Transcript On Knowing a Language - University of California, San Diego

Today
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Review: “Knowing a Language”
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Complete chapter 1
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Proficiency oriented curriculum
Language components
Proficiency guidelines
Standards for foreign language learning
Start chapter 2: On learning a language
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Theories of language learning
On Learning a Language
1
Two views on language learning
Empiricist
Rationalist
(Environmentalist)
(Mentalist/Nativist)
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Learned
General learning
ability (human and animal
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Innate
Species-specific
learning are similar)
On Learning a Language
2
Behaviorist Theory (Skinner)
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Human learning and animal learning are similar
The child’s mind is a tabula rasa. There is no innate
pre-programming specifically for language learning at
birth
Psychological data should be limited to that which is
observable
All behavior is viewed as a response to stimuli
Conditioning involves the strengthening of
associations between a stimulus and a response
Human language is a “sophisticated response
system” acquired through operant conditioning.
On Learning a Language
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Criticisms to Skinner
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This theory cannot explain creativity
in generating language: language
behavior is more complex than the
establishment of S-R connections
Lack of empirical evidence:
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the role of imitation and reinforcement
is smaller
On Learning a Language
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Universal Grammar Theory
(Chomsky)
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Language is a species-specific, genetically determined capacity.
Language learning is governed by biological mechanisms
The ultimate form of any human language is a function of
language universals, a set of fixed abstract principles that are
innate
Each language has its own “parameters” whose “settings” are
learned on the basis of linguistic data
There is a “core grammar”, congruent with universal principles,
and a “peripheral grammar,” consisting of features that are not
part of a universal grammar.
Core grammar rules are thought to be relatively easier to
acquire, in general, than peripheral rules.
On Learning a Language
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Criticisms
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Are language universals still available in
adulthood?
Lack of empirical evidence:
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Difficult to prove the existence of language
universals (principles and parameters)
On Learning a Language
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Krashen’s Monitor Theory:
L1 and L2 are similar
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Acquisition vs. learning
4 hypotheses:
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(unconscious vs. conscious)
The natural order hypothesis
The monitor hypothesis
The input hypothesis: comprehensible input (i+1)
The affective filter hypothesis: motivation and low
level of anxiety
The role of error correction
On Learning a Language
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Connectionism/PDP
(McCleland,
Rumelhart & PDP Group, Gasser, Elman)
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Learning consists of the strengthening of connections
between and among simple processing units
Cognitive processing occurs in a parallel fashion, not
serial
Knowledge is in the connections rather than the
processing units themselves
The strength of the connections is determined by the
relative frequency of patterns in the input
There are no ‘rules’ in connectionist systems,
although they exhibit regular or ‘rule-like’ behavior
On Learning a Language
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