1. Language and the brain

2. Learning process: SLA

3. Differences among learners

Left hemisphere Right hemisphere

Phonology Nonverbal (as babies’ cries)

Morphology Visuospatial information

Syntax Intonation

Function words and inflections Nonliteral meaning and ambiguity

Tone systems Many pragmatic abilities

Much lexical knowledge Some lexical knowledge

Principal hemispheric specializations (p69) also see Brown (2007):p125

1. lateralization 2-puberty 2. Critical period hypothesis 3.Broca’s area/ Wernicke’s area- B&W 4. language activity /core linguistic

processes 5. SLA-right hemisphere involvement L2-learnt by many means; use more

memorization /L1-learnt by single means

Coordinate bilingualism Compound bilingualism Subordinate bilingualism

1. Information processing (IP)

(1) Attention-processing(2) Skill Learning Theory

(3)Restructuring

2. connectionism --PDP

Cognitive psychologists language acquisition →storing, integrating, and

retrieving information.

do not think that humans have a language-specific module (i.e. LAD) in the brain.

do not assume that ‘acquisition’ and ‘learning’ are distinct mental processes.

L2 acquisition→ the building up of knowledge → automatically

Input Central processing Output

Perception Controlled-automatic processing

Production

Declarative –procedural knowledge

Restructuring

noticed input→pay attention to it →intake (frequency, perceptual saliency…p75)

practice Fluency in speech and writing

Input: notice, pay attention→intake

Brown (2007):p300, 302 - Controlled processes - Automatic processes

Attention controlled automatic

Focal(intentional attention)

Performance based on formal rule learning

Performance in a test situation

Peripheral Performance based on implicit learning or analogic learning

Performance in communication situations

From Brown (2007), p300

Declarative knowledgeProcedural knowledgeThree stages: (1) information is stored. (drowned-

drown+ed) (2) associative stage: (past tense…

+ed) (3) autonomous stage

Anderson thinks that L2 learners do not reach full autonomy as L1 learners. What factors may influence the process of achieving autonomy in L2 acquisition?

L2 knowledge as continua of controlled-automatic and explicit-implicit

from exemplar-based to rule-basedRestructuring :because L is complex,

hierarchical, not (necessarily) linearly Restructuring doesn’t necessarily

happen all at once, but over time

U-shaped behavior is often evidenced during restructuring

Stage 1 Stage 3

Stage 2

correct utterances

incorrect utterances

feet feet

foots

Multidimensional Model

Processability Theory

Competition Model

2 principal axes: developmental & variational

grammatical structures (organized hierarchically) Individual variation Focus on the relationship between implicit knowledge

and output hierarchy: (1) Canonical order strategy (COS) (2) initialization /finalization strategy (IFS) (3) subordinate clause strategy (SCS)

Reorientation of Multidimensional model Hierarchy of processing skills (1) lemma/word access (ex:apple) (2) category procedure (ex: three apples) (3) phrasal procedure(ex: three big apples) (4) S-procedure (ex: There is an apple./ There are three apples) (5) Clause boundary

Functional approach: L1 form-function mapping→SLA

Competition among cues that signal functions

Cue strength: task frequency/ contrastive availability/ conflict reliability

Language process involves “competition” among the various cues

1. horse -form: sounds [hors] -function: 4 legs/ hay eating animal2. Horses eat hay. - Word order-form: horses + V + hay - Function: “horses” is S.; “hay” is O. - inflection- _s: form; function: more

than one horse (p79)

Focus on the increasing strength of associations between stimuli and responses (IP: focus on the inferred abstraction of “ rules” or restructuring.)

Learning is change in the strength of these connections; learning is not dependent on UG or rule-formation.

Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP): a network of nodes (units)→ repeated patterns of units (input)→ extract regularities→ probabilistic association (connection strengths/patterns of activation)

Frequency influences learning

IP PDP

Attention is available for controlled processing vs. automatic processing

Not serial in nature

Attention is distributed in local pattern

Processing is parallel pattern

Knowledge is not stored in memory or retrieved as patterns

Connection strengths /Patterns being recreated

Why are some L2 learners more successful than others?

