ENG515 TESOL Methods & Materials

ENG823 Language Teaching and Assessment

Krittat sukman
Faculty of Liberal Arts
North Bangkok University
 Theories in Second
Language Acquisition
Agenda

What is SLA?

Learner Characteristics

Studying Language of L2 Learners

Explaining SLA
Agenda

What is SLA?

Learner Characteristics

Studying Language of L2 Learners

Explaining SLA
 What is SLA?
• It is the study of how L2 is learned
• It is the study of how learners create a new
language system with only limited exposure to L2
• It is the study of what is learned and, more
importantly, what is not learned.
• It is the study of why most L2 learners do not
achieve the same level of proficiency as they do in
their L1.
• It is also the study of why some individuals appear to
achieve native-like proficiency in more than one
language. (Gass, Behney & Plonsky, 2013)
The Nature of Language

• Fundamental understanding of the nature of SLA is an understanding of

what it is that needs to be learned.
• As a native speaker of a particular language, we have knowledge of:
• Phonology
• Syntax
• Lexicon and morphology
• Semantics
• Pragmatics
(Gass, Behney & Plonsky, 2013)
Agenda

What is SLA?

Learner Characteristics

Studying Language of L2 Learners

Explaining SLA
Learner Characteristics

L1 vs L2 Learners
Learner Characteristics
L1 Learners L2 Learners

High/Low High/Low

Knowledge of another
language
Cognitive maturity

Metalinguistic awareness

World knowledge

Anxiety about speaking

Learning Condition
L1 Learners L2 Learners
High/Low High/Low
Freedom to be silent
Ample time and exposure to input

Corrective feedback (grammar and

pronunciation)
Corrective feedback (meaning, word
choice, politeness)
Modified input
Agenda

What is SLA?

Learner Characteristics

Studying Language of L2 Learners

Explaining SLA
Studying the Language of L2 Learner

§ Does their L1 affect the acquisition of their L2?

§ Researchers started to observe the errors of L2 language

learners in order to determine their progress.

§ For example, the less the errors are the better the progress.
However, this is not a satisfactory explanation.
Studying the Language of L2 Learner

q The reason for that is because sometimes an increase in an error can be a

sign of progress.

q For example, L2 learners usually learn the irregular past tense forms of
common verbs before they learn to apply the regular past –ed marker.
Studying the Language of L2 Learner

§ A learner who says “I buyed a bus ticket” may know more about English
than one who says, “I bought a bus ticket”.

§ We cannot conclude that the one who says (bought) would use the regular
past –ed marker where it is required.

§ However, the learner who says (buyed) provides evidence of the knowledge
of a systematic aspect of English.
Contrastive analysis hypothesis

q From the previous example, we go into details about

approaches invented by researchers to study the errors of
language learners.
q These approaches are:
§ 1. Contrastive analysis (CA)
§ 2. Error analysis
§ 3. Interlanguage
Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis

q CAH was first propounded by Prof. Robert Lado (1957) and is the
systematic study of a pair of languages with a view to identifying
their structural differences and similarities.
q In CAH, Errors are assumed to be results of transfer from the
learner’s first language.
q Transfer/Interference: The influence of a learner’s L1 knowledge
in the L2. It is now preferred to be called ‘Cross-linguistic
influence’
Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis
q However, detailed analysis of language learners’ errors
could not always be explained by this theory.

q For example, according to the CAH, French speakers

learning English and English speakers learning French
would make errors on parallel linguistic features. However,
that was not the case.
Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis

q In simple English sentences, direct objects whether nouns or

pronouns come after the verb. (The dog eats the cookie).
q In French, direct objects that are nouns follow the verb. (The
dog eats the cookie). However, direct objects that are pronouns
precede the verb. (The dog it eats).
q According to your understanding of CAH, how would the errors
of speakers of these languages be explained?
Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis
q The CAH would predict that a native speaker of French
might say (the dog it eats) when learning English.

q After analysing their speech, however, it was found that

French-speaking learners of English, seeing no evidence that
English direct object pronouns precede verbs, do not use this
pattern from their 1st language.
Error Analysis
q Because many aspects of learners’ language couldn’t be
explained by the CAH, a different approach was taken – Error
Analysis.

q First introduced by Prof. Corder (1960), error analysis is

concerned with the compilation, study and analysis of error made
by L2 learners and aims at investigating aspects of L2 acquisition.
Error Analysis
q It divides the errors into errors & mistakes. Also divides errors
into different categories.

q It does not predict learners’ errors, as the CAH, but it sought

to discover & describe different kinds of errors in an effort to try
and understand how learners process second language data.
Interlanguage
q Interlanguage is the type of language or linguistic system
used by second and foreign language learners who are in
the process of learning a target language (Selinker, 1972).

q Interlanguage is a learners’ developing knowledge of L2

(Lightbown & Spada, 2014).
Interlanguage
q Interlanguage is characterised by 3 points:

§ Systematic. (It has rules. Not necessarily correct rules but has
rules.)

