What is second language acquisition (SLA)?

SLA is the way in which people learn a language other than their mother tongue inside or
outside the classroom.

What is the reason for the emergence of the systematic study of how people acquire a
second language?

Is the emergence of the systematic study of how people acquire L2 haphazard/accidental

? Elucidate /illuminate /illustrate.

No, this has been a time of the global village and the world wide web when learning a
language became as a means of obtaining an education or securing employment .At such a
time there is an obvious need to discover about how second languages are learned.

What are the goals of studying SLA?

1-The description of L2 acquisition i.e.to describe how L2 acquisition proceeds and explain
this process and why some learners seem to be better at it than others.

2-The description and identification of the external and the internal factors that account for
why learners acquire an L2 in the way they do.

What are the external and internal factors that account for why learners acquire an L2 in the
way they do?

Factors

External factors Internal factors

1-social milieu in which the leaning takes place 1- cognitive mechanisms

2-The input (simplified or natural) which enable the learner
to extract information
about L2 from the input.
L2 learner bring enormous
amount of knowledge to
the task of learning an L2
because
A-They have learnt a
language L1 and we
expect them to draw on
them when learning L2.
B-They possess general
knowledge about the
world which they can
draw on to help them
understand L2 input
C-Possess communication
strategies that can
help them to make
effective use of their

1
 L2 knowledge.
D-Learners are equipped
with knowledge of
how language in
general work. This
help them to learn a
particular lang.,for
example, There are
inbuilt constraints on
what is grammatically
possible).
E-There are a set of
inherent factors that
explain the individual
differences in the rate
of learning(aptitude
,natural disposition) .

Second-language acquisition (W)

Second-language acquisition, second-language learning, or L2 (language 2)

acquisition, is the scientific discipline devoted to studying the process by which
people learn a second language. It is often abbreviated to SLA..

It refers to any language learned in addition to a person's first language; although the
concept is named second-language acquisition, it can also incorporate the learning of
third, fourth, or subsequent languages. The field of second-language acquisition is a
sub-discipline of applied linguistics, but also receives research attention from a
variety of other disciplines, such as psychology and education.

A central theme in SLA research is that of interlanguage, the idea that the language
that learners use is not simply the result of differences between the languages that
they already know and the language that they are learning, but that it is a complete
language system in its own right, with its own systematic rules. This interlanguage
gradually develops as learners are exposed to the targeted language. The order in
which learners acquire features of their new language stays remarkably constant
(persistent/ perpetual/ endless), even for learners with different native languages, and
regardless of whether they have had language instruction. However, languages that
learners already know can have a significant influence on the process of learning a
new one. This influence is known as language transfer.

The primary factor driving (motivating / energizing: give vitality and enthusiasm to)
SLA appears to be the language input that learners receive. Learners become more
advanced the longer they are immersed ( engrossed/ absorbed ) in the language they
are learning, and the more time they spend doing free voluntary reading. Interestingly,
the Monitor Model, developed by Stephen Krashen, a linguist, makes a distinction
between language acquisition and language learning (acquisition-learning distinction),
claiming that acquisition is a subconscious process, where learning is a conscious one.
According to this hypothesis, the acquisition process in L2 is the same as L1
(Language 1) acquisition. The learning process is consciously learning and inputting

2
the language being learned. [1] However, this goes as far as to state that input is all that
is required for acquisition. Subsequent work, such as the interaction hypothesis and
the comprehensible output hypothesis, has suggested that opportunities for output and
for interaction may also be necessary for learners to reach more advanced levels.

Research on how exactly learners acquire a new language spans (extents , exceeds,
overruns, transcends, surpasses) a number of different areas. Cognitive approaches
to SLA research deal with the processes in the brain that underpin ( reinforce,
support,strengthen) language acquisition, for example how paying attention to
language affects the ability to learn it, or how language acquisition is related to short-
term and long-term memory. Sociocultural approaches reject the notion that SLA is
a purely psychological phenomenon, and attempt to explain it in a social context.
Some key social factors that influence SLA are the level of immersion, connection to
the L2 community, and gender. Linguistic approaches consider language separately
from other kinds of knowledge, and attempt to use findings from the wider study of
linguistics to explain SLA. There is also a considerable body of research about how
SLA can be affected by individual factors such as age, learning strategies, and
affective factors. A commonly discussed topic regarding age in SLA is the critical
period hypothesis, which suggests that individuals lose the ability to fully learn a
language after a particular age in childhood. Another topic of interest in SLA is the
differences between adult and child learners. Learning strategies are commonly
categorized as learning or communicative strategies, and are developed to improve
their respective acquisition skills. Affective factors are emotional factors that
influence an individual's ability to learn a new language. Common affective factors
that influence acquisition are anxiety, personality, social attitudes, and motivation.

Individuals may also lose a language through a process called second-language

attrition. This is often caused by lack of use or exposure to a language over time. The
severity of attrition depends on a variety of factors including level of proficiency, age,
social factors, and motivation at the time of acquisition. Finally, classroom research
deals with the effect that language instruction has on acquisition.

Contents

 1Definitions
 2Research background
 3Stages
 4Comparisons with first-language acquisition
 5Learner language
o 5.1Interlanguage
o 5.2Sequences of acquisition
o 5.3Variability
 6Language transfer
 7Input and interaction
 8Cognitive factors
 9Sociocultural factors
o 9.1Sociocultural approaches
 10Linguistic factors
 11Individual variation
o 11.1Age

3
 o
11.2Strategies
o
11.3Affective factors
 12Attrition
 13Classroom second-language acquisition
 14See also
 15Notes
 16References
 17Bibliography

1- Definitions: X

Second language refers to any language learned in addition to a person's first

language; although the concept is named second-language acquisition, it can also
incorporate the learning of third, fourth, or subsequent languages.[2] Second-language
acquisition refers to what learners do; it does not refer to practices in language
teaching, although teaching can affect acquisition. The term acquisition was originally
used to emphasize the non-conscious nature of the learning process,[note 1] but in recent
years learning and acquisition have become largely synonymous.

SLA can incorporate heritage language learning, but it does not usually
incorporate bilingualism. Most SLA researchers see bilingualism as being the end
result of learning a language, not the process itself, and see the term as referring to
native-like fluency. Writers in fields such as education and psychology, however,
often use bilingualism loosely to refer to all forms of multilingualism.[4] SLA is also
not to be contrasted with the acquisition of a foreign language; rather, the learning of
second languages and the learning of foreign languages involve the same fundamental
processes in different situations.[5]

2-Research background:

The academic discipline of second-language acquisition is a subdiscipline of applied

linguistics. It is broad-based and relatively new. As well as the various branches
of linguistics, second-language acquisition is also closely related to
psychology, cognitive psychology, and education. To separate the academic discipline
from the learning process itself, the terms second-language acquisition
research, second-language studies, and second-language acquisition studies are also
used.

SLA research began as an interdisciplinary field, and because of this it is difficult to

identify a precise starting date.[6] However, two papers in particular are seen as
instrumental (contributive) to the development of the modern study of SLA: Pit
Corder's 1967 essay "The Significance of Learners' Errors", and Larry Selinker's
1972 article "Interlanguage".[7] The field saw a great deal of development in the
following decades.[6] Since the 1980s, SLA has been studied from a variety of
disciplinary perspectives, and theoretical perspectives. In the early 2000s, some
research suggested an equivalence between the acquisition of human languages and
that of computer languages (e.g. Java) by children in the 5 to 11 year age window,
though this has not been widely accepted among educators.[8] Significant approaches
in the field today are: systemic functional linguistics, sociocultural theory, cognitive

4
linguistics, Noam Chomsky's universalgrammar, skillacquisition
[
theory and connectionism.

There has been much debate about exactly how language is learned, and many issues
are still unresolved. There are many theories of second-language acquisition, but none
are accepted as a complete explanation by all SLA researchers. Due to the
interdisciplinary nature of the field of SLA, this is not expected to happen in the
foreseeable (predictable/probable/likely anticipated)future.

3-Stages:

Haynes divided the process of second-language acquisition into five stages:

1-preproduction, 2-early production, 3-speech emergence,4- intermediate fluency, and

5-advanced fluency.[9] The first stage, preproduction, is also known as the silent
period. Learners at this stage have a receptive vocabulary of up to 500 words, but they
do not yet speak their second language.[9] Not all learners go through a silent period.
Some learners start speaking straight away, although their output may consist of
imitation rather than creative language use. Others may be required to speak from the
start as part of a language course. For learners that do go through a silent period, it
may last around three to six months.[10]

The second of Hayne's stages of acquisition is early production, during which

learners are able to speak in short phrases of one or two words. They can also
memorize chunks of language, although they may make mistakes when using them.
Learners typically have both an active and receptive vocabulary of around 1000
words. This stage normally lasts for around six months.[9]

The third stage is speech emergence. Learners' vocabularies increase to around 3000
words during this stage, and they can communicate using simple questions and
phrases. They may often make grammatical errors.

The fourth stage is intermediate fluency. At this stage, learners have a vocabulary of
around 6000 words, and can use more complicated sentence structures. They are also
able to share their thoughts and opinions. Learners may make frequent errors with
more complicated sentence structures.

The final stage is advanced fluency, which is typically reached somewhere between
five and ten years of learning the language. Learners at this stage can function at a
level close to native speakers.[9]

The time taken to reach a high level of proficiency can vary depending on the
language learned. In the case of native English speakers, some estimates were
provided by the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) of the U.S. Department of State, which
compiled approximate learning expectations for a number of languages for their
professional staff (native English speakers who generally already know other
languages). Of the 63 languages analyzed, the five most difficult languages to reach
proficiency in speaking and reading, requiring 88 weeks (2200 class hours),
are Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean. The Foreign Service

5
Institute and the National Virtual Translation Center both note that Japanese is
typically more difficult to learn than other languages in this group.[11]

4-Comparisons with first-language acquisition:

Adults who learn a second language differ from children learning their first
language in at least three ways: children are still developing their brains whereas
adults have conscious minds, and adults have at least a first language that orients their
thinking and speaking. Although some adult second-language learners reach very high
levels of proficiency, pronunciation tends to be non-native. This lack of native
pronunciation in adult learners is explained by the critical period hypothesis. When a
learner's speech plateaus, it is known as fossilization.

Some errors that second-language learners make in their speech originate in their first
language. For example, Spanish speakers learning English may say "Is raining" rather
than "It is raining", leaving out the subject of the sentence. This kind of influence of
the first language on the second is known as negative language
transfer. French speakers learning English, however, do not usually make the same
mistake of leaving out "it" in "It is raining." This is because pronominal and
impersonal sentence subjects can be omitted (or as in this case, are not used in the
first place) in Spanish but not in French.[12] The French speaker knowing to use a
pronominal sentence subject when speaking English is an example
of positive language transfer.

Also, when people learn a second language, the way they speak their first language
changes in subtle ways. These changes can be with any aspect of language, from
pronunciation and syntax to gestures the learner makes and the language features they
tend to notice.[13] For example, French speakers who spoke English as a second
language pronounced the /t/ sound in French differently from monolingual French
speakers.[14] This kind of change in pronunciation has been found even at the
onset(commencement) of second-language acquisition; for example, English speakers
pronounced the English /p t k/ sounds, as well as English vowels, differently after
they began to learn Korean.[15] These effects of the second language on the first
led Vivian Cook to propose the idea of multi-competence, which sees the different
languages a person speaks not as separate systems, but as related systems in their
mind.[16]

5-Learner language:

Learner language is the written or spoken language produced by a learner. It is also

the main type of data used in second-language acquisition research.[17] Much research
in second-language acquisition is concerned with the internal representations of a
language in the mind of the learner, and in how those representations change over
time. It is not yet possible to inspect(examine/scrutinize/check) these representations
directly with brain scans or similar techniques, so SLA researchers are forced to make
inferences about these rules from learners' speech or writing.[18]

5-1 Interlanguage Final

6
Originally, attempts to describe learner language were based on comparing different
languages and on analyzing learners' errors. However, these approaches weren't able
to predict all the errors that learners made when in the process of learning a second
language. For example, Serbo-Croat speakers learning English may say "What does
Pat doing now?", although this is not a valid sentence in either language.[19]

To explain this kind of systematic error, the idea of the interlanguage was
developed.[20] An interlanguage is an emerging language system in the mind of a
second-language learner. A learner's interlanguage is not a deficient version of the
language being learned filled with random errors, nor is it a language purely based on
errors introduced from the learner's first language. Rather, it is a language in its own
right, with its own systematic rules.[21] It is possible to view most aspects of language
from an interlanguage perspective, including grammar,phonology, lexicon,
and pragmatics.

There are three different processes that influence the creation of interlanguage:[19]

 Language transfer. Learners fall back on their mother tongue to help create
their language system. Transfer can be positive, i.e. promote learning, or
negative, i.e. lead to mistakes. In the latter case, linguists also use the term
interference error.
 Overgeneralization. Learners use rules from the second language in roughly
the same way that children overgeneralise in their first language. For example,
a learner may say "I goed home", overgeneralizing the English rule of adding -
ed to create past tense verb for
 ms. English children also produce forms like goed, sticked, bringed. German
children equally overextend regular past tense forms to irregular forms.
 Simplification. Learners use a highly simplified form of language, similar to
speech by children or in pidgins. This may be related to linguistic universals.

The concept of interlanguage has become very widespread in SLA research, and is
often a basic assumption made by researchers.[21]

5-2 Sequences of acquisition:

1. Plural -s Girls go.

2. Progressive -ing Girls going.
3. Copula forms of be Girls are here.
4. Auxiliary forms of be Girls are going.
Definite and indefinite
5. The girls go.
articles the and a
6. Irregular past tense The girls went.
7. Third person -s The girl goes.
8. Possessive 's The girl's book.
A typical order of acquisition for English, according
to Vivian Cook's 2008 book Second Language
Learning and Language Teaching.[22]

7
Order of acquisition

In the 1970s, several studies investigated the order in which learners acquired
different grammatical structures.[note 2] These studies showed that there was little
change in this order among learners with different first languages. Furthermore, it
showed that the order was the same for adults and children, and that it did not even
change if the learner had language lessons. This supported the idea that there were
factors other than language transfer involved in learning second languages, and was a
strong confirmation of the concept of interlanguage.

However, the studies did not find that the orders were exactly the same. Although
there were remarkable similarities in the order in which all learners learned second-
language grammar, there were still some differences among individuals and among
learners with different first languages. It is also difficult to tell when exactly a
grammatical structure has been learned, as learners may use structures correctly in
some situations but not in others. Thus it is more accurate to speak of sequences of
acquisition, in which specific grammatical features in a language are acquired before
or after certain others but the overall order of acquisition is less rigid. For example, if
neither feature B nor feature D can be acquired until feature A has been acquired and
if feature C cannot be acquired until feature B has been acquired but if the acquisition
of feature D does not require the possession of feature B (or, therefore, of feature C),
then both acquisition order (A, B, C, D) and acquisition order (A, D, B, C) are
possible.

