professor michael hoey: the hidden similarities across languages - some good news (and bad news) for...

The hidden similarities across languages: some good news (and bad news) for language teachers

Michael Hoey

University of Liverpool

Eaquals International Conference,

Malaga

April 17th 2015

A problem with what grammar describes (or at least a gap in knowledge)

A new way of looking at language, supported by psycholinguistic experiments and corpus evidence

New similarities across different languages (and new dissimilarities)

A few thoughts about language teaching implications

A grammatical analysis…

Well, most of them are quite fond of me,

so I won’t hear a word against them.


Pron (S) VP (Pred) NP (O)



Pron (S) VP (Pred) NP (O) PreP (A)


OK, but it doesn’t explain why we can’t say…


so I didn’t hear a word against them.


but I will hear a word against them.


so I won’t remember a word against them.

So the grammar is not very informative, is it?

Another grammatical analysis…

Always wanting to produce something

NP (S) VP (Pred)(Intrans)

new, his resources began to dry up

But it doesn’t explain why we don’t say…


new began to dry up his resources


new, his inhibitions began to dry up


new, his instruments began to dry up

A Spanish grammatical analysis…

¿Tiene alguna medicina para el dolor de

estómago por favor?


VP [Pred]



VP [Pred] NP [O]



VP [Pred] NP [O]


[Disjunct]

But the grammar doesn’t explain why we cannot say…

¿Posee alguna medicina para el dolor de


¿Tiene alguna medicina por el dolor de



artritis por favor?

though we can say…


artritis por favor?

4500 hits on Google of medicina para artritis

Problems with existing theories of grammar:

1. They don’t provide us with a convincing explanation of fluency

2. They don’t provide us with a systematic and comprehensive model of variation

3. They don’t explain how we know which meaning is intended when a polysemous word is used (cf. dry, last week’s lecture)

4. They don’t account for collocation (the partly arbitrary tendency of words to co-occur, e.g. growing fears, developing conflict)

Problems with existing theories of grammar:

1. They don’t provide us with a convincing explanation of fluency

2. They don’t provide us with a systematic and comprehensive model of variation

3. They don’t explain how we know which meaning is intended when a word with a number of meanings is used.

4. They don’t account for collocation (the partly arbitrary tendency of words to co-occur, e.g. growing fears, developing conflict)

A crossroad for corpus linguistics

Corpus linguistic research has had an iconoclastic effect on traditional linguistic theories and descriptions.

Intuitions have been found to be untrustworthy

(e.g. Sinclair, Stubbs)

Corpus linguistic research has focussed on what is characteristically done by speakers rather than on what might be done,

and so linguistic attention has moved from linguistic competence to linguistic performance.


Understanding linguistic performance means understanding linguistic fluency, which is REAL competence

(e.g. Sinclair’s idiom principle, Hunston & Francis’ pattern grammar).


BUT

the energy with which traditional ideas have been knocked down has not been matched by equivalent energy for rebuilding theories.

Where theories have been proposed, they have often been incomplete or unconvincing

(e.g. Sinclair’s idiom principle).

A theory for corpus linguistics

A theory that has been developed in response to the insights derived from corpus linguistics, and in particular the work of John Sinclair, is that of Lexical Priming.

If (as is likely) the theory proves in time to be inadequate, it is hoped that it still represents a better picture of language and therefore offers a better model for language teachers than what went before.

A theory for corpus linguistics

Lexical Priming is unusual as a (corpus-driven) theory in that it builds

both upon corpus study

AND upon long-standing, widely accepted and apparently (amongst corpus linguists) little-known psycholinguistic research into the ways word recognition may be accelerated or retarded by previous exposure to other words.

Cf. Stubbs’ criticisms (but the fault is mine)

The Lexical Priming claims

The first claim is that

whenever listeners or readers encounter a word

(or a syllable or a combination of words), they

note subconsciously the linguistic context in

which it occurs and, as they repeatedly encounter

it, they begin to identify the features of the

context that are also being repeated.


