Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Psycholinguistics
Compilation of Psycholinguistics Materials
This module is used to complete the students’ perspectives on looking at
psycholinguistics from its history and progress
Sumardiono
English Education Department
STKIP PGRI BLITAR
Handout of Psycholinguistics
Psycholinguistics
Compilation of Psycholinguistics Materials
Compiled by:
Sumardiono
1. Introduction to Psycholinguistics 1
2. Introduction to Psycholinguistics 2
3. Objects and Scopes of Psycholinguistics
4. How Children Learn Language
5. World Englishes in Psycholinguistics Perspectives
6. Krashen’s Monitor Hypotheses 1
7. Krashen’s Monitor Hypotheses 2
8. Motivation and Its Roles
9. Multiple Language Representation and the Brain
10. Parsing Strategies: How we process the language
11. Parsing Strategies: Immediate Processing of Sentences
12. Contribution of Psycholinguistics in Language
Teaching
13. Contribution of Psycholinguistics in Language Skills
14. Speech and Language Disorder
Sumardiono
Handout of Psycholinguistics
References
Krashen, Stephen D. 1981. Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning.
Oxford New York: Pergamon Press.
Krashen, Stephen D. 1986. Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition.
Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Krashen, Stephen D. dan Terrell, Tracy D. 1983. The Natural Approach: Language
Acquisition in the Classroom. Oxford: Pergamon Press. .
Kushartanti, dkk. 2005. Pesona Bahasa: Langkah Awal Memahami Linguistik, halaman
236-238, Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama.
Pateda, Mansoer. 1988. Aspek-Aspek Psikolinguistik. Ende: Nusa Indah, halaman 18-22.
Wilkins, D.A. 1980. Linguistics in Language Teaching. London: Edward Arnold.
Sumardiono
Handout of Psycholinguistics
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLINGUISTICS 1
Definition, Branches, Development, and Experts of Psycholinguistics
A. Definition of Psycholinguistics
Secara etimologis, istilah Psikolinguistik berasal dari dua kata, yakni Psikologi
dan Linguistik. Seperti kita ketahui kedua kata tersebut masing-masing merujuk pada
nama sebuah disiplin ilmu. Secara umum, Psikologi sering didefinisikan sebagai
ilmu yang mempelajari perilaku manusia dengan cara mengkaji hakikat stimulus,
hakikat respon, dan hakikat proses-proses pikiran sebelum stimulus atau respon itu
terjadi. Pakar psikologi sekarang ini cenderung menganggap psikologi sebagai ilmu
yang mengkaji proses berpikir manusia dan segala manifestasinya yang mengatur
perilaku manusia itu. Tujuan mengkaji proses berpikir itu ialah untuk memahami,
menjelaskan, dan meramalkan perilaku manusia.
Linguistik secara umum dan luas merupakan satu ilmu yang mengkaji bahasa
(Bloomfield, 1928:1). Bahasa dalam konteks linguistik dipandang sebagai sebuah
sistem bunyi yang arbriter, konvensional, dan dipergunakan oleh manusia sebagai
sarana komunikasi. Hal ini berarti bahwa linguistik secara umum tidak mengaitkan
bahasa dengan fenomena lain. Bahasa dipandang sebagai bahasa yang memiliki
struktur yang khas dan unik. Munculnya ilmu yang bernama psikolinguistik tidak
luput dari perkembangan kajian linguistik.
Pada mulanya istilah yang digunakan untuk psikolinguistik adalah linguistic
psychology (psikologi linguistik) dan ada pula yang menyebutnya sebagai
psychology of language (psikologi bahasa). Kemudian sebagai hasil kerja sama yang
lebih terarah dan sistematis, lahirlah satu ilmu baru yang kemudian disebut sebagai
psikolinguistik (psycholinguistic).
Psikolinguistik merupakan ilmu yang menguraikan proses-proses psikologis
yang terjadi apabila seseorang menghasilkan kalimat dan memahami kalimat yang
didengarnya waktu berkomunikasi dan bagaimana kemampuan berbahasa itu
diperoleh manusia (Simanjuntak, 1987: 1). Aitchison (1984), membatasi
psikolinguistik sebagai studi tentang bahasa dan pikiran. Psikolinguistik merupakan
bidang studi yang menghubungkan psikologi dengan linguistik. Tujuan utama
seorang psikolinguis ialah menemukan struktur dan proses yang melandasi
kemampuan manusia untuk berbicara dan memahami bahasa. Psikolinguis tidak
tertarik pada interaksi bahasa di antara para penutur bahasa. Yang mereka kerjakan
terutama ialah menggali apa yang terjadi ketika individu yang berbahasa.
Pakar psikologi maupun pakar linguistik sama-sama terlibat mempelajari
psikolinguistik. Kedua pakar itu termasuk pakar ilmu sosial. Oleh sebab itu,
pendekatan yang mereka gunakan dalam bidang ilmu ini hampir sama atau mirip.
Semua ilmuwan ilmu sosial bekerja dengan menyusun dan menguji hipotesis.
Misalnya, seorang psikolinguis berhipotesis bahwa tuturan seseorang yang
mengalami gangguan sistem sarafnya akan berdisintegrasi dalam urutan tertentu,
yaitu konstruksi terakhir yang dipelajarinya merupakan unsur yang lenyap paling
awal. Kemudian ia akan menguji hipotesisnya itu dengan mengumpulkan data dari
orang-orang yang mengalami kerusakan otak. Dalam hal ini seorang ahli psikologi
dan linguis agak berbeda. Ahli psikologi menguji hipotesisnya terutama dengan cara
eksperimen yang terkontrol secara cermat. Seorang linguis, dalam sisi yang lain,
menguji hipotesisnya terutama dengan mengeceknya melalui tuturan spontan.
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Karena sintaksis itu merupakan dasar yang paling penting, maka kajian utama
psikolinguistik ini akan banyak bertumpu pada kaidah sintaktik. Secara teoretis,
tujuan utama psikolinguistik ialah mencari satu teori bahasa yang tepat dan unggul
dari segi linguistik dan psikologi yang mampu menerangkan hakikat bahasa dan
pemerolehannya. Dengan kata lain, psikolinguistik mencoba menerangkan hakikat
struktur bahasa dan bagaimana struktur ini diperoleh dan digunakan pada waktu
bertutur dan memahami kalimat-kalimat (ujaran-ujaran). Secara praktis,
psikolinguistik mencoba menerapkan pengetahuan linguistik dan psikologi pada
masalah-masalah seperti pengajaran dan pembelajaran bahasa, pengajaran membaca
permulaan dan membaca lanjut, kedwibahasaan, penyakit bertutur seperti afasia,
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B. Branches of Psycholinguistics
Setelah kerja sama antara psikologi dan linguistik itu berlangsung beberapa
waktu, terasa pula bahwa kedua disiplin itu tidaklah memadai lagi untuk
melaksanakan tugas yang sangat berat untuk menjelaskan hakikat bahasa yang
dicerminkan dari definisi-definisi di atas. Bantuan dari ilmu-ilmu lain diperlukan,
termasuk bantuan ilmu-ilmu antardisiplin yang telah ada lebih dulu seperti
neurofisiologi, neuropsikologi, dan lain-lain. Walaupun sekarang kita tetap
menggunakan istilah psikolinguistik, hal itu tidaklah lagi bermakna bahwa hanya
kedua disiplin psikologi dan linguistik saja yang diterapkan. Penemuan-penemuan
antardisiplin lain pun telah dimanfaatkan juga. Bantuan yang dimaksudkan telah
lama ada dan akan terus bertambah karena selain linguistik dan psikologi, banyak
lagi disiplin lain yang juga mengkaji bahasa dengan cara dan teori tersendiri,
misalnya, antropologi, sosiologi, falsafah, pendidikan, komunikasi, dan lain-lain.
Disiplin psikolinguistik telah berkembang begitu pesat sehingga melahirkan
beberapa subdisiplin baru untuk memusatkan perhatian pada bidang-bidang khusus
tertentu yang memerlukan penelitian yang saksama. Subdisiplin psikolinguistik
tampak seperti pada skema berikut ini.
Psikolinguistik
1. Psikolinguistik Teoretis (Theorethycal Psycholinguistic)
Psikolinguistik teoretis mengkaji tentang hal-hal yang berkaitan dengan teori
bahasa, misalnya tentang hakikat bahasa, ciri bahasa manusia, teori kompetensi
dan performansi (Chomsky) atau teori langue dan parole (Saussure), dan
sebagainya.
2. Psikolinguistik Perkembangan (Development Psycholinguistic)
Psikolinguistik perkembangan berbicara tentang pemerolehan bahasa, misalnya
berbicara tentang teori pemerolehan bahasa, baik pemerolehan bahasa pertama
maupun bahasa kedua, peranti pemerolehan bahasa (language acquisition device),
periode kritis pernerolehan bahasa, dan sebagainya.
3. Psikolinguistik Sosial (Social Psycholinguistic)
Psikolinguistik sosial sering juga disebut sebagai psikososiolinguistik berbicara
tentang aspek-aspek sosial bahasa, misalnya, sikap bahasa, akulturasi budaya,
kejut budaya, jarak sosial, periode kritis budaya, pajanan bahasa, pendidikan,
lama pendidikan, dan sebagainya.
4. Psikolinguistik Pendidikan (Educational Psycholinguistic)
Psikolinguistik pendidikan berbicara tentang aspek-aspek pendidikan secara
umum di sekolah, terutama mengenai peranan bahasa dalam pengajaran bahasa
pada umumnya, khususnya dalam pengajaran membaca, kemampuan
berkomunikasi, kemampuan berpidato, dan pengetahuan mengenai peningkatan
berbahasa dalam memperbaiki proses penyampaian buah pikiran.
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5.Neuropsikolinguistik (Neuropsycholinguistics)
Neuropsikolinguistik berbicara tentang hubungan bahasa dengan otak manusia.
Misalnya, otak sebelah manakah yang berkaitan dengan kemampuan berbahasa?
Saraf-saraf apa yang rusak apabila seserorang terkena afasia broca dan saraf
manakah yang rusak apabila terkena afasia wernicke? Apakah bahasa itu memang
dilateralisasikan? Kapan terjadi lateralisasi? Apakah periode kritis itu memang
berkaitan dengan kelenturan saraf-saraf otak?
6.Psikolinguistik Eksperimental (Experimental Psycholinguistic)
Psikolinguistik eksperimental berbicara tentang eksperimen-eksperimen dalam
semua bidang yang melibatkan bahasa dan perilaku berbahasa.
7. Psikolinguistik Terapan (Applied Psycholinguistic)
Psikolinguistik terapan berbicara tentang penerapan temuan-temuan keenam
subdisiplin psikolinguistik di atas ke dalam bidang-bidang tertentu, seperti
psikologi, linguistik, berbicara dan menyimak, pendidikan, pengajaran dan
pembelajaran bahasa, pengajaran membaca, neurologi, psikiatri, komunikasi,
kesusastraan, dan lain-lain.