5-3 Variability

Although second-language acquisition proceeds in discrete sequences, it does not

progress from one step of a sequence to the next in an orderly fashion. There can be
considerable variability in features of learners' interlanguage while progressing from
one stage to the next.[23] For example, in one study by Rod Ellis a learner used both
"No look my card" and "Don't look my card" while playing a game of bingo. [24] A
small fraction of variation in interlanguage is free variation, when the learner uses
two forms interchangeably. However, most variation is systemic variation, variation
which depends on the context of utterances the learner makes.[23] Forms can vary
depending on linguistic context, such as whether the subject of a sentence is a
pronoun or a noun; they can vary depending on social context, such as using formal
expressions with superiors and informal expressions with friends; and also, they can
vary depending on psycholinguistic context, or in other words, on whether learners
have the chance to plan what they are going to say.[23] The causes of variability are a
matter of great debate among SLA researchers.[24]

6-Language transfer:

One important difference between first-language acquisition and second-language

acquisition is that the process of second-language acquisition is influenced by
languages that the learner already knows. This influence is known as language
transfer.[note 3] Language transfer is a complex phenomenon resulting from interaction
between learners’ prior linguistic knowledge, the target-language input they
encounter, and their cognitive processes.[25] Language transfer is not always from the
learner’s native language; it can also be from a second language, or a third.[25] Neither

8
is it limited to any particular domain of language; language transfer can occur in
grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, discourse, and reading.[26]

One situation in which language transfer often occurs is when learners sense a
similarity between a feature of a language that they already know and a corresponding
feature of the interlanguage they have developed. If this happens, the acquisition of
more complicated language forms may be delayed in favor of simpler language forms
that resemble those of the language the learner is familiar with.[25] Learners may also
decline to use some language forms at all if they are perceived as being too distant
from their first language.[25]

Language transfer has been the subject of several studies, and many aspects of it
remain unexplained.[25] Various hypotheses have been proposed to explain language
transfer, but there is no single widely accepted explanation of why it occurs.[27]

7-Input and interaction:

The primary factor affecting language acquisition appears to be the input that the
learner receives. Stephen Krashen took a very strong position on the importance of
input, asserting that comprehensible input is all that is necessary for second-language
acquisition.[28][29] Krashen pointed to studies showing that the length of time a person
stays in a foreign country is closely linked with his level of language acquisition.
Further evidence for input comes from studies on reading: large amounts of free
voluntary reading have a significant positive effect on learners' vocabulary, grammar,
and writing.[30][31] Input is also the mechanism by which people learn languages
according to the universal grammar model.[32]

The type of input may also be important. One tenet (precept/view) of Krashen's theory
is that input should not be grammatically sequenced. He claims that such sequencing,
as found in language classrooms where lessons involve practicing a "structure of the
day", is not necessary, and may even be harmful.[33]

While input is of vital importance, Krashen's assertion that only input matters in
second-language acquisition has been contradicted by more recent research. For
example, students enrolled in French-language immersion programs in Canada still
produced non-native-like grammar when they spoke, even though they had years of
meaning-focused lessons and their listening skills were statistically native-
level.[34] Output appears to play an important role, and among other things, can help
provide learners with feedback, make them concentrate on the form of what they are
saying, and help them to automatize their language knowledge.[35] These processes
have been codified in the theory of comprehensible output.[36]

Researchers have also pointed to interaction in the second language as being

important for acquisition. According to Long's interaction hypothesis the conditions
for acquisition are especially good when interacting in the second language;
specifically, conditions are good when a breakdown in communication occurs and
learners must negotiate for meaning. The modifications to speech arising from
interactions like this help make input more comprehensible, provide feedback to the
learner, and push learners to modify their speech.[37]

9
8-Cognitive factors:

Much modern research in second-language acquisition has taken a cognitive

approach.[38] Cognitive research is concerned with the mental processes involved
in language acquisition, and how they can explain the nature of learners'
language knowledge. This area of research is based in the more general area
of cognitive science, and uses many concepts and models used in more general
cognitive theories of learning. As such, cognitive theories view second-language
acquisition as a special case of more general learning mechanisms in the brain. This
puts them in direct contrast with linguistic theories, which posit (postulate/suggest)
that language acquisition uses a unique process different from other types of
learning.[39][40]

The dominant model in cognitive approaches to second-language acquisition, and

indeed in all second-language acquisition research, is the computational
model.[40] The computational model involves three stages. In the first stage, learners
retain certain features of the language input in short-term memory. (This retained
input is known as intake.) Then, learners convert some of this intake into second-
language knowledge, which is stored in long-term memory. Finally0.[41] Cognitive
theories attempt to codify (organize, control, regulate, arrange, order, codify ) both the
nature of the mental representations of intake and language knowledge, and the
mental processes which underlie these stages.

In the early days of second-language acquisition research on interlanguage was seen

as the basic representation of second-language knowledge; however, more recent
research has taken a number of different approaches in characterizing the mental
representation of language knowledge.[42] There are theories that hypothesize that
learner language is inherently variable,[43]and there is the functionalist perspective that
sees acquisition of language as intimately tied to the function it provides.[44] Some
researchers make the distinction between implicit and explicit language knowledge,
and some between declarative and procedural language knowledge.[45] There have
also been approaches that argue for a dual-mode system in which some language
knowledge is stored as rules, and other language knowledge as items.[46]

The mental processes that underlie second-language acquisition can be broken down
into micro-processes and macro-processes. Micro-processes include
[47] [48]
attention; working memory; integration and restructuring. Restructuring is the
process by which learners change their interlanguage systems;[49] and monitoring is
the conscious attending of learners to their own language output.[50] Macro-processes
include the distinction between intentional learning and incidental learning; and also
the distinction between explicit and implicit learning.[51] Some of the notable
cognitive theories of second-language acquisition include the nativization model,
the multidimensional model and processability theory, emergentist models,
[52]
the competition model, and skill-acquisition theories.

Other cognitive approaches have looked at learners' speech production, particularly

learners' speech planning and communication strategies. Speech planning can have an
effect on learners' spoken output, and research in this area has focused on how
planning affects three aspects of speech: complexity, accuracy, and fluency. Of these
three, planning effects on fluency has had the most research

10
attention.[53] Communication strategies are conscious strategies that learners employ
to get around any instances of communication breakdown they may experience. Their
effect on second-language acquisition is unclear, with some researchers claiming they
help it, and others claiming the opposite.

9-Sociocultural factors: Final

From the early days of the discipline researchers have also acknowledged that social
aspects play an important role. There have been many different approaches to
sociolinguistic study of second-language acquisition, and indeed, according to Rod
Ellis, this plurality has meant that "sociolinguistic SLA is replete with a bewildering
set of terms referring to the social aspects of L2 acquisition". Common to each of
these approaches, however, is a rejection of language as a purely psychological
phenomenon; instead, sociolinguistic research views the social context in which
language is learned as essential for a proper understanding of the acquisition process.

Ellis identifies three types of social structure which can affect the acquisition of
second languages: sociolinguistic setting, specific social factors, and situational
factors. Sociolinguistic setting refers to the role of the second language in society,
such as whether it is spoken by a majority or a minority of the population,
whether its use is widespread or restricted to a few functional roles, or whether
the society is predominantly bilingual or monolingual. Ellis also includes the
distinction of whether the second language is learned in a natural or an educational
setting.[ Specific social factors that can affect second-language acquisition
include age, gender, social class, and ethnic identity, with ethnic identity being
the one that has received most research attention. Situational factors are those
which vary between each social interaction. For example, a learner may use more
polite language when talking to someone of higher social status, but more informal
language when talking with friends.

Immersion programs provide a sociolinguistic setting that facilitates second-

language acquisition. Immersion programs are educational programs where
children are instructed in an L2 language. Although the language of instruction is
the L2 language, the curriculum parallels that of non-immersion programs and
clear support exists in the L1 language, as the teachers are all bilingual. The goal of
these programs is to develop a high level of proficiency in both the L1 and L2
languages. Students in immersion programs have been shown to have greater levels of
proficiency in their second language than students who receive second language
education only as a subject in school. This is especially true in terms of their receptive
skills. Also, students who join immersion programs earlier generally have greater
second-language proficiency than their peers who join later. However, students who
join later have been shown to gain native-like proficiency. Although immersion
students' receptive skills are especially strong, their productive skills may suffer if
they spend the majority of their time listening to instruction only. Grammatical skills
and the ability to have precise vocabulary are particular areas of struggle. It is argued
that immersion is necessary, but not sufficient for the development of native-like
proficiency in a second language. Opportunities to engage in sustained conversation,
and assignments that encourage syntactical, as well as semantic development will help
develop the productive skills necessary for bilingual proficiency.

11
A learner's sense of connection to their in-group, as well as to the community of the
target language emphasize the influence of the sociolinguistic setting, as well as social
factors within the second-language acquisition process. Social Identity
Theory argues that an important factor for second language acquisition is the
learner's perceived identity in relation to the community of the language being
learned, as well as how the community of the target language perceives the
learner.‫[حفض‬64] Whether or not a learner feels a sense of connection to the community
or culture of the target language helps determine their social distance from the target
culture. A smaller social distance is likely to encourage learners to acquire the
second language, as their investment in the learning process is greater.
Conversely, a greater social distance will discourage attempts to acquire the
target language. However, negative views not only come from the learner, but the
community of the target language might feel greater social distance to the learner,
limiting the learner's ability to learn the language.[64] Whether or not bilingualism is
valued by the culture or community of the learner is an important indicator for the
motivation to learn a language.[65]

Gender, as a social factor, also influences SLA. Females have been found to have
higher motivation and more positive attitudes than males for second-language
acquisition. However, females are also more likely to present higher levels of
anxiety, which may inhibit their ability to efficiently learn a new language.[66]

There have been several models developed to explain social effects on language
acquisition. Schumann's Acculturation Model proposes that learners' rate of
development and ultimate level of language achievement is a function of the "social
distance" and the "psychological distance" between learners and the second-language
community. In Schumann's model the social factors are most important, but the
degree to which learners are comfortable with learning the second language also plays
a role.[67] Another sociolinguistic model is Gardner's socio-educational model,
which was designed to explain classroom language acquisition. Gardner's model
focuses on the emotional aspects of SLA, arguing that positive motivation contributes
to an individuals willingness to learn L2; furthermore, the goal of an individual to
learn a L2 is based on the idea that the individual has a desire to be part of a culture,
in other words, part of a (the targeted language) mono-linguistic community. Factors,
such as integrativenss and attitudes towards the learning situation drive motivation.
The outcome of positive motivation is not only linguistic, but non-linguistic, such that
the learner has met the desired goal. Although there are many critics of Gardner's
model, nonetheless many of these critics have been influenced by the merits that his
model holds.[68] [69] The inter-group model proposes "ethnolinguistic vitality" as a key
construct for second-language acquisition.[70] Language socialization is an approach
with the premise that "linguistic and cultural knowledge are constructed through each
other",[71] and saw increased attention after the year 2000.[72] Finally, Norton's theory
ofsocial identity is an attempt to codify the relationship between power, identity, and
language acquisition.[73]

Summary: Sociocultural factors

Many different approaches to sociolinguistic study of second-language acquisition

rejects language as a purely psychological phenomenon; instead, sociolinguistic
research views the social context in which language is learned as essential for a proper

12
understanding of the acquisition process. three types of social structure which can
affect the acquisition of second languages: sociolinguistic setting, specific social
factors, and situational factors. (1)Sociolinguistic setting refers to the role of the
second language in society, such as whether it is spoken by a majority or a
minority of the population, whether its use is widespread or restricted to a few
functional roles, or whether the society is predominantly bilingual or
monolingual. Ellis also includes the distinction of whether the second language is
learned in a natural or an educational setting.(2) Specific social factors that can
affect second-language acquisition include age, gender, social class, and ethnic
identity, with ethnic identity being the one that has received most research
attention. (3) Situational factors are those which vary between each social
interaction. For example, a learner may use more polite language when talking to
someone of higher social status, but more informal language when talking with
friends.

9-1 Sociocultural approaches: Final

A unique approach to SLA is Sociocultural theory. It was originally developed

by Lev Vygotsky and his followers. Sociocultural theory has a fundamentally
different set of assumptions to approaches to second-language acquisition based on
the computational model. Furthermore, although it is closely affiliated with other
social approaches, it is a theory of mind and not of general social explanations of
language acquisition. According to Ellis, "It is important to recognize... that this
paradigm, despite the label 'sociocultural' does not seek to explain how learners
acquire the cultural values of the L2 but rather how knowledge of an L2 is
internalized through experiences of a sociocultural nature."

Summary:

Sociocultural theory/App. Is a unique approach to SLA. It has a fundamentally

different set of assumptions to approaches to second-language acquisition based on
the computational model. Furthermore, although it is closely affiliated with other
social approaches, it is a theory of mind and not of general social explanations of
language acquisition. According to Ellis, "It is important to recognize... that this
paradigm, despite the label 'sociocultural' does not seek to explain how learners
acquire the cultural values of the L2 but rather how knowledge of an L2 is
internalized through experiences of a sociocultural nature."

10-Linguistic factors: Final

Linguistic approaches to explaining second-language acquisition spring from the

wider study of linguistics. They differ from cognitive approaches and sociocultural
approaches in that they consider language knowledge to be unique and distinct
from any other type of knowledge. The linguistic research tradition in second-language
acquisition has developed in relative isolation from the cognitive and sociocultural
research traditions, and as of 2010 the influence from the wider field of linguistics
was still strong. Two main strands of research can be identified in the linguistic

13
tradition: approaches informed by universal grammar, and typological
approaches.

Typological universals are principles that hold for all the world's languages. They are
found empirically, by surveying different languages and deducing/ construing which
aspects of them could be universal; these aspects are then checked against other
languages to verify the findings. The interlanguage of second-language learners have
been shown to obey typological universals, and some researchers have suggested that
typological universals may constrain interlanguage development.

The theory of universal grammar was proposed by Noam Chomsky in the 1950s,
and has enjoyed considerable popularity in the field of linguistics. It focuses on
describing the linguistic competence of an individual. He believed that children not
only acquire language by learning descriptive rules of grammar; he claimed that
children creatively play and form words as they learn language, creating
meaning of these words, as opposed to the mechanism of memorizing language. It
consists of a set of principles, which are universal and constant, and a set of
parameters, which can be set differently for different languages. The "universals" in
universal grammar differ from typological universals in that they are a mental
construct derived by researchers, whereas typological universals are readily
verifiable by data from world languages. It is widely accepted among researchers in
the universal grammar framework that all first-language learners have access to
universal grammar; this is not the case for second-language learners, however, and
much research in the context of second-language acquisition has focused on what
level of access learners may have.

Universal grammar theory can account for some of the observations made in SLA
research. For example, L2-users often display knowledge about their L2 that they
have not been exposed to. L2-users will often be aware of ambiguous or
ungrammatical L2 units that they have not learned from any external source, nor from
their pre-existing L1 knowledge. This unsourced knowledge suggests the existence of
a universal grammar.

Summary

Linguistic approaches differ from cognitive approaches and sociocultural approaches

in that they consider language knowledge to be unique and distinct from any other
type of knowledge. They developed in isolation from the cognitive and sociocultural
research traditions.

Two main strands of research can be identified in the linguistic tradition: approaches
informed by universal grammar, and typological approaches.

The former deals with the common features of all world languages. The later deals
with linguistic competence of individuals.

The concept of universality is part of both the theories. However, The "universals"
in universal grammar differ from typological universals in that they are a mental
construct derived by researchers, whereas typological universals are readily
verifiable by data from world languages.

14
11-Individualvariation: Individual variation in second-language acquisition.Final

There is considerable variation in the rate at which people learn second

languages, and in the language level that they ultimately reach. Some learners
learn quickly and reach a near-native level of competence, but others learn slowly
and get stuck at relatively early stages of acquisition, despite living in the country
where the language is spoken for several years. The reason for this disparity was first
addressed with the study of language learning aptitude in the 1950s, and later with
the good language learner studies in the 1970s. More recently research has focused
on a number of different factors that affect individuals' language learning, in
particular strategy use, social and societal influences, personality, motivation, and
anxiety. The relationship between age and the ability to learn languages has also been
a subject of long-standing debate.

Summary

Individual variation:

There is considerable variation in the rate at which people learn second

languages, and in the language level that they ultimately reach.

The reason for this disparity was first addressed with the study of language learning
aptitude and style of learning.

Other different factors that affect individuals' language learning, in particular strategy,
use, social and societal influences, personality, motivation, and anxiety. The
relationship between age and the ability to learn languages has also been a subject of
long-standing debate.

11-1 Age

The issue of age was first addressed with the critical period hypothesis. The strict
version of this hypothesis states that there is a cut-off age at about 12, after which
learners lose the ability to fully learn a language. However, the exact age marking the
end of the critical period is debated, and ranges from age 6 to 13, with many arguing
that it is around the onset of puberty/adolescence.[64] This strict version has since
been rejected for second-language acquisition, as some adult learners have been
observed who reach native-like levels of pronunciation and general fluency.
However, in general, adult learners of a second-language rarely achieve the native-
like fluency that children display, despite often progressing faster in the initial stages.
This has led to speculation that age is indirectly related to other, more central factors
that affect language learning.

Children who acquire two languages from birth are called simultaneous bilinguals.
In these cases, both languages are spoken to the children by their parents or caregivers
and they grow up knowing the two languages. These children generally reach
linguistic milestones at the same time as their monolingual peers.[81] Children who
do not learn two languages from infancy, but learn one language from birth, and
another at some point during childhood, are referred to as sequential bilinguals. It is
often assumed that a sequential bilingual's first language will be his or her most

15
proficient language. However, this is not always the case. Over time and experience, a
child's second language may become his or her strongest.[81] This is especially
likely to happen if a child's first language is a minority language spoken at home,
and the child's second language is the majority language learned at school or in
the community before the age of five. Proficiency for both simultaneous and
sequential bilinguals is dependent upon the child's opportunities to engage in
meaningful conversations in a variety of contexts. ‫→ موضوع بحث‬

Often simultaneous bilinguals are more proficient in their languages than

sequential bilinguals. One argument for this is that simultaneous bilinguals develop
more distinct representations of their languages, especially with regards
to phonological and semantic levels of processing.[82] This would cause learners to
have more differentiation between the languages, leading them to be able to
recognize the subtle differences between the languages that less proficient learners
would struggle to recognize. Learning a language earlier in life would help
develop these distinct representations of language, as the learner's first language
would be less established. Conversely, learning a language later in life would lead to
more similar semantic representations.

Although child learners more often acquire native-like proficiency, older child
and adult learners often progress faster in the initial stages of learning.[83] Older
child and adult learners are quicker at acquiring the initial grammar knowledge than
child learners, however, with enough time and exposure to the language, children
surpass their older peers. Once surpassed, older learners often display clear
language deficiencies compared to child learners. This has been attributed to
having a solid grasp on the first language or mother tongue they were first immersed
into. Having this cognitive ability already developed can aid the process of learning a
second language since there is a better understanding of how language works.[84] For
this same reason interaction with family and further development of the first language
is encouraged along with positive reinforcement. The exact language deficiencies that
occur past a certain age are not unanimously agreed upon. Some believe that only
pronunciation is affected, while others believe other abilities are affected as well.
However, some differences that are generally agreed upon include older learners
having a noticeable accent, a smaller vocabulary, and making several linguistic errors.

