Is language a “set of habits”

or a “system of internalized
rules”?

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 Schools of
Thought in
Second Language
Acquisition
 Definitions of L1 & L2

• Definition of “first language” (L1):

– The language(s) that an individual
learns first.
– Other terms for “first language”-
• Native language or mother tongue

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 Definitions of L1 & L2

• Definition of “second language” (L2):

– Any language other than the first language learned (in a
broader sense).
– A language learned after the first language in a context where
the language is used widely in the speech community (in a
narrower sense).
• e.g., For many people in Taiwan, their L1 is Taiwanese
and L2 is Mandarin.

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 Definitions of FL & TL

• Definition of “foreign language” (FL)

– A second (or third, or fourth) language learned in a
context where the language is NOT widely used in the
speech community. This is often contrasted with
second language learning in a narrower sense.
e.g., English or Japanese is a foreign language for
people in Taiwan.

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 Definitions of FL & TL

• Definition of “target language” (TL)

– A language which is being learned, where it is
the first language or a second, third language.
e.g., English is a target language for you now.

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 Theories
◎ Structural Linguistics and
Behavioral Psychology
◎ • Generative Linguistics and
Cognitive Psychology
◎ • Constructivism: A
Multidisciplinary Approach
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Structural Linguistics
and Behavioral
Psychology

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 Structuralism

◎ In the 1940s and 1950s, the school of structural or

descriptive linguistics, with its advocates —
Leonard Bloomfield, Edward Sapir, Charles
Hockett, Charles Fries, and others — prided itself
on a rigorous application of the scientific principle
of observation of human languages.

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Only “publicly observable responses”
could be investigated. The linguist’s
task, according to the structuralist, was
to describe human languages ​and
identify the structural characteristics of
those languages.

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An important axiom of structural
linguistics was that “languages ​can differ
from one another without limit” and that
no preconceptions can be applied in this
field. Freeman Twaddell affirmed this
principle in perhaps its most extreme
terms:
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The structural linguist examined only openly
observable data. Such attitudes prevail in BF
Skinner‘s thinking, particularly in Verbal
Behavior, in which he said that any notion of
“idea” or “meaning” is explanatory fiction
and that the speaker is simply the locus of
verbal behavior, not the cause.
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Of greater importance to the structural or
descriptive linguist was the notion that language
could be dismantled into small pieces or units and
that these units could be scientifically described,
contrasted, and added back to form the whole. Out
of this principle sprang a rampant rush of linguists,
in the 1940s and 1950s, to the ends of the earth to
write the grammars of exotic languages.

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While Wundt is often listed
as the founder of
structuralism, he never
actually used the term.

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It was his student, Edward
B. Titchener, who invented
the term structuralism.

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Structuralist linguistic focuses on the

Structure

Form
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Ferdinand de Saussure, (born Nov. 26, 1857,
Geneva, Switz.—died Feb. 22, 1913,
Vufflens-le-Château)

father of structural linguistics

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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.

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◎ Saussure explains that language, as a social
system, is neither situated in speech nor in the
mind. It only properly exists between the two
within the loop. It is located in – and is the
product of – the collective mind of the
linguistic group.

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 Leonard Bloomfield

founder of structural linguistics

in America influenced by
structuralist ideas initiated by
Saussure in Europe
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Structural Linguistics should be
understood as a set of
investigations that start from the
hypothesis that the description of
language as a structure is
scientifically true.

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Structural linguistics is defined as
a study of language based on the
theory that language is a
structured system of formal
units, such as sentences and
syntax.
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An example of
structural linguistics is
phonetics.

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It is one of the schools of linguistics that sees
language as a body that can be descriptively
analyzed into levels: phonology, dealing with
sound system, morphology, dealing with
word-structures, syntax, dealing with sentence
structures, and semantics dealing with
meanings of language.

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According to Bloomfield, a phoneme influences
the change of meaning, a morpheme has or
indicates the meaning, words have lexical
meaning, phrases and sentences have structural
or grammatical meanings.

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Behaviorism
◎1940’s-1950’s
◎-It focused only on
publicly observable
behaviors.

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Behavioral psychology is the
study of how our behaviors
relate to our mind – it looks at
our behavior through the lens
of psychology and draws a
link between the two.

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Behavioral Psychology

Response

Reinforcement

Stimulus

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The origins of behavioural psychology
start with John B. Watson in 1913, who
proposed that psychologists should focus
on the observable behavior of
individuals, rather than the invisible,
inner workings of their minds.
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Later on, B. F. Skinner developed
this theory and showed evidence in
favor of it – becoming one of the
most important psychologists of the
20th century in the process.

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He theorized that all of human
behavior was shaped by our
environment, that we could be made
to act in certain ways depending on
the prior consequences of previous
actions.

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He stated, “Give me a child, and I’ll
shape him into anything” – a
paraphrasing of his belief in the
power of the environment to impact
who we become.

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Behaviorism was essentially
an argument entirely in favor
of nurture, in the nature versus
nurture debate.

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A behavioral paradigm also
focused on publicly observable
responses, those that can be
objectively perceived, recorded
and measured.

