Applied Linguistics and SLA Unit 1 PDF

UNIT 1 Applied Linguistics and SLA  Programme 1. Applied Linguistics and SLA 1.1. Definitions of Applied Linguistics 1.2. The scope of Applied Linguistics 1.3. SLA within Applied Linguistics 2. First, second, third and foreign language acquisition 2.1....

UNIT 1 Applied Linguistics and SLA  Programme 1. Applied Linguistics and SLA 1.1. Definitions of Applied Linguistics 1.2. The scope of Applied Linguistics 1.3. SLA within Applied Linguistics 2. First, second, third and foreign language acquisition 2.1. Mother tongue, native language and first language 2.2. Second and foreign language 2.3. Second and third language 3. Second Language Acquisition 3.1. Interdisciplinary of SLA 3.2. Reasons for diversity of SLA 3.2.1. Previous language learning 3.2.2. Simultaneous and consecutive acquisition 3.2.3. Age 3.2.4. Amount of exposure 3.2.5. Type of exposure 3.2.6. Goals  Programme 4. Main stages in the study of SLA 4.1. Early approaches 4.2. Behaviourism and contrastive analysis 4.3. The development of SLA in the 1970s 4.5. The development of SLA in the 1980s 5. The notion of language competence 5.1. Approaches to the study of linguistic competence 5.1.1. Competence and performance 5.1.2. Communicative competence 5.2. The components of communicative competence 5.2.1. Canale and Swain's model (1980) 5.2.2. Bachman's model (1990) 5.2.3. Celce-Murcia, Dörnyei and Thurrell's model (1995) 5.2.4. Grammatical/linguistic competence, sociolinguistic competence, discourse/textual competence, pragmatic competence and strategic competence  Applied Linguistics AL “ is that science which seeks insights from linguistics and other language-informative sciences, insights which produce principles on which to develop a methodology to solve specific language-related problems” (Ingram, in Kaplan, 1980, p. 54) AL is “the application of linguistic theories, descriptions and methods to the solutions of language problems which have arisen in a range of human, cultural, and social contexts” (Carter, 1995)  Applied Linguistics “It is a central feature of applied linguistics that it is task-related, problem-oriented, project-centered, and demand-led. It is also fundamentally based in academic disciplines” (Strevens, 1991, p. 14) AL “is a multidisciplinary approach to the solution of language- related problems.” (Strevens, 1991, p. 17)  Applied Linguistics “En un sentido general, el término ‘lingüística aplicada’ se emplea, en oposición a la lingüística teórica, para aludir a las aplicaciones prácticas que se han hecho de la lingüística teórica. … En su sentido más estricto, cuando se habla de ‘lingüística aplicada’ se entiende en su vertiente pedagógica, es decir, lingüística aplicada a la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras.” (Alcaraz & Martínez, 1997, p. 335)  Applied Linguistics Scientific Commissions of the International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA) 1. Adult language learning 13. Mother tongue education 2. Child language 14. Psycholinguistics 3. Contrastive linguistics and error analysis 15. Rhetoric and stylistics 4. Discourse analysis 16. Second language acquisition 5. Educational technology and language 17. Sociolinguistics learning 18. Literacy 6. FL teaching methodology and teacher 19. Language and ecology education 20. Communication in the professions 7. Interpreting and translating 21. Immersion education 8. Language and education in multilingual 22. Learner autonomy in language learning settings 23. Language and the media 9. Language and gender 10. Language for special purposes 11. Language planning 12.Lexicography and lexicology  Applied Linguistics Scientific Commissions of the American Association of Applied Linguisitcs (AAAL) 1. Assessment/evaluation 11. Language and technology 2. Critical linguistics 12. Language for specific purposes 3. Discourse analysis 13. Language policy/planning 4. First language acquisition 14. Literacy 5. Immersio/bilingual education 15. Psycholinguistics 6. Interlingual/cross-cultural pragmatics 16. Rhetoric and stylistics 7. Language and culture 17. Second/foreign language pedagogy 8. Language and gender 18. Second language acquisition 9. Language socialization 19. Sociolinguistics 10. Language and sociocultural therory 20. Translation and interpretation  Applied Linguistics Paneles temáticos de la Asociación española de Lingüística Aplicada (AESLA) 1. Adquisición y aprendizaje 2. Enseñanza de lenguas y diseño curricular 3. Lengua para fines específicos 4.Psicología del lenguaje, lenguaje infantil y psicolingüística 5. Sociolingüística 6. Pragmática 7. Análisis del discurso 8. Lingüística de Corpus, computacional e ingeniería lingüística 9. Lexicología y lexicografía 10. Traducción e interpretación  Second Language Acquisition SLA focuses on theories that explain the way non-native languages are acquired and empirical studies on different aspects of second language acquistion (grammar, vocabulary, motivation, age, interaction, etc)  Second Language Acquisition Language teaching is more practical and less research-oriented, focuses on the principles that guide language teaching and the more practical teaching strategies (teaching materials, activities, teacher and student roles, etc..)  