二语习得Learners and Teachers.ppt

IV.Learners and Teachers,Describing LearnerAge(critical period;young children,adolescents,puberty,adult)Learner differences(aptitude;good learner characteristics;MI)Motivation(integrative,assimilative,instrumental,resultative)Describing TeacherWhat is a teacher?(different definitions)The role of a teacher(controller,organizer,assessor,prompter,participant,tutor,resource,observer)The teacher as performerD.The teacher as teaching aid,Learners and Teachers,Describing LearnersA.AgeCritical Period Hypothesis 临界期假说The theory that in child development there is a period during which language can be acquired more easily than at any other time.According to the biologist Lenneberg,the critical period lasts until puberty(around age 12 0r 13 years),and is due to biological development.Lenneberg suggested that language learning may be more difficult after puberty because the brain lacks the ability for adaptation.108,Learners and Teachers,This he believed,was because the language functions of brain have already been established in a particular part of the brain,that is,because Lateralization(偏侧优势)has already occurred by this time.,Learners and Teachers,The development of control over different functions in different parts of the brain is known as Lateralization(偏侧优势).One area in the left hemisphere is known as Brocas area(布罗卡区),or the speech centre,because it is an important area involved in speech.Damage to this area of the brain leads to different types of aphasia.(失语症)109,Learners and Teachers,According to the critical period hypothesis,there is a fixed span of years during which language learning can take place naturally and effortlessly,and after which it is not possible to be completely successful.It is argued that the optimum period for language acquisition falls within the first ten years of life,when the brain retains its plasticity.(wolf children)110,Learners and Teachers,关键期假设关键期假设理论是语言学理论，英文为Critical Period Hypothesis。关键期是指一个有机体生命中的一段时间，在这段时间里，某些外部条件对有机体的影响可以超过在其他时间所能达到的程度。语言获得的关键期的研究由来已久。认同愈早开始学习外语，成效愈好的人，在学理上常引用语言学习关键期假说（The Critical Period Hypothesis）来论证此项观点。1959年，神经生理学家Penfield和Roberts从大脑可塑性的角度，提出十岁以前，是学习语言的最佳年龄。,Learners and Teachers,哈佛大学心理学教授David Lenneberg（1967）则从医学临床经验，以神经生理学的观点有系统地解释语言学习关键期，他认为人的大脑从二岁开始边化（lateralization），在边化完成前，人是用全脑来学习语言，约在12-13岁左右，大脑会完成边化，从此，语言学习主要由左边大脑负责。人脑边化后的语言学习不如全脑学习时期来得好。因此，语言学习最好在大脑完成边化之前，这也就是所谓的“语言学习关键期”。110+,Learners and Teachers,Young Children:xxChildren up to the age of six:acquisition is guaranteed,and is steadily compromised from then until shortly after puberty(around 12 or 13 years)Adolescents:(13-16)xxThey are unmotivated,surly,and uncooperative and that therefore they make poor language learners，less lively and humorous than adults.111xx,Learners and Teachers,humanistic teaching:To develop human valueTo know oneself and othersTo be sensitive to human feelings and emotions4.To activate student involvement in learning,Learners and Teachers,人本主义的教育思想就建立在人本主义心理学之上，以培养完整的人为目标，强调以人为中心，重视发展个体的潜能和实现自身价值。罗杰斯认为，教学的目的是促使学生的个性发展。它主要表现在适应变化和知道为何学习，而实现教学的关键就是以学生为中心而不是“以方法为中心，以教师为主导”。,Learners and Teachers,Adult learnersCharacters;1.They can engage with abstract thought.2.They often depend on the conscious exercise of their considerable intellects,unlike children to whom language acquisition naturally happens.3.They have a whole range of life experiences to draw on.4.They have expectations about the learning process,and many may already have their own set patterns of learning.112,Learners and Teachers,5.Adults tend,on the whole,to struggle on despite boredom.6.They come into classrooms with a rich range of experiences which allow teachers to use a wide range of activities with them.,Learners and Teachers,7.Unlike young children and teenagers,they often have a clear understanding of why they are learning and what they want to get out of it.Motivation is a critical factor in successful learning,and knowing what you want to achieve is an important part of this.Many adults are able to sustain a level of motivation by holding on to a distant goal in a way that teenagers find more difficult.113-,Learners and Teachers,But adults are never entirely problem-free learners,and have a number of characteristic which can sometimes make learning and teaching problematic.1.They can be critical of teaching methods.They can even be hostile to certain teaching and learning activities that replicate the teaching they received earlier in their educational careers.2.They may have experience failure or criticism at school which makes them anxious and under-confident about learning a language.113,Learners and Teachers,3.Many older adults worry that their intellectual powers may be diminishing with age.4.They are concerned to keep their creative powers alive,to maintain a sense of generativity.However,as Alan Rogers points out,this generativity is directly related to how much learning has been going on in adult life before they come to a new learning experience.114,Learners and