What is Applied Linguistics?

The Origin of the Term Applied

Linguistics

Applied Linguistics is an Anglo - American coinage.

Britain United States of America

It has been in use since
It has been in use since the establishment
the establishment of the
of the centre of Applied Linguistics in
University of Edinburgh School
Washington
of Applied Linguistics
(1957)
(1956)
The Position of Applied
Linguistics

In the past

It was based on the

findings of theoretical
linguistics

In order to be able to teach

a language, one needed to know
the structure of the language.

The grammar translation

and audio lingual methods
were very common
 The Position of Applied
Linguistics

During the World War II

& after
The basis of foreign language
teaching or learning was

Linguistics
and its sub-disciplines Psychology Sociology Pedagogy Education
 The Purpose of Applied Linguistics

It is to investigate problems related to language

and to take some practical steps to solve these
problems.
 The Definition of Applied
Linguistics
n According to Corder (1974) AL is the utilization of
the knowledge about the nature of language achieved
by linguistic research for the improvement of the
efficiency of some practical task in which language is
a central component.

n Crystal (1985) indicates that AL is a branch of

linguistics where the primary concern is the
application of linguistic theories, methods and
findings to the elucidation of language problems
which have arisen in other areas of experience.
 The Definitions of Applied Linguistics

Richards et al. (1985) maintain that AL covers two

main points:
1) The study of second and foreign language

learning and teaching.

2) The study of language and linguistics in relation

to practical problems such as lexicography,

translation, speech pathology, etc.
According to Strevens AL is a multidisciplinary
approach to the solution of language related
problems.
 The Definitions of Applied Linguistics
According to Wilkins (1999), AL is concerned
with increasing understanding of the role of
language in human affairs and thereby with
providing the knowledge necessary for those
who are responsible for taking language related
decision whether the need for these arisen in the
classroom, the workplace, the law court or the
laboratory.
 Areas of Applied Linguistics
n Language Teaching & learning (second and
foreign languages)
n Language policy and language planning
n Speech therapy/Pathology
n Lexicography and dictionary making
n Translation and interpretation
n Computer assisted language
learning/Instruction
 Language Teaching
• The main concern of applied linguistics is teaching
and learning of L1 and L2.
• The sources of advancement in language teaching
are applied linguistics, pedagogy, psychology,
psycholinguistics and linguistics.
• AL can be seen as providing the intellectual basis for
advances in language teaching in numerous contexts.
• The relation between AL and language teaching is
indirect.
• AL does not take developments in linguistics and
look for ways of applying them to teaching. Instead,
the problems faced in language teaching are solved
with the help of linguistics
 Language Policy and Language Planning
n Applied linguistics can minimize complex social,
political, linguistic tensions as :
1. It plays an important role in planning the national
language.
• how to spread the use of a language.

• How to reform the spelling.

• How to add new words to the language.

2. It helps language planners by:

• Providing answers to questions like: to whom the
policy/plan applies, the entire school-aged population, or
some particular segment of that population; or at what
level: elementary, secondary and /or higher education,
etc.
 Speech Therapy/ Pathology
§ It includes activities to help overcome
language problems and speech defects or help
regain the use of speech after having suffered
speech loss.
§ Psycholinguistics and Neurolinguistics explain
how language develops in the brain and how
brain injuries affect language memory and
production.
 Lexicography and Dictionary Making
§ Dictionary making became an easy, fast task
because of the technological development in
printing.
§ Large scale library database network are
spreading nowadays
§ Cobuild Dictionary links learning of
vocabulary thematically to real world
communicative contexts.
 Translation and Interpretation
Human intervention is necessary in translation because
of :
§ The influence of the context, irony and use of idioms.

( He is open – the door is open), (Today I am in

seventh heaven-I am in a very happy state), (dead
line-exact date), (Stop beating around the bush-be
direct to the point).
§ The constant creation of original metaphors.

§ Some semantic ambiguity is inherent in natural

languages.
 Translation and Interpretation
§ Improvement in translation can be attained by
computing engineers &Applied linguists.

§ The training of translators includes training in

Applied linguistics specifically in the area of
Contrastive Analysis.
 Computer Assisted Language
Learning/Instruction
§ Many programmes have been developed to assist learning
and teaching languages.
§ The advent of personal computers has the greatest impact on
AL.
§ The purpose is to take advantage of this technology in the
fields of learning and teaching such as follows:
1. Using teaching programmes to teach languages in a
sequence.
2. Using computers to monitor students’ progress.
3. Using computers to provide exploratory environments.
 Conclusion

Applied Linguistics

Acquisition Behaviour

Strategies The learner Language processing

Motivation Errors
Attitude & aptitude
SLA
1. Behaviouristic Approach
2. Cognitive/Psychological Approach
3. Creative Construction Approach
4. Sociological Approach
 WAYS OF LEARNING AN L2
L2 can be acquired with L1

