Chapter 2

Notes

Learner characteristics and learner conditions

  • young children acquire language without cognitive maturity
  • older learners use metalinguistic abilities and problem solving
    • perhaps as they no longer have access to innate LA
  • attitudinal difference between children and adults
  • young learners can be silent, older pressured to speak
  • younger learners have more time to learn
  • error correction differs
  • all learners experience modified L2 input

Studying learner language

  • contrastive analysis
    • analysing the differences between L1 and L2 in order to predict problematic areas due to transfer
      • leads to over- and under-predicted errors
      • not all errors are bi-directional
      • does not account for developmental errors
  • error analysis
    • analysing L2 error rather than predicting the errors they might make
      • starts with the errors that learners make and tried to understand why they are made (with reference to L2, L1 and other factors)
      • descriptive - looks for patterns in language use
      • does not account for learner strategies (e.g. avoidance)
      • focuses only on error so may miss signs of progress
  • interlanguage
    • learners’ developing L2 knowledge
      • systematic and rule-governed
      • dynamic and continually evolving as learners have more experience with the L2
      • fossilization - when some language features stop developing
  • developmental sequences
    • L2 sequences are similar to L1
    • initial evidence for L2 sequences came from learners whose primary learning environment was outside the classroom
    • research with L2 learners in classrooms has revealed a similar developmental pattern
  • grammatical morphemes
    • L2 order for acquisition similar but not identical to L1 order
    • some aspects of L2 order are common across learners with different L1, but there is also evidence of L1 influence
    • possible reasons for L2 order - salience (something standing out), linguistic complexity, semantic transparency, similarity to an L1 form, frequency in the input
  • negation
    1. negative element before verb
    2. ’no/not’ may alternate with ‘don’t’
    3. negative element after aux verb
    4. ‘do’ is marked for tense, person, and number
  • questions
    1. single words, formulae, or sentence fragments
    2. declarative word order
    3. fronting
    4. inversion in wh- copula, yes/no question with other aux
    5. inversion in wh- questions with both an aux and main verb
    6. complex questions
  • possessive determiners
    1. pre-emergence - no use of ‘his’ or ‘her’, ‘your’ is used for everyone/thing
    2. emergence - starting to use ‘his’ or ‘her’ but without distinguishing them
    3. post-emergence - differentiated use of ‘his’ and ‘her’ but not when the object has natural gender (for example, The girl fell on her bicycle. She look his father and cry)
    4. error-free use of ‘his’ and ‘her’ in all contexts including natural gender and body parts
  • relative clauses
    • L2 learners’ ability is reflected in accessibility hierarchy
    • if learners can produce sentences using relative clauses that are lower on the list, they can also produce those above that one
    • L1 influence
      • if learners’ L1 does not have a particular case type, it is more difficult to learn that type in English
      • where L1 has different ways of forming relative clauses, learners may avoid using them even when their L2 is fairly advanced
      • L1 influence is seen in learner errors such as The man that I saw him was very tall
  • reference to past
    • learner with very limited language may simply refer to events in the order in which they occurred, or mention a time or place to that the even occurred in the past
    • later, learners starts to attach a grammatical morpheme which shows that the verb is marked for the past - but they may overgeneralize
    • learners are more likely to mark past tense on some verb than others
      • due to lexical aspect of different verbs
        1. when referring to completed events
        2. when referring states and activities which may last for extended period without a clear end point
graph TD; A[subject] --> B[direct object] B --> C[indirect object] C --> D[object of preposition] D --> E[genitive] E --> F[object of comparison]
  • movement through developmental sequences
    • not like ‘closed rooms’
    • emergence of new form, then increasing frequency of use
    • progress to higher stage can result in new (different) errors
    • developmental progress interacts with L1 influence
  • L1 influence
    • L1 interacts with L1 and other L2s
    • cross-linguistic influence can promote L2 development as learners draw on what they already know from their L1 or other previously learned languages
    • learners may linger longer in a developmental stage because of L1 influence (for example, pre-verbal ’no’ in negation by Spanish L1 speakers)
    • learners may also avoid the use of some correct L2 features that are similar in L1 and L2 because they wish to avoid making errors that might be caused by using the L1 patterns
    • it is easier for learners to acquire a new L2 feature that does not exists in their L1 than to stop using a features that is present in L1 but not in L2 (for example, adverb placement in French and English)
    • translanguaging
      • learners benefit from opportunities to draw on all their language resources
        • using L1 allows learners to express their thoughts more fully
        • using both L1 and L2 allows learners to build a new multilingual competence

