Learning a First Language

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Learning a First Language

• Characteristics of young children
• Theories that explain how languages are learned.

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Milestones and patterns in development

• Earliest vocalizationcrying, cooing, gurgling
• Early weeks and monthsability to hear very
  subtle differences of the sounds of human
  languages
• By the end of the 1st yearunderstand a few
  repeated words
• At 12 monthsproduce a word or two
• By the age of 2produce at least 50 different
  words and some produce many many more
  (telegraphic sentences correct word order
  creatively combining words)

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More milestones

• By 3 ½ or 4capable of giving commands, asking
  questions, report real events, create imaginary
  stories (master the basic structures of the
  language) Evidence the wug test
• The pre-school years (5-6)develop Metalinguistic
  awareness (to read, to understand word jokes,
  riddles, etc.)

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Early Childhood Bilingualism

• Simultaneous bilingualschildren who hear more
  than one language from birth
• Sequential bilingualschildren who learn a second
  language later

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More on bilingualism

• subtractive bilingualismchildren may begin to
  lose their first language before they have
  developed an age-appropriate mastery of the new
  language
• There is no evidence that a childs brain has a
  limited capacity for languages

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Developmental sequences (order of acquisition)

• Grammatical morphemesa child who had mastered
  the GM at the bottom of the list was sure to have
  master those at the top, but the reverse was not
  true.
• Negation (developed before 3)4 stages
• QuestionsWhat-Where Who-Why(the end of the 2nd
  year)-howwhen6 stages

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Theoretical approaches to explaining first
language learning
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Behaviorism

• 1940s-1950s in the US
• Language learning is the result of imitation,
  practice, feedback on success, and habit
  formation
• Explains how children learn some of the regular
  and routine aspects of language

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Innatism

• Noam Chomsky, 1959
• Children are biologically programmed for language
  and that language develops in the child in just
  the same way that other biological functions
  develop
• Children come to know more about the structure of
  their language than they could reasonably be
  expected to learn on the basis of the samples of
  language which they hear

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More on Innatism

• Language acquisition device (LAD)the language
  samples serve as a trigger to activate the device
• Universal Grammar (UG)
• All children successfully learn their native
  language at a time in life when they would not be
  expected to learn anything else so complicated.
  Even children with very limited cognitive ability
  develop quite complex language systems
• More supports

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The biological basis for the innatist position

• The critical period hypothesis (CPH)there is a
  specific and limited time period for language
  acquisition
• Natural experimentsVictor(12) and Genie (13)
  failed to learn a language
• Natural signersthe native signers outperformed
  the early learner group who outperformed the late
  learner group on grammatical markers test.

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Connectionism

• Language acquisition does not require a separate
  module of the mind but can be explained in
  terms of learning in general.
• They use computer simulations to show that a
  computer program can learn certain things if it
  is exposed to them often enough. It also makes
  creative mistakes, can even generalize beyond
  what it has actually been exposed to

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The Interactionist Position

• Focuses on the role of the linguistic environment
  in interaction with the childs innate
  capacities in determining language development
• Attribute more importance to environment
• Emphasize the importance of child directed
  speech

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More on the Interactionist position

• Language acquisition is similar to and influenced
  by the acquisition of other skill and knowledge
• Recognize the contributions of the innate
  structures of the human mind and the environment
  which provides the language samples

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MoreJean Piaget

• Childrens cognitive development would partly
  determine how they use language
• 4 cognitive development stages
• Language can be used to represent knowledge that
  children have acquired through physical
  interaction with e the environment
• See language as one of many symbol systems which
  are developed in childhoodnot a separate module
  of mind

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MoreLev Vygotsky

• Language develops entirely from social
  interaction
• Zone of proximal developmentwhat children can do
  in interaction with another, but not alone.
• scaffolding

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Child-directed speech

• Exposure to impersonal sources of language such
  as TV or radio alone is insufficient for the
  child to learn the structure of a language
• One-to-one interaction gives the child access to
  language which is adjusted to his/her level of
  comprehension
• Modified interaction is important for the
  language acquisition

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Theoretical approaches to explaining second
language learning

• Language acquisition by learners with a variety
  of characteristics, learning in a variety of
  contexts

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Behaviorism

• Imitation, practice, reinforcement, habit
  formation
• Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH)predicts
  that where there are similarities between the 1st
  language and the target language the learners
  will acquire target language structures with
  ease, where the are differences, the learner will
  have difficulties
• Incomplete theory because 2nd language
  acquisition is a more complex and subtle process
  than simply imitation

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Innatism

• Universal grammar applies
• Krashens 5 hypothesisthe acquisition-learning
  hypothesis, the monitor hypothesis, the natural
  order hypothesis, the input hypothesis, and the
  affective filter hypothesis
• Communicative language teaching

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Recent psychological theories

