Theories
According to Behaviorism, this is what language learning is the result of.
What is habit formation through stimulus–response–reinforcement?
According to Krashen’s Input Hypothesis, learners acquire language from input that is slightly above their current level, often called this.
What is i+1 / comprehensible input?
The Critical Period Hypothesis is mainly concerned with this factor.
What is age of acquisition?
Focus on Form means that grammar is taught in this context.
What is meaningful communication?
Younger learners usually have an advantage in acquiring this aspect of language.
What is pronunciation/phonology?
According to Chomsky, humans are born with this innate capacity for language.
What is Universal Grammar / a Language Acquisition Device?
This researcher proposed the Output Hypothesis.
Who is Merrill Swain?
Motivation can be divided into these two main types.
What are integrative and instrumental?
When a teacher repeats a learner’s error using the correct form, this type of feedback is given.
What is a recast?
Adults often progress faster than children in the early stages of learning in this context.
What is the classroom / instructed learning?
This theory emphasizes the role of negotiation of meaning in communication.
What is the Interactionist Theory?
This hypothesis by Schmidt states that learners must consciously register language features for them to be acquired.
What is the Noticing Hypothesis?
Language learning aptitude includes memory and this ability to analyze language.
What is analytic ability / phonemic coding ability?
Explicit grammar teaching is most useful for building this kind of knowledge.
What is explicit/conscious knowledge?
Pragmatic competence refers to knowing how to use language appropriately in these contexts.
What are social and cultural contexts?
In Sociocultural theory, this is what ZPD stands for.
What is the Zone of Proximal Development?
This hypothesis by Long highlights the importance of negotiation of meaning during communication.
What is the Interaction Hypothesis?
Anxiety, self-confidence, and identity are examples of these factors in SLA.
What are affective factors?
A learner says, “She don’t like pizza”. The teacher asks, “She … like pizza?” encouraging the learner to fill in the blank correctly. This type of learner-centered feedback is called what?
What is elicitation / prompting?
Learning a language in an immersion environment is an example of this type of context.
What is a naturalistic context?
This theory argues that language learning happens through social interaction mediated by cultural tools.
What is Sociocultural Theory?
These three SLA hypotheses collectively argue that acquisition occurs when learners (1) understand input slightly beyond their level, (2) produce language that forces deeper processing, and (3) consciously attend to linguistic features.
What are the Input Hypothesis, Output Hypothesis, and Noticing Hypothesis?
This individual difference is often stable and biologically influenced, but still shaped by experience.
What is aptitude?
Long distinguished between instruction that isolates rules and instruction embedded in meaning-focused communication. This distinction is fundamental for designing effective task-based lessons.
What are Focus on Forms vs. Focus on Form?
This factor helps explain why some immigrant children maintain strong L1 identities while acquiring an L2.
What are sociocultural/identity factors?