Teachers,Some general conclusions of age:1.Adult learners have an initial advantage where rate of learning is concerned,particularly in grammar.They will eventually be overtaken by child learners who receive enough exposure to the L2.This is less to happen in instructional likely than in naturalistic settings because the critical amount of exposure is usually not available in the former.,Learners and Teachers,2.Only child learners are capable of acquiring a native accent in informal learning contexts.Long puts the critical age at 6 years.115,Learners and Teachers,3.Children may be more likely to acquire a native grammatical competence.The critical period for grammar may be later than for pronunciation(around 15 years).Some adult learners,however,may succeed in acquiring native levels of grammatical accuracy in speech and writing and even full linguistic competence.116,Learners and Teachers,4.Irrespective of whether native-speaker proficiency is achieved,children are more likely to reach higher levels of attainment in both pronunciation and grammar than adults.5.The process of acquiring a L2 grammar is not substantially affected by age,but that of acquiring pronunciation may be.117,Learners and Teachers,Explanations of the role of age in L2 acquisition1.Sensory acuity:The language learning capacity of adults is impaired by deterioration in their ability to perceive and segment sounds in L2.,Learners and Teachers,2.Neurological:There are changes in the neurological structure of the brain at certain ages which affects learners abilities to acquire L2 pronunciation and grammar.Various accounts of the nature of these changes have been proposed to account for the loss of plasticity that occurs with age.118,Learners and Teachers,3.Affective-motivational factors:Child learners are more strongly motivated to communicate with native speakers and to integrate culturally.Also,child learners are less conscious and therefore suffer less from anxiety about communicating in L2.,Learners and Teachers,4.Cognitive factors:Adult learners rely on general,inductive learning abilities to learn L2,while children use their language acquisition device.5.Input:The language input received by children is superior to that received by adults.However,adults may experience more negotiation of meaning.119,Learners and Teachers,6.Storage of L2 information:Children store L1 and L2 information separately(i.e.become coordinate bilinguals);adults store L1 and L2 knowledge together(i.e.become compound bilinguals).e.g.12 0,Learners and Teachers,B.Learner differences Language AptitudeThe natural ability to learn a language,not including intelligence,motivation,interest,etc.Language aptitude is thought to be a combination of various abilities,such as the ability to identify sound patterns in a new language,the ability to recognize the different grammatical functions of words in sentences,rote-learning ability,and the ability to infer language rules(inferencing,deductive learning).A person with high language aptitude can learn more quickly and easily than a person with low language aptitude,all other factors being equal.,Learners and Teachers,Language aptitudeThe general claim that language aptitude constitutes a relevant factor in L2 acquisition entails a number of more specific claims.The first is that aptitude is separate from achievement.Second,aptitude must be shown to be separate from motivation.121,Learners and Teachers,Third,aptitude must be seen as a stable factor,perhaps even innate.Learners aptitude is difficult to alter through training.Fourth,aptitude is to be viewed not as a prerequisite for L2 acquisition(as all learners,irrespective of their aptitude,may achieve a reasonable level of proficiency),but as a capacity that enhances the rate and ease of learning.Aptitude tests,therefore,provide a prediction of rate of learning.122,Learners and Teachers,Finally,aptitude must be found to be distinct from general intelligence.Aptitude Tests:语言能力倾向测试MLAT the Modern Language Aptitude TestPLAB the Pimsleur Language Aptitude Battery 123,Learners and Teachers,Example of test(inductive ability)shi gader le=the horse sees fatherShi gader la=the horse saw father be=carriesQuestion:How do you say“The horse carried father”?shi gader beshi gader bagade shir be4.gade shir ba,Learners and Teachers,Four factors in language aptitude(Carroll)1.Phonemic coding ability(the ability to code foreign sounds in a way that they can be remembered later).This ability is seen as related to the ability to spell and to handle sound-symbol relationships.2.Grammatical sensitivity(the ability to recognize the grammatical functions of words in sentences).124,Learners and Teachers,3.Inductive language learning ability(the ability to identify patterns of correspondence and relationships involving form and meaning).4.Rote learning ability(the ability to form and remember associations between stimuli).This ability is hypothesized to be involved in vocabulary learning.125,Learners and Teachers,Good