Biological and non-biological explanation for age difference in proficiency: Final

(State Universal Grammar Biological and non-biological explanation for

difference in proficiency between older learners and younger learners for age
difference.)

One explanation for this difference in proficiency between older learners and
younger learners involves Universal Grammar. Universal Grammar is a debated
theory that suggests that people have innate knowledge of universal linguistic
principles that is present from birth.[83] These principles guide children as they learn a
language, but its parameters vary from language to language.[85] The theory assumes
that, while Universal Grammar remains into adulthood, the ability to reset the
parameters set for each language is lost, making it more difficult to learn a new
language proficiently.[83] Since adults have an already established native language, the
language acquisition process is much different for them, than young learners. The

16
rules and principles that guide the use of the learners' native language plays a role in
the way the second language is developed.[85]

Some non-biological explanations for second-language acquisition age differences

include variations in social and psychological factors, such as motivation; the
learner's linguistic environment; and the level of exposure. Even with less
advantageous nonbiological influences, many child learners will attain a greater level
of proficiency than adult learners with more advantageous nonbiological
influences.[83]

11-2 Strategies 2nd Mid-Semester Ex.

There has been considerable attention paid to the strategies which learners use when
learning a second language. Strategies have been found to be of critical importance,
so much so that strategic competence has been suggested as a major component
of communicative competence. Strategies are commonly divided into learning
strategies and communicative strategies, although there are other ways of
categorizing them. Learning strategies are techniques used to improve learning,
such as mnemonics or using a dictionary. ،‫استراتيجيات التعلم والتقنيات المستخدمة لتحسين التعلم‬
‫ مثل فن اإلستذكار أو باستخدام القاموس‬Communicative strategies are strategies a learner uses to
convey meaning even when she doesn't have access to the correct form, such as
using pro-forms like thing, or using non-verbal means such as gestures. If learning
strategies and communicative strategies are used properly language acquisition will be
successful. Some points to keep in mind while learning and additional language are:
providing information that is of interest to the student, offering opportunities for the
student to share their knowledge and teaching appropriate techniques for the uses of
the learning resources available.

11-3 Affective factors ‫→ موضوع بحث‬

The learner's attitude to the learning process has also been identified as being
critically important to second-language acquisition. Anxiety in language-learning
situations has been almost unanimously shown to be detrimental to successful
learning. Anxiety interferes with the mental processing of language because the
demands of anxiety-related thoughts create competition for mental resources.
This results in less available storage and energy for tasks required for language
processing. Not only this, but anxiety is also usually accompanied by self-deprecating
thoughts and fear of failure, which can be detrimental for an individual's ability to
learn a new language. Learning a new language provides a unique situation which
may even produce a specific type of anxiety, called language anxiety, that affects the
quality of acquisition. Also, anxiety may be detrimental for SLA because it can
influence a learner's ability to attend to, concentrate on, and encode language
information.[ It may affect speed and accuracy of learning. Further, the apprehension/
fear created as a result of anxiety inhibits the learner's ability to retrieve and produce
the correct information.

A related factor, personality, has also received attention. There has been discussion
about the effects of extravert and introvert personalities. Extraverted qualities may
help learners seek out opportunities and people to assist with L2 learning, whereas
introverts may find it more difficult to seek out such opportunities for

17
interaction.[64] However, it has also been suggested that, while extraverts might
experience greater fluency, introverts are likely to make fewer linguistic errors.
Further, while extraversion might be beneficial through its encouragement of learning
autonomously, it may also present challenges as learners may find reflective and time-
management skills to be difficult.[90] However, one study has found that there were no
significant differences between extraverts and introverts on the way they achieve
success in a second language.[91]

Other personality factors, such as conscientiousness, agreeableness,

and openness influence self-regulation, which helps L2 learners engage, process
meaning, and adapt their thoughts, feelings, and actions to benefit the acquisition
process.[90] SLA research has shown conscientiousness to be associated with time-
management skills, metacognition, analytic learning, and persistence; agreeableness
to effort; and openness to elaborative learning, intelligence, and metacognition. Both
genetics and the learner's environment impact the personality of the learner, either
facilitating or hindering an individual's ability to learn.

Social attitudes such as gender roles and community views toward language
learning have also proven critical. Language learning can be severely hampered by
cultural attitudes, with a frequently cited example being the difficulty
of Navajo children in learning English.

Also, the motivation of the individual learner is of vital importance to the success of
language learning. Motivation is influenced by goal salience, valence, and self-
efficacy.[92] In this context, goal salience is the importance of the L2 learner's goal,
as well as how often the goal is pursued; valence is the value the L2 learner
places on SLA, determined by desire to learn and attitudes about learning the L2; and
self-efficacy is the learner's own belief that he or she is capable of achieving the
linguistic goal.[92] Studies have consistently shown that intrinsic motivation, or a
genuine interest in the language itself, is more effective over the long term
than extrinsic motivation, as in learning a language for a reward such as high grades
or praise. However, motivation is dynamic and, as a L2 learner's fluency develops,
their extrinsic motivation may evolve to become more intrinsic.[92] Learner motivation
can develop through contact with the L2 community and culture, as learners often
desire to communicate and identify with individuals in the L2 community. Further, a
supportive learning environment facilitates motivation through the increase in self-
confidence and autonomy.[92] Learners in a supportive environment are more often
willing to take on challenging tasks, thus encouraging L2 development.

Affective factors: Anxiety →intro,extro→personality

12-Attrition:(the action or process of gradually reducing the strength or effectiveness

of someone or something through sustained attack or pressure.)

Main article: Second-language attrition

Attrition is the loss of proficiency in a language caused by a lack of exposure to or use

of a language.[64] It is a natural part of the language experience as it exists within a
dynamic environment.[93] As the environment changes, the language adapts. One way
in which it does this is by using L1 as a tool to navigate the periods of change

18
associated with acquisition and attrition. A learner's L2 is not suddenly lost with
disuse, but its communicative functions are slowly replaced by those of the L1.[93]

Similar to second-language acquisition, second-language attrition occurs in stages.

However, according to the regression hypothesis, the stages of attrition occur in
reverse order of acquisition. With acquisition, receptive skills develop first, and then
productive skills, and with attrition, productive skills are lost first, and then receptive
skills.[93]

Age, proficiency level, and social factors play a role in the way attrition
occurs.[93] Most often younger children are quicker than adults to lose their L2 when
it is left unused. However, if a child has established a high level of proficiency, it may
take him or her several years to lose the language. Proficiency level seems to play the
largest role in the extent of attrition. For very proficient individuals, there is a period
of time where very little, if any, attrition is observed. For some, residual learning
might even occur, which is the apparent improvement within the L2.[93]Within the
first five years of language disuse, the total percentage of language knowledge lost
will be less for a proficient individual than for someone less proficient. A cognitive
psychological explanation for this suggests that a higher level of proficiency involves
the use of schemas, or mental representations for linguistic structures. Schemas
involve deeper mental processes for mental retrieval that are resistant to attrition. As a
result, information that is tied to this system is less likely to experience less extreme
attrition than information that is not.[93] Finally, social factors may play an indirect
role in attrition. In particular, motivation and attitude influence the process. Higher
levels of motivation, and a positive attitude toward the language and the
corresponding community may lessen attrition. This is likely due to the higher level of
competence achieved in L2 when the learner is motivated and has a positive
attitude.[93]

13-Classroom second-language acquisition 2nd Mid-Term Ex

While considerable SLA research has been devoted to language learning in a natural
setting, there have also been efforts made to investigate second-language acquisition
in the classroom. This kind of research has a significant overlap with language
education, and it is mainly concerned with the effect that instruction has on the
learner. It also explores what teachers do, the classroom context, the dynamics of
classroom communication. It is both qualitative and quantitative research.

The research has been wide-ranging. There have been attempts made to systematically
measure the effectiveness of language teaching practices for every level of language,
from phonetics to pragmatics, and for almost every current teaching methodology.
This research has indicated that many traditional language-teaching techniques are
extremely inefficient.[94]cited in Ellis 1994 It is generally agreed that pedagogy
restricted to teaching grammar rules and vocabulary lists does not give students the
ability to use the L2 with accuracy and fluency. Rather, to become proficient in the
second language, the learner must be given opportunities to use it for communicative
purposes.[95][96]

Another area of research has been on the effects of corrective feedback in assisting
learners.Thist has been shown to vary depending on the technique used to make the

19
correction, and the overall focus of the classroom, whether on formal accuracy or on
communication of meaningful content. There is also considerable interest in
supplementing published research with approaches that engage language teachers in
action research on learner language in their own classrooms. As teachers become
aware of the features of learner language produced by their students, they can refine
their pedagogical intervention to maximize interlanguage development

How does a researcher know how learners acquire an L2?Final

‫كيف يمكن للباحث معرفة كيفية اكتساب المتعلمين للغة الثانية‬

1-Asking a successful learner how he did it.
2-A better approach might be to find out what the learners actually do when they try to
learn an L2 by collecting samples of learner language over a period of time and analyze
them carefully. These samples provide evidence of what the learners know about the
language they are trying to learn.

What is the difference between collecting the learner's sample of performance at

different point in time and at specific time?

If samples are collected at different points in time it may also be possible to find how
learners' knowledge gradually develops and accordingly the learner language will be
described to know how gradually the learner's language changed over time.

Case study: Define Case study: It is a detailed study of learners acquisition of an L2 .It is
typically longitudinal , involving the collection of samples of the learners ' speech or writing
over a period of time. Final
Thomas offers the following definition of case study: "Case studies are analyses of
persons, events, decisions, periods, projects, policies, institutions, or other systems that are
studied holistically by one or more method. The case that is the subject of the inquiry will be
an instance of a class of phenomena that provides an analytical frame — an object — within
which the study is conducted and which the case illuminates and explicates." According to J.
Creswell, data collection in a case study occurs over a "sustained period of time."

What is the purpose of a case study in language teaching?

In the social sciences and life sciences, a case study (or case report) is a descriptive,
exploratory or explanatory analysis of a person, group or event. An explanatory case
study is used to explore causation in order to find underlying principles. Case studies
may be prospective (in which criteria are established and cases fitting the criteria are
included as they become available) or retrospective (in which criteria are established
for selecting cases from historical records for inclusion in the study).

what are learning styles?

learning styles are simply different approaches or ways of learning.

what are the types of learning styles?

visual learners: learn through seeing... .

20
these learners need to see the teacher's body language and facial expression to fully
understand the content of a lesson. they tend to prefer sitting at the front of the
classroom to avoid visual obstructions (e.g. people's heads). they may think in
pictures and learn best from visual displays including: diagrams, illustrated text
books, overhead transparencies, videos, flipcharts and hand-outs. during a lecture or
classroom discussion, visual learners often prefer to take detailed notes to absorb the
information.

auditory learners: learn through listening...

they learn best through verbal lectures, discussions, talking things through and
listening to what others have to say. auditory learners interpret the underlying
meanings of speech through listening to tone of voice, pitch, speed and other nuances.
written information may have little meaning until it is heard. these learners often
benefit from reading text aloud and using a tape recorder.

tactile/kinesthetic learners: learn through , moving, doing and touching...

Tactile/kinesthetic persons learn best through a hands-on approach, actively exploring

the physical world around them. they may find it hard to sit still for long periods and
may become distracted by their need for activity and exploration.

Define Naturalistic learner: Final

He Is someone who learns the language at the same time as learning to communicate in it.

What is Methodology? It is concerned with how a learner develop the ability to

communicate in L2.

Two case studies: A comparison.

Both longitudinal

Adult learner Child learners

Had a little formal instruction in English Beginners

Naturalistic learner (natural surrounding) Classroom context

How Wes developed the ability to communicate in an L2 How J &R acquired the ability
to perform a single language
function

Examining his grammatical development X

His ability to use English in a situational appropriate X

Ways and how he hold conversation

Methodological issues

21
The methodological issues we learn from the two case studies.

What is that needs to be described of the holistic repertoire of a target language ?

Which part of the holistic repertoire of a target language that needs to be

described/description.

‫ما الجزء الذي يحتاج إلى وصف من اللغة المستهدفة؟‬

This depends on the goal of a researcher. A researcher cannot describe everything a learner
acquires in the L2 at one and the same time. Different researchers focus on different
languages features at one time . For example, Schmidt , in the case study ,focused on how
Wes developed the ability to communicate in the L2, examining his grammatical
development his ability to use English in a situational appropriate ways, and how he learned
to hold successful conversation .However, Ellis's goal was concerned with how J. and R.
acquired the ability to perform a single language function (e.g. request) .So, that needs to be
described is the unit under investigation at the time of the ongoing research.

What it means to say that a learner has acquired a feature of the target Language?

Some researchers define language acquisition in terms of whether the learners manifest
patterns of language use that are more or less the same as the native speakers of the target
language ; however, it might be argued that this conflates/mix/blend/fuse what a learner
knows with what he can do. It is observed that learners most of the time do not perform
according to knowledge they process.

There is another problem in determining whether learners have acquired a particular

feature .Learner may manifest target-like use of a feature in a formula without having
acquired the ability to use the feature productively.

Another problem is the dichotomy between the form and function of learner 's output. For
example, a learner may correlate a certain linguistic form for an unsuitable function. Hence,
I believe that there is a need to investigate the split between the competence and
performance of the L2 learners.

Issues in the description of learners language-Description of findings

What are the inferred issues in the description of learners language?

What are the benefitted facts from describing learners' language?

.‫اإلجابة لهاذين السؤلين نفس اإلجابة‬

1-Bothe the two studies set out that the knowledge of learners continuously changes over
time .

2-Errors of different nature are made, e.g. errors of omission, over use ,sociolinguistic errors.

3-Large numbers of formulaic expressions/chunks are made.

22
Some sequence of acquisition is observed in the case study i.e. Learners acquire aspects of
an L2 systematically and follow particular development routes with some feature being
acquired before other.

The same sequence of development in different learners acquisition was observed in two
case studies; however ,can these finding be generalized universally? I think it is necessary to
be verified by repeating the case study in different situational contexts specially in places of
various socio-cultural differences.

Issues in the explanation of L2 acquisition

What can account for this descriptive findings?

What are the different kinds of learning involved in L2 acquisition?

L2 acquisition involves different kinds of learning, such as:

1-Learners must engage in both item learning, internalizing chunks of language structure (i.e.
formulas , e.g. Can I have a …….? and acquire rules, system learning, linguistic competence
Can + variety of verbs like have ,run help that express ability, possibility ,permission e t c .
An explanation of L2 must account for both item learning and system learning and how the
two interrelated.

An explanation of L2 acquisition must account for both item learning and system learning
and how they interrelated.

They learn some kind of rule for 'can'.

The systematic nature of L2also needs explanation .Why did Wes seems to use some
grammatical items before others? Why did J and R learn the different ways of making a
requests in the particular sequence they did.

2-Learners follow a particular development pattern. This systematic nature of L2 acquisition

(i.e. learning some grammatical item before others ) also requires explanation. One of the
possible explanations is that learner follow a particular developmental pattern
because their mental faculties are structured in such a way that this is the way they
have to learn. It is argued that these facult ies regulate what learners take from the
input and how they store the information in their memories.

3-None of the three learners in the two case studies reached native speaker level of
performance.

Why do learners follow a particular developmental patterns?

learners follow a particular developmental patterns because their mental faculties are
structured in such a way that this is the way they have to learn .These faculties regulate
what learners take from the input and how they store the information in their memories .

What is the main way of investigating L2 acquisition?

23
 The main way of investigating L2 acquisition is by(1) collecting and describing samples of
learner language. The description may focus on

1-the kind of errors learners make and

2-how these errors change over time, or

3-it may identify developmental patterns by describing the stages in the acquisition of a
particular grammatical features such as past tense, or

4- it may examine the variability found in learner language.

What is the main way of investigating L2A ?

The nature of learner language :Error and Error Analysis

Why do pedagogists focus on what learners get wrong (errors)rather than on what they
get right ?

This is because

1-errors are highly conspicuous of learner language?

2-It is useful for a teacher to know what errors a learner makes.

3-Making errors may actually help learners to learn themself-correct the errors they make .

Identifying errors : What do you know about the identification of learner errors?

Logically, Identification of learner errors is before analyzing them .This is a difficult process.

How to identify learner errors?

We have to compare the sentences learners produce with what seem to be normal or
correct sentences in the target language which corresponds with them.

How can we be sure that when a learner produces a deviant form of language it is not just
an accidental slip of the tongue? Final

One way to check is the consistency of learners' performance if they consistently substitute
for example "contain" instead of "contained" i.e. the wrong element instead of the correct
one then this will indicate a lack of knowledge –an error .However ,if they sometimes use
the wrong one and another time use the right one then this would suggest that they possess
knowledge of the correct form and are just slipping up –a mistake.

