THEORIES OF SECOND LANGUAGE

ACQUISITION

Input hypothes

is

The acquisition/learning

hypothesis

The monitor hypothesis

The natural order

hypothesis

The input hypothesis

The affective filter

hypothesis

KRASHEN’S INPUT HYPOTHESIS

Acquisition – a

subconscious and intuitive

process of constructin

g the system of a language.

Learning – a conscious learning

process in which

learners attend to

form, figure out rules, and are

generally aware of

their process.

KRASHEN’S INPUT HYPOTHESIS

• Fluency in second language performance is due to what we have acquired, not what we have learned.

• Conscious learning process and subconscious acquisition process are mutually exclusive.

The ‘monitor’ is involved in learning

It is a device to watch one’s input, for editing and making alterations or correction

The Monitor

Hypothesis

We acquire language rules in a predictable or ‘natural’ order.

The Natural Order

Hypothesis

KRASHEN’S INPUT HYPOTHESIS

An important condition for language acquisition to occur is that the acquirer understand input language that contains structure a bit beyond his current level of competence.

If an acquirer is at stage or level i, the input he or she understands should contain i + 1.

The Input Hypothes

is The best acquisition will occur in environments where anxiety is low and defensiveness absent , in Krashen’s terms, in context where the affective filter is low.

The Affective

Filter Hypothes

is

KRASHEN’S INPUT HYPOTHESIS

Main characteristics of

McLaughlin’s Information

Processing Model

Human are autonomous and active

The mind is a general purpose symbol processing

system

Complex behaviour is composed of simple

modular (i.e. self contained) processes

Component processes can be isolated and studied independently of other

process

Processes take time, therefore predictions about reaction time can be made.

McLaughlin’s Information Processing Model

Controlled Processes Capacity limited and temporary Learning a new skills, where only a few elements can be

retainedAutomatic Processes

Relatively permanent Processing of more accomplished skills Able to manage a lot of information simultaneously.

Focal AttentionPeripheral Attention

McLaughlin’s Information Processing Model

THE SHIFT FROM CONTROLLED TO AUTOMATIC PROCESSING IN SLA

The shift from controlled to automatic processing in SLA

Through repeated activation, sequences first produced by controlled processing become automatic and are stored in long-term memory. This means they can be rapidly accessed whenever the situation requires it with minimal attention on the part of the learner. Automatic processes can, therefore , activate complex cognitive skills simultaneously. However, such automatic skills are difficult to delete or modify once acquired.

Learners first resort to controlled processing in the L2. This requires a lot of attention from the learner and is constrained by the limitations of the short-term memory (STM)

Learning is a movement from controlled to automatic processing via practice. When his shift occurs, controlled processes are freed to deal with higher level processing (i.e. integration of more complex skill clusters). It is necessary for simple skills and routines to become autonomic before more complex ones can be tackled. This explains the incremental nature of learning.

This continuing movement from controlled to automatic processing results in a constant restructuring of the L2 learner’s linguistic system. This may account for variable characteristics of learner language(i.e. interlanguage) Restructuring destabilizes certain structures which seem to have been acquired, and leads to the temporary reappearance of L2 errors. Likewise, fossilization is the result of a controlled process becoming automatic before it is native-like. As stated above automatic processes are difficult to modify as they are outside of the attention control of the learner. Therefore, automatic processes of this kind are likely to remain in the learner’s interlanguage producing a stable but erroneous construction

BIALYSTOK’S MODEL OF LANGUAGE AND LEARNING

BIALYSTOK’S MODEL OF LANGUAGE AND LEARNING

LONG’S INTERACTION HYPOTHESIS

Achievements in Long’s Interaction

Hypothesis

It has been shown that NS and NNS speakers (children and adults) can and will work actively to achieve mutual understanding, at least, within the framework of a fairly wide range of problem solving task.

It has been shown that these negotiations involve both linguistic and interactional modifications which together offer repeated opportunities to ‘notice’ aspects of target language form.

It has been shown that NNS participants in negotiations for meaning can attend to, take up and use language items made available to them from their NS contributors.

It has been shown that learners receiving certain types of explicit instruction relating to particular target language structures perform significantly well when later tested on those structures.