Akhir-akhir ini terdapat diskusi kecil tentang disiplin psikolinguistik itu. Ada
pakar yang beranggapan bahwa psikolinguistik itu adalah cabang dari disiplin
psikologi karena nama psikolinguistik itu telah diciptakan untuk menggantikan nama
lama dalam psikologi, yaitu psikologi bahasa. Ada pula pakar linguistik yang
mengatakan bahwa psikolinguistik itu adalah cabang dari disiplin induk linguistik
karena bahasa adalah objek utama yang dikaji oleh pakar-pakar linguistik dan pakar
psikolinguistik mengkaji semua aspek bahasa itu. Di Amerika Serikat psikolinguistik
pada umumnya dianggap sebagai cabang linguistik, meskipun ada juga yang
menganggap bahwa psikolinguistik merupakan cabang dari psikologi. Chomsky
sendiri menganggap psikolinguistik itu sebagai cabang dari psikologi. Di Prancis
pada tahun 60-an psikolinguitik pada umumnya dikembangkan oleh pakar psikologi
sehingga menjadi cabang psikologi. Di Inggris psikolinguistik semula dikembangkan
oleh pakar linguistik yang bekerja sama dengan para pakar dalam bidang psikologi
dari Inggris dan Amerika Serikat. Di Rusia, psikolinguistik dikembangkan oleh
pakar linguistik di Institut Linguistik Moskow, sedangkan di Rumania kebanyakan
pakar beranggapan bahwa psikolinguistik merupakan disiplin ilmu yang berdiri
sendiri sekalipun peranannya banyak di bidang linguistik.
Dari sudut pandang linguistik, seorang pakar psikolinguistik merupakan
seseorang yang betul-betul mempunyai kepakaran dalam bidang linguistik murni,
tetapi mempunyai pengetahuan juga dalam bidang teori psikologi dan kaidah-
kaidahnya, terutama yang menyangkut komunikasi bahasa. Dengan kata lain,
pengetahuan linguistiknya jauh lebih banyak dan mantap dibandingkan dengan
pengetahuan psikologinya karena latar belakang utamanya adalah linguistik. Seorang
pakar psikolinguistik akan lebih merasakan dirinya sebagai seorang linguis daripada
seorang psikolog.
Dari sudut pandang psikologi, seorang pakar psikolinguistik adalah seseorang
yang benar-benar memiliki kepakaran dalam bidang psikologi murni, tetapi juga
mempunyai kemampuan dan pengetahuan dalam bidang linguistik. Dengan kata lain,
pengetahuannya dalam bidang psikologi jauh lebih mantap daripada pengatahuannya
dalam bidang linguistik. Sekarang terdapat kecenderungan untuk menempatkan
psikolinguistik sebagai disiplin tersendiri yang otonom. Dari hasil otonomi itu
lahirlah pakar psikolinguistik yang memiliki pengetahuan yang seimbang antara
linguistik murninya dan pengetahuan psikologinya. Hasilnya seorang psikolinguis
akan merasa dirinya adalah pakar dalarn bidang psikolinguistik. Dengan demikian,
psikolinguistik mempunyai teori, pendekatan, dan kaidah atau prosedur tersendiri
Handout of Psycholinguistics
Edward Sapir seorang sarjana Linguistik dan Antropologi Amerika awal abad
ke-20 telah mengikutsertakan psikologi dalam kajian bahasa. Menurut Sapir,
psikologi dapat memberikan dasar yang kuat bagi kajian bahasa. Sapir juga telah
mencoba mengkaji hubungan bahasa dengan pikiran. Simpulannya ialah bahasa itu
mempengaruhi pikiran manusia. Linguistik menurut Sapir dapat memberikan
sumbangan penting bagi psikologi gestalt dan sebaliknya, psikologi gestalt dapat
memberikan sumbangan bagi linguistik.
Pada awal abad ke-20, Bloomfield, seorang linguis dari Amerika Serikat
dipengaruhi oleh dua buah aliran psikologi yang bertentangan dalam menganalisis
bahasa. Pada mulanya, ia sangat dipengaruhi oleh psikologi mentalisme dan
kemudian beralih pada psikologi behaviorisme. Karena pengaruh mentalisme,
Bloomfield berpendapat bahwa bahasa itu merupakan ekspresi pengalaman yang
lahir karena tekanan emosi yang yang sangat kuat. Karena tekanan emosi yang kuat
itu, misaInya, munculnya kalimat seruan.
Misalnya:
Aduh, sakit, Bu!
Kebakaran, kebakaran, tolong, tolong!
Copet, copet!
Awas, minggir!
Karena seseorang ingin berkomunikasi, muncullah kalimat-kalimat deklaratif.
Misalnya: Ibu sedang sakit hari ini. Ayah sekarang membantu ibu di dapur. Banyak
karyawan bank yang terkena PHK. Para buruh sekarang sedang berunjuk rasa.
Karena keinginan berkomunikasi itu bertukar menjadi pemakaian komunikasi
yang sebenarnya, maka mucullah kalimat yang berbentuk pertanyaan.
Misalnya:
Apakah Ibu sakit?
Siapakah presiden keempat Republik Indonesia?
Mengapa rakyat Indonesia telah berubah menjadi rakyat yang mudah marah?
Apa arti likuidasi?
Tahukah Anda makna lengser keprabon?
Sejak tahun 1925, Bloomfield meninggalkan mentalisme dan mulai
menggunakan behaviorisme dan menerapkannya ke dalam teori bahasanya yang
sekarang terkenal dengan nama linguistik struktural atau linguistik taksonomi.
Jespersen, seorang ahli linguistik Denmark terkenal telah menganalisis bahasa
dari suclut panclang mentalisme dan yang seclikit berbau behaviorisme. Menurut
jespersen, bahasa bukanlah sebuah entitas dalam pengertian satu benda seperti
seekor anjing atau seekor kuda. Bahasa merupakan satu fungsi manusia sebagai
simbol di dalam otak manusia yang melambangkan pikiran atau membangkitkan
pikiran. Menurut Jespersen, berkomunikasi harus dilihat dari sudut perilaku (jadi,
bersifat behavioris). Bahkan, satu kata pun dapat dibandingkan dengan satu
kebiasaan tingkah laku, seperti halnya bila kita mengangkat topi.
Di samping ada tokoh-tokoh linguistik yang mencoba menggunakan psikologi
dalam bekerja, sebaliknya ada ahli psikologi yang memanfaatkan atau mencoba
menggunakan linguistik dalam bidang garapannya, yakni psikologi. John Dewey,
misalnya, seorang ahli psikologi Amerika Serikat yang dikenal sebagai pelopor
empirisme murni, telah mengkaji bahasa dan perkembangannya dengan cara
menafsirkan analisis linguistik bahasa kanak-kanak berdasarkan prinsip-prinsip
psikologi. Dewey menyarankan, misaInya, agar penggolongan psikologi kata-kata
yang diucapkan anak-anak dilakukan berdasaran arti kata-kata itu bagi anak-anak
dan bukan berdasarkan arti kata-kata itu menurut orang dewasa dengan bentuk tata
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bahasa orang dewasa. Dengan cara ini berdasarkan prinsip-prinsip psikologi, akan
dapat ditentukan perbandingan antara kata kerja bantu dan kata depan di satu pihak
dan kata benda di pihak lain. Jadi, dengan demikian kita dapat menentukan
kecenderungan pikiran (mental) anak yang dihubungkan dengan
perbedaan-perbedaan linguistik itu. Kajian seperti itu menurut Dewey akan
memberikan bantuan yang besar bagi psikologi pada umumnya.
Wundt, seorang ahli psikologi Jerman yang terkenal sebagai pendukung teori
apersepsi dalam psikologi menganggap bahwa bahasa itu sebagai alat untuk
mengungkapkan pikiran. Wundt merupakan ahli psikologi pertama yang
mengembangkan teori mentalistik secara sistematis dan sekarang dianggap sebagai
bapak psikolinguistik klasik. Menurut Wundt, bahasa pada mulanya lahir dalam
bentuk gerak-gerik yang dipakai untuk mengungkapkan perasaan-perasaan yang
sangat kuat secara tidak sadar. Kemudian terjadilah pertukaran antara unsur-unsur
perasaan itu dengan unsur-unsur mentalitas atau akal. Komponen akal itu kemudian
diatur oleh kesadaran menjadi alat pertukaran pikiran yang kemudian terwujud
menjadi bahasa. Jadi, menurut Wundt, setiap bahasa terdiri atas ucapan-ucapan
bunyi atau isyarat-isyarat lain yang dapat dipahami menembus pancaindera yang
diwujudkan oleh gerakan otot untuk menyampaikan keadaan batin, konsep-konsep,
perasaan-perasaan kepada orang lain. Menurut Wundt satu kalimat merupakan satu
kejadian pikiran yang mengejawantah secara serentak. Jika kita perhatikan maka
terdapat keselarasan antara teori evolusi Darwin dengan teori mentalisme bahasa
Wundt itu.
Teori performansi bahasa yang dikembangkan Wundt itu didasarkan pada
analisis psikologis yang dilakukannya yang terdiri atas dua aspek, yakni (1)
fenomena fisis yang terdiri atas produksi dan persepsi bunyi, dan (2) fenomena batin
yang terdiri atas rentetan pikiran. Jelaslah bahwa analisis Wundt terhadap hubungan
fenomena batin dan fisis itu bagi psikologi pada umumnya bergantung pada
fenomena linguistik. Itulah sebabnya Wundt berpendapat bahwa interaksi di antara
fenomena batin dan fenomena fisis itu akan dapat dipahami dengan lebih baik
melalui kajian struktur bahasa.
Titchener, seorang ahli psikologi berkebangsaan Inggris yang menjadi rakyat
Amerika menggambarkan dan menyebarluaskan ide Wundt itu di Amerika Serikat
yang kemudian terkenal dengan psikologi kesadaran atau psikologi introspeksi.
Pengenalan dan penyebaran teori introspeksi itu kemudian telah mencetuskan satu
revolusi psikologi di Amerika Serikat dengan berkembangnya teori behaviorisme di
mana kesadaran telah disingkirkan dari psikologi dan dari kajian bahasa.
