二语习得引论 读书笔记 chapter.docx

二语习得引论 读书笔记 chapter二 主要研究成果 Chapter 3. The linguistics of SLA . The nature of language systematiccharacteristics of languagessymbolicsocialword meaningLexicon (vocabulary)pronunciation; spelling grammatical category (part of speech)combination; idiomsphonemesPhonology (sound system)syllable structureintonation patterns; tonesrhythmic patterns (pauses and stops)levels of a languageMorphology (word structure)morphemesinflections that carry grammatical informationprefixes and suffixesword orderSyntax (grammar)agreement between sentence elementsways to form sentencesways to connet sentences and organize informations across sentencesDiscoursestructures for telling stories, etcscripts for interacting and events. Early approaches to SLA 1. Contrastive Analysis (CA) 1). as a beginning of the survey: w aspects of its procedures are still incorporated in more recent approaches. w It introduced the influence of L1 on L2 (Chomsky) 2). 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. (Based on idealized linguistic structures attributed to native speakers of L1 and L2) 3). influenced by Structuralism and Behaviorism. 4). Goal of CA was primarily pedagogical in nature: to increase efficiency in L2 teaching and testing. the surface forms of L1 and L2 systemsdescrib and compare the lafocus:nguages one level onceLA essentially invoves habit formationphonologymorphologysyntaxlexiondiscourseLlinguistic inputbottom-upstructuralist linguisticsCA assumptionsbehaviorist psychologystimulus-response-reinofrcement(S-R-R)respondhabituate.practice makes perfecttransfer(in SLA) the transfer of elements acquired in L1 to the target L25). Process: w Describing L1 and L2 at different level w Analyzing comparable segment of the language for elements that may cause problems for learners (interference) Types of interference Examples same form and meaning; las palomas blancas (Spanish) different distribution the white doves same meaning; kitties 小猫们 different form same meaning; water (n. v.) different form and distribution 水 different form; leg 腿，蹄，下肢 partial overlap in meaning similar form; asistir (Spanish “to attend”) different meaning assist (English “to help”) 6). Assessment: w Cannot explain the logical problem of language learning (how learners know more than theyve heard and been taught) w Not always validated by evidence from actual learner errors. w Stimulated the preparation of comparative grammar w Its analytic procedures have been usefully applied to descriptive studies and to translation 2. Error analysis (EA) 1). EA: the first approach to the study of SLA which includes an internal focus on learners creative ability to construct language. (based on the description and analysis of actual learner errors in L2) 2). CAEA w Predictions by CA not always correct; many real learner errors are not transferred from L1 w Focus on surface-level forms and patternsunderlying rules w Behaviorismmentalism (emphasis on the innate capacity) w Teaching concerns as motivation 3). Procedures for analyzing learner errors: w Collection of a sample of learner language w Identification of errors w Description of errors w Explanation of errors w Evaluation of errors 4). Shortcomings w Ambiguity in classification w Lack of positive data w Potential for avoidance 3. Interlanguage (IL) 1). IL refers to the intermediate states (interim grammars) of a learners language as it moves toward the target L2. 2). Characteristics: w Systematic w Dynamic w Variable w Reduced system, both in form and function 3). Differences between SLA and L1 acquisition by children w Language transfer from L1 to L2 w Transfer of training, or how the L2 is taught w Strategies of 2nd language learning w Overgeneralization of the target language linguistic materials 4). L1 as fossilization for L2 learners: w Fossilization: the probability that theyll cease their IL development in some respects before they reach target language norms, in spite of continuing L2 input and passage time. w Relates to: the age of learning; social identity; communicative need. 4. Morpheme order studies 1). Refers to： an important Q in the study of SLA, whether there is a natural order (or universal sequence) in the grammatical development of L2 learners. 2). Inflection: it adds one or more units of meaning to the base form of a word, to give it a more specific meaning. (plural nouns, past tense etc.) 3). The order of morpheme acquisition reported was similar in L1 and L2 It supports an Identity Hypothesis (L1=L2): that processes involved in L1 and L2 acquisition are the same. 4). The concept of natural order remains very important for understanding SLA. (both from linguistic and cognitive approaches) 5. Monitor model 1). One of the last of the early approaches which has an internal focus in the Monitor Model.(Stephen Krashen) 2). It explicitly and essentially adopts the notion of a language acquisition device (LAD) (Chomsky used for childrens innate knowledge of language) 3). Krashens approach: 5 hypotheses subconsciousacquisitionacquisition-learning hypothesisinnate language acquisition deviceconsciousexemplified by the L2 learninglearning5 hypothesismonitor hypothesisnatral order hypothesisinput hypothesisaffective filter hypothesiswhat is "learned" is available only as a monitoracquire the rules of language in a predictable ordercomprehensivible inputenoughunderstandableinput may not be processed if the affective filter is "up"6. Consensus: 1). What is being acquired in SLA is a “rule0governed” language systems 2). How SLA take place involves creative mental processes. 3). Why some learners are more (less) successful in SLA than others relates primarily to the age of the learner. . Universal Grammar (UG) 1. UG (Chomsky): what all languages have in common. 1). Two important concepts w linguistic competence (speaker-hearers underlying knowledge of language) needs to be accounted for LA w such knowledge of language > what could be learned from the input. (the logic problem of language learning/ the poverty-of-the stimulus argument) 2). The nature of speaker-hearers competence in native language can be explained only by innate knowledge that human genetically endowed with. 3). The innate knowledge is in the language faculty Language faculty: a component of the human mind, physically represented in the brain and part of the biological endowment of the species. 