Psycholinguistics Aspects of Second Language Acquisition

This paper is written due to following Second Language Acquisition course

Lecturers: Dr. Fahriany, M.Pd. and Dr. Ratna Sari Dewi, M.Pd

Written by:
1. Andi Aspian Nur A 21200140000001
2. Nurmilah Fitria Atasyah 21200140000009
3. Reza Anis Maulidya 21200140000011
4. Zwyna Rafika 21200140000014

MAGISTER OF ENGLISH EDUCATION

FACULTY OF TEACHING SCIENCE
STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH
JAKARTA
2020

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 Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................1
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Knowledge...........................................................................2
CHAPTER II. DISCUSSIONS
A. Inner Language...................................................................................................3
B. Theories in Second Language Acquisition.........................................................4
C. Psycholinguistics and Language Acquisition.....................................................5
D. Basic Cognitive Mechanism...............................................................................7
E. Pedagogical Implication.....................................................................................9
CHAPTER III. CONCLUSIONS
A. Conclusions..........................................................................................................11

Work Cited................................................................................................................12

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 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of Knowledge
Language is one of the essential pillars of everyone's life. Each of them is, of course,
inseparable from language. First, a child gets a voice directly from the father or mother when
the child is born into this world. Then as time goes by and as the child grows, they will
acquire a language other than the language taught by their mother, either in the form of a
second, third, foreign language or so on, which is called language acquisition, which depends
on the social environment and cognitive level owned by the child through a learning process
in their environment. Acquisition of Language is unique, even more deeply, the process of
acquiring the first language that is owned by a child without any learning specifically
regarding the language to them. Like infants, only will respond to the utterances they often
hear from the surrounding environment, especially the utterance of his mother, which the
child hears very often. Alternatively, someone who is always together with him. The
discussion about language acquisition is closely related to how humans can perceive and
understand what other people say. Humans can only produce utterances if they understand the
rules to be followed, which they have acquired since childhood (Natsir, 2017).
This paper devided into three chapters, the first chapter is background of knowledge
that leads to psycholinguistics discussions, the second chapter will discuss about
psycholinguistic aspects concerning second language acquisition, and reflect the journal
article entitled “ Psycholinguistics Approaches to SLA” written by Segalowitz and
Lightbown in 1991 to discussing second language acquisition and its implications for the
pedagogic processes particularly in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), including
Inner Language and Basic Cognitive Mechanism. And the last chapter is conclusion which
stating a brief explanation of the paper.

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 CHAPTER II
DISCUSSIONS
A. Inner Language
According to Merriam Webster, Innate is existing, belonging to, or determined by
factors present in an individual from birth: NATIVE, INBORN. Based on the previous
explanation, it can be seen that innate is something that already there even in the first breath.
It looks like the file was already transferred from the primary device to the newborn device,
so the device is not empty and ready to use.
A language is a form, not a substance. 1 While Chaer mentions, the characteristics that
constitute the essence of language as a symbol of the sound system are arbitrary, productive,
dynamic, diverse, and humane.2  Language as a system means that formed by several
components that are fixed and can be patterned. As a system, in addition to the systematic
language are also systemic. Systematic meaning, language arranged according to a specific
pattern, not set randomly or arbitrarily. While systematic means that language is a single
system, it consists of several subsystems that differ from other languages. The language
subsystem consists of phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicon. Therefore the language is
also commonly considered unique but universal at the same time. Unique means having the
characteristics or properties not possessed by other languages, while universal means having
the same traits in all languages.
Innate Language is a condition where a language is produced naturally without any
exposure or learning process. The language belongs to and is a part of a human being because
the capability in a language is inherited by their parents and only needs hearing triggered to
activate it. Chomsky strengthens by releasing the statement that language representation is
coded in our genes and is already located in every peoples’ minds inborn.3 Moreover,
language is a fundamental aspect of human and contains linguistic information at birth
triggered by hearing speech. 
Example of communication:
Dad: Ok, buddy, it's bath time. Let’s start with the soap. Is this a manly soap?  
Baby: (6 months), begins to laugh at his daddy.
Dad: Yeah, it is a manly baby soap for a cool dude.  
Baby: Makes whooping sounds

1
Chaer, Abdul and Agustina, Leoni. 1995. Sociolinguistic Perkenalan Awal. Jakarta: Rineka Cipta. P.60
2
Op., Cit. P. 14
3
Chomsky, Noam. 1975. Reflection on Language. New York: Pantheon Books (Random House) p. 8

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Dad: Let us take this soap and wash your tummy. Where is your belly?

