1. What is SLA?

Second-language acquisition, second-language learning, or L2 acquisition, is the process by

which people learn a second language. Second-language acquisition is also the scientific
discipline devoted to studying that process. The field of second-language acquisition is a
subdiscipline of applied linguistics, but also receives research attention from a variety of other
disciplines, such as psychology and education. A central theme in SLA research is that
of interlanguage, the idea that the language that learners use is not simply the result of
differences between the languages that they already know and the language that they are
learning, but that it is a complete language system in its own right, with its own systematic
rules. This interlanguage gradually develops as learners are exposed to the targeted language.

2. Future of the SLA?

We are the future of the SLA. We are those who are going to transmit our knowledge to the
further generations.

3. Qualitative vs. Quantitative methodologies

Qualitative methodology is an ethnographical study in which the researchers goal is not to
test hypothesis but to observe what is going on and the data from such research is free to vary
during the course of observation.
Quantitative methodology the goal is to do an experiment which will test a hypothesis
through the use of objective instruments and appropriate statistical analysis.
The difference between these two methodologies represents for some more than just two
types of methodologies, but fundamental clash between two paradigms. Although its
assumed by most researchers that it is possible to only use and prefer one and that these
paradigms are inflexible, these assumptions are unjustified.

4. Longitudinal approach (case study) involves observing one subject, their linguistic
performance (usually spontaneous speech). The data is collected at periodic intervals over a
span of time.
Cross sectional approach linguistic performance of a larger number of subjects. Data is
usually collected at only one session.
Longitudinal approach compatible with qualitative paradigm because it is: natural (use of
spontaneous speech), process oriented (over some time), ungeneralizable (very few subjects)
Cross sectional approach compatible with qualitative paradigm because it is: obtrusive,
controlled measurement (artificial tasks), outcome oriented, generalizable.
There is no reason why either approach should be practised using alternate paradigm; a
combination of these 2 is possible. Researchers should determine the purpose of the study and
then match that purpose with attributes more likely to accomplish it. Methodology that is
being used should be determined by the question of the study.

5. Introspection
The ultimate qualitative study - learners examine their own behavior concerning the
SLA in order to provide researchers with an insight into the process.
Old tradition in psychology
Some question its validity they consider it to be limited to learners attitudes and
motivation only
One study showed that introspection was more successful that interviewing learners
teachers or one based on researchers on observation.

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6. Participant observation:
Researchers take part in the activities they are studying
They dont approach the study with any specific hypothesis in mind but they take
notes on whatever they observe and experience
The period of observation is long and the number of subjects is small
K. M. Bailey her experience as the student of French

Non participant observation:

No hypothesis at the beginning of the study
Researchers observe the activities without participating in them
There are few subjects and period of time is long
Also called longitudinal case studies
Best known example Leopolds study of his daughters acquisition of English and
German

These two features have positive and negative sides:

Positive:
They provide detailed and comprehensive description of subjects SLA behavior
Deal with the single subjects development over time
They focus attention on factors which influence the SLA process
Also called hypothesis generating studies
Negative:
Is data collected in such studies natural (subjects act differently when researches are
present)
The scope is restricted (conducted by people, therefore might be biased, subjective)
They take long time to complete

7. Focused description
Researchers narrow the scope of their study to a particular set of variables, a particular
system of language (e.g. morphology), explore particular issue (e.g. influence of
native language on SLA)
Focused descriptive studies which are correlative in nature try to determine if 2
phenomena are related and to which degree
In SLA use of instruments to measure certain learners characteristics and correlate
them with the learners SL proficiency
Positive:
Researchers do not have to explain all aspects of SLA simultaneously
Less time consuming, more subjects
Negative:
SLA in a multi dimensioned phenomenon, by limiting the scope of research this is
ignored

8. Pre experiment
In a true experiment researchers tend to establish a causal relationship between some
treatment and some consequence. In order to establish such relationship in a valid manner, 2
criteria must be satisfied: there must be experimental and control groups and subjects must be
randomly assigned to one of these groups. An example of this design is the study of the effect
of intensive French language study on attitudes, motivation and achievements. Pre
experimental designs are best viewed as simply hypothesis generating.

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9. Quasi experiment
It looks like an experiment but its not! It is closer to the true experiment. Includes one or
more control groups Observations of a group are made before and after the treatment, so
subjects serve both as a control group and experimental group. Quasi experiments exist as
compromises for those interested in human behavior in naturally occurring settings in which
complete experimental control is impossible.

10. Experiment
In experiment we control everything. We cannot allow spontaneous actions, everything is
predetermined. Experiments have 2 criteria: there are at least 2 groups included in the study
(control group and experimental group) and the subjects are randomly assigned to one of
these groups. If one group is treated in one way and another one in a different way and if there
are no other factors influencing the groups, a cause effect relationship between treatment
and consequence can be determined. A properly controlled experiment allows researchers to
generalize findings beyond those obtained from the specific subjects in the study to the
population from which the sample was drawn.

Drawbacks:
There is a risk of oversimplification and unnatural manipulation of variables
Experiments are sometimes totally inappropriate for studying human behavior

11. Setting
Difference between experiment, pre and post experiment is in setting. There is a property of
human mind which determines the way language learners process the data of language to
which they are exposed.

Difference between instructed (classroom) and naturalistic setting:

Classroom setting: rules, in a strict order, teacher is there to instruct/ correct students
Naturalistic setting: no formal articulation of rules, emphasis on communication of meaning

Problem with naturalistic setting is that some subjects might be more culturally, socially or
psychologically distant from others (e.g. foreign speakers vs. native speakers). There is the
need to sort out all the differences in behavior brought on by the environment.