§ Dynamic (Although systematic, its rules may change depending on

the input the learner receives)

§ Variable (it depends on the input the learner receives)

Interlanguage
q Selinker (1972) also coined the term fossilisation to refer to the fact
that some features in a learner's language seem to stop changing.

q This may be especially true for learners whose exposure to the second
language does not include instruction or the kind of feedback that would
help them to recognise differences between their interlanguage and the
target language.
Activity: Analyse Learner Language

Can you understand what each learner is trying to say?

• 1. Examine the errors made by each learner. What kinds of

errors interfere most with your ability to understand?

• 2. Do both learners make the same kinds of errors?

• 3. In what ways do the two interlanguages differ?
 Learner I: French First Language, Secondary
School Student

During a sunny day, a cowboy go in the desert with his horse. he has a big hat. His
horse eat a flour. in the same time, Santa Clause go in a city to give some surprises. He
has a red costume and a red packet of surprises. You have three robbers in the
mountain who sees Santa Clause with a king of glaces that it permitted us to see at a
long distance. Every robbers have a horse. They go in the way of Santa Clause, not
Santa Clause but his pocket of surprises. After they will go in a city and they go in a
saloon. [...]

(Unpublished data from P. M. Lightbown and B. Barkman)

 Learner 2: Chinese Adult Learner

• This year Christmas comes soon! Santa Claus ride a one horse open sleigh to
sent present for child ren. on the back of his body has big packet. it have a lot of
toys. in the way he meet three robbers. They want to take his big packet. Santa
Claus no way and no body help, so only a way give them, then three robbers
ride their horse dashing through the town. There have saloon, they go to drink
some beer and open the big packent. They plays toys in the Bar. They meet a
cow boy in the saloon.

• (Unpublished data provided by M. J. Martens)

Agenda

What is SLA?

Learner Characteristics

Studying Language of L2 Learners

Explaining SLA
Four Perspectives

• The Behaviourist Perspective

• The Innatism
• The Cognitive Perspective
• The Sociocultural Perspective
The
Behaviourist
Perspective
The Behaviourism

• Behaviourist theory explains learning in terms of

imitation, practice, reinforcement, and habit formation

• Animal lab
Palov, 1904
The Behaviourism

• Originator: Prof. J.B. Watson (1913)

• Best-known proponent: Prof. B.F. Skinner (1943)
• Behaviourism had a profound influence on. EFL/ESL teaching,
especially in the US, from 40s-70s.
• Audiolingualism
The Behaviourism

• Classroom activities emphasised mimicry and

memorisation
• Students learned dialogues and sentence patterns by heart
• Viewed language development was the formation of
habits
• L2 learning will be interfered by L1
• à Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis
The Behaviourism

• Errors are not predictable on the basis of their L1

• Reluctant to transfer L1 patterns
• The transfer of habits may not be a matter of Influence
in SLA
• Language is creative and generative, not a habit
(Richards & Roger, 2001)
• Inadequate explanations
THE INNATISM
The Innatist Perspective

§ The rejection of behaviorism was triggered by Chomsky

§ Chomsky (1957) argues that all people are born with the
innate ability to learn a language.
à LAD (Language Acquisition Device)
§ Universal Grammar (UG) – a set of basic grammatical
elements that are common to all human languages Prof. Dr. Noam Chomsky
(Chomsky, 1965).
Massachusetts Institute of
§ Because of UG, all children are believed to acquire the Technology
language in their environment during their critical period.
The Innatist Perspective

§ Some scholars hold that UG is not a good explanation for SLA (Bley-Vroman,
1990; Schacter, 1990).

§ Cook (2003) points out that we need more explanation for the fact that L2
learners eventually know more about the language than they could have
learned from the natural input alone.
The Innatist Perspective

§ The implication is that knowledge of UG must be available to L2 learners as well as to L1

learners.