Pillsbury dan Meader, ahli psikologi mentalisme Amerika Serikat telah mencoba
menganalisis bahasa dari sudut psikologi. Analisis kedua sarjana psikologi itu sangat
baik ditinjau dari segi perkembangan neuropsikolinguistik dewasa ini. Menurut
Pillsbury dan Meader bahasa adalah satu alat untuk menyampaikan pikiran, termasuk
gagasan, dan perasaan. Mengenai perkembangan bahasa, Meader mengatakan bahwa
manusia mula-mula berpikir kemudian mengungkapkan pikirannya itu dengan
kata-kata dan terjemahan. Untuk memahaminya, diperlukan pengetahuan tentang
bagaimana kata-kata mewujudkan dirinya pada kesadaran seseorang, bagaimana
kata-kata itu dihubungkan dengan ide-ide jenis lain yang bukan verbal, juga
bagaimana ide-ide itu muncul dan terwujud dalam bentuk imaji-imaji, bagaimana
gerakan ucapan itu dipicu oleh ide itu dan akhirnya bagaimana pendengar atau
pembaca menerjemahkan kata-kata yang didengarnya atau kata-kata yang dilihatnya
ke dalam pikirannya sendiri. Tampaklah dalam pola pikir Meader itu terdapat
keselarasan antara tujuan psikologi mental dengan tujuan linguistik seperti yang
dikembangkan oleh Chomsky.
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perasaan, dan bahasa bukanlah alat fisis untuk proses mental, melainkan perilaku
seperti halnya perilaku manusia yang lain.
Caroll, seorang ahli psikologi Amerika Serikat yang sekarang merupakan salah
satu tokoh psikolinguistik modern telah mencoba mengintegrasikan fakta-fakta yang
ditemukan oleh linguistik murni seperti unit ucapan, keteraturan, kadar kejadian
dengan teori psikologi pada tahun 40-an. Kemudian ia mengembangkan teori
simbolik, yakni teori yang mengatakan bahwa respon kebahasaan harus lebih dulu
memainkan peranan dalam keadaan isyarat sehingga sesuatu menjelaskan sesuatu
yang lain dengan perantaraan. Keadaan isyarat itu haruslah sedemikian rupa
sehingga organisme dengan sengaja bermaksud agar organisme lain memberikan
respon kepada isyarat itu sebagai satu isyarat. Dengan demikian, respon itu haruslah
sesuatu yang dapat dilahirkan baik secara langsung maupun tidak langsung oleh
mekanisme-mekanisme.
Para ahli linguistik dan psikologi yang dibicarakan di atas telah mencoba
merintis hubungan atau kerja sama antara psikologi dan linguistik. Sebenarnya kerja
sama yang benar-benar terjadi antara ahli psikologi dan linguistik itu telah terjadi
sejak tahun 1860, yaitu ketika Heyman Steinhal, seorang ahli psikologi bertukar
menjadi ahli linguistik dan Moritz Lazarus seorang ahli linguistik bertukar menjadi
ahli psikologi. Mereka berdua menerbitkan jurnal yang khusus memperbincangkan
psikologi bahasa dari sudut psikologi dan linguistik. Steinhal mengatakan bahwa
ilmu psikologi tidaklah mungkin hidup tanpa ilmu bahasa.
Pada tahun 1901, di Eropa, Albert Thumb seorang ahli linguisstik telah bekerja
sama dengan seorang ahli psikologi Karl Marbe untuk menerbitkan buku yang
kemudian dianggap sebagai buku psikolinguistik pertama yang diterbitkan, tentang
penyelidikan eksperimental mengenai dasar-dasar psikologi pembentukan analogi
pertuturan. Kedua sarjana itu menggunakan kaidah-kaidah psikologi eksperimental
untuk meneliti hipotesis-hipotesis linguistik. Hal itu menunjukkan kukuhnya disiplin
psikolinguistik. Salah satu hipotesis yang mereka teliti kebenarannya adalah keadaan
satu rangsangan kata yang cenderung berhubungan dengan satu kata lain apabila
kedua-duanya termasuk ke dalam kategori yang sama; kata benda berhubungan
dengan kata benda yang lain; kata sifat berhubungan dengan kata sifat yang lain. Di
Amerika Serikat usaha ke arah kerja sama secara langsung antara, ahli linguistik dan
ahli psikologi dirintis oleh Social Science Researcb Council yang menganjurkan
diadakannya seminar antara ahli psikologi dan linguistik secara bersama-sama.
Osgood (ahli psikologi), Sebeok (ahli linguistik) dan Caroll (ahli psikologi)
mengadakan seminar bersama-sama. Hasil dari seminar tersebut adalah terbitnya
buku Psikolinguistik yang berjudul Psycholinguistic, a survey of theory and research
problems pada tahun 1954 yang disunting olch Osgood dan Sebeok. Meskipun
demikian, nama disiplin baru Psikolinguistik itu muncul bukan karena seminar itu,
karena sebenarnya Pronko pada tahun 1946 telah memberikan ulasan tentang
Psikolinguistik dengan teknik-teknik penyelidikannya.
Psikolinguistik benar-benar dianggap sebagai disiplin baru, sebagai ilmu
tersendiri pada tahun 1963, yaitu ketika Osgood menulis satu artikel dalam jurnal
American Psychology yang berjudul On understanding and creating sentences.
Dalam tulisan itu, Osgood menjelaskan teori baru dalam behaviorisme yang dikenal
dengan neobehaviorisme yang dikembangkan oleh Mowrer, yakni seorang ahli
psikologi yang sangat berminat untuk mengkaji bahasa. Pandangan Osgood itu
kemudian terkenal dengan teori mediasi, yaitu suatu usaha mengkaji peristiwa batin
yang menengahi stimulus dan respon yang dianggap oleh Skinner sebagai usaha
untuk memperkukuh peranan akal ke dalam psikologi yang oleh kaurn behaviorisme
dianggap tidak ilmiah karena peristiwa itu tidak dapat diamati secara langsung.
Handout of Psycholinguistics
Teori Osgood yang disebut sebagai teori mediasi itu telah dikritik habis-habisan
oleh Skinner yang menuduhnya sebagai pakar yang mencoba mempertahankan
mentalisme yang sebelumnya telah disingkirkan oleh behaviorisme. Osgood
merasakan kekuatan teorinya itu dengan dukungan Lenneberg, yang merupakan
produk pertama mahasiswa yang digodok dalam kajian Psikolinguistik. Lenneberg
berpenclapat bahwa manusia memiliki kecenderungan biologis yang khusus untuk
memperoleh bahasa yang tidak dimiliki oleh hewan. Alasan Lenneberg untuk
membuktikan hal tersebut adalah sebagai berikut:
(1) terdapatnya pusat-pusat yang khas dalam otak manusia;
(2) perkembangan bahasa yang sama bagi semua bayi;
(3) kesukaran yang dialami untuk menghambat pertumbuhan bahasa pada manusia;
(4) bahasa tidak mungkin diajarkan kepada makhluk lain;
(5) bahasa itu memiliki kesemestaan bahasa (language universal).
Miller pada tahun 1965 memastikan bahwa kelahiran disiplin baru
Psikolinguistik ticlak dapat dielakkan lagi. Menurut Miller, tugas Psikolinguistik
adalah menguraikan proses psikologis yang terjadi apabila seseorang itu
menggunakan kalimat. Pendapat Miller itu sangat berorientasi pada mentalisme
Chomsky dan teori Lenneberg, sedangkan Osgood dan Sebeok masih berbau
neobehaviorisme. Miller dengan tegas menolak pendapat Osgood clan Sebeok yang
banyak mendasarkan pada prinsip mekanis pembelajaran menurut behaviorisme.
Miller memperkenalkan teori linguistiknya Chomsky kepada pakar psikologi. Miller
juga mengkritik pakar Psikologi yang terlalu mengandalkan kajian makna. Namun,
perkembangan Psikolinguistik pada awal abad ke-20 itu memang masih didominasi
oleh Psikologi Behaviorisme maupun Neobehaviorisme.
Teori psikolinguistik secara radikal setidak-tidaknya mengalami lima perubahan
arah setelah berdiri sendiri sebagai disiplin ilmu tersendiri pada tahun 50-an (Titone,
1981). Perubahan itu dapat disarikan sebagai berikut.
Periode 1
Selama tahun 50-an teori Psikolinguistik dipengaruhi oleh pandangan teori
behavioristik seperti yang dikembangkan Skinner dan teori taksonomi struktural
seperti yang dikembangkan Bloomfield.
Periode 2
Selama tahun 60-an dan awal tahun 70-an pandangan mentalistik kognitivis dari
transformasionalis seperti Chomsky mendominasi semua aspek Psikolinguistik.
Periode 3
Perubahan tekanan pada periode ini menuju ke arah pragmatik komunikatif. Aspek
bahasa dalam lingkaran teori transformasional secara mendalam masih
mempengaruhi teori Psikolinguistik dan juga pengajaran bahasa kedua pada tahun
70-an.
Periode 4
Pada akhir dekade terakhir pandangan Pragmatik atau Sosiolinguistik menjadi arus
utama pada periode ini.
Periode 5
Pada tahun-tahun terakhir diusulkan model integratif yang terdiri atas komponen
behavioral dan kognitif serta ciri kepribadian.
CHAPTER II
INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLINGUISTICS 2
MENTAL GRAMMAR
Mental Grammar
Chomsky’s Linguistic
Grammar and Chomsky’s Challenges to
Competence and
Grammatical Chomsky’s
Psycholinguistics Performance
Conception Grammar
Distinction
The Ways of
speakers produce Linguistic The Standard Binding Theory of Meaning based
and understand Psychology Theory Grammar Grammar
sentences
Figure 1
Conception of Mental Grammar
The mental grammar is divided clearly as drawn in Figure 1. This is further
described as follows:
Mental grammar here is defined as grammar in mind. This is in line with the
supplementary empirical view of Aithchison (1987:9) stating about mental lexicon.
Both terms are used to show that human‘s mind can store words and structure words
automatically. The human word-store is often referred to as the ‗mental dictionary‘
or, perhaps more commonly, as the mental lexicon, to use Greek word for
‗dictionary‘. Meanwhile, the human word-structure functionally is called to be
‗mental grammar’. Smith (2006, in Keith, 2006:89) stated that humans learn
language from examples of language use, often called the Human Linguistic Data
(HLD). The HLD must be the linguistic behavior of other language users, as children
acquire the language of their linguistic community. This linguistic behavior is
consequence of the internalized linguistic knowledge of these other individuals, and
the HLD therefore reflects the linguistic knowledge of the individuals in a human‘s
speech community. These individuals have grammars that define their knowledge of
language and that knowledge of language guides their linguistic behavior. A human
is therefore attempting to acquire a system of linguistic knowledge, a grammar,
based on data that are the consequence of the linguistic knowledge, or grammars, of
other individuals. Andersen (1973:736) summarizes this phenomenon of relationship
between linguistic data and mental grammar as follows: ―the verbal output of any
speaker is determined by the grammar he has internalized… any speaker’s
internalized grammar is determined by the verbal output from which it has been
inferred‖. It can be paraphrased that grammar in mind is influenced by output
inferred to the mind and output from the mind is determined from internalized
grammar. Here is Figure 2 showing the relationship:
Figure 2
Relationship between Human Linguistic Data and Mental Grammar
To discuss the first point of mental grammar, the elaboration and additional
empirical views are briefly explained below:
Handout of Psycholinguistics
Surface Structure:
Meaning Level Semantic Interpretation
Overt Syntactic Form
CHAPTER 3
Objects and Scopes of Psycholinguistics
Linguistik Psikologi
Logika Filsafat
Psikologi
Psikolinguistik
Sosiolinguistik
Linguistik Pendidikan
Pada gambar di atas terlihat hubungan antara linguistik, psikologi, dan sosiologi.