learner characteristics1.Tolerance of ambiguity(positive task orientation,ego involvement,high aspirations,goal orientation,perseverance)2.Finding their own way(creative,making intelligent guesses,making their own opportunities for practice,making errors work for them not against them,and using contextual clues)126,Learners and Teachers,3.Self-reliant not self-conscious(promote learner autonomy,speaking communicatively,creative writing,outgoing,openminded)127-,Learners and Teachers,Five major aspects of successful language learning:(Ellis)1.a concern for language form(attend to properties of the target language)2.a concern for communication(attend to meaning)3.an active task approach(active involvement)4.an awareness of the learning process 5.a capacity to use strategies flexibly in accordance with task requirements,Learners and Teachers,Individual variationsIf some people are better at some thins than others better at analyzing,for example this would indicate that there are differences in the ways individual brains work.It also suggests that people respond differently to the same stimuli.How might such variation determine the ways in which individual students learn most readily?How might they affect the ways in which we teach?,Learners and Teachers,There are two theories in particular which have tried to account for such perceived individual variation,and which teachers have attempted to use to for the benefit of their learners:,Learners and Teachers,1.Neuro-linguistic programming:according to practitioners of Neuro-linguistic programming,we use a number of primary representational systems to experience the world.These systems are described in the acronym VAKOG VisualAuditoryKinaestheticOlfactoryGustatory 126xx,Learners and Teachers,Neuro-linguistics The study of the function the Brain performs in language learning and language use.Neurolinguistics includes research into how the structure of the brain influences language learning,how and in which parts of the brain language is stored,and how damage to the brain affects the ability to use language.,Learners and Teachers,MI theory(P47)Multiple Intelligences1,2,3,4,5,6,7 8.Naturalistic intelligence accounts for the ability to recognize and classify patterns in nature.9.Emotional intelligence includes self-awareness,self-regulation,motivation,empathy and social skills.128-,Learners and Teachers,C.Motivations(definition)P51xxIntegrative motivationAn integrative motivation involves an interest in learning a L2 because of a sincere and personal interest in the people and culture represented by other language group.There are also evidences of a number of different orientations(friendship,travel,knowledge,and instrumental)with different groups of learners revealing different dominant orientations,depending on their learning situation.These various orientations are all part of a general integrative orientation.127,Learners and Teachers,Assimilative motivationAssimilative motivation is the drive to become an indistinguishable member of a speech community,and it usually requires prolonged contact with the second language culture.Assimilative motivation is characteristic of persons who,perhaps at a very young age,learn a second language and second culture in order to identify almost exclusively with that second culture.128,Learners and Teachers,Instrumental motivation Wanting to learn a language because it will be useful for certain“instrumental”goals,such as getting a job,passing exams,going abroad,reading a foreign newspaper,getting promotionResultative motivation Resultative motivation hypothesis claims that learners who do well are more likely to develop motivational intensity.129,Learners and Teachers,It is likely that the relationship between motivation and achievement is an interactive one.A high level of motivation does stimulate learning,but perceived success in achieving L2 goals can help to maintain existing motivation and even create new types.There will be both beneficent and vicious circles:high motivation-high achievement-high motivation;low motivation-low achievement-low motivation 130,Learners and Teachers,Extrinsic motivation is caused by any number of outside factors,for example,the need to pass an exam,the hope of financial reward,or the possibility of future travel.(please parents,plan to study abroad)furthering a career,reading technical material and translation.131,Learners and Teachers,Intrinsic motivation comes from within the individual.Thus a person might be motivated by the enjoyment of the learning process itself or by a desire to make themselves feel better.Wish to integrated themselves within the culture of the second language group,to identify themselves with and become a part of that society.132,Learners and Teachers,Intrinsic ExtrinsicIntegrative L2 learner wishes to integrate Someone else wishes the L2 with the L2 culture(e.g.,for leaner to know the L2 for immigration or marriage)integrative reasons(e.g.,Japanese parents send kids to Englis