Vocabulary

  • English has roughly 100 000 to 1 million words
  • everyday conversation requires about 2 000 words
  • educated speaker of English know at least 20 000 words
  • L2 vocab learning is different from L1 acquisition
    • less exposure
    • less helpful contexts
  • guessing the meaning of a new words requires knowing more than 95% of words already in the text
  • factors that make L2 words easier to learn
    • frequency exposure in meaningful contexts
    • noticing, focus of attention
    • international vocabulary (for example, dollar or sushi)
    • cognates (for example, music and musique)
  • two important non-instruction resources for L2 vocab
    • reading for pleasure
    • digital media (TV and gaming)
  • vocab development is facilitated when learners focus attention on new words and use them in productive tasks
  • L2 vocab learning requires effort by learners and teachers

Pragmatics

  • pragmatics is the ability to use language appropriately
  • even users with advanced grammatical and lexical L2 knowledge may have difficulty using language appropriately in some contexts
  • some aspects of pragmatics are acquired developmentally (for example, requests in English)
    1. pre-basic - highly context-dependent, no syntax, no relational goals
    2. formulaic - reliance on unanalysed formulas and imperatives
    3. unpacking - formulas incorporated into productive language use, shift to conventional indirectness
    4. pragmatic expansion - addition of new forms to repertoire, increase use of mitigation, more complex syntax
    5. fine-tuning - fine tuning of requestive force to participants, goals, and contexts
  • research indicated that learners benefit from instruction in pragmatics

Pronunciation

  • learning to perceive differences in L2 sounds takes time and focus
  • greater differences between L1 and L2 can lead to greater pronunciation difficulties
  • longer periods of exposure lead to improved pronunciation
  • adults who continue to make greater use of their L1 have stronger L2 accents
  • ethnic affiliation and identity choices also contribute to pronunciation development
  • when learners focus primarily on meaning, they may not be able to also pay attention to the sounds of the words
  • instruction is beneficial particularly if it focuses on suprasegmental features rather than segmental aspects of pronunciation
  • priority of learners should be to be intelligible and communicatively competent, not to like a native speaker
  • research shows that the presence of a strong foreign accent does not necessarily result in reduced intelligibility or comprehensibility
  • accent reduction businesses and accent modification services have questionable ethics

Sampling learner language

  • corpus linguistics emphasizes the analysis of authentic spoken and written texts
    • this helps develop teaching materials that reflect how language is used not how it should be used
  • computer-based tools allow researchers to collect larger and more authentic samples of learner language

Sparknotes

  • the language that L2 learners produce and understand changes as they gain more exposure to the L2 and use it in a variety of situations
  • there are strong patterns of similarity across learners of different ages, learning in different contexts, and starting from different L1 backgrounds
  • the focus of this chapter has been on similarities, but there are also differences in the rate and ultimate success of learning due to individual variation