The second claim is that

all the pieces of language we encounter prime us so

that when we come to use the piece of language

ourselves, we are likely (in speech, particularly) to

use it in the same kinds of way as it was used in

those encounters.


The third claim is that

grammar and semantics are OUTPUTS from our

primings, not INPUTS, and differ from person to

person. Simplifying slightly, the claim is that every

word has its own local grammar and semantics and

what we think of as the grammatical/semantic

systems are the products of all these local grammars

and local semantics.


The fourth claim is that

when we are primed by a piece of language, we note

the genres, domains, styles, co-text and context in

which it occurs. The effect is that we do not have a

single language but a large number of hugely

overlapping language varieties.


The fifth claim is that

everybody’s linguistic experience is unique and

therefore everybody’s primings will be slightly

different from everybody else’s. In lexical priming

theory, the idiolect is central.

So what evidence is there to support these claims?

Some key psycholinguistic experiments

Most of the psycholinguistic literature used by linguists is more linguistic than psychological.

But there are two research developments from the psycholinguistic tradition that may be of relevance:

semantic priming

repetition priming




semantic priming

repetition priming

(with thanks to Michael Pace-Sigge)




semantic priming

repetition priming

Semantic priming In semantic priming experiments, informants are shown a word or image (referred to as the prime) and then shown a second word or image (known as the target word).

The speed with which the target word is recognized is measured.

Some primes appear to

•retard informants’ recognition of the target

and others appear to

•accelerate informants’ recognition of the target


Most of the psycholinguistic literature used by linguists is more linguistic than psychological. But there are two research developments from the psycholinguistic tradition that may be of relevance:

semantic priming

repetition priming

Repetition priming

Repetition priming is rather different from semantic priming, in that the prime and the target are identical.

Experiments with repetition priming centre around exposing informants to word combinations and then, sometimes after a considerable amount of time and after they’ve seen or heard lots of other material, measuring how quickly or accurately the informants recognize the combination when they finally see/hear it again.

Repetition priming

For example, a listener may be shown the word ALARMING followed by the word SUNSHINE.

A day later, if s/he is shown the word ALARMING again, s/he will recognise SUNSHINE more quickly than other words.

The assumption must be that s/he remembers the combination from the first time, since the words tortoise smile have never occurred before (as far as I know).

Repetition priming

For example, a listener may be shown the word ALARMING followed by the word SUNSHINE.

A day later, if s/he is shown the word ALARMING again, s/he will recognise SUNSHINE more quickly than other words.

The assumption must be that s/he remembers the combination from the first time, since the words ALARMING SUNSHINE will only rarely have occurred before and are therefore unlikely to comprise a learnt expression.

Repetition priming

Key papers on these facets of repetition priming are those of Jacoby and Dallas (1981), who observed greater accuracy in the identification of the target, and Scarborough, Cortese, and Scarborough

(1977), who noted a faster response time.

Forster and Davis (1984) observed that these

effects of repetition priming were more noticeable when the words in question were of low frequency in the language.

Repetition priming

Repetition priming potentially provides an explanation of both semantic priming and collocation.

If a listener or reader encounters two words in combination, and stores them as a combination,

then the ability of one of the words to accelerate recognition of the other is explained.

If the listener or reader then draws upon this combination in his or her own utterance, then the reproduction of collocation is also explained.

A theory for corpus linguistics: Lexical Priming

I use this psycholinguistic experimentation (well described in Pace-Sigge, 2014) as a way of accounting for the phenomena of

• collocation,

• colligation

• semantic preference (rechristened semantic association in the theory)

as described in Sinclair’s work.

The existence of these (and other) features of language needs explanation. There is so far no other explanation of why these phenomena should exist in English.

I am open to the possibility that Lexical Priming is not the right explanation (though it is not yet refuted) but we cannot return to the old grammar-centred theories.

