Input and Interaction (SLA)

Krashen’s Input hypothesisLong’s Interaction hypothesis

Two problems with Behaviourism

The poverty of the stimulus argument >>>>> Chomsky and SLA

Rewards have a tendency to lose their effect over time

>>>>> Social Psychology

What is Grammar?

Descriptive grammar: A grammar that accounts for the observable regularities in a language Pedagogic grammar: A grammar that makes it ‘easier’ to teach or learn a language

A learner’s internal grammar: ‘Something’ in a learner’s brain (and body?) that allows the learner to use language correctly in meaningful contexts

The Language Faculty (LAD)Chomsky and L1 Acquisition

❖creative;❖rule-governed and systematic (interlanguage);❖developmental sequences;❖resistance to correction.

Krashen and L2 Acquisition❖acquisition/learning hypothesis;❖INPUT HYPOTHESIS;❖affective filter hypothesis; ❖monitor hypothesis;❖natural order hypothesis.

Interlanguage

Acquisition / Learning hypothesis;

Learning grammar is a conscious process. The learner is consciously attending to the rules/regularities of the language. This does NOT lead to changes in a learner’s internal grammar.

Acquiring grammar is a subconscious process. The learner is only aware of using the language for communication. This DOES lead to changes in the internal grammar of the learner.

BACK

Comprehensible Input(Teacher does a warm-up activity with 12 year old students) T = teacher; S1, S2 = different students

T How are you doing this morning?S1 I’m mad!S2 Why?T Oh boy. Yeah, why?S1 Because this morning, my father say no have job this

morning.T Your father has no more job this morning? Or you have no

job?S1 My father.

(from: Lightbown & Spada, 1999, p. 123).

The affective filter hypothesis argues that a learner will not acquire language when she or he is anxious for any reason.

Monitor hypothesisThe monitor hypothesis accepts that conscious ‘knowledge of’ grammar, the result of learning (see above), can play a role in second language use and acquisition.

If, however, there is not sufficient time for the monitor to operate, then the second language speaker is entirely dependent on her internal grammar.

In a way, then, the learner’s monitor may create self-generated input that may result in further acquisition.

Yes, this means that a learner may have conscious knowledge of a grammar rule which she has not yet acquired, and therefore not yet part of her internal grammar.

This may be a good reason for a teacher to provide plenty of ‘student thinking time’ in class.

It works as follows: if there is sufficient time to do so, a learner may ‘monitor’ their own second language use (generated by the internal grammar) with the help of her or his conscious knowledge of grammar.

Interlanguage

Natural Order hypothesis

When I analysed J’s and R’s requests, I found clear evidence of development taking place. Moreover, the two learners appeared to develop in much the same way. Initially, their requests were verbless. For example, when J needed a cut out of a big circle in a mathematics lesson he said:

Big circle.

while, in a different lesson, R just pointed at a piece of card to let the teacher know that he wanted him to put a staple in it, saying:

Sir.

The following is from Ellis (1997, pp. 9-10) reporting on a study of two young learners’ (aged 10 and 11) development of English requests:

A little later, both learners began to use imperative verbs in their requests:

Give me.Give me a paper.

Some time after this, they learned to use ‘Can I have ____?’:

Can I have one yellow book, please?

The next stage of their development of requests was marked by a general extension of the linguistic devices they used. For example, R made use of ‘want’ statements:

Miss, I want. (R wanted the teacher to give him the stapler.)

J used ‘got’:

You got a rubber?

Occasionally, both learners used hints instead of direct requests. For example, when J wanted the teacher to give him a different coloured piece of paper he said:

This paper is not very good to colour blue.

Finally, the learners began to use ‘can’ with a range of different verbs (i.e. not just with ‘have’):

Can you pass me my pencil?

Issues with Krashen’s ‘thinking’

Conscious ProcessesNoticing and Information Processing (Later topic)

Output Hypothesis (Later topic)

Social ProcessesNegotiation of Meaning

Collaborative Dialogue (Later topic)

Lexical ProcessingFormulaic language (Later topic)

Redundancy in Language Input

FORWARD

Redundancy in Input (1)

What do the following examples suggest about information in input?

Hw t b yr wn trvl gnt

Cntdwn t nw yr

Gt a gd jb wth mr py

Redundancy in Input(2)Order the following examples in terms of how likely you think the underlined grammatical feature will be noticed:

He wants to play._______

Tom’s bike._______

He’s very angry._______

David gave up playing the piano. _______

John kicked the football. _______

Redundancy in Input (3)

o Learners process input for meaning before they process it for form.

o Learners process content words in the input before anything else.

o Learners process lexical items before grammatical items (e.g. morphological markings).

o Learners prefer processing "more meaningful morphology before "less" or "non-meaningful" morphology.

VanPatten (1996) argues that redundancy is a central problem for learners, especially in their processing of input.

VanPatten's (1996, p. 14) input processing principles:

BACK

Negotiation of Meaning

Negotiation commonly includes:❑ Clarification requests❑ Confirmation requests❑ Comprehension checks❑ Repetitions

If comprehensible input facilitates language acquisition, and if negotiation of meaning makes input more comprehensible, then negotiation of meaning facilitates language acquisition (Long, 1983).

Negotiation of Meaning

Trigger – Indicator – Response – Pushdown ends

Varonis, E.M. and Gass, S. (1985). Non-native/Non-native Conversations: A Model for Negotiation of Meaning. Applied Linguistics, 6(1): 71-90.

BACK

Generalizations from SLA Research (Based on Lightbown 1985, 2000)1. Adults and adolescents can ‘acquire’ a second language;2. The learner creates a systematic interlanguage which is often

characterized by the same systematic errors as the child learning the same language as a first language, as well as others which appear to be based on the learner’s own native language;

3. There are predictable sequences in L2 acquisition such that certain structures have to be acquired before others can be integrated;

4. Practice does not make perfect;5. Knowing a language rule does not mean one will be able to

use it in communicative interaction;

6. Isolated explicit error correction is usually ineffective in changing language behaviour;

7. For most adult learners, acquisition stops –‘fossilizes’ – before the learner has achieved native-like mastery of the target language;

8. One cannot achieve native-like (or near native-like) command of a second language on one hour a day;

9. The learner’s task is enormous because language is enormously complex;

10.A learner’s ability to understand language in a meaningful context exceeds his/her ability to comprehend decontextualized language and to produce language of comparable complexity and accuracy.

ReferencesEllis, R. (1997). Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford university Press.

Krashen, S.D. (1982). Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Pergamon.

Lightbown, P. & N. Spada (1999). How languages are learned (2nd Ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Lightbown, P. (2000). Anniversary article: Classroom SLA research and second language teaching. Applied Linguistics, 21/4: 431-462.

Van Patten, B. (1996). Input Processing and Grammar Instruction: Theory and Research. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.