Theories To Explain SLA

Second Language Learning
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Characteristics of languages
Rules or principles
Systematic Recurrent elements occur
in regular patterns
Meaning
Tacit agreement among
speakers
Symbolic
Expressive dimension of culture
Languages are acquired thorugh
Social interaction
Languages reflect the social
requirement of society
Contexts for language learning
• A child or adult learning a second language is different from a

child acquiring a first language in terms of both
1) learner characteristics
and
2) learning conditions
• Which learner characteristics might affect second/foreign
language acquisition?
• Which learning conditions might enhance or prevent L2/FL
learning
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Learner Characteristics
L1 L2
Child Child Adolescent Adult
(informal (formal) (informal
) )
1. Knowledge of another language - ? + +
2. Cognitive maturity - - + +
3. Metalinguistic awareness - ? + +
4. World Knowledge - - + +
5. Anxiety about speaking - - + +
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Learning Conditions
L1 L2
Child Child Adolescent Adult
Learning Conditions (informal) (formal) (informal
)
6. Freedom to be silent + + - -
7. Ample time & contact

+ + - ?
- - + -
8. Corrective feedback: (grammar and pronunciation)
9. Corrective feedback: (meaning, word choice, politeness) + + + +
10. Modified input + + + +
Child-directed Foreigner talk or
speech Teacher talk
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Explaining Second Language Acquisition
Contrastive Analysis Cognitive

Developmental theories Interlanguage
Behaviourism
Hypotesis
Psychological
Information processing
Theories
Connectionism
Competition model
Constructivism
Innatism
Chomsky, 1959
Universal Grammar
Critical Period Hypothesis.
Sociocultural
Universal Grammar Perspectives
Monitor Model
1
1 Contrastive Analysis (CA)
Similarities and differencies between L1 and L2. 2
Learning : imitation, practice, reinforcement, and habit
formation
It had a powerful influence on second and foreign language
teaching between the 1940s and the 1970s.
3
The Audiolingual method. Students memorized dialogues
and sentence patterns by heart.
Learning a language is a process of habit formation: habits
4
of L1 will surely interfere with the new habits of L2 that the
learner wants to form.
5
1
1 Language Transfer or Interference
Positive Transfer: L1 and L2 habits or patterns are similar 2
Negative Interference: L1 and L2 are different

3
5
1
2 – Error Analysis
Pit Corder (1967)
2
inner forces (interacting with the environment) drive learning, and that
the child is an active and creative participant in the process rather than a
passive recipient of language “stimuli.”
Errors 3
not as “bad habits” to be eradicated, but as sources of insight into
the learning processes.
provide evidence of the system of language which a learner is using at
any particular point in the course of L2 development, and of the strategies 4
or procedures the learner
is using in his “discovery of the language
errors are windows into the language learner’s mind.
5
Innatism
Chomsky, 1959
Universal Grammar
Critical Period Hypothesis.
Universal Grammar
Monitor Model
1
2 – Universal Grammar- Chomsky
2
UG provides the best explanation for second language
acquisition
UG is equally available (the same) to second language learners as
it was for first language learners 3
Instruction and corrective feedback change only superficial
appearance of language
Focus on Natural acquisition 4
UG has been altered; it is not the same after acquiring L1
Learners may need some explicit information and instruction
5
1
2 – Monitor Model - Krashen
It is one of the models that adopt the innatist perspective 2
It was quite influential in the 1970s.
It emphasizes the role of exposure to comprehensible input in second
language acquisition.
It is based on 5 hypotheses:
3
1. Acquisition/learning hypothesis
2. Monitor hypothesis
3. The natural order hypothesis 4
4. The input hypothesis
5. The affective filter hypothesis
5
1
The acquisition-learning hypothesis
The processing of language input provided by information vs. The processing of language
input provided by explicit teaching of grammatical rules (having a conscious knowledge
about grammar)
2
The monitor hypothesis: learners use to edit their own language performance by
modifying utterances which are generated from the acquired knowledge (competence)
The natural-order hypothesis: Language learners acquire properties of an L2 in a

predictable order through a series of common transitional stages in moving towards target/ 3
2nd language forms. Exception: morphemes & conjunctions
The input hypothesis: Input is the most important factor in SLA; it affects the progress of
the learner in learning the L2.T
Comprehensible input:Adequate to the level of learners. Clear (pronunciation + grammar) 4
The affective filter hypothesis
Non-linguistic factors affecting SLA: MOTIVES, NEEDS, ATTITUDES, EMOTIONAL STREES,
ETC.
5
Which of Krashen's Hypotheses apply to this student?
Cognitive
Developmental theories
Psychological
Information processing
Theories
Connectionism
Competition model
1
3 – Cognitive Developmental Theories
No need for a separate model of the language in the mind.

