Transcript Schools of Thought in Second Language Learning

Schools of Thought in
Second Language Learning
(1940’s - 2000’s)
Source: Brown, D. Principles of Language
Learning and Teaching. (p.p.9-15)
Trends in Linguistics and
Psychology
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Psychology
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1940’s-1950’s:
Behaviorism/
Neobehaviorism
-1960’s:
Cognitive Psychology
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Linguistics
1940’s-1950’s:
Structural Linguistics
-1960’s:
TransformationalGenerative School
1940’s-1950’s
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Behaviorism
-It focused only on
publicly observable
behaviors
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Structural Linguistics
-Only observable
linguistic behaviors
can be studied.
Language could be
dismantled into small
pieces or units,
described
scientifically,
contrasted, then
added up again to
form the whole.
Cont’d
Behaviorism
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-Notions such as
intuition, memory,
thinking, or any
mental processes
were ignored.
Structural Linguistics
-Notions such as
meaning or
thought were
completely
ignored.
Cont’d
Behaviorism
-Learning a behavior:
through conditioning
‘organisms’ to
respond in desired
ways to stimuli --}
Practice/ drilling is
important.
Structural Ling.
-Learning language:
conditioning learners to
make the right
connection between
stimuli and the
desired responses --}
Drilling in the language
classroom was a
dominant method.
Cont’d
Behaviorism
-Reinforcement
(Positive or
negative) plays an
important role in
learning.
Structural Ling.
-Positive/ negative
reinforcement play
a significant role in
language learning.
The 1960’s - 1980’s

Cognitive Psychology
-Meaning,
understanding, and
knowing are
important
psychological data.
TransformationalGenerative Linguistics
-They broke away from
the structuralists’
insistence on only
studying observable
language
(performance)

Cont’d
Cognitive Psychology
-Cognitivists sought to
discover underlying
motivation and
deeper structures of
human behavior.
TransformationalGenerative Linguistics
-Linguistics goes beyond
mere description of
the surface structure
of language.
Cont’d
Cog. Psych.
-Instead of focusing on
the mechanical
stimulus-response
connections,
cognitivists tried to
focus on psychological
principles of
organization and
functioning.
T-G Linguistics
-Studying competence
reveals the hidden level
of meaning and thought
(deep structure) that
generates the observable
performance.
-learning language:
language is speciesspecific; it is innate:
human beings are born
with the ability to learn
language.
The 1980’s – 2000’s
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Constructivism
It involves the integration of linguistic,
psychological, and sociological paradigms.
The active role of the learner is
emphasized.
A. Cognitive constructivism: emphasizes the
role of the learner in constructing his/her
own representation of reality:
Constructivism
-Learners must transform complex
information to make it their own.
 A more active role for students in their
learning.
Piaget argues that, “learning is a
developmental process that involves
change, self-generation, and construction,
each building on prior experiences.” (in
Kaufman, 2004).
Constructivism
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B. Social Constructivism: emphasizes the
importance of social interaction and
cooperative learning in constructing
cognitive and emotional images of reality.
Language learning is a result of thinking
and meaning-making that is “socially
constructed and emerges out of [learners’]
social interactions with the environment.”
(Brown, p. 13)
What is the Best Theory?
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No single theory is right or wrong all the
way!
“Some truth can be found in every critical
approach to the study of reality.” (Brown,
p. 14)