Another way might be to ask learners to try to correct their own deviant utterances where
they are unable to, the deviations are errors ;where they are successful ,they are mistakes.

What is the difference between errors and mistakes ? Final

24
Errors reflect a gab in a learner's knowledge ;they occur because the learner does not know
what is correct ,whereas mistakes reflect occasional lapses in performance; they occur
because in particular instances ,the learner is unable to perform what he or she knows. One
way of distinguishing error and mistake is checking consistency of learners' performance. If
they constantly substitute incorrect for correct then this lack of knowledge indicates an
error. However, if they sometimes use the correct form and another times use the incorrect
one then this suggest that they possess knowledge of the correct form and just they are
slipping up.

How to describe errors ?

There are several ways to describe and classify errors .One way is to classify errors into
grammatical categories .For example ,we could gather all errors relating to verb and then
identify the different kinds of verb errors in our sample.

Final

Another way is to try to identify general ways in which the learners' utterances differ from
the reconstructed target-language utterances .This includes :

1-Omission (leaving out an item that is required for an utterance to be considered

grammatical .

2-Misinformation i.e. using one grammatical form in place of another grammatical form.

3-Misordering (i.e. putting the words in an utterance in the wrong order .

what is the benefit from classifying errors in a certain way? Final

Classifying errors in certain ways can help us to diagnose learners' learning problems at any
one stage of their development , and also plot how changes in errors patterns occur over
time.

Explain the learner errors and state whether they are haphazardly done. Final

Errors to a large extent systematic and to a certain extent predictable .Evidences were found
of systematic regular errors .This indicates that learner constructed some kind of rules that
are different from the target language. Errors are not only systematic but also many of them
are universal such as making the task of learning and using the L2 simpler , Errors .All errors
of omission , overgeneralization and transfer are in the language of L2 learners.

What are the different sources of errors ?

1-Universal : Some errors are universal reflecting learners' attempts to make the task of
learning and using the L2 simpler.

e.g. learners commit errors of omission leaving out "a", "the", " and the plural form .

2-Errors of over generalization ,e.g. eated

3-Eroors of transfer i.e. the use of L1 rules in the L2 learning.

25
Errors Evaluation

Why do language teachers evaluate errors

Errors analysis is important for helping learners learn L2.Some errors are more serious than
others because they are more likely to interfere in the intelligibility of what someone says.
Teachers should focus on errors such as global errors .

What are global errors ?Final

Global errors occur because the learners violate the overall structure of a sentence .
Consequently ,it is difficult to understand the message as the learner violates the basic
structure of the sentence.

What are local errors ? Final

Local errors affect only a single constituent in the sentence .These do not create any
processing problems.

What is the developmental pattern learners follow in the early stages of L2 acquisition ?

In learning L2 learners undergo silent period .That is they make no attempt to say anything .
They may be learning a lot about language through listening to or reading .The silent period
may serve as a preparation for subsequent production. Then their speech characterized by
the formulaic chunks such as "how do you do ", Can I have …?, My name is …? In the early L2
learning .

The second characteristic of early L2 speech is propositional simplification .For example, the
teacher wanted the teacher to give him a blue crayon but said only, "me no blue", i.e. I do
not have a blue crayon.

How do researchers investigate the order of acquisition?

Researchers choose a number of grammatical structures to study; for example –ing

progressive ,auxiliary be, and plurals. They, then, collect samples of learner language and
identify how accurately each feature is used by different learners .This enables them to
arrive at an accuracy order .That is ,they rank the features according to how accurately each
feature is used by the learners.

Is accuracy order the same as the order of acquisition ?

Yes, some researchers argue that the accuracy order must be the same as the order of
acquisition.

On what pretext do researchers argue that the accuracy order must be the same as the
order of acquisition ?

On the ground that the more accurately learners are able to use particular feature the more
likely they are to have acquired that feature early.

26
What is the justification for a definite accuracy order of acquisition of grammatical
structures irrespective of the differences of learners' mother tongue ,their age and
whether they have received formal instruction or not?

Because it was observed that all the learners that were examined perform progressive –ing,
auxiliary be and plural –s most accurately suggesting that they have acquired these features
first .Articles and irregular past come next .The most difficult structure are regular pas and
third person –s .On the basis of these findings, it was suggested that there must be
structural order of acquisition that all learners follow.

Is there any similarity between L1 and L2 learners in their acquisition of a language ?

Yes, the reduced speech is a very common characteristic for both L2 learners and first
language acquisition children learners who produce in the early stages of learning their
mother tongue reduced speech. The occurrence of this kind of basic language appears to be
universal of both first and second language acquisition.

Do learners acquire the grammatical structures of an L2 in a definite order?

Researchers have shown that there is a definite accuracy order and this remain the same
irrespective of learner's mother tongue ,their age and whether they have received formal
language instruction or not.

Is L2A the result of environmental factors that govern the input to which learners are
exposed, or of internal mental factors which somehow dictate how learners acquire
grammatical structure?

Is there a general consensus among researchers on the universal nature of acquisition

order? Explain.
: ‫هذين السؤلين اجابتهما واحده كالتالي‬

Not all researchers are convinced that there is a universal natural order .Some have based
their rejection on the ground that it is wrong to assume that the order of accuracy is the
same as the order of acquisition .They have produced evidences to that sometimes learners
begin using structure accurately early on only to start making errors with it later. So, it
cannot be concluded that learners have acquired structure simply because they can use it
accurately. Other researchers have shown that the order of acquisition vary somewhat
according to the learner first language.

Another problem is that researchers treat acquisition as if it is accumulating linguistic

structures. Acquisition is seen as analogous to building a wall, with one brick set in place
before another is placed on top. Such view is seriously mistaken, as studies of individuals
grammatical structure have made clear.Even a simplest grammatical structure is subjected
to a process of a gradual development manifesting a clear stages.

Do learners learn a particular grammatical structure such as past tense in a single step or
do they proceed through a number of interim stages before they master the target
structure?

When learners acquire grammatical structure the do so gradually moving through series of
stages en route to acquire the native speaker rule. The acquisition of a particular

27
grammatical structure, therefore, must be seen as a process involving transitional
grammatical constructions. The following example will suffice the illustration of the idea.

Stage description examples

1 learners fail to make verb for past time …………………………………………..……eat
2 learners begin to produce irregular past tense …………………………………………ate
3 learners overgeneralize the regular past tense form ……………………………..eated
4 sometimes learner produce hybrid forms ated
5 learners produce correct irregular past tense form ate
These sequence are instructive. They reveal that the correct structural form (ate)does not
necessarily mean that this form has been acquired .Indeed ,in this sequence ,learners
producing "eated " are ,in fact, more advanced than learners at stage 2 who produce" ate"
.Acquisition follow U-shaped of development; that is initially learners may display high level
of accuracy only to apparently regress later before finally performing in accordance with the
target language forms. This kind of reorganization which is believed to be prevalent in L2
acquisition is referred to as restructuring.

As learners appear to restructure their grammatical systems ,they may appear to regress
whereas in fact they are advancing.

Acquisition is a highly complex affair. Not only are there stages but stages within stages. For
example, learners find it easier to use verbs that refer to events such as "arrive" than to use
verbs that refer to activities such as "sleep" and most difficult to use verbs that refer to
verbs of state such as" want". Learners passes through a highly complex stages which are
not sharply defined .Learners are blurred as they oscillate between stages.

What are the implications of discovering of common patterns in the way in which learner
language changes over time?

‫ما هي اآلثار المترتبة على اكتشاف األنماط شائعة في الطريقة التي تتغير بها لغة المتعلم على مر الزمن؟‬

What is the implication of discovering a of common patterns for sequence of acquisition of

the S2L

‫ما هي اآلثار المترتبة على اكتشاف أنماط مشتركة لتسلسل اكتساب اللغة الثانية؟‬

The implications of discovering of common patterns in the way in which learner language
changes over time is one of the most important findings of SLA.

It suggests that some linguistic features (particularly grammatical ones)are inherently easier
to learn than others.

Why is the discovery of common patterns in the way in which learner language changes
over time is one of the most important findings of SLA?

Because (1) it provides a further support for the conclusions reached from the study of
learner errors ,namely that L2 acquisition is systematic and to a large extent is a universal
,reflecting ways in which internal cognitive mechanisms control acquisition irrespective of
the personal background of learners or the settings in which they learn.

28
(2)It suggests that some linguistic features (particularly grammatical ones )are inherently
easier to learn than others

Variability in learner language

What is meant by learner language is a systematic?

That is at a particular stage of development ,learners consistently use the same grammatical
form ,although this is often different from that employed by native speakers. It is also
observed that learner language is variable. At any given stage of development learner
sometimes employ one form and sometimes another.

How do we explain the apparent clashes between using a specific grammatical category
correctly at one time and erroneously at another?

It was observed in the study case that a learner conflates (‫)يخلط‬and fluctuates(‫) يتأرجح‬
between correct and erroneous linguistic form. This observation does not invalidate(‫)يبطل‬
the clam that learner language is systematic science it is possible that variability is also
systematic. It was seen that evidence of systematic variability. Learners' choice of past tense
marker (i.e. Zero ,progressive form or correct past tense form) depends ,in part, on whether
the verb refer to an event, an activity, or state. Thus, it appears that learners varying their
use of L2 according to linguistic context( refer to P.26 SLA, Rod Ellis),situational
context(talking to a friend or stranger), and psycholinguistic contexts( whether a learner has
opportunity to plan or not etc.).

What is free variation?

Learners at different stages of development in the acquisition of grammatical structure use

single form for a variety of functions. For example, they initially acquire the simple form of
the verb "paint "and use it to refer to present, past and future .They keep on oscillating until
they approximate with the native speaker.

The aim of this lecture is to address some questions:

1-We have learnt learner's language is systematic, i.e. They constantly use the same
grammatical form ,although this is often different from that employed native speaker.

2-Learners language is variable: learners sometime employ one form and sometime another.

Yesterday the thief steal the suitcase.

Yesterday the thief stealing the suitcase.

Or an error may alternate with correct target language form:

Yesterday the thief steal the suitcase.

Yesterday the thief stole the suitcase.

Learners performance displayed the use of both correct and erroneous form.

29
Does the variability in learner language invalidate the claim that learner language is
systematic?

No, variability in learner language does not invalidate the claim that learner language is
systematic since it is possible that the variability is also systematic. That is we may be able to
explain ,and even predict when learner use one form and when another.

What is the nature and reason for the variability of learner's language?

Research on variability has sought to show that ,although allowance should be made for
some free variation ,variability in learner language is systematic. That is, learners use their
linguistic sources.in predictable ways. The use of specific grammatical forms has been
shown to vary according to linguistic context. For example, "be" is used with pronoun
subject and omitted entirely with N.Subject. The situational context(for example who the
learner addressing)and psycholinguistic context( for example, whether the learner has
opportunity to plan).Furthermore, variability plays an integrative part in the overall pattern
of development, with learners moving through a series of stages that reflect different kinds
of variability.

Do all learners approximate with/reach the level of accuracy of /reach the completion
stage of / the native speaker?

Not all the learners approximate with the native speaker. Many learners will continue to
show non-target language variability. For this reason we talk of fossilization; many learner
stop developing while still short of the target language.

Discuss the form function mapping of learner language.

The phenomena of form-function mappings is one characteristic of learners' variable

language .That is learners assign two different erroneous linguistic forms for realizing a
single grammatical structure as in :

Ahmed no coming today.

Don't sit in that one chair.

Here, "no +verb" was used to make negative statement while "don't + verb "was used in
negative request.

Here, learners mapping one meaning on to one form. The resulting system is very different
from target language system.

Discuss the relationship between systematic development of learner language and the
mental system of L2 knowledge?

Some researchers consider that the systematic development of learner language( ‫التطوير‬
‫ ) المنهجي للغة المتعلم‬reflects a mental system of L2 knowledge( ‫) نظام المعرفة العقلية للغة الثانية‬.
The system is often referred to as inter language .The concept of interlanguage constitutes
one of the first attempt to explain L2 acquisition by answering question such as :

30
1-What is the nature of the linguistic representation of the L2 that the learner form?
‫ماطبيعة التمثيل اللغوي للغه الثانية التي يشكلها المتعلم؟‬

2-How do these representations change over time? ( ‫)كيف يتغير هذا التمثيل اللغوي مع مرور الوقت‬

What is behaviorist learning theory?

The dominant psychological learning theory of the 1950s and 1960s was the behaviorist
learning theory .According to this theory ,language learning like many other kind of learning
in that it involve habit formation .Habits are formed when learner respond to stimuli/ exciter
( ‫ منبه‬,‫ ) المثير‬in the environment and subsequently have their responses reinforced so that
they are remembered .Thus, a habit is a stimulus –response connection. It was believed that
all behavior ,including the link of complex behavior found in language acquisition ,could be
explained in terms of habits. Learning takes place when learner has the opportunity to
practice making a correct response to a given stimulus. Learners imitated models of correct
language (stimuli) and received a positive reinforcement if they were correct and negative
reinforcement if they were incorrect .For example, learners might hear the sentence :"Give
me a pencil "", use it themselves, and thereby be rewarded by achieving their
communicative goal (i.e. by being given a pencil when they wanted one).It should be clear
that behaviorists' accounts of L2 acquisition emphasized what can be directly observed.(i.e.
the input to the learner and the learner's own output and ignore what goes on in the black
box of the learner's mind. Behaviorists cannot adequately account for L2 acquisition. This is
readily apparent from the descriptive work on learners' LANGUAGE. Learner frequently do
not reproduce output that is corresponds to the input. Furthermore, the systematic nature
of their errors demonstrates that they actively involved in constructing their own rules
which sometime bear little resemblance to the patterns of target language modeled in the
input. In short learning is not just a response to external stimuli.

What is mentalist theory of language learning?

The obvious inadequacies ( ‫) القصور الواضح‬of behaviorist explanation of L2 acquisition led

researchers to look towards an alternative theoretical frame work. Concurrently and
coincidently( ‫ ) وبالتزامن مصادفة‬,1960s witnessed a major shift in thinking ,in psychology and
linguistics from the preoccupation with the role of "nurture"( i.e. how environmental factors
shape learning)researchers switched their attention to "nature " (i.e. how innate property
shape learning).This new paradigm was mentalist/nativists in orientation .In the 1960s and
the 1970s a mentalist theory of first language (L1) acquisition emerged .According to the
tenets/principle/beliefs of this theory :

1-Only human being is capable of learning a language .

2-The human mind is equipped with a faculty for learning a language referred to as a
language acquisition device LAD. This is separate from the faculties responsible for other
kind of cognitive activities( for example, logical reasoning).

3-This faculty is the primary determinant of language acquisition.

4-Input is needed only to trigger the operation of language acquisition device.

Inter-language drew directly on these mentalist view of L1 acquisition.

31
What is interlanguage?

In recognition of the fact that L2 learner construct a linguistic system that draw
partly on learner's L1 but also different from it and from the target language, Silinker
coined the term interlanguage. A learner's interlanguage is a unique linguistic system

The concept of interlanguage involves the following premises( ‫ )مقدمات منطقية‬about L2

acquisition:

1-The learner constructs a system of abstract linguistic rules which underlies

comprehension and production of L2.This system of rules is viewed as a " mental
grammar "and is referred to as an "interlanguage".

2-The learner's grammar is permeable. That is, the grammar is open to influence
from the outside (i.e. through the input).It is also influenced from inside. For
example, the omission, overgeneralization, and transfer error constitute evidence of
internal processing.

3-The learner's grammar is transitional(‫) انتقالي‬. Learner change their grammar from
one time to another by adding rues , deleting rules, and restructuring the whole
system .This results in an interlanguage continuum .That is ,learners construct a
series of mental grammar or interlanguage as they gradually increase their L2
knowledge. For example, initially learners may begin with very simple grammar
where only one form of the verb presented( for example' paint') but over time they
add other forms (for example, 'painting' and 'painted'), gradually storing out the
functions that these verbs can be used to perform. The transitional nature of
interlanguage is also reflected in the sequences of acquisition .

4-Some researchers have claimed that the systems learners construct contain
variable rules. That is they argue that learners are likely to have competing rules at
any one stage of development. However, other researchers argue that inter-
language systems are homogeneous and that variability reflects the mistakes learner
makes when they try to use their knowledge to communicate. These researchers see
variability as an aspect of performance rather than competence. The premise that
inter-language systems are themselves variables is, therefore, a disputed one.

5- Learners employ various learning strategies to develop their inter-language. The

different kind of errors the learners produce reflect different learning strategies. For
example, errors suggest that learners are in some way simplifying the learning task
by ignoring the grammatical features that they are not yet ready to process.
Overgeneralization and transfer errors can also be seen as evidence of leaning
strategies.