12. Instrumentation: production and data elicitation

Instrumentation about instruments, how we obtain the results.
One of the features which varies along the qualitative/quantitative continuum is whether or
not any instrumentation is used. One of the primary functions of the instruments design to
elicit production data is oblige learners to produce the item the investigator is interested in
studying. Instruments that are used to elicit data could be referred to as: elicitation procedure,
elicitation device, data collection or data gathering device etc. Instrumentation is usually
used by those researchers who prefer quantitative method in their studies.
Some problems that occur with subjects using naturalistic setting and spontaneous speech:
Impossible to study all aspects of students performance (certain language features do
not frequently occur in normal conversation)
Learners will often use the language forms/ terms they are comfortable with and by
doing so, omit those aspects of language in which the researcher is most interested in
Difficult to compare studies, a great deal of information/ data would be required
before any generalization could be made

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These are some representative studies in which elicitation procedure has been used:
Reading aloud (researching pronunciation in 2nd language)
Structured exercises (study of subjects performance in specific grammar patterns)
Completion task (subjects asked to complete sentences using their own words)
Elicited imitation (test subjects ability to understand and reconstruct a sentence)
Guided composition
Question and answer (subjects answer question about some situations)
Reconstruction (subjects recall, reconstruct a story they saw/heard)
Communication games (a game to test communication between native and ESL
learner)
Role play (studying learners pragmatic competence)
Oral interview
Free composition (least controlled, no intervention by the researcher)

13. Variability problem

Major problem that occurs with the use of elicitation procedures is the variability of
performance subjects performance will vary from task to task.
Some of the reasons for variations:
The amount and the quality of the context (varies from task to task)
Conditions under which the task was performed
The use of careful styles (attention focused on correct grammar, no mistakes)
The amount planning time subjects have
Types of errors subjects make (e.g. in translation, influence of subjects native lang.)
Difference between the type of data gathered in a linguistic interview, and in natural
spontaneous speech)

14. Instrumentation: intuitional data elicitation

We already mentioned the major 12 elicitation procedures, there are other procedures being
used and the data elicited from, so those is sometimes called learners competence data (the
speaker/hearers knowledge of their language), metalingustic judgement data or intuitional
data.
If learner produces a correct form, how do we know how they succeeded in doing so? By
learning the rules? By memorising the phrase? By chance?
SLA researchers must be able to account for learners second language competence, not only
their performance.

4 elicitation procedures have been done in order to understand learner's intuition:

Error recognition and correction (when subjects are asked to recognize/correct errors
they made. It was discovered that subjects possessed satisfactory metalanguage which
enabled them to do so)
Grammaticality judgements (subjects are asked to judge whether some utterances were
correct or not)
Other judgement tasks:
Social acceptability (correct/incorrect forms in terms of social acceptability,
politeness, rudeness etc.)
Politeness
The ease of understanding
Card sorting (pictures on cards, children had to categorize them in terms of gender
differences

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15. Instrumentation: the use of miniature languages
Miniature language artificial language created by the researcher
1st language acquisition research, determining various principles of human language
processing
2nd language learning experiment on the effect of instruction

16. Instrumentation: affective variables

These five procedures have been used to study such variables as attitudes and motivation:
Questionaries used to get learners to self report their attitudes or personal
characteristics
Sociometry the use of sociograms which study attitudes towards minority group
members within a group
Matched guise technique used to elicit attitudes towards speakers of other languages
Diary study - introspective account of a SL experience which is recorded by an
individual in a journal
Focused introspection 2 techniques: think - aloud and self observational

17. Instruments from other disciplines

SLA researchers have also often used instruments/procedures from other disciplines which
were mostly for analyzing learners characteristics.
Borrowed from psychology various tests used to discover subjects cognitive styles as well
as various personality assessment measures.
Borrowed from neurolingustics - diachronic listening tests and eye movement observation that
research different brain functions.

17. Measuring learners performance

What is language proficiency and how do we know when it is acquired?
Language proficiency is used to be considered that lang. proficiency could be divided into
unrelated skills - listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Oller (1876) challenged this view by claiming that lang. proficiency is a unitary and
indivisible trait it can be broken into distinct components. He also claimed that this global
proficiency factor was strongly related to IQ. Later on, he rejected this hypothesis.
Cummins (1980) accepts his hypothesis and calls it cognitive/academic language
proficiency (CALP) and identifies another kind of proficiency which he calls basic
impersonal skills (BISC) which consist of accent, oral fluency and sociolinguistic
competence.
Larsen Freeman (1981) identified 5 areas of communicative competence in which SLA
research was being conducted: linguistic form, pragmatic/functional competence,
propositional content (meaning), interactional patterns and strategic competence.
Canale (1983) revised his original analysis and added 4 components of communicative
competence: grammatical, sociolinguistic, discourse and strategic competence.

Acqusition point when does something that is being learned become acquired
There are 2 limitations to this definition:
Obligatory context occasions on which a speaker is obliged to use particular form
How long do the learners use a form before they acquire it

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Task vs. test
Difference the purpose for which they are designed for
Test used to measure what learner knows and what he doesnt know of the target language
(subjects performance is measured against a target language speaker). Test is normative.
Task used to reveal what learner knows, the rules he is using and the categories he is
working with.

18. An index of development

Standard examinations (e.g. TOEFL, Modern Language Association Test) have been used
as measures of the SL proficiency.
In respect to the target language, subjects can be put into 3 categories regarding their
proficiency level beginner, intermediate or advanced (teachers evaluation)
Larsen Freeman creation of an SLA index of development (numerical value to different
points along an SL developmental continuum, which would increase uniformity be easier to
place into category)

Desirable characteristics of SLA index of development:

That is valid for all subjects
That is readily available
That works well for speakers of different native language backgrounds
For subjects of different ages, educational backgrounds
That could be applied after the data was already collected

More recent results Pienemann and Johnston (1987) constructed a non normative
language, developmental sequence based upon observing learners behavior. Speech
processing complexity rather than the accuracy of certain target language structures.

