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From Models to Methods: Linking L1 and L2 Theory to

Web-Based Learning

Brian MacWhinneyPsychology, Modern Languages, and LTI

Carnegie Mellon Universityhttp://talkbank.org/slrf.ppt

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Outline1. L1 & L2: Similar or Different?2. Why is L2 attainment so variable?

• L1 learning is pretty variable too

3. The Competition Model Approach• risk factors, protective factors• competition, maps, connections, transfer,

participation• explicit / implicit learning interplay

4. Tests in the Field

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CPH FDH

• The Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH)• central evidence for UG• evident to the "person in the street"• but it has many evidential problems.

• The Fundamental Difference Hypothesis (FDH) is more interesting

• Bley-Vroman: UG is dead• Clahsen & Felser’s shallow structure hypothesis (SSH)• Kuhl’s Perceptual Magnet• Paradis/Ullman declarative/procedural• Brain changes (Neville, Friederici)

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FDH FSH

• The Fundamental Similarity Hypothesis (FSH)• L1 and L2 use the same cognitive and social

resources and processes• The target is the same• Competition is still the fundamental organizing

principle• What differs is the constellation of the resources

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Competition• Competition is fundamental:

• Darwin, Edelman, Chicago Economics• Minsky, Eagleman – Society of Mind• PDP• Competition Model, Sociolinguistics

• Competition • brain areas are multifunctional• multiple pathways lead to processing

• horse races• indeterminacy• variability

• indeterminacy

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The Classic Model circa 1987• Form-function mapping• Competition• Cue validity, reliability from corpora• Cue strength measures in experiments

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Functions compete for formsForms compete for functions

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Thanks to ...Elizabeth Bates

Patricia Brooks Angel Chan Antonella DevescoviMichèle Kail Beverly Wulfeck Vera KempeJared Leinbach Christophe Parisse Colleen DavyStan Smith Dan Slobin Roman TarabanJanet McDonald Hasan Taman Elena PizzutoYvan Rose Hong Li Phillip PavlikPing Li Igor Farkas Arturo HernandezMelita Kovacevic Joseph Stemberger Sanako MitsugiGordana Dobravac Klaus Köpcke Maryellen MacDonald Johannes Wagner Jeffrey Sokolov Kerry KilbornJulia Evans Natasha Tokowicz Ovid TzengYoshinori Sasaki Richard Wong Reinhold KlieglYanhui Zhang Xiaowei Zhao Yuki Yoshimura

Nora Presson Yanping Dong Anat PriorAngel Chan Yun Zhao Laura MorettCsaba Pléh Zhou JingNIH NSF MacArthur Foundation

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Findings78 Competition Model studies in 18 languages (http://psyling.psy.cmu.edu/papers) •In adults, cue strength is determined by cue reliability•Children begin with prototypes and availability, but shift to reliability•Online processing focuses on single strong cues with later integration•Perspective taking impacts processing (mental models)

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Extensions• 1989: Added cue cost• 1987-2012: Online measures• 1995: Focus on dynamics of L2 learning• 2000: Links to neural processing• 2005: DevLex II• 2007: Extensions to fluency• 2010: Stress on early prototypes – Leipzig• 2010: Risks-protections model

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The Unified Competition ModelRisk Factors

Basis ProtectiveFactors

Basis

Entrenchment Cortical Maps Resonance Hippocampus

Misconnection White Matter Proceduralization Thalamus, BG

Parasitism Transfer Internalization + Inner Speech

Isolation Social Stratification

Participation Group Inclusion

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Competition interactive activation, Bayes

Maps entrenchment, SOM

Connectivity imaging, topological encoding

Transfer markedness, explicit feedback

Chunking fluency, proceduralization, IBPs

Resonance PDP, hippocampus, scheduling

Internalization inner speech, embodied cognition

Participation codes, groups, stratification

Component Theories

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Risks• First we will examine the risks that L2

learners face and their basis• Then we will examine the protective factors

and their basis• Finally, we will consider how we increase

the strength of the protective factors

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Risk #1: Map Entrenchment• Maps are in areas of CORTEX• Maps self-organize (SOM)

Maps (Subsystems)Subsystem Area Processes TheoryAudition STG, IPG Extracting

phonemesStatistical learning

Articulation BA44, motor cortex

Targets, timing Resonance, gating

Lexicon STGRH coding

Phonology to meaning

DevLex

Syntax BA45,47 Slots, sequences Item-based patterns

Mental Models BA47, DLPFC, MTG

Deixis, Perspective Perspective, Roles

Participation Social system Topics, turn-taking Conversation Analysis

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DevLex - Ping Li

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Entrenchment

50, 100, 250, and 500 words

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L2 part-of-speech mismatches• L1 Navajo will have classifiers, discontinuous

aspect-verb, impersonal verb-adjectives, nouns decomposed into spatial relations

• Navajos learning German must deal with prepositions, phrasal verbs, gender, case, etc.

