research centre for foreign language education (reflect) theories in sla/l2 learning language...
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Research Centre for Foreign Language Education (ReFLEct)
Theories in SLA/L2 Learning
Language Didactics
Seppo TellaSeppo Tella, 1
Seppo Tella, 2
Theories in SL Acquisition (1) a continuum (1) nativist (2) interactionist (3) environmentalist (4) ecological theories at least 40 proposed so far
NB. SLA or SL/L2 Learning
Seppo Tella, 3
4) Ecological Theories (1/16) an ecological approach to cognition,
learning and language (van Lier 2000; Vygotsky, Bakhtin; Peirce, Dewey)
challenges the 3 premises underlying scientific thinking that has dominated Western civilisation since Galileo and Descartes
Seppo Tella, 4
4) Ecological Theories (2) The 3 scientific premises:1) in order to conduct coherent
investigations it is necessary to simplify and select from the infinite variety of the real world
Seppo Tella, 5
4) Ecological Theories (3) The 3 scientific premises: 2) in accordance with Occam’s razor,
the simplest explanations that minimally account for the data are to be preferred
William of Occam (1284-1347), an English philosopher and theologian: “Entities must not be multiplied beyond what is necessary.”
Seppo Tella, 6
4) Ecological Theories (4) The 3 scientific premises:3) problems must be broken down
into their component elements and these must be analysed one by one
“There’s physics, and there is stamp collecting.” (Rutherford)
Seppo Tella, 7
4) Ecological Theories (5)shifts the emphasis from
scientific reductionism to the notion of emergence
at every level of development properties emerge that cannot be reduced to those of prior levels
Seppo Tella, 8
4) Ecological Theories (6)Not all of cognition and learning
can be explained in terms of processes that go on inside the head (vs. learning takes place in the brain, by means of computational mechanisms that process information received by the senses)
Seppo Tella, 10
4) Ecological Theories (8) Learning = the development of
increasingly effective ways of dealing with the world and its meanings
To look for learning is to look at the active learner in her environment (not at the contents of her brain)
Seppo Tella, 15
4) Ecological Theories (13) it also relates verbal utterances to
other aspects of meaning making, such as gestures, drawings, artefacts
the totality of meaning-making is not merely linguistic; it is semiotic
in terms of learning, language emerges out of semiotic activity
Seppo Tella, 16
4) Ecological Theories (14)The environment provides a
‘semiotic budget’, ie the opportunities for meaningful action that the situation affords
[≠ the amount of input available]—> affordance
Seppo Tella, 17
4) Ecological Theories (15) affordance = a reciprocal relationship
between an organism and a particular feature of its environment (Gibson 1979)
knowledge of language for a human is like knowledge of the jungle for an animal
Seppo Tella, 18
Raudaskoski (2003) affordanssista:
”Tarjoumilla kuvataan artefaktien käytössä
aktualisoituvia ominaisuuksia
eli merkityksellisiä toimintamahdollisuuksia”
Seppo Tella, 19
4) Ecological Theories (16) Provide a rich ‘semiotic budget’, ie
structure the learner’s activities and participation so that access is available and engagement encouraged
then ecological LL in line with situated learning (Lave & Wenger 1991), apprenticeship, participatory appropriation
(Rogoff 1995)
Seppo Tella, 20
Conclusion—SLA Theories over 40 different theories, difficult to
compare and evaluate as they often differ greatly in (1) scope, or the range of SLA
phenomena they treat; (2) the type of data to which they are
held accountable, and (3) the degree of abstraction
of the statements they contain
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