Linguistik pada umumnya menghasilkan teori bahasa dan deskripsi (perian) bahas
tertentu. Teori dan deskripsi bahasa diperoleh melalui penelitian bahasa. Untuk
mempelajari suatu bahasa, kita dapat memanfaatkan teori bahasa dan teori belajar.
Teori belajar termasuk lingkupan psikologi. Teori bahasa yang didukung oleh teori
belajar menghasilkan teori belajar bahasa yang menjadi lingkupan psikolinguistik.
Apabila teori bahasa digunakan untuk berkomunikasi akan menghasilkan teori
Handout of Psycholinguistics
CHAPTER 4
HOW CHILDREN LEARN LANGUAGE
Language Human
Mind
From the Figure 1, it depicts that human has mind and in mind, there is
language. The question is ‗how can it be there?‘ In this point, language has been
acquired and learned since we were children. Since we were children, we learn very
simple language elements; a) basic vocabulary, b) simple syntax, and c)
pronunciation. In the handout, it is emphasized that language learning requires
psychological processes. They are; a) speech production, and b) speech
understanding (perception). How children learn language is further in detail
discussed to be five divisions as depicted in the figure below:
Figure 2 draws a clear division of the points discussed in the handout about how
children learn language. Here are the elaborative explanations of each detail to know
further the ways the children learn language and some additional related schools of
linguistics concerning of those.
blowing, etc. They cannot speak yet even uttering speech sounds. The ability
of children in vocalizing language are depicted in the Figure 4 below:
In fact, some children may master intonation patterns since they firstly learn
about rhyming utterance, pitch, and stress.
2. The One Word Utterance
This stage is minimal 4 and maximal 18 months. Every child has their own
distinctive step of age in producing single word. The variety of age in
producing single word normally occurs. In this stage, the children learn their
first single word such as ‗mama‘, ‗daddy‘, bye-bye, etc. However, in
producing single word, as stated, there is no relationship between children‘s
intelligence and the onset of speech for normal children. Related to the
children‘s ability in this stage, the utterance in form of single word has
multifunction what is called to be holophrastic or many uses of a single
word. For instance, the single word uttered by baby like ‗mama‘ can be
meant to be ‗mama‘ for ‗mother‘, ‗mama‘ for ‗I want my mother‘ (request),
‗mama‘ for ‗calling for mama‘. This can happen in another use of single
word in multiple uses. When the situation of a baby saw her father puts a
peach on the spoon, a baby can catch the most meaningful words to her
understanding by saying ‗peach‘ + ‗Daddy‘ + ‗spoon‘.
3. Two and Three Word Utterance
In this stage, the children‘s utterances refer to the mature speaker‘s
environment. As stated in the previous stage, the children (18 months or so)
use two and three words as the meaning implied in mature speaker (± 5 year).
This can be seen from the utterance function used by the children. In this
case, children‘s speech reflects their thinking and knowing. Grammatically,
most of children‘s speeches are in form of content words, relation of content
words, and inflection to request, warn, brag, question, answer, and inform.
However, the way in expressing the situation is in shortened construction in
grammatical characteristics. Here are the instances as the children‘s speech:
The use of shortened content words and their relation
The children use content words and their relation since they can carry
the main information by mentioning they mean by nouns, verbs, or
adjectives shortly like ‗banana table‘ for ‗the banana is on the table‘.
Handout of Psycholinguistics
Lack of inflection
Besides shortening the word contently, the children ignore the
inflectional forms of words in case of plurals (‗dog‘ for ‗dogs‘),
possession (‗John car‘ for ‗John‘s car‘), verb endings (‗sit‘ for
‗sitting‘), tense markings (‗jump‘ for ‗jumped‘), and so on.
4. Function Words and Inflections.
After acquiring two or three word utterances by content words, children learn
function words like prepositions, articles, and auxiliaries. Also, inflections
are well learned in this stage in case of plurals and tense markings. Brown
(1973) categorized ten basic morpheme acquisitions in children stage as
follows:
Table 1. Morpheme Acquisitions Order
No Order Morpheme Explanations Examples
1 Present Progressive Stress on using progressive Girl playing
verb forms
2 Prepositions: in, on The use of both preposition Ball in water
properly
3 Plural Clear use of plurals Cars, boys, fishes
4 Past Irregular Observation on the use of Came, fell, went
familiar irregular verbs
5 Possessive Clear use of possession Jack‘s, Ann‘s, Liz‘s
6 Articles The implementation of the A dog, the dog
use article appropriately
7 Past Regular (-d/-ed) Clear use of regular past verb Jumped, hugged, wanted
forms
8 Third Person:
Regular Regular verbs for 3rd person Talks, sings, watches
Irregular Irregular verbs for 3rd person Does, has
9 Auxiliary be: Regular Separated or normal use I am playing, you are playing..
10 Auxiliary be: Contracted Shortened construction I’m playing, you‘re playing..
Those periods, according to Bellugi and Klima, can be passed about 6 months
in three children they observed.
B. Speech Understanding and Its Importance
There are three points elaborated in this part. They are: 1) speech
understanding, the basis of speech production, 2) learning abstract words, and
3) memory and language acquisition. In brief, they are summarized as follows:
1. Speech understanding, the basis of speech production
Children learn speech sounds not more about their meanings unless
environmental clues are provided. To learn the meaning further, a child
Handout of Psycholinguistics
should hear the words spoken by others. By hearing spoken words, they
learn some relevant environmental experiences to know the basis of speech
production should understand the meaning firstly. In some studies, it is
shown that speech understanding is acquired firstly then followed by
speech production.
2. Learning abstract words
Acquiring the meaning (speech understanding), children learn to provide
some materials that quite abstracts the ways children learn those by: 1)
noting spoken words, 2) relating particular feelings and complex ideas, 3)
making inference from complex situations, and 4) comparing what he said
and what he knows.
3. Memory and language acquisition
A child utilizes a phenomenal memory capacity; a child remembers a
multitude of particular words, phrases, and sentences. Memory capacity of
children has basis for discovering abstract meanings and rules. The relation
between memory and language acquisition is that memory takes important
role in making students acquire and learn language.
C. Parentese and Baby Talk
1. Parentese
Parentese is a term to show the language used between parents and their
children. What are stressed in spoken language are pitch, pause, and
intonation. In this case, parents use grammatical speech meanwhile in
accepting the language; children are lack of grammatical knowledge. From
this, parentese is used in variety of children‘s level in mastering language.
Parentese uses regular vocabulary and syntax.
2. Baby Talk
In another side, Baby Talk uses simplified vocabulary and syntax. It
includes the modifications in vocabulary. Besides, it makes an ending in
various way and shortened ways.
D. Imitation and Correction
1. The role of imitation
Imitation has a process of copying what is heard (intonation and sounds).
The processes in imitation are: 1) hearing; to understand the speech, 2)
copying; to imitate what is understood, and 3) reproduction; to produce
speech as what is heard.
2. The role of correction
Correction is not well implemented in speech process but is essential to
students‘ improvement. Parents are satisfied to see their children to have
truth value. Meanwhile, the children learn from social appropriateness of
what they hear.
CHAPTER 5
WORLD ENGLISHES IN PSYCHOLINGUISTICS
PERSPECTIVES
A. Introduction to WEs
The rapid spread of English as a language of communication has no doubt
stimulated interesting but at the same time controversial debate about the status of
English in its varieties, which are commonly called World Englishes (Kachru, 1985).
Kachru (1990), in his paper entitled ―World Englishes and Applied linguistics‖
discusses, the limitations of traditional applied linguistics perspectives on world
Englishes, suggesting that these had been skewed by the ethnocentrisms of inner-
circle practitioners, reliance on interlanguage and error analysis frameworks, and
misconceptions concerning the sociolinguistic realities of multilingual outer-circle
societies (as cited in Bolton, 2004, p.389).
According to Kachru (1985), English has been indigenized in India as well as
other countries including Singapore, Nigeria, which are referred to outer circles.
Throughout the process, Kachru and other scholars, especially Quirk (1990), joined
the debate over these Englishes. Kachru (1985) presented arguments against
Interlanguage theory (Selinker, 1972) and specifically the main components of this
theory: Errors, fossilization, and socio-cultural contexts. Before outlining the
arguments and presenting another view regarding World Englishes and Applied
Linguistics, it will be useful to go over Kachru‘s (1997) three concentric circles, a
definition of World Englishes and the concept of interlanguage. Regarding the
meaning(s) of World Englishes, Bolton presents several interpretations such as an
umbrella term covering all varies of Englishes, new Englishes in countries such as
Africa and Asia. However, the term World Englishes will be used, as Jenkins (2006)
proposed, to cover new Englishes in Africa and Asia, which are considered as Outer
Circle by Kacru.
language and the functions in various regions. According to Kachru, the Inner Circle
includes the Native English-speaking countries such as England, USA and Canada).
The Outer Circle consists of the former colonies such as India, Africa and Nigeria
and finally Expanding Circle includes countries such as China, Japan and Turkey,
which are affected by Western and where English is becoming an important
language in business, science, technology and education. Kachru‘s main arguments
are more related to Outer Circle and against IL theory. According to IL theory,
(Selinker, 1972, 1992), second languge learners‘ competence is based on an
interlanguage continuum between their first (L1) and their second (L2) language. If
their output is different from Standard English (American or British), it is regarded
as an error (interference of L1 mainly) and if they continue producing errors (fixing),
this is known as fossilization. In 1992, Selinker reproduced his IL theory and
particularly applied fossilization to World Englishes context, which renewed the
challenge to the theory by scholars such as Kachru and Quirk.
right to intervene or pass judgment. They are irrelevant. The very fact that English is
an international language means that no nation can have custody over it. To grant
such custody of the language is necessarily to arrest its development and so
undermine its international status. It is a matter of considerable pride and satisfaction
for native speakers of English that their language is an international means of
communication. But the point is that it is only international to the extent that it is not
their language. It is not a possession which they lease out to others, while retaining
the freehold. Other people actually own it. (p. 385)
In addition to the standardization, Kachru‘s main argument against IL theory
was that Outer Circle English speakers were not trying to identify with Inner Circle
speakers or native speakers. That is, they were not interested in the norms of English
based in Inner Circle such as requesting and complaining. Thus, he criticized the
attempts to label the Englishes in the Outer Circle as deviant or deficient and
fossilized since these views were not considering the local Englishes (Outer Circle)
and the sociocultural context. He was also against the label ‗errors‘ since again
utterances which are considered as errors may not apply to the local Englishes as
they may be perfectly acceptable. Let us look at some examples of English in Outer
Circle (Bhatt, 2005, pp. 39-40):
a) You have taken my book, isn‘t it?
b) You are soon going home, isn‘t it?
