Foreing Language Acquisition

Leonela PintaJessica Castillo

 UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE LOJAÁREA DE LA EDUCACIÓN, EL ARTE Y LA

COMUNICACIÓNENGLISH LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT

SEMANTICS

May 2016

DIFFERENCES

The process is not linear: It is more like a zigzag process (i.e. regular past tense, the morpheme “ed” in its written form, pronounced three different ways).

Developmental Patterns

Stages

Stage I Pre-production (Silent Period)

It is observed at the beginning of exposure to the

new language. It may last from a couple of days to several (months).

Stage II: Early production

This stage may last up to six months and students will develop a receptive and active vocabulary of about 1000 words.

Stages

• Stage III: Speech emergence

Students have developed a vocabulary of about 3,000 words

and can communicate with simple phrases and sentences. They will ask simple questions, that may or may not be grammatically correct, such as “ May I go to bathroom? ”

Stages

Stage IV: Intermediate fluency

English language learners at the intermediate

fluency stage have a vocabulary of 6000 active

words. They are beginning to use more

complex sentences when speaking and writing

and are willing to express opinions and share

their thoughts. They will ask questions to

clarify what they are learning in class.

Stages

Stage IV: Intermediate fluencyStudent writing at this stage will have many

errors as ELLs try to master the complexity of English grammar and sentence structure. Many students may be translating written assignments from native language. They should be expected to synthesize what they have learned and to make inferences from that learning.

Stages

Stage V: Advanced Fluency

It takes students from 4-10 years to achieve cognitive academic language proficiency in a second language. Student at this stage will be near-native in their ability to perform in content area learning.

Stages

Parts of the brain involved in language learning

Wernicke's area Identified by Carl Wernicke in 1874, its main function is thee

comprehension of language and the ability to communicate coherent ideas, whether the language is vocal, written, signed

It is located between the auditory cortex and the visual cortex, with some branches extending around the posterior section of the lateral sulcus, in the parietal lobe.

Broca's area

Broca's area follows Wernicke's area, and as such they both are usually located in the left hemisphere of the brain.

Broca's area is involved mostly in the production of speech. Given its proximity to the motor cortex, neurons from Broca's area send signals to the larynx, tongue and mouth motor areas, which in turn send the signals to the corresponding muscles, thus allowing the creation of sounds.

Parts of the brain involved in language learning

Cortical thickness and verbal fluency

Recent studies have shown that the rate of increase in raw vocabulary fluency was positively correlated with the rate of cortical thinning. In other words, greater performance improvements were associated with greater thinning.

One theory for the relation between cortical thinning and improved language fluency is the effect that synaptic pruning has in signaling between neurons. If cortical thinning reflects synaptic pruning, then pruning may occur relatively early for language-based abilities.

The strongest correlations between language fluency and cortical thicknesses were found in the temporal lobe and temporal–parietal junction. Significant correlations were also found in the auditory cortex, the somatosensory cortex related to the organs responsible for speech (lips, tongue and mouth), and frontal and parietal regions related to attention and performance monitoring.

Parts of the brain involved in language learning

LONG-TERM MEMORY & SHORT-TERM MEMORY

Memory TypesThere are two major categories of memory: long-term memory and short-term memory. 

LONG-TERM MEMORYA long-term memory is anything you remember that happened more than a few minutes ago. Long-term memories can last for just a few days, or for many

years.

There are many different forms of long-term memories. The two major subdivisions are explicit memory and implicit memory.

Explicit memories are those that you consciously remember, such as an event in your life or a particular fact.

Implicit memories are those that you do without thinking about, like riding a bike—you once learned how, and you remembered how, but now do it without conscious thought.

SHORT-TERM MEMORY

Short-term memory is closely related to "working memory"—is like a receptionist for the brain. As one of two main memory types, short-term memory is responsible for storing information temporarily and determining if it will be dismissed or transferred on to long-term memory. 

Working Memory vs. Short-Term Memory

Working memory is a newer concept than short-term memory. The two are often

used interchangeably; however, working memory emphasizes the brain's

manipulation of information it receives (using it, storing it, and so on), while short-term memory is a more passive

concept. Working memory is often thought of as the brain's "scratch pad"

that keeps information – a number, name, or whatever else – on hand just long

enough to use.