simultaneously successively

age stage environment

childhood L1
instruction
adolescence
adulthood L2
natural
• The distinction between L2 learning in an L1
environment and L2 learning in an L2 environment
encourage some researchers such as Krashen
(1981) to distinguish between ‘acquisition’ and
‘learning’.
• Acquisition refers to the subconscious process of
‘picking up’ a language through exposure (no
formal classroom setting).
• Learning to conscious process of studying
language (formal classroom setting).
 • NOTE
In your book, the terms ‘acquisition’
and ‘learning’ have been used
interchangeably.
• L2 acquisition investigates how people attain proficiency
in a language which is not their mother tongue.
• In 1950s and 1960s, the primary objective of the study of
L2 acquisition was pedagogic.
• From 1970s onward, the focus shifted from the teacher to
the learner.
• The reason for this shift was related to what was going on
in linguistics, psychology, and L1 acquisition research. All
the three areas shifted the focus from external to internal
factors.
• Linguistics became concerned with the description of the
linguistic structures of a given language as well as the
mental grammar processes of the speaker.
• The motivation for the shift was the need to understand
the mechanisms underlying L2 acquisition and to ascertain
whether the processes involved in the acquisition of first
language is similar to those involved in L2 acquisition.
1. Behaviouristic Approach
2. Cognitive/Psychological Approach
3. Creative Construction Approach
4. Sociological Approach
• Bloomfield (1933) and Skinner (1957) said that L2 acquisition is a
process of imitation, reinforcement and habit formation.
• Lado (1957) maintained that L2 acquisition was essentially a task of
overcoming the L1 habits and learning in their place the habits of the L2.
• It was assumed that L2 learners transfer elements from their L1 to the L2.
• Positive transfer facilitates learning due to the similarity between the
two languages.
• Negative transfer impedes learning due to the difference between the
two languages.
• The goal of contrastive analysis (CA) was to identify and catalogue
the structural similarities and differences between languages. This was to
help pinpoint areas of similarities and differences among the languages
concerned. Areas of similarity are predictable and aid the acquisition
process. Conversely, areas of differences are predictable and impede
the acquisition process.
• The main aim of behaviouristic teaching is to form new, correct
linguistic habits through intensive practice and in eliminating
interference errors in the process of L2 acquisition.
• Critical evaluation of the behaviouristic approach:
1. Imitation alone does not provide a means of identifying the task
that learners face. The learning task is more complex than habit-
formation. It is more complex than any other learning task that
most human beings undertake.
2. Transfer alone does not fulfil the function of explaining the
learner’s behavior in the L2. Many errors that are theoretically
predicted by the differences between L1 and L2 do not occur in
the language of learners, and conversely other errors that are
committed by learners seem unrelated to the L1. (e.g. L2 learners
produce such errors as seed and taked instead of saw and took.)
3. L2 learners have intuitions that certain features of their L1 are less
likely to be transferable than others. (e.g. most of the learners
know intuitively that idiomatic or metaphorical expressions
cannot simply be translated literally.)
• All this suggests that the influence of the learner’s L1 on learning an
L2 is not a matter of habits. SLA is a much more elusive and complex
process.
• As in L1 acquisition, the behaviouristic account has proven to be at
best an incomplete explanation of SLA.
• L2 acquisition is viewed as the
acquisition of a complex cognitive skill.
• This skill is composed of various sub-
skills or aspects of performance which
must be practiced and integrated to
achieve fluent performance.
• This requires the automatization of
component sub-skills.
SKILL
Performance A

Performance B
Fluency
Performance C

Performance D
The sub-skills should be practiced and integrated conversation

Grammatical Structure
+ Communicative functions

e.g. Tense, preposition e.g. Asking for permission

and adjectives
 RESTRUCTURING

• There is an interaction between the element the

learner is learning and the knowledge he has
already acquired. This may restructure the system
(language) the learner has.
• L2 learner’s performance improves and develops
through constant reorganizing and restructuring of
information contained in this system.
• This allows L2 learners to unify linguistic
information, and gain increasing control of
language performance.
SLA
1. Behaviouristic Approach
2. Cognitive/Psychological Approach
3. Creative Construction Approach
4. Sociological Approach
• It is proposed by Stephen
Krashen (1982).
• It is also called as The
‘Monitor Model’.
• It is similar to Chomsky’s
ideas on L1 acquisition
• A learner constructs a series of internal
representations of the L2 system.
• This occurs as a result of natural
processing strategies (e.g. generalization,
transfer, etc.) and exposure to the L2 in
communication situations.
• The learner’s internal representations
develop gradually in the direction of the
L2 system.
 SLA AS CREATIVE CONSTRUCTION
INPUT

L2 exposure Communication situations

natural processing strategies

e.g. generalization, transfer, redundancy reduction, simplification, etc.

internal representation of L2

Learner’s actual utterances

OUTPUT
• This hypothesis claims that internal processing
strategies operate on input from the language
environment and not directly dependent on the
learners’ attempts to produce the language.
• The learners need not actually speak or write in
order to acquire language.
• Acquisition takes place internally as learners hear
and read samples of the language that they
understand.
• The actual performance (speech and writing) that
the learners produce is seen as an outcome of the
learning process rather than as the cause of learning,
or as necessary step in learning.
 KRASHEN’S MONITOR MODEL

Krashen's theory of SLA ‘monitor model’

consists of five main hypotheses:
1. The acquisition–learning hypothesis.
2. The Monitor hypothesis.
3. The natural order hypothesis.
4. The input hypothesis.
5. The affective filter hypothesis.
 The acquisition-learning hypothesis

Acquisition Learning

- It is a subconscious process. - It is a formal instruction and a conscious

- It is responsible for our fluency.
- It initiates the comprehension and
production of utterances in second
language.
process that functions as a monitor or
editor.
- It may slow the processes that occur
automatically.
- It is responsible for our accuracy.
• The Monitor is a device that learners
use to edit their own language
performance.
• This device makes use of the learnt
knowledge by modifying utterances
generated from acquired knowledge.
This occurs either before or after the
utterance.
 • Krashen states that there are three
conditions which have to be met for
the Monitor to come into use:
knows the required grammatical rule

The learner has sufficient time

focuses on being correct (grammatical form)

• It presumes that language learners acquire
properties of a second language in a
predictable order, going through a series of
common transitional stages in moving
towards target language forms.
• When the L2 learner is engaged in tasks
that require the use of metalinguistic
knowledge, a different order of acquisition
will emerge.
• Studies of morpheme and conjunction
acquisition are evidence of this hypothesis.
• People acquire languages by receiving
comprehensible input.
• If the learner has to make progress beyond a
given stage of acquisition, he must be exposed
to the most comprehensible input (i+1).
• This input should be slightly ahead of a
learner´s current state of knowledge(i+1).
1

+ INPUT
i
• The characteristics of comprehensible
input:

1. Comprehensive (Covers the area to be

presented).
2. Adequate for the level of the learners.
3. Clear (in pronunciation) and correct
(in grammar).
• An ‘affective filter’ is an imaginary barrier which prevents
learners from using input available in the environment.
• The term ‘affect’ refers to mental faculties like motives,
needs, attitudes and emotional stress.

