Second Language Acquisition (SLA)

6. What are learning styles and strategies and how do they affect second language learning?

Brown (1994) defines styles as “rather enduring tendencies or preferences within an individual”. He also explains, “Strategies “Strategies are specific methods of approaching a problem or task, modes of operation for achieving a particular end, planned designs for controlling and manipulating certain information.”

(1) LEARNING STYLES

  The way people learn things and solve the problems that they face while their learning is different from one another. It depends on their cognitive style, which is a rather amorphous link between their personality and cognition. When the cognitive style is related to an educational context, we call it learning styles. styles. People get their own own lear learni ning ng styl style e whil while e they they inte intern rnal aliz ize e thei theirr tota totall envi enviro ronm nmen ent, t, and and the the inter internal nalizi izing ng proce process ss is affect affected ed by physic physical, al, affect affective ive,, and cognit cognitive ive factor factors. s. According to Keef (1979), learning styles are “cognitive, affective, and physiological traits that are relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, interact with, and respond to the learning environment.” Skehan (1991) more simply says that learning learning style style is “a general general predispos predisposition ition,, voluntary voluntary or not, toward toward process processing ing informati information on in a particular particular way.” way.” (Skehan (Skehan 1991) There There are some dimensions dimensions of  learning style :

1) Field Independence

Field-independent  learni learning ng style style means means the tenden tendency cy to percei perceive ve a partic particula ular, r, proper item or factor in a “field” of confusing items. Field-independent Field-independent style enables the learn learner er to dis distin tingui guish sh parts parts from from a whole, whole, to concen concentra trate te on somet somethin hing, g, to analyze analyze separate separate variables variables without without confusion confusion with other neighboring variables. variables. However, too much field independence makes the learner only see the parts and fail to see the whole picture. On the other hand, field-dependent  field-dependent learning learning style is the tendency to be dependent on the field. In this case, the learner gets the clear picture of the whole field but has difficulty in perceiving the parts in the field.

In reference to second language learning, field independence is related to classroom learning such as analyzing, focusing on details, mastering of exercises exercises and drills. On the other hand, field dependence is connected with learning communicative aspects 1

of second language. According to Abraham (1985), second language learners who are field independent perform better in deductive lessons, while those who are field dependent dependent perform perform better in inductive inductive lessons. lessons. Since the two different different learning learning styles are needed for different kinds of language learning – classroom activities and natura natural, l, face-t face-to-f o-face ace commun communica icatio tion n -, both both learn learning ing styles styles are are import important ant for language learning.

2) Left- and Right-Brain Functioning

As a child’s brain matures, his or her brain is laternalized into a left and a right hemisphere and the brain functions are also laternalized into the two hemispheres.  The left hemisphere is related to logical, analytical thought, with mathematical and linear processing of information. On the other hand, the right hemisphere perceives and reme remembe mbers rs visual visual,, tactil tactile, e, and audito auditory ry images images.. It’s It’s relat related ed to proce process ssing ing holistic, integrative, and emotional information. The two hemispheres work together as a team to solve problems, and the best solutions to the problems are those optimalized by the two different hemispheres.

In reference to second language learning, Krashen, Seliger, and Hartnett (1974) say that left-brain-dominant learners of second language prefer a deductive style of  teaching teaching while while right-brain-dominant learners are are more more succes successfu sfull in induct inductive ive classroom activities. Stevick (1982) say that left-brian-dominent second language lear learne ners rs are are bett better er at prod produc ucin ing g sepa separa rate te word words, s, gath gather erin ing g the the spec specif ific ics s of  language, dealing with abstractions, classification, labeling, reorganizations, etc. He also explains that right-brainright-brain-domin dominant ant learners learners are better with whole images, images, generalizations, metaphors, and emotional reactions and artistic expressions. This learning style seems to be parallel with field independence-independence.

3) Ambiguity Tolerance

People have different degree of tolerance of  tolerance of ambiguity . Some people are relatively good at accepting ideologies, events, and facts that contradict their own views. Others Others are are more more closeclose-min minded ded to accept accept items items that that are are contra contradic dictor tory y to their their existing system. The person who is tolerant of ambiguity is willing to enjoy lots of  inno innova vati tive ve and and crea creati tive ve poss possib ibil ilit itie ies s and and is not not dist distur urbe bed d by ambi ambigu guit ity y and and uncertainty.

