Definitions (mostly not connected with important names)

SLA – study of the acquisition of a non-primary language. At first it was a part of applied linguistics.
Thanks to military funding during WW2 many theories about learning languages arose thus creating
SLA. It’s an interdisciplinary area of study which takes use of:

 Linguistics – which inform about nature and characteristics of a language

 Psychology, psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics – which inform about cognitive processes
 Social psychology, sociolinguistics – which focus on different phenomena connected with
learning languages

L1 – first language / native language

L2 – any second language

Target language – the language that is being learned

Formal learning – classroom

Informal learning – naturalistic context

Implicit learning – it corresponds to an internalized linguistic system that allows for systematic verbal
performance. It is acquired incidentally, it’s not available to conscious awareness and it’s used
automatically.

Explicit learning – the knowledge that one is aware of and capable of representing to themselves
and verbalizing on demand.

Cross-cultural communication – communication between people with different linguistic and cultural
backgrounds. This communication takes place within certain areas like business, military cooperation,
science, education etc.

Behaviorism – emerged towards the end of the 19 th century as an attempt to make psychology a
science like biology or chemistry. Behaviorists opposed the earlier mentalism and wanted psychology
to become an empirical science. They discarded introspection as a research tool and used only
behavior as a data.

Transfer of training – learning is a cumulative process where the more knowledge a person acquires,
the more likely it becomes that their new learning will be shaped by their past experiences. An adult
rarely learns anything completely new because many unfamiliar tasks can be overcome on a basis of
past similar tasks.

 Positive transfer (facilitation) – when one rule applies in both cases. Eg. In Spanish plural adds –s at
the end of a word (lenguajes), in English it’s the same (languages).
 Negative transfer (interference) – when one rule applies in one case but is different in
another. Eg. In Spanish adjectives are plural before plural nouns (moderns languages), in English they’re not (greens beans)
 Retroactive inhibition – where learning acts back on previously learned material (causing
someone to forget)
  Proactive inhibition – where a series of responses already learned tends to appear in
situations where a new set is required

Structuralism – theoretical orientation in linguistics. It focuses on theoretical analysis of the structure

of language (sound, system, grammar). Structuralists (like L. Bloomfield) described rare languages
and provided theoretical foundations for language teaching (applied linguistics). They viewed
language as a system of relationships consisting of elements arranged in hierarchical order.
Language as speech only, not writing.

Nativism – knowledge originates in the mind, it’s independent of experience (aka at least some of it
must be inborn).

Empiricism – knowledge comes from experience (aka from the senses).

Morpheme order studies – it assumes that:

 humans posses an innate language capacity.

 Input is necessary to trigger the operation of Language Acquisition Device and the course of
language acquisition is determined by the properties of LAD
 Natural order in which structures are acquired
 Grammar is built by creative construction where learners gradually organize the language
they hear

Cognition – the way information is acquired, represented and processed by the human mind.

Information processing – focuses on how human mind organizes and processes information. Uses
“the computer metaphor” which shows human mind as a computer which processes information
and stores data.

Memory:

 Sensory memory – fleeting sense of impressions that last for a very short time.
 Short-term (working) memory – a temporary form of memory whose contents are available
in awareness. It lasts for about 30s. Attentional resources may be needed to initiate and
maintain knowledge in an active state. Some contents don’t need them (automatic) and
some do (controlled/voluntary). Memories in STM remain active as long as one attends to
them. It consists of:
o a subset of highly activated long-term memory units,
o processes that achieve and maintain activation of those units,
o and executive attention component – which is a mechanism used to maintain current
task goals, process incoming information and block external and internal
interference.
 Long-term memory – the permanent knowledge with unlimited capacity and somehow
permanent duration. The contents of LTM consist of representations and processes which
must be accessed for processing to occur.

Emergentism (post-cognitive approaches) – theoretical perspectives that evolved out of information

processing. They believe in simple learning mechanisms like:
 - Learning is associative
- Learning is probabilistic
- Categories emerge gradually as more knowledge is accumulated
- Learning is usage-based
- Cognition is grounded in physical and social experience

Learning strategies – procedures people engage in with the aim to gain control over their learning
process

Classification of learning strategies:

- Metacognitive – make use of knowledge about cognitive processes and attempt to regulate
language learning by planning, monitoring and evaluating.
o Organizers
o Direct attention
o Self-management
- Cognitive – direct analysis, transformation or synthesis of learning materials
o Repetition
o Resourcing
o Note taking
- Social/affective – the ways in which learners interact with other learners and speakers
o Cooperation
o Questions

Learning involves changes in

 The size of neurons

 The extent of dendritic branching
 Number and size of synapses

Hippocampus – part of the limbic system

associated with conscious factual/rational
memories. Can store information for either
short periods of time or long periods of
time depending on the type of information.