6-The learner's grammar is likely to fossilize. Selinker suggested that only about five
percent of learners go on to develop the same mental grammar as the native
speaker. The majority stop some way short .The prevalence of backsliding ( i.e. the
production of errors representing an early stage of development) is typical of

32
fossilized learners. Fossilization does not occur in L1 acquisition and thus unique to
L2 grammar.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Discuss the significance of interlanguage and point out its limitations.

The concept of interlanguage offers a general account of how L2 acquisition takes

place. It incorporates elements from mentalists theories of linguistics(for example,
the notion of a 'language acquisition device') and elements from cognitive
psychology (for example,' learning strategies').It also somewhat indeterminate in
that it does not offer a very precise explanation of what takes place. In facts it is
,perhaps ,useful for the questions it raises than the answer it provides .

1-When does input work for acquisition and when does it not?

2-Why do learners sometimes employ an L1 transfer strategies and sometimes

overgeneralization strategies?

3-What makes learner language so variable?

4-What causes learners to restructure their mental language?

5-Why does this restructuring result in clearly identifiable sequences of acquisition?

6-Why do most learners fossilize?

Clearly, the concept of interlanguage needs to be elaborated to address such

questions.

Explain the computational model/metaphor of L2 acquisition.

The concept of interlanguage can be viewed as a metaphor of how L2 acquisition

takes place. It implies that the human mind functions like a computer. Input→
intake→ Knowledge .This model represents the basic computational metaphor that
has grown out of 'interlanguage' and that informs much of the SLA. The learner is
exposed to input which is processed in two stages. Firstly, parts of it are attended to
and taken into short-term memory. These are referred to as intake . Second, some
of the intake is stored in the long- term memory as L2 knowledge. The process
responsible for creating intake and L2 knowledge occur within the 'black box' of the
learner's mind where the interlanguage constructed.Finally,L2 knowledge is used by
the learner to produce spoken and written output (i.e. what is called learner
knowledge).

What are the different possible ways in which the basic model of L2 acquisition can
be elaborated ?

33
The basic model of L2 acquisition can be elaborated in a number of possible ways .
For example, a component labeled :

1-Social context component might be added to explain how the nature of the input
varies from one setting to another.

2-L2 knowledge component can be broken up into two or more components to

reflect the different kinds of knowledge learners construct (for example, explicit
knowledge about language and implicit knowledge of language).A relationship
between the input and output indicates that what the learner says or writes is also
serves as samples of language from which intake can be derived.

This computational model will be explored by examining a number of perspectives

(‫ ) وجهات نظر‬derived from different components of the model. In the process of doing
so , a number of other metaphors that seek to provide an explanation of L2
acquisition will also be introduced.

Social aspects of interlanguage

The prevailing perspective on interlanguage is psycholinguistic, as reflected in the

metaphor of the computer. That is, researchers have been primarily concerned with
identifying the internal mechanisms that are responsible for interlanguage
development(brain).However, from the beginning LAA has acknowledged the
importance of social factors.

Three different approaches to incorporating a social angle on the study of second

language acquisition can be identified ( ‫ويمكن تحديد ثالثة مناهج مختلفة لدمج الزاوية االجتماعية على‬
‫) دراسة اكتساب اللغة الثانية‬:

1-The first views interlanguage as consisting of different "styles" which learner call
upon under different conditions of language use.( ‫ على أنها تتكون من‬... ‫المنهج األول يرى‬
.‫ يلجأ اليها في ظل ظروف مختلفة من استخدام اللغة‬/‫) "األساليب" المختلفة التي يستدعيها المتعلم‬

2-The second concerns how social factors determine the input that learners use to
construct their interlanguage.( ‫المنهج الثاني يهتم بكيف ت َحدد العوامل االجتماعية المدخالت التي تست َخدم‬
)‫للمتعلمين‬ interlanguage ‫لِبناء أل‬

3-The third considers how the social identities that learners negotiate in their
interactions with native speakers shape their opportunities to speak and, thereby, to
learn an L2.( ‫ التي يتداولونها المتعلمين في تفاعالتهم مع الناطقين‬،‫المنهج الثالث يهتم بكيف الهويات االجتماعية‬
. ‫ وبالتالي لتعلم اللغة الثانية‬،‫ تشكل فرصهم في الكالم‬،‫) باللغة الثانية‬

34
Interlanguage as stylistic continuum

The acculturation model of L2 acquisition

Social Identity and investment in L2 learning

Ages and Stages Summary - Language Development 0-5 years

Cite this article as:
Bowen, C. (1998). Ages and Stages Summary: Language Development 0-5 years.
Retrieved from http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/ on[insert the date that you
retrieved the file here].

Receptive Language: Learning to Listen, and to Understand Language

Birth
Language learning starts at birth. Even new babies are aware of the sounds in the
environment.

They listen to the speech of those close to them, and startle or cry if there is an
unexpected noise. Loud noises wake them, and they become "still" in response to new
sounds.

0-3 months
Astoundingly, between 0-3 months babies learn to turn to you when you speak, and smile
when they hear your voice. In fact, they seem to recognise your familiar voice, and will
quieten at the sound of it if they are crying. Tiny babies under three months will also stop
their activity and attend closely to the sound of an unfamiliar voice. They will often respond
to comforting tones whether the voice is familiar or not.

4-6 months
Then, some time between 4 to 6 months babies respond to the word "no". They are also
responsive to changes in your tone of voice, and to sounds other than speech. For
example, they can be fascinated by toys and other objects that make sounds, enjoy music
and rhythm, and look in an interested or apprehensive way for the source of all sorts of
new sounds such as the toaster, birdsong, the clip-clop of horses' hooves or the whirr of
machines.

7-12 months
The 7 to 12 months timeframe is exciting and fun as the baby now obviously listens when
spoken to, turns and looks at your face when called by name, and discovers the fun of
games like: "round and round the garden", "peep-oh", "I see" and "pat-a-cake" (These
simple games and finger plays have regional names and variants).

It is in this period that you realise that he or she recognises the names of familiar objects
("Daddy", "car", "eyes", "phone", "key") and begins to respond to requests ("Give it to
Granny") and questions ("More juice?").

1-2 years

35
Now your child points to pictures in a book when you name them, and can point to a few
body parts when asked (nose, eyes, tummy).

He or she can also follow simple commands ("Push the bus!", "Don't touch; it's hot!") and
understand simple questions ("Where's the bunny?", "Who likes Miffy?", "What's in your
purse?").

Your toddler now likes listening to simple stories and enjoys it when you sing songs or say
rhymes. This is a stage in which he or she will want the same story, rhyme or game
repeated many times.

2-3 years
By now your toddler will understand two stage commands ("Get your socks and put them
in the basket") and understand contrasting concepts or meanings like hot / cold, stop / go,
in / on and nice / yuccy. He or she notices sounds like the telephone or doorbell ringing
and may point or become excited, get you to answer, or attempt to answer themselves.

3-4 years
Your three or four year old understands simple "Who?", "What?" and "Where?" questions,
and can hear you when you call from another room. This is an age where hearing
difficulties may become evident. If you are in doubt about your child's hearing, see a
clinical audiologist.

4-5 years
Children in this age range enjoy stories and can answer simple questions about them. He
or she hears and understands nearly everything that is said (within reason) at home or at
pre-school or day care.

Your child's ability to hear properly all the time should not be in doubt. If you are in doubt
about your child's hearing, see a clinical audiologist. If you are in doubt about language
comprehension, see a speech-language pathologist / speech and language therapist.

Expressive Language: Learning to Speak and Use Language

Birth
Newborn babies make sounds that let others know that they are experiencing pleasure or
pain.

0-3 months
Your baby smiles at you when you come into view. He or she repeats the same sound a
lot and "coos and goos" when content. Cries "differentiate". That means, the baby uses a
different cry for different situations. For example, one cry says "I'm hungry" and another
says "I have a pain".

4-6 months
Gurgling sounds or "vocal play" occur while you are playing with your baby or when they
are occupying themselves happily.

36
Babbling really gets going in this age range, and your baby will sometimes sound as
though he or she is "talking".

This "speech-like" babbling includes many sounds including the bilabial (two lip) sounds
"p", "b", "w" and "m".

Your baby can tell you, using sounds or gestures that they want something, or want you to
do something. He or she can make very "urgent" noises to spur you into action.

7-12 months
The sound of your baby's babbling changes. This is because it now includes more
consonants, as well as long and short vowels. He or she uses speech or other sounds
(i.e., other than crying) in order to get your attention and hold on to it. And your baby's first
words (probably not spoken very clearly) have appeared! ("MaMa", "Doggie", "Night
Night", "Bye Bye", "No")

1-2 years
Now your baby is accumulating more words as each month passes. He or she will even
ask 2-word questions like "Where ball?" "What's that?" "More chippies?" "What that?", and
combine two words in other ways to make the Stage 1 Sentence Types ("Birdie go", "No
doggie", "More push"). Words are becoming clearer as more initial consonants are used.

2-3 years
Your two or three year old's vocabulary is exploding!

He or she seems to have a word for almost everything. Utterances are usually one, two or
three words long and family members can usually understand them.

Your toddler may ask for, or draw your attention to something by naming it ("Elephant") or
one of its attributes ("Big!") or by commenting ("Wow!").

3 Years

Sentences are becoming longer as your child can combine four or more words. He or she
talks about things that have happened away from home, and is interested in talking about
pre-school, friends, outings and interesting experiences. Speech is usually fluent and clear
and "other people" can understand what your child is saying most of the time. In fact,
sometimes "other people" hear things you wish they had not!

Overheard on a London bus on April 6, 2011 (the variety of English

was RP):
Little Sister (3): It’s not fair mummy, my nose won’t blow.
Big Brother (4): Why won’t Fissy’s nose blow, mummy? My nose is a snot factory.

Stutterng and hoarseness

If stuttering (as opposed to normal non-fluency) occurs, see a speech-language
pathologist. Stuttering is not a normal part of learning to talk, and neither is persistent
hoarseness.

37
 4-5 years
Your child speaks clearly and fluently in an easy-to-listen-to voice.

He or she can construct long and detailed sentences ("We went to the zoo but we had to
come home early because Sally wasn't feeling well"; "I want to have a horse of my own
like Evan, and Daddy says when he wins the lottery he'll buy me one.").

He or she can tell a long, involved imaginative story sticking to the topic, and using "adult-
like" grammar.

Most sounds are pronounced correctly, though he or she may be lisping as a four year old,
or, at five, still have difficulty with "r", "v" and "th".

Your child can communicate easily with familiar adults and with other children.

Your child may tell fantastic, dramatic, inventive, "tall stories" (sometimes even scaring
themselves!) and engage strangers in conversation when you are out together.

Related pages

Brown's Stages of Syntactic and Morphonological Development

Speech and Language Development Index

Structural Analysis of a Language Sample

Twins - Development and Language

Typical Speech and Language Acquisition in Infants and Young

Children

Stage I Sentence Types

Operations of Reference Examples Communicative Intent

Nomination That car That is a car.

38
Recurrence More juice There is more juice.
Negation - denial No wee wee I did not do a wee wee.
Negation - rejection No more I don't want more.
Negation - non-existence Birdie go The bird has gone.
Semantic Relations Examples Communicative Intent
Action + Agent Daddy kiss Daddy is kissing.
Action + Object Push truck Pushing the truck.
Agent + Object Man hat The man (wears) a hat.
Action + Locative In bath I am in the bath.
Entity + Locative Dolly bed The dolly is on the bed.
Possessor + Possession (object) Kim car Kim's car.
Entity + Attributive Water hot The water is hot.
Demonstrative + Entity This train THIS train (not THAT train).

Brown's Stage I

Between 15 and 30 months, children are expected to have MLUm's (mean length of
utterance measured in morphemes) of about 1.75 morphemes. Their MLUm’s gradually
increase as they acquire more language.

In Stage I, just after they have built up a 50 to 60 word vocabulary, children acquire the
ability to produce the Stage I sentence types, outlined in the table above. The column
headed 'communicative intent' includes examples of what the child might have said if they
were mature enough to talk in full sentences.

Brown's Stages ("Brown's Morphemes") I to IV

As children's MLUm increases their capacity to learn and use grammatical structures of
greater complexity increases. They move from Stage I into Stage II, where they learn to use
"-ing" endings on verbs, "in", "on", and "-s" plurals. They then proceed to Stages III and IV.

Brown's Age in Mean MLUm Morphological Examples

Stage Months MLUm Range Structure ______________________________
Stage I 15-30 1.75 1.5-2.0 Stage I Sentence Types see above
Stage II 28-36 2.25 2.00-2.5
1 Present progressive (-ing) it going
2 in in box
3 on on box
4 s-plurals (regular plurals) my cars
Stage III 36-42 2.75 2.5-3.0
5 Irregular past tense me fell down
6 's possessive man's book

39
7 Uncontractible copula
(the full form of the verb
to be when it is the only
verb in a sentence)
Stage IV 40-46 3.5 3.0-3.7
8 Articles
9 Regular past tense
10 Third person regular,
present tense
Stage V 42-52+ 4.0 3.7-4.5
11 Third person irregular
Uncontractible auxiliary
12
(the full form of the verb
'to be' when it is an
auxiliary verb in a
sentence)
13 Contractible copula (the
shortened form of the
verb 'to be' when it is the
only verb in a sentence)
14 Contractible auxiliary (the
shortened form of the
verb 'to be' when it is an
auxiliary verb in a
sentence)
Is it Alison?
Yes, it is.
Was it Alison?
Yes, it was.
A ball on the book.
She jumped.
The puppy chews it.
Jason likes you.
She does. He has.
Are they swimming?
Were you hungry?
I'm not laughing; she is.
She was laughing; not me.
She's ready.
They're here.
Daddy's got tomatoes.
My dog's lost his collar.
They're coming.
He's going.
I'm opening it up.
We're hiding.
It's freezing.

An excerpt from Kim's language

sample

The resultant language sample looks something like the following 30-utterance excerpt from
Kim's 230-utterance language sample. The numbers in parentheses represent the number of
units of meaning, or morphemes in each of Kim's utterances. Kim was aged 3;8 (44 months)
when the sample was taken as part of his initial speech and language assessment.

Utterance
# Comment
(morpheme count)
1 me get (2) pronoun me
2 get (1)
3 that (1)
4 get (1)
6 ball (1)
7 me get ball (3)
8 ball me (2)
9 10 ball...ball... (1) (1)
11 Mummy please me has ball? (5)
12 no (1) negation

40
13 No me not (3)
14 no (1)
15 yes (1)
16 it not you ball (4) pronoun you
17 ball (1)
18 not go (2)
19 not in it (3) in
20 Two balls (3) -s plural
21 up on truck (3) on
22 truck going (3) -ing
23 go (1)
24 yeah (1)
25 more truck? (2) recurrence
26 Please (1)
27 cool (1)
28 where you hide truck (4) wh-question
29 more truck (2)
30 more (1)

The context of Kim's sample

What was the linguistic context? Kim was having a conversation with his mother in my room
while I looked on (audio-taping and transcribing the conversation). They were finding things in
a toy box.

#
Kim: Me get. (2) 1
Get. (1) 2
Mother:You get what?
Kim: That. (1) 3
Get. (1) 4
Ball. (1) 6
Me get ball. (3) 7
Ball me. (2) 8
Mother:You want me to get the ball for you?
9,
Kim: [Shouting] BALL...BALL... (1) (1)
10
Mother:Stop that.
That's not the way to ask.
What do you say?
Kim?
Kim: [sticks his chin out at her]
Mother:What's the magic word?
Kim: [Silence]

41
Mother:May I please have the ball Mummy.
Kim: [More silence]
Mother:You're not getting it Kim.
May I PLEASE have the ball?
Kim: [Sweetly] Mummy please me has ball? (5) 11
Mother:That's better.
[Hands him the ball]
You asked so nicely.
You're not a cheeky boy are you Kimmy?
Kim: No (1) 12
Mother:[Overplaying her hand!]
You're a nice boy.
Kim: No me NOT! (3) 13
No! (1) 14
Mother:Oh boy.
[To me]
Are they always like this?
Kim: [Thinking the question was addressed to him]
Yes. (1) 15
Mother:Can I play too?
Kim: It not you ball. (4) 16
Ball. (1) 17
Not go. (2) 18
[He tries unsuccessfully to stuff the ball into the cabin of a toy
truck]
Not in it. (3) 19
Mother:Here...
[She hands him a smaller ball and Kim puts both on the truck]
Kim: Two balls. (3) 20
Up on truck. (3) 21
Truck going. (3) 22
Go. (1) 23
Mother:That's better! That's better!
Kim: Yeah. (1) 24
[Politely] More truck? (2) 25
Please (1) 26
Mother:Hey! How about this one Kimmy!
[She offers him an "antique" bread truck he had not noticed before]
Kim Cool! (1) 27
[To me] Where you hide truck? (4) 28
More truck? (2) 29
More? (1) 30

Analysis
The child's written-down (transcribed) utterances are checked for accuracy against the audio
recording. The speech-language pathologist then adds up the number of utterances, and the
number of morphemes in each utterance. To determine the mean length of utterance in
morphemes (MLUm) the number of morphemes is divided by the number of utterances.

