Formal Approaches to SLACristina Hudgins

Middle Tennessee State UniversityCmh3j.mtsu@gmail.com

Innatism“Language is a natural biological process

driven by the LAD” (Module 3 Lecture Notes).

“Although language rules may not always be similar in every language – the ability to identify correctly formed sentences is universal and independent of meaning” (Chomsky, 2008)

“It is possible that it may place constraints on second language acquisition” (Myles, 2008).

Universal Grammar (UG) -a product of innatismIt is “the system of principles and

rules that are elements or properties of all human languages” and is “a characterization of the child’s pre-linguistic state” (Chomsky, 1975).

This theory is governed by the idea that everyone is born with an LAD (Language Acquisition Device) and that there are certain principles and parameters present.

Universal Grammar (UG)Principles- something that is true for all languages.

Parameters- “certain linguistic features that vary across languages” and must be set acording to the language being learned (Gass and Selinker, 2008).

Examples include:Structural Dependence:

“linguistic principles operate on syntactic (or structural) units” (Gass and Selinker, 2008).

Subjacency: there is a limited amount of movement that can take place within sentences (Gass and Selinker, 2008)

Example: The Pro-drop parameter

encompasses the following: The omission of subject pronouns The inversion of subjects and

verbs in the declarative The extraction of a subject from a

clause that contains a complemenizer

“A language will either have all of these properties or none of them” (Gass and Selinker, 2008)

Transfer: The UG Perspective“A reconsideration of the concept of transfer”

(Gass and Selinker, 2008)

Three of the “four areas that make current views of the phenomena of transfer truly different from earlier” ideas of transfer are:Levels of representationClusteringLearnability(Gass and Selinker, 2008)

Transfer: The UG PerspectiveLevels of representation:

Sentences can be represented in different ways with slightly different meanings.

Therefore, “transfer could occur not just on the basis of surface facts, but also on the basis of underlying structures” (Gass and Selinker, 2008)

Clustering:“there are properties that cluster together within a parameter”

and “one is concerned with how multiple properties of language do or do not behave in a” similar fashion (Gass and Selinker, 2008)

Learnability:“Where positive evidence is readily available, allowing a learner

to reset a parameter, little transfer is predicted” (Gass and Selinker)

“When positive evidence will not suffice to provide learners with adequate information about the L2…transfer is predicted” (Gass and Selinker, 2008)

Interactionist TheoryEmphasizes the social aspects of learning a language;

the interaction that the learner experiences. (Module 3 Lecture Notes)

Interactions and error corrections that occur in the learning of the second language “assist in promoting second language acquisition” (Lyster and Ranta, 1998)

Interactions are “essential and vital to second language learning because they become a source of input” (Lantolf, 2000)

Age and Other Critical FactorsAge:

“Substantial evidence suggests the existance of a critical learning period for first languages” (Phillips, 2002)

There is a critical age of language acquisition. This is thought to be between the ages of two and puberty. “The critical period is thought to be related to brain plasticity and lateralization” (Kasper, 2003).

The ages between 5 and 9 is the time “when the primary language is mostly settled and before the effects from a critical or sensitive period to begin to manifest themselves” (Gass and Selinker, 2008)

Age and Other Critical Factors

The native language:Avoidance

“the native language may influence which structures a learner produces and which stru tures are not produces” (Gass and Selinker, 2008)

Learners avoid the differences between the L1 and the L2Differential learning rates

Learning times and learning rates differ among learners with different native languages based on the similarities and differences between the languages

Different paths “paths of acquisition are not identical for speakers of all

languages” (Gass and Selinker, 2008) Facts of the native languages lead learners down different

paths.

Age and Other Critical Factors

Age continued:Overproduction

There are “different uses of forms depending on the native language” (Gass and Selinker, 2008)

Predictability/selectivity “When something in the L2 is different from the L1, there

is a novelty effect,” and the information ‘sticks’ more rapidly (Gass and Selinker, 2008).

Second language processing “Learners begin with a universal processing principle

and not with their L1 processing strategy” (Gass and Selinker, 2008)

Interlanguage Transfer:Multilinguals develop qualities that help trigger UG

parameter” (Gass and Selinker, 2008)

Tips for Teaching ESLGive the students as much input as possibleMake sure to help the students make a

personal connectionDon’t write on the board too much and expect

them to be copying notes and listening to you speak at the same time

“Communicate slowly, clearly and directly”“Be animated”

(Andrew, 2005)

Tips for Teaching ESLMake real-life/real-world connectionsMake sure the students feel safe and

comfortable in the classEncourage peer teachingEncourage connections made between the

native language and the target languageEncourage risk-taking, because it is the best

way to learnTry it!Make a guess!Etc.

The Best Approach for Students I Have Come in Contact With Thus FarThe best approach, I believe, for the students

I have come into contact with is a combination of social interaction, error corrections and identifying the similarities and differences between the native language and the target language.

The Approach I Feel Most Aligned With.

I feel that I am more aligned with the Interactionist theory. I believe the social and real life connections students can make while listening to and utilizing their newly developing language will help them internalize the language and make connections between their native language and their new language. I do believe there are some innate language factors but I feel students must be taught to utilize those and that they are not the biggest factor in second language acquisition.

Resourceshttp://www.eslflow.com/

http://www.esl-galaxy.com/lessons.htm

http://www.tefl.net/teacher-training/teaching-tips.htm

http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Houston-TeachingIdeas.html

http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/second.htm

ReferencesAndrews, H. (2005). Tips for Teaching ESL Beginners and Pre-literate

Adults. The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. XI, No. 8. http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Andrews-Beginners.html

Gass, S. M, and Selinker, L. (2008). Chapters 5 and 6. In Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course (3rd ed) (pp. 1-15). New York, NY: Routledge.

Kasper, L. F. PhD. (2003). Language Acquisition in Humans. Retrieved from Dr. Loretta Kasper’sESL 91 on the web: http://kccesl.tripod.com/hypertextstudy/humanlanguagespring03.html

McGuigan, B. (2010). What is Universal Grammar? Retrieved from WiseGeek: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-universal-grammar.htm

Phillips, M. L. (2002). Second Language Learning. Retrieved from https://elearn.mtsu.edu/d2l/lms/content/viewer/view.d2l?tId=14348594&d2l_body_type=1&ou=1579251

Walqui, A. (2000). Contextual Factors in Second Language Acquisition. Retrieved from the Center for Applied Linguistics website: http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/0005contextual.html