Amygdala – part of the limbic system associated with unconscious behavioral/emotional memories.
It rapidly processes information related to fear

Thalamus – associated with transmission of sensory information to the cerebral cortex

Slow processing (for situations that don’t need urgency) – senses-thalamus-hippocampus-cerebral

cortex circuitry

Fast processing (scary situations) – senses-thalamus-

hippocampus-pituitary gland-adrenal gland circuitry
Cerebral cortex – it is divided into grey matter (6 layers of neurons) and white matter (axons). It has a
surface of 2200cm2 and thickness of 1.5-4.5mm. It controls learned behaviors like speech, abstract
thinking, reading, writing, planning behavior, consciousness.

Broca’s area – speech production, function words, syntax These two are connected
Wernicke’s area – language comprehension, nouns. by arcuate fasciculus (a
band of nerves)
Broca became famous for his examinations on a patient who had suffered brain damage. He suffered
a stroke and lost language comprehension. He could only say one word “tan”. Autopsy revealed deep
frontal lobe damage.

Aphasia – language loss caused by brain damage

Broca’s aphasia – each phoneme or syllable created with visible effort, in extreme cases articulation
can fail completely. So called “telegraphic speech” (there..front…and…the…attack…then…explosion)

Wernicke’s aphasia – patients talk freely showing little sign of language comprehension. Mostly
function words, few content words. (I was over the other one and then after they had been in the
department I was in this one)

Brain mapping techniques:

 fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) – non invasive

 ERP (event related potentials) – non invasive
 Intraoperative stimulation mapping – invasive. By touching with a stimulator parts of brain,
scientist find damaged parts.

Ideas and research about critical periods:

 Konrad Lorenz – imprinting in geese – imprinting the mother figure in the mind of a goose
experiment.
 Development of vision (cataracts) – 0-6 months
 Arnold Gesell: existence of critical periods for acquisition of skills such as using scissors or
walking down stairs (speculation)
 Biologically determined critical period for the acquisition of language (we don’t know)
 Penfield and Roberts
o Children are superior language learners to adults because the brain loses plasticity
around the age of 9
 Lenneberg
o At birth the two hemispheres are equipotential
o The critical period ends with complete lateralization of brain functions at puberty.
 There seem to be multiple critical periods for different areas of language
 Adult brains retain high degree of plasticity

Feral children – children raised by animals or in isolation.

Types of bilingualism:
  Incipient – first stages were one of the language is not fully developed
 Receptive – when language is being learned
 Productive – when both languages can be used freely

Categorized by proficiency:

 Balanced – with equal mastery of languages

 Dominant – greater proficiency in one of the languages

Categorized by acquisition:

 Early bilingual – early childhood

 Late bilingual – later in life
 Simultaneous bilingual – learning 2 languages since birth
 Sequential bilingual – learning second language after L1

Bilingual children can focus better and have an easier time communicating with other. They create
relationships with people around them easier.

People
Noam Chomsky
Linguistics as a study of linguistic competence (the underlying knowledge of language), not
performance.

3 questions for linguistics (focus on pure language):

1. What constitutes knowledge of language?

2. How is knowledge of language acquired?
3. How is knowledge of language put to use?

Multilingualism is a norm, monolingualism is an exception. – 50% of people know and use more
than one language daily. There are 7,000 languages but only 200 countries. The most prevalent
languages are:

 Chinese
 English
 Spanish
 Hindi

Chomsky’s criticism of behaviorism started a new way of thinking refered to as cognitivism.

Competence – the underlying implicit knowledge of language (internalized system of rules). It’s free
from any foreign influences, idealized knowledge of a native speaker. Object of study.

Performance – the actual linguistic production. It is affected by variables like memory limitations,
distraction, errors etc. It’s of no interest to a linguist.

Language acquisition
  Different from other cognitive processes.
 Not learned through imitation
 Reinforcement is unnecessary for successful L1 acquisition.
 Idea of a separate language faculty in the brain.

Child should be treated as a speaker of their own language, not as a defective speaker of adult
language. Children have a unique set of internalized rules.

Language Acquisition Device – innate, uniquely human language capacity. Operates independently
of general cognitive processes (even people with low IQ acquire language).

Error Analysis – it grew out of Contrastive Analysis and acknowledged imperfections of CA. It studied
errors L2 learners made.

Problems with Error Analysis:

 Ambiguity in classification (mistake vs. error)

 Lack of positive data (it tells us nothing about what a learner acquired)
 Potential for avoidance (learners may avoid difficult structures)

Universal Grammar – forms part of human language faculty. It’s what all languages have in common.
It consists of principles (the same for all languages) and parameters (vary across languages). It isn’t
an adequate theory to explain L2 acquisition or bilingualism.

Vivian Cook
Multicompetence – the main object of study for SLA research should be multicompetence: the
knowledge of more than one language in the same mind.

L2 user – one who uses L2 for real life purposes

L2 learner – one who learns L2 for future use

3 questions for linguistics (focus on multilingualism):

 1. What constitutes knowledge of languages?
2. How is knowledge of languages acquired?
3. How is knowledge of languages put into use?

The principle of structure-dependency – all languages rely on structure.

Edward Thorndike
Connectionism - Learning as a series of stimulus – response (S-R) connections. He described a
learning theory in a way that showed these S-R connections being formed, strengthened or
weakened. The more an S-R connection is used, the stronger it gets. Practice leads to improvement
only when it’s followed by positive feedback (reinforcement) or reward. If it was followed by
punishment (negative reinforcement) the connection was weakened. Learned behavior can be
transferred from one situation to another (transfer of practice / training).

Ivan Pavlov
Classical conditioning – best known from a famous experiment which trained dogs
using a bell. The bell was rung when food was served. When the bell rung, the
dogs started salivating even when the food wasn’t there.

B. F. Skinner
Operant (instrumental) conditioning – forming an association
between a behavior and a particular outcome. Organism uses the
environment in a way that produces either rewards or
punishments (positive or negative reinforcement). An operant is a
voluntary behavior (most of the human behaviors).

Leonard Bloomfield
Language as a habit – language enables one person to make a reaction when another person has the
stimulus.

Language acquisition – Every child born into a group acquires habits of speech and response in the
first years of life. Under various stimuli the child utters and repeats vocal sounds (inherited trait).
Babbling trains children to reproduce vocal sounds by imitation and habits.

Robert Lado
Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis – it originated as an application of linguistic knowledge and
behaviorist psychology. It was used to improve teaching materials. CAH relied on structure-by-
structure analysis of two languages. It took into account positive and negative transfer and classified
structures as simple (if they had positive transfer) or hard (if their transfer was negative).

 Language is a habit
 Major source of errors in L2 is the L1
 One can fix their errors by understanding differences between L2 and L1
 Difficulty and ease in learning are determined by differences and similarities between the
two languages.
Strong version of CAH – one can predict learners errors on the basis of CA (not supported by data,
generally a false idea)

Weak version of CAH – one should account for actual errors on the basis of L1-L2 differences (later
became a part of Error Analysis)

Jacek Fisiak
Contrastive Analysis of Polish and English, German and English, and Finnish and English.
Padało wczoraj.

It rained yesterday. But not: *Rained yesterday.

Było gorąco.

It was hot. But not: *Was hot.

Larry Selinker
Interlanguage – creation of a system of rules in one’s brain compiled from rules of L1 and L2. It’s a
system of rules and assumptions about how L2 works. It changes over time and gain new sources of
information. There are 5 central processes to IL:

1. Language transfer – projection of L1 features on L2

2. Overgeneralization of L2 rules
3. Transfer of training – when teaching creates false rules
4. Strategies of L2 learning – simplification
5. Communication strategies

Fossilization – the curve of learning and forgetting parts of learned language. Only 5% of learners
avoid fossilization and become native-like

Stephen Krashen
Monitor Model includes:

 The acquisition-learning hypothesis – subconscious process of learning a language where

the learner becomes consciously aware of the rules (grammatical sentences “sound right” or
“feel wrong”). It defides acquisition and learning.

 The natural order of hypothesis – the rules of language are acquired in a predictable order
 The monitor hypothesis – acquired knowledge and learned knowledge are used differently.
Acquisition initiates sentences while learning monitors them.
 The input hypothesis – language will take care of itself as long as meaningful input is
provided
 The affective filter hypothesis – a mental block caused by factors that prevent input from
reaching the Language Acquisition Device.
Eric Kellerman and Michael Sharwood Smith
Transfer – role of L1 in learning L2. It is connected with:

 Avoidance
 Differential learning rates
 Different routes of acquisition
 overproduction

Factors that affect language transfer:

- difficulty
- salience
- frequency
- L1-L2 similarity/difference
- Prototypicality
- Perceived language distance

Richard Schmidt
Role of consciousness in SLA

 Consciousness as awareness
o Perception isn’t conscious
o Noticing needs focal attention
o Understanding needs conscious analysis
 Consciousness as intention
o Intentional learning involves deliberate decision to learn
o Incidental learning takes place through exposure
 Consciousness as knowledge (explicit or implicit)