42
Calculating MLUm
In Kim's mini-sample there were 30 utterances, and a total of 56 morphemes. So his MLUm
was: 56 ÷ 30 = 1.86 morphemes.

When the same calculation was done with Kim's full sample of 230 utterances and 573
morphemes his MLUm was 2.49 morphemes (which just goes to show that too small a
language sample can be, and usually is, misleading).

Interpreting the MLUm

An MLUm of 2.49 is appropriate for a child in Brown's Stage 2 of language development.

Stage II language structures are usually being used by children in the 28 to 36 months age
range. As Kim was aged 44 months when the sample was taken, his MLUm was below age-
expectations (SLP-speak for "low for his age"!).

Structural analysis ("Brown's Stages")

Looking in detail at Kim's mini-sample it can be seen that all the language structures that
emerge in Stage II ("-ing", "in", "on" and "-s plurals") are present. None of the Stage III or
Stage IV structures expected at his age can be seen. This was reflected in the full sample
also.

Result

Kim's MLUm, and his structural analysis, both placed him in Brown's Stage II (28 to 36
months level) at 44 months of age.

Milestones related to speech and language

 Reacts to loud sounds

 Turns head toward a sound source
Birth to 5  Watches your face when you speak
months  Vocalizes pleasure and displeasure sounds (laughs, giggles, cries, or fusses)
 Makes noise when talked to

 Understands "no-no"
 Babbles (says "ba-ba-ba" or "ma-ma-ma")
6 - 11
 Tries to communicate by actions or gestures
months
 Tries to repeat your sounds

 Attends to a book or toy for about two minutes

 Follows simple directions accompanied by gestures
 Answers simple questions nonverbally
12 - 17  Points to objects, pictures, and family members
months  Says two to three words to label a person or object (pronunciation may
not be clear)
 Tries to imitate simple words

18 - 23  Enjoys being read to

months  Follows simple commands without gestures

43
  Points to simple body parts such as "nose"
 Understands simple verbs such as "eat," "sleep"
 Correctly pronounces most vowels and n, m, p, h, especially in the
beginning of syllables and short words. Also begins to use other speech
sounds
 Says 8 to 10 words (pronunciation may still be unclear)
 Asks for common foods by name
 Makes animal sounds such as "moo"
 Starting to combine words such as "more milk"
 Begins to use pronouns such as "mine"

 Knows about 50 words at 24 months

 Knows some spatial concepts such as "in," "on"
 Knows pronouns such as "you," "me," "her"
 Knows descriptive words such as "big," "happy"
 Says around 40 words at 24 months
 Speech is becoming more accurate but may still leave off ending sounds
 Strangers may not be able to understand much of what is said
2 - 3 years
 Answers simple questions
 Begins to use more pronouns such as "you," "I"
 Speaks in two to three word phrases
 Uses question inflection to ask for something (e.g., "My ball?")
 Begins to use plurals such as "shoes" or "socks" and regular past tense
verbs such as "jumped"

 Groups objects such as foods, clothes, etc.

 Identifies colors
 Uses most speech sounds but may distort some of the more difficult
sounds such as l, r, s, sh,ch, y, v, z, th. These sounds may not be fully
mastered until age 7 or 8
 Uses consonants in the beginning, middle, and ends of words. Some of
the more difficult consonants may be distorted, but attempts to say
them.
 Strangers are able to understand much of what is said
3 - 4 years  Able to describe the use of objects such as "fork," "car," etc.
 Has fun with language. Enjoys poems and recognizes language
absurdities such as, "Is that an elephant on your head?"
 Expresses ideas and feelings rather than just talking about the world
around him or her
 Uses verbs that end in "ing," such as "walking," "talking"
 Answers simple questions such as "What do you do when you are
hungry?"
 Repeats sentences

 Understands spatial concepts such as "behind," "next to"

 Understands complex questions
 Speech is understandable but makes mistakes pronouncing long,
difficult, or complex words such as "hippopotamus"
4 - 5 years  Says about 200 - 300 different words
 Uses some irregular past tense verbs such as "ran," "fell"
 Describes how to do things such as painting a picture
 Defines words
 Lists items that belong in a category such as animals, vehicles, etc.

44
  Answers "why" questions

 Understands more than 2,000 words

 Understands time sequences (what happened first, second, third, etc.)
 Carries out a series of three directions
 Understands rhyming
 Engages in conversation
5 years
 Sentences can be 8 or more words in length
 Uses compound and complex sentences
 Describes objects
 Uses imagination to create stories

How do speech and language normally develop?

The most intensive period of speech and language development for humans is during
the first three years of life, a period when the brain is developing and maturing. These
skills appear to develop best in a world that is rich with sounds, sights, and consistent
exposure to the speech and language of others.

There is increasing evidence suggesting that there are "critical periods" for speech
and language development in infants and young children. This means that the
developing brain is best able to absorb a language, any language, during this period.
The ability to learn a language will be more difficult, and perhaps less efficient or
effective, if these critical periods are allowed to pass without early exposure to a
language. The beginning signs of communication occur during the first few days of life
when an infant learns that a cry will bring food, comfort, and companionship. The
newborn also begins to recognize important sounds in his or her environment. The
sound of a parent or voice can be one important sound. As they grow, infants begin to
sort out the speech sounds (phonemes) or building blocks that compose the words of
their language. Research has shown that by six months of age, most children
recognize the basic sounds of their native language.

As the speech mechanism (jaw, lips, and tongue) and voice mature, an infant is able
to make controlled sound. This begins in the first few months of life with "cooing," a
quiet, pleasant, repetitive vocalization. By six months of age, an infant usually
babbles or produces repetitive syllables such as "ba, ba, ba" or "da, da, da." Babbling
soon turns into a type of nonsense speech (jargon) that often has the tone and
cadence of human speech but does not contain real words. By the end of their first
year, most children have mastered the ability to say a few simple words. Children are
most likely unaware of the meaning of their first words, but soon learn the power of
those words as others respond to them.

By eighteen months of age, most children can say eight to ten words. By age two,
most are putting words together in crude sentences such as "more milk." During this
period, children rapidly learn that words symbolize or represent objects, actions, and
thoughts. At this age they also engage in representational or pretend play. At ages
three, four, and five, a child's vocabulary rapidly increases, and he or she begins to
master the rules of language.

Reference

45
Brown, R. (1973). A first language: The early stages. London: George Allen & Unwin.

Links

Computerized Profiling

Introduction to Language 25 - 36 Months || from Handbook of Language & Literacy

Development 0-60 months

Language Analysis Lab

Citation

Cite this article as:

Bowen, C. (1998). Brown’s Stages of Syntactic and Morphological Development. Retrieved
from www.speech-language-
therapy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33 on [insert the date that
you accessed the file here].

Question

( )-1-Both of the studies in the case study revealed that the learner's performance and
knowledge about the Target language continuously and progressively changes over time.

( )-2-One finding in the case study is that learners make errors of different kinds such as
failing to use some grammatical features at all and use others incorrectly.

( )-3-Errors made are errors of omission and over use.

( )-4-It was found out in the case study that learners acquire aspects of an L2
systematically and follow particular developmental routes ,with some features being
acquired before others.

( )-5-L2 acquisition involve different kind of learning.

46
( )-6-Learners internalize chunks of language structure(formulaic) and simultaneously rues,
i.e. item learning and system learning .

Heritage language learning

Heritage language learning or heritage language acquisition is the act of learning a language
by someone from an ethno linguistic group that traditionally speaks the language, or whose
family historically spoke the language. According to a generally accepted definition by Valdés
(2000), heritage language is the language someone learns at home as a child which is a
minority language in society, but because of growing up in a dominant language, the speaker
seems to be more competent in the latter and feels more comfortable to communicate in
that language. Polinsky & Kagan (2007) label it as a continuum that ranges from fluent
speakers to barely speaking individuals of the home language. In some countries or cultures
where they determine one's mother tongue by the ethnic group, a heritage language would
be linked to native language

Universal Grammar (UG) is a theory in linguistics, usually credited to Noam Chomsky,

proposing that the ability to learn grammar is hard-wired into the brain.[1] It is sometimes
known as 'mental grammar', and as opposed to other 'grammars', e.g. prescriptive,
descriptive and pedagogical. The theory suggests that linguistic ability manifests itself
without being taught (see the poverty of the stimulus argument), and that there are
properties that all natural human languages share. It is a matter of observation and
experimentation to determine precisely what abilities are innate and what properties are
.shared by all language

The critical period hypothesis is the subject of a long-standing debate in linguistics and
language acquisition over the extent to which the ability to acquire language is biologically
linked to age. The hypothesis claims that there is an ideal time window to acquire language
in a linguistically rich environment, after which further language acquisition becomes much
.more difficult and effortful

The critical period hypothesis states that the first few years of life is the crucial time in which
an individual can acquire a first language if presented with adequate stimuli. If language
input does not occur until after this time, the individual will never achieve a full command of
.language—especially grammatical systems

The evidence for such a period is limited, and support stems largely from theoretical
arguments and analogies to other critical periods in biology such as visual development, but
nonetheless is widely accepted. The nature of such a critical period, however, has been one
of the most fiercely debated issues in psycholinguistics and cognitive science in general for
decades. Some writers have suggested a "sensitive" or "optimal" /best /ideal period rather
than a critical one; others dispute the causes (physical maturation, cognitive factors). The
.duration of the period also varies greatly in different accounts

In second-language acquisition, the strongest evidence for the critical period hypothesis is in
the study of accent, where most older learners do not reach a native-like level. However,

47
under certain conditions, native-like accent has been observed, suggesting that accent is
affected by multiple factors, such as identity and motivation, rather than a critical period
.biological constraint

Applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field of linguistics that identifies,

investigates, and offers solutions to language-related real-life problems. Some of the
academic fields related to applied linguistics are education, psychology, computer science,
communication research, anthropology, and sociology. Computational Contrastive,
Evolutionary, Forensic, Internet, Language acquisition, Second-language acquisition,
Language assessment, Language development, Language education, Linguistic anthropology,
Neurolinguistics, Psycholinguistics

Language transfer (also known as L1 interference, linguistic interference, and cross-linguistic

influence) refers to speakers or writers applying knowledge from one language to another
language.[1] It is the transfer of linguistic features between languages in the speech
repertoire of a bilingual or multilingual individual, whether from first to second, second to
first or many other relationships.[2] It is most commonly discussed in the context of English
language learning and teaching, but it can occur in any situation when someone does not
.have a native-level command of a language, as when translating into a second language

The input hypothesis, also known as the monitor model, is a group of five hypotheses of
second-language acquisition developed by the linguist Stephen Krashen in the 1970s and
1980s. Krashen originally formulated the input hypothesis as just one of the five hypotheses,
but over time the term has come to refer to the five hypotheses as a group. The hypotheses
are the input hypothesis, the acquisition–learning hypothesis, the monitor hypothesis, the
natural order hypothesis and the affective filter hypothesis.

The input hypothesis was first published in 1977.The hypotheses put primary importance on
the comprehensible input (CI) that language learners are exposed to. Understanding spoken
and written language input is seen as the only mechanism that results in the increase of
underlying linguistic competence, and language output is not seen as having any effect on
learners' ability. Furthermore, Krashen claimed that linguistic competence is only advanced
when language is subconsciously acquired, and that conscious learning cannot be used as a
source of spontaneous language production. Finally, learning is seen to be heavily
dependent on the mood of the learner, with learning being impaired if the learner is under
.stress or does not want to learn the language

Krashen's hypotheses have been influential in language education, particularly in the United
States, but have received criticism from some academics. Two of the main criticisms are that
the hypotheses are untestable, and that they assume a degree of separation between
.acquisition and learning that has not been proven to exist

Interaction hypothesis

The Interaction hypothesis is a theory of second-language acquisition which states that the
development of language proficiency is promoted by face-to-face interaction and
communication. The idea existed in the 1980s, but is usually credited to Michael Long for his

48
1996 paper The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition.[4][5]There
are two forms of the Interaction Hypothesis: the "strong" form and the "weak" form. The
"strong" form is the position that the interaction itself contributes to language development.
The "weak" form is the position that interaction is simply the way that learners find learning
]opportunities, whether or not they make productive use of them.[1

Comprehensible output

In the field of Second Language Acquisition, there are many theories about the most
effective way for language learners to acquire new language forms. One theory of language
.acquisition is the Comprehensible Output Hypothesis

Developed by Merrill Swain, the comprehensible output (CO) hypothesis states that learning
takes place when a learner encounters a gap in his or her linguistic knowledge of the second
language (L2). By noticing this gap, the learner becomes aware of it and may be able to
modify his output so that he learns something new about the language [1] Although Swain
does not claim that comprehensible output is solely responsible for all or even most
language acquisition, she does claim that, under some conditions, CO facilitates second
language learning in ways that differ from and enhance input due to the mental processes
connected with the production of language.[2] This hypothesis is closely related to the
Noticing hypothesis. Swain defines three functions of output: 1. Noticing function: Learners
encounter gaps between what they want to say and what they are able to say, and so they
notice what they do not know or only know partially in this language. 2. Hypothesis-testing
function: When a learner says something, there is always an at least tacit hypothesis
underlying his or her utterance, e.g. about grammar. By uttering something, the learner
tests this hypothesis and receives feedback from an interlocutor. This feedback enables
reprocessing of the hypothesis if necessary. 3.Metalinguistic function: Learners reflect on
the language they learn, and thereby the output enables them to control and internalize
linguistic knowledge.[3] In addition to second language acquisition context, comprehensible
output has been found to be effective in elicitation of modified output in foreign language
acquisition. Production of language for communication in a meaningful way is hypothesized
]to help its acquisition. [4

Social interactionist theory is an explanation of language development emphasizing the role

of social interaction between the developing child and linguistically knowledgeable adults. It
is based largely on the socio-cultural theories of Soviet psychologist, Lev Vygotsky. ccording
to Vygotsky, social interaction plays an important role in the learning process and proposed
the zone of proximal development (ZPD) where learners construct the new language
through socially mediated interaction. Vygotsky's social-development theory was adopted
and made prominent in the Western world though by Jerome Bruner [2] who laid the
.foundations of a model of language development in the context of adult-child interaction

The critical period hypothesis is the subject of a long-standing debate in linguistics and
language acquisition over the extent to which the ability to acquire language is biologically
linked to age. The hypothesis claims that there is an ideal time window to acquire language
in a linguistically rich environment, after which further language acquisition becomes much
.more difficult and effortful

49
The critical period hypothesis states that the first few years of life is the crucial time in which
an individual can acquire a first language if presented with adequate stimuli. If language
input does not occur until after this time, the individual will never achieve a full command of
.language—especially grammatical systems

The evidence for such a period is limited, and support stems largely from theoretical
arguments and analogies to other critical periods in biology such as visual development, but
nonetheless is widely accepted. The nature of such a critical period, however, has been one
of the most fiercely debated issues in psycholinguistics and cognitive science in general for
decades. Some writers have suggested a "sensitive" or "optimal" period rather than a critical
one; others dispute the causes (physical maturation, cognitive factors). The duration of the
.period also varies greatly in different accounts

In second-language acquisition, the strongest evidence for the critical period hypothesis is in
the study of accent, where most older learners do not reach a native-like level. However,
under certain conditions, native-like accent has been observed, suggesting that accent is
affected by multiple factors, such as identity and motivation, rather than a critical period
.biological constraint

Cognitive psychology is the study of mental processes such as "attention, language use,
memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, and thinking."[1] Much of the work derived
from cognitive psychology has been integrated into various other modern disciplines of
psychological study, including educational psychology, social psychology, personality
.psychology, abnormal psychology, developmental psychology, and economics

)systemic functional linguistics (SFL

.The study of the relationship between language and its functions in social settings

In systemic functional linguistics (SFL), three strata make up the linguistic system: meaning
(semantics), sound (phonology), and wording or lexico-grammar (syntax, morphology, and
.)lexis

Systemic functional linguistics treats grammar as a meaning-making resource and insists on

.the interrelation of form and meaning

:Origins

Systemic functional linguistics was developed in the 1960s by British linguist M.A.K. Halliday
(b. 1925), who had been influenced by the work of the Prague School and British linguist J.R.
.)Firth (1890-1960

:Examples and Observations

SL [systemic linguistics] is an avowedly functionalist approach to language, and it is " •

arguably the functionalist approach which has been most highly developed. In contrast to
most other approaches, SL explicitly attempts to combine purely structural information with
overtly social factors in a single integrated description. Like other functionalist frameworks,
SL is deeply concerned with the purposes of language use. Systemicists constantly ask the

50
following questions: What is this writer (or speaker) trying to do? What linguistic devices are
"?available to help them do it, and on what basis do they make their choices

Robert Lawrence Trask and Peter Stockwell, Language and Linguistics: The Key Concepts. (
)Routledge, 2007

Skill-based theories of second-language acquisition

Skill-based theories of second-language acquisition are theories of second-language

acquisition based on models of skill acquisition in cognitive psychology. These theories
conceive of second-language acquisition as being learned in the same way as any other skill,
such as learning to drive a car or play the piano. That is, they see practice as the key
ingredient of language acquisition. The most well-known of these theories is based on John
]Anderson's adaptive control of thought model.[1

]Adaptive control of thought[edit

The adaptive control of thought model assumes a distinction between declarative

knowledge, knowledge that is conscious and consists of facts,[2] and procedural knowledge,
knowledge of how an activity is done.[3][4] In this model, skill acquisition is seen as a
progression from declarative to procedural knowledge.[4] Adaptive control of thought is a
general model of cognition, and second-language acquisition is just one application of a wide
area of research in cognitive psychology.[5] Second-language acquisition is seen as a
]progression through three stages, declarative, procedural, and autonomous.[5

The sociocultural perspective is a theory used in various fields such as psychology and is
used to describe awareness of circumstances surrounding individuals and how their
behaviors are affected specifically by their surrounding, social and cultural factors. According
to Catherine A. Sanderson (2010) “Sociocultural perspective: A perspective describing
people’s behavior and mental processes as shaped in part by their social and/or cultural
contact, including race, gender, and nationality.” Sociocultural perspective theory is a broad
yet significant aspect in our being. It applies to every sector of our daily lives. How we
communicate, understand, relate and cope with one another is partially based on this
theory. Our spiritual, mental, physical, emotional, physiological being are all influenced by
.sociocultural perspective theory

Connectionism is a set of approaches in the fields of artificial intelligence, cognitive

psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience, and philosophy of mind, that models mental or
behavioralphenomena as the emergent processes of interconnected networks of simple
units. The term was introduced by Donald Hebb in 1940s.[1] There are many forms of
.connectionism, but the most common forms use neural network models

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the intelligence exhibited by machines or software. It is also the
name of the academic field of study which studies how to create computers and
computersoftware that are capable of intelligent behavior. Major AI researchers and
textbooks define this field as "the study and design of intelligent agents",[1] in which an

51
intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize
its chances of success.[2] John McCarthy, who coined the term in 1955,[3] defines it as "the
science and engineering of making intelligent machines".[4

Instructor: Jessica McCallister

The following lesson explains how individuals and groups experience acculturation by
discussing four main factors associated with acculturation: language, immersion,
assimilation, and integration. A quiz is provided to assess your understanding of the
topic.

