Transcript Cognition (Ch. 5) - Taylor & Francis

Cognition (Ch. 5)
Understanding SLA
Lourdes Ortega (2009)
www.routledge.com/cw/ortega
Published by Routledge © 2009 Mark Sawyer
Some contextualization
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Positive evidence vs. negative feedback
Why not negative evidence?
A simple example: Put the adverb often into
the sentence I drink coffee
The logical problem of language acquisition:
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Language seems logically unlearnable
How can we explain the fact that all children learn it?
UG, (skill learning), emergentist answers
5.1 Information processing in
psychology & SLA
Representation/access
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Controlled vs automatic processing
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Knowledge/processing
Symbols/computation
Effortful vs. effortless
Serial vs parallel
Attention & memory are limited
5.2 The power of practice:
Proceduralization & automaticity
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Proceduralization / Automatization:
Knowledge “that” (declarative/explicit)
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Knowledge “how” (procedural/implicit)
Involves speed-up + restructuring
5.3 An exemplary study of skill
acquisition theory: DeKeyser (1997)
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6 sessions (3 weeks) to learn
Autopractan grammar, vocab
15 sessions to practice
Conditions: (a) single or dual task;
(b) comprehension, production, mixed
Results: (1)reduction of practice effect
(2) mode-specific automatization
5.4 Long-term memory
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Declarative/propositional (explicit)
Procedural (implicit)
Semantic: decontextualized
Episodic: based on experienced events
5.5 Long-term memory &
L2 vocabulary knowledge
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Strength (procedural)
Size (declarative)
Depth (both)
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multiple meanings (polysemy)
morpho-syntactic behavior
relations to other words
contextual/usage constraints
Nonselectivity: Simultaneous activation of
both L1 & L2 information in language use
5.6 Working memory
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Manages 同時 storage & processing
 capacity limitations can be severe
 activation is temporary
Site for executive control
Site of consciousness
Also induction, hypothesizing,
analogizing, prioritizing, deciding
Working Memory: Components
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Central executive
Phonological loop
Visuo-spatial sketchpad
5.7 Memory as storage:
Passive working memory tasks
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Passive WTM = STM (depending…)
Limitations measured by span of recall of…
 Digits
 Words
 Non-words
 Sentences
STM Limitations: Explanations
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Capacity (size)
Time passage
Increasing interference
LTM shortcomings
5.8 Memory as dynamic processing:
Active working memory tasks
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Simultaneous processing/storage
Limitations in span measured by…
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Reading span task
Listening span task
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L2 WM capacity predicts L2 proficiency (
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Capacity reflects control of processing
rather than size of storage (Engle, 2002)
5.9 Attention & L2 learning
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Characteristics of attention
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Limited
Selective
Voluntary
Controls access to consciousness
Attentional conditions used in research
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Incidental
Implicit
Explicit
How do these conditions influence
learning?
5.10
Learning without intention
= Incidental learning, IS possible
 e.g. vocabulary thru extensive reading
 But…intention seems to work better
(for specific purposes)
5.11 Learning without attention
Noticing vs. detection only, or…
Inside or outside focal/selective attention
 Focal attention entails consciousness
(subjective experience)
 Fleeting recognition of tree while doing
other things can be detection-only,
but evoked intuition, inference, feeling
entails noticing
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5.12 Learning without awareness
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Immediate think-aloud research has
shown strong effect of awareness on
learning (more so for understanding)
Indirect measures--uptake of recasts,
note-taking--have shown no effect.
5.13 Disentangling Attention
from Awareness?
Different Measurements
 Awareness
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Self-reports (of subjective experience)
Attention
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Dual task (learning from unattended task)
Memory tests
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Direct: recognize item later
Indirect: show bias to prefer old items
5.14 Learning without rules
= learning rules without…
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looking for them (process)
awareness of learning (product)
Such implicit learning can be shown by
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Memorizing artificial language strings:
aabcd abbce abeec…
(*acbbe)
Later distinguishing “(un)grammatical”
ones (to some extent) w/o awareness
An exemplary study of symbolic vs.
associative learning: Robinson (1997)
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Dative alternation rule: mono-syllabicity
Mitt gave his delegates to John
 Mitt gave John his delegates
 Mitt donated his delegates to John
 *Mitt donated John his delegates
What can be learned from brief training?
 John minided some hot coffee to Sue
 *Sandy bivarded Patrick some Swiss cake
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Robinson (1997): Learning conditions
Implicit: Memorize word positions
 Incidental: Read for meaning
 Explicit 1: Look for rules (with help)
 Explicit 2: Receive rule, practice
Post-test: Speed, accuracy of judgments
Results: Explicit 2 fastest, most accurate
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All groups better on old than new instances
Robinson (1997): Conclusion
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Low-level implicit learning is possible,
allowing fast access of learned instances
Explicit learning leads to generalization with
awareness.
An emergentist turn in SLA?
3 important tenets of learning
associative: based on co-occurrences
probabilistic: not categorical, deterministic
rationally contingent: guesses based on…
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accumulated statistical (frequency) information
most relevant recent evidence
attention to cues
contextual clues
Other emergentist tenets
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Usage-based: use & knowledge are
inseparable; no competence/performance,
representation/access distinctions
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Grounded: language & thought are
structured by human experience
Dynamic system: identifiable patterns
emerge from a multiplicity of factors