2
Language learning is explained within theories of learning.
Information processing: Paying attention and practicing. Declarative
knowledge becomes Procedural knowledge. Language becomes automatic. 3
The interaction hypothesis: Modified input, opportunity to interact.
Conversational modification
Connectionism: The competition model: frequency of encountering certain
language features in the input allow learners to make connections. The
competition model.
4
5
1
3 – Interaction
Long’s original formulation (1983) of the Interaction Hypothesis:
1. Interactional modification makes input comprehensible; 2
2. Comprehensible input promotes acquisition;
Therefore,
3. Interactional modification promotes acquisition.
Modified interaction involves linguistic simplifications and conversational 3

modifications (elaboration, slower speech rate, gesture, additional contextual cues,
comprehension checks, clarification requests, and self-repetition or paraphrase)
Emphasis is placed on the importance of corrective feedback during interaction.-

“negotiating for meaning” is seen as the opportunity forlanguage development.
“Comprehensible output hypothesis” (Swain, 1985)The demands of producing
4
comprehensible output “push” learners ahead in their development.
5
1
3 – Noticing
The Noticing Hypothesis 2
Noticing Hypothesis (Schmidt, 1990, 2001)-
Nothing is learned unless it has been noticed.
- Noticing does not itself result in acquisition, but it is the
essential starting point.
- L2 learners could not begin to acquire a language feature
3
until they had become aware of it in the input.
- Whether learners must be aware that they are “noticing”
something in the input in order to acquire linguistic feature is 4
considered debatable.
5
1
3 – Input processing
Input processing (VanPatten, 2004) 2
- Learners have limited processing capacity and cannot pay
attention to form and meaning at the same time.
- They tend to give priority to meaning. When the context in
which they hear a sentence helps them make sense of it, they 3
do not notice details of the language form.
5
1
3 – Processability Theory
Processability theory (Pienemann, 1999, 2003) 2
- The research showed that the sequence of development for features of
syntax and morphology was affected by how easy these were to process.
- - It integrates developmental sequences with L1 influence.
- - Learners do not simply transfer features from their L1at early stages of
acquisition.
3
- - They have to develop a certain level of processing capacity in the L2
before they can use their knowledgemof the features that already exist in
their L1.
4
5
Constructivism
Sociocultural
Perspectives
1
4 – Sociocultural Perspective
Vygotsky’s theory proposes:

2
Cognitive development, including language development, arises as a result of
social interaction.
Learning occurs how? When an individual interacts with an interlocutor within
his ZPD ( a situation where the learner is capable of performing at a higher
3
level because there is support from the interlocutor)
Focus on input and output in the interaction.
Cognitive development starts from the social context then become
internalized.
4
5
1
5 – Interlanguage
Selinker (1972)
2
creative process, driven by inner forces in interaction with
environmental factors, and influenced both by L1 and by
input from the target language.
3
5
1
5 – Interlanguage
Systematic governed by rules which constitute the learner’s internal 2
grammar.
Learner language
Dynamic. changes frequently, or is in a state of flux,
Variable. Although the IL is systematic, differences in context result 3
in different patterns of language use
Reduced system, both in form and function. The characteristic of
reduced form refers to the less complex grammatical structures that
typically occur in an IL compared to the target language 4
5
There is no agreement on a “complete” theory of second language acquisition yet.
Each theoretical framework has a different focus and its limitations.
Behaviorism: emphasizing stimuli and responses, but ignoring the mental

processes that are involved in learning.
Innatism: innate LAD, based on intuitions
Information processing and connectionism: involving controlled laboratory

experiments where human learning is similar to computer processing.
Interactionist position: modification of interaction promotes language

acquisition and development.

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Second Language Learning

• A child or adult learning a second language is different from a

5. Anxiety about speaking - - + +

7. Ample time & contact

Contrastive Analysis Cognitive

Negative Interference: L1 and L2 are different

The natural-order hypothesis: Language learners acquire properties of an L2 in a

No need for a separate model of the language in the mind.

Modified interaction involves linguistic simplifications and conversational 3

Emphasis is placed on the importance of corrective feedback during interaction.-

Vygotsky’s theory proposes:

Behaviorism: emphasizing stimuli and responses, but ignoring the mental

Innatism: innate LAD, based on intuitions

Information processing and connectionism: involving controlled laboratory

Interactionist position: modification of interaction promotes language

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