Definition of Acculturation
The base word of acculturation is 'culture'. What is culture? Simply stated, culture means
a way of living and a way of life. Culture means that there are certain ways and reasons
in which individuals and group of people speak, conduct themselves, celebrate holidays,
and express their belief systems. As you can imagine, there is a tremendous diversity of
cultures around the world.
Some of these cultures include American, Hispanic, Asian, and European cultures. When
discussing cultures, we can break down the larger geographic areas into smaller regions.
For example, if you were asked to discuss the American culture, you might explain that
there is a difference between those living on the West Coast versus those living on the
East Coast. Perhaps a difference might be in the food that people eat, the clothes that
people wear, or the customs and activities that they participate in.
Perhaps you are asked to discuss the Hispanic or South American culture. In doing so,
there are many subcultures such as Mexican, Brazilian, Chilean, Honduran, and so on.
There are as many cultures in the world as there are countries, states, and regions!
Understanding the term 'culture' can lead us to more fully understand the terms
associated with the theory of acculturation. So what does acculturation mean? When
individuals or groups of people transition from living a lifestyle of their own culture to
moving into a lifestyle of another culture, they must acculturate, or come to adapt the new
culture's behaviors, values, customs, and language. The word 'acculturation' is the act of
that transition.

Theories of Acculturation
The theory of acculturation can be broken down to include a few different topics; these
include learning a new language, immersion, assimilation, and integration. Let's take a
look at each of these terms more closely.
Language and immersion can be some of the most important parts of the acculturation
process. In fact, social theorist John Schumann proposed that language is the largest
factor in successfully acculturating. For example, if you are a Hispanic or South American
native and you move to the United States, you would have to learn to speak English in
order to fully understand and even feel comfortable living and communicating in the
American culture.
As you can imagine, transitioning into a new culture might often require learning a new
language. While you can learn a new language by using audio CDs or taking lessons
from an instructor, one of the most effective ways to learn a new language is
through immersion, or surrounding yourself entirely in a new culture.

52
A great way to acculturate is to move from your native country into the new country, and
live with and learn directly from the natives. When you immerse yourself, you learn first-
hand what that new culture is all about. Immersion doesn't only include practicing the
language directly with native speakers, but also includes coming to understand the
customs, traditions, acceptable behaviors, and so on.
The immersion phase of acculturation can be very challenging and stressful. Why? As
you can imagine, growing up and living your own culture is easy; you don't know any
different from what you have learned your entire life! However, being open and willing to
set aside your own cultural background and beliefs, as well as learn a new language, can
come with hesitation, confusion, and can often be time-consuming.
Sometimes the process of acculturation doesn't necessarily include learning a new
language, but instead includes learning the meaning of certain words or adjusting to the
local dialect. For example, if you were an American native moving to British Columbia,
Canada, you could continue to speak English, but would also want to learn the different
meanings of words that are associated with the Canadian culture.
In the United States, the term 'bathroom' is used as opposed to the term 'washroom',
which is used in British Columbia. The language and word choices spoken by the native
people are referred to as the vernacular. Even though Canadians speak English, some
of the word choices they use have to be learned by a non-native as part of the
acculturation process.
In Great Britain, the bathroom is referred to as the loo. In Australia, a friend or
acquaintance is referred to as a mate. As you can see, not only does acculturation
include learning a new language or immersing yourself into the culture, it also includes
learning the meanings and associations of new words and phrases.
Assimilation involves the accumulation of information about a new culture and resulting
adaptations to match the new culture. Generating new knowledge about a culture might
include learning how food is prepared, understanding types of acceptable clothing worn
in the new culture, or picking up new habits. A person who fully assimilates has picked up
all the habits and traits of their non-native culture.
Similarly, integration is often used in acculturation theory and includes participating
socially in an environment to be considered an equal among the society. You do not have
to fully assimilate in order to integrate into a new culture. To integrate into society, you
might want to participate in social events, community events, and perhaps engage in
local clubs or groups. The processes of assimilation and integration take time and are
often experienced as part of the entire acculturation process.

Motivation in second-language learning

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Second language (L2) refers to a language an individual learns that is not his/her mother
tongue, but is of use in the area of the individual. It is not the same as a foreign
language, which is a language learned that is not generally spoken in the individual’s
area. In research on motivation, it is considered to be an internal process that gives
behavior energy, direction and persistence in research (in other words, it gives behavior
strength, purpose, and sustainability).[1] Learning a new language takes time and
dedication. Once you do, being fluent in a second language offers numerous benefits and
opportunities. Learning a second language is exciting and beneficial at all ages. It offers
practical, intellectual and many aspirational benefits In learning a language, there can be
one or more goals – such as mastery of the language or communicative competence –
that vary person to person. There are a number of language learner motivation models
that were developed and postulated in fields such as linguistics and sociolinguistics, with
relations to second-language acquisition in a classroom setting. The different

53
 perspectives on L2 motivation can be divided into three distinct phases: the social
psychological period, the cognitive-situated period and the process-oriented period.[2]

Contents
[hide]

 1The social psychological period

o 1.1The socio-educational model
o 1.2Revisions of the socio-educational model
 1.2.1Attitude Motivation Test Battery
 1.2.1.1Integrativeness[6]
 1.2.1.2Attitude toward learning situation[6]
 1.2.1.3Motivation[6]
 1.2.1.4Language anxiety[6]
o 1.3Linguistic self-confidence
 2The cognitive-situated period
o 2.1Self-determination theory
o 2.2Attribution theory
o 2.3Social constructivist model
 2.3.1Framework of motivation in L2 learning
 3The process-oriented period
o 3.1Process model
o 3.2Motivational self system
 4See also
 5References

The social psychological period[edit]

Social psychological perspectives on L2 learning motivation emphasize the role of the
individuals’ social context and social interactions. The social psychological period in L2
motivation research flourished in the bilingual context of Canada from 1959 through 1990
(Dörnyei, 2005; Ushioda, 2012).[2][3] During this period, Gardner developed the socio-
educational model while Clément and colleagues explored the theory of linguistic self-
confidence.
The socio-educational model[edit]
R.C. Gardner formulated the socio-educational model suggesting that learning an L2
cannot be solely explained by people’s aptitude or their competency to acquire as many
languages.[4]He asserted that individual differences were key factors affecting L2
acquisition such that in understanding how the L2 learning process and outcomes work, it
is important to consider the cultural contexts, which influence people’s attitude and
motivation in learning another culturally distinct language.[5] By simply regarding aptitude
as the only factor, researchers dismiss the social, contextual and pragmatic reasons that
drive people to learn other languages.[4]
The original socio-educational model (1979) proposed that there are two main factors
that influence L2 performance: aptitude, and motivation in learning.[4] The model,
however, placed more emphasis on the motivation factor because Gardner was
interested in how people succeeded in acquiring L2 even when it seemed that their
competency/aptitude is below average. This meant that motivation played a bigger role in
driving those people to learn an L2.[4] The model then attempted to explain that these
motivational factors took place in the sites where L2 learning occurs: the formal site (i.e.
the educational context), and the informal site (i.e. the cultural context). Gardner argued
that these two contexts play distinct roles in boosting the learner’s L2 performance in that
the educational context became a place where explicit instruction and correction occurs,
whereas the cultural context was an area allowing the learners to become immersed in

54
the other culture without placing any specific rules or instructions.[6] Both ways, the
learners become increasingly knowledgeable and more confident with the social and
cultural settings behind the L2, and these motivate them to learn L2 even more. Upon
this transition, linguistic and non-linguistic outcomes emerge. In the linguistic component,
learners tend to develop L2 proficiency and fluency, whereas in the non-linguistic
outcomes, they undergo changes in attitudes towards the culture where the L2 came
from.[7]
The process of L2 acquisition starts from the social milieu where learners have initial
attitudes towards the culture behind the L2; these preset beliefs were acquired from their
own cultures.[5]The social milieu, in turn, influences the strategies, which individuals use
in acquiring the L2. After knowing the individual differences in L2 acquisition, it is
important to consider the context of learning (i.e. educational or cultural) because they
improve L2 performance through direct (i.e. explicit instruction) and indirect (i.e. cultural
immersion) means.[6] Finally, when the learners have already acquired experience and
knowledge of the L2, they gain varying positive outcomes such as fluency and
appreciation of the other culture.[4]
Revisions of the socio-educational model[edit]
The model has undergone numerous revisions to capture the sub-processes underlying
in each of the individual factors. In 1985, Gardner introduced three sub-measures namely
the intensity, the desire to learn and the attitude towards learning to explain the
motivation factor.[8] Gardner argued that if these three criteria work together, the learner
could effectively use motivation as a tool for L2 acquisition.[8] Dornyei and other
researchers, however, assert that this is not the case; they contend that one can have a
‘strong’ desire to learn, but have a different attitude towards the learning process
itself.[8] Nevertheless, some researches still claim the attitude towards learning has a high
predictive capacity because attitude has a strong association with direct behavior (i.e.
learning).[8] From 1993 to 2010, the model’s schema was rigorously changed to
encompass the variability in the external factors affecting L2 learning; the term “social
milieu” became “the external factors”.[9] More characteristics were added to describe the
variables affecting each of the individual factors; these were compiled in the Attitude
Motivation Test Battery developed by Gardner.
Attitude Motivation Test Battery[edit]
Gardner also created the Attitude Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) to quantitatively
measure the four main factors and their sub-units, and to predict L2
performance/outcome of the learning.[6] The test generally instructs participants to rate a
set of statements on a scale of 1 to 7 (i.e. least likely to most likely), and on a 6-level
Likert Scale (i.e. strongly disagree to strongly agree).[10] Different statements correspond
to a certain variable (or main factor), and scores from those sets are added up to
determine how much of that variable is influencing the language learning of the
participants.[10] Like the model, however, the test has also been revised over the years. In
Gardner’s review of the Socio-educational Model, he named the four overarching
variables which are measured in the AMTB: (1) integrativeness, (2) attitude toward
learning situation, (3) motivation and (4) language anxiety.[6] Other variables such as the
instrumental orientation and parental encouragement in the AMTB are used in different
settings or as needed.
Integrativeness[6][edit]
The integrativeness variable (also known as the integrative motive) reflect the cultural
context of L2 learning as it attempts to measure how open a learner is to the other culture
that primarily uses L2. The AMTB assesses this variable by accounting for the extent to
which the learner is generally interested in foreign languages, as well as his/her preset
attitudes towards the community where the L2 comes from. It also accounts for the
integrative orientation of the individual or the social and cultural reasons why the
individual learns the L2.

55
Attitude toward learning situation[6][edit]
Contrary to integrativeness, the attitude towards learning situation accounts for the
education context of L2 acquisition and the affective facts that correspond with it. The
AMTB measures this variable by asking the individual to evaluate the teacher and the
course in the educational context. This determines how much the educational context
aids in improving L2 performance.
Motivation[6][edit]
Motivation, in the AMTB, is assessed through the combination of the desire to learn,
attitude towards learning, and motivational intensity. While integrativeness and attitude
toward the learning situation target each site of learning, motivation accounts for both
contexts as well as the affective variables (i.e. individual differences) that influence the
two contexts.
Language anxiety[6][edit]
In the AMTB, language anxiety is an affective variable, which corresponds to what the
individuals feel when ‘performing’ the L2. In the AMTB, it is measured by determining
how anxious the learner feels when in the classroom or when using the language in
general.
Linguistic self-confidence[edit]
Clément and his associates investigated the importance of social contextual factors on
L2 acquisition.[2] Of these social contextual factors, Dörnyei (2005)[2] argues linguistic self-
confidence plays the most important role in motivation in learning a second language.
Linguistic self-confidence refers to a person’s perceptions of their own competence and
ability to accomplish tasks successfully.[11] This linguistic self-confidence is established
through the interaction between the language learner and members of the language
community, and strengthened based on the quality and quantity of these
interactions.[11] In multi-linguistic communities, self-confidence fosters language learners’
identification with the language community and increases their willingness to pursue
learning that language.[11]

The cognitive-situated period[edit]

Cognitive perspectives focus on how the learners’ mental processes influence their
motivation. During the late 1980s and 1990s, emphasis in the language learning
motivation field shifted towards cognitive models, reflecting the “cognitive revolution”
taking place in psychology at the time.[2] Cognitive psychologists argued that how one
thinks about one’s abilities, possibilities, potentials, limitations, and past performances
has major influences on motivation.[2] Thus, L2 motivation models shifted away from the
broad social psychological perspectives, while more narrow-viewed microperspectives
emerged.[2] During this time, note-worthy contributions were made by Noels and
colleagues through a self-determination theory-based model of language learning
motivation, Ushioda through attribution theory, as well as Williams and Burden with their
social constructivist model.[2]
Self-determination theory[edit]
The self-determination theory focuses on the intrinsic and extrinsic aspects of
motivation.[2] Noels and colleagues explored this theory in the language learning context
and developed the Language Learning Orientations Scale which categorizes a person’s
motivational orientation as either intrinsic, extrinsic, or amotivated based on a continuum
of self-determination.[2] In this line of research it was found that in the language learning
classroom, teachers that were autonomy supportive and non-controlling promoted
intrinsic and self-determined orientations of motivation in students.[2]
Attribution theory[edit]

56
Attribution theory contends that the causal reasons we attribute to our past successes or
failures plays a critical role in our motivation in future endeavors in that area.[2] Consistent
with this theory, Ushioda identified two attributional patterns associated with positive
motivational outcomes in language learning.[2] The first involves attributing one’s
successes in learning the language to personal factors, while the second involves
attributing one’s failures to temporary forces which may be overcome.[2]
Social constructivist model[edit]
This cognitive perspective arose from a supposed “constructivist movement” that
stemmed mostly from the work of Jean Piaget and that also encompassed personal
construct psychology (developed by George Kelly (psychologist)).[12] This model suggests
a constructive nature of the learning process as emphasized by Piaget, this assumes that
people are actively involved in constructing personal meaning right from birth.[12] This
brings the learner into central focus in learning theory as everyone is constructing their
own sense of the world, which is key to the constructivist perspective.[12]
The learner is in control of his/her learning as a result of his/her cognitive processing and
organizing, and the context in which he/she is learning.[12] This means that the individual
who is learning is in control of what he/she learns based on the way he/she think, and the
immediate environment he/she is in as well as any internal factors (mood, preoccupation,
motivation, etc…). Four key elements (the learner(s), the teacher, the task, and the
context) are outlined by this model as affecting the teaching-learning process as they
interact with and act on each other.[12]
Framework of motivation in L2 learning[edit]
Using the social constructivist model, Marion Williams and Robert L. Burden developed a
framework of motivation in language learning as an attempt to summarize motivational
factors relevant to L2 learning in the classroom setting. This framework placed an
emphasis on contextual influences, and it categorized motivational factors in terms of
learner-internal and external factors.[13] The framework is shown below:

Internal Factors External Factors

Significant others:
Intrinsic interest of activity:
 parents
 arousal of curiosity  teachers
 optimal degree of challenge  peers
The nature of interaction with
significant others:
Perceived value of activity:
 mediated learning experiences
 the nature and amount of
 personal relevance
feedback
 anticipated value of outcomes
 rewards
 intrinsic value attributed to the activity
 the nature and amount of
appropriate praise
 punishments, sanctions
Sense of agency: The learning environment:

 locus of causality  comfort

 locus of control RE process and outcomes  resources
 ability to set appropriate goals  time of day, week, year

57
  size of class and school
 class and school ethos
The broader context
Mastery
 wider family networks
 feelings of competence  the local education system
 awareness of developing skills and mastery in a  conflicting interest
chosen area  cultural norms
 self-efficacy  societal expectations and
attitudes
Self-concept

 realistic awareness of personal strengths and

weaknesses in skills required
 personal definitions and judgments of success and
failure
 self-worth concern
 learned helplessness
Attitudes

 to language learning in general

 to the target language
 to the target language community and culture
Other affective states

 confidence
 anxiety, fear
Developmental age and stage
Gender

The process-oriented period[edit]

With the rise of cognitive approaches to L2 learning motivation, researchers began to
focus on the dynamic character of motivation. The models of the process-oriented period
explore the short-term and long-term changes in the individuals’ motivation as they learn
L2.[2] This approach views motivation as a dynamic factor which fluctuates within a class
period, a year, and a lifetime.[2] Models from this period include the process model and
the motivational self system.
Process model[edit]
Dörnyei and Ottό developed a process model of L2 learning marked by three distinct,
chronological stages: the preactional stage, the actional stage, and the postactional
stage.[2] The preactional stage involves the initial choice to begin learning a second
language and creating goals for oneself.[2] This stage is associated with setting goals,
forming intentions, and launching action.[2] During the preactional phase, the major
motivational influences are the values associated with L2 learning, attitudes towards the
L2-speaking community, learners’ expectations and beliefs, and environmental
support.[2] The actional stage includes sustaining one’s level of motivation throughout the
language-learning process.[2] This stage involves generating and carrying out subtasks,
appraising one’s achievement, and self-regulation.[2] During the actional stage the major
motivational influences are the quality of the L2 learning experience, sense of autonomy

58
as an L2 learner, teachers’ and parents’ influence, and usage of self-regulatory
strategies. Lastly, the postactional stage involves retrospection and self-reflection on the
language learning experience and outcomes.[2] This stage entails forming causal
attributions, elaborating standards and strategies, and dismissing the intention and
further planning.[2] During the postactional stage the major motivational influences are the
learners’ attributional styles and biases, self-concept beliefs, and received feedback
during the L2 learning process.[2]
Motivational self system[edit]
After developing the process model, Dörnyei (2005)[2] designed the motivational self
system of L2 learning. The L2 motivational self system forms links with
conceptualizations of L2 motivation by Noels (2003)[14] and Ushioda (2001).[15] This
motivational self system has three components: the ideal L2 self, ought-to L2 self, and L2
learning experience.[16] The ideal L2 self is a person’s imagined ideal future self as a
second language speaker.[3] This ideal L2 self promotes motivation by inspiring the
present self to strive to become the ideal self, which promotes integrative and
internalized instrumental motivation in language learning.[16] The ought-to L2 self includes
the attributions a person believes they should have in order to meet expectations or avoid
negative outcomes, which is associated with extrinsic motivational orientations.[16] The L2
learning experience component includes the situational and environmental aspects of the
language learning process as well as one’s subjective learning experience.[16]

See also[edit]
 Language exchange
 Language learning

References[edit]
1. Jump up^ Reeve, Johnmarshall (2013). Understanding motivation and emotion (6 ed.).
Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
2. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The psychology of the
language learner: Individual differences in second language acquisition. Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum.
3. ^ Jump up to:a b Ushioda, E. (2012) Motivation: L2 learning as a special case? In S.
Mercer, S. Ryan, & M. Williams (Eds.), Psychology for language learning (pp. 58-73).
Basingstoke, HA: Palgrave Macmillan.
4. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e Gardner, R. C. (1985). Social psychology and second language
learning: The role of attitudes and motivation. London: Edward Arnold.
5. ^ Jump up to:a b Gardner, R. C.; Lambert, W. E. (1959). "Motivational variables in second-
language acquisition". Canadian Journal of Psychology 13: 266–272.
6. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h Gardner, R. C. (2011). "The socio-educational model of second
language acquisition". Canadian Issues/Thèmes Canadiens: 24–27.
7. Jump up^ Sajid-us-Salam, M. (2008). "Gardner’s Early Socio-Educational Model
(Powerpoint Slides)".
8. ^ Jump up to:a b c d Dörnyei, Z. (1998). Motivation in second and foreign language
learning. Language Teaching, 31 (3), 117-135.
9. Jump up^ Gardner, R. C. & Macintyre, P. D. (1993). On the measurement of affective
variables in second language learning. Language Learning, 43,157-94.
10. ^ Jump up to:a b Gardner, R. C. (2004). Attitude/motivation test battery: International
AMTB research project. Canada: The University of Western Ontario.
11. ^ Jump up to:a b c Clement, R. (1980). Ethnicity, contact and communicative competence
in a second language. In H. Giles, W. P. Robinson & P. M Smith (Eds.), Language: Social
psychological perspectives (pp. 147-154). Oxford: Pergamon
12. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e Williams, M., & Burden, R. L. (1997). Psychology for teachers.
Cambridge University Press.

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 13. Jump up^ Dörnyei, Z., & Ushioda, E. (2013). Teaching and researching: Motivation. (2nd
ed.). Routledge.
14. Jump up^ Noels, K. A. (2003). Learning Spanish as a second language: Learners'
orientations and perceptions of their teachers' communication style. In Z. Dörnyei (Ed.),
Attitudes, orientations, and motivations in language learning (pp. 97-136). Oxford:
Blackwell.
15. Jump up^ Ushioda, E. (2001). Language learning at university: Exploring the role of
motivational thinking. In Z. Dörnyei & R. Schmidt (Eds.), Motivation and second language
acquisition (pp. 91-124). Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.
16. ^ Jump up to:a b c d Dörnyei, Z. (2009) The psychology of second language acquisition.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Ethnolinguistics
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anthropology

Disciplines[show]

Discipline subfields[show]

Research framework[show]

Key theories[show]

Key concepts[show]

Lists[show]

Anthropology portal

 v
 t
 e

Linguistics

Theoretical linguistics[show]

Descriptive linguistics[show]

Applied and experimental

[show]

60
 Related articles[show]

Linguistics portal

 v
 t
 e

Ethnolinguistics (sometimes called cultural linguistics)[1] is a field of linguistics which

studies the relationship between language and culture, and the way different ethnic
groups perceive the world. It is the combination between ethnology and linguistics. The
former refers to the way of life of an entire community, i.e., all the characteristics which
distinguish one community from the other. Those characteristics make the cultural
aspects of a community or a society.
Ethnolinguists study the way perception and conceptualization influences language, and
show how this is linked to different cultures and societies. An example is the way spatial
orientation is expressed in various cultures.[2][3] In many societies, words for the cardinal
directions eastand west are derived from terms for sunrise/sunset. The nomenclature for
cardinal directions of Inuit speakers of Greenland, however, is based on geographical
landmarks such as the river system and one's position on the coast. Similarly,
the Yurok lack the idea of cardinal directions; they orient themselves with respect to their
principal geographic feature, the Klamath River.
Cultural Linguistics (capitalized) refers to a related branch of linguistics that explores
the relationship between language, culture, andconceptualisation.[4] Cultural Linguistics
draws on, but is not limited to, the theoretical notions and analytical tools of cognitive
linguistics andcognitive anthropology. Central to the approach of Cultural Linguistics are
notions of "cultural schema" and "cultural model". It examines how various features of
language encode cultural schemas and cultural models.[5] In Cultural Linguistics,
language is viewed as deeply entrenched in the group-level, cultural cognition of
communities of speakers. Thus far, the approach of Cultural Linguistics has been
adopted in several areas of applied linguisticresearch, including intercultural
communication, second language learning, and World Englishes.[6]

See also[edit]
Culture portal

Linguistics portal

 Anthropological linguistics
 Evolutionary psychology of language
 Linguistic anthropology
 Wilhelm von Humboldt

References[edit]
1. Jump up^ Ferraro, Gary (2006). Cultural Anthropology: An Applied Perspective.
Cengage Learning. ISBN 0-495-10008-0.
2. Jump up^ Heine, Bernd (1997) Cognitive Foundations of Grammar. Oxford/New York:
Oxford University Press.

61
 3. Jump up^ Tuan, Yi-Fu (1974) Topophilia: A study of environmental perception, attitudes,
and values. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
4. Jump up^ Palmer, Gary B. (1996). Toward a Theory of Cultural Linguistics. Texas:
Texas University Press.
5. Jump up^ Sharifian, Farzad (2011). Cultural Conceptualisations and Language:
Theoretical Framework and Applications. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
6. Jump up^ Sharifian, Farzad & Palmer, Gary B. (eds.) (2007) Applied cultural linguistics:
Implications for second language learning and intercultural communication.
Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

External links[edit]
 Cultural Linguistics
 Toward a Theory of Cultural Linguistic
 Applied Cultural Linguistics
 Cultural Linguistics: Farzad Sharifian's Inaugural Professorial Lecture
 The Jurgen Trabant Wilhelm von Humboldt Lectures (7hrs)

Further reading[edit]
 Wierzbicka, Anna (1992) Semantics, Culture, and Cognition: Universal human
concepts in culture-specific configuration. New York: Oxford University Press.
 Bartmiński, Jerzy. Aspects of Cognitive Ethnolinguistics. Sheffield and Oakville, CT:
Equinox, 2009/2012.
 (en) Madeleine Mathiot (dir.), Ethnolinguistics : Boas, Sapir and Whorf revisited,
Mouton, La Haye, 1979, 323 p. (ISBN 978-90-279-7597-3)
 (fr) Luc Bouquiaux, Linguistique et ethnolinguistique : anthologie d'articles parus
entre 1961 et 2003, Peeters, Louvain, Dudley, MA, 2004, 466 p.
 (fr) Christine Jourdan et Claire Lefebvre (dir.), « L'ethnolinguistique », in
Anthropologie et sociétés, vol. 23, no 3, 1999, p. 5-173
 (fr) Bernard Pottier, L'ethnolinguistique (numéro spécial de la revue Langages),
Didier, 1970, 130 p.
 Trabant, Jürgen, Humboldt ou le sens du langage, Liège: Madarga, 1992.
 Trabant, Jürgen, Traditions de Humboldt, (German edition 1990), French edition,
Paris: Maison des sciences de l’homme, 1999.
 Trabant, Jürgen, Mithridates im Paradies: Kleine Geschichte des Sprachdenkens,
München: Beck, 2003.
 Trabant, Jürgen, ‘L’antinomie linguistique: quelques enjeux politiques’, Politiques &
Usages de la Langue en Europe, ed. Michael Werner, Condé-sur-Noireau: Collection
du Ciera, Dialogiques, Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l’homme, 2007.
 Trabant, Jürgen, Was ist Sprache?, München: Beck, 2008.
 Underhill, James W., ‘ “Making” love and “having” sex: an analysis of metaphoric
paradigms in English, French and Czech’, Slovo a smysl: Word and Sense, Karlova
univerzita, Akademie, 2007.
 Underhill, James W., Humboldt, Worldview and Language, Edinburgh: Edinburgh
University Press, 2009.
 Underhill, James W. Creating Worldviews, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press,
2011.
 Underhill, James W. Ethnolinguistics and Cultural Concepts: love, truth, hate & war,
Cambridge University Press, 2012.
 Vocabulaire européen des philosophes, Dictionnaires des intraduisibles, ed. Barbara
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  Wierzbicka, Anna, Semantics, Culture and Cognition: Universal Human Concepts in
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 Wierzbicka, Anna, Understanding Cultures through their Key Words, Oxford: Oxford
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 Wierzbicka, Anna, Emotions across Languages and Cultures, Cambridge:
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 Wierzbicka, Anna, Semantics: Primes and Universals (1996), Oxford: Oxford
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 Wierzbicka, Anna, Experience, Evidence & Sense: The Hidden Cultural Legacy of
English, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.

[hide]

 v

 t

 e
Ethnicity

 Clan

 Ethnic group

 Ethno-linguistic group
 Ethno-religious group

 Indigenous peoples

 Ingroups and outgroups

 Meta-ethnicity

 Metroethnicity

 Minority group
Related concepts
 Monoethnicity

 Nation

 Nationality

 Panethnicity

 Polyethnicity

 Population

 Race

 Symbolic ethnicity

 Tribe

 Anthropology

 Ethnic studies

 Ethnoarchaeology
Ethnology
 Ethnobiology

 Ethnobotany
 Ethnozoology

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  Ethnoecology

 Ethnogeology

 Ethnography

 Autoethnography

 Clinical

 Critical

 Cyber-ethnography

 Netnography

 Person-centered

 Salvage

 Transidioethnography

 Ethnohistory

 Ethnolinguistics
 Ethnology

 Ethnomathematics

 Ethnomethodology

 Ethnomuseology

 Ethnomusicology

 Ethnophilosophy

 Ethnopoetics

 Ethnoscience

 Ethnosemiotics

 Ethnotaxonomy

 Arab League

 Europe
 Africa
 Australian
 Europe
 indigenous
 Oceania
 Indigenous Oceanian

 Europeans in Oceania
Groups by region
 Indigenous

 Canada

 Mexico
Americas
 United States

 Central America

 South America

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  Central

 East

 Northern
Asia
 South

 Southeast

 West

 Cross-race effect

 Cultural assimilation

 Cultural identity

 Demonym

 Development

 Endonym

 Ethnic flag

 Ethnic option

 Ethnic origin

 Ethnic religion

 Ethnofiction

 Ethnonym

Identity and Folk religion

ethnogenesis Imagined community

 Kinship

 Legendary progenitor

 Lineage-bonded society

 Mores

 Nation-building

 Nation state

 National language
 National myth

 Origin myth

 Pantribal sodalities

 Tribal name

 Tribalism

 Consociationalism

 Diaspora politics
Multiethnic society
 Dominant minority
 Ethnic democracy

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  Ethnic enclave

 Ethnic interest group

 Ethnic joke

 Ethnic majority

 Ethnic media

 Ethnic pornography

 Ethnic theme park

 Ethnoburb

 Ethnocracy

 Ethnopluralism

 Indigenous rights

 Middleman minority

 Minority rights

 Model minority

 Multinational state

 Ethnic bioweapon

 Ethnic cleansing

 Ethnic hatred

 Ethnic nationalism

 Ethnic nepotism

 Ethnic penalty

Ideology and Ethnic slur

ethnic conflict Ethnic stereotype

 Ethnic violence

 Ethnocentrism

 Ethnocide

 Indigenism
 Separatist movements

 Xenophobia

Authority control GND: 4153097-4

efining Language Socialization

"The editors of this volume (Schieffelin and Ochs) consider
socialization to be an interactional display (covert or overt) to a
novice of expected ways of thinking, feeling, and acting...through
their participation in social interactions, children come to internalize

66
and gain performance competence in these sociocultural defined
contexts" (Ochs, 1986, p. 2).

"Language socialization is a concept the editors take to mean both

socialization through language and socialization to use language. In
the perspective taken in this volume, children and other novices in
society acquire tacit knowledge of principles of social order and
systems of belief (ethnotheories) through exposure to and
participation in language-mediated interaction. We take for granted
the noncontroversial and obvious sense of this statement, that the
development of intelligence and knowledge is facilitated (to an
extent) by children's communication with others. Instead we pursue
the nontrivial dimensions of this statement. Our approach is to
examine closely the verbal interactions of infants and small children
with others (older children, adults) for their sociocultural structure.
Our perspective is that sociocultural information is generally encoded
in the organization of conversational discourse and that discourse
with children is no exception. Many formal and functional features of
discourse carry sociocultural information, including phonological and
morphosyntactic constructions, the lexicon, speech-act types,
conversational sequencing, genres, interruptions, overlaps, gaps,
and turn length. In other words, part of the meaning of grammatical
and conversational structures is sociocultural. These structures are
socially organized and hence carry information concerning social
order (as has been demonstrated by Labov 1966, 1973). They are
also culturally organized and as such expressive of local conceptions
and theories about the world. Language use is then a major if not the
major tool for conveying sociocultural knowledge and a powerful
medium of socialization. In this sense, we invoke Sapir (Mandelbaum
1949) and Whorf (1941) and suggest that children acquire a world
view as they acquire a language." (Ochs, 1986, pp. 2-3)

67