B. Theories in Second Language Acquisition

1. Universalist 
Second Language Acquisition defined linguistic universal from two perspectives: a)
The data-driven perspective looks at surface features of a wide range of languages to find out
how languages vary and what principles underlie this variation. The data-driven approach
considers system external factors or input as the basis. b) The theory-driven perspective looks
at an in-depth analysis of language properties to determine highly abstract grammar
principles. System internal factors are those found in cognitive and linguistic processes.
2. Behaviorist
It is defined that the development of the children's language through incremental
additions. So, it is as if the language processing is a linear or straight line. Increasingly day by
day until finally complete like adult language. Second Language Acquisition dominated both
psychology and linguistics in the 1950s. This theory suggests that external stimuli (extrinsic)
can elicit an internal response, which can elicit an internal stimulus (intrinsic) that leads to
external responses.
a. S-R-R theorists have described the learning process as a process forming stimulus-
response-reward chains. These chains come about because of the nature of the
environment and the nature of the learner.
b. The environment provides the stimuli, and the learner responds. Comprehension or
production of certain aspects of language and the environment provide the reward.
c. The environment plays a significant role in the learners’ abilities since it provides the
stimuli that can shape responses, selectively rewarding some responses and not others.
d. When the learner learns a language, this learning includes a set of stimulus-response-
reward (S-R-R) chains.
e. Imitation provides the learner with a repertoire of appropriate, productive responses. The
learner learns to imitate or approximate the productive responses provided by the
environment.
3. Nativist
McNeill (1966) described the LAD as consisting of four innate linguistic properties4:
a. The ability to distinguish speech sounds from other sounds in the environment;

4
McNeill, D. 1966. Developmental psycholinguistics. In F. Smith and G. A. Miller (Eds.), The Genesis of Language: A
Psycholinguistic Approach. Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.T. Press. P.164