The filter is
up blocking The filter is
the input down (not
INPUT operating) INPUT

The learner is:

•Stressed. The learner is:
•Self conscious . •Relaxed.
•Unmotivated. •Motivated.
It refers to the process of becoming
adapted to the culture of the new
or second language. This involves
developing an understanding of
the systems of thought, beliefs,
and emotions of the new culture
as well as its system of
communication.
• It is a function of the social and psychological distance
between the learner and native speakers of the second
language.
• If there is an increase in social distance , the learner’s
second language will be very simple or will result in
simplified L2 grammar.
• Psychological distance is the result of various factors
such as language shock, culture shock and stress, and
integrated vs. instrumental motivation.
• Social and psychological distance influence L2
acquisition by determining the amount of contact with
the L2 that the learner experiences and also the degree
to which he is exposed to available input.
• In this chapter, there are attempts to answer one broad
general question “How is an L2 acquired?”
• The answer was undertaken from different perspective:
psychological, sociological, linguistic, etc.
• The importance of input for stimulating and conditioning the
language acquisition has been discussed.
• L2 learner is active not passive in the process of SLA.
• This learner is provided with innate means to acquire the
language, to use the language, and to communicate through
the language.
• As human being the L2 learner will acquire the language
through exposure (naturally or through instruction) and through
interaction with the environment.
Approaches to
Learners’
Performance
 Learners’ Performance
The actual utterances that the learner produces
Important
determinan
ts of the
Acceptable Non-acceptable SLA
(correct) (errors) process.

the role of
the characteristics the causes
errors in learning
of errors of errors
and teaching
 What are the errors usually committed
by EFL/ESL Arab learners and what
are their characteristics?

 What are the causes of these errors?

 What are the role of these errors in

learning and teaching an L2?
Approaches to Learners’
Performance
 Contrastive Analysis
(CA)
 Error analysis (EA)

 Interlanguage (IL)
Error Analysis (EA)
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 Error Analysis (EA)
What is EA?
EA is a technique which
aims to describe and explain the
systematic nature of deviations
or errors generated in the
learner’s language.
 The importance of EA?

1. EA helps to understand the process of SLA.

2. EA shows statistically the troublesome
linguistic areas or errors that L2 learners
encounter in learning.
3. The errors give valuable feedback to both
teachers and learners regarding learner
strategies and progress.
 EA and CA Diferences
1. EA is not restricted to errors caused by
negative transfer from the L1, it covers all
types of errors committed by learners, such as
‘overgeneralization errors’.
2. EA, unlike CA, provides data on real problems
and this may lead to right solutions in the L2
teaching.
3. EA is not confronted with problems such as
accurate and explicit descriptions of languages,
compatibility, adequate knowledge of the
contrasted languages, etc., that CA may face.
 EA Methodology

 Collection of errors
 Identification of errors
 Classification of error types
 Statement of relative frequency of error types
 Identification of the areas of difficulty in the L2
 Determination of the source of errors
 Determination of the seriousness of the error
 Remedy by the teacher in the classroom
 EA Critics
 Errors may be wrongly classified between language
tasks. The same error may be classified as
interlingual and intralingual: He intelligent.
 EA stresses only on what the learner cannot do at a
given point in time. It doesn’t give any insights into
the course of SLA process.
 Difficulty of error identification which is mainly due
to the different usages of the L2 norms: formal vs.
informal context - spoken vs. written language
 Learners some times adopt the avoidance strategy in
order not to commit errors. In this case certain types
of errors don’t appear in the L2 learner’s performance.
Approaches to Learners’
Performance
 Contrastive Analysis
(CA)
 Error analysis (EA)

 Interlanguage (IL)
Interlanguage (IL)
 Interlanguage (IL)
What is IL?
IL is the type of language produced by
L2 learners. Errors in the learner’s language
are caused by several processes which
include; L1 transfer, overgeneralization,
strategies in learning and communication,
and transfer of training. The learner’s
language as a result of these processes
differ from both the L1 and the L2 and it is
termed as the learner’s interlanguage
 Interlanguage (IL)
 The reasons for the rise of IL:
A shift in psychology from
behaviouristic to cognitive theories.
 Dissatisfaction with L1 transfer as the
main objective of CA.
 Finding actual errors at a given point in
time by the EA approach
 Interlanguage (IL)
 It is not based on deviation from the second
language norm at a given point in time, but on the
processes of second language development (i.e.
at all levels phonological, morphological, syntactic
and semantic) as a whole in different stages.
 It is a separate linguistic system from the L1 and
the L2.
 It represents the intermediate status of the
learner’s system between his L1 and the L2.
 This linguistic system has been called different
terms such as “approximative systems”,
“Interlanguage”, and “transitional competence”.
 IL Assumptions

 Learners internally construct a linguistic

system, which is different from both the
learner’s L1 and the L2, but it is based on
L2 input that s/he receives.
 At successive stages of learning, learners
keep linguistic systems, reconstructing and
approximating a certain variety of L2 that
rarely becomes identical to the L2 norm.
 IL Cognitive Processes
Selinker (1972) argued that IL is the product of five central
cognitive processes involved in L2 learning:
1. L1 transfer.
2. Transfer of training, which comes from learners’
teachers.
3. Strategies of L2 learning, which are approaches by
learners to the elements to be learned.
4. Strategies of L2 communication, which are ways of
communicating with the native speakers of the L2.
5. Overgeneralization of the L2 rules, which is a process
by which a learner extends the L2 rule beyond its
acceptable use.
 IL and Natural
Languages
Similarities
1. IL is assumed to be systematic (i.e. governed by
rules) such as in English SVO but not VSO.
2. IL obeys universal constraints at all levels (i.e.
phonological, morphological, syntactic and
semantic) which occurs in all natural languages
such as languages have singular and plurals; when
there is a dual, there should be a plural.
3. IL shows evidence of internal consistency
(always behaving the same way).
 IL and Natural
Languages
 Diferences
Reduced systems: IL’s are reduced systems with regard
to number and complexity of different rules.
 Permeability: IL rules are typically permeable in the
sense that they are by nature incomplete and in a state
of flux because learners may use a rule or a form from
their L1 and they may distort or overgeneralize a rule
from the L2 in an attempt to convey the intended
meaning. On the basis of this view, natural languages
rules are relatively stable.
 Fossilization: The cognitive representation is fixed in
which aspects of pronunciation, vocabulary usage, and
grammatical rules become a permanent part of the way a
learner speaks or writes the L2, no matter if there is more
exposure to the L2 or new teaching.
 IL and Natural
Languages
Diferences
The causes for fossilization:
A learner’s interlanguage may fossilize because of
the following:
 Low motivation of L2 learning for psychological
and social reasons.
 Age with which old learners usually retain a
recognizable foreign accent.
 Limited range of L2 input with respect to its
quality and quantity.
 IL Methodology

The three essential components for IL analysis are:

 L1 utterances produced by the learner.
 IL utterances produced by the learner (the
learner’s version of L2)
 L2 utterances used by its native speakers.