The Lexical Priming claim

Whenever we encounter a word or syllable or combination of words, we note subconsciously

• the words, syllables and combinations of words it occurs with (its collocations),

• the meanings with which it is associated (its semantic associations),

• e meanings with which it is associated (its semantic associations),

ears 2256

and 845 37%

his 401 18%

with 274 12%

eyes 225 10%

deaf 159 7%

music 104 5%





• e meanings with which it is associated (its semantic associations),

ears 2294

eyes 225 10%

but also

face and ears

hands and ears

feet and ears

fingers and ears

lips and ears

mouth and ears

nose and ears

etc

ears 2294

has a semantic association with

PARTS OF BODY

at least 525 cases 23% of my data set





• the grammatical patterns it is associated with (its colligations),

• associations),

ears 2256

occurs with a preposition 1272 times

e.g. his fair hair flapping around his ears

i.e. 56% of the time

ears 2256

occurs with a possessive 1119 times

e.g. He opened my ears to Indian music

i.e. 50% of the time

Colligation

combines with

collocation

and

semantic association/preference

word collocates with against and a

a word against has a semantic association with sending & receiving communication

(e.g. hear a word against)

send/receive a word against has a pragmatic association with denial

(e.g. wouldn’t hear a word against)


a word against with sending & receiving communication





a word against has a semantic association with sending & receiving communication




NOT


so I won’t remember a word against them.



denial + send/receive a word against has a pragmatic association with hypotheticality

(e.g. wasn’t prepared to say a word against)

send/receive a word against colligates with NEGATIVE + modal verbs


denial + send/receive a word against also colligates with human subjects and human prepositional objects

NOT


but I will hear a word against them.

send/receive a word against colligates with negated modal verbs


send/receive a word against also colligates with human subjects and human prepositional objects

send/receive a word against colligates with negated modal verbs


send/receive a word against also has association with HYPOTHETICALITY


NOT


so I didn’t hear a word against them.

high collocates with tide




high tide collocates with at

(at high tide)




high tide collocates with mark

(high tide mark)




high tide collocates with the and of

(the high tide of)

In my corpus, this combination occurs 26 times and accounts for one in five of the instances of high tide.

the high tide of collocates with –ism !

Of the 26 instances of the high tide of in my corpus, 12 (46%) are followed by a nominal group whose Head ends –ism

(federalism, Thatcherism, idealism, interventionism, etc.).

(e.g. hear a word (e.g. wouldn’t hear a word against)

dry collocates with wine

wine has a semantic association with FLAVOUR




dry collocates with wine wine has a semantic association with FLAVOUR

dry colligates with pre-head position, when used with wine

(e.g. hear a word against) send/receive a word against has a pragmatic

association with denial (e.g. wouldn’t hear a word against)


Whenever we encounter a word or syllable or combination of words, we also note subconsciously

• the pragmatics it is associated with (its pragmatic associations),

• the genre and/or style and/or social situation it is used in,

• whether it is used in a context we are likely to want to emulate or not




dry white wine has a pragmatic association with ORDERING IN A BAR/PUB

word against)




dry white wine has a pragmatic association with ORDERING IN A BAR/PUB

dry white wine occurs in bars, pubs, restaurants and wine merchants

dry white wine occurred in

recipe 36

advice on wine choice 34 (2 doubtful cases)

encyclopedia/dictionary 15 (2 doubtful cases)

vineyards 10

OTHER 5

So it would appear that dry white wine is used in RECIPES (i.e. INSTRUCTION) and in ADVICE

and of course in REQUESTS in bars and restaurants (!)


All the features we notice when we hear or read a piece of language prime us so that when we come to use the piece of language ourselves, we are likely (in speech, particularly) to use it in the same lexical context, with the same grammar, in the same semantic context, as part of the same genre/style, in the same kind of social and physical context, with a similar pragmatics and in similar textual ways.