These are unindifferentiated tag questions in Indian English. In these examples,
it can be seen that the meaning of tag is not the meaning of the main proposition, but
rather social meaning. These two examples show how the linguistic form is
constrained by cultural constraints of politeness. These tags (isn’t it) as used in
Indian English are governed by politeness principle of nonimposition. In standard
American or British English, tag questions are formed by inserting a copy of the
subject (pronominal) after an appropriate modal auxiliary. If we again consider the
examples given above, these tag questions will be as the following:
a) You have taken my book, haven‘t you?
b) You are soon going home, aren‘t you?
The influence of culture on grammatical rules in Indian English can also be seen
in the use of ‗May‘. Consider the following example (Bhatt, p. 41):
*These mistakes may please be corrected.
Here, ‗May‘ is used to express obligation politely, whereas in Standard English,
it will be used as ‗These mistakes must be corrected‘ or ‗these mistakes are to be
corrected‘. While the examples from Standard English are unacceptable in Indian
English since they are positional in their social context, a native speaker can see
them as what they should be definitely due to grammar or the norms, which Kachru
rejects, in local context. Although the use of tags and the modal auxiliary ‗May‘ in
Indian English seem odd and can be regarded as the violation/deviation of rules, it
can be agreed that they are acceptable in its own context rather than being regarded
as signs of fossilization. However, if these forms are used in international context
where English is used as a means of communication by members of different
cultures, there may be some communication breakdowns or misunderstandings.
Considering the arguments Kachru proposed, the traditional applied linguistics
perspectives seem to fail to consider multilingual context. However, this does not
mean that IL and errors do not contribute to language acquisition. Consider an
imaginary situation in which a person who has moved to an Outer Circle country
(India) and utters a sentence ‗You must come early tomorrow‘ in his/her attempts to
learn Indian English, which is positional and in a way unacceptable in the local
context. What would Kachru say about his/her utterance? This can be considered a
Handout of Psycholinguistics
simple logic, but Kachru would possibly talk about IL or a kind of error that does not
consider the social context. Alternatively, would he say that everyone has his/her
own way of saying and that person is right since he does not want to use ‗a norm of
Indian English?‘ Kachru talks about the ethnocentrisms of Inner Circle practitioners,
but he may also be promoting ‗nationalism‘ as Pennycook (1994) suggested.
Moreover, instead of benefiting from WEs discussion, local people might also suffer
as their use of English, as seen in the examples, may mark them off as low proficient
users or even be stigmatized in the English L1 communities (Luk &Lin, 2006).
What can applied linguistics do regarding these discussions? The situation
cannot be simply ignored. Especially from second language acquisition perspective,
future research should go over the traditional approaches and make necessary
changes/additions or at least be aware of the forms that learners produce not only in
the Outer Circle but also in the Expanding Circle, which reflect the sociolinguistic
reality of their English use.
CHAPTER 6
KRASHEN’S MONITOR HYPOTHESES 1
the use of communication; this is the is turn, will help students to ‗acquire‘
process used for developing native the language instead of just ‗learning‘
languages. Learning, on the other hand, is it.
the conscious acceptance of knowledge
‗about‘ a language (i.e. the grammar or
form). Krashen states that this is often the
product of formal language instruction.
The Monitor hypothesis As an SL teacher it will always be a
This hypothesis further explains how challenge to strike a balance between
acquisition and learning are used; the encouraging accuracy and fluency in
acquisition system, initiates an utterance your students. This balance will depend
and the learning system ‗monitors‘ the on numerous variables including the
utterance to inspect and correct errors. language level of the students, the
Krashen states that monitoring can make context of language use and the
some contribution to the accuracy of an personal goals of each student. This
utterance but its use should be limited. He balance is also known as
suggests that the ‗monitor‘ can sometimes Communicative competency.
act as a barrier as it forces the learner to
slow down and focus more on accuracy as
opposed to fluency.
The Natural Order hypothesis According to this hypothesis, teachers
According to Krashen, learners acquire should be aware that certain structures
parts of language in a predictable order. of a language are easier to acquire than
For any given language, certain others and therefore language structures
grammatical structures are acquired early should be taught in an order that is
while others are acquired later in the conducive to learning. Teachers should
process. This hypothesis suggests that this start by introducing language concepts
natural order of acquisition occurs that are relatively easy for learners to
independently of deliberate teaching and acquire and then use scaffolding to
therefore teachers cannot change the order introduce more difficult concepts.
of a grammatical teaching sequence.
The Input hypothesis This hypothesis highlights the
This hypothesis suggests that language importance of using the Target
acquisition occurs when learners receive Language in the classroom. The goal of
messages that they can understand, a any language program is for learners to
concept also known as comprehensible be able to communicate effectively. By
input. However, Krashen also suggests that providing as much comprehensible
this comprehensible input should be one input as possible, especially in
step beyond the learner‘s current language situations when learners are not
ability, represented as i + 1, in order to exposed to the TL outside of the
allow learners to continue to progress with classroom, the teacher is able to create a
their language development. more effective opportunity for language
acquisition.
The Affective Filter hypothesis In any aspect of education it is always
According to Krashen one obstacle that important to create a safe, welcoming
manifests itself during language acquisition environment in which students can
is the affective filter; that is a 'screen' that is learn. In language education this may
influenced by emotional variables that can be especially important since in order to
prevent learning. This hypothetical filter take in and produce language, learners
Handout of Psycholinguistics
does not impact acquisition directly but need to feel that they are able to make
rather prevents input from reaching the mistakes and take risks. This relates to
language acquisition part of the brain. directly to Krashen‘s hypothesis of the
According to Krashen the affective filter affective filter. To learn more about
can be prompted by many different creating a positive classroom
variables including anxiety, self- environment, click here.
confidence, motivation and stress.
The Reading Hypothesis It is important to involve reading in the
This hypothesis basically states that the language classroom to increase
more we read in a SL the greater our knowledge of the language and the way
vocabulary will be. it is used in real-life contexts.
Omaggio, Alice C. 1986. Teaching Language in Context. Boston: Heinle & Heinle
Publishers, Inc, pages 29-30.
Bilash, O. 2012. Improving Second Language Education. Canada: University of
Alberta.
Handout of Psycholinguistics
CHAPTER 7
KRASHEN’S MONITOR HYPOTHESIS 2
In this chapter, I review the evidence for the Comprehension Hypothesis in oral
language and literacy, and discuss the possibility that the Comprehension Hypothesis
provides a plausible explanation for non-human language acquisition. The clearest
data comes from several areas of research in animal language but we will also briefly
consider what some of the possibilities are for other non-human species.
Output Hypotheses
The chief rivals of the Comprehension Hypothesis are two kinds of ―output plus
feedback‖ hypotheses. The Skill-Building Hypothesis maintains that we acquire
language when we consciously learn rules of grammar and vocabulary, and we learn
to read by first consciously learning the rules of phonics. Output helps us by making
our knowledge more ―automatic‖ through practice and by providing a domain for
error correction, which helps us arrive at a better version of our rule. This approach
is also known as ―direct teaching‖ or formal instruction.
The Comprehensible Output Hypothesis maintains that language acquisition
occurs when we say something and our conversational partner does not understand,
forcing us to notice a gap in our competence. We then try again until we arrive at the
correct version of the rule. The evidence reviewed here and elsewhere (references to
follow) strongly supports the Comprehension Hypothesis for both literacy and
language development, and the evidence for both is similar.
Direct Confrontations
We first examine direct confrontations, studies in which comprehension-based
methods are compared with methods based on rival hypotheses.
Experimental Studies
For second language acquisition at beginning stages, comprehensible-input
based methods such as Total Physical Response and Natural Approach have been
shown to be more effective than skill-building based methods (for reviews, see
Krashen, 1982, 1994, 2003). For beginning literacy development in the first
language, students in classes in which more real reading is done outperform those in
classes in which less reading is done (Krashen, 2002a).
The results at the intermediate level are similar. In second language
development, comprehensible subject matter teaching in the second language, known
as ―sheltered‖ subject matter teaching, has been shown to be as or more effective as
traditional intermediate instruction for literate, intermediate level foreign language
students (research reviewed in Krashen, 1991).
In both first and second language development, students who participate in
classes that include in-school self-selected reading programs (known as sustained
silent reading) typically outperform comparison students, especially when the
duration of treatment is longer than an academic year (reviews include Krashen,
2003, 2004, 2005).
print, ―a small but reliable increase of word knowledge‖ typically occurred (Nagy
and Herman 1987, p. 26).
Case histories of great writers confirm that reading alone is enough to develop a
very high level of competence in writing. Richard Wright, for example, tells us that
in an attempt to become a writer, he ―bought English grammars and found them dull.
I felt I was getting a better sense of the language from novels than from grammars‖
(Wright, 1966. p. 275).
Spelling development without instruction has been confirmed for school
children as well as second language acquirers:
Cornman (1902) showed that dropping formal spelling instruction had no effect
on spelling accuracy for school children, whether measured in isolation or in
compositions. (See Krashen and White, 1991, for a confirmation of Cornman‘s
results using modern statistics.) Hammill, Larsen and McNutt (1977) reported that
children who had spelling instruction spelled better than uninstructed students in
grades 3 and 4, but the differences disappeared by grades 4 and 5. This suggests that
spelling instruction, when it works, only succeeds in helping children learn to spell
words that they would have learned to spell on their own anyway.
Haggan (1991) showed that fourth year Arabic-speaking English majors at the
University of Kuwait made fewer spelling errors in their writing than first-year
students, even though little emphasis was put on explicit teaching of spelling in the
curriculum. Spelling competence can also grow without output, or writing: Similar to
results reported for vocabulary acquisition, a number of studies have confirmed that
each time readers read a passage containing words they cannot spell, they make
some progress in acquiring the correct spelling (e.g. Nisbet, 1941). Readers also
show deterioration in their spelling ability when they read misspelled versions of
words they know (Jacoby and Hollingshead, 1990).