19. SLA types of data analysis

1. Contrastive analysis
Systemtically comparing two languages - contrastive analysis was performed in the 40s -
60s by researchers who were motivated by the prospect of being able to identify points of
similarity and difference between particular native and target languages. The reason why this
was considered effective was because people tend to transfer the forms and meanings of their
NL and culture to foreign language and culture. This occurs when they try to speak the
language and act in the culture, also when they try to understand the language and culture
which is practiced by natives (as will be explained by Lado)

The CAH (Contrastive analysis hypothesis)

Lado those elements which are similar to this native language will be simple for him, and
those which are different will be difficult
CAH when 2 languages are similar, positive transfer will occur; when they are different
negative transfer or interference will result.
Stockwell, Bowen and Martin (1956) hierarchy of difficulty:
The easiest way to master some language would be if L1 and L2 would correspond
structurally and semantically
More difficult if they coalesced - where 2 or more forms from L1 collapse in the L2
Forms which are present in the L1 but absent in L2
Form which is new to the L2
Most difficult of all is the split single form in L1splits into 2 or more forms in L2
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However, forms in L2 that correspond to the l1 do not necessarily make it more easy to learn
the forms in L2

Language acquisition as habit formation

Influenced by the behaviourist view that language acquisition was a product of habut
formation. Habits are made by the repeated association between some stimulus and some
response, which becomes bonded if its positively reinforced. SL learning was viewed as the
process of overcoming the habit on NL in order to acquire the new habit of TL. One by
dialogue memorization, imitation and pattern practice. The goal was overlearning and
automacity. CAH was important for this view of language since if trouble parts of the
language could be overseen, they could be prevented or brought to the minimum formation
of bad habits could be avoided.

The CAH refuted

When predictions from CA were put to empirical tests some serious flaws were detected.
While CA predicted some errors, it clearly didnt predict all also some it did predict, failed
to show up. (unprediction and overprediction)
The interference of L1 differed from study to study, bacuse the subjects varied in age and
language proficiency.
The most fatal flaw of the CAH was the assumption that one can depend only on the
analysis of linguistic product to get a meaningful insight into a psycholiguistic process of SL
learning.
Despite the criticism, CAH continued to be conducted , particularly in Europe, and Ca as a
methodological option was not abandoned.

2. Error analysis

Strong vs. week version of CAH

Wardaugh proposed a distinction between the strong and weak versions of the CAH.
The strong version involved predicting errors in SL learning, based upon a prior contrastive
analysis of L1 and L2, and as we have seen, those predictions didnt always prove to be
correct.
The weak version involves examining errors and then trying to explain some of them by
pointing out the difference between L1 and L2.

Even though CH cannot be used to predict errors, it can be used to explain them later on.

Language acquisition as rule formation

In the early 60s, inspired by Chomskys theory of language acquisition, L1 acquisition

researchers began studying the speech of children acquiring L1. According to Chomsky,
language acquisition was not a product of habit formation, but one of rule formation. He
claimed that humans posses a certain innate predisposition to induce the rules of the target
language from the input to which they were exposed. Once people acquire these rules, they
would allow learners to create and understand new utterances (which they never understood
or produced before).
Therefore the process of the SLA was also thought to be one of rule formation, in which rules
were formed through a process of hypothesis formation and testing.

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Intralingual vs. interlingual errors

Richards interlingual errors due to L1 interference

The weak version of CAH was used to explain these errors.
Intralingual errors large number of similar errors being committed by L2 learners,
regardless of their L1.

Certain errors were classified as:

Overgeneralization caused by the learners inability to observe the boundaries of a
rule
Simplification e.g. omitting the plural marker from a noun preceded by the cardinal
number
Communication based errors learner uses a wrong term for sth but successfully
communicates his message (airball instead of balloon)
Induced errors if some term was badly explained by the techer it creates a confusion
in learners mind (using as if to say like Cries as if a baby - like a baby)

Corder made a distinction between the mistake and an error

Mistake random performance slip, caused by excitement, it can be easily corrected
Error systematic deviation made by learners who havent mastered th e rule of L2 yet
cannot be self corrected at that stage of development.
Errors rather than having to be corrected, were seen as a sight that he learner was actively
using the L2 and it could ultimately result in the acquisition in L2 rules.

Interlanguage
A continuum between the L1 and L2 along which all learners go through
The learners language at this time is systematic and rule governed, common to all learners!
Major issue at this stage of language acquisition is the phenomenon of fossilization.

Fossilization linguistic rules, items and subsystems of NL (L1) which learners will tend to
keep in their process of learning a TL, no matter what their age is and whether their errors
have been corrected or not.

The view of language learners from an error analysis perspective (EA) is very different from
the view of learners from CA perspective.
From CA perspective errors were the result of the interference from the L1 (and the L1
habits) and learner had no control over them.
From EA perspective learner is not seen as a passive recipient of TL but he plays a very
active role (processing input, generating hypothesis and testing them). Therefore the learner
determines the ultimate TL level he/she will reach.

Error analysis criticized

By focusing only on errors researchers couldnt see the whole picture they studied what the
learners did wrong, not what made them successful. It was also very difficult to identify a
single source of an error. It also fails to explain all the areas of the SL in which learners have
difficulties. In most cases learners will avoid to use certain language forms in L2 because they
know that those forms might be problematic for them. Error analysis perspective turned out to

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be too narrowed, but it wasnt completely rejected it was incorporated into performance
analysis (PA) later on.

3. Performance analysis

Morpheme studies are among those earliest studies which could be called performance
analysis. Dualy and Burt created a scoring scheme with different point values depending on
whether a morpheme was correctly supplied in an obligatory context, whether it was supplied
but not well formed or omitted all together.

Developmental sequence this is the study of the steps leading to acquisition of particular
structure. This usually involves a longitudinal study in which the speech of one or more
subjects is recorded and the transcripts are analyzed for particular structures. One of the first
major discoveries was the degree of similarity between L1 and L2 developmental sequences.

Learner strategies

Identification of strategies employed by SL learners.

Huang study of SLA on Taiwanese boy. The boy used the following learning strategies:
Imitation of formulaic utterances (see you tomorrow), and rule formation (juxtaposing - 2
words with a juncture between them to create an English sentence)
Butterworth studied acquisition of English by a Spanish teenage boy. Strategies used:
reduction to simple forms (He champion) and relaxification (replacing Spanish words with
English, but keeping Spanish syntax patterns)

The acquisition of forms and functions

The question arose whether learners who use prefabricated routines and formulas know their
true function right from the beginning or do they develop the feeling for when it is appropriate
to use these forms over time (evolutionary process)
It cannot be said that function is acquired before the form, or vice versa

Formulaic utterances

This is the one of the learners strategies - memorization of a certain phrase. Memorization
seems to be a more successful acquisition strategy than the rule formation. In conclusion, just
like in CA and EA before, PA served the SLA field well, but in the end it was also considered
too limiting.
Incorporation incorporate the answer into a question Where are you going? Where are you
going is house.
This study proved that we cannot limit ourselves to examining only learners performance
we need to look at the input preceding the utterance in order to make sense of it.