All the features we notice when we hear or read a piece of language prime us so that when we come to use the piece of language ourselves, we are likely (in speech, particularly) to use it in the same lexical context (producing collocations), with the same grammar, in the same semantic context, as part of the same genre/style, in the same kind of social and physical context, with a similar pragmatics and in similar textual ways.


All the features we notice when we hear or read a piece of language prime us so that when we come to use the piece of language ourselves, we are likely (in speech, particularly) to use it in the same lexical context, with the same grammar (producing colligations), in the same semantic context, as part of the same genre/style, in the same kind of social and physical context, with a similar pragmatics and in similar textual ways.


All the features we notice when we hear or read a piece of language prime us so that when we come to use the piece of language ourselves, we are likely (in speech, particularly) to use it in the same lexical context, with the same grammar, in the same semantic context (producing semantic associations, as part of the same genre/style, in the same kind of social and physical context, with a similar pragmatics and in similar textual ways.


All the features we notice when we hear or read a piece of language prime us so that when we come to use the piece of language ourselves, we are likely (in speech, particularly) to use it in the same lexical context, with the same grammar, in the same semantic context, as part of the same genre/style, in the same kind of social and physical context, with a similar pragmatics and in similar textual ways. (This will have to wait for another time.)


All the features we notice prime us so that when we come to use the word ourselves, we are likely (in speech, particularly) to use it in the same lexical context, with the same grammar, in the same semantic context, as part of the same genre/style, in the same kind of social and physical context, with a similar pragmatics and in similar textual ways (This will have to wait for another time.).


• Our ability to do this is what it means to know a word.

• We are ALL learners, since we never stop being primed.

• The only difference between the native speaker and the non-native speaker is the way that they are typically primed.

• Fluency is the result of conformity to one’s primings.


• Our ability to do this is what it means to know a word.

• We never stop being primed.

• The only difference between the native speaker and the non-native speaker is the way that they are typically primed.

• Fluency is the result of conformity to one’s primings.

So to return to one of the original examples



• dry is primed to collocate with up (collocation). • dry up is primed to occur with LIQUIDS in Subject or

Object function, (lines 2, 7, 10, 11, 14, 31, 32 and 40) (semantic association).

• In the remaining 33 lines, dry up is primed to occur

with began (7 times) (lines 18-24) (21% of the relevant data set) (collocation)

• In the above 33 lines, dry up is primed to be used

ergatively (28 times) (85%) (colligation)


Object function, (semantic association). • In the remaining 33 lines, dry up is primed to occur

with began (7 times) (lines 18-24) (21% of the relevant data set) (collocation)

• In the above 33 lines, dry up is primed to be used




DOESN’T APPLY


Object function, (semantic association). • dry up is also primed to occur with began

(collocation) • In the above 33 lines, dry up is primed to be used



Object function, (semantic association). • dry up is also primed to occur with began

(collocation) • dry up is primed to be used intransitively

(colligation)

NOT


new began to dry up his resources

• intransitive dry up (excluding LIQUIDS) is primed to occur with abstract Subjects (colligation)

• ABSTRACT SUBJECT + intransitive dry up (- LIQUIDS) is primed to occur with a ‘good’ Subject (semantic association + colligation)

• So most users are primed to see dry up in the above combination as something negative that happens. (Pragmatic association)

NOT


new, his instruments began to dry up

NOT


new, his inhibitions began to dry up

GOOD ABSTRACT SUBJECT + intransitive dry up (- LIQUIDS) is primed to occur as a description of a problem (16 times) (80%) and in 10 cases (50%) this is followed by a Response in a Problem-Solution pattern (textual semantic

association).

The Lexical Priming claims are based on psycholinguistic research that is not language-specific, and are themselves couched in terms that make no assumptions about the language being spoken.

Put another way, the theory would be unbelievable if it suggested that English was learnt in a different way from other languages!

It doesn’t automatically follow that what we are primed for in English will be exactly the same in every language, but it would be a challenge to the theory if they were wholly different.