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b. The ability to organize linguistic events into various classes that can be refined later;
c. The knowledge that only a certain kind of linguistic system is possible and that other kinds
are not; and
d. The ability to engage in constant evaluation of the developing linguistic system to
construct the most straightforward possible system out of the encountered linguistic data.
Nativists have contributed to the discoveries of how the system of child language
works. Theorists such as Chomsky, McNeill, and others helped us understand that a child’s
language, at any given point, is a legitimate system in its own right.
4. Cognitivist
This theory views human beings as having the innate capacity to develop logical
thinking. Jean Piaget’s work influenced this school of thought, where he suggests that logical
thinking is the underlying factor for both linguistic and non-linguistic development.
a. The association process has been used to describe how the child learns to relate what is
said to particular objects or events in the environment. The bridge by which specific
associations are made is meaning. The extent and accuracy of the associations made are said
to change in time as the child matures.
b. Cognitivism says that the conditions for learning a language are the same conditions
necessary for any learning. The environment provides the material that the child can work on.
c. Cognitivism views the role of feedback in the learning process as necessary for affective
reasons but non-influential in modifying or altering the development sequence.
5. Social Interactionist
This theory supports the view that language development comes from the early
interactions between infants and caregivers.
Social integrationists stress:
a. The importance of a child’s interactions with parents and other caregivers;
b. The importance of “motherese”;
c. Contributions of context and world knowledge; and
d. The importance of goals
C. Psycholinguistics and Language Acquisition
Psycholinguistics is a study of language use and language acquisition by humans.
Psycholinguistics also discusses about the cognitive processes (when a person uses
vocabulary when someone speaks and listens), and also the use of the right words in a
sentence so that the sentence is correct and does not have multiple meanings. Through
Psychological science people learn about the attitudes and behavior of students in acquiring
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and understanding language, while through linguistics, about the concepts and structures of
language. Furthermore, the questions arises in this discussion is about how students
understand the knowledge of language structures in the learning process are.
In the emergence of a grammatical form of structure, we can capture the logical
problem in language acquisition. According to Hyams & Orfitelly, this analytical problem is
called a logical problem of language acquisition (LPLA), both of which refer to Chomsky's
opinion regarding the theory of Universal Grammar (UG). UG is referred to as a linguistic
theory that provides postulates of grammatical principles similar in all languages. Hyams
(2015), stated that “language learners eventually develop a complex and abstract system. Of
course, the plan concerns the grammatical rules of the language”. The logical structure
problems of second language acquisition do not occur in a short time. Because of the
language acquisition mechanism and the emergence of errors can be a parameter in the study
of the construction of learners to build grammatical mental by the target language.
Besides that, the characteristics to understand psycholinguistics in Second language
acquisition acknowledged as follow:
a. language knowledge, language usage, and language changes. Change and development of
language nationally (ethnic languages) and internationally (racial languages) are difficult to
avoid. This occurs due to cultural acculturation, preceded by the movement of one language
speaker to another speaker's environment, which caused changes to new dialects, new words,
and even frequent syntactic arrangement changes.
b. The relationship of language to the brain. The brain has a vital role as a factor in language.
The factors that influence a person's language acquisition are not only in the environment,
culture, and so on, but also lies in how healthy the brain is when it is born. Genetic factors
can also affect a person's language skills.
c. The process of encoding and decoding Encoding is the process of turning thoughts into
communication. Meanwhile, decoding is the process of turning communication into thoughts.
d. Language acquisition and linguistic behavior. Individuals who have linguistic behavioral
intelligence usually have the characteristics of learning through reading and writing. As for
improvement, they use the discussion method or listen to other people's conversations and
explanations. And another example: People will follow the voice, accent, style of language
and reading and writing of other people. Especially if they want to become a particular
profession that requires linguistic behavioral intelligence.
e. Children language development. It usually started from responding sounds, producing
sounds, expressions, and then word, sentences and more.
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 Furthermore, psycholinguistics also involves these topics in the relation to the
concerns: (1) competence (language process in communication and thought) (2) acquisition
(language acquisition) (3) performance (language behavior patterns) (4) verbal association
and meaning problems (5) language process in abnormal people (6) speech perception and
cognition (7) language learning.

D. BASIC COGNITIVE MECANISM

Knowing, using, and learning a language is a form that is often called cognition.
Ideally, theory cognition accounts for representation, processing, and acquisition. The linguist
in generative school and connectionists provide very different explanations for these three
dimensions of cognition. They hence have different views on the investment of speaking,
listening, reading, and writing skills in a second language. Recent developments in cognitive
science have also produced new implicit and explicit definitions of learning, in contrast to the
notion of Krashen's acquisition and knowledge that has influenced second language pedagogy
(Jan, 2007)
Psycholinguistic approach views learning as a cognitive individual process happening
within the individual and then moves to the social dimension using the cognitive skills
(Purba, 2018). Cognitive Skills are the core skills our brain uses to think, read, learn,
remember, reason, solve problem and pay attention. Working together, they take incoming
information and move it into the bank of knowledge we use every day at school, at work, and
in life

1. Attention
Attention can be defined as a conscious or unconscious process of thinking.
Unconscious means automatic; for instance, eyes are usually attracted to colorful things that
are cognitively attractive. Automatic attention, done without intending to pay attention to the
object. Meanwhile, conscious processes are usually controlled by awareness, requiring
awareness to direct attention in a focused manner, and this kind of attention takes longer to
do because it is done in stages.
In the study of second language acquisition, according to Neuman (1996), the most
discussed topic is attention, since attention is an inseparable aspect of psycholinguistics. In
his hypothesis, Schmidt (1998) suggests that almost every aspect of SLA involves an
essential role in terms of attention. Of particular concern is whether there is such a thing as
"implicit learning" or whether all learning requires explicit attention, and whether attention -