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4. Discourse analysis (DA)

Conversational analysis

Hatch study of collaborative discourse (conversation) between native and non native
speakers of English. He claims that one learns how to do conversation, how to interact
verbally and through his interaction syntactic structures are developed.
Two types of conversational construction vertical and horizontal
In vertical construction learner relies on the strategy of scaffolding (building his utterances
based on the speech of native speaker). Once he overcomes that, learner acquires horizontal
word order of the target language.

20. Interlanguage studies

Three principles concerning IL development:

ILs vary systematically
IL exhibit common accuracy orders and developmental sequences
IL are influenced by the learners L1

ILs vary systematically

Free variation

Ellis study on Portuguese boy producing no verb and Dont Verb negation (No look my
card, Dont look my card) within minutes of each other while playing the game. He used both
forms for the same purposes and in equivalent linguistic context an example of free
variation of 2 ESL negation constructions.
There are few reasons why there is such a high degree of variability in IL:
1. ILs are changing rather fast in developmental terms
2. teenagers and adults are less cognitively and psycholinguistically constrained than young
children acquiring their native language.

Systematic variability

Much of the inconsistency in IL is not due to free variation, but is in fact rule governed at
least part of the vocabulary can be predicted and accounted for.
Huebner his subject used da (the) in front of NP for things he assumed Huebner knew and
zero marking for those he assumed were not familiar to Huebner in this case variability was
rule governed.
Flooding process in which the use of a given linguistic form is generalized to all
environments which share one feature. The fact that ILs are proven to be least partly rule
governed means that they are potentially prone to systematic change e.g. through
instruction.

Variability resulting from amount of attention

Learners produced more accurate forms in TL when they were paying attention, when they
were being more careful, formal, than when they were more natural, spontaneous. If learners
are reading out loud or imitating a model, they reached a higher frequency of target like
production of L2 sounds.

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Tarone formulated a theory of IL variation after conducting some research in this area she
calls it continuum paradigm at any point in time, learners IL is really continuum of speech
styles.
The vernacular style used when least attention to form is paid, this style shows last
variability. On the other side of the continuum, the more careful speech styles are more
permeable more open to native language and target language influence and most variable.
New target language forms will first appear in the more careful style and then move to the
vernacular.
A different research by Sato showed that its not always a fact the learners in her study
seemed to do the opposite using more accurate forms in casual, vernacular styles then in
formal careful styles.
In conclusion attention paid to language form cannot be the only explanation for IL
variability. Its more copmlex than that. It also depends on communicative demands and
cohesiveness of the discourse.

Free variation as an impetus for development

Ellis claims that free variability is crucial as it serves as the impetus for development. He
believes that new forms are 1st acquired in the careful or planned style, when the learner is
monitoring his speech and it results in grater variability of that speech style. New forms exist
alongside the old ones, no having separate functions. During the 2nd phase the replacement
phase each form in a pair is gradually restricted in use and takes on a particular function.
Free variability is the force driving development!

Multiple explanations for variability

IL are much more synchronically variable than most of the other natural languages. Much of
that variability turned out to be systematic or rule governed. There appeared to be 2 kinds of
variation linguistic and situational. Free variation, even though it causes problems to
researchers and teachers, could also play an important role in development important source
of growth in the new language.

2. ILs exibit common acquisition orders and developmental sequences

Acquisition order: morpheme studies

Morpheme studies - established the existence of a common acquisition order for a division of
English grammatical morphemes.

Krashen natural order

According to Krashen, learners acquire parts of language in a predictable order. Natural order
of acquisition occurs independently of deliberate teaching and therefore teachers cannot
change the order of a grammatical teaching sequence.
Teachers should be aware that certain structured of a language are easier to acquire than
others and therefore language structures should be taught in an order that is conductive to
learning. Teachers should start by introducing language concepts that are relatively easy for
learners to acquire and then use scaffolding to introduce more difficult concepts.

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Developmental sequence: interrogatives

Second example of systematicity of IL consists of common developmental sequences which

all learners seem to pass regardless of age, L1 or learning context. Sequence consists of series
of IL structures each representing a stage of development. These stages are not isolated but
they are overlapping.
Results of the study interrogatives in ESL emerged in a predictable sequence:
Questions are formed by rising intonation
WH questions appear but without subject verb inversion
Inversion introduced but overused overinversion
Learners reach full target system differentiating between the forms

Developmetnal sequence: negation

Learners from a variety of different L1 backgrounds have been observed, and all seen to pass
through 4 major stages of negation formation:
External externality negated constructions like NO BOOK , NO IS HAPPY. NO is
the typical negator at stage 1, whereas NOT is more commonly used at stage 2
Internal, pre verbal DONT is used as an unanalyzed negative particle
Aux + neg. usually place NOT following CAN (I cant play)
Analysed dont use of the full target system, correct forms

3. ILs are influences by the learners L1

As it was previously mentioned, from the stand point of CAH learners L1 plays a crucial
role in their acquisition of L2, but unlike what they claimed it was not the difference that
caused interferences and problems, but similarities. In addition to answer when the L1 affects
L2, researchers today have to answer how it does, as well.

Effect of L1 on SLA how

Zobi two patterns of L1 influence on SLA:

1. The pace at which developmental sequence is happening
2. the number of developmental structures in such sequences
Zobi claimed that learners L1 can inhibit or accelerate passage through a developmental
sequence, but it cannot alter the sequence itself.

Effect of L1 on SLA when (markedness)

Examples are the masculine and feminine forms (waiter/waitress, man/woman)

Masculine form is unmarked and feminine is marked. Morphemes that are added to
distinguish past from present, plural from singular suggest that present and singular are
unmarked, past and plural are marked.
Conclusion more marked more difficult, less marked simpler

Effect of the L1 on SLA when (perceived transferability)

According to Kellerman learners transfer a form from depending on how likely they think it to
be acceptable in another language or on their perception of the L1 L2 distance. He tested

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Dutch speakers. He gave them English sentences with Dutch idiomatic expressions in
translation and asked them which of them they thought were acceptable in English. They
accepted idioms that seemed semantically transparent to them and which were language
neutral, and they rejected those which were unusual and language specific. A learners
proficiency level seems also to be relevant factor in determining when transfer will occur. The
role of the L1 can be complex but not negative. It can lead to errors, overproduction, but L1
L2 differences do not necessarily mean difficulty in SLA. Similarities can cause many
problems.

