Chapter 4Key Concepts

Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis

Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis

Krashen’s Monitor Model proposed that only “acquisition” or subconsciously acquired knowledge leads to productive output; “learning,” the learner’s conscious knowledge of the rules of a language, only serves as a monitor.

Affective Filter Hypothesis

Affective Filter Hypothesis

A hypothesis of the Monitor Model suggesting an affective filter can block access to language acquisition under certain conditions, such as when the learner is stressed or anxious.

automatic processing

automatic processing

In an information-processing view, this occurs when a skill becomes practiced and can be carried out relatively rapidly and without conscious effort or short-term memory limitations.

cognitive linguistics

cognitive linguistics (CL)

An approach viewing meaning as central to language; language is seen as inextricably linked to cognition.

complex adaptive system (CAS)

complex adaptive system (CAS)

The view that language is acquired and develops through the combined influences of social interaction and cognitive processes.

Comprehensible Input Hypothesis

Comprehensible Input Hypothesis

Monitor Model hypothesis stating that the most effective way to increase L2 competence is by exposure to “comprehensible input” (one level beyond the learner’s current level).

Comprehensible Output Hypothesis

Comprehensible Output Hypothesis

Swain (1985) proposed that having to produce the L2 encourages the learner to attend to the language and thereby leads to improved proficiency.

contrastive analysis

contrastive analysis

The comparison of the linguistic structures of two or more languages, to determine their similarities and differences. In 1950s and 1960s, it was used as a tool for L2 teaching.

Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH)

Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis(CAH)

In the strong form, this predicts that where there are similarities between the two languages, the learner will acquire L2 structures with ease; where there are differences, the learner will have difficulty.

controlled processing

controlled processing

In an information-processing view, controlled processing characterizes new skill learning, is comparatively slow and effortful, and is limited by short-term memory constraints.

cross-linguistic influence (CLI)

cross-linguistic influence(CLI)

Refers to instances of phonological, lexical, grammatical, or other aspects of transfer from one language to another.

developmental error

developmental error

An error in learner language which does not result from transfer from the first language, but which reflects the learner’s gradual discovery of the L2 system.

Error Analysis (EA)

Error Analysis (EA)

An approach to L2 acquisition research involving the description and classification of errors to gain insight into the learner's current underlying knowledge of the L2 system.

explicit knowledge

explicit knowledge

In SLA, knowledge of the L2 (vocabulary, grammar rules, etc.) of which learners are explicitly aware.

explicit learning

explicit learning

Learning with explicit awareness of what is being learned.

implicit knowledge

implicit knowledge

In SLA, knowledge of the L2 that underlies the learner’s performance, but of which he or she is not explicitly aware.

implicit learning

implicit learning

Learning without awareness of what is being learned.

information-processing approach (cognitive approach)

information-processing approach (or cognitive approach)

Stemming from cognitive psychology, this approach emphasizes that the mental processes used for interpreting experience are also involved in the acquisition and use of a second language.

input processing (IP)

input processing (IP)

Model proposed by VanPatten on how learners make form-meaning connections: learners have limited processing capacity so give priority to meaning.

intake

intake

The part of input that the learner notices.

Interaction Hypothesis

Interaction Hypothesis

Hypothesis proposed by Long (1983) predicting that interactional modification makes input comprehensible; comprehensible input promotes acquisition; therefore, interactional modification promotes acquisition.

interlanguage

interlanguage

A term for the language produced by a learner that differs in systematic ways from that of a native speaker.

language acquisition device

language acquisition device

An element that UG linguists originally proposed as an innate component, or mental organ, to account for language acquisition.

Monitor Model

Monitor Model

Krashen’s model of second language acquisition based on the concept that learners have two systems (acquisition and learning) and that the learned system acts as a monitor (editor) on the acquired system.

Natural Order Hypothesis

Natural Order Hypothesis

Monitor Model hypothesis stipulating that language elements are acquired in an essentially fixed, pre-determined order.

negotiation for meaning

negotiation for meaning

Process in which learners and competent speakers interact in various ways, making adjustments in their speech until understanding is achieved.

negative feedback

negative feedback

Drawing attention in some way to the L2 learner’s incorrect utterances.

Noticing Hypothesis

Noticing Hypothesis

Proposed by Schmidt (1995), it states that what learners notice in the input is what becomes intake for learning.

noticing

noticing

Paying attention to language input with some awareness.

output

output

The language produced by the learner.

parameters

parameters

A small set of alternatives for a given grammatical feature, for example, whether a complement, such as a preposition (Prep), precedes or follows the main element (or the “head”), such as the Noun (N) of a noun phrase (Prep N or N Prep).

procedural knowledge

procedural knowledge

Knowledge of how to do something; underlies automatic performance.

recasts

recasts

Rephrasing an L2 learner’s incorrect utterance correctly.

scaffolding

scaffolding

In a sociocultural approach, the role played by teachers, peers, and others in supporting the learner’s development to get to a more advanced stage.

sociocultural theory (SCT)

sociocultural theory (SCT)

Applied to SLA, refers to the view that social interaction is necessary for L2 development and learning needs to be examined in its social context.

usage-based

usage-based

A usage-based approach emphasizes the view that language constructions emerge from real communicative events.

zone of proximal development (ZPD)

zone of proximal development (ZPD)

“The distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance … ’’ (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 86)