THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SECOND LANGUAGE

ACQUISITIONKensey Crump, Cindy Cervantes, Cindy

Cruz, and Katia del Valle

Do you think that people has a natural ability to learn a language

within their brain or do you think that all learning is base on the same

principles or mechanisms? Find your match… Share your Ideas… Tell the class…

Today you will learn about… Language and the brain Critical period Hypothesis The framework most associated in SLA learning. The different types of learning in the framework. Associated assumptions Fossilization Three IP stages Theories regarding order of acquisition Competition model Connectionist approaches

Languages and the Brain

Paul Pierre Broca found out that the left frontal lobe of the brain is what allow us to speak.Carl Wernicke discover that an area close by the Broca’s area was responsible for our hearing. http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/122/12/2207.full

Critical Period Hypothesis

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUq66tkNjKU

Principal hemispheric specializations

LEFT HEMISPHERE RIGHT HEMISPHERE Phonology Morphology Syntax Function Words and

Inflections Tone Systems Much Lexical

Knowledge

Nonverbal (as Babies’ Cries)

Visuospatial Information Intonation Nonliteral Meaning and

Ambiguity Many Pragmatic

Abilities Some Lexical

Knowledge

Think and Share How independent are the languages of

multilingual speakers? How are multiple language structures organized

in relation to one another in the brain? Are both languages stored in the same area?

Does the organization of the brain for L2 in relation to L1 differ with age of acquisition, how it is learned, or level of proficiency?

Do two or more languages show the same sort of loss or disruption after brain damage? When there is differential impairment or recovery, which language recovers first?

How independent are the languages of multilingual speakers?

According to the text they are not, totally independent, but they are not totally dependent either.

we can see that both languages are storage in majority on our left hemisphere. They overlap in some areas and in others they are storage in different parts.

the Sylvian fissure in the left hemisphere is a common are of storage for both languages.

How are multiple languages structures organized in relation to one another in the brain? Are both languages stored in the same areas?

The answer to this questions is yes. According to a test realize by Wuillemin

and Richards, people how learn a language after the age of 12, tend to use more their right side of their brain, and this also tells us that younger children don’t have the need to use the right side.

Does the organization of the brain for L2 in relation to L1 differ with age of acquisition, how it is learned, or level of proficiency?

Do two or more languages show the same sort of loss or disruption after brain damage? When there is

differential impairment or recovery, which language recovers

first?

On believe was that the last language learn was the first one to go, and if a person knew more than two languages, they would loose in the order their learn those languages, leaving the first one at last.

Another hypothesis said that the language use the most before the damage is the language that can be recover.

Frameworks Information Processing (IP)

Connectionism

Information Processing (IP)

More influence on SLA Essentially like learning any other domain of

knowledge 3 models to (IP)

Multidimensional Model Process ability Competition Model

IP Assumptions Language learning is just like the acquisition of

learning another skill Complex skills can be reduced to a set of simpler

skills and then scaffolded Learning demands learners attention and

involves controlled processing, which is limited in capacity.

With practice learners will move from controlled processing to automatic processing, causing a need for restructuring

In SLA restructuring of internal representations accounts for increasing levels of L2 proficiency.

Controlled Processing Cognitive Commands learners attention Usually new learners

Controlled You have a 3 gallon jug and a 5 gallon jug.

You need to measure out exactly 7 gallons of water. How do you do it?

Fill the 5 gallon jug with water, pour it into the 3 gallon jug until the 3 gallon is full, leaving 2 gallons in the 5 gallon jug. Now pour out the water in the 3 gallon jug. Pour the 2 gallons of water (in the 5 gallon jug) into the empty 3 gallon jug. Fill the 5 gallon jug. You now have exactly 7 gallons

Automatic Processing After initial stage of controlled processing Requires less mental space Requires less focal attention More passive

Automatic 2+2=

Who is the president?

What is the speed limit?