Age Sex Aptitude Motivation Cognitive style Personality Learning strategies (the last three are closely related to and

interact with each other.)

Children are more successful L2 learners?

1. initial rate learning (success) / older learners have an advantage (popular belief)/ learners who are introduced to the L2 in childhood (ultimate achievement)

Critical period hypothesis

Younger advantage Older advantage

Brain plasticity Learning capacity

Not analytical Analytic ability

Fewer inhibitions(usually) Pragmatic skills

Weaker group identity Greater knowledge of L1

Simplified input more likely Real-world knowledge

Female are better L2 learners? --verbal fluency --women’s brain may be less

asymmetrically organized than men’s for speech (Kimura 1992).

--women: better at memorizing complex forms/ men: better at computing compositional rules (Halpern 2000)

--differences related to hormonal variables

• Phonemic coding ability: the capacity to process auditory input into segments which can be stored and retrieved. If the hearer cannot analyze the incoming stream of speech into phonemes in order to recognize morphemes, input may not result in intake.

• Inductive language learning ability and grammatical sensitivity concerned with central processing.

• Associative memory capacity: how linguistic items are stored and with how they are recalled and used in output (speaker fluency).

• Skehan (1998 )concludes that language learning aptitude “is not completely distinct from general cognitive abilities.”

• Significant goal or need/desire to attain the goal/ perception that learning L2 is relevant to fulfilling the goal or meeting the need/belief in the likely success or failure if learning L2/value of potential outcomes or rewards

• 2 type of motivation(Brown 2007, p175)• --integrative motivation: based on interest

in learning L2; emotional or affective factors are dominant (learning by a member of the dominant group in a society)

• --instrumental motivation: involves perception of purely practical value in learning L2 (learning by a subordinate group member)

Refers to individual’s preferred way of processing: (perceiving, conceptualizing, organizing and recalling information.)

Brown (2007):p120

Field-dependent Field-independent

Global - Particular

Holistic - Analytic

Deductive (top-down)

- Inductive(bottom-up)

Focus on meaning - Focus on form

Anxiety :most attention in SLA research.Low anxiety facilitates language learning. Instructional context or task influences

anxiety and reporting. (oral performance)Systematic cultural differences are found

between groups of learners. (face concept)

Low anxiety and high self-confidence increase Ss motivation to learn.

Anxious - Self-confident

Risk-avoiding - Risk-taking

Shy - Adventuresome

introverted - Extroverted

Inner-directed - Other-directed

Reflective - Impulsive

Imaginative - Uninquisitive

Creative - Uncreative

Empathetic - Insensitive to others

Tolerant of ambiguity - Closure-orientedBoldface print means positive correlation with success in L2 learning.

• Metacognitive : preview a concept/ decide specific aspects of input in advance/ rehearse linguistic components/ self-monitoring of progress and knowledge states

• Cognitive: repeat or translate/ remember words by L1’s sounds/ create vivid images/ guess meanings through inferencing.

Social/affective: seek chances to interact with native speakers/ work cooperatively with peers/ ask Qs/ request repetition, explanation, or examples

Concern for language form (but also attention to meaning)

Concern for communicationActive task approachAwareness of the learning processCapacity to use strategies flexibly in

accordance with task requirements

How do you feel about multilingualism so far?

Positive effects: 1. foreign language study is good for “training the

mind.” 2. an essential characteristic of “educated” and

“cultured” members of society 3. on intellectual function based on “measures of

conceptual development, creativity, metalinguistic awareness, semantic development, and analytic skills” (p93)

Negative effects: 1. negative impact on general

intelligence

2. capacity limitations for language acquisition and maintenance, that simultaneous bilingualism in childhood may result in a narrower range of lexical development in either language and that intensive and continued use of L2 many reduce accessibility of L1

Thank you for your attention!!