• Information processingthere is a limit to the
  amount of information a human can pay attention
  to at one time
• Everything we come to know about the language was
  first noticed consciouslyno differences
  between acquisition and learning
• Automaticity through practice and restructuring

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Another psychological theory

• Connectionismwhat is innate is simply the
  ability to learn, not any specific linguistic
  structure.
• After hearing language features in specific
  situational or linguistic contexts over and over
  again, learners developed stronger mental or
  neurological connections between these elements

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The Interactionist position

• Concerns how input is made comprehensiblemodified
  interaction is essential
• Zone of proximal development
• Difference between Vygotsky and other
  Interactionists VLA takes place in the
  interactions of learner and interlocutor
  othersinput modification provides learners with
  eh linguistic raw material which they will
  process internally and invisibly

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Factors affecting second language learning
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Research on learner characteristics

• Problems in the researchimpossible to directly
  observe and measure qualities such as motivation,
  extroversion, or intelligence these
  characteristics are not independent, researchers
  might use the same labels to describe different
  behavioral traits (Do you often seek out
  opportunities to use your second language with
  native speakers? motivation and opportunity)

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More on learner research

• Another difficulty the definition and
  measurement for language proficiency
  (disagreement on motivation researchmotivation
  may be more related to particular aspects of
  language proficiency than to others)
• Problem of interpreting the correlation of two
  factors as being due to a casual relationship
  between them

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learner characteristics that affect 2nd language
learning

• Intelligence
• Aptitude
• Personality
• Motivation and attitudes
• Learner preferences
• Learner beliefs
• Age of acquisition

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Research on learner characteristics--problems

• Impossible to directly observe and measure
  qualities such as motivation.
• Difficulties in defining characteristics--Research
  ers use different labels for behavioral traits.
• Different definitions and measurement for
  language proficiency
• Problem of interpreting the correlation of two
  factors as being due to a causal relationship
  between them.

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Intelligence

• IQ score were a good predictor of a learnerss
  success in reading, grammar and vocabulary
  development.
• In classrooms that focus on communication and
  interaction, IQ score is not a good predictor

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Multiple intelligence

• Visual/Spatial Intelligence
• Logicalmathematical Intelligence
• Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence
• Musical/Rhythmic Intelligence
• Interpersonal Intelligence
• Intrapersonal Intelligence
• Naturalist intelligence

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Aptitude

• Tests that measure aptitude MLAT and PLAB
• Positive relationship found between MLAT or PLAB
  performance and language learning in classrooms
  of grammar translation or audiolingual methods
• Aptitude is irrelevant with second language
  learning in communicative classrooms
• Teachers could use PLAB or MLAT to determine the
  learners profile of strengths and weakness and
  use this information to place them into
  appropriate programs.

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Features of aptitude

• The ability to identify and memorize new sounds
• The ability to understand the function of
  particular words in sentences
• The ability to figure out grammatical rules from
  language samples
• Memory for new words

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Implication

• Successful language learners may not be strong in
  all of the components of aptitudes.
• Teachers should ensure that their teaching
  activities are sufficiently varied to accommodate
  learners with different aptitude profiles

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Personality

• Extroversion (assertiveness and adventurousness),
  inhibition, self-esteem, empathy, dominance,
  talkativeness, responsivenessnot necessarily
  good predictors
• The relationship between personality and second
  language learning is a complex one

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Problems in personality research

• Problem 1 difficulties in identifying or
  measuring personality characteristics
• Problem 2 studies that measures communicative
  ability and studies that measure grammatical
  accuracy were compared.

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Motivation and Attitudes

• The overall finding show that positive attitudes
  and motivation are related to success in second
  language learning
• 2 factors of motivation communication needs and
  their attitudes toward the second language
  community
• 2 types of motivation integrative motivation and
  instrumental motivation
• Other factors identity, social dynamic or power
  relationship between the languages

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Pedagogical practices that enhance motivation in
the classroom settings
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• Motivating students into the lesson
• Varying the activities, tasks, and materials
• Using co-operative rather than competitive goals
• Age and cultural differences will determine the
  most appropriate way for teachers to motivate
  students

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Learner Preferences (learning styles)

• Perceptually based --Visual, aural, and
  kinesthetic learners
• Cognitive basedfield independent and field
  dependent
• temperament-based and personality based
• Implicationsresearch on learning styles should
  make us skeptical of claims that particular
  teaching method or textbook will suit the needs
  of all learners

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Learner beliefs

• All learners have strong beliefs and opinions
  about how their instruction should be delivered,
  and these beliefs influence the kinds of
  strategies they choose in order to learn new
  material.
• Teachers could help to expand studentsrepertoire
  of learning strategies and thus develop greater
  flexibility in their ways of learning

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Age of acquisition

• Critical Period Hypothesissupports and critiques
• Is younger really better?
• At what age should second language instruction
  begin?