Fossilization Cessation of learning Aspects of L2 may become automatized

before reaching target levels which causes learning to stop

IP StagesInput Central

ProcessingOutput

Perception Controlled-Automatic processing

Production

Declarative-Procedural knowledge

Restructuring

Find the Fib! Get into groups of 3 or 4 with

one sheet of paper. Write down two facts and one

fib. When we say “Go” switch with

a neighboring group and work together to find their fib!

QUICK REVIEW

SLA is… Learning a second language after a first

has been established. Example:

Child who speaks a language other than English at home goes to school for the first time.

Stages of Information Processing

Input

Central Processing

Output

Input Perception:

the sample of L2 that learners are exposed to, but not available for processing unless learners actually notice it or pay attention to it.

Likely contributors to the degree of noticing or awareness are:

Frequently of encounter with items Individual’s processing ability Readiness to notice particular items

(related to hierarchies of complexity)

Central Processing Fluency is achieved, learning occurs Learners go from controlled to automatic

processing Restructuring of knowledge takes place Controlled-automatic processing Declarative-procedural knowledge Restructuring

Output

Is the language that learners produce in speech, sign or writing.

Meaningful production practice helps learners by :

Enhancing fluency by furthering development of automaticity through practice

Noticing gaps in their own knowledge as they are forced to move from semantic to syntactic processing, which may lead learners to give more attention to relevant information

Testing hypotheses based on developing interlanguage, allowing for monitoring and revision

Theories regarding order of acquisition

Multidimensional Model: An approach to SLA which claims that

learners acquire certain grammatical structures in developmental sequences, and that those sequences reflect how learners overcome processing limitations.

Claims that language instruction which targets developmental features will be successful only if learners have already mastered the processing operations which are associated with the previous stages of acquisition

Multidimentional Model Strategies

Canonical Order Strategy

Initialization/finalization strategy

Subordinate clause strategy

Processability Theory

A reorientation of the Multidimensional Model that extends its concepts of

learning & applies them to teaching second languages with the goal of

determining and explaining the sequences in which processing skills

develop in relation to language learning

Acquisition hierarchy of processing skills

Lemma/word access

Category procedure

Phrasal procedure

S-procedure

Clause boundary

Competition Model

A functional approach to SLA which assumes that all linguistic

performance involves “mapping” between external form and internal

function.

COMPETITION MODEL

A psychological approach of how languages are learned by

Brian MacWhinney and Elizabeth Bates.

The Competition Model The Competition Model was developed to

account for sentence processing as well as language acquisition (MacWhinney & Bates, 1989).

The study of sentence processing seeks to understand how people rapidly analyze the structure of sentences and gain access to their meaning as a whole (Wingfield & Titone, 1998).

THE Competition Theory

In this theory, its is stated that the way in which people interpret the meaning of a sentence is by taking in account various linguistics cues contained in the sentence. Such as…. Word order /Syntax Morphology Semantic

Different languages assign different

weights to syntactic and semantic cues.

Learners of a second language tend to

transfer the weights associated with the

cues in their first language"

Cue weights will differ between languages.

People will use the cue weights associated with that language to guide their interpretation of the sentence.

Why They named it the Competition Model?

Several cues are presented all simultaneously and it involves “competition” among various cues!

The problem among bilinguals is that not all

cues are the same among languages!For Example….

Word order: Subject/verb/object English

Morphology: Subject/verb/agreement Spanish, Italian, German,

Semantic: Animacy Chinese and Japanese

Ex…. A child that is making the transition from

Spanish to English will use his background knowledge and the cues that he was taught in Spanish while processing a sentence.

“gato negro” in Spanish adjectives come before noun.

“cat black” this is how it would translate because the child is applying the Spanish cue.

The Importance of knowing this Model!

•We need to know how the linguistic input can be structured

to maximizeeffective learning. What aspects of the phonology, syntax, semantics, and morphology of the input does

the learner use to “crack the code” of the new language?

• We need to understand exactly how the cognitive abilities of the learner shape the process and outcome of second language

instruction. (MacWhinney, 1987; MacWhinney & Bates, 1989).

What you learn today

Brain QuizLets review

According to the text, the lateralization of the right side of

our brain is responsible for most of our language activity

A) TrueB) False

Correct