In terms of language learning, the learners need to be tolerant of ambiguity while their learning: for example, the contradiction between their native language and the 2

second language, some exceptions in the rule of second language, the cultural diff differ eren ence ces s betw betwee een n thei theirr nati native ve cult cultur ure e and and the the targ target et cult cultur ure, e, and and so on. on. Accor According ding to Chapel Chapelle le and Robers obers (198 (1986), 6), le lear arne ners rs wi with th a hi high gh to tole lera ranc nce e fo for  r  ambiguity are ambiguity  are slightly more successful in certain language tasks. Clearly intolerance can prevent the learners being creative in using the target language because of the worries about ambiguity. However, too much tolerance of ambiguity can ambiguity can also have a negati negative ve effect effect on their their langua language ge learni learning. ng. In this this case, case, the learne learners rs cannot cannot effectively make the second language rules integrated with the whole language system but they just use meaningless chunks learned by rote.

4) Reflectivity and Impulsivity

People have different personality tendencies toward reflectivity. Some people tend to make a quick, gambling guess at an answer to a problem. Others tend to make a slower, more calculated decision about the same problem. The former cognitive style is called “impulsive “impulsive or intuitive” intuitive” styles, and the latter one is called “reflective “reflective or systematic” systematic” styles. These personality traits have an effect on second language learning.

Impulsive learners of second language tend to be quick to answer the questions provided by the teacher, but their answers are not so much accurate compared to the reflective learners. On the other hand, reflective learners tend to make fewer errors but they react slower than the impulsive learners. For language teachers, they need to figure out the reflectivity of their students and adjust their teaching to the traits. For example, they must not judge the errors of impulsive students too harshly, and they need to be more patient to reflective learners in their class.

5) Visual and Auditory Styles

People have different preferences for the type of input: either visual or auditory input. Peo People ple who like vis visual ual inp input  ut  tend to prefer reading and studying charts, drawings and other graphic information. On the other hand, those who like auditory  input tend input  tend to have preference for listening to lectures and audiotapes. According to  Joy Reid (1987), Korean Korean students are significantly more visually oriented than native English-speaking Americans.

(2) LEARNING STRATEGIES STRATEGIES

Cook (2001) claims that learning strategy is strategy  is a choice that the learner makes while 3

learning or using the second language that affects learning. People who are good at languages might tackle L2 learning in different ways from those who are less good or they might behave in the same way but more efficiently. Naiman et al. (1995) introduces six bro broad ad str strate ategie gies s sha shared red by goo good d lan langua guage ge lea learne rners rs:: (1) (1) Find ind a learning style that suits you; (2) Involve yourself in the language learning process; (3) Develop an awareness of language both as system and as communication; (4) Pay Pay constant constant attention attention to expanding expanding your language language knowledge knowledge;; (5) Develop the second language as a separate system; and (6) Take Take into account the demands that L2 learning imposes.

1) Types Types of Learning Learn ing Strategies

O’Mall O’Malley ey and Chamo Chamott (199 (1990) 0) divide divided d learn learning ing strat strategie egies s into thre three e cate categorie gories s: metacognitive, cognitive, and socioaffective strategies. Metacognitive strategy has strategy  has execu executiv tive e functi functions ons such such as planni planning ng for learni learning, ng, thinki thinking ng about about the learni learning ng process, monitoring of one’s production or comprehension, and evaluating learning after after finishing finishing a learning learning activity activity.. Cognitive strategy  involves conscious ways of  tackling tackling learning, learning, such as note-taking note-taking,, resour resourcing cing (using (using dictionari dictionaries es and other other resources) and elaboration (relating new information to old). Finally, socioaffective strategy  refers to learning by interacting with others, such as working with fellow students or asking the teacher’s help.

O’Mall O’Malley ey and Chamo Chamott (199 (1990) 0) conduc conducted ted a study study on the relat relation ion betwe between en usi using ng learning strategies and improving their language ability . In the study, they taught EFL students use the three types of learning strategies in their language learning.   The They y trai traine ned d one one grou group p in cogn cognit itiv ive e stra strate tegi gies es and and the the seco second nd grou group p in metacognitive strategies, but they didn’t train the third group to use any learning strategies in their language learning. They found that that the metacognitive group improved most for speaking and did better some listening tasks than the group who were not taught any learning strategies.

