SECOND LANGUAGE

ACQUISTION THEORIES: A

BRIEF OVERVIEW

A. Psaltou-Joycey

Prof. Emerita

To provide an overview of second language acquisition theories

To review research which has investigated individual differences in second language acquisition

To familiarize students with some of the instruments used to collect research data

To provide students an opportunity to design and carry out the teaching of a lesson with a certain theory in mind

Aims of the course

An overview of SLA Theories

Second Language Acquisition as a cognitive skill

Individual Differences in SLA

Ways of selecting information

Language learning strategies

Language learning strategy instruction

Learner Motivation & Attitudes

Learner beliefs & Culture

Learner characteristics: age, gender, language proficiency

Teaching/learning situations: learning context, type, rate & quality of instruction, task requirements & materials

Topics to be discussed

Behaviourism (nurture)

Ιnnatist theory (nature)

Del Hymes’ “Communicative

competence” model

The Interlanguage theory

The cognitive theory

The interactionist view

Vigotsky’s socio-cultural theory

Theories of SLA

What each SLA theory needs to

explain (VanPatten & Williams 2015) Central areas Observations

Knowledge & cognition

A good deal of SLA happens incidentally.

Lrs come to know more than what they have been

exposed to in the input.

Interlanguage Lrs’ output (speech) often follows predictable

stages in the acquisition of a given structure.

SL learning is variable in its outcome.

SL learning is variable across linguistic systems.

First language There are limits on the effect of a Lr’s L1 on SLA.

Linguistic environment

There are limits on the effects of frequency on SLA.

There are limits on the effects of Lr production on

LA.

Instruction There are limits on the effects of instruction on

SLA.

different views about the nature of

language and its acquisition

how linguistic knowledge is processed

the influence of the L1

the contribution of the L2 language

learner to the learning process

cognitive and affective learner

characteristics

Differences in theories of SLA

Behaviourism (nurture)

In LA learners form habits as a result of stimulus-response-reinforcement

In SLA the learners’ first language (L1) habits interfere with those required for the L2

Learners must be nurtured in order to copy and memorise behaviours from the surrounding environment

Drilling and repetition

Taking initiatives in LL is not allowed – learners’ passive role

No provision for individual decision making

The innatist theory (nature)

Human beings are endowed with an innate mechanism which allows them to acquire language

Universal Grammar: abstract knowledge allowing learners to know more about language than they might learn by mere exposure to linguistic input

The ideal native speaker has linguistic knowledge (competence) of a particular natural language

The human mind is modular involving distinctive mechanisms operating on different types of knowledge (i.e. linguistic or cognitive)

Language processes do not need to make reference to cognitive processes

UG emphasises study of universal characteristics of language rather than study of the speaker or learner as a social being

Learners’ intervening role in the learning process is NOT accepted

Recent developments in UG

theory

Extension of interest from the acquisition of L2

narrow syntax and the grammatical features of

the lexicon to the interfaces (eg., the syntax-

discourse/pragmatics interface (external), the

syntax-semantics interface (internal), and the

syntax morphophonology interface (internal).

This development tries to account for existing

inconsistency in adult L2 learners who exhibit

‘variability’ in their L2 linguistic behaviour

(Tsimpli, 2005; Sorace, 2005).

Child language Specialists

Acceptance of a basic notion of an innate

predisposition to language.

BUT

Language development results from an

interaction between innate and

environmental factors.

Active involvement in language use,

equally essential for the development of

communicative competence (Foster-

Cohen, 1999).

Hymes’ ‘communicative’

competence “There are rules of use without which the rules of

grammar will be useless” (Hymes, 1972: 278).

Components (Canale & Swain 1980)

Grammatical competence

Sociolinguistic competence

Discourse competence

Strategic competence

Communicative competence develops through

interaction assisted by learning & communication

strategies

Types of competence

Grammatical cpmpetence “will be understood to include knowledge

of lexical items and of rules of morphology, syntax, sentence-

grammar semantics, and phonology”

Sociolinguistic competence specifies “the ways in which

utterances are produced appropriately… within a given

sociocultural context depending on contextual factors such as

topic, role of participants, setting, and norms of interaction”

Discourse competence concerns knowledge of rules “in terms of

cohesion (i.e., grammatical links) and coherence (i.e., appropriate

combination of communicative functions) of groups of utterances”

Strategic competence is “made up of verbal and non verbal

communication strategies that may be called into action to

compensate for breakdowns in communication due to performance

variables or to insufficient competence”

The Monitor Theory

Krashen’s theory accepts cognitive &

affective aspects in language learning

Hypotheses

The acquisition-learning hypothesis

The monitor hypothesis

The natural order hypothesis

The input hypothesis

The affective filter hypothesis

Interlanguage theory

Interlanguage: the successive mental

grammars constructed by learners during

language development

It considers LL from a cognitive

perspective

The language learner’s language is a

system of its own, being constantly revised

Mental processes responsible for L2

acquisition

Cognitive processes

In interlanguage theory (Selinker 1972)

language transfer

transfer of training

strategies of second language learning

strategies of second language

communication

overgeneralisation of target language

material

It is concerned with the way people process information and the role cognitive processes play in learning.

