备一套评价 程序,正是这套评价程序指导他们在一 系列可能的语法中选择合乎语法的规则。,P
44、overty of Stimulus (POS),POS is the assertion that natural language grammar is unlearnable given the relatively limited data available to children learning a language, and therefore that this knowledge is supplemented with some sort of innate linguistic capacity. As such, the argument strikes agains
45、t empiricist accounts of language acquisition and is usually construed as being in favor of linguistic nativism. It can be seen as an evidence to support the existence of LAD.,虽然儿童在习得语言的过程中所接触到的语言输入是有限的、有缺陷的、甚至是负面的原始语料但他们最终能获得大致相同的语言能力,掌握一套丰富复杂的语言知识结构,而且对语法性的判断也是高度精确的,原始语言输入与最终获得的语言知识之间存在巨大的差异,习得的知识
46、可能超越语言输入包含的知识。Chomsky认为,帮助儿童获得语言能力的先天因素就是人脑中的语言官能。其初始状态对所有的儿童来说是完全相同的儿童习得母语的初始状态就是UG。这里也有需要澄清的问题,所谓接触有限的不完美的语言输入就能习得完美的母语,指的是完美的语言系统蕴含的知识.不是指包罗万象(如词汇,修辞,语用交际等)的语言。,Summary,Language acquisition is species-specific. Language acquisition is determined by the LAD. Language acquisition is internalization
47、 of the linguistic rules. The role of environment is not significant.,Contributions,强调人类天生具有的语言习得的能力,这是语言 获得的根本原因。 2. 注重儿童主动性和创造性,而不是刺激-反应论所提到的对刺激被动的模仿、强化、重复的过程。,Shortcomings,1. 乔姆斯基的理论是思辨的产物,人脑中是否存在着一个乔姆斯基所说的语言普遍特征和先天的语言评价能力构成的LAD,还是一个无法证明的假设。 2. 过于低估后天环境的作用。许多研究表明,儿童在各阶段语言发展同成人与儿童的交谈的话语成正相关。 3. 乔姆
48、斯基把儿童学习语言过程看得过于容易。事实上,儿童学话是一个十分艰巨的过程,不仅有大量的失误,而且所花的学习时数是非常多的。,Nature or Nurture? Universals Competence and Performance Comprehension and Production Communicative Competence Language and thought,武琳丽,魏路曼,谢娇娇,Six Issues,2019/3/16,First Language Acquisition,57,Nature or Nurture? Universals,1.1 Question:
49、Can you say something about the innateness hypothesis?,In 1959, the American linguist Noam Chomsky proposed innatism. For Chomsky, Children are biologically programed for language and that language develops in the child just like walking. There is a LAD(language acquisition device),which is an imaginary “black box” somewhere in the brain. The child needs access only to samples of a natural language. These language samples serve as a trigger to activate the device.,