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if necessary for learning - is sufficient. These topics are at the center of lively discussion
among SLA researchers, partly because they impact proposed solutions to problems that arise
due to the terms' attention.
The pedagogic implications also have been clear to explain concerning attention and
learning in SLA. Researchers have attempted 'The Competition Model', based on the premise
that learning takes place without attention, namely automatic learning (does not consume
attention capacity), implicit learning (does not require intention), and repeated exposure to
sufficient input for learning to take place (Segalowitz & Patsky, 1999).
Schmidt (1998) added that attention is essential for learning. He does acknowledge
that a person can register information without focal attention or awareness. This has been
demonstrated, for example, in priming studies where a briefly presented initial stimulus word
(the prime) can influence responses to the subsequent target word even though there is no
conscious awareness of the prime. From Schmidt's point, however, is that, while such
registration of information can take place without attention, the effects do not last long and do
not affect longer term learning. He calls his position a strong version of the Noticing
Hypothesis because he holds that while there may be subliminal perception there is no
subliminal learning.
2. Memory
It is defined as a mental function that captures information from a stimulus from a
storage system. It also means mental processes which include encoding, saving, and recall, all
of which are centered in the brain (Segalowitz and Lightbown, 1991).
Most psychological research on memory and SLA has focused on how concepts and
words are mapped onto each other in the bilingual mind. Researchers have asked whether the
lexical stores of the bilingual's two languages are functionally independent or integrated, and
how the particular languages involved and the conditions under which they were acquired
affect the way words and their meanings are represented.
3. Fluency
Fluency refers to performance in speaking or reading that is rapid and smooth.
Moreover, Segalowitz and Lightbown (1991) also added that there are three cognitive
components of fluency can be identified:
1) The ability to rapidly retrieve from memory appropriate linguistic knowledge and speech
routines as they are needed,
2) The ability to perform in a smooth manner in the face of competition from potentially
distracting ongoing, unrelated events (external noises, intrusive thoughts)
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3) The ability to perform without disruption when confronted with related but unexpected
events (a surprise turn in the conversation, an unexpected word from the interlocutor or text
being read, a change in speech register, etc.). Each of these three component abilities involves
specific cognitive mechanisms which, presumably, are implicated in L2 fluency acquisition.
The discussion about meaning-oriented to the learners’ understanding is supposed to
be the solution for the problems in fluency in language acquisition. Since the ability to
perform smoothly in the face of potential disruption of unrelated events requires a high
degree of automation; such automation allows language processing mechanisms to operate
without interference from outside sources of information.
E. PEDAGOGICAL IMPLEMENTATION
The research we reviewed also addresses two topics where psychological research may
prove valuable in resolving some controversial pedagogical problems. Both are concerned
about the possible limitations of the communicative language teaching (CLT) methodology
that currently dominates second language teaching. The first concerns how the CLT is
supposed to promote fluency aspects that require automatic processing without compromising
its communicative nature; the second concerns place if any, to focus on form in CLT.
1. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and Fluency
It is widely discussed that CLT has the benefit of avoiding many of the drawbacks of
the repetition-based decontextual technique that is characteristic of the audiolingual teaching
approach. What is insufficient clear is about how the CLT should promote general fluency,
which means fast and smooth performance. The problem can be formulated in psychological
terms such as; fluency involves, among other things, the ability to process information
automatically, and both research and conventional wisdom suggest that automaticity is
achieved only through repeated practice. Since it appears that repetition practices are
inherently uncommunicative, one potential limitation of CLT methodologies is that they are
not suitable for promoting fluency.
Gatbonton and Segalowitz (1988) have discussed limitations in understanding the
CLT methodology, but in some ways the hypotheses studied can be derived from current
psychological research on memory and attention. The CLT methodology emphasizes pure
communication based on the student's real desire to understand and communicate meaning.
Furthermore, the CLT methodology described seeks to provide possible classroom
life situations. Activities that can be designed to meet transfer needs according to the
adaptation process require creating a psychological context (learners' perceptions, feelings,
intentions, etc.). Learning takes place following the psychological context that will be
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obtained outside the classroom when students. Language skills required. If these conditions
are met, then the smoothness of memory access components should be improved - what is
learned in the classroom should be more accessible when needed later than it will be. Of
course, skills can be learned in transfer conditions that do not meet the appropriate processing
criteria; in this case, what is learned must be less accessible when needed, and performance
must be accessed less smoothly. It needs also be noted that not all communicative activities
meet the transfer criteria according to their processing. One should carefully examine the
psychological demands associated with any learning activity and consider the context in
which the target language skills will be used (Gatbonton and Segalowitz, 1988).
2. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and Focus on Form
In CLT methodologies, there are benefits to be derived from focusing the L2 learner's
attention on language form even do not readily permit learners to learn about structural
features of the language. However the empirical evidences supporting the effectiveness of
integrating focus-on-form and communicative activities during instruction are provided by
many researchers. Segalowitz and Lightbown (1991) also wrote that the potential limitations
of separate activities that focus on form and reviews teaching techniques that can incorporate
focus on form within CLT activities. Of particular interest for the present review is how a
psychological perspective on SLA might make a contribution to the focus-on-form
discussion. Given the techniques that now exist for studying automaticity fluencies, one can
envisage testing hypotheses about the way knowledge of language structure gained through
focus-on-form becomes part of the learner's repertoire of automatized language abilities. In a
similar vein, the principle of transfer appropriate processing provides a theoretical framework
for thinking about the effects of integrating form and meaning focus during instruction
(Lightbown 1998).
The result of research would be that learners will have easier access to knowledge
about language features that were noticed during classroom-learning communicative
activities when later placed in communicative situations than if they learned about language
features outside a communicative context.