Second Language Acquisition First Language - Native Language - Mother Tongue Second Language - Foreign Language Second Language - Third Language - Additional Language  Second Language Acquisition First Language - Native Language - Mother Tongue “ The language (in the case of monolingual acquisition) or languages (in the case of bilingual/multilingual acquisition) that a child learns from parents, siblings and caretakers during the critical years of development, from the womb up to about 4 years of age.” (Ortega, 2009) Mother Tongue/Native language may refer to the language of one’s ethnic group and First Language to English. Example: Singapore.  Second Language Acquisition Second Language “Any language learned after learning the L1 (or L1s)”. (Ortega, 2009) “In the case of very young children who are exposed to several languages, it may be impossible to determine whether the two or more languages in question are being learned simultaneously (bilingualism/multilingualism) or sequentially (as an L2)”. (Ortega, 2009)  Second Language Acquisition Second Language - Foreign Language “In the case of second language acquisition, the language plays an institutional and social role in the community (i.e. it functions as a recognized means of communication among members who speak some other language as their mother tongue). For example, English as a second language is learnt in the United States, the United Kingdom, and countries in Africa such as Nigeria and Zambia.” (Ellis, 1994, p. 11-12)  Second Language Acquisition Second Language - Foreign Language “In contrast, foreign language learning takes place in settings where the language plays no major role in the community and is primary learnt only in the classroom. Examples of foreign language learning are English learnt in France or Japan.” (Ellis, 1994, p. 12)  Second Language Acquisition Second Language - Foreign Language “The distinction between second and foreign language learning settings may be significant in that it is possible that there will be radical differences in both what is learnt and how it is learnt. However, (...) there is a need for a neutral and superordinate term to cover both types of learning. Somewhat confusingly, but in line with common usage, the term ‘second language acquisition’ will be used for this purpose.” (Ellis, 1994, p. 12)  Second Language Acquisition Second Language - Third (Additional) Language “Multilingualism is the norm in many African and Asian countries. Sometimes a distinction is made between ‘a second’ and ‘a third’ or even ‘fourth’ language. However, the term ‘second’ is generally used to refer to any language other than the first language. In one respect this is unfortunate, as the term ‘second’ when applied to some learning settings, such us those in South Africa involving black learners of English, may be perceived as opprobrious. In such settings, the term ‘additional language’ may be both more appropriate and more acceptable.” (Ellis, 1994, p. 11)  Second Language Acquisition Second Language - Third (Additional) Language “Second Language Acquisition (SLA) will normally stand as a cover term to refer to any language other than the first language learned by a given group of learners, (a) irrespective of the learning environment and (b) irrespective of the number of non-native languages known by the learner.” (Sharwood Smith, 1994)  Second Language Acquisition Interdisciplinarity of SLA Psycholinguistics Linguistics Psychology Anthropology SLA Neurolinguistics Sociolinguistics Education Social Pychology  Second Language Acquisition Interdisciplinarity of SLA Psycholinguistics Linguistics Psychology Anthropology SLA Neurolinguistics Sociolinguistics Education Social Pychology  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: learners’ linguistic background SLA process and product may depend on whether: the TL is typologically (dis)similar to the L1 the TL is learnt by mono-, bi-, or multilingual speakers  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: simultaneous vs. consecutive SLA processes and products may depend on the order of acquisition of the L1 and L2: Consecutive acquisition: acquisition of a second language after the first language has been acquired: L1L2 (Cenoz, 2000) Simultaneous acquisition: Acquisition of a second language while the first is being acquired (‘early second language acquisition’): Lx + Ly (Cenoz, 2000)  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: age Age is one of the few truly popular issues in discussions of language acquisition as evidenced by observations of the type: ‘I could never learn German at my age’ ‘Beginning French at secondary school is no good; kids need to get started when they’re young and fresh’. (Singleton & Ryan, 2004,p. 1)  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: age Studies in the literature on the age factor have explored the issue of ‘success’ in terms of: Rate of achievement →after short periods of time. Ultimate attainment → over the long term; in the long run. The Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) has been used when explaining child-adult differences in L2 acquisition. Note that at present there are scholars who simply ignore the CPH (see Singleton & Pfenninger, 2022).  