二语习得

二语习得：People differ in the extent to which they possess a natural ability for learning an L2. This ability is known as language aptitude, which is believed to be in part related to general intelligence but also to be in part distinct.

second language acquisition

• basic concept
  • What is second language acquisition
    • What is language?
    • What is linguistics?
    • What is second language?
    • What is second language acquisition?
  • The goal of SLA
    • Ask learners how they did it
    • Find out what learners actually do
    • The description of L2 language acquisition
    • The explanation of L2 language acquisition
      • External factors
        • Social condition
        • Samples of language (input)
      • Internal factors
        • Cognitive mechanisms
        • Language aptitude
  • Errors and error analysis
    • Why do researchers focus on what learners get wrong rather than on what they get right?
      • To know the reason that why learners make errors.
      • It is useful for teachers to know what errors learners make.
      • To help learners to learn when they self-correct the errors they make.
    • How?
      • To compare the sentence learners produce with what seem to be the normal or “correct” sentences in the target language which correspond with them.
    • Identifying errors
      • Some issues are not actually ungrammatical.
      • It is difficult to reconstruct the correct sentence (not sure what the learner meant to say)
      • What is error? What is mistake?
        • Errors reflect gaps in a learner’s knowledge; they occur because the learner does not know what is correct.
        • Mistakes reflect occasional lapses in performance; they occur because, in a particular instance, the learner is unable to perform what he or she knows.
      • Errors VS. Mistakes?
        • To check the consistency of learners’ performance.
        • To ask learners to try to correct their own deviant utterances.
        • A clear distinction between an error and a mistake may not be possible.
      • Describing errors
        • Grammatical categories
        • To identify general ways
          • omission
          • misinformation
          • misordering
      • Explaining errors
        • Errors are systematic and predictable.
        • Errors are universal.
        • Errors are common only to learners who share the same mother tongue or whose mother tongues manifest the same linguistic property.
        • Types of errors: omission, overgeneralization, transfer
      • Error evaluation
        • Global errors
          • those errors violate the overall structure of a sentence and for this reason may make it difficult to process.
        • Local errors
          • those errors affect only a single constituent in the sentence and are, perhaps, less likely to create any processing problems.
  • interlanguage
    • 含义
      • The term “interlanguage” was coined by the American linguist, Larry Selinker, in recognition of the fact that L2 learners construct a linguistic system that draws, in part, on the learner’s L1 but is also different from it and also from the target language. A learner’s interlanguage is a unique linguistic system.
    • 特点：
      • The learner constructs a system of abstract linguistic rules which underlines comprehension and production of the L2. This system of rules is viewed as a “mental grammar” and is referred to as an “interlanguage”.
      • The learner’s grammar is permeable.
      • The learner’s grammar is transitional.
      • The systems learners construct contain variable rules.
      • Learners employ various learning strategies to develop their interlanguages. The different kinds of errors learners produce reflect different learning strategies.
      • The learner’s grammar is likely to fossilize.
  • L1 transfer
    • L1 transfer
      • The influence that the learner’s L1 exerts over the acquisition of an L2.
    • negative transf
      • The learner’s L1 is one of the sources of error in learner language. This influence is referred to as negative transfer.
    • positive transfer
      • The learner’s L1 can facilitate L2 acquisition. This type of effect is known as positive transfer.
  • The critical period hypothesis
    • What is the critical period hypothesis?
      • The belief that there is a period during which language acquisition is easy and complete and beyond which it is difficult and typically incomplete is referred to the critical period hypothesis.
    • Are there some evidences to support the critical period hypothesis?
      • Studies of immigrants in the United States show that if they arrive before puberty they go on to achieve much higher levels of grammatical proficiency than if they arrive after. However, there does not appear to be a sudden cut-off age, beyond which full competence is impossible. Rather the capacity to achieve full competence seems to decline gradually, becoming complete by about the age of sixteen. There is some evidence that not all learners are subject to critical periods.
    • What are the radical differences in the way first and second languages are acquired?
      • The first one is the differences in the social conditions in which L1 and L2 learners learn have some kind of impact; secondly, it is possible the L1 and L2 acquisition draw on different learning mechanisms because most adult L2 learners no longer have access to UG.
  • Language aptitude
    • What is language aptitude?
      • People differ in the extent to which they possess a natural ability for learning an L2. This ability is known as language aptitude, which is believed to be in part related to general intelligence but also to be in part distinct.
    • How many numbers of components of language aptitude have been identified? What are they?
      • Phonemic coding ability
        • the ability to identify the sounds of a foreign language so that they can be remembered latter. This ability is also seen as related to the ability to handle sound-symbol relationships.