21. The linguistic environment for language acquisition

Linguistic input for first language acquisition

Chomsky define the work of scientist in the late 1950s and 60s as describing language
knowledge underlying performance. He said that the performance data contained too much of
noise (false starts, slips of the tongue, repetitions)
Childerns speech is well formed and also simpler than adult speech in the following ways:
Syntactically: shorter and less varied utterance length of speech, less complex maternal
input, fewer adjectives, adverbs, pronouns than in adult speech.
Phonologically: childrens speech more exaggerated intonation, characterizes by frequent
reduplication of syllables (choo choo for the train), clearer articulation, pauses between
utterances.
Semantically: vocabulary more restricted, talk expresses a more limited range of semantic
relationships.
Conclusion: childrens language input is quantitatively different from speech of competent
adults

Linguistic adjustments to non-native speakers

Linguistic environment is an important area of difference between first and second language
acquisition. It is important to mention that native speakers of English, German, French and
Finnish speak ungrammatical variety of their language when addressing non-native speakers
("foreigner talk").
This ungrammaticality was the result of three main processes:
OMISSION (deletion of articles, copulas, conjunctions)
EXPANSIONS (addition of unanalysed tags to questions yes? no? okay?, insertion of
subject pronoun you before imperatives)
REPLACEMENT/ REARRANGEMENT (forming negatives with no plus the negated item
no like)
why is input to non-native speakers sometimes grammatical, sometimes not? There are four
factors by Long:
1. zero or very low SL proficiency in the non-native speaker
2. perceived or higher social status of the NS
3. prior foreigner talk (FT) experience, but only with NNSs of low SL proficiency
4. spontaneity of the conversation

Conversational adjustments to non-native speakers

Conversational topics are treated simply and briefly in foreigner talk discourse (FIX). The
nature of the topics preferred in FTD differs, too.
There was a comparison between NSs of Spanish (Mexicans) and English (Americans),
conversing with each other (informally).

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The Spanish NSs in NS-NS conversation spoke freely about personal matters (home, age,
family, marriage...) and English NS pairs discussed only impersonal topics (classes, careers,
places of residence...). When these two groups were mixed in NS-NNS conversations they did
not introduced personal topics. Probably because the Spanish NSs learnt which topics were
considered appropriate by the English NSs for discussion with strangers.
Three indications of the topic-negotiation process in the FTD:
1. FTD more oriented to the "here and now" than the NS-NS conversation
2. NSs use more "or choice questions in FTD than with other NSs, in order to make a
conversation easier for NNSs
3. unintentional topic switches by NNSs in FTD when a communication breakdown occurs
Some other conversational adjustments concern not the choice of topics but the way they are
introduced by the NS. There is a well.documented preference for questions over statements.
Several motivations for it:
1. questions are more likely to draw the NNS into the conversation
2. yes/no questions make NNS's conversational role easier
3. questions are useful as comprehension checks (NSs can check if their comnumication with
NNSs is successful).

22. DOES THE LINGUISTIC ENVIRONMENT MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

The role of environmental factors in FLA and SLA affects the power and scope of any innate
linguistic or cognitive contribution. The linguistic environment has great importance for
educators since input can be manipulated.
The effect of deviant input
A second language acquirer, who is exposed to ungrammatical FT, will acquire a marked,
substandard variety of the target language. Thatt effect of deviant input. The kinds of SLA
environment most often associated with ungrammatical input are also those in which a
"pidginized" variety of the SI has been found to develop.
The role of conversation in developing syntax
According to Hatch the child learns some basic set of syntactic structures, moving from a one-
word phrase to a two-word phrase, to more complex structures and then the child is able to
put these structures together in order to carry on conversation with others.
Classroom learners are typically asked to produce full sentences, often with native-like
accuracy, from the earliest stages. Some methods do very little more than this until the learner
is quite advanced advanced enough to begin to carry out conversations in the new
language.
Different studies report positive associations between leisure-time contact with NSs and SL
proficiency, out-of-class conversation practice and proficiency and classroom participation
and achievement gains.
Cases of language learning without any production at all show that conversation is not always
necessary for success.
Input frequency-accuracy order relationships
There were a few researches on this topic.
Butoyi found a positive correlation between the relative frequencies of noun phrase
complement structures in speech addressed to adult ESL students and the rank order in which
they appeared.
Lightbown found a close relationship between the relative frequencies of certain French
questions forms in speech addressed to child French SL learners and the order in which those
forms appeared in the learner's speech. Larsen-Feeman found that the accuracy orders in her
study were positively correlated with the frequency of occurrence of the same morphemes in
the adult NS speech to three children acquiring English as a first language.

14
Input modification and second language comprehension
There is a belief that different textbooks, listening materials published for SL learners
improve comprehension and learning, especially if we manipulate the range of structures and
vocabulary items they contain. Since removal of unfamiliar linguistic items (unknown
grammatical constructions and lexis) cannot help a learner acquire those items, it becomes
interesting to determine whether it is possible to mortify target-language samples in other
ways which improve comprehension. Comprehension was improved when elaborative
indificatior, were present. Linguistic modifications helped comprehension too. There was
some evidence of an inverse relationship between proficiency level and the effect on
comprehension of either type of modification.
Comprehensible input and second language acquisition
Here it is important to mention the relationship between comprehension and acquisition.
Krashen put forward the Input Hypothesis. It says that development from a learner's current
stage of IL development to the next stage is achieved through the learner comprehending
language which contains linguistic items (lexis, syntax, morphology).
There are four topics which support his hypothesis:
1. caretaker speech
2. foreigner talk
3. the "silent period" in child LI and SL acquisition
4. comparative methods studies of language teaching
Krashen believed that caretaker speech and FT play a facilitating role in the F. and S.. The
period of "silence" by children in the first few months of any kind of language acquisition
indicates that the child is listening to and comprehending speech addressed to hirn or her.
The comparative rnethods studies show a general superiority for any "input-based" method
over any production-oriented method. So methods such as Total Physical Response,
Suggestopedia and the Natural Approach do better, than methods such as audiolingual, Silent
Way, audiovisual or Cornmunity Language Learning.
There are three additional pieces of evidence which are supportive of the hypothesis:
5. the superiority of immersion over F/SL programmes
6. the lack of an effect for additional out-of-school SL exposure for children in immersion
programmes.
7. non-acquisition without comprehensible input
It is important to mention that learners should not be viewed as passive recipiens of input
made comprehensible for them by others.
According to C.Brown learners themselves are responsible for the differences to the input
they receive from the teacher.
Neither production nor participation in conversation is necessary for language acquisition.