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: age Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) Strong version: after a certain age a child loses the ability to acquire a language in a native way (Lenneberg, 1967) Weak version: there is a diminishing capacity (as opposed to Lenneberg’s capacity loss) = Sensitive Period (Oyama,1976)  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: age Critical Period Hypothesis There is no agreement as far as the age limit for the period: Puberty: brain lateralization (Lenneberg, 1967; Scovel, 1988) Age 6: complete acquisition of L1 phonetic categories (Flege et al., 1995)  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: age Interpretation 1 of the CPH: after a certain maturational point, the L2 learner is no longer capable of attaining native-like levels of proficiency (Singleton, 2003) – those who being to be exposed to an L2 after age 12 cannot ever ‘pass themselves off as native speakers phonologically’ (Scovel, 1988: 185)  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: age Interpretation 1 of the CPH: after a certain maturational point, the L2 learner is no longer capable of attaining native-like levels of proficiency (Singleton 2003) – the sine qua non for the acquisition of morphology and syntax to native level is exposure to the L2 before age 15 (Long, 1990)  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: age Interpretation 2 of the CPH: after a certain maturational point successful L2 learning requires markedly more effort than before this point (Singleton 2003) – after puberty ‘automatic acquisition from mere exposure to a given language seems to disappear, and foreign languages have to be taught and learned through a conscious and labored effort’ (Lenneberg, 1967, p. 176)  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: age Interpretation 2 of the CPH: after a certain maturational point successful L2 learning requires markedly more effort than before this point (Singleton 2003) – ‘younger learners acquire second languages automatically from mere exposure, while older learners have to make conscious and laboured efforts’ (Hyltemstam & Abrahamsson, 2000, p. 152)  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: age Interpretation 3 of the CPH: after a certain maturational point L2 learning is no longer underlaid by the same mechanisms that compose child language acquisition (Singleton, 2003) – some adherents of Universal Grammar claim that post- pubertal L2 learners have no access to UG principles and parameters.  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: age Interpretation 3 of the CPH: after a certain maturational point L2 learning is no longer underlaid by the same mechanisms that compose child language acquisition (Singleton 2003) – ‘The proponents of no access (to UG in post-pubertal L2 acquisition) have therefore sought to find explanations for how it is possible to learn an L2 without UG; the typical solution is seen as general problem solving combined with the knowledge of the L1’ (Cock & Newson, 1996, p. 295)  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: age In the framework of SLA this famous hypothesis has been probably exceedingly used as the explanatory factor when explaining child-adult differences in L2 acquisition (Birdsong,1999)  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: age A great deal of investigations seem to indicate that age of first exposure to the target language can account for the differences found in the level of TL competence and in nativelikeness achievement (Flege et al., 1995; Johnson & Newport, 1989; Olson & Samuels, 1982; Oyama,1976; Patkowski, 1980; Snow & Hoefnägel- Höhle, 1982)  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: age ‘the claim that younger L2 beginners have an advantage over older beginners is constantly invoked and disputed when decisions are being taken about the optimal starting point for L2 school instruction in schools’ (Singleton, 2003: 3)  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: age ‘one reason why early L2 instruction has remained such a live issue arises from the notion of a ‘critical period’ for language development (...). This idea, which is widespread in the community at large, undoubtedly underlies the pressure to introduce early L2 instruction which has been exerted on politicians –in Europe at least- by that portion of the population with children.’ (Singleton & Ryan, 2004, p. 3-4)  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: amount of exposure In general terms, there is a direct relationship between proficiency and amount of exposure: the more exposed to the L2, the more efficient the learner is. However, each language aspect may follow a different rate of acquisition. The incorporation of new L2 features may affect some previously acquired L2 aspects and a drawing-back or attrition process may appear.  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: type of exposure The distinction between formal and natural acquisition has a tremendous impact on language learning. Learning the L2 in a purely naturalistic environment is not the same as learning the L2 in a strictly formal context.  