Session 2 The Linguistics of Second Language Acquisition1. The nature of language Languages are systematic, symbolic, and social. A language is traditionally divided into different levels (lexicon, phonology, morphology, syntax, discourse) for description and analysis, but all levels must interact and function simultaneously in language use. (Does learning of grammar guarantee language use?) 2. Behaviorist view of language learning learning by making a stimulus-response connection through habit-formation (imitation, repetition, reinforcement, conditioning) Contrastive Analysis (CA): “an approach to the study of SLA which involves predicting and explaining learner problems based on a comparison of L1 and L2 to determine similarities and differences.” (p.34) Lados view on L2 learning and contrastive analysis hypothesis (CAH) (Lados Linguistics Across Cultures,1957) CAH assumptions (Gass & Selinker 2001:72-3)1) Contrastive analysis is based on a theory of language that claims that language is habit and that language learning involves the establishment of a new set of habits.2) The major source of errors in the production and/or reception of a second language is the native language.3) One can account for errors by considering differences between the L1 and the L2.4) A corollary to item 3 is that the greater the differences, the more errors will occur.5) What one has to do in learning a second language is learn the differences. Similarities can be safely ignored as no new learning is involved. In other words, what is dissimilar between two languages is what must be learned.6) Difficulty and ease in learning are determined respectively by differences and similarities between the two languages in contrast. The psychological basis of CAH is transfer (positive vs. negative; facilitation vs. interference), product-oriented not process-oriented (cf. crosslinguistic influence) CA: a way to determine potential errors, pedagogy-oriented ( pattern drills)comparison between L1 and L2 difference difficulty error strong version: making predictions weak version: analyzing errors made by learners on the basis of NL-TL differences(part of error analysis) criticisms of the strong versionprediction failure (Not all actually occurring errors were predicted; not all predicted errors occurred)language learned through habit-formation and imitation (cf. creative construction)confusion of linguistic descriptions with learning difficultythe sole role of L1 in L2 learningcomparison one (linguistic )level at a timeinadequate for the study of SLA in part because the behaviorist learning theory to which it is tied cannot explain the logical problem of language learning. Hierarchy of difficulty (Stockwell et al. 1965)differentiation (e.g. ta vs. he and she)new categoryabsent categorycoalescingcorrespondence3. Error analysis (EA) A reaction against CA (NL-TL comparison) with an emphasis on the learner (an internal focus on the learner, analysis of actual learner errors rather than potential errors) Corder (1967) “The significance of learners errors”: errors are windows into the language learners mind.A shift in attitudes to errors: L2 learning was considered akin to that of the child who is “an active and creative participant in the language learning process, and structures of child language production began to be described and analyzed as grammatical systems in their own right rather than in terms of how they are deficient in comparison to adult norms.” Errors as evidence of IL (rule-governed system), as “a way the learner has of testing his hypothesis about the nature of the language he is learning”, not as a product of imperfect learning, not as something of pedagogical interest only; errors with reference to some external norm (i.e. TL), not with regard to the learners systemEA signifies emergence of SLA as an independent discipline due to its implications for cognitive science and linguistics EA stepscollecting errorsidentifying errorsclassifying errorsquantifying errorsanalyzing sourceremediation inter- vs. intra-lingual errors, the former resulting from negative transfer or interference from the L1, the latter also known as developmental errors due to incomplete learning of L2 rules or overgeneralization of them. (Can you give some examples?) Criticisms of EAtotal reliance of errors in the absence of other information (e.g. avoidance)difficulty in determining what an error is an error ofinadequacy in determining the causes of errors (falsifying the assumption that correct usage is equivalent to correct rule formation)multiple resources(A classic example from Corder (cited by Gass and Selinker 2001:89) is the German speaker who says You must not take off your hat when the intent is You dont have to take off your hat. In what sense is this an error? In what sense is it not?)One more example (see the appendix)4Morpheme Order StudiesDrawing on R. Browns (1973) baseline informati