Vocabulary

Term Definition
pragmatics aspects of language use that go beyond vocabulary and grammar to include rules of how to use language appropriately in different contexts with different speakers
corrective feedback an indication to a learner that their use of the target language is incorrect
modified input adapted speech that adults to use to address children and that proficient speakers or teachers use to address language learners so that they will be able to understand
cognitive maturity ability to engage in problem-solving, deduction, and complex memory tasks
foreigner talk the modified or simplified language that some native speakers address to L2 learners
target language the language being learned, whether it is L1 or L2+
contrastive analysis hypothesis (CAH) the expectation that learners will have less difficulty acquiring L2 patterns that are similar to L1 patterns than in acquiring those that are more different
transfer the influence of a learner’s L1 knowledge in the L2
interlanguage learner’s developing L2 knowledge, may have characteristics of L1 and or L2, is systematic but also dynamic
fossilization terms use to describe a persistent lack of change in interlanguage patterns, even after extended exposure to or instruction in target language
obligatory contexts places in a sentence where a particular grammatical form is requires if the sentence is to be correct (for example, * Last week, my brother rent a car the speaker has created an obligatory context for the past tense by the use of ‘Last week’ but has not used the required form of the verb in that context)
accuracy order relative accuracy with which L2 learners use grammatical forms
accessibility hierarchy a ranking of relative clauses, different languages use relative clauses to modify nouns in different grammatical roles, according to accessibility hierarchy, for example, most languages allow relative clause for sentence subjects, while fewer languages allow them for the object of comparison
cross-linguistic influence interaction of multiple languages in the mind of an individual
communicative competence ability to use language in a variety of settings, taking into account relationships between speakers and differences in situations
cognate a word in one language that comes from the same origin as a word in another language and has the same meaning (for example vaca and vache in Spanish and French)
explicit instruction engaging students in learning activities in which their focus is drawn to features of language form or structure, either by the use of metalinguistic terminology or by other ways of making students aware of the language features they are supposed to pay attention to
mitigation in pragmatics, a phrase or tone of voice used to reduce of soften possible negative impact of what is said
communicative language teaching (CLT) an approach to L2 teaching based on the premise that successful L2 learning involves not only a knowledge of the structures and forms of a language but also the function and purposes that a language serves in different communicative settings
content-based language teaching (CBLT) L2 instruction in which lessons are organised around subject matter rather than language points
task based language teaching (TBLT) instruction in which classroom activities are ’tasks’ similar to those learners might engage in outside the classroom
implicit instruction engaging students in activities in which their focus is on the meaning/content of the language they are using, rather than on the linguistics forms or structures that carry meaning
audiolingual approach an approach to second or foreign language teaching that is based on the behaviorist theory of learning and on structural linguistics, especially the CAH, this approach emphasis the formation of habits through repetition, practice, and memorisation of sentence patterns in isolation from each other and often in contexts where the focus is on accurately reproducing phrases and sentences rather than using language in a meaningful context
segmentals the individual sounds of a language
suprasegmentals the sounds of a language that involves the melody and rhythm of the language (for example, stress and intonation), rather than the pronunciation of individual sounds
corpus linguistics an approach to the study of language that is based on the analysis of language corpora
corpus a principled collection of oral or written language samples that can usually be accessed and explored with computer based tools
grammaticality judgement a test or task in which participants are asked to make a decision about whether a sentence is grammatically correct or not

Gilquin - Light verb constructions in spoken L2 English

  1. Topic and topic area of the reading:
    (first/second language acquisition or bilingualism?, language learning theories/frameworks, individual differences, etc.?)

    EFL and ESL, both at varying CEFR levels, use of light verb construction (LVC) compared to native speakers

  2. Research questions or aims:
    (what are researchers trying to find out? what questions do they ask?)

    Understand the use of LVCs by EFL and ESL learners, does one group overuse or underuse more than the other?

  3. Important concepts and terminology:
    (how are they defined? are they provided in the glossary of the textbook? why are they important?)

    • TLC - Trinity Lancaster Corpus
    • LVS - light verb constructions
    • lexical teddy bears - preferred words by learners as they are considered safe and easy to use

  1. Central arguments and hypotheses:
    (what schools of thought do exist? what are the generally accepted ideas?)

    • some improvement in the use of LVCs should be visible as proficiency increases and as one moves from EFL to ESL

  1. Methodology / kinds of study:
    (argumentational, empirical, experimental, etc.?)

  1. Specific methods used:
    (what/who/how/when?)

  2. Reported results and presented evidence:
    (what do the findings say to date? what evidence are they based on?)

  3. Critical discussion: problematic issues/observations and limitations:
    (does the reading mention limitations? what limitations can you identify yourself?)

  1. Contextualisation of the readings in the field:
    (how does the reading fit into what we have discussed so far? where does it ‘sit’ in the field of language learning and acquisition?)

    Moot for now.

  2. Connections between readings:
    (what connections can you identify within and beyond the respective session’s topic? what do they tell?)

    Moot for now.

Study group questions

  1. What types of first-language features can we expect from learners of English with different first languages?

  2. What aspects of learners’ interlanguage are most likely to affect their ability to use language effectively outside the classroom? Word order? Grammatical morphemes? Vocabulary? Phonology? Pragmatics?

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