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: type of exposure Naturalistic SLA: the language is learnt through communication that takes place in naturally ocurring social situations. Instructed SLA: the language is learnt through study, with the help of ‘guidance’ from reference books or classroom instruction.  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: type of exposure Pyscholinguistic distinction (Klein,1985): – Spontaneous acquisition: the learner focuses on communication in naturalistic second language acquisition and thus learns incidentally – Guided acquisition: in instructed second language acquisition the learner typically focuses on some aspect of the language system.  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: type of exposure Ellis (1994): - Sociolinguistic view: setting and activities in which the learner participates.  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: type of exposure the formal-natural distinction is not a dichotomy but rather a continuum natural formal It is important to know where the learner’s place is along the natural-formal continuum.  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: type of exposure Natural Formal + natural exposure natural formal Formal but natural methodology (immersion, CLIL) Formal  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: type of exposure García Lecumberri & Gallardo del Puerto (2003): – ‘exposure’: all the very diverse types of contact that learners have with the TL, including passive listening to real speech, listening to the media, real interactions, classroom instruction, reading, etc. – Importance of aural exposure for pronunciation.  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: type of exposure García Lecumberri & Gallardo del Puerto (2003): – Oral exposure classified along the scales of quantity and quality. Minimal aural exposure: Total immersion in the TL old-fashioned FL teaching natural with 100% of learners’ methods based solely QUANTITY information and interaction on grammar and being carried out in the TL translation  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: type of exposure García Lecumberri & Gallardo del Puerto (2003): – Oral exposure classified along the scales of quantity and quality. single source very diverse, non-native natural and heavily NL marked QUALITY native speech pronunciations of the TL  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: type of exposure Type of exposure is a factor which has been found to interact crucially with amount of exposure and with age. When studying the effect of age it is important to distinguish between second and foreign language situations.  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: type of exposure Why are second and foreign language situations so different? What sort of results do we find in both settings?  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: type of exposure Natural settings “The studies of naturalistic second language learning (...) which appear to indicate that the initial language learning superiority displayed by older learners gradually diminishes suggest that it takes about a year for this ‘headstart’ to be eroded” (Singleton, 1989)  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: type of exposure Natural settings Initial advantage of older learners Final attainment: Look at data in activity 2. Formal settings Impossibility of achieving native-like proficiency in school settings. Older learners are always more successful.  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: type of exposure 1 NATURAL YEAR 1 FORMAL YEAR 10 hours of input a day x 365 days 5 hours of input a week x 40 weeks 3.650 hours 200 hours 1 NATURAL YEAR = 18 FORMAL YEARS  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: type of exposure “if the amount-of-exposure variable is held constant, the concepts of ‘initial advantage’ and ‘eventual attainment’ in a formal instructional setting need to be associated with much longer real-time periods than in a largely informal exposure situation” (Singleton, 1995)  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: type of exposure Implications for research: Natural settings: rate of achievement and ultimate attainment. Formal settings: rate of achievement and school attainment.  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: type of exposure Please, note….. Age cannot be isolated from other factors (Singleton & Pfennninger, 2022): - Identity, degree of cultural openness, parental support, school environment, ….  Second Language Acquisition Diversity of SLA: learners’ goals “learners acquire language for a variety of reasons: to fully participate in a society, to travel as a tourist, to pass an examination, to obtain employment, to read scientific texts, etc. It won’t do to say glibly that linguistic or communicative competence is what everyone aspires to.” (Larsen-Freeman & Long, 1991)  The notion of Language Competence Communicative competence vs. performance Competence consists of the mental representations of linguistic rules that constitute the speaker-hearer’s internal grammar (Chomsky, 1965). This grammar is implicit rather than explicit and is evident in the intuitions which the speaker-hearer has about the grammaticality of sentences. Performance consists of the use of this grammar in the comprehension and production of language.  