General ideas and SLA terminology
This is what the L2 speaker produces.
Output.
True or false. Children use their child grammar as their L1 system is developing while older L2 learners use their interlanguage system (or learner language) as they progress toward the target language.
True.
Information Processing contends that SLA occurs when...
learners move from controlled to automatized processing and after restructuring the knowledge they have (by making associations). This frees us space for higher-order and more complex processing, which leads to increased proficiency.
What is some evidence that adults learn language more quickly than children?
Research has shown that when in an immersive environment, adults can reach advanced high / superior proficiency in less time than a monolingual child.
Older adoptees also acquire language more quickly when comparing the number of hours.
Sociocultural theory describes that this precedes development and leads to acquisition of language.
Interaction in social settings precedes and contributes to cognitive development, and leads to L2 acquisition through scaffolding.
What is the difference between a first language and one's primary language?
A first language (or languages) is the system that someone started learning from birth - 3 years of age. A primary language is one's dominant language at a given time. Sometimes the L1 and primary languages are the same, but sometimes they are not.
What are the final states of L1 and L2 development?
L1 = native competence
L2 = multilingual competence
Connectionist or Parallel Distributed Processing suggests that SLA occurs when...
...learners pay attention and make inferences based on the patterns they see; this allows them to make connection strengths out of these patterns. Innate linguistic ability/knowledge is not as relied upon in this model as in some other models.
What is L2 WTC? Describe it.
Willingness to communicate in a second (additional) language. It is very different fro L1 WTC. It is one's readiness to engage in using the L2 in a particular situation. L2 WTC predicts actual language use. A lack of anxiety and high perceived ability are strong predictors of high levels of L2 WTC.
Also, L2 anxiety "is a situation-specific-type anxiety uniquely provoked by using a less dominant language (L2) and not simply a case of general anxiety transferred to the language classroom or to bilingual situations" (see Anna Clare, Caitlin, Lauren, and EJ's presentation).
Accommodation theory contends that speakers adjust their speech depending on with whom they are interacting. This can mean that native speakers adjust their speak with non-natives in these ways (name 3)
simple vocab
longer pauses
slower speech
careful articulation
loud volume
stress on key words
simple grammar
topicalization
regular syntactic forms
retention of full forms (i.e., cannot vs. can't)
True or false. The definition of learning is the change in cognitive structure based on one's experience. This can be a conscious process that involves explicit learning in a formal setting.
True
What are some of the facilitating condition of L2 development?
Feedback, aptitude, motivation, instructional techniques, (anxiety, etc.)
The Competition Model describes that SLA occurs when...
...learners adjust the L1 form-function mapping system to fit the L2. To do so, they detect different cues, which have different levels of strength based on frequency, if a cue is contrastive, and if the cue leads to correct interpretations or not.
Researchers have distinguished between L2 motivation that focuses in one specific personal goals (e.g., I want to travel, I want to get a good job using my L2) and goals that are more community and culturally oriented (e.g., I want to interact and integrate with the L2 culture). What are these types of motivation called?
Instrumental and integrative. Integrative motivation predicts more advanced L2 proficiency.
The Acculturation Model states that motivation to learn the L2 will be lower if...
limited interaction / more segregation between L1 and L2 groups
dominance of one group over the other
desire of learners to preserve lifestyle
Who was the linguist that went against B. F. Skinner and behaviorism to explain that all humans have the innate capacity to acquire language and that we are predisposed for this ability.
Noam Chomsky
True or false. Children acquiring any language have uniform, predictable stages of L1 acquisition.
True. See below.
Womb – 6 months - Perception and cooing (4 months)
6 – 8 months - Babbling (CV); nasals, glides, stops [ma-ma-ma]
9 – 18 months - Single words representing a sentence (“ball”)
18 – 24 months - Two-word stage (“ball me”)
24 – 30 months - Telegraphic stage (“get ball me”)
30+ months - Multiword stage; great variation of development amongst children;
4 - 6 years - Acquisition of basic L1 grammar and phonology
Coordinate bilingualism describe the storage of the L1 and L2 as...
separate systems, which were learned in two different contexts (which is more rare than compound and subordinate).
Compound - two systems together
Subordinate - L2 accessed/ filtered through L1
If an L2 learner has a field independence cognitive style, they will be able to do this better.
Analyze language, conjugate verbs, do well on tests, accuracy with grammar.
A field dependent learner sees the whole picture, and would typically perform better at communicative tasks and interpreting messages.
Culture in the L2 classroom is critical because...
Language reflects a group’s worldviews, thought process, and lifestyle; each culture places its own individual imprint on a language.
If you don't know the culture, you know much less of the language.
True or false. Sequential bilingualism is usually within the scope of SLA, as opposed to simultaneous bilingualism.
True.
Do both L1 and L2 development have "innate capacity" as part of their initial states?
False. This is Processability Theory. Complexity Theory contends that language is too complex to have a linear model; there are multiple, dynamic influences that change and shift. Learners are agents of their acquisition and it depends on with whom they interact. Language rules emerge from use and learners pick up on this through their usage with others. Language is not an innate property.
True or false. A learner's L1 reading level correlates to higher degrees of success in L2 learning.
True. See Karisha's, Jayden's, Mia's, and Emma's presentation.
L2 pragmatic competence can be describe as
knowing how to say what-to-whom-when. This competence can take awhile to develop, but it can be explicitly taught.