In this way, IL methodology incorporates the

assumptions of CA and EA. CA contrasts the
learner’s L1 and the L2, whereas EA basically
contrasts the learner’s performance and the L2.
 IL and L2 Teaching
 The teacher of a second language can get a clearer
picture of the learner’s transitional competence,
not only the errors which are made at a particular
time as in the case of the EA approach.
 Plans for teaching are done for the different stages
of development.
 Psychological and linguistic processes of second
language learning can be described by describing
the learners IL.
 Our realistic aim in L2 teaching and learning is not
to achieve a native speaker competence but
something near it.
 IL Critics
1. No concrete hints are made in IL literature on how to
describe the changing linguistic systems in IL.
2. A large body of data is needed to ascertain a linguistic
rule in the learner’s IL and this is only achieved through
longitudinal studies which take a long period of time in
order to follow the development of a language phenomenon.
3. Observation of the most truly systematic form of a
learner’s IL is not an easy process since it needs a number
of considerations related to
 social status of the learners and the researcher
 the topic of discourse
 the spoken or written language
 a naturalistic or experimental task
 the physical surroundings
 monitored or unmonitored speech
Approaches to
Learners’
Performance
 Learners’ Performance
The actual utterances that the learner produces
Important
determinan
ts of the
Acceptable Non-acceptable SLA
(correct) (errors) process.

the role of
the characteristics the causes
errors in learning
of errors of errors
and teaching
 What are the errors usually committed
by EFL/ESL Arab learners and what
are their characteristics?

 What are the causes of these errors?

 What are the role of these errors in

learning and teaching an L2?
Approaches to Learners’
Performance
 Contrastive Analysis
(CA)
 Error analysis (EA)

 Interlanguage (IL)
Contrastive Analysis
(CA)
 Contrastive Analysis
Similarities Hypotheses
English Arabic
and It is predicted that
prepositions prepositions students will make the
Differences following errors:

Angry with ‫غاضب من‬ Ҳ Angry from

Complain of ‫يشتكي من‬ Ҳ Complain from

Full of ‫ملئ ب‬ Ҳ Full with

Pleased with ‫مسرور من‬ Ҳ Pleased from

Take by ‫ياخذ من‬ Ҳ Take from

Go by bus
Go by bus ‫بالباص‬ √

Covered with ‫مغطى ب‬ Ҳ Covered by

Confidence in ‫واثق في‬ √ Confidence in

 Sentences

 The teacher was angry with him.

 Many people complain of the heat.
 The jar was full of oil.
 The teacher is pleased with me
 He took his brother by the hand.
 He came by bus yesterday.
 The mountain is covered with snow.
 I have great confdence in him.
 Contrastive Analysis
(CA)
 CA is introduced by behaviourists in order to explain how
L1 habits interfere with or affect the L2 learning process.
 The goal of CA was to identify and catalogue the structural
similarities and differences between languages.
 Similar structures are easier to learn because they are
ingrained in the learner’s behaviour. The dissimilar
patterns are more difficult to learn because the learner
needs to activate new efforts to form new ones in his
behaviour.
 In 1960s, a large scale projects of contrastive analysis
between English and some European languages were
carried out by the Centre of Applied Linguistics in
Washington
 The Rationale of CA
The Rationale of CA

Practical experience of L2 teachers The theory of transfer

Positive Negative
Teachers became
aware of the errors
made by their
students which can L2 is facilitated L2 is impeded
be attributed to due to the due to the
their L1 similarities differences
between L1 & L2 between L1 & L2
 Examples of Negative
 The negative Transfer
transfer is clear in pronunciation
(a
foreign accent) such as “the distinctive accent of
Arabs, Chinese, Japanese, Indians and other
linguistic levels”.
 Forms and functions of elements such as:
1. no inflectional morpheme “s” is used to the present
tense (“he come” instead “he comes”).
2. using the past simple tense more than the present
perfect tense (“look what you did” instead of “look
what you have done”).
3. Chinese and Japanese students avoid using
relative clauses as they occupy prenominal
position in their L1.
 Negative Transfer
Factors
Factors of Negative Transfer
Factors of Negative Transfer

Limited quantity Linguistic distance

Age Focus
of L2 input between L2 and L1

Negative transfer
Negative transfer Negative transfer Negative transfer
occurs when L2 is
appears more in increases occurs if the
learned in an L1
adults performance proportionally to learner’s focus is
environment.
rather than in the linguistic only on correct
children’s differences between grammatical forms
performance the L2 and the rather than on
particularly in the learner’s L1, as successful
first stages of an L2 between English communication.
learning process. which is an Indo-
European language
and Arabic which is
a Semitic language.
 CA Assumptions
1. The difficulties are mainly due to the
differences between L1 & L2.
2. The greater these differences are, the
harder the learning difficulties will be.
3. The results of the comparison are needed
to predict the difficulties and errors which
will occur in learning the L2.
4. The differences found by CA will be the
focus of language teaching.
 CA Hierarchy of
 difculty
Linguists of the 1960s compared between L1 and L2 and
arranged the differences into different degrees of difficulty:
CA Hierarchy of difficulty
The greatest difficulty is when the second language has a split form
(Arabic /b/ English /b/ &/p/)
The second language has a new category
(No forms for indefiniteness in Arabic-English has a &an)

The second language has an absent category

(Arabic nouns have grammatical gender – English nouns have natural gender)