23. Explanations for differential success among second language learners

Introduction: One of the major conundrums in the SLA field is the question of differential
success. All children with normal faculties and given normal circumstances master their
mother tongue. Unfortunately, language mastery is not often the outcome of SLA.
Furthermore, there is a much broader range of language proficiency achieved among second
language learners than first.
AGE
A good deal of controversy has been generated around whether the age at which someone is
first exposed to SL, in the classroom or naturalistically, affects acquisition of that language in
any way. Some writers claim that SLA is the same process and just as successful whether the
learner begins as a child or an adult and/or that adults are really better learners because they

15
start off faster. Still others convinced that younger learners are at an advantage, particularly
where ultimate levels of attainment, s..ich as accent-free St performance, are concerned.
Studies of age and SLA
As revealed by long-term studies, younger is better in the most crucial area, ultimate
attainment, with only young (child) starters being able to achieve accent-free, native-like
performance in a SL. As revealed by short-term studies, older learners are at an advantage in
rote of acquisition (adults faster than children, and older children faster than younger
children). The rate advantage is limited in several ways, however: it refers mainly to early
morphology and syntax; it is temporary, disappearing after a few months for most language
skills; and it only holds if the "younger" learners in comparison involve children or
adolescents. Younger adults outperform older adults even in short-term studies.
Explanations for age-related differences
Even among those scholars who agree that age related differences in SLA exist, there is
disagreement as to the explanation for such differences. At least four major causes have been
suggested:
1.) Social-psychological explanation. The thrust of the agreement here is that adults differ
from children in that, for example, they might be more inhibited or that their identity as a
speaker of a certain LI might be more firmly established.
2.) Cognitive explanation. The argument is that child SLA and adult SLA might actually
involve different processes.
3.) Input explanation. Younger learners are said to receive better input than adults, input
which provides the children with clearer L2 samples from which to learn syntax.
4.) Neurological explanation. There are two main positions in the literature regarding the
effect of neurological factors on SLA. Penfield and Roberts (1959) and Lennenberg (1967)
produced evidence to show that the two halves of the brain become specialized for different
functions around puberty, a process called lateralization.

APTITUDE
Regardless of the age of the learner, what is undeniable is that individuals learn languages at
different rates. According to Carroll, a psychologist whose name is perhaps most often
associated with research on language aptitude. Carroll proposed that foreign language aptitude
consisted of four independent abilities: 1. phonetic coding ability- an ability to identify
distinct sounds. 2. grammatical sensitivity- the ability to recognize the grammatical functions
of words in sentence structures. 3. rote learning for foreign language materials- the ability to
learn associations between sounds and meanings rapidly and efficiently, and to retain these
associations. 4. inductive language learning ability- the ability to infer or induce the rules
governing a set of language materials.

MOTIVATION
Borrowing the concept of identification from Mowrer, Gardner and Lambert proposed a
construct they called integrative motivation. A learner is said to be integratively motivated
when the learner wishes to identify with another ethnolinguistic group. By way of contrast to
integrative motivation, Gardner and Lambert introduced the concept of instrumental
motivation, in which the learner is motivated to learn an L2 for utilitarian purposes, such as
furthering a career, improving social status or meeting an educational requirement.

ATTITUDE
Gardner claimed that a linear relationship such that attitudes were said to affect motivation
which in turn affected SLA. Thus, based on correlations, attitudes were said to have an
important but indirect effect on SLA. It may be, however, that attitudinal factors have

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relatively little influence on SLA by children, perhaps simply because attitudes are not fully
developed in young learners. In series of studies are not fully developed in young learners. In
series of studies, Ollerer and his colleagues limited still further the claim that positive
attitudes towards speakers of the TL correlate with successful SLA. The effect of attitudes
might be much stronger in such a context where there is much more of an opportunity for
contact between learners and TL speakers than in a foreign language context where the
opportunities are more limited. There are other sources of and targets for attitudes which
come into play when people are engaged in SLA.
1.) Parents. Several studies have investigated parental role in how attitudes towards speakers
of the TL are developed. Gardner showed that Anglophone students learning French as a
second language in Montreal possessed attitudes which were reflective of their parents'
attitudes towards French Canadians.
2.) Peers. The attitude of peers, too, can affect learners' acquisition of a second language.
3.) Learning situation. Brown's research suggests that learner's attitudes towards the learning
situation affected their degree of success. Moreover, she determined that the attitudes, and
therefore the consequences of the attitudes, were different for older versus younger learners.
4.) Teachers. Tucker and Lambert consider teachers' attitudes even more important than
parental or community-wide attitudes in influencing the outcome of instructed SLA.
5.) Ethnicity. One's ethnic group membership might also determine attitudes and behaviour
toward members of other groups, and these in turn might affect SL attainment.