2) Communicative Strategies

While learning strategies are more receptive domain of intake, memory, storage, and and reca recall ll,, comm commun unic icat ativ ive e stra strate tegi gies es are are more more rela relate ted d with with the the prod produc ucti tive ve comm commun unic icat atio ion n

of

info inform rmat atio ion. n.

Faer aerch

and and

Kaspe asperr

(198 (1983a 3a:3 :36) 6)

say say

that that

communicative strategies are potentially conscious plans for solving the problems that that the learne learners rs face face in their their real real comm communi unicat cation ion.. The detail detailed ed strate strategie gies s are are avoidance, avoidance,  prefabricated patterns, patterns, appeal to authority , language switch, switch, and so on. 4

Second language learners avoid a certain lexical item when they don’t know the word. Phonological avoidance or topic avoidance also can be found in their second language use. The learners have some   prefabricated patterns that they use in a certain situation like “Tourist survival English,” which is not internalized in their target language system but just memorized. The learners also appeal to authority  when they face some problems while they use the target language. They directly ask a native speaker about the problem. Or they sometimes switch the language that they speak. In other words, they use their native language instead of the target language when they don’t know what to say in the target language.

Classification of Communication Strategies (Tarone (Tarone 1981:286)

Parap araphra hrase se

Strategy Appr Ap pro oximat ximatio ion n

Word Coinage Circumlocution Borr Borrow owin ing g

Lite Litera rall Trans ransla lati tion on Language Switch

Appeal for Assistance Mime Avoid voidan ance ce

Topic opic Avoid voidan ance ce Message Abandonment

Description Use of a single target language vocabulary item or structure, which the learner knows is not correct, but but which which share shares s enoug enough h semant semantic ic featur features es in comm common on with with the the desi desire red d item item to sati satisf sfy y the the speaker.   The The lear learne nerr mak makes up a new new word word in orde orderr to communicate a desired concept.   The The lear learne nerr desc descri ribe bes s the the char charac acte teri rist stic ics s or elements of the object or action instead of using the appropriate target language item or structure.   The The learn learner er transl translate ates s word word for words words from from the native language.  The learner uses the native language term without bothering to translate.  The learner asks for the correct term.  The learner uses nonverbal strategies in place of a lexical item or action.  The learner simply tries not to talk about concepts for which the TL item or structure is not known.  The learner begins to talk about a concept but is unable to continue and stops in mid-utterance.

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Second Language Communication Strategies (Chesterfield (Chesterfield and Chesterfield 1985:49-50)

Strategy Repetition Memorization Formulaic Expression

Verbal Attention Getter Answer in Union  Talk to Self  Elaboration Anticipatory Answer Monitoring Appeal for Assistance Request for Clarification

Description Echo/ imitation of a word modeled by another, or incorporation of  a word or structure used previously into an utterance. Recall by rote of songs, rhymes, or sequences of numbers or related concepts. Words ords or phras phrases es which which functi function on as unana unanalyz lyzed ed automa automatic tic speech speech units units for the speak speaker, er, often often servi serving ng the funct function ion of  initiating or continuing a conversation and giving the impression of command of the target language. Any means means by which which the speak speaker er attrac attracts ts the the atten attentio tion n of  another to him/herself so as to initiate interaction. Response by providing the answer aloud together with others. Pract Practice ice in targe targett langu language age by engag engaging ing in verbal verbal behav behavior ior directed to him/herself. Providing Providing information beyond that which is necessary to carry on the interaction. Guessing from context to provide a response for an anticipated question, or prematurely fill in a word or phrase in another’s statement. Recog ecogni niti tion on and and verb verbal al corr correc ecti tion on of one’ one’s s own own erro errorr in vocabulary, style, grammar, etc. Spontaneously asking another for the correct term or structure, or for help in solving a problem. Attempt to broaden understanding or knowledge of the target language by asking the speaker to explain or repeat a previous statement.

References Brown, H. D. (1994). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. Prentice Hall. Cook, V. (2001). Second Language Learning and Language Teaching. Arnold.

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7. What What role role does does the the noti notion on of atte attent ntio ion/ n/no noti tici cing ng play play on seco second nd lang langua uage ge acquisition?

Schmidt (1990a) defines noticing in comparison with understanding. understanding. He says that noticing refer refers s to regis register tering ing the simpl simple e occur occurren rence ce of some some event, event, where whereas as understanding implie implies s recog recognit nition ion of a genera generall princip principle, le, rule, rule, or patter pattern. n. For For example, a second language learner might simply notice that a native speaker used