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Notions such as intuition,
memory, thinking, or any
mental processes were
ignored.

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◎Learning a behavior: through
conditioning ‘organisms’ to
respond in desired ways to stimuli.
◎ Practice/ drilling is important.

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Reinforcement (Positive or
negative) plays an important
role in learning.

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 BEHAVIORISM: THE SECOND LANGUAGE VIEW

All learning, whether verbal or non-

verbal takes place through the same
underlying process, habit formation.
Learners receive linguistic input from
speakers in their environment, and
positive reinforcement for their correct
repetitions and imitations.
 BEHAVIORISM: THE SECOND LANGUAGE VIEW

As a result, habit are formed.

Because language development is
described as the acquisition of a set of
habits, it is assumed that a person
learning a second language starts off
with the habit associated with the first
language.
 BEHAVIORISM: THE SECOND LANGUAGE VIEW

For the behaviorist, errors are seen as

first language habits interfering with the
acquisition of second language habits.
This psychological learning theory has
often been linked to the contrastive
analysis hypothesis (CAH).
 BEHAVIORISM: THE SECOND LANGUAGE VIEW

The CAH predicts that where there are

similarities between the two languages,
the learner will acquire target language
structure with ease; where there are
differences, the learner will have difficulty.
Researchers have found that not all
errors predicted by the CAH are actually
made.
For example:
Adult beginners use simple structures in
the target language just as children do: ‘ No
understand’ or ‘ Yesterday I meet my
teacher’..
 Typical behavioral models
were

◎ classical and operant conditioning,

◎ verbal rote learning, instrumental
learning,
◎ discrimination learning, and
◎ other empirical approaches to studying
human behavior
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◎ Classical conditioning (also known
as Pavlovian or respondent conditioning)
is a behavioral procedure in which a
biologically potent stimulus (e.g. food) is
paired with a previously neutral stimulus
(e.g. a bell).

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◎It also refers to the learning process that
results from this pairing, through which
the neutral stimulus comes to elicit a
response (e.g. salivation) that is usually
similar to the one elicited by the potent
stimulus.
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◎Classical conditioning is distinct from
operant conditioning (also called
instrumental conditioning), through
which the strength of voluntary
behavior is modified by reinforcement
or punishment.

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◎However, classical conditioning
can affect operant conditioning in
various ways; notably, classically
conditioned stimuli may serve to
reinforce operant responses.

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• Language development as habit
formation;
• A person learning an L2 starts with
the habits formed in L1 (transfer)
• These habits interfere with the new
ones needed for the second
language;
• CAH
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Generative Linguistics

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The generative approach to
second language (L2) acquisition (SLA) is a cognitive
based theory of SLA that applies theoretical insights
developed from within generative linguistics to
investigate how second languages and dialects are
acquired and lost by individuals learning naturalistically
or with formal instruction in foreign, second language
and lingua franca settings.

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Central to generative linguistics is the concept of
Universal Grammar (UG), a part of an innate,
biologically endowed language faculty which refers to
knowledge alleged to be common to all human
languages.
UG includes both invariant principles as well as
parameters that allow for variation which place
limitations on the form and operations of grammar.

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As generative second language research
endeavors to explain the totality of L2
acquisition phenomena, it is also concerned
with investigating the extent of
linguistic transfer, maturational effects on
acquisition, and why some learners fail to
acquire a target-like L2 grammar even with
abundant input.
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Furthermore, studying L2 acquisition
through a generative lens give linguists
a better idea of the natural constraints
on human languages and the inner
workings of Universal Grammar.

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In the 1960s, the generative-transformational
linguistics school emerged thanks to the
influence of Noam Chomsky. Chomsky was
trying to show that human language cannot be
scrutinized simply in terms of observable
stimuli and responses or the volumes of raw
data collected by field linguists.

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The first seeds of the generative-transformative
revolution were planted at the beginning of the 20th
century. Ferdinand de Saussure claimed that there was a
difference between probation (what Skinner “observes”
and what Chomsky called performance) and langue
(similar to the concept of competence, or our underlying
and unobservable linguistic ability).

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◎ The generative linguist was interested not only
in describing language (reaching the level of
descriptive adequacy) but also in reaching an
explanatory level of adequacy in the study of
language, that is, a “basis of principles,
independent of any particular language,” for
the selection of the descriptively adequate
grammar of each language.
◎

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A few decades later, however, descriptive
linguists largely chose to ignore the
language and study probation, as noted
above. The revolution brought about by
generative linguistics broke with
descriptivist's’ preoccupation with

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performance (the external manifestation of
language) and capitalized on the important
distinction between the overtly observable
aspects of language and the hidden levels of
meaning and thought that give birth and
generate observable linguistic performance.

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Linguistics goes beyond mere
description of the surface structure
of language.

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-Studying competence reveals the hidden
level of meaning and thought (deep
structure) that generates the observable
performance. -learning language: language
is species- specific; it is innate: human
beings are born with the ability to learn
language.
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They broke away from the
structuralists’ insistence on only
studying observable language
(performance).

