What do we know when we know a language?
Download
Report
Transcript What do we know when we know a language?
What do we know when
we know a language?
TESOL Teacher Professional Development in Namibia
May 2013
Perspectives
Linguistic
Social
Psychological
Linguistic Perspective
Phonetics and Phonology
Morphology
Syntax
Semantics
Pragmatics
Linguistic Perspective
Important concepts
Universal grammar
Linguistic competence
Linguistic performance
Linguistic Perspective
Universal Grammar (UG)
The innate ability people are born with to learn a
language.
All languages have similar properties with limited
parameters: Word order, parts of speech,
displacement
All languages are rule-governed and are generally
learned in the same way
Linguistic Perspective
Linguistic competence: what speakers of a language
know about the language
Linguistic performance: how speakers of a
language use what they know
Linguistic Perspective
The Monitor Model (Krashen)
Acquisition/Learning Hypothesis
Monitor Hypothesis
Natural Order Hypothesis
Input Hypothesis
Affective Filter Hypothesis
The Monitor Model
i+ 1
Language
Acquisition
Device
Linguistic Perspective
Interlanguage (IL)
L1
Restructuring/Backsliding
Fossilization
L2
Social Perspective
Communicative competence
Microsocial factors
Macrosocial factors
Language community
Interaction hypothesis
Interpersonal
intrapersonal
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
Scaffolding
Acculturation Model
Social Perspective
Communicative Competence:
“what a speaker needs to know to communicate
appropriately within a particular language community”
(Saville-Troike, 2003)
Vocabulary + phonology + grammar + any other
linguistic structure + rules re: what to say to whom and
when and how…and if.
Social Perspective
Microsocial factors
Variability among a language community or within a
learner that is systematic and predictable
I ate dinner v. I ate supper.
Hi v. hello v. good morning
Macrosocial factors
Features of the larger political setting, social position,
societal attitudes, values, ethnicity, gender, age
Social Perspective
Language Community
A group of people who share knowledge of a
common language at least to some extent
How many language communities do you belong to?
How are they different? How are they similar?
Social Perspective
Interaction Hypothesis
The claim that modifications and collaborative efforts
which take place in social interaction facilitate SLA because
they contribute to the accessibility of input for mental
processing (Saville-Troike 2012, p. 190)
Modifications:
Oral: high frequency phrases, pauses grammatical
junctures, slower speed, repetition, paraphrase, expansion,
sentence completion
Written: academic texts include frequent organization
markers, clear topic sentences, highlighting of key terms
(synonyms + paraphrases), lists of main points, elaboration
of specific points, visual aids, explicit summations at
regular intervals, questions
Social Perspective
Accommodation Theory:
Speakers change their pronunciation and even
grammatical complexity to sound more like
whomever they are talking to.
…so if teachers use the language they want their
students to use….
Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky)
The distance between current ability and potential
growth. In order to learn, the learner needs guidance.
It is where learning happens.
Social Perspective
Teacher
ZPD
Learner
Social Perspective
Scaffolding
Verbal guidance which an expert provides to help a learner
perform any specific task, or the verbal collaboration of
peers to perform a task which would be too difficult for any
one of them in individual performance
S: Taki
T: What did Taki do?
S: Pencil
T: What did Taki do with the pencil?
S: Throw (makes a throwing motion)
T: Taki, don’t throw pencils.
Social Perspective
Acculturation Model
Identifies group factors such as identity and status
which determine social and psychological distance
between learner and target language populations.
Psychological Perspective
Information Processing
Controlled/Automatic
Connectionism
Critical Period Hypothesis and Age
Gender
Cognitive Style
Learning Style, Learning Strategies
Information Processing
Critical Period Hypothesis
Gender
Cognitive Style
Tolerance for Ambiguity
Risk-taking
Reflective
Field dependence
Visual
Auditory
Kinesthetic
Learning Strategies
Metacognitive: attempt to regulate learning by
planning and monitoring. Ex: pre-viewing, deciding
in advance to attend to specific input…
Cognitive: make use of direct analysis or synthesis of
linguistic material. Ex: repeating after a language
model, translating, guessing meaning through
inferencing
Social/affective: involve interaction with others. Ex:
asking questions for clarification, asking for
repetition, explanation or examples