IBU

International Burch University

Theories of L2 learning

associate professor Vildana Dubravac

 universal
A1
1940s, 1950s B1
grammar C1
ZPD D1
examples

A3
habits B2
Language C2
Piaget D2
associations
acquisition device

A2
imitation B3
Chomsky C3
interaction D3
computer

Interactionist
A
Behaviorism B
Innatism C D
Connectionism
position

THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO FIRST

KEY
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
The behavourist perspective

L1 acquisition: result of imitation, practice, feedback on success, and

habit formation.

Difference: L2 learners already have habits formed during the

acquisition of L1; this changes the way they perceive the language.
-had a powerful influence on second and foreign language teaching,
especially in North America, from the 1940s to the 1970s.

-Proponents: Nelson Brooks (1960) and Robert Lado (1964)

-language developement=habit formation

-classroom activities emphasized mimicry and memorization, and Ss learned

dialogues and sentence patterns by heart.
Researchers found that many learner errors are not predictable on the basis of
first language.

L1 influence is not simply a matter of habits but a more complex process (No
understand; Yesterday I meet my teacher).

Rejection of Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis

Rejection of behaviourism
The Innatist perspective

Chomsky’s critique of behaviourism

Chomsky viewed L1 as based on child’s innate language-specific module of mind.

Child has innate knowledge of certain principles governing all languages, referred
to as UG (Universal Grammar).

Primary focus of UG-based SLA research is on competence not performance.

A. Some think that the UG provides an adequate
explanation only for first language acquisition.
 UG is equally Instruction and corrective
available to second feedback change only
language learners as superficial appearance of
it was for first language
B.UG provides the language learners
best explanation for
second language
acquisition
Learners may need
UG has been some explicit
altered; it is not the information and
same after instruction
acquiring L1
Krashen’s Model

It is one of the models that adopt the innatist perspective

It was quite influential in the 1970s.

It emphasizes the role of exposure to comprehensible input in second

language acquisition.
It is based on 5 hypotheses:

1. Acquisition-learning hypothesis

2. Monitor hypothesis

3. The natural order hypothesis

4. The input hypothesis

5. The affective filter hypothesis

The cognitive perspective

-concerned with the mental processes involved in language acquisition, and how
they can explain the nature of learner’s language knowledge.

-L2 acquisition is viewed as a special case of more general learning mechanisms in

the brain.

-tries to codify the nature of mental representations and the mental processes which
underlie them.
Represenation of the second language knowledge

Interlanguage

Implicit vs. explicit knowledge

Declarative vs. procedural knowledge

The mental processes:

Micro-processes: attention, working memory, integration,

restructuring, monitoring

Macro-procceses: intentional vs. incidental learning (explicit vs.

implicit learning)
 Learning is achieved through There is a limit to the amount of
paying attention to any aspect of focused mental activity we can
language engage in at one time.
Gradually, by practice, those items
become old information and can be Transfer appropriate processing:
accessed automatically, so learner Information is best retrieved in
will start paying attention to other situations that are similar to those in
items. which they were acquired.

Information
processing
model

Second language acquisition is

seen as skill learning Sometimes changes in language
behaviour do not seem to be
Skill learning starts with declarative
explainable in terms of a gradual
knowledge: knowledge that.
build-up of fluency through practice.
With practice, decalarative These changes have been
knowledge may become procedural described in terms of restructuring.
knowledge: knowledge how
 Usage-based learning

Emphasis is on the frequency with which Ls Ls develop stronger network of associations or

encounter specific linguistic features in the input connections between co-occurring features as well
and the frequency with which language features as between the language features and the contexts
accur together. in which they occur.

What is innate is simply the

ability to learn, rather than any
specific linguistic principles.

Much of the language we use in ordinary

The presence of one situational or linguistic
conversation or in particular genres is predictable,
feature will activate the other(s) in the L’s mind (I
and to a considerable extent based on formulaic
say; he says).
units or chunks.
 Through exposure to thousands of
examples of language associated with The relationship between words in a
particular meanings, speakers of a sentence may be signalled by word
particular language come to understand order, grammatical markers, and the
how to use the ‘cues’ that signal specific animacy of the nouns in the sentence.
function.

Competition model
(language meaning
and language use)

According to the competition model, L2

Most languages make use of multiple acquisition requires that Ls learn the
cues, but they differ in the primacy of relative importance of the different cues
each. appropriate in the language they are
learning.
1. The boy eats the apple.

2. The apple eats the boy.

3. The dog sees the ball.

4. The ball chases the dog.

5. The ball is chased by the dog.

Italian
Il giacattolo guarda il bambino

(the toy – is looking at – the boy)

 Input processing (VanPatten):
The interaction hypothesis: Ls have limited processing capacity
and cannot pay attention to form
modified interaction-comprehension
and meaning at the same time.
checks; clarification requests; self-
They tend to give priority to
repetition or paraphrase
meaning, overlooking some
features of the language form .
Negotiation for meaning

HYPOTHESES
MODELS

The noticing hypothesis (Schmidt,

Leow): Processability theory:
Nothing is learned unless it has The sequency of development
been noticed. (syntax, morphology) was affected
by how easy these were to process.
-noticing involves perception and
Ease of processing was found to
presents conscious attention to
depend to a large extent on the
surface elements.
position of those features in a
Must Ls be aware that they are sentence.
noticing something in the input?
The role of practice

• Practice that characterized audiolingual instruction often

failed to make connections between language forms
and their meanings.

• From a cognitive perspective, practice is not mechanical

and not restricted to production––it is also relevant for
comprehension.

• Practice should be interactive, meaningful, and focus on

task-essential forms.
The sociocultural perspective

language developement arises as a result of social interaction

speaking and writing mediate thinking

the internalizing is thought to occur when an individual interacts with

an interlocutor within his or her zone of proximal development.
The core of sociocultural theory is that learning and cognitive development
(which includes language as well) happen as a result of social interactions. It
argues that “while human neurobiology is a necessary condition for higher
order thinking, the most important forms of human cognitive activity develop
through interaction within social and material environments” (Lantolf &
Thorne, 2006a, p. 201).
Sociocultural theory considers language as an important mediational tool in the
development of higher mental processes of learners (Vygotsky, 1986). It helps the
development of these processes since it enables the developing communicative
and cognitive functions to move from ‘the interpsychological’ to ‘the
intrapsychological plane’ (Vygotsky, 1987) that is, from the social to the personal
level. This requires active engagement of children in social interactions with peers
and adults (Lantolf, 2000a; Rogoff, 1990).
The opportunity to use language as a means of making sense of
experiences with others is a crucial step in learning to use language
meaningfully, appropriately and effectively (Park, 2005). It enables the
child to internalize the language and carries it into further performance.
Swain (2000) maintains that in collaborative dialogues “language use and language learning
can cooccur. It is language use mediating language learning. It is cognitive activity and it is
social activity” (p. 97). All this emphasises the importance of active participation for language
acquisition.
Difference between ZPD and i+1

Interaction versus sociocultural perspectives

Learning by talking
the term ZPD has been broadened to include
novice–novice interaction.

Swain’s comprehensible output hypothesis

Research investigating how learners co-construct

knowledge while engaged in collaborative dialogue
that focuses on form and meaning at the same
time.