• In general L1 and L2 will not be an exact match

Risk #2: Misconnection

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Organizing Connectivity is the Brain's Basic Challenge

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Detail from• DTI (Schneider, MGH)• MEG underconnectivity in autism (Just,

Ghuman)• Cortico-cortical evoked potentials (CCEP) -

Bookheimer, Matsumoto, others• Gamma band coherence analysis

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Ten Major Fiber Pathways in the Human Brain - Schneider

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Connections are White Matter• Rewiring local areas is easier than rewiring

distant connections • Work on children with focal lesions, palsy• Connections emerge during embryogenesis

• A third of the brain is connections• Interaction of hemispheres is also based on

connections across the corpus callosum

Connections between Maps

Somatotopic, tonotopic, retinotopic, locotopic organization works to guide connections.Receiving area must understand map of sending area.Some areas, like the thalamus, only need to relate priorities between areas. Communication also involves temporal synchronization.

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Wernicke-Geschwind Connection Model

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Hickok-Poeppel Speech Processing Model

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Competition Model• Production

• DLPFC mental models activate PT constructions• PT constructions (IBPs) gate STG lexicon• Lexicon also receives input from mental models• STG lexicon gates BA44 and motor output

• Comprehension• Auditory input activates STG lexical competition• BA45 pattern competition gated by STG input• Mental models take input from lexicon, syntax,

and conversation model

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Roles in Mental Models

recur

X=milkmore

object

want

action

Item-based patterns

Temporal DevLex Maps

Mental Model Roles

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Frontal Models – Koechlin

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Integrated processing• Production and comprehension use same

maps and connections, but in different configurations (Kempen)

• Emphasis on gating and connections, rather than movement of information

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Risks• #1-Entrenchment and #2-Misconnection• L1 maps "know" what to connect to.• In L2, maps will not align completely,

otherwise L2 learning would just be vocabulary extension.

• Major long-distance connections cannot regrow.

• Connections can become tangled during embryogenesis.

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Risk #3: Parasitism and Transfer

translation route

““turtle”turtle” ““tortuga”tortuga”

direct route

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Entrenchment and bilingualism

Simultaneous Bilingualism

LX LYbalanced

dominatesL1 L2

Successive Bilingualism

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The Problem• Again: If L1/L2 areas were isomorphic, L2

learning would be nothing but new vocabulary learning

• Also, fluency would not be impaired, because the connections would be smooth

• But languages mismatch radically, so parasitism leads to both negative transfer and lessened fluency

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Principles of TransferCompetition Model claims:

• Everything that can transfer will. • Transfer follows markedness• Transfer is strongest when mismatch cannot be detected

• Semantics and perspective transfer well (except when there are wide cultural differences as in Pirahã, Japanese).

• Phonology transfers, but not so cleanly and there must be rearranging and readjustment.

• Morphosyntax and IBP cannot easily transfer.• Unmarked FBP transfers: S + V

Marked FBP goes back to IBP: Adv + V + S

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Su abuela cocina/*cocinando muy bien.Her aunt cooks/*cooking very well.

L1 supports L2Tokowicz & MacWhinney 2005

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Tolentino & Tokowicz 2011

• Parallel structures show parallel ERPs• Different structures show different ERPs• Late AoA subjects show more attention• SSH (Clahsen) not supported, learners start

to approach native speaker ERP profiles• N400 to P600 to ELAN shifts

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Interim Summary• Maps, Connections, and Parasitism pose

Risks to L2 learners• Without reorganization, L2 will suffer from

disfluency and negative transfer• But there are Protective Factors that

can trigger successful reorganization• resonance (cortical reorganization)• proceduralization (connection reorganization)

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Protection #1: Resonance

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Interactive Activation and GangsUnits that fire together, wire together

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Hippocampal Support

Wittenburg et al. 2002

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Scheduling:Graduated interval recall

Pimsleur 67

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Varying Consolidation Timescales

• Gaskell, Davis – overnight consolidation• Avi Karni has shown that decline in implicit

learning in adulthood is erased by naps• Rats show retrograde amnesia for days• HM and others showed retrograde amnesia

for weeks, even years (Squire TV study)• So, the hippocampus may be continually

involved in consolidation

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Resonant Methods

• Semantic field elaboration: textbook units• Morphological analysis, etymology• Mnemonics, keywords• Multiple representations: phonological and

orthographic, subtitles• Phonological recoding (script dependent)• Radical learning in CJK scripts• Staying in L2 (Internalization)

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Protection #2: Chunking• Lexical chunks short-circuit problems with

IFG – STG connectivity and mapping• Phrases: por lo mucho que _, it reminds

one of __• Idioms, frozen forms• Compounds, poems, rhymes

• Donau_dampf_schiff_fahrt_gesellschafts_haupt_stellvertretender_kapitän

• Rockabye baby on the tree top ...