The notion of Language Competence Communicative competence vs. performance “Linguistic theory is primarily concerned with an ideal speaker- listener, in a completely homogeneous speech community who knows its language perfectly and is unaffected by such grammatically irrelevant conditions as memory limitations, distractions, shifts of attention and interest and errors (random or characteristic) in applying his knowledge of the language in actual performance” (Chomsky, 1965, p. 3)  The notion of Language Competence Communicative competence vs. performance Problem: Chomsky’s linguistic theory is limited to grammar and grammar rules are not enough to explain lexicalized sentence stems (lexical chunks): – A. All’s well that ends well – B. All that has ended well is well – A. Black and white – B. White and black Problem: does that ideal native speaker exist?  The notion of Language Competence Communicative competence vs. performance “There are rules of use without which the rules of grammar would be useless. Just as rules of syntax can control aspects of phonology, and just as rules of semantics perhaps control aspects of syntax, so rules of speech acts enter as controlling factors for linguistic form as a whole.” (Hymes, 1972, p. 278)  The notion of Language Competence Communicative competence vs. performance “The ability to use one’s language correctly in a variety of socially determined situations is as much as central a part of linguistic ‘competence’ as the ability to produce grammatically well-formed sentences.” (Lyons, 1970, p. 287)  The notion of Language Competence Communicative competence vs. performance Communicative competence includes knowledge the speaker- hearer has of what constitutes appropriate (pragmatic knowledge) as well as correct (linguistic knowledge) language behaviour and also of what constitutes effective language behaviour in relation to particular communicative goals. Communicative performance consists of the actual use of these two types of knowledge in understanding and producing discourse.  The notion of Language Competence The components of communicative competence Canale & Swain (1980) Grammar Sociolingusitic Strategic competence competence competence  The notion of Language Competence The components of communicative competence Canale (1983) Grammar competence Strategic competence Discourse competence Sociolingusitic competence  The notion of Language Competence The components of communicative competence Bachman (1990) Organizational Pragmatic competence competence Grammatical Textual Illocutionary Sociolingusitic competence competence competence Competence  The notion of Language Competence The components of communicative competence Celce-Murcia, Dörnyei & Thurrell (1983) Lingusitic competence Actional Strategic competence competence Sociolingusitic Discourse competence competence  The notion of Language Competence The components of communicative competence STRATEGIES COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES LEARNING STRATEGIES thoughts and behaviours thoughts and behaviours used to compensate used by learners the problems learners face to process and store when using the L2 information (paraphrasing, gestures)  The notion of Language Competence The components of communicative competence LEARNING STRATEGIES DIRECT INDIRECT MEMORY COGNITIVE METACOGNITIVE SOCIAL AFFECTIVE  The notion of Language Competence The components of communicative competence COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES Conceptual Linguistic Appeals Mime Avoidance Morhpological Transfer creativity Literal Borrowings Foreignizings translations  Basic references Cenoz, J. (2004). An introduction to applied linguistics: English as a second language. Leioa: Universidad del País Vasco. (Chapter 1). Ellis, R. (1994). The study of second language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Chapter 1). Ellis, R. (2008). The study of second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Chapter 1). Gass, S., & Selinker, L. (2008). Second language acquisition: An introductory course. Hillsday: Lawrence EarlbauM. (Chapter 1). Hummel, K. M. (2014). Introducing second language acquisition: Perspectives and practices. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell. (Chapter 7). Larsen-Freeman, D., & Long, M. (1991). An introduction to second language acquisition research. London: Longman. (Chapter 1, 6 and 7). Lightbown, P., & Spada, N. (2013). How languages are learned. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Chapter 2). Luque Aguilló, G. (2004-2005). El dominio de la lingüística aplicada. Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada, 17-18: 157-173. Mitchell, R., Myles, F., & Marsden, E. (2013). Second language learning theories. London: Routledge. (Chapter 1 & 2).  Basic references Myles, F. Second language acquisition (SLA) research: its significance for learning and teaching issues. Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies Good Practice Guide. Retrieved 5 February 2014, from https://www.llas.ac.uk/resources/gpg/421 Ortega, L. (2009). Understanding second language acquisition. London: Hodder Education. (Chapter 1 & 2). Saville-Troike, M. (2012). Introducing second language acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Chapters 1 & 2).