1、Chapter 11 Second Language Acquisition,Second Language Acquisition - formally established itself as a discipline around the 1970s, refers to the systematic study of how one person acquires a second language subsequent to his native language. Distinguish second language & foreign language,Connections
2、 between first language acquisition & second language acquisition,The first language study has served as a backcloth (背景）for perceiving and understanding new facts about second language learning (Littlewood, 1986). SLA is different from first language acquisition. Interlanguage （中介语 ）,Contrastive an
3、alysis (CA) 对比分析 (1960s),Positive transfer-facilitate target language learning Negative transfer-interfere or hinder target language learning It is believed that differences between the native language and the target language would pose difficulties in second/foreign language learning and teaching,
4、e.g.*To touch the society . *There are more people come to study in the states. *I wait you at the gate of the school.,Shortcomings of CA,The CA was soon found problematic, for many of the predictions of the target language learning difficulty formulated on the basis of contrastive analysis turned o
5、ut to be either uninformative or inaccurate. Predicted errors did not materialize in learner language while errors did show up that the contrastive analysis had not predicted. “Differences” and “difficulties” are not identical concepts.,Error analysis (EA),The contrastive approach to learners errors
6、 has shed new light on peoples attitudes: the errors are significant in telling the teacher what needs to be taught, in telling the researcher how learning proceeds and those errors are a means whereby learners test their hypotheses about the language to be learnt. Two main sorts of errors: Interlin
7、gual errors (语际错误/受母语影响的错误）& intralingual errors (语内错误）,Interlingual errors,-Interlingual errors mainly result from cross-linguistic interference at different levels such as phonological, lexical, grammatical or discoursal etc. For examples,a. Substitution of t for and d for : threetree, thisdis.b.
8、Shortening of long vowels: sheepship, meetmit,Intralingual errors,-The intralingual errors mainly from faulty or partial learning of the target language, independent of the native language.Two types of errors have been well exploited: overgeneralization & cross-association,Overgeneralization,Overgen
9、eralization - the use of previously available strategies in new situations. Walked, watched, washed*rided, *goed, *doed, *eated Jane advised me to give up smoking.Jane told me to give up smoking.*Jane hoped me to give up smoking.*Jane suggested me to give up smoking.,Cross-association互相联想,Cross-asso
10、ciation refers to the phenomenon that the close association of the two similar words often leads to confusion, e.g. Other/another, much/many, stalagmite石笋 /stalactite钟乳石 It may also occurs at all levels of language from phonological to syntactic, e.g.The coffee is too hot to drink.*The apricot is to
11、o sour to eat it.,Errors & mistakes,Errors (错误) - unintentionally deviant from the target language and not self-corrigible by the learner (failure in competence)； Mistakes (失误) - either intentionally or unintentionally deviant forms and self-corrigible (failure in performance).,Interlanguage (S. Pit
12、 Corder & Larry Selinker),Interlanguage - learners independent system of the second language which is of neither the native language nor the second language, but a continuum or approximation from his native language to the target language. What learners produce, correct or wrong, are evidence or the
13、 approximation from their first language to the target language.,Characteristics of interlanguage,Interlanguage has three important characteristics: systematicity, permeability 渗透性 and fossilization. Fossilization- a process occurring from time to time in which incorrect linguistic features become a
14、 permanent part of the way a person speaks or writes a language.,The role of native language in 2nd language learning,Language transfer: positive transfer is not transfer, but a kind of mental process.,2nd language learning models and input hypothesis,Behaviorism model emphasizes the role of imitati
15、on and positive reinforcement, a “nurture” position; The mentalists or the innativists shift to a “nature” position by stressing that human beings equipped innately with language acquisition device, are capable of language learning provided with adequate language input. The social interactionists ar
16、gue that language and social interaction cannot be separated.,Individual differences,Language aptitude (语言能力） Motivation Learning strategies Age of acquisition Personality,Language aptitude,Language aptitude refers to a natural ability for learning a second language. It is believed to be related to
17、a learners general intelligence. John Carroll identified some components of language aptitude: Phonemic coding ability Grammatical sensitivity Inductive language learning ability Rote learning ability （强记能力）,Motivation,Motivation can be defined as the learners attitudes and affective state or learni
18、ng drive. It has a strong impact on his efforts in learning a second language. Generally four types of motivations have been identified: P 164 Instrumental motivation 工具型动机 Integrative motivation 融入型动机 Resultative motivation 结果动机 Intrinsic motivation 内在动机,Learning strategies,Learning strategies are
19、learners conscious, goal-oriented and problem-solving based efforts to achieve learning efficiency. According to Chamot (1986) & Oxford (1990), three types of strategies have been identified: Cognitive strategies - analyzing, synthesis综合推理 and internalizing what has been learned. Metacognitive strat
20、egies - planning, monitoring and evaluating ones learning. Affect/social strategies - the ways learners interact with other speakers. Cohen (1998) further distinguishes language learning strategies and language using strategies. P. 165,Age of acquisition,The Critical Period Hypothesis Recent studies
21、 support the hypothesis that in terms of learning achievement and grammaticality the younger learners outperform the adults.,Personality,In terms of communicative ability rather than grammatical accuracy or knowledge of grammatical rules, the personality traits such as extroversion, talkative, self-
22、esteem, self-confidence can be found in successful second language learners ( as in the case of Liyang: Crazy English).,SLA & its pedagogical implications,Modified input - providing comprehensible input to facilitate learning. Modified interaction - providing learning prompts, more comprehension checks, recasts and expansion to achieve maximum learning. Focus on form - providing formal instruction and explicit correction in class.,