The second language has a coalesced form

(Arabic has several negators – English has mainly one, “not”)
There is a complete correspondence between L1 and L2
(The past tense is available in English and Arabic)
 CA Methodology
1. Select tasks to be compared.
2. These tasks should be compatible from a
theoretical point of view. Compatibility is on the
deep structure (meaning), not the surface structure.
3. The tasks selected in the contrasted languages
should be described in the same way.
4. Find out points of similarity and contrast.
5. Develop teaching material on the possible positive
and negative transfers.
 CA Methodology
New supporters of CA go beyond the previous steps
by using the following:
1. Build hypotheses on the possible positive and
negative transfers and test these hypotheses.
2. Analyse the data and then accept or reject
hypotheses.
3. Build teaching material on the obtained results,
especially if other researchers support these
results.
 CA Technique: An Example

 The CA technique is exemplifed in Yes/No questions in English and Arabic by using the
traditional model of structure:
 Arabic description:
 Statement: /ha:ðɪhɪ tˁa:lɪbatʊn mʊʤɪddah/ ‫طاملبة ممجدة‬
‫الم‬ ‫هذه‬
 Yes/No questions: /hal ha:ðɪhɪ tˁa:lɪbatʊn mʊʤɪddah/‫طاملبة ممجدة؟‬
‫الم‬ ‫ امهذه‬/ʔha:ðɪhɪ tˁa:lɪbatʊn
mʊʤɪddah/ ‫طاملبة ممجدة؟‬
‫هلهذه الم‬
 The statement is only introduced by a question word (/ʔalhamzah/or /hal/)‫همزة او هل‬
‫ الم‬to
form the question.

 English description:
 A: Statement: They are good boys.
 Yes/No question: Are they good boys?
 Only the verb to be (are) is moved to the front to form the question.
 B: Statement: She came late.
 Yes/No question: Did she come late?
 The statement is introduced with the function verb (FV) do with its appropriate form to form the
question.
 The main verb (MV) is brought back to its infnitive form.
 CA Technique: An Example
 Contrast
 The contrast leads to the following diferences in A:
 In Arabic, a question word is only fxed at the beginning of the sentence.
 In English, the FV is moved to the front of the sentence. In B:
 In Arabic, no FV like English do is used.
 In English, the FV do is used with its appropriate form at the beginning of the
sentence and the MV is used with its infnitive form.
 Hypotheses
 In A: It can be predicted that Arab learners of English will commit
errors in not moving the FV to the front.
 In B: It can be predicted that Arab learners of English will commit
errors in not fxing the FV do at the front, putting it in its appropriate
form and returning the MV to its infnitive form.
 These predictions are useful in building teaching material for Yes/No
questions in English for Arab learners, especially after empirical testing.
 CA and L2 Teaching

1. The most effective materials to be learned by L2

learners are those that are based upon a CA
between a learner’s L1 and L2. More emphasis is
given to the areas of contrast.
2. CA is used as a criterion for selecting testing
items.
3. CA is used to help in choosing teaching material
(to prevent L1 transfer and remedying errors).
4. CA could be very helpful in drawing up
curriculums.
5. CA is very useful in homogeneous classroom more
 CA Critics
1. CA is based on the notion of ‘habit-formation’ which
neglects the role of the mind in the SLA process.
2. Adequate knowledge of languages to be contrasted may not
be possessed by some researchers.
3. Some of the predictions of errors, which are based on the
results of CA, were not confirmed by the actual
performance of the L2 learners (the overpredictions), such
as the English affricate sound /tƒ/ which is predicted to be difficult for
Arab learners but from experience with Saudi learners of English, it is
not completely so.
4. Underprediction of errors. Certain errors cannot be
discovered on the basis of CA (such as goed, comed.)
5. Contrast between an L1 & L2 alone does not tell much
about how a learner goes about the learning process of a
task.
 CA Defense
1. CA is not necessarily connected with habit-
formation, but it is based on transfer theory as being
an integral factor in the L2 learning process.
2. At present, different aspects of most known languages
are written in English.
3. “Overprediction of errors” is maybe due to poor
analysis or poor predictions about what is difficult
and what is not. Also it could be due to avoidance.
4. CA is not the only substantial approach for L2
learning and teaching. It is sufficient for CA to deal
with no more than 50 % of the learner’s errors. Thus,
CA does not account for all errors. It is not the
remedy which can be used by L2 teachers but it can
be a very useful approach for them.
Non-Linguistic
Factors
in
L2
Learning
Introduction

☙ Non-Linguistic Factors
There are certain individual
characteristics that affect learners’
efficiency and speed of learning an
L2. These characteristics are called
non-linguistic factors.
 Aptitude

Non-linguistic factors affecting SLA Intelligence

Motivation

Anxiety

Personality

Age
 Language
Aptitude
As a non-linguistic factor affecting SLA
 Language Aptitude

☙ What is language (or linguistic) aptitude?

It is the innate/natural ability to learn a
language.

 L2 learner with high language aptitude

can learn more quickly and easily than a
learner with low language aptitude.
Language Aptitude

☙ The natural ability includes:

1. identification of sound patterns
2. recognition of grammatical functions
of words in sentences (the relationship
among words in a sentence: subject or
object to a verb)
3. inference of language rules
4. memory of language materials
Language Aptitude

Note…
These abilities are predictors of L2
success.
They are developed overtime and
varied among the learners.
 Intelligence

As a non-linguistic factor affecting SLA

 Intelligence

☙ The definition of intelligence:

It is the good mental ability to learn and
understand.
☙ Intelligence and SLA:
High I.Q. (intelligence quotient) or
intelligence may help speed learning but it
is not a direct result of partial or complete
failure in SLA (underachievement).
 Motivation

As a non-linguistic factor affecting SLA

Motivation

☙ The definition of motivation:

It is the desire to do something.
Note…
The learners create the favorable
feeling which supports them
emotionally and psychologically in the
learning process.
 Types of motivation in L2 learning

instrumental integrative
motivation motivation

Learning an L2 can Learning an L2 is for

be a useful satisfactory
instrument to communication in L2
achieve other situation and having
goals. contact with its
people & culture.
Motivation & Attitude

Note…
 L2 learner’s motivation is very much related to
learner’s attitude towards the L2 community.
 If the L2 learner has positive attitudes towards
the L2 community, he wishes for more intensive
contact with the L2 native speakers, i.e. has
integrative motivation.
 But if the L2 learner has negative attitudes
towards the L2 community, strong internal
barriers against SLA may be built and learning will
proceed only to the minimum required level.
 Factors Affecting Motivation

intrinsic extrinsic

These factors arise These factors come

from the learners from school and its
themselves. system; home and
society.