SPANISH:

collocation

SPANISH:

collocation

dolor de 100

cabeza 35

espalda 14

garganta 9

estómago 7

muelas 6

SPANISH:

collocation

dolor de 100

cabeza 35

espalda 14

garganta 9

estómago 7

muelas 6

para 9 (22.5% of preps)



152,000 hits on Google of medicina para el dolor



8190 hits on Google of medicina para el dolor de

estómago



6 hits on Google of medicina por dolor



6 hits on Google (and one of those was from a book of ‘Simple Spanish Phrases’ for nurses!)

¿Tiene alguna medicina para la incomidad

de estómago por favor?

NO hits on Google of medicina para la incomidad

de estómago

The reason is that incomodidad does not collocate

with para

¿para la incomodidad de estómago por favor

NO hits on Google of para la incomodidad

de estómago

EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE

¿para la incomodidad de estómago por favor

43,600 hits on Google of la incomodidad de estómago

SPANISH:

colligation

dolor colligates with DEFINITE ARTICLE (59%)

and NO ARTICLE (33%)

SPANISH:

colligation

dolor colligates with DEFINITE ARTICLE (59%)

and NO ARTICLE (33%)

dolor colligates with PREPOSITIONAL OBJECT (40%)

SPANISH:

semantic association

SPANISH:

semantic association with PARTS OF BODY

dolor de estómago

cabeza

espalda

cuello

garganta

ovarios

riñones

oído

ETC.

SPANISH:

semantic association with PARTS OF BODY

dolor de rodillas

vientre

lumbar

pezones

dientes

talón

pecho

senos

ETC.



8190 hits on Google of medicina para el dolor de

estómago


artritis por favor?

1 hit on Google of medicina para el dolor de

artritis


artritis por favor?

1 hit on Google of medicina para el dolor de

artritis

Artritis IS NOT A PART OF THE BODY


artritis por favor?

4500 hits on Google of medicina para artritis

Artritis IS HOWEVER A TYPE OF dolor.

ANOTHER SEMANTIC ASSOCIATION…



627,000 hits on Google for tiene alguna medicina

¿Posee alguna medicina para el dolor de


1 hit on Google for posee alguna medicina

posee 100

mas 10

mayor 6

riquezas 5

POSITIVE EVALUATION (e.g. enorme, gran) 20

QUANTIFICATION 30

posee 100

SOME KIND OF MEASUREMENT 52

SOME MARK OF BEING EXCEPTIONAL 66

MEASUREMENT

posee…

un imagen positiva de más de 40%

local por más de 40 años

una residencia em La Planicie… que está valorizada en cerca de 2 millones y medio de soles

gran fortuna

31 asesores

activos por $41 millones

EXCEPTIONAL

posee…

un imagen positiva de más de 40%

local por más de 40 años

una residencia em La Planicie… que está valorizada en cerca de 2 millones y medio de soles

gran fortuna

31 asesores

activos por $41 millones

EXCEPTIONAL

posee…

propriedades millonarias en EU

cerca de la mitad de los depósitos de desechos mineros del pais

riquezas mayores a toda Venezuela

el celebro más grande

compañias peligrosas

humedales importantes para la humanidad

la sexta mayor fortuna de España

EXCEPTIONAL (REAL WORLD KNOWLEDGE)

posee…

capacidad de espiar a espectadores

propriedades antiinflamatorias

sistema tecnológico para emitir alerta temprano por lluvias

un potencial anti-diabetes

armas químicas

un océano subsuperficial

ocho caratas


The same kind of claims can be made for other European languages

cheio (PORTUGUESE)

Of 50 instances,

collocation with de 29 (58%)

saco 7 (14%)

semantic association with HOLINESS (graça, espiritu santo, Tua Gloria etc) 8 (16%)

cheio de has pragmatic association with METAPHOR (histórias, personalidade. etc.)

