learner language

LEARNER LANGUAGE

1

Learner Language2

Interlanguage Generalization Transfer Internal sequences

Interlanguage3

Input Noticing Intake Interlanguage

Interlanguage Rules4

Learners create language rules from intake

Rules determine learners’ Comprehension Production

Interlanguage rules are changeable From the outside (input) From the inside (learner hypotheses)

Interlanguage Rules5

Learners’ interlanguage changes with time Rules are altered Rules are deleted Rules are added

Irregular verbs6

Interlaguage Continuum7

L1 IL L2

L1 IL L2

Interlanguage8

Has rules Is changeable, but not random Moves towards L2, but may become

fossilized

Processes 9

Processes that create interlanguage Generalizations Transfer Internal sequences

Generalizations10

Generalizations are used in many learning situations

Learners group similar things, events, information, etc. together into categories

Learners make rules to predict how different items will behave

Generalization11

Learners categorize what they hear and make rules for those categories

Learners use those categories and rules in new situations

Overgeneralization12

Learners sometimes make mistakes because Categories have exceptions Learners put language in the wrong

categories

Overgeneralization13

An item belongs to a category but it is an exception to a general rule for the category Irregular verbs: go – went, choose – chose Irregular plurals: wife – wives, mouse – mice

An item belongs to a different category Auxiliary verbs and third person aspect: He

goes to the store – He will goes to the store

Transfer14

Learners use their knowledge of their first language to understand and organize second language information When there are differences in the first and

second language, transfer can lead learners to make errors

When first and second language are the same, transfer help learners

Examples of errors due to transfer15

Pronunciation Vocabulary Speech acts

Pronunciation16

How do you pronounce the following?SaladShirtEarth1990Base – vase Rob – lob

Vocabulary

Idiom Meaning in English Meaning in Arabic

day after day every day every other day

red-faced embarrassed furious

pull one's leg(jokingly) say

something untrue let him talk

stretch one's legs take a walk lie down

head over heels completely (in love) upside down

17

Speech acts18

Americans hosts tend to offer food and drink three times. American guests tend to refuse the first two offers and accept the third.

Dutch hosts tend to offer food and drink only once. Dutch guests are expected to accept if they are thirsty or hungry or refuse if they are not.

Transfer and generalization19

Transfer and overgeneralization are not distinct processes

Generalization: Learners make use of their knowledge of the second language

Transfer: Learners make use of their knowledge of their first language to produce or understand a second language

Successful learning20

Overgeneralization and transfer are not bad

Overgeneralization and transfer lead learners to successfully produce language more often than they lead them to make errors

Errors are part of the learning process

Internal Sequences

Learners Hear different language, for example, in

classrooms Have different first languages

Therefore, we expect that learners learn a second language in different ways

Morpheme studies

Researchers studied how accurately learners used different morphemes

Studied learners with different first languages

Analyzed how accurately the morphemes were used

Morpheme Study Results 1

Group 1: present progressive -ing as in boy running plural -s as in two books copula `to be' as in he is big

Group 2: auxiliary `to be' as in he is running articles the and a

Group 3: irregular past forms as in she went Group 4: regular past -ed as in she climbed

third-person singular -s as in she runs possessive -s as in man's hat

Morpheme study results 2

Learners used morphemes in Group 1 most accurately

Researchers assumed that degree of accuracy indicated the order in which morphemes are learned

English morphemes are learned in a predictable sequence

Morpheme study results 3

Sequence is only a tendency Variation in all studies

Other studies have shown contradictory results

Thus, morpheme studies are not completely reliable

Questions

Second language learners go through the same stages in learning questions as first language learners

Question Stages27

Stage Examples

Stage 1: wh-word goes in front

What daddy doing? Why Sarah crying? Where you go?

Stage 2: Adds the auxiliary verb

Where he will go?What he is doing?Why Sarah is crying?

Stage 3: Grammatically correct

What is daddy doing?Where will you go?Why do you work?

Progress through the stages

Progress is gradual One stage slowly disappears and is

replaced by another Learners often produce questions from

different stages

Conclusions

Second language learners tend to learn some language features in sequences Morphemes Negatives Questions

Sequences are usually independent of the learners first language

Sequences indicate that there may be something internal helping learners learn second languages

Learner Language30

Interlanguage Generalization Transfer Internal sequences