SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISTION

Structural Linguistics and

Behavioral Psychology
Gabrielle Neil S. Bulda
BSED-E 1E
EDUENG04
 Structural Linguistics (or structuralism) is
an approach to linguistics wherein the
Structural structural view treats language as a
Linguistics system of structurally related elements
to code meaning.
 1857-1913

Ferdinand de Saussure
- Father of Structural Linguistics
- Father of Modern Linguistics
- Swiss linguist whose ideas on
structure in language laid the
foundation for much of the approach to
and progress of the linguistic sciences
in the 20th century.
- Saussure contended that language must be considered as a
social phenomenon, a structured system that can be viewed
synchronically (as it exists at any particular time) and
diachronically (as it changes in the course of time).

- Saussure was not satisfied with the historical comparison of

language. He stated that such comparison only answered
where a language comes from, but not what language is.
 - Structural linguistics was developed by
Ferdinand de Saussure between 1913 and
1915.
- Before Saussure, language was studied
Structural in terms of the history of changes in
Linguistics individual words over time, or
diachronically, and it was assumed that
words somehow imitated the objects for
which they stood.
- Saussure realized that we need to understand language, not as a
collection of individual words with individual histories but as a
structural system of relationships among words as they are used at
a given point in time, or synchronically.

- Structuralism doesn’t look for the causes or origins of language (or

of any other phenomenon). It looks for the rules that underlie
language and govern how it functions: it looks for the structure.
DICHOTOMIES OF
STRUCTURALISM
 SIGNIFIER AND SIGNIFIED
Saussure defines the sign as a relationship between two equally
participating characteristics: the signifié (signified) and the signifiant
(signifier). The signified refers to an idea or a concept, the signifier a
form or an acoustic image. The sign is a meaningful entity, and it is
the basic unit of communication.
 PAROLE AND LANGUE
Saussure called the structure of language langue (the French word
for language). Langue refers to the abstract system shared by all
the speakers of the same language. It is an underlying system of
abstract rules of lexicon, grammar and phonology which is
implanted in each individual’s mind resulting from his nurture in a
given speech community
 PAROLE AND LANGUE
And he called the individual utterances that occur when we speak
parole (the French word for speech). Parole refers to the real speech
of the individual, an instance of the use of system. It is the concrete
side of language.

For the structuralist, of course, langue is the proper object of study;

parole is of interest only in that it reveals langue.
 SYNCHRONIC AND DIACHRONIC
A synchronic approach to language studies investigates the state of
language at a particular phase of its development without allusion to
its history. Saussure referred to this state as an état de langue. In
order to study this, linguists will collect samples of language within a
fixed period, describing them not considering any historical factor
which might have influenced the state of language up to that time.
 SYNCHRONIC AND DIACHRONIC
A diachronic approach, in contrast, is the study of the history of a
language, focusing on language change in pronunciation, grammar
or vocabulary. This approach deals with the never ending
successions of language states. A diachronic study presupposes a
synchronic study.
SYNTAGMATIC AND PARADIGMATIC
Syntagmatic relationships exist between items in a sequence. They
are also called linear, co-occurrence, sequential or horizontal
relations. By contrast, paradigmatic relationships hold between
existing items and other items in the same language that can take
the same position in the sequence: between actual elements and
their substitutes.
 Behavioral Psychology (or behaviorism)
is a theory suggesting that environment
shapes human behavior. In a most basic
sense, behavioral psychology is the study
Behavioral and analysis of observable behavior.
Psychology Behaviorism is only concerned with
observable stimulus-response behaviors,
as they can be studied in a systematic
and observable manner.
 John B. Watson
- Father of Behavioral Psychology
- American psychologist who codified
and publicized behaviourism, an
approach to psychology that, in his view,
was restricted to the objective,
experimental study of the relations
between environmental events and
human behaviour.
 Behaviorism was formally established with
the 1913 publication of John B. Watson's
classic paper, "Psychology as the
Behaviorist Views It." From about 1920
Behavioral through the mid-1950s, behaviorism grew

Psychology to become the dominant school of thought

in psychology. Some suggest that the
popularity of behavioral psychology grew
out of the desire to establish psychology
as an objective and measurable science.
 CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
Classical conditioning (discovered by Ivan Pavlov) is a technique
frequently used in behavioral training in which a neutral stimulus is
paired with a naturally occurring stimulus. Eventually, the neutral
stimulus comes to evoke the same response as the naturally
occurring stimulus, even without the naturally occurring stimulus
presenting itself. The classical conditioning process works by
developing an association between an environmental stimulus and a
naturally occurring stimulus.
 OPERANT CONDITIONING
Operant conditioning, sometimes referred to as instrumental
conditioning, (discovered by B.F Skinner) is a method of learning that
occurs through reinforcement and punishment. Through operant
conditioning, an association is made between a behavior and a
consequence for that behavior. This behavioral approach says that
when a desirable result follows an action, the behavior becomes
more likely to happen again in the future.
HOW CAN STRUCTURALISM
AND BEHAVIORISM HELP IN
SECOND LANGUAGE
ACQUISITION?
 Structural Linguistics and Behavioral
Psychology were the famous approaches
from the 1940s through the 1960s and
Audiolingual places heavy emphasis on spoken rather

Approach than written language, and on the

grammar of particular languages,
stressing habit formation as a mode of
learning.
This theory assumed that a human being can be trained using a
system of reinforcement. Correct behavior receives positive
feedback, while errors receive negative feedback. The Audio-
lingual Method was widely used in the 1950s and 1960s, and the
emphasis was not on the understanding of words, but rather on the
acquisition of structures and patterns in common everyday
dialogue. These patterns are elicited, repeated and tested until the
responses given by the student in the foreign language are
automatic.
Structural Linguistics tells that language is an interconnected,
systematic and structured knowledge. The proper understanding of
the written and verbal language, grammar and codes contributes to
language acquisition.
Behavioral Psychology tells that second language acquisition
happens through observation and practice. It talks about the right
response/s of the language learner towards the present stimulus. In
addition, teachers, institutions and parents may use reward and
punishment to add excitement to language practice.
Behaviorism can be used to help students learn, such as by
influencing lesson design. For instance, some teachers use
consistent encouragement to help students learn (operant
conditioning) while others focus more so on creating a stimulating
environment to increase engagement (classical conditioning).
Behaviorism can be used to help elicit positive behaviors or
responses in students, such as by using reinforcement.