24. PERSONALITY
1.) Self-esteem. Shavelson, Hubner and Stanton proposed a ternary hierarchy to account for
self-esteem, or the feeling of self-worth an individual possesses. At the highest level is global
self-esteem, or the individual's overall self-assessment. At the medial level is specific self.
esteem, or how individuals perceive themselves in various life situations (education, work)
and at the lowest level is the evaluation one gives oneself on specific tasks.
2.) Extroversion. Folk wisdom holds that extroverted learners learn at a faster rate than
introverts.
3.) Anxiety. While all humans presumably experience anxiety at one time or other, it is
thought that certain people might be anxious more often than others, or have a more severe
reaction to anxiety-producing situations such that language learning would be prevented.
4.) Risk-taking. Perhaps closely related to a high tolerance for anxiety-inducing situations is
the willingness to take risks.
5.) Sensitivity to rejection. Naiman hypothesized that those individuals who were sensitive to
rejection avoid active participation in language class. This lack of participation would then
translate into less successful SLA.
6.) Emphaty.
7.) Inhibition.
8.) Tolerance o/ ambiguity. It is not too difficult to imagine how tolerance of ambiguity
relates to language learning. A language learner is confronted with new stimuli, many of
which are ambiguous. Clarity is not usually immediately forthcoming, and persons with a low
tolerance of ambiguity may experience frustration and diminished performance as a result.

25. Cognitive style

Closely aligned with personality is a variable called cognitive style, the preferred way which
individuals process information or approach a task. A number of different cognitive styles
have been identified in the psychological literature, with a few of these being investigated for
their SLA implications. The cognitive style that has received the most attention in the SLA
literature is field independence/dependence.

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1.) Field independence/dependence. The perceptual challenge the subject faces is to be able to
break up the visual filed and keep part of it separate. This challenge was hypothesized to be
analogous to a person learning an SL who has to isolate an element from the context in which
it is presented. People are termed field dependent if they are unable to abstract an element
from its context, or background filed.
2.) Category width. The cognitive style of category width refers to certain people's tendency
to include many items in one category, even some that may not be appropriate or to other
people's tendency to exclude items from categories even when they may belong.
3.) Reflectivity/impulsivity. Individuals who have a reflective cognitive style tend to mull
things over when making a decision. Conversely, an impulsive person tends to make a quick
guess when faced with uncertainty.
4.) Aural/visual. This cognitive style refers to s person's preferred mode of presentation: aural
or visual.
5.) Analytic/gestalt. In 1974, Hatch made a distinction between learners who are data-
gatherers and those who are rule-formers. Observing a similar distinction, Peters (1977) has
demonstrated that children approach the SL learning task in different ways, Some children
seem to take language word by word, analysing it into components; others approach language
in a more holistic or gestalt-like manner.

26. HEMISPHERE LATERALIZATION

Lateralization is a process whereby each of the two hemispheres of the brain becomes
specialized. Research on the two cerebral hemispheres indicates that each hen avhere niay be
responsible for a particular 'node of thinking. How these observations relate to SLA is that
certain individuals perform relatively better on tests using one hemisphere or the other and
thus are thought to be left- or right-hemisphere dominant. If this the case, it might offer
neurophysiological basis for those individuals who are more field-independent and analytic.
Such individuals may be left-hemisphere dominant. Learners who are more field-dependent
and holistic in their approach may then be more right-hemisphere dominant.

27. Learning strategies

Rubin (1975) uses learning strategies to mean "the techniques or devices which a learner may
use to acquire knowledge". Good language learners, according to Rubin, are willing and
accurate guessers who have a strong desire to communicate, and will attempt to do so even at
the risk of appearing foolish. Even though they are highly motivated to communicate, they
also attend to form and meaning. Moreover, good language learners practise and monitor their
own speech and the speech of others. The employment of these strategies depends upon the
level of TL proficiency, the learner's age, the task, individual style, the context and possible
cultural differences.

THEORIES IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

28. THEORY CONSTRUCTION AND SOCIAL SCIENCE
The role of theories in making research cumulative :
Although there has been an explosion of data-based research activity in the field of SLA,
dissatisfaction is expressed by researchers themselves and language teachers to the effect that
little of that research is cumulative and clearly motivated.
There are various ways in which data-based work is less productive for being theoretically
unmotivated. Hermann and Strong have provided evidence for the "resultative hypothesis"
(motivation to learn a SL results from increasing proficiency rather than causes it Descriptive
studies are very useful and still necessary.

18
 Purposes and types of theory :
Theory is a more or less formal, more or less explicit, synthesis of what is known at a iven
point in time about some natural phenomena, such as the factors involved in SLA. g
Knowledge refers to what has been discovered through empirical observation. Theories
explain the phenomena and understand them.
There are two types of theory:
1. The set-of laws form.
Examples:
Adults proceed through developmental sequences faster than children in the early stages
of morphological and syntactic developrnent.
Learners who begin SLA afterpuberty do not acquire a native-like accent in the SL.
Developmental sequences are not altered by instruction.
Its containing voiced stops will also contain voiceless stops.
The statements would have the status of generalizations or of laws. It depends on the number
and the uniformity of the observations which supported them. Generalizations allow for
exceptions, laws do not.
2. The causal-process form.
Causal-process theories are generally consistent with existing knowledge about the matter
they treat, but also attempt to explain those phenomena. They consist of sets of definitions
of theoretical concepts and constructs, sets of existence statements and sets of causal
statements.
According to Krashen in order to acquire two conditions are necessary; the first is
comprehensible input and the second one is a low or weak filter to allow the input "in".
Theories in this type lead to more efficient research.

29. NATIVIST THEORIES OF SLA

General characteristics :
Nativists theories explain acquisition by positing an innate biological endowment that makes
learning possible. In some cases the endowment is language-specific. The innate endowment
involves both linguistic principles and general cognitive notions.

30. Chomsky's Universal Grammar and SLA

He notes various factors which according to him support the idea that humans are innately
endowed with universal language specific knowledge. He calls it Universal Grammar.
Without such endowment language learning would be impossible because the input data are
insufficiently "rich" to allow acquisition to occur.
Chomsky considers that the input is deficient or "poor in two ways. First, it is claimed to be
"degenerate" because of false starts, slips, fragments and is an inadequate data base for
language learning. Second, the input is "degenerate' in the sense that it is inadequate in
various ways. It does not usually contain "negative evidence", information from which the
learner could work out what is not possible in a given language.
A critique of language-specific nativist theories
Chomsky's explanation of language acquisition involves at least three assumptions.
1. The learning occurs quickly and is mostly complete by age of five.
2. Certain syntactic principles are unlearnable and innate.
3. The input available to learners is inadequate; it lacks essential negative evidence with
which to remedy excessive complexity and-overgeneralization.