26 (out of 29) (90%)

morphologique (FRENCH)

Of 50 instances,

collocation with analyse 10 (20%)

echographie 6 (12%)

Domain of MEDICAL SCIENCE 27 (54%)

colligation with NOUN (49 out of 50) (e.g. filtrage morphologique)

NOT with VERB e.g. est morphologique


Again, because the psycholinguistic claims are not culture- or language-specific, the theory generates hypotheses about all languages, not only Indo-European ones. I will therefore conclude by offering tentative and preliminary observations on the applicability of Lexical Priming theory to Chinese.


Again, because the psycholinguistic claims are not culture- or language-specific, the theory generates hypotheses about all languages, not only Indo-European ones. I will therefore conclude by offering tentative and preliminary observations on the applicability of Lexical Priming theory to Chinese.

Hoey & Shao (in press)

The Lexical Priming claims As we have more and more encounters with the word, syllable, or word combination, we come to identify

• the word or words that characteristically accompany it (its collocations),

• the grammatical patterns with which it is associated (its colligations),


• and the pragmatics with which it is associated (its pragmatic associations).


How about Chinese?


How about Chinese? Work of Xiao & McEnery

好 (hǎo)(good) collocates with 法 (fǎ)

zuò fă 4739

bàn fă 5699

fāng fă 6910

fă 51

all meaning ‘way, method’

The Lexical Priming claim As we have more and more encounters with the word, syllable, or word combination, we come to identify






How about Chinese?

好 (hǎo) is associated with 法 (fǎ) in the particular structure of

好 (hǎo) + X +法 (fǎ),

where X can be realized by 减肥 (jiǎnféi), 教学 (jiàoxué), 方(fang), 办(bàn) or 做(zuò). This structure dominates the data.

The Lexical Priming claims As we have more and more encounters with the word, syllable, or word combination, we come to identify






How about Chinese?

hăo fă 51

has a semantic association with LOSING WEIGHT

27 out of 51 instances (53%) of the collocation concerned methods (法 fǎ) of LOSING WEIGHT,

of which 26 occurred in combination with either 减肥 (jiǎnféi) (lose weight) or 瘦身 (shòushēn) (go on a diet) or both. (car) accident

The Lexical Priming claim As we have more and more encounters with the word, syllable, or word combination, we come to identify






How about Chinese?

hăo fă

12 of the 51 occurrences occurred in the domain of EDUCATION, with words such as

教学 (jiàoxué) (teaching),

写 (xiě) (writing),

算(suàn) (calculating) and

破解 (pòjiě) (solving)

appearing before 法 (fǎ).

Corpus-linguistic/psycholinguistic approaches account for phenomena that grammars don’t want to.

And they suggest that languages are more alike than they seem.

Corpus-linguistic/psycholinguistic approaches account for phenomena that grammars don’t want to.

And they suggest that languages are more alike than they seem.

SO WHAT ARE THE LANGUAGE LEARNING IMPLICATIONS?

Applied Linguistic Implications

• Learning a word or phrase includes learning its characteristic primings, or else a learner’s language will sound (or read) awkward(ly)

• Fabricated texts are unlikely to preserve the natural primings of the language if the intention of these texts is to illustrate other features

• Colligation is where grammatical analysis and the lexicon meet in all languages.


• Learning a word or phrase includes learning its characteristic primings, or else a learner’s language will sound (or read) awkward




• Learning a word or phrase includes learning its characteristic primings, or else a learner’s language will sound (or read) awkwardly




• Learning a word or phrase includes learning its characteristic primings, or else a learner’s language will sound (or read) awkward(ly)

• Fabricated texts are unlikely to preserve the natural primings of the language if the intention of these texts is to illustrate linguistic features


Language Learning Implications: some positive thoughts

To learn a language is to be primed to use its words the way others use them

Teaching is a way of priming

Good priming leads to natural English

All speakers are learners because we never stop being primed – the difference lies in how we are primed