2. Principles and Parameters 1). With Chomskys reconceptualization of UG in the Principles and Parameters framework often called the Government and Binding (GB) model and the subsequent introduction of the Minimalist program, there came a new idea about the acquisition process. 2). UG has been conceptualized as a set of principles which are properties of all languages in the world. Some of these principles contain parameters 3). What is acquired in L1 acquisition (not UG itself): LA includes a process of selecting among the limited parametric options in UG that match the settings which are encountered in linguistic input. 4). How acquisition occurs for children: natural; instinctive; internal to the cognitive system 5). Why some learners are more successful: Irrelevant with L1 acquisition, for all native speakers attain essentially the same final state. (For SLA, attitudes; motivation and social context matters) 3. UG and SLA States UG SLA Initial state Make parametric choices L1 transfer that are appropriate for L1 (Guided by UG) Nature and development of interlanguage Final state Native language; Why more successful relevant same to L2: w w The degree of access to UG Relationships between L1&L2 differential transfer or interference L2 input quality Degree of perception Degree of specification for lexical features w w w . Functional approaches 1. Functional approach 1). Based on: the framework of Functionalism structural functionpragmatic functionsuch as which element is the object or subjectsuch as convey information or express emotionfunction2). Characteristics of functional approaches to SLA w Focus on the use of language in real situations (performance) and underlying knowledge (competence) w Assumption: purpose of language is communication; LA and SLA require communicative use w Concern about the sentence, discourse structure, how language is used in interaction; include aspects of communication beyond language 2. Systemic linguistics (M.A.K.Halliday) 1). Systemic linguistics is a model for analyzing language in terms of the interrelated systems of choices that are available for expressing meaning. “language acquisition needs to be seen as the mastery of linguistic functions” 2). What language learners acquire: meaning potential 3). Process of acquisition: w mastering certain basic functions of language w developing a meaning potential for each 4). pragmatic functions development in L1 acquisition: instrumental regulatory interactional personal heuristic imagination representational 5). linguistic structures: directly reflections of the functions that language serves; related to the social and personal needs 3. Functional Typology 1). Based on: the comparative study of a wide range of the worlds language 2). Goal: to describe patterns of similarities and differences among languages; to determine which types and patterns occur more/less frequently or are universal in distribution. 3). Application: why some L2 constructions are more/less difficult than others for L2 learners to acquire; for the selectivety of crosslinguistic influence or transfer 4). important concept: markedness (deals with whether any specific feature of language is marked or unmarked) 5). Markedness differential prediction for SLA Feature in L1 Feature in L2 Prediction Marked Unmarked (common) L2 feature will be easy to learn L1 feature will not transfer to L2 Unmarked Marked L1 feature will transfer to L2 In L1 acquisition, unmarked before marked In SLA, unmarked elements are easier to master than marked ones. 6). Compared with CA: w Functional typology goes beyond the surface-level structural (CA) to more abstract patterns, principles and constraints; w the Markedness Differential Hypothesis 7). implications: w some aspects of some languages are more difficult w why some types and patterns of features are more/less frequent in native and 2nd language (factors: perceptual salience, ease of cognitive processing, physical constraints, communicative needs) 4. Function-to-form mapping 1). Basic concept: L1 and L2 acquisition involves a process of grammaticalization. 2). Grammaticalization: a grammatical function is first conveyed by shared extralinguistic knowledge and inferencing based on the context of discourse, then by a lexical word, and only later by a grammatical marker. Driven by: communicative need and use. Related to : the development of more efficient cognitive process In all languages: to express functions (such as time)reliance on grammatical forms reliance on context and lexical words3). Pragmatic mode: a style of expressing meaning which relies more on context. Syntactic mode: a style which relies more on formal grammatical element topic-comment subject -predict structureno use of grammatical morphology elavorate use of grammatical morphologyloose conjunction tight subordinationslow rate of delivery fast rate of deliveryword order governed by pragmatic principle of old information then new information word order used to signal semantic case functionsroughly one-to-one ratio of verbs nouns in discourse to a larger ratio of nouns over verbs4). According to function-to-mapping approach, LA importantly involves developing linguistic forms to fulfill semantic or pragmatic functions. 5. Information organization 1). Focus on: utterance structure (the way learners put their words together.) 2). Includes: w describing the structures of interlanguage (learner varieties) w discovering what organizational principles guide learners production at various stages of development w analyzing how these principles interact with one another. 3). European Science Foundation (ESF) project w developmental levels: in this study, no matter what their L1 and L2, the learners go through a remarkably similar sequence of development in their interlanguage. w organizing principles: * there is a limited set of principles (phrasal constraints; semantic constraints; pragmatic constraints) which learners make use of for organizing information. * Individual variation: how the principles apply in their L1 and influence the interlanguage use. communicative needscross-linguistic influenceextrinsic factorslimits on processingwhy individual variation