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Course 4

The document discusses learners' difficulties in language acquisition, focusing on systematic and non-systematic errors, including overgeneralization, transfer, and simplification by omission. It highlights the role of communication strategies that learners use to cope with language barriers, such as paraphrasing, avoidance, and literal translation. The study emphasizes that L2 learning involves creative constructions similar to L1 learning, and the strategies employed may vary by context and learner stage.

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25 views7 pages

Course 4

The document discusses learners' difficulties in language acquisition, focusing on systematic and non-systematic errors, including overgeneralization, transfer, and simplification by omission. It highlights the role of communication strategies that learners use to cope with language barriers, such as paraphrasing, avoidance, and literal translation. The study emphasizes that L2 learning involves creative constructions similar to L1 learning, and the strategies employed may vary by context and learner stage.

Uploaded by

sellaicheimai22
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Psycholinguistics:

An Online Course (2020/2021)


(3rd Year LMD- Semester 6)

Dr. BELAHCEN Abbassia


E mail: [email protected]
Department of English
Faculty of Lettres, Languages and Arts
Djillali Liabes University- Sidi Bel Abbès
Algeria
Learners’ Difficulties inside the Classroom:

Errors and Communication Strategies (CS)

Learners actively construct rules, and then they adapt these rules. It is
their “Blackbox” which is working. So, they don’t only imitate.
These processes show that learners make two kinds of errors. As
researchers claim that there are two kinds of errors: “Systematic” and “Non-
Systematic” Errors. Non- Systematic errors are also called “Interlingual” errors,
while Systematic Errors are called “Intralingual” errors and are of two types:

Overgeneralisation
Learning Strategies Positive and Negative Transfer
Simplification by omission

Overgeneralization

We use a strategy to generalize in all the fields of our work. In other


words, we also alternate items to categories, then, we construct rules in order to
be applied to these categories, to predict how items will be behaved. However,
we must make exceptions to the rules. Learning exceptions are due to over-
generalization, if we take the category of birds, we can deduce that birds have
the habit of flying. Suppose we meet new bird, we will assume that it has the
same habit.
Another bird like the penguin, we will assume that it has the same habit,
but, the penguin doesn’t fly, then, the assumption will be error.
We have generalized the rule; therefore, as a consequence there is
exception. This may remind us of Kellerman’s “U Shape”.
To go went

*goed

Back- Sliding

Back- Sliding process means when learners, at first, acquire a language


correctly, then, they make errors.

Transfer

Transfer is a means to organize L2 data, Taylor states that beginners make more
transfer than intermediate students.
When does the transfer take place?
Why do L2 learners transfer?
Because:
 First, it is economical
 Second, learners are sure that their messages are conveyed i.e.,
productive.
Corder (1978) states that:
“The knowledge of the mother tongue is rather rich and a
specific set of hypothesis, which learners can use in English”
We can say that it is pointless to ask which process is the first
“overgeneralisation” or “transfer”. It seems that both processes may occur
simultaneously.

Simplification by omission

Simply means the omission of pronouns, some morphemes…in order to


make linguistic data more manageable.
In addition to overgeneralization and transfer there is another feature of
systematic (intralingual) errors; which is called “simplification by omission”.

In this respect, Jϋrgen Neisel (1980) coined the term “Elaborative


Simplification” just to define what learners create so as to use new utterances for
expressing new meanings. Therefore, this process can help learners to make
progress.

Redundancy

Redundancy is again another form of simplification (dropping of


pronouns, articles….)
e.g.: Instead of saying: Dady I want a chair, it’s said
Dady want chair or,
Dady chair
In order to have the utterance comprehensible, we are, therefore, in need
to settings: time and place.

Non- Systematic Errors

So far we have seen systematic errors, now we are going to deal with non-
systematic ones.
We know that errors help learners to progress in the L2 and also there are
learners who develop their underlying system of rules through the errors that
they make or do.
So far, researchers proved that this assumption, however, is not always
true, why?
Besides, there is what we call “Intermediate Communication Strategies”
and “Performance errors”. Performance errors like slips of the tongue, when
some for instance, cannot find the right word or structure? While speaking, then,
uttering or beginning an utterance and abandon it. These errors cannot be
considered as a learner’s developing skills. The result is done as a transition of
the situation. Consequently, as variability is in itself a feature of a learner’s
speech, therefore, it is difficult to draw a borderline between “systematic” and
“non- systematic” errors.
First of all, what are “Communication Strategies?” (CS)
 CS are aids.
Why do learners use CS?
 To cope with communication problems that those researchers may
consciously record like a learner’s continuous use of the “Mother
Tongue” (MT). In other words, a learner uses “Transfer” or he uses
second items that he knows which are not completely appropriate.
Researchers reveal a set of CS:
Inadequate language competence makes the learner resort to
communication strategies, i.e. verbal and non- verbal behaviours which enable
her/ him to put the message across. Communication Strategies do not enable the
learner to negotiate the meaning, however, by keeping the conversation going
(conversational maintenance), they allow the learner to obtain more input from
interlocutors. Various Communication Strategies can be enlisted as follow:
Paraphrase

 Approximation: use of a single target language vocabulary item or


structure, which the learner knows is not correct, but which shares
enough semantic features in common with the desired item to
satisfy the speaker (e.g. pipe for water pipe ).
 Word Coinage: the learner makes up a new word in order to
communicate a desired concept (e.g. air ball for balloon)
 Circumlocution: the learner describes the characteristics or
elements of the object or action instead of using the appropriate
Target Language (TL) (e.g. the thing you boil in water instead of
saying the right word kettle )

Trasfer

 Literal translation: the learner translates word for word from the
native language
 Language Switch: the learner uses the term without bothering to
translate
 Appeal for assistance: the learner asks for the correct term or
structure
 Mime: the learner uses non- verbal strategies in place of a meaning
structure

Avoidance

 Topic Avoidance: occurs when the learner simply does talk about
concepts for which the vocabulary or other structure is not known
 Message Abandonment: occurs when the learner begins to
continue due to lack of meaning structure, and stops mid- utterance.
To conclude, the study of learners’ errors shows that L2 learning is more
than a simple matter of habit formation. Indeed, L2 learners use Creative
Constructions similar to those used by L1learners. However, we don’t know
which strategy is mostly used at a particular stage or at a particular field of
language (grammar, phonoly….)

Source: Information presented by Dr. A. BELAHCEN- appears in:


Larsen- Freeman (1991: 127ff.)

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