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COGNITIVE THEORY: A NEW
PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH

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Cognitivists sought to discover
underlying motivation and
deeper structures of human
behavior.

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Instead of focusing on the
mechanical stimulus-response
connections, cognitivists tried to
focus on psychological principles
of organization and functioning.

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It involves the integration of linguistic,
psychological, and sociological
paradigms. It involves the integration of
linguistic, psychological, and
sociological paradigms. The active role
of the learner is emphasized.

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Cognitive constructivism:
emphasizes the role of the learner
in constructing his/her own
representation of reality:

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Learners must transform
complex information to make it
their own. A more active role for
students in their learning.

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Piaget argues that, “learning is a
developmental process that involves
change, self-generation, and
construction, each building on prior
experiences.” (in Kaufman, 2004).

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 COGNITIVE THEORY: A NEW PSYCHOLOGICAL
APPROACH

 Cognitive psychologists tend to see second

language acquisition as the building up of
knowledge systems that can eventually be
called on automatically for speaking and
understanding.
 Cognitive theory is a relative newcomer to SLA
research, and has not yet been widely tested
empirically.
 Because the theory itself cannot easily predict
what kinds of structures will be automatized
through practice and what will be restructured,
direct applications of this theory for classroom
teaching are premature.

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A cognitive theory of learning sees second
language acquisition as a conscious and
reasoned thinking process, involving the
deliberate use of learning strategies. Learning
strategies are special ways of processing
information that enhance comprehension,
learning or retention of information.

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- Meaning, understanding, and
knowing are important
psychological data.

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Cognitivists sought to discover
underlying motivation and
deeper structures of human
behavior.
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Instead of focusing on the mechanical
stimulus-response connections,
cognitivists tried to focus on
psychological principles of organization
and functioning.
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 Cognitive theory is also not able to
predict which first language structures
will be transferred which will not.
 This theory, which look at the learning
process, is incomplete without a
linguistic framework of some kind.

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 This had led some cognitive
psychologists to seek collaboration with
linguists so that the aspects of language
which are studied will have clearer
relevance to the complex phenomenon
of second language acquisition.

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◎ From the point of view of cognitive
theorists, the attempt to ignore conscious
states or to reduce cognition to mediational
processes that reflect implicit behavior not
only removes from the field of psychology
what is most worth studying but also
simplifies dangerously complex
psychological phenomena.
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 At first, learners have to pay attention to any
aspect of the language which they are trying to
understand or produce. Gradually, through
experience and practice, learners become able to
use certain parts of the knowledge so quickly
and automatically that they are not even aware
that they are doing it.
This frees them to focus on
other aspects of the language
which, in turn, gradually
become automatic (Mc
Laughlin 1987)
This explanation of language learning
contrasts strongly with the behaviorist
account of language learning, which sees
language learning as an unconscious,
automatic process.

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Both the structural linguist and the
behavioral psychologist were interested
in description, in answering what
questions about human behavior: the
objective measurement of behavior
under controlled circumstances.

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The generative linguist and the cognitive
psychologist were undoubtedly interested in the
question of what; but they were much more
interested in a more fundamental question, why:
What underlying reasons, genetic and
environmental factors, and circumstances caused
a particular event?

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 Constructivism: A
Multidisciplinary Approach

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Constructivism is not a new school of
thought. Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky,
names often associated with constructivism,
are by no means new to the language
studies scene. However, constructivism
emerged as the prevailing paradigm only in
the latter part of the 20th century.

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Constructivists, like some cognitive
psychologists, argue that all human
beings construct their own version of
reality, and thus multiple contrasting
ways of knowing and describing are
equally legitimate.

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This perspective could be described as an
emphasis on active processes of construction [of
the meaning], attention to texts as a means of
better understanding those processes, and an
interest in the nature of knowledge and its
variations, including the nature of knowledge
associated with belonging to a particular group.

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A constructivist perspective goes a bit
beyond the rationalist/nativist and
cognitive psychological perspective in
its emphasis on the primacy of the
construction of each individual’s
reality.
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Piaget and Vygotsky, both commonly
described as constructivists differ in the
extent to which each emphasizes social
context. Piaget highlighted the importance
of individual cognitive development as a
relatively solitary act.

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Biological timelines and stages of development
were basic; It was claimed that social interaction
only triggered development at the right time. On
the other hand, Vygotsky, described as a “social”
constructivist by some, argued that social
interaction was fundamental in
cognitive development and rejected the notion of
predetermined stages.

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It involves the integration of linguistic,
psychological, and sociological
paradigms. It involves the integration of
linguistic, psychological, and sociological
paradigms.

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 Social Constructivism:
emphasizes the importance of
social interaction and cooperative
learning in constructing cognitive
and emotional images of reality

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Language learning is a result of thinking
and meaning-making that is “socially
constructed and emerges out of
[learners’] social interactions with the
environment.” (Brown, p. 13)
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 What is the Best Theory?

◎No single theory is right or wrong

all the way! “Some truth can be
found in every critical approach to
the study of reality.” (Brown, p. 14)

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