Language Acquisition Theories Quiz

Study Notes

Schumann's research analyzed syntactic aspects of six learners, including children, adolescents, and adults, over ten months
The findings indicate that the learner who acquired the least English was the one most detached socially and psychologically from the target language group
Acculturation, according to Schumann, is the social and psychological integration of the learner with the target language group
The model emphasizes that learner success in a second language correlates with minimizing social and psychological distances between them and target language speakers

Chomsky's work challenges the environmental perspective of language acquisition
Initially, it focused on acquiring grammatical morphemes or specific language structures
Later, the input hypothesis emphasized the data fueling acquisition
Most recently, the comprehension hypothesis focuses on the mental processes underlying language acquisition

Associated with Krashen's theory
Emphasizes subconscious language acquisition over conscious learning
Providing comprehensible input to language learners leads to the emergence of grammatical structures in a predictable order
A strong affective filter, such as high anxiety, can hinder input from reaching language processing areas in the brain

Larsen-Freeman advocates for understanding language and SLA as complex, dynamic phenomena
She observes striking similarities between chaos/complexity theory and language acquisition
Thornbury highlights the dynamic, adaptive, self-organizing, and emergent nature of language and language learning
He emphasizes that learners' grammar restructures itself in response to new input
Both authors agree that SLA is a complex, non-linear dynamic system, exhibiting periods of little change interspersed with periods of significant flux and variability
Educational contexts that prioritize control and equilibrium may stifle dynamism and learning
The system's auto-organization allows for student autonomy to overcome learning constraints