Second Language Acquisition Theories

Acquisition of Language

Krashen Acquisition of language is a natural, intuitive, and subconscious process of which individuals need not be aware. One is unaware of the process as it is happening and, when the new knowledge is acquired, the acquirer generally does not realize that he or she possesses any new knowledge.

Sociocultural Theory

Also know as: Cultural-historical psychology

Connectionism

Connectionism attempts to model the cognitive language processing of the human brain, using computer architectures that make associations between elements of language, based on frequency of co-occurrence in the language input Frequency has been found to be a factor in various linguistic domains of language learning. Connectionism assumes that learners form mental connections between items that co-occur, using exemplars found in language input. From this input, learners extract the rules of the language through cognitive processes common to other areas of cognitive skill acquisition.

Krashen's 5 Hypotheses

Input Hypothesis Acquisition-learning Hypothesis Monitor Hypothesis Natural Order Hypothesis Affective Filter Hypothesis

Difficulties Using the monitor

Krashen Knowing the rule: -->this is a difficult condition to meet, because even the best students do not learn every rule that is taught, cannot remember every rule they have learned, and can't always correctly apply the rules they do remember. Furthermore, not every rule of a language is always included in a text or taught by the teacher Having time to use the monitor: -->there is a price that is paid for the use of the monitor- the speaker is then focused on form rather than meaning, resulting in the production and exchange of less information, thus slowing the flow of conversation. Some speakers over-monitor to the point that the conversation is painfully slow and sometimes difficult to listen to The rules of language make up only a small portion of our language competence: -->Acquisition does not provide 100% language competence. There is often a small portion of grammar, punctuation, and spelling that even the most proficient native speakers may not acquire. While it is important to learn these aspects of language, since writing is the only form that requires 100% competence, these aspects of language make up only a small portion of our language competence

Three Conditions for use of the monitor

Krashen The acquirer/learner must know the rule: -->This is a very difficult condition to meet because it means that the speaker must have had explicit instruction on the language form that he or she is trying to produce The acquirer must be focused on correctness: -->He or she must be thinking about form, and it is difficult to focus on meaning and form at the same time The acquirer/learner must have time to use the monitor: -->Using the monitor requires the speaker to slow down and focus on form

Input

Krashen When learners come into direct contact with the target language itself

Intake

Krashen When learners process input in a way that can contribute to learning

Learning a Language

Krashen a conscious process, much like what one experiences in school. New knowledge or language forms are represented consciously in the learner's mind, frequently in the form of language "rules" and "grammar", and the process often involves error correction Language learning involves formal instruction and, according to Krashen, is less effective than acquisition.

Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis

Krashen claims that there is a strict separation between acquisition and learning Krashen saw acquisition as a purely subconscious process and learning as a conscious process, and claimed that improvement in language ability was only dependent upon acquisition and never on learning

Monitor Hypothesis

Krashen states that consciously learned language can only be used to monitor language output; it can never be the source of spontaneous speech In other words, while only the acquired system is able to produce spontaneous speech, the learned system is used to check what is being spoken Before the learner produces an utterance, he or she internally scans it for errors, and uses the learned system to make corrections. Self-correction occurs when the learner uses the Monitor to correct a sentence after it is uttered. According to the hypothesis, such self-monitoring and self-correction are the only functions of conscious language learning

Natural Order Hypothesis

Krashen states that language is acquired in a particular order This order is not dependent on the ease with which a particular language feature can be taught; some features, such as third-person "-s" ("he runs") are easy to teach in a classroom setting, but are not typically acquired until the later stages of language acquisition.

Input Hypothesis

Krashen states that learners progress in their knowledge of the language when they comprehend language input that is slightly more advanced than their current level Krashen called this level of input "i+1", where "i" is the learner's interlanguage and "+1" is the next stage of language acquisition

Affective Filter Hypothesis

Krashen states that learners' ability to acquire language is constrained if they are experiencing negative emotions such as fear or embarrassment. Certain emotions, such as anxiety, self-doubt, and mere boredom interfere with the process of acquiring a second language. The hypothesis further states that the blockage can be reduced by sparking interest, providing low-anxiety environments, and bolstering the learner's self-esteem There are two prime issues that prevent the lowering of the affective filter. The first is not allowing for a silent period The second is correcting their errors too early-on in the process.

Lydia White Learner Competence

She rejects the input hypothesis because it places too much emphasis on comprensible input, when for her, it is incomprehensible input that is crucial for SLA She contends that comprehension difficulties provide important negative feedback to learners, enabling them to adjust their developing language based on feedback provided in the conversational repair work

Sociocultural Theory

The theory focuses on the individual development of people and the important contributions that society makes to them. This theory focuses on not only individual learning and the influences adults and peers have on learning, but on how cultural beliefs and attitudes affect instruction and learning Vygotsky believed that the development of higher order functions are a result of parents, caregivers, peers and the culture at large. According to Vygotsky, "Every function in the child's cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychogical). Vygotsky stated that "children are born with basic biological constraints on their minds. Each culture, however, provides what he referred to as 'tools of intellectual adaption.' These tools allow children to use their basic mental abilities in a way that is adaptive to the culture in which they live."

Skill Acquisition Theory

a theory in cognitive psychology that states that learning a skill requires at least three stages: declarative knowledge - factual knowledge (i.e knowing a rule) ->proceduralization of knowledge - the encoding of the behavior of this knowledge -->This is achieved by engaging in the target behavior while relying on declarative knowledge (i.e. paying attention to the rule while practicing) automatizing of knowledge - using the knowledge without thinking ->strengthening and fine-tuning procedural knowledge through practice leads to automatizing -->this may be accompanied by a loss of declarative knowledge **Skill Acquisition Theory is all about practice

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

the difference between what a learner can do without help and what he or she can do with help. Scaffolding

Mechanical Practice

these are behavior drills (i.e. doing some behavior repetitively) which are essentially useless for anything but basic pronunciation or refining declarative knowledge because they require the repetition of a certain behavior without focus on meaning.

Communicative Practice

this type of practice requires the exchanging of previously unknown information

Meaningful Practice

this type of practice requires working with meaning, usually working with shared knowledge between interlocutors. Nothing new is really said here