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Protection #3: Proceduralization

Region 1 Region 2 Region 3

A representation

The samerepresentation

A transformedrepresentation

The transformedrepresentation

TimeRouting

Operation 1

RoutingOperatio

n 2

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With practice

Region 1 Region 2 Region 3

A representation

A representation thathas been processed

TimeNew

routingOperatio

n

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Proceduralization

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Acquiring Fluency• Disfluency: Omissions, errors, substitutions

stuttering• Increasing fluency by

• cutting out stages• creating a single chain

• Item-based patterns (IBPs) as the backbone• Getting timing right within IBP chain• Synchronizing with other processes• General age-related declines impact

proceduralization more than resonance

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Protection #4: InternalizationWe build up mental models through perspective-

taking.Comprehensible input -- L2 speaker can construct

a coherent mental model.The Communicative Approach can promote

internalizationInternalization produces whole-brain resonance

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Risk #4: Isolation• Insufficient comprehensible input and

output• Peer-group exclusion• Immigrant group insulation• Role entrenchment• Ascendance of international English• Work commitment

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Protection #5: Participation

• Identity Theory: • identifying with the L2 culture• identifying with particular L2 members

• Extroversion/Introversion• Group alignment: Danish handball team, church membership• Immigrant sweet spot of 8-13 Cathy Caldwell-Harris

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Similar or Different?• Critical Period Hypotheses

• Procedural Deficit Hypothesis• Shallow Structure Hypothesis• UG is dead

• Unified Model • Both L1 and L2 use the same resources• What differs is the configurations of risk factors and

protective factors• Successful L2 learning is based on optimizing

protective factors

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How to maximize protection• Teachers can provide motivation,

organization, and conversation• But classrooms cannot provide

• Scheduled practice• Consistent feedback• Rich student model• Immediate link to outside world

• Modern computer systems can

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Language Partner

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PSLC Basic Skills StudiesPhil Pavlik: Chinese vocabulary optimizationYuki Yoshimura: Fluency testingColleen Davy: Fluency trainingNora Presson: French gender cuesNora Presson: Spanish conjugationYanhui Zhang: Pinyin dictation tutorHelen Yun Zhao: English article tutorLike Li: character tutorDan Walter: German case/gender cues

Brian MacWhinney: French dictation tutor

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Chinese Resonance

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Yoshimura - Fluency

E r r o r A n a l y s i s b y t y p e

c o m p l e x i t y = c o m p l e x

S e n t e n c e L e n g t h

Number of errors in production

0

0 .2

0 .4

0 .6

0 .8

1

4 6 8 1 0

o m i s s i o n

r e t r a c e

g r a m m a t i c a l

e r r o r

s u b s t i t u t i o n

a d d i t i o n

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Davy - Spanish Fluency

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But it is best to listen first – Potovsky (1974)

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Yun Zhao - English Articles

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Cue Contrast

Alice is only interested in 0 wealth.cue: 0-noncountable

Alice is only interested in the wealth of her parents.

cue: the-noncountable+PP

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Zhao - Greatest gains for explicit feedback

with transparent cues

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Explicit–Implicit Contrast• Classic implicit learning literature was

about lack of awareness• L2 learners are very much aware• So, there is no really implicit learning, only

relative degrees of explicitness• This issue can be rephrased in terms of

proceduralization

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In Progress• VILLA individual differences diagnosis

system• DOVE subtitled video system• Google Maps Tours• Working with Luis van Ahn's DuoLingo

• German, English, Spanish• 250,000 users• Best retention when formal rule diagnosis is

given

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http://talkbank.org/pslc• VILLA• Pinyin Tutor• Chinese / Spanish Vocab Tutor• Chinese Character Tutor• Article Tutor• DOVE captioned video

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From Theory To Practice• Tutors must integrate with classroom

practice• Instructors must find them valuable• Students must find them valuable• Data must allow us to further test the theory• Work with Pinyin Tutor, Spanish Tutor, and

DuoLingo show how we can collect huge amounts of relevant data

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Summary• Linguistic theory maps well to the brain• Competition is central• The theory must also explain

• maps, connectivity, fluency/chunking• resonance, internalization, participation

• The model should be able to help us understand various forms of language disorder, as well as barriers to second language learning