LANG. ACQUISITION FOR BIG AND LITTLE KIDS

Stages of L1 acquisitionWhat is a repetitive CV pattern?What is the purpose of this stage?

Stages of L1 acquisition

What happens at this stage?Can you think of examples?

Stages of L1 acquisition

What kind of mini-sentences might appear? What kind of relationships?

-Mommy wet-Hat blue

Stages of L1 acquisition

Age 24 mos.Her gone school.

Stages of L1 acquisition

Age 36 mos.I’m having this little one. Me’ll have that.

Vocab. Learning

Initially, 1-3 words week

Learn 40 words, 8-10/week

Pre-school elementary10 words/day!!!!!

Behaviorism What is behaviorism? Pavlov’s dog and pigeon’s How does this apply to language learning? Parent, or interlocuter rewards correct

utterances by child, incorrect utterances not rewarded.

What’s the problem? Kids don’t repeat exactly what adults

say!??!? Kids use and apply rules that are not taught.

Chomsky, Innatism What did Noam Chomsky suggest about

language learning? LAD, Language Acquisition Device Kids, and adults hear language, Computer in the box decodes it Computer creates rules and sets parameters Computer can generate limitless

combinations of grammatically correct utterances based on these rules.

Chomsky, Innatism What is the evidence for and against this

theory? + Groups of people spontaneously form

languages without overt planning, i.e. creoles + Brain damage to certain areas causes

specific language problems with structure + Feral children - language must be directed at child for them

to learn, watching TV alone won’t work!!!!???

Piaget Who is he?

What did he suggest about language learning in kids?

If you can’t think about it you can’t say it. Kids in Biling. education Seriation Compare objects of different size Object permanence = learning more vocab.

Piaget What evidence is there against his

theories? Hard to connect language learning with

intellectual development after 18 months.

Input and interaction theories

Do you talk differently to one and two year olds than 31 and 32 year olds?

Why? Interactionists say Child Directed Speech

is necessary for L1 acquisition Instead of LASS

(Language Acquisition Support System) Instead of LAD (Language Acquisition

Device

Input and interaction theories

What evidence is there for and against this theory?

+ Language directed at children seems to affect acquisition.

- Some cultures don’t use caregiver talk and they still acquire language.

- Children generally pass through same stages across cultures.

Let’s vote Which of the

theories best explains child L1 acquisition?

Behaviorism Chomsky’s innatist

approach Piaget’s cognitive

theory Interaction and Input

Second Language Acquisition

Who is this man?

Input Hypothesis What is input? Where does input go? LAD, the little black box. Basic Premise=with sufficient input at the i+1 level

acquisition (Accurate use of Grammar, Listening, and Speaking) will result.

NOTHING else is necessary. Input leads to speaking, no need to practice speaking. Let’s try it out. Listen to this input and tell me what you think. i+1 or “comprehensible” input. Let’s try again. http://muttaqun.com/arabic/basic.html

LADInput output

Hola, ¿Cómo te llamas? No, preferiría que el presidente utilizara su poder de otro modo, por ejemplo

El País, BBC Mundo,La voz de tu maestra

Affective filter What is affect? With whom do you feel the most

comfortable or uncomfortable speaking your second language?

Acquisition can only occur when the affective filter is lowered.

LADInput output

Hola, ¿Cómo te llamas? No, preferiría que el presidente utilizara su poder de otro modo, por ejemplo

El País, BBC Mundo,La voz de tu maestra

Acquisition v. Learning Teaching grammar, Acq or Learn? Explicit teaching of grammar, examples??? Monitor When can you use the monitor? Natural order of acquistion, morpheme studies.

LADInput output

Hola, ¿Cómo te llamas? No, preferiría que el presidente utilizara su poder de otro modo, por ejemplo……

El País, BBC Mundo,La voz de tu maestra

MonitorPluperfect subj., pret. For one time events,

a=la o=el

Interaction Hypothesis Interacting drives lang. acquisition, NOT

input alone. Interaction provides several benefits Learn conversation patterns, turn taking,

pragmatics Evidence Hypothesis testing

Input-Evidence +/-

Positive evidence for language learners i.e. Hearing native speakers….in person, t.v.

etc. Negative evidence for language learners.

Negative evidence for language learners, implicit or explicit.

Child/Student: I seed the man.Parent/Teacher: No, we say “I saw the man.”

NNS: There’s a basen of flowers on the bookshelf. NS: a basin? NNS: base NS: a base? NNS: a base NS: oh, a vase NNS: vase

Which of these two interactions is more useful to the learner?

Now which is more important generally in language learning, positive or negative evidence?

Swain and Comprehensible Output, what is it good for? Semantic use to syntactic use, How? Me dog like play pet Through output, receive feedback. Hypothesis testing Automaticity Practicing comprehension improves

comprehension (DeKeyser & Sokalski 1996)

Practicing output improves Production, Krashen?

Gass’s model of SLA

What is the difference between the three middle stages?

Eg. You hear, ¿Cuánto cuesta el sombrero?

Then what happens?

Where would you put these two?

Noticing Gap

Hypothesis testing