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 CHAPTER III
CONCLUSIONS
A. Conclusions
Through psychology we learn about how a person's attitudes and behavior in
acquiring and studying language, while through linguistics we learn about the concepts and
structures of language. Then, Psycholinguistics as an interdisipliner is dealing with human
linguistics behavior when they are producing a concept of thinking.
Moreover, through various approaches such as behaviorism, nativism, universalism,
cognitivism, and etc which have been mentioned some in this paper, problems and cases in
psycholinguistics enable to investigated from various viewpoints.
Additionally, the journal article being reviewed in this paper related to the primary
cognitive mechanism in the human brain, which relates to language acquisition discussion is
stated that of many aspects in psycholinguistics, the three frequently much-discussed are
about attention, memory, and fluency. And the cases effectively discussed and solved through
Communicative Language Teaching as the methodology with its limitations and rules in the
pedagogical implication.

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 Work Cited
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Chaer, Abdul and Agustina, Leoni. 1995. Sociolinguistic Perkenalan Awal. Jakarta: Rineka
Cipta.

Chomsky, Noam. 1975. Reflection on Language. New York: Pantheon Books (Random
House)

Genesis of Language: A Psycholinguistic Approach. Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.T. Press. P.164

Handbook of English Language Teaching, 2007, Volume 15.

Hyams, Nina & Orfitelli, Robyn. (2015). The Acquisition of Syntax. Handbook of
Psycholinguistics. Blackwell Publishers.

Jan H. Hulstijn. Psycholinguistic Perspectives on Language and Its Acquisition. International

McNeill, D. 1966. Developmental psycholinguistics. In F. Smith and G. A. Miller (Eds.), The

Natsir, Nurasia. Hubungan Linguistik dalam Pemerolehan dan Pembelajaran Bahasa. Jurnal
Retorika, Volume 10, Nomor 1, Februari 2017.

Purba, Norita (2018) The Role of Psycholinguistics in Language learning and teaching. Tell
Journal, Volume 6, Number 1.

Schmidt, R. 1992. Psychological mechanisms underlying second language fluency. Studies in

Second Language Acquisition. 14.357-385.

Segalowitz and Lightbown (1999). Psycholinguistics Approaches to SLA. Annual Review of

Applied Linguistics. 19, 43-63.

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