Positive
Negative Motivation
Neutral
 Factors contribute to
positive motivation
☙ Factors contribute to positive motivation in home
and society:
- the encouragement of parents and other members
of the family
- the importance of the L2 in the society as a whole
☙ Factors contribute to positive motivation in
schools:
- good teachers, excellent textbooks and other
facilities which may have a significant role
- repeated success in the classroom
Factors contribute to
negative motivation
☙ Factors contribute to negative motivation in
home and society:
- bad experiences among family or members of
society, such as the L2 is difficult to learn or there
is no need to learn it
☙ Factors contribute to negative motivation in
schools:
- failure inside the classroom; learners begin to
dislike the second language, its teacher, the
school and himself
 Anxiety

As a non-linguistic factor affecting SLA

Anxiety

☙ What is anxiety?
Anxiety is an emotional condition
where the learner feels insecure in
the learning process. This leads to
psychological barriers that prevent
the student from communication.
Anxiety

☙ Factors cause anxiety:

Anxiety is a result of certain personal
factors, such as:
- Some learners are naturally more anxious
than others whatever the situation is.
- Learners may have bad experience of
failure which cause them to become
anxious quickly.
Anxiety

☙ What makes anxiety down?

A sympathetic teacher and a
cooperative atmosphere in the
classroom may have a supportive
effect to reduce learner’s anxiety to
an acceptable level.
 Personality

As a non-linguistic factor affecting SLA

Personality

Personality characteristics are likely to

influence SLA positively or negatively.
Positively:
(1) extroversion
(2) self-esteem
Negatively:
(1) introversion
(2) egocentrism
 Preferable Characteristics

☙ Extroversion
Outgoing learners are easily involved in
social interactions inside and outside the
classroom. They obtain more language input
and more practice in using an L2.
☙ Self-esteem
Self-confidence. Learners of such a
characteristic are less likely to feel threatened
when communicating in an L2 with which the
learner feels strange in an unfamiliar situation.
Non-preferable Characteristics

☙ Introversion
Introvert learners are more interested in
their own thoughts and feelings rather in
social interactions with other learners around
them.
☙ Egocentrism
Egocentric learners are self-conscious
and they do not take risk in learning. They
rarely take part in communication situations.
 Age

As a non-linguistic factor affecting SLA

 Age

It is commonly believed that children are faster

than adults in learning foreign languages. Children
can gain a high level of mastery over an L2, whereas
adults cannot.
Children acquiring an L2 in the L2 environment
are more likely to sound like native speakers than
adults are. The most common explanation for such
observation is that there is a critical period during
which the brain is flexible and learning can occur
naturally and effortlessly. This period ends around
puberty.
 Age

☙ There are a number of reasons for such observational

efficiency in language learning by younger learners over
older learners:
1. Younger learners’ brains retain plasticity, whereas older
learners lose it.
2. Children are exposed to simple language, which is
easier to process and understand, for longer periods of
time.
3. Children receive more intensive attention from both
adults and other children native speakers of the L2.
 Age

4. Children do not have barriers to interaction and

learning the L2 since they do not hold negative
attitudes towards native speakers of the L2 and are
unaware of factors such as fear of rejection.
5. Children are less analyzers than adults and are
unconscious of the learning processes, with which
learning goes through its proper course in a natural and
easy way.
6. Children have a clear communicative need for learning
an L2 such as watching TV in which the L2 is the
language used, or playing with the other children with
who the L2 is the only form of communication.
 Conclusion

☙ This chapter has briefly discussed the most

common non linguistic factor which may
relate to the success of L2 learning.
☙ Some of these linguistic factors have a
somewhat measurable effect on learning an
L2, such as motivation and age.
☙ Others may have a weak effect, such as
language aptitude, intelligence, anxiety and
personality.
LANGUAGE LEARNING
STRATEGIES
 Introduction
■ L2 learning strategies play a significant role in the
learning process.
■ The L2 learning strategies can be taught, and
acquiring them can make a substantial difference
in learner achievement.
■ Learning strategies influence two aspects of
learning: the rate of acquisition and the ultimate
level of achievement.
■ The learners’ level of L2 proficiency and their
language success can affect the choice of
strategies.
Ellis (1994)
■ Ellis has shown that individual learner differences
together with various situational factors determine
the learner’s choice of learning strategies.
Individual learner
Differences:
beliefs
- affective states
- learner factors Learning
Learner’s choice of outcomes:
- learning experience learning: - rate of
- quantity acquisition
Situational and Social - type - level of
factors: achievement
- target language
- task performance
- sex
 Definitions of Learning
Strategies
■ O’Malley et al. (1985)
– ‘Learning strategies have been broadly
defined as any set of operations or steps
used by a learner that will facilitate the
acquisition, storage, retrieval or use of
information.’
 Definitions of Learning
Strategies
■ Charmot (1987)
– ‘Learning strategies are technique,
approaches or deliberate actions that
students take in order to facilitate the
learning, recall of both linguistic and
content area information.’
 Definitions of Learning
Strategies
■ Rubin (1987)
– ‘… learner strategies include any set of
operations, steps, plans, routines used be
the learner to facilitate the obtaining,
storage, retrieval, and use of information’.
 Definitions of Learning
Strategies
■ Oxford (1989)
– ‘Language learning strategies are
behaviours or actions which learners use
to make language learning more
successful, self-directed, and enjoyable’.
 Definitions of Learning
Strategies
■ Cohen (1998)
– ‘… those processes which are consciously
selected by learners and which may result
in action taken to enhance the learning or
use of a second or foreign language,
through the storage, retention, recall, and
application of information about the
language’.
 Characteristics of Language
Learning Strategies
The main characteristics of language learning
strategies which learners develop to overcome
some particular learning problems:
1. Strategies involve linguistic behaviour (e.g.
requesting the name of an object) and non-
linguistic behaviour (e.g. pointing at an object
so as to be told its name).
 Characteristics of Language
Learning Strategies
2. Some strategies are behavioural (directly
observable such as repetition of some words or
language items for the sake of better
pronunciation or recognition, etc.) while others
are mental (not directly observable such as
internalization of items of languages, etc.).
3. Strategies are behaviour amenable to
change; they can be modified, rejected; new
strategies can be learned/taught.
 Characteristics of Language
Learning Strategies
4. Strategies are systematic; learners uncover
the strategies from their knowledge of the
problem and employ it systematically.
5. In the main, strategies contribute indirectly to
learning by providing learners with data about
the L2 which they can then process. However,
some strategies may also contribute directly
(e.g., memorization strategies directed at
specific lexical items or grammatical rules).
 Characteristics of Language
Learning Strategies
6. Strategy use or communicative strategies
vary considerably as a result of both the
kinds of task the learner is engaged in and
individual learner preferences.
LANGUAGE LEARNING
STRATEGIES
Types of Language Learning
Strategies