§ Some theorists posit that this view claim that the nature and availability of UG are the
same in L1 and L2 acquisition.

§ Researchers working within the UG framework also differ in their hypothesis about how the
formal instruction or the availability of feedback will affect learners’ L2 knowledge.
The Innatist Perspective

§ Bonnie Schwartz (1993) concludes that instruction and feedback change only superficial
aspects of language performance and do not affect the underlying systematic knowledge
of the new language. She argues that language acquisition is based on the availability of
natural language in the learners’ environment

§ Interaction with speakers of that language is sufficient to trigger the acquisition of the
underlying structure of the language à UG
The Innatist Perspective

• Lydia White (1991) and others agree that acquisition of many grammatical
features of the new language takes place naturally when learners are engaged
in meaningful use of the language

• However, they also suggest that, because the nature of UG is altered by L1

acquisition, L2 learners may sometimes need explicit information about what is
not grammatical in the L2.
Monitor Model

• The best-known model of SLA is

Stephen Krashen’s (1982) Monitor
Model, formed in the early 1970s.

Prof. Dr. Stephen Krashen

University of Southern California
Monitor Model
1. Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis

• The acquired system is the product of a subconscious process. It

requires meaningful interaction in the target language.
• The learned system is the product of formal instruction and
learning. It involves a conscious process which results in
conscious knowledge about the target language
• More languages are acquired than learned.
2. Monitor Hypothesis

• L2 learners draw on what they have acquired when engaging in

spontaneous communication.
• They may use rules and patterns that have been learned as an
‘editor’ or ‘monitor’
• Monitoring takes place only when there’s plenty of time in
speaking or writing.
3. Natural Order Hypothesis

• L1 and L2 acquisition unfold predictable

sequences.
• Some grammatical rules are acquired
early while others late.
• The order of the rules is not determined
by its simplicity.
4. Comprehensible Input Hypothesis

• The input hypothesis is only concerned with acquisition,

not learning.
• L2 learners acquire language when they receive L2 input.
• ‘Human acquires language in only way-by understanding
messages or by receiving comprehensible input’
(Krashen, 1987)
4. Comprehensible Input Hypothesis

• The comprehensible input hypothesis claims acquisition

occurs when one is exposed to language that is
comprehensible and contains i + 1.
• ‘ i ‘ = metaphor for language that is just a step beyond
the current level.
5. Affective Filter Hypothesis
5. Affective Filter Hypothesis

• Comprehensible input does not guarantee successful

language acquisition
• Affective filter is a metaphorical barrier that prevents
learners from acquiring language.
• Affect = feelings of anxiety or negative attitudes
5. Affective Filter Hypothesis
Krashen’s Monitor Model
Activity: Examining the Monitor
Model

• Though his Krashen’s model is influential in language teaching, it

is difficult to test the validity of five hypotheses
• Can you think of some reasons why?
• Which hypothesis do you find convincing?
• Which ones leave you skeptical?, why?.
The Cognitive
Perspective
The Cognitive Perspective

• Cognitive psychology examines internal mental processes such as problem-solving,

memory, and language.

• It hypothesises that SLA, like other learning, requires the learners’ attention and effort.

• Roben DeKeyser (1998) and Richard Schmidt (2001) suggest that learners must pay
attention at first to any aspect of the language that they are trying to learn.

• Though experience and practice, information that was new become easier to process
and access it quickly and even automatically.
The Cognitive Perspective

• Anderson (1996) and DeKeyser (1998) suggest that SLA is understood

as ‘skill learning’.

• Learners start with declarative knowledge (knowledge that are aware

of), e.g., grammar rules
• With practice, it becomes procedural knowledge – ability to use
language
• This switch in knowledge is called ‘restructuring’.
The Interaction Hypothesis
The Interaction Hypothesis
The Noticing Hypothesis
The Role of Practice
The Role of Practice
The Sociocultural Perspective
The Sociocultural Perspective

• Vysgotsky (1987) states that social interaction plays a fundamental role in

the development of cognition.

• There is an intimate relationship between culture and mind, and that all
learning is first social then individual.

• Through dialogic communication, learners jointly construct knowledge, and

this knowledge is later internalised by the individual.
The Sociocultural Perspective

• Learners internalise what others

say, and when they meet with
someone in their Zone of
Proximal Development (ZPD).

(Vysgotsky, 1987)
Thank you