Preparing for TOEFL by Reading
Mason (in press) provides an example of acquisition without the presence of
rival approaches that has enormous practical implications. Five adult second
language acquirers in Japan who had studied English as a foreign language in classes
that included free voluntary reading of graded readers agreed to engage in a
recreational reading program to prepare for the TOEFL. Each of the five chose
somewhat different reading material, according to their own interests, with favorite
authors including Sidney Sheldon, Paulo Coelho, Judy Blume, and Bertice Berry. In
addition, several continued to read graded readers.
Subjects read for between one to four months, and took alternate forms of the
TOEFL test before and after doing the reading. The average gain was 3.5 points per
week on the overall test, and improvement was seen on all three components,
listening (2.2 points), grammar (3.6 points), and reading (4.6 points). This gain is
about the same as one sees with a full time TOEFL preparation class given in the
United States and is consistent with Gradman and Hanania‘s results, presented
earlier, showing that reading is an excellent predictor of TOEFL performance.
In addition to the evidence presented just above, in-school free reading studies
confirm the acquisition of reading ability, vocabulary, spelling and grammar without
instruction.
Combination Hypotheses
Two weak forms of the Comprehension Hypothesis have been discussed, or
assumed.
Weak version 1: Comprehension is necessary but not sufficient. Without formal
teaching and/or comprehensible output, the acquirer will not reach
the highest levels of competence. I think the evidence is consistent
Handout of Psycholinguistics
with this version, but only in the sense that supplements can add
competence of a different kind, consciously learned knowledge of
language. As argued above and in previous publications, there are
limits on how much language can be consciously learned and limits
on its application. Nevertheless, consciously learned language can
have value. Consciously learned rules of grammar can be used to
edit output when the conditions for Monitor use are met, which
occurs during the editing stage of the composing process.
Conscious knowledge of a few basic rules of phonics can, at times,
help make texts more comprehensible for beginning readers.
Occasional explanation of an unknown vocabulary word or
grammatical rule can occasionally serve to make input more
comprehensible, whether or not it contributes to the acquisition of
the item.
Weak version 2: Acquisition is slow. Conscious learning and/or output can speed up
the acquisition process. There is no evidence for this view. Direct
comparisons of acquisition-based methods and methods based on
rivals consistently show acquisition-based methods to be better,
that is, faster. Of course, it is possible that some optimal mix of
acquisition and learning will prove to be best, but so far this has
not been the case. Adding output and correction, in fact, has been
shown to make progress less efficient, not more (Mason, 2004).
CHAPTER 8
MOTIVATION AND ITS ROLES
among immigrants. Not all new residents in a country will learn the language of the
host community by any means. If they are members of a sizeable group still speaking
the mother-tongue, they will learn the target language correspondingly less well.
This will be because the mother-tongue will meet many of the needs that require the
use of language. Those who work in the host community will generally learn better
than those who stay in the home. The children will learn best of all because the
language will have the greatest value for them. That there is a whole gamut of other
factors at work is not to be denied. Age, amount of exposure, attitude of individuals
and groups, these and other factors have their part to play. But even with many of
these factors stable, learning will vary from person to person. It seems that it is the
differing needs that people have to communicate in the language that determine the
extent of their learning.
This kind of motivation is inevitably characteristic of language learning
situations but not of language teaching situations. It is in ‗natural‘ learning situations
that the individual is under pressure to acquire the language to control the behavior
of others. Where a foreign language is being learned in the pupil‘s mother-tongue
country, this pressure does not exist and achievement seems correspondingly low. Is
such motivation, then, of no relevance to the teaching of languages? The answer is
that if it really does make for effective language learning, one would like to be able
to make it relevant; but it is hard to see how it can be done within the conventional
language lesson. What such lessons lack is the necessity to express oneself in the
foreign language as a part of normal social intercourse. Artificial social situations
are contrived, but it is the very artificiality that excludes this kind of motivation.
Techniques of teaching alone seem unlikely to create the conditions where such
motivation operates.
The solution may lie in doing away with the language lesson altogether. The
need to use the language may be created by directing the pupils‘ attention not at the
language itself but at something else that is being learned through the language.
Provided the pupils are well motivated to learn science, for example, then the science
could be taught through the medium of the foreign language. The language then
becomes the only means by which the learner can comprehend and express scientific
subject-matter. For this limited range of interaction with the teacher and with other
pupils the learner has to use the foreign language. Because it is necessary to him, he
will learn it. With modern methods of teaching science it should not be difficult to
ensure that the learners were exposed to virtually all the grammatical system,
although the vocabulary would remain somewhat restricted. No doubt it would be
administratively impossible to have foreign languages taught entirely in this way, but
one could envisage both the growth of schools using a foreign language as a medium
of instruction and the application of this approach more widely in situations where
the pupils have to receive their education in a second language. It could be used in
primary schools in Anglophone and francophone African countries, for example, or
with Asian immigrants in Britain.
I may appear to be implying that good motivation is absent from pupils who are
being taught foreign languages in classroom and laboratory. This is not so. Faced
with a class any a teacher will before long come to the conclusion that some pupils
are better motivated than others. There is of course a danger that the concept of
motivation will be a little more than a rationalization resulting from the observation
that some are learning better than others. In the absence of any other obvious
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explanations one may resort to motivation even when there is no evidence other than
success in learning. In fact the notion of motivation has rather more substance than
that.
We recognize that people have different motives for learning and that whereas
one person is ‗well motivated‘ another is ‗poorly motivated‘. One person may be
studying a language ‗because he wants to‘, another ‗because he has to‘. The former
would probably be thought to be better motivated. Motivation has to do with the
reasons for learning and with attitudes – attitudes towards the language, towards the
group that speaks the language as a mother-tongue. And toward bilingualism itself.
In much teaching, not only of languages, we anticipate that pupils‘ personal
motivation is unlikely to be strong, so we set out to motivate them through the
learning process itself. Teaching is planned so that learning becomes an interesting,
even at times an entertaining process. This would be particularly the case in primary
school language learning, where personal reasons for learning hardly exist and
attitudes have not yet had time to form.
IntegrativeMotivation
Some learners have a personal affinity for the people who speak a particular
language. This is the second type of language learning motivation described by
Gardner and Lambert and is called integrative motivation.
Learners who are integratively motivated want to learn the language because
they want to get to know the people who speak that language. They are also
interested in the culture associated with that language. Integratively motivated
learners may have significant others such as a boyfriend or girlfriend or family
members who speak the language, and heritage language learners typically have a
particularly strong integrative motivation for language learning. Several studies have
found that language learners who are integratively motivated are more successful
than those who are instrumentally motivated; it is likely that integratively motivated
language learners are more successful because their motivation is stronger than that
of instrumentally motivated students especially in North America.
Instrumental Motivation
People have many different reasons for studying a foreign language; sometimes
people study a language for practical reasons while other times people have a special
affinity for the particular language and its people. Language teachers are often very
aware of the career advantages that language proficiency can bring, but to many
language learners, studying the language is only an abstract undertaking required for
an academic degree.
Since the seminal work of Gardner and Lambert in 1972, language teachers and
researchers have recognized the important role that motivation plays in language
learning. Gardner and Lambert are responsible for proposing the most commonly
used framework for understanding the different motivations that language learners
typically have. They distinguish two types of language learning motivation:
instrumental motivation and integrative motivation.
Learners with an instrumental motivation want to learn a language because of a
practical reason such as getting a salary bonus or getting into college. Many college
language learners have a clear instrumental motivation for language learning: They
want to fulfill a college language requirement! Integratively motivated learners want
to learn the language so that they can better understand and get to know the people
who speak that language. In the North American context, integrative motivation has
proven to be a strong impetus to successful language learning.
Handout of Psycholinguistics
The new language teachers in this video clip discuss their own and their
students' instrumental motivations for language learning. The motivations described
here range from using the language to study philosophy to imagining a career in beer
production. In addition to having different reasons for language learning, some of the
learners described here are more strongly motivated than others.
CHAPTER 9
MULTIPLE LANGUAGE REPRESENTATION
AND THE BRAIN
―The book was read by the girl,‖ one does not really need syntax to understand the
event that is being described— one only needs to have real-world knowledge that
girls read books but books cannot read girls. However, if instead, you had a sentence
like ―The boy was kissed by the girl,‖ realworld knowledge alone doesn‘t help—
boys can both kiss and be kissed, and the same is true of girls. So, who kissed
whom? The syntactic structure and corresponding rules of English tell us that it was
the girl who did the kissing because this sentence is a passive—indicated by the
word ―was‖ and the ―ed‖ on the verb, as well as the prepositional phrase introduced
with ―by,‖ which gives the agent of the kissing action. However, in active sentences
like ―The girl kissed the boy‖ the subject of the sentence is the one who is the agent.
B. Multiple Languages
Since we are still not in complete agreement about how a single language might
be represented in the brain, it might seem like jumping the gun a bit to start worrying
about how two languages work, let alone three or more. However, bilingualism is the
norm world wide, with at least 50% of the world‘s population speaking two or more
languages (some estimates go as high as 70%) and so it makes sense to see how
multiple languages are represented. Not only are we then studying the usual state of
affairs, but information from bilingual representations can inform monolingual
(single-language) representations as well.
Perhaps the biggest question in multiple language representations is how the
languages interact and overlap in terms of representation and to what extent they are
held distinct. That is the question that we‘ll look at in the rest of this chapter. First,
however, we need to address a few terminological and methodological issues. First,
and most pressing, what is a bilingual? If suddenly teleported into the middle of
France, I could probably manage to get by with my increasingly rusty knowledge of
French. I can read a French newspaper (with a certain amount of guesswork or a
dictionary), and I can understand parents speaking in French to their young children
pretty easily. Does that make me bilingual?
According to some definitions, it would. I am, without question, a second
language learner of French because I did not begin to learn the language until I was
14. But, what if I had started when I was 7? Clearly, we need to acknowledge that
there are different types of bilingualism. A native bilingual is someone who began
learning more than one language from a very early age. A related idea to this is being
a simultaneous bilingual, which is someone who learns a second (or third or fourth)
language without first having mastered a first. A simultaneous bilingual is also a
native bilingual, but the precise age for ―native‖ status is a little more tricky, and so
simultaneous is perhaps the better term because it is more precise. A sequential
bilingual is someone who learns a second (or third, or fourth) language after
achieving relative mastery of a first language. So, even someone who begins to learn
a language at the age of 7 is a sequential bilingual because they will by that time
already have a first language that they have mastered. Another issue for studying
bilingualism is acknowledging that it is extremely rare that a bilingual speaker would
have equal strength in all areas of all their languages at the same time.