      • Grammatical sensitivity
        • the ability to recognize the grammatical functions of words in sentences.
      • Inductive language learning ability
        • the ability to identify patterns of correspondence and relations between form and meaning.
      • Rote learning ability
        • the ability to form and remember associations between stimuli.
    • What are the relationships between language aptitude and the success in L2 learning?
      • Learners who score highly on language aptitude tests typically learn rapidly and achieve higher levels of L2 proficiency than learners who obtain low score.
    • How does language aptitude relate to the processes of interlanguage development?
      • Different components of language aptitude may be implicated in different stages of processing. Phonemic coding ability would seem relevant to the processing of input, grammatical sensitivity and inductive language learning ability to the central processing stages involving interlanguage construction, and memory to the storage and access of language. However, such a proposal, which interesting, remains speculative.
    • What is motivation?
      • Motivation involves the attitudes and affective states that influence the degree of effort that learners make to learn an L2.
    • kinds
      • Instrumental
      • integrative
      • resultative
      • intrinsic
    • instrumental motivation
      • Learners may make efforts to learn an L2 for some functional reason, such as passing an examination, getting a better job or getting a place at university. This kind of motivation is instrumental motivation.
    • integrative motivation
      • Some learners may choose to learn a particular L2 because they are interested in the people and culture represented by the target-language group. This kind of motivation is integrative motivation.
  • Motivation
    • resultative motivation
      • Learners who experience success in learning may become more, or in some contexts, less motivated to learn. This kind of motivation is resultative motivation.
    • intrinsic motivation
      • Motivation involves the arousal and maintenance of curiosity and can ebb and flow as a result of such factors as learners’ particular interests and the extent to which they feel personally involved in learning activities.
    • relationships
      • Different types of motivation should be seen as complementary rather than as distinct and oppositional. Furthermore, motivation is dynamic in nature; it is something that a learner has or does not have but rather something that varies from one moment to the next depending on learning context or task.
  • Learning strategies
    • learning strategies
      • Learning strategies are the particular approaches or techniques that learners employ to try to learn an L2. According to the author, learning strategies include cognitive strategies, metacognitive strategies, social/affective strategies.
    • cognitive strategies
      • Cognitive strategies are those that are involved in the analysis, synthesis, or transformation of learning materials.
    • metacognitive strategies
      • Metacognitive strategies are those involved in planning, monitoring, and evaluating learning.
    • social/affective strategies
      • Social/affective strategies concern the ways in which learners choose to interact with other speakers.
  • Theoretical views towards L2 acquisition
    • Behaviorist view
      • To treat language learning as environmentally determined, controlled from the outside by the stimuli learners are exposed to and the reinforcement they receive.
    • Mentalist theory
      • To emphasize the importance of the learner’s ‘black box’
    • Interactionist theory
      • To acknowledge the importance of both input and internal language processing. Learning take place as a result of a complex interaction between the linguistic environment and learner’s internal mechanism.
• Introduction to main genres
  • linguistic environment
    • language view
      • Language is a mental phenomenon, consisting of abstract rules, that reside in the individual brain.
    • view of learning
      • The learner selectively integrates the input into the existing knowledge system, and gradually transforms declarative knowledge into procedural knowledge through continuous output.
    • research object
      • The focus of research on language acquisition is the abstract language system features and changes in the learners' brains.
    • Research methods
      • Described from an etic (etic.) perspective, using quantitative methods, emphasizing objectivity and impartiality, and opposing the adulteration of researchers' personal views.
    • philosophical tendencies
      • Advocates a modernist view, believing that man and society can be divided into two entities, and language and culture can be divided into two separate abstract systems.
  • learner’s internal mechanism
    • language view
      • Language is a social phenomenon, which is mixed with culture, cannot be separated, and exists in people's communication activities.
    • view of learning
      • Linguistic and cultural knowledge, in turn, becomes the material for activities in the individual's brain.
    • research object
      • Focusing on language use, it advocates that language acquisition and use are a continuum and cannot be separated, and the focus of the research is on the characteristics of language-mediated social communication success.
    • Research methods
      • From the perspective of emic., qualitative methods are often used; it emphasizes the interaction between the researcher and the researchee, and requires the researcher to understand and explain social communication events from the perspective of the researchee.
    • philosophical tendencies
      • Adhere to the postmodern viewpoint, and believe that people and society, language and culture are integrated and inseparable.
  • fusion of the two
    • Diversity of focus
    • Flexibility in interpretation perspective