It allows for the possibility of improving the language learning ability (especially interesting for formal language learning contexts (O’Malley and Chamot, 1990).

It looks at how individual learners approach learning and what processes they use.

Even when learning takes place in highly similar situations, there is the assumption that individuals construct their own reality and acquire different types of knowledge in different ways (Williams and Burden, 2001).

This view accepts the existence of individual differences among learners and promotes pedagogical implications for L2 teachers (Oxford and Ehrman, 1993).

The cognitive theory

Individual differences seem to influence

different aspects of L2 acquisition

the process of L2 acquisition

rate of acquisition

ultimate level of achievement

L2 performance

Why we study IDs

how learners access linguistic

information in real time

what strategies they employ when they

have to deal with incomplete knowledge

of the SL system

why some individuals are better than

others at learning other languages

Central issues for cognitivists

Second language acquisition as a

cognitive skill

SLA is a complex cognitive skill

Operating cognitive systems: perception, memory, and information processing

The cognitive approach does not look simply at learning itself but looks at how individual learners approach learning and what processes they use

Individuals construct own reality and acquire different types of knowledge in different ways

how memory processes and stores new

second language information,

how this information becomes automatised

How it is restructured through repeated

activation

Cognitive systems

Perception

Memory

Information processing

The information processing

approach

Types of memory

short-term or working memory stores

modest amounts of information for a

short period of time conscious effort

and attention are required.

long-term memory has larger storage

capacity

Processing of new information

(Weinstein and Mayer, 1986)

selection

acquisition

construction

integration

Models of information processing

McLaughlin’s information-processing

(1987, 1990)

Anderson’s Adaptive Control of

Thought (ACT) (1983, 1985)

McLaughlin’s information-

processing model

Processing of information

Controlled

Automatic

Restructuring moves continuously

from controlled to automatic

processing

Strategies facilitate restructuring

Anderson’s ACT Model

Types of knowledge

declarative (i.e., know about something):

static

procedural knowledge (i.e., know how to do

something): dynamic

Stages of L2 acquisition

Cognitive

Associative

Autonomous

The interactionist view

L2 development is affected by the environment in which the L2 is used.

For learning to take place, L2 input and L2 output are important.

interaction hypothesis (Long 1983): L2 input becomes comprehensible by ‘modified’ interaction

output hypothesis (Swain 1985, 1995): effort to produce output ‘pushes’ learners to become aware of gaps in their current L2 system

noticing, consciousness -raising, hypothesis-testing, attention, and reflection turn new language into intake (=learning)

The socio-cultural theory

Vygotsky’s (1978) socio-cultural theory of cognitive development: language develops as a result of supportive social interaction between a child and a more capable individual

Language is controlled by the same general learning mechanisms that apply to other forms of knowledge and skill development

Language develops first socially (interpersonal use) and then individually (private/inner speech)

The Zone of Proximal

Development

The help provided by the knowledgeable individual to the learner, who is not yet capable of functioning in an autonomous way

Adults direct and support children in their efforts to pay attention to significant features of the environment, rehearse information, formulate plans, articulate steps to be taken, solve problems (scaffolding)

Relevant to classroom learning

Learning strategies operate during language development

Compatible theories

Hymes’ ‘communicative competence’

theory

The ‘Monitor’ theory

The ‘Interlanguage’ theory

Cognitive theory McLaughlin’s information-processing model

Anderson’s Adaptive Control of Thought Model

The interactionist view

The socio-cultural theory

How to teach/learn

effectively & efficiently

For teachers: Do not focus only on HOW to teach

Also focus on how students LEARN

Discuss with students the process of learning and how they can improve that process

Learning requires direction and guidance by the teacher

Teach students to become independent learners with the dexterity and wisdom to use learning strategies appropriately in a variety of contexts

Study material

Doughty, C.J. and M.H. Long (eds) (2003). The handbook of second

language acquisition. Oxford: Blackwell.

Mitchell, R. and F. Myles (2004). Second language learning theories (2nd

edn.). London: Arnold.

Μπέλλα, Σ. (2007). Η δεύτερη γλώσσα: κατάκτηση και διδασκαλία.

Αθήνα: Ελληνικά Γράμματα.

Psaltou-Joycey, A. (2010). Language learning strategies in the foreign

language classroom. Thessaloniki: University Studio Press. (1st chapter)

Richards, J.C. & Rogers, T.S. (2001). Approaches and methods in

language teaching, 2nd Edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

VanPatten, B. & Williams, J. (eds) (2015). Theories in Second Language

Acquisition: An Introduction, 2nd Edn. New York & London: Routledge.