For example, even if a bilingual speaker uses both languages equally on a daily
basis (which is, itself, somewhat unusual), they are likely to have certain topics or
uses of language that are language-specific. So, relative vocabulary strengths can
differ between languages quite easily: if you only use one language to talk about
your work in, then this language has an advantage over your other languages in this
topic. Many bilingual speakers do not live in a balanced language environment: one
language will be used relatively more than the other, and in this case, the less used
Handout of Psycholinguistics
the activated areas were also more broadly distributed and two of the (right-handed)
participants showed activation in the right hemisphere only. So, although, this
showed that there is, in fact, a certain amount of variability between speakers even in
their first language, the areas activated for the first language were more consistent
and focal compared with the more widely distributed and more variable second
language areas.
Another study (Perani et al., 1998) showed that proficiency may be more
important than age of acquisition in determining how multiple languages are
represented in the brain. The researchers found no difference in patterns of activation
(now looking again at averages rather than individual participants) between the L1
and L2 of participants when those participants were equally proficient but had begun
acquiring the L2 early or late. However, speakers who had begun acquiring their L2
at the same time, but had achieved different levels of proficiency, did show
differences in the patterns of activation. These studies, and other similar ones, show
us several important things. First, it appears there is individual variation in precisely
which parts of the brain become active during the same language stimuli. Next,
second languages are not necessarily represented in the same areas as first languages,
but they appear to become increasingly overlapping with first languages as people
become more proficient. While earlier ages of acquisition are associated with
increased proficiency, it may be proficiency itself rather than age of acquisition per
se that influences the representation of language in the brain.
CHAPTER 10
PARSING STRATEGIES:
HOW WE PROCESS THE LANGUAGE
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CHAPTER 11
PARSING STRATEGIES:
IMMEDIATE PROCESSING OF SENTENCES
This sentence is syntactically ambiguous. It might mean that John bought the
flower to give to Susan or that John bought a flower as a favor for Susan, who
intended to give it to another person. This ambiguity is encountered when we hear
the word for. Suppose further that we kept in mind both meanings of the sentence.
But then flower has more than one interpretation also. It could mean flower or flour
(remember the sentence was heard). Suppose we take a wait-and-see approach and
wait for a major advantage in such an approach. If we retained two or more
interpretation of each of the several choice points, we would rapidly overwhelm our
working memory (see Singer, 1990).
Although immediacy of processing reduces memory load, it may lead to errors
in parsing. For example, consider sentence fragments (2):
Where might this sentence be going? At this point it looks like a simple declarative
sentence, but suppose it continues as indicated in (3):
(4) The florist who was sent the flowers was very pleased.
Another reason is that declarative sentences are more familiar than relative
clauses, so we are more likely to ―place our bets‖ on that outcome. If we took a wait-
and-see approach, we would not be surprised by the continuation in (3). But we are
surprised, so it appears that we immediately interpret the fragment in (2).
If we are making decisions about where words fit into the syntactic structure of a
sentence, on what are these decisions based? Much work has been done on the
strategies we use in parsing. Strategies are thought of as approaches to parsing that
work much of the time, although they are hardly foolproof. We will discuss two
strategies that have gathered considerable empirical support.
(5) Tom said that Bill had taken the cleaning out yesterday.
Here the adverb yesterday may be attached to the main clause (Tom said …) or
the subsequent subordinate clause (Bill had taken …) Frazier and Fodor (1978) argue
that we tend to prefer the latter strategy. Another example is (6), in which the
prepositional phrase in the library could modify either the verb put or the verb
reading. We tend to prefer attaching the prepositional phrase to the latter verb
(Frazier and Fodor, 1978).
(6) Jessie put the book Kathy was reading in the library …
Further evidence for the late closure strategy comes from Frazier and Rayner
(1983), who examined eye fixations of subjects of subject reading structurally
ambiguous sentences, such as (7):
(7) Since Jay always jogs a mile seems like a very short distance to him.
The ambiguity in this sentence is a little artificial because it lacks a comma after
jogs. Nonetheless, the participant‘s eye fixations were interesting. Frazier and
Rayner found that fixation times on the last few words were longer than on the
earlier ones, implying that readers had misinterpreted the term a mile and had to
make some later adjustments.
Sentences such as (7) are garden path sentences. In a garden path sentence, we
interpret a sentence in a particular way only to find out near the end that we
misinterpreted it. The subjective impression is that of being led down a garden path
Handout of Psycholinguistics
until discovering at the end that we took the wrong path and have to retrace our
efforts. The garden path experience lends further support to the immediacy principle,
for if we did not commit ourselves to an immediate interpretation, we would not
have found ourselves in this predicament.
Frazier and Rayner‘s (1982) study cited earlier also found evidence for minimal
attachment strategy. For example, consider sentences (9) and (10).
CHAPTER 12
CONTRIBUTION OF PSYCHOLINGUISTICS IN
LANGUAGE TEACHING
1. Metode Alamiah
Metode ini dikembangkan oleh Tracy D. Terell (1976), seorang ahli bahasa
dari Universitas California. Prinsipprinsip PsikoLinguistik pembelajaran bahasa
menurut metode ini adalah:
1. Penguasaan bahasa lebih banyak bertumpu pada kemampuanan bahasa dalam
konteks yang alamiah dan kurang pada pembelajaran aturan-aturan gramatik
yang secara sadar dilakukan satu per satu.
2. Pembelajaran bahasa merupakan upaya mengembangkan kompetensi komunikatif,
yaitu kemampuan untuk memahami tuturan penutur asli dan apabila berbicara
dapat dimengerti oleh penutur asli tanpa kesalahan yang dapat mengganggu arti
yang dimaksud.
3. Mengutamakan komprehensi sebelum produksi.
4. Model teoretis yang mendasari metode alamiah adalah lima hipotesis monitor
yang dikemukakan oleh Krashen.
Teori monitor terdiri atas lima hipotesis utama, yaitu (1) hipotesis
kemampuanan-pembelajaran, (2) hipotesis urutan alamiah, (3) hipotesis monitor, (4)
hipotesis masukan, dan (5) hipotesis saringan afektif. Model monitor membedakan
antara kemampuanan dan pembelajaran bahasa. Kemampuanan mengacu pada
kemampuan Linguistik yang telah diinternalisasikan secara alamiah, yaitu tanpa
kesadaran dan memusatkan pada bentuk-bentuk linguistik. Pembelajaran dilakukan
dengan sadar dan merupakan hasil situasi belajar formal. Menurut hipotesis ini, anak
kecil hanya melakukan kemampuanan dalam usaha menguasai bahasa pertamanya.
Akan tetapi, orang dewasa melakukan dua cara dalam pengembangan kompetensi
L2-nya. Cara pertama adalah kemampuanan yang dilakukannya sebagaimana anak
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semua, fitur gramatik dalam bahasa dapat disajikan dalam kalimat imperatif.‖
Implikasinya hampir semua bahan pelajaran disajikan dalam kalimat perintah.
Contoh teknik pembelajaran metode ini dapat dicermati dari teknik yang telah
dilakukan Asher. Untuk mengajarkan kata abstrak pemerintahan, keadilan, dan gaji
dibuatlah kartu kecil (flash card). Kosakata abstrak tersebut ditulis pada kartu
dengan huruf yang sesuai, kemudian di balik kartu diberi arti katanya dalam bentuk
terjemahan. Cara pengajarannya ialah dengan meminta pembelajar memberikan
kartu tersebut pada kawannya.
―Billa, berikan pemerintahan kepada Heru! Heru, terima dan letakkan
pemerintahan di kepalamu dan berikan gaji padaku! Anas, tempatkan keadilan di
atas buku merah itu, kemudian ambillah gaji dariku dan berikan pada Rasyida!‖
3. Metode Sugestopedia
Dikembangkan pertama oleh Georgi Lazanov (1975), dokter dan psikiatris di
Bulgaria. Metode ini didasari oleh beberapa prinsip PsikoLinguistik berikut.
1. Manusia bisa diarahkan untuk melakukan sesuatu dengan diberikan sugesti.
Dalam proses pemberian sugesti ini, pikiran harus tenang, santai, dan terbuka
sehingga bahanbahan yang merangsang saraf penerimaan bisa dengan mudah
diterima dan dipertahankan untuk jangka waktu yang lama.
2. Pada saat pelajaran akan dimulai, siswa dipersilakan yoga terlebih dahulu untuk
menghimpun kemampuan hipermnestik (hypermnestic abiities), yakni
kemampuan supermemory yang luar biasa.
3. Ruang diatur agar memberikan atmosfer belajar yang baik: kursi enak diduduki,
mudah diatur supaya santai, lampu agak redup, serta diiringi musik yang sesuai
dengan jiwa dan bahan yang diberikan.
4. Menolak program laboratorium serta tidak percaya pada latihan-latihan
struktural yang ketat. Latihan dalam bentuk penubian (drill) yang mekanistik
tidak akan mendatangkan hasil yang baik.
5. Umumnya pelajaran disampaikan dalam bentuk dialog yang sangat panjang.
Dialog itu memiliki ciri (a) penekanan pada kosakata dan isi, (b) dasar
pembuatan dialog adalah peristiwa hidup yang riel, (c) harus secara emosional
relevan, (d) memiliki kegunaan praktis, dan (e) kata-kata baru digarisbawahi dan
diberi transkripsi fonetis pelafalannya.
Sehubungan prinsip santai yang diyakini dapat memberikan kekuatan memori
yang luar biasa, di samping itu, suasana kelas, penguatan reinforcement—yang
dalam metode ini dinamai seance—mendapatkan perhatian khusus. Tiap pertemuan,
alokasi waktu dibagi menjadi tiga bagian. Bagian pertama dipakai untuk mengulang
materi sebelumnya.
Pengulangan materi ini dilakukan dalam bentuk percakapan, permainan, sketsa,
dan bermain peran (action) Jika siswa membuat kesalahan, pembetulan dilakukan
dengan cara hatihati agar siswa lebih terdorong ke segi yang positif. Praktik
pelafalan bunyi dan penyebutan nama yang sulit dilakukan pada bagian ini.
Pada bagian kedua, bahan baru diberikan dalam bentuk dialog sebagaimana cara
tradisional. Materi dialog dibuat menarik, relevan, riel, dan dipergunakan sesuai
dengan isinya. Bagian ketiga merupakan ciri khas metode sugestopedia ini, yaitu
pemberian seance. Pada bagian ini pembelajar menyantaikan diri dengan duduk yang
dinamakan savasana. Kegiatan ini terdiri atas dua macam, aktif dan pasif, selama
satu jam. Dalam kegiatan aktif, pembelajar melakukan kontrol terhadap
pernafasannya dengan ritme: 2 detik pertama tarik nafas, 4 detik kemudian untuk
tahan nafas, serta 2 detik terakhir untuk istirahat. Proses ini diulang sekitar 25 menit.