Two taxonomies
contribute to the
knowledge of O’Malley et al.
learning strategies:
Oxford
 O’Malley et al.’s Framework

After an extensive research based on

cognitive psychology, O’Malley and his
colleagues have defined three main types of
strategy used by L2 learners:

Metacognitive Cognitive Social

strategies strategies strategies
 O’Malley et al.’s Framework
Metacognitive Strategies
■ Metacognitive strategies are executive skills
that involve planning and thinking about
learning, monitoring or evaluating the success
of a learning activity.
 O’Malley et al.’s Framework
Metacognitive Strategies
Learning Strategy Description
Making a general but
comprehensive preview of the
Advanced organizers
organizing concept or principle in
an anticipated activity.
Deciding in advance to attend to a
Directed attention learning task and to ignore
irrelevant distracters.
Deciding in advance to attend to
Selective attention
specific aspects of language input.
 O’Malley et al.’s Framework
Metacognitive Strategies
Learning Strategy Description
Understanding the conditions that help
Self-management one to learn and arranging for the
presence of those conditions.
Planning for and preparing oneself for
Functional planning
any necessity.
Correcting one’s speech for accuracy in
pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, or
Self-monitoring
for appropriateness as related to the
setting or the people who are present.
 O’Malley et al.’s Framework
Metacognitive Strategies
Learning Strategy Description
Consciously deciding to postpone
Delayed production speaking in order to learn initially
through listening comprehension.
Checking the outcome of one’s
own language learning against an
Self-evaluation
internal measure of completeness
and accuracy.
 O’Malley et al.’s Framework
Cognitive Strategies
■ Cognitive strategies are more directly to
individual learning tasks and entail direct
manipulation or transformation of the
learning materials in ways that enhance
learning.
 O’Malley et al.’s Framework
Cognitive Strategies
Learning Strategy Description
Imitating a language model, including
Repetition
overt practice and silent rehearsal.
Resourcing Using the L2 reference materials.
Using the L1 as a base for understanding
Translation
and/or producing the L2.
Reordering or reclassifying, and
Grouping perhaps labeling the material to be
learned based on common attributes.
 O’Malley et al.’s Framework
Cognitive Strategies
Learning Strategy Description
Writing down the main idea, important
Note taking points, outline, or summary of information
presented orally or in writing.
Consciously applying rules to produce
Deduction
or understand the L2.
Constructing a meaningful sentence or
larger language sequence by
Recombination
combining the known elements in a
new way.
 O’Malley et al.’s Framework
Cognitive Strategies
Learning Strategy Description
Relating new information to
visual concepts in memory via
Imagery
familiar, easily retrievable
visualization,
Retention of the sound or a
Auditory representation similar sound for a word, phrase,
or larger sequences.
 O’Malley et al.’s Framework
Cognitive Strategies
Learning Strategy Description
Remembering a new word in the L2 by (1)
identifying a familiar word in the L1 that
sounds like or otherwise resembles the
Keyword new word (Transfer), and (2) generating
easily recalled images of some
relationship between the new word and
the familiar word (Overgeneralization).
Placing a word or phrase in a
Contextualization
meaningful language sequence.
 O’Malley et al.’s Framework
Cognitive Strategies
Learning Strategy Description
Relating new information to other
Elaboration
concepts in memory.
Using previously acquired linguistic
Transfer and/or conceptual knowledge to
facilitate a new language learning task.
Using available information to guess
Inferencing meaning of new items, predict
outcomes or fill in missing information.
 O’Malley et al.’s Framework
Social Strategies
■ Social strategies refer to learning by
interacting with other people.
Learning Strategy Description
Working with one or more peers to
Cooperation obtain feedback, pool information, or
model a language activity.
Asking a teacher, a peer or a native
Question for
speaker for repetition, paraphrasing,
clarification
explanation and/or examples.
 O’Malley et al.’s Framework
■ The type of strategy varies according to:
 the task (the students are engaged in) e.g.
 a listening task leads to the metacognitive strategies of
selective attention and problem identification as well as
self-monitoring, and to the cognitive strategies of note
taking, inferencing and memorizing as well as elaboration.
 a vocabulary task leads to the metacognitive strategies of
self-monitoring and self-evaluation, and to the cognitive
strategies of sourcing and elaboration.
 the students’ level e.g.
 intermediate students use slightly less strategies in total
but proportionately more metacognitive strategies.
Types of Language Learning
Strategies

Two taxonomies
contribute to the
knowledge of O’Malley et al.
learning strategies:
Oxford
 Oxford’s Classification

I. Memory strategies
Direct strategies II. Cognitive strategies
Learning III. Compensation strategies
strategies I. Metacognitive strategies
Indirect strategies II. Affective strategies
III. Social strategies

Diagram of the strategy system (Oxford 1990)