Language Learning Implications: some positive thoughts

To learn a language is to be primed to use its words the way others use them

Teaching is a way of priming

Good priming leads to natural language

All speakers are learners because we never stop being primed – the difference lies in how we are primed

Language Learning Implications: some scary thoughts

Bad priming can damage fluency

L2 learners have to begin by transposing the primings of the L1 to the L2

Authentic input is essential – approximately nine encounters with a word (etc) will have a priming effect

Attention seems necessary for priming to occur




Authentic input is essential Attention seems necessary for priming to occur




Authentic input is essential


Wray argues that “native speakers start with fully formulaic pairings and gradually ‘loosen them’ as they develop their first language whereas language learners begin with separate items and then learn to pair them together” (taken from Hadikin, 2006)

Wray argues that “native speakers start with fully formulaic pairings and gradually ‘loosen them’ as they develop their first language whereas language learners begin with separate items and then learn to pair them together” (taken from Hadikin, 2006)

Our task is to start them pairing immediately

Language Learning Implications: some blind alleys

Drilling doesn’t seem to work

Formulae that are taught for communicative purposes don’t seem to work

Why drills and formulae may not work

Lexical priming is:

psychological

social

so language learning has to be both.

We are primed when we seek to understand someone, learn about something, achieve some goal, bring ourselves into harmony (or conflict) with someone




Teaching vocabulary in lists isn’t going to work




Teaching vocabulary in lists isn’t going to work

Teaching grammar using any old words is definitely not going to work

Language Learning Implications: some promising avenues

Turn learners into investigators

Language Learning Implications: some promising alleys (?)


Language Learning Implications: some blind avenues (?)




Use the cohesion of a text to prime the learner




Make reading purposeful

Turn reading into speech and writing as soon as you can






Talk in the language as much as possible






Talk in the language as much as possible

Build on the similarities between languages

Language Learning Implications: some scary thoughts revisited






Inauthentic priming can damage fluency





Any authentic priming will help fluency






L2 learners have to begin by transposing the primings of the L1 to the L2. This is good.






SO IT MAY BE VERY HELPFUL IF THE LEARNER STARTS WITH AN AWARENESS THAT SOME OF THOSE PRIMINGS PARALLEL THOSE IN THE LANGUAGE THEY ARE LEARNING

Language Learning Implications: a final scary thought



AN INADEQUATE THEORY OF THE L1 MAY LEAD TO BAD LEARNING OF THE L2




Authentic input is essential – repetition occurs naturally in texts





Authentic input is essential – it doesn’t have to be too difficult– Stephen Krashen seems to be right about I+1

Attention seems necessary for priming to occur cf. Holly Wilson’s featured talk




Authentic input is essential – ZPD (‘Provide relevant challenge’ – Diane England)

Attention seems necessary for priming to occur cf. Holly Wilson’s featured talk




Authentic input is essential – it doesn’t have to be too difficult– Stephen Krashen seems to be right about I+1

Attention seems necessary for priming to occur (see Holly Wilson’s ''What Can We Still Believe About

Krashen's Monitor Theory?”)

AS I SAID EARLIER

Lexical priming is:

psychological

social


We are primed when we seek to understand someone, learn about something, achieve some goal, bring ourselves into harmony (or conflict) with someone.

AS I SAID EARLIER

Lexical priming is:

psychological

social


We are primed when we seek to understand someone, learn about something, achieve some goal, bring ourselves into harmony (or conflict) with someone. ALL REQUIRE ATTENTION

Research Implications

Above all, since an inadequate theory of languages

and, even more importantly,

BAD LEARNING

leads to discouragement,

WE NEED TO BUILD UPON WHAT IS SHARED AND BUILD UP THE CONFIDENCE OF OUR LEARNERS.

(after all, who knew that Spanish and Chinese were really quite alike?) BEGIN TODAY.

[email protected]

professor michael hoey: the hidden similarities across languages - some good news (and bad news) for...

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