Pada 2 detik pertama, pengajar menyampaikan bahan dalam bentuk L1 agar
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CHAPTER 13
CONTRIBUTION OF PSYCHOLINGUISTICS
IN LANGUAGE SKILLS
saya salah.‖ Dalam kalimat yang kedua, terdapat pernyataan bahwa Adalah John
yang memukul Bill tidak benar. Lalu apa yang ingin dibatalkan? Apakah John
melakukan sesuatu, tetapi bukan memukul Bill? Apakah John memukul seseorang,
tetapi bukan Bill? Apakah sesuatu terjadi, tetapi bukan pemukulan Bill oleh John?
Dalam pernyataan itu penutur ingin menyatakan given information bahwa X
memukul Bill adalah benar dan membatalkankan new information bahwa X adalah
John.
Bentuk-bentuk penyangkalan beserta penafsirannya sepeti itu tepat diajarkan
kepada pembelajar bahasa Indonesia sesuai dengan kurikulum 1994. Hal ini sesuai
dengan pendekatan komunikatif yang digunakannya, pembelajar harus diajak untuk
memahami dan menggunakan kalimat-kalimat dalam latar komunikasi yang
sesungguhnya.
Dalam peristiwa komunikasi seperti itu, tentu tidak disangkal lagi penggunaan
kalimat-kalimat yang beberapa di antaranya adalah kalimat penyangkalan.Oleh
karena itu, guru perlu menjelaskan pembentukannya, pemahamannya, serta
penggunaannya dengan teori penyangkalan.
d) Teori Ambiguitas
Pada dasarnya terdapat dua teori ambiguitas, yaitu teori garden path dan teori
many meanings (Sumadi, 1994)
1. Teori garden path menyatakan bahwa manusia tidak menganggap suatu
kalimat sebagai ambigu karena hanya ada satu penafsiran terhadapnya.
Sedangkan teori meanings menyatakan bahwa pendengar membuat dua atau
lebih tafsiran yang berbeda untuk setiap kalimat ambigu dan segera
memutuskannya mana yang benar berdasarkan konteks. Di samping itu, ada
teori no meaning yang menyatakan bahwa pendengar mula-mula tidak
memberikan tafsiran apa-apa terhadap kalimat, tetapi menunggu sampai
konteks menentukan sendiri tafsiran makna yang tepat.
2. Kedua teori tersebut, yaitu teori garden path dan teori many meanings
selanjutnya bergabung menjadi teori mixed. Teori ini menyatakan (1) ketika
pendengar menjumpai konstruksi yang ambigu, mereka memberikan
penafsiran ganda. (2) dengan bantuan konteks, mereka memilih tafsiran yang
paling tepat, (3) kalau keambiguan belum juga terpecahkan, mereka memilih
untuk berpedoman pada satu tafsiran saja, dan (4) jika konteks yang lebih
luas menolak tafsiran yang telah dipilih, mereka melihat kembali struktur
lahirnya dan memberikan tafsiran baru. yang lebih sesuai.
Dalam penggunaan bahasa sering dijumpai penggunaan kalimat-kalimat yang
ambigu. Dengan demikian, pengajaran bahasa Indonesia yang berpedoman pada
kurikulum 1994 yang menggunakan pendekatan komunikatif juga harus mengangkat
bahan ajar yang berapa di antaranya berupa kalimat-kalimat yang ambigu.
Selanjutnya, guru berusaha untuk mengajak pembelajar memahami dan berlatih
membuat kalimat-kalimat ambigu. tersebut agar pada saat diperlukan pembelajar
sudah terbiasa menggunakannya. Dikatakan pada saat diperlukan, karena memang
kalimat-kalimat ambigu itu pada saat tertentu harus digunakan. Kalimat ambigu
tidak harus dihindari. Misalnya, pada saat memimpin rapat dan pada rapat tersebut
muncul pendapat-pendapat yang sulit dipertemukan, seorang pemimpin rapat akan
lebih baik menggunakan kalimat ambigu. ―Pendapat Saudara kami pertimbangkan‖.
Apakah pendapat tersebut akan digunakan? Belum tentu. Karena pembelajar bahasa
Indonesia nanti akan terjun ke masyarakat dan kemungkinan juga akan menghadapi
situasi seperti itu, maka pengajaran bahasa Indonesia yang baik juga harus
memberikan sejumlah bekal, termasuk penguasaan kalimat-kalimat ambigu. tersebut.
Bagaimana guru mengajarkannya, bisa menggunakan teori yang disebutkan di atas.
Handout of Psycholinguistics
CHAPTER 14
SPEECH AND LANGUAGE DISORDER
dengan sistem syaraf atau otot, otak, atau mekanisme bicara itu sendiri. Pengaruh
dari agen yang mempengaruhi embrio atau janin, termasuk sinar X, virus, obat-
obatan, dan racun lingkungan dapat juga menyebabkan kelainan yang dibawa sejak
lahir. Dalam enam minggu pertama sampai duabelas minggu kehidupan janin,
banyak organ tubuh sedang dibentuk. Apabila ada agen yang merusak satu organ,
maka dapat berpengaruh terhadap berbagai sistem perkembangan secara terus
menerus. Contoh untuk agen seperti itu adalah rubella (German measles). Ketika
terjadi kontraksi selama tiga bulan pertama dari kehamilan, agen yang
mempengaruhi janin ini dapat menyebabkan masalah congenital yang majemuk
seperti kelainan jantung, katarak, ketunagrahitaan, microchepalus, kecebolan,
ketunarunguan, dan berbagai patologi bicara dan bahasa secara bersamaan
(Northern, 1996).
Masalah komunikasi yang diakibatkan oleh penyakit atau akibat kecelakaan
setelah lahir adalah kelainan yang diperoleh. Kecelakaan yang mengakibatkan luka
otak sebagai akibat dari kecelakaan ketika mengendarai sepeda motor merupakan
contoh dari kelainan yang diperoleh yang sering mempunyai implikasi negatif
terhadap kemampuan bicara dan bahasa. Meningitis, suatu penyakit yang
mengakibatkan adanya iritasi pada lapisan otak, biasanya secara umum berhubungan
dengan kelainan pediatrik. Komplikasi dari meningitis ini dapat mengakibatkan
ketunarunguan dan disertai dengan kurangnya komunikasi. Masalah bicara dan
bahasa yang diakibatkan karena sakit juga termasuk kelainan komunikasi yang
diperoleh.
Artikulasi, kualitas suara, dan kefasihan dapat dipengaruhi oleh adanya
abnormalitas dalam pernafasan (aliran udara ke luar dan ke dalam paru-paru),
phonation (suara yang dihasilkan oleh larynx), dan resonansi suara (getaran di dalam
sistem vokal). Kelainan seperti ini sangat bervariasi dalam tingkatannya, dan dapat
terjadi secara tersendiri, bersama-sama dengan yang lain, atau hubungannya dengan
patologis bahasa lainnya. Neurofisiologi yang normal seperti adanya selaput dan otot
yang baik untuk pernafasan dan pengucapan, adalah sangat penting untuk
keterampilan bicara agar berkembang dengan baik. Adanya kelainan klinis berupa
adanya hambatan struktural dalam pengucapan termasuk di dalamnya bibir, gigi,
gerakan lidah yang terbatas, cleft Up, dan/atau cleft palate merupakan sejumlah
sindrom yang sering menandai malformasi depan kepala. Ketunarunguan,
ketunagrahitaan, kesulitan belajar, dan ketunalarasan juga secara umum sering
dihubungkan dengan kelainan komunikasi dan mempunyai implikasi terhadap
perkembangan bahasa dan bicara.
kurang, atau masalah produksi seperti kelainan artikulasi dia termasuk mempunyai
kelainan bahasa ekspresif.
Anak-anak dengan kelainan bahasa sering menghadapi masalah baik dalam
bidang akademik maupun dunia yang lebih luas lagi. Beberapa karakteritsik yang
mungkin anda temukan pada anak dengan kelainan bahasa ekspresif dan reseptif
dapat dilihat pada tabel berikut.
Yang dapat diamati pada anak-anak
dengan kelainan Bahasa ekspresif dan reseptif
No Masalah Bahasa Ekspresif Masalah Bahasa Reseptif
1 Mempergunakan tatabahasa dengan Mempergunakan tatabahasa dengan
tidak tepat (―saya pergi tidak ke tidak tepat (―saya pergi tidak ke
sekolah‖). sekolah‖).
2 Kurangnya kemampuan Kurangnya kemampuan
menggambarkan sesuatu secara menggambarkan sesuatu secara
khusus (―ada sesuatu disana yang khusus (―ada sesuatu disana yang
tempatnya disana‖). tempatnya disana‖).
3 Sering malu (―anda tahu, eh, saya, Sering malu (―anda tahu, eh, saya,
eh, ingin, eh, se, eh...., segelas, eh...., eh, ingin, eh, se, eh...., segelas, eh....,
air‖) air‖)
4 Melompat dari satu topik ke topik Melompat dari satu topik ke topik
yang lainnya (―bagaimana cuaca hari yang lainnya (―bagaimana cuaca hari
ini? Baiklah, saya akan makan dulu ini? Baiklah, saya akan makan dulu
sudah lapar sekali....‖) sudah lapar sekali....‖)
5 Mempunyai keterbatasan Mempunyai keterbatasan
perbendaharaan kata. perbendaharaan kata.
6 Mempunyai kesulitan Mempunyai kesulitan
mempergunakan kata untuk mempergunakan kata untuk
mengomunikasikan sesuatu. mengomunikasikan sesuatu.
7 Mempergunakan bahasa sosial Mempergunakan bahasa sosial
dengan jelek (tidak mampu merubah dengan jelek (tidak mampu merubah
bentuk komunikasi yang sesuai bentuk komunikasi yang sesuai
dengan situasi tertentu). dengan situasi tertentu).
8 Takut bertanya, tidak tahu Takut bertanya, tidak tahu
pertanyaan apa yang akan diajukan, pertanyaan apa yang akan diajukan,
atau tidak tahu bagaimana bertanya atau tidak tahu bagaimana bertanya
suatu pertanyaan suatu pertanyaan
9 Mengulang informasi yang sama Mengulang informasi yang sama
dalam komunikasi secara terus dalam komunikasi secara terus
menerus menerus
10 Mempunyai kesulitan dalam Mempunyai kesulitan dalam
mendiskusikankonsep-konsep mendiskusikankonsep-konsep
abstrak, waktu, dan ruang. abstrak, waktu, dan ruang.
11 Sering tidak cukup memberikan Sering tidak cukup memberikan
informasikepada lawan bicaranya informasikepada lawan bicaranya
(―kami mempunyai masalah yang (―kami mempunyai masalah yang
besar dengan mereka‖ dengantidak besar dengan mereka‖ dengantidak
menjelaskan siapa yang dimaksud menjelaskan siapa yang dimaksud
kami dan mereka tersebut. kami dan mereka tersebut.
Handout of Psycholinguistics