31.Krashen's Monitor Theory

- one of the most influential theories of SLA in the 1970s and early 1980s

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At the beginning it was not a theory of SLA, but a model of SL performance. According to
Krashen there were two separate knowledge systems that underlay SL performance: The
acquired system (the product of application by the same language-learning abilities children
used for FLA) The learned system the product of formal instruction classroom language
teaching)
There are five major claims that summarize Krashen's conclusions:
1. The Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis; there are two independent ways of learning a
SL: ACQUISITION (subconscious process used by children developing their their Lit
and LEARNING (conscious process knowledge about the 5L)
2. The Natural Order Hypothesis; SL rules are acquired in the predictable order, but
not determined by the order in which the items appear in teaching syllabuses
3. The Monitor Hypothesis; the relationship between the acquired and learned systems
during SL perforrnance
4. The Input Hypothesis, explains how a learner acquire a H. Krashen calls it the
central claim of Mt. is acquired through processing comprehensible input (language,
that is heard or read and understood)
5. The Affective Filter Hypothesis; various affective factors (motivation, self-
confidence, anxiety) play a facilitative, but non-causal role in SLA.
A critique Of Monitor Theory
MT has received a great deal of criticism in the SIA literature. It was one of the first theories
developed to explain SLA. It made a large number of claims about a wide array of SLA
phenomena. It was closely tied to recommendations for classroom practice, many of these
recommendations challenged basic assumptions about language teaching. Some of the
problems for MT:
1. There is no explanation for why the "filter' doesnot exist in children, and only comes into
play at puberty.
2. MT offers no explanation for the morpheme orders on which many of its claims are based
and tested
3. White criticizes the Input Hypothesis, considering the incomprehensible input being a
crucial source of negative source in SLA
4. The lack of classroom evaluation studies, the absence of syllabus content of MT-Inspired
lang. teaching programmes were also criticized.

32. ENVIRONMENTALIST THEORIES OF SLA

General characteristics :
These theories hold that an organism's nurture or experience is of more importance to
development than its nature or innate contribution. The best known examples are the various
forms of behaviourist and neo-behaviourist stimulus-response learning theories. Of particular
interest for language learning theory is the work on Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP). It
is a theory of cognition which assumes no innate endowment. PDP theorists hold that learning
is based on the processing of input.

33. Schumann's Pidginization Hypothesis and Acculturation Model

Schumann observed the acquisition of ESL by Costa Rican Alberto (33). It was quite limited.
There 8 factors in Schumanns Model of a group-level phenomenon social distance. Which
were responsible for Alberto's limited acquisition of ESL
1. Social dominance- Alberto was a member of a social group which was politically,
culturally, technically and economically subordinate to the target-language group.
2. Integration pattern; a member of a group whose integration pattern lay between
preservation of cultural identity and assimilation into target-language culture.

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 3. Enclosure; a member of a group with many of its own churches, clubs, newspapers
(group with high enclosure)
4. Cohesiveness; a member of fairly cohesive group (against the contact with the TL
group)
5. Size; a member of fairly large group
6. Cultural congruence; his group and TL group were culturally not very congruent
7. Attitude
8. Intended length of residence; duration of stay in the TL environment was relatively
short (contacts with the TL group were not developed)
9. Social distance is a group phenomenon; psychological distance is individual
phenomenon, including motivation, language shock, culture shock and ego
permeability.
A critique of the Pidginization Hypothesis and Acculturation Model
Some of the objections:
1. Pidgins develop when groups of speakers of several different Lls are in contact.
2. Merging of two or more languages into one, which is characteristic of pidgins, is not seen
in Its.
3. SLA generally involves monolinguals, whereas speakers of pidgins generally know several
other languages.
4. Pidginization is a group phenomenon, SLA an individual phenomenon.
5. SLA, with access to the TL, allows for correction to that target; pidginization, with
restricted access, does not provide this option.
6. Alberto's IL contains some features it should not, if it is an example of pidginization.

34. INTERACTIONIST THEORIES OF SLA

General characteristics :
These theories are more powerful than nativist and environmentalist theories, because they
invoke both innate and environmental factors to explain language learning. Greater power
means more factors, variables, causes, processes and it is negative characteristic concerning
theories. Greater power does not make interactionist theories uninteresting; interactionists
decided to use them, in order to explain SLA.

35. Givon's Functional-Typological Theory and SLA

Givon's goal was a unified theory of all kinds of language change, including language
acquisition. He has developed an approach called "functional-typological syntactic analysis".
He claims that it can be applied to all situations of language variation and change, including
the development of pidgins and creole, child lang. acquisition and second lang. acquisition.
A critique of Givon's theory in SLA research
Perhaps because of its very scope and generality, this theory cannot be ,pecled to capture the
differences among types-of language-change situations Where.I.,,,tsare primarily concerned
with language as a group phenomenon, FLA and SLA researchers tend to focus on the level of
the individual learner

36. The ZISA group's Multidimensional Model

The ZISA project consisted of a cross-sectional study of 45 adults, and a two-year
longitudinal study of 12 adults, both using interview data, of the naturalistic acquisition of
German as a SL (GSL) by speakers of Spanish and Italian. The project prompted several
methodological reorientations in SLA research in Europe and North America, and produced a
theory of SLA, which has motivated new studies.. naturalistic and instructed SLA on GSL
with potentially important implications for language teaching and testing.

21
 One major focus of the original research was GSL word-order rules.
The five developmental stages in the word-order data:
SVO < ADV < SEP < INV < V-END
SVO (canonical order)
ADV (initialization/finalization)
SEP (disruption and movement into salient position)
INV (internal movement)
V-END (sub-categorization)
Learners should not be able to skip a stage in a developmental sequence, because each stage
depends on previous sta,e.
- A critique of the Multidimensional Model
Despite its positive characteristics this model has some problems. The Model does not say
much about the way learners actually learn. Another problem is the falsifiability of certain
aspects of the Model. That means that some tokens will occur in the speech of learners well
before they reach the stages at which they are predicted to appear.
Second problem considering falsifiability is the lack of clarity over indentifying variational
features a priori.
A third problem arises from vagueness as to what would constitute violations of the
processing constraints among mainstream developmental features.

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