 Oxford’s Classification
■ Oxford (1990) draws a distinction between two major
classes of strategies:
– direct _that consist of strategies that directly involve
in the L2 in the sense that they require mental
processing of language.
– indirect _that provide indirect support for language
learning through focusing, planning, evaluating,
seeking opportunities, controlling anxiety, increasing
cooperation and empathy and other means.
■ This distinction is parallel to O’Malley et al.’s distinction
between cognitive and metacognitive strategies
respectively.
■ Both direct and indirect strategies provide support for
one another and are applicable to all language skills.
 Oxford’s Classification
Direct Strategies
A. Creating mental linkage
B. Applying images and
I. Memory sounds
Strategies C. Reviewing well
D. Employing
A. Practicing
B. Receiving and sending
II. Cognitive Messages
Strategies C. Analyzing and reasoning
D. Creating structure for
input & output
III. Compensation A. Guessing intelligently
Strategies B. Overcoming limitations in
speaking and writing
Diagram of the strategy system: Direct and Indirect strategy
groups and sets (Oxford 1990)
Indirect Strategies
A. Centering your learning
I. Metacognitive B. Arranging and planning your
Strategies learning
C. Evaluating your learning
A. Lowering your anxiety
II. Affective
B. Encourage yourself
Strategies
C. Taking your emotional
temperature
A. Asking questions
III. Social
Strategies B. Cooperating with others
C. Empathizing with others
 Oxford’s Classification
■ Direct strategies include:
– memory strategies (for remembering and retrieving new
information)
– cognitive strategies (for understanding and producing
the language)
– compensation strategies (for using the language to
make up for the lack of relevant knowledge)
■ Indirect strategies are divided into:
– metacognitive strategies (for coordinating the learning
process)
– affective strategies (for regulating emotions)
– social strategies (for learning with others)
LANGUAGE LEARNING
STRATEGIES
 Factors Affecting Strategy
Choice
1) Age
2) Aptitude
3) Motivation
4) Personality
5) The learner’s personal background
6) Situational and social factors
 Age

■ Young children tend to employ strategies in a task-specific

manner, while older children and adults make use of
generalized strategies which they employ more flexibly.
■ Young children’s strategies are often simple, while mature
learners'’ strategies are more complex and sophisticated.
■ These differences may help explain why older children ,
adolescents and adults generally learn faster initially than
younger children.
■ This advantage is more evident in grammar and vocabulary,
for which there are many learning strategies, rather than
pronunciation, for which there are few.
 Aptitude

■ Aptitude is not strongly related to strategy use.

■ However, Leino (1982) found that learners with high
conceptual levels were better at describing their strategies
than learners with low conceptual levels.
■ It is possible that learning strategies are related to that part
of language aptitude shared with a general intelligence
factor.
 Motivation

■ Highly motivated learners were found to use more

strategies relating to formal practice, functional practice,
general study, and conversation/ input elicitation than
poorly motivated learners.
■ The type of motivation may also influence strategy choice.
For example, an instrumental motivation can result in a
preference for more communication-oriented strategies.
 Personality

■ There is a close relationship between personality types and

strategy choice. For example,
– extroverts are credited with a willingness to take risk
but with dependency on outside stimulation and
interaction.
– Introverts reported significantly greater use of
strategies that involved searching for and
communicating meaning than did extroverts.
 The learner’s personal
background
■ There is considerable evidence to support a link between
learners’ personal background and strategy use. For
example,
– Ehrman (1990) found that students with at least five
years of study reported using more functional practice
strategies than students with four years or fewer.
– Chamot et al. (1988) found that novice high school
learners of a foreign language (FL) were likely to panic
when they realized they lacked procedural skills for
solving a language problem. On the other hand, expert
learners (who had studied another FL previously)
approached tasks calmly and were able to employ the
strategies they had developed elsewhere,.
 Situational and social factors

■ Situational factors refer to the language being learnt, the

setting in which learning takes place, and the tasks that the
learner is asked to perform.
■ A number of differences between the learning strategies
used by learners in a classroom as opposed to those used
in a more natural setting have been found.
■ Studies of classroom learners suggested that social
strategies (such as questioning for clarification,
cooperation, etc.) are rare. However, it is likely that in many
classrooms the kind of interaction that takes place affords
little opportunity for the use of social strategies.
 Situational and social factors

■ The research has also shown that task type had an

influence on learners’ choice of both cognitive and
metacognitive strategies. For example, Chamot et al. (1987
and 1988) found that
– vocabulary tasks led to the use of cognitive strategies
of ‘resourcing’ and ‘elaboration’ and the metacognitive
strategies of ‘self-monitoring’, and ‘self-evaluation’,
– listening tasks, on the other hand, led to ‘note taking’,
‘elaboration’, ‘inferencing’, and ‘summarizing’ as
cognitive strategies, and to ‘selective attention’, ‘self-
monitoring’, and ‘problem-identification’ as
metacognitive strategies.
 Good Language Learning
Strategies
■ Many studies have been carried out to find what people
who were known to be good at learning languages had in
common. For example, Naiman et al. (1978)found the
following broad strategies which were shared by good
language learners:
1) The learner finds a learning style that suits him.
2) The learner involves himself in the language learning
process.
3) The learners develop an awareness of language both as
system and communication.
4) The learner pays constant attention to expanding his
language knowledge
5) The learner takes into account the demands that L2
learning imposes.
 Good Language Learning
Strategies
■ Rubin and Thompson (1982) later added to this list the
following:
1) Good language learners learn to live with uncertainty and
develop strategies for making sense if the L2 without
wanting to understand every word.
2) Good language learners use mnemonics (rhymes, word
associations, etc.) to recall what has been learned.
3) Good language learners make use of their errors to
discover the L2 and to make inferences of its rules.
4) Good language learners use linguistic knowledge,
including knowledge of their L1 in mastering L2.
5) Good language learners learn different styles of speech
and writing and learn to vary their language according to
the formality of the situation.
 Language Learning Strategies
and Language Teaching
■ Many researchers argue strategy training that can generally
help the students to be aware of strategies rather than
teaching them specific strategies.
■ The following are the main points that may help the teacher
to better train his/her students take on responsibility for their
learning:
1) The teacher may exploit good language learning strategies
with his students and make them aware of these strategies
so they can choose the ones which suit them.
2) The teacher may train his students to develop their learning
independency from him.
3) The teacher may make his students aware of a range of
strategies they can adopt.
4) The teacher may explain to his/her students the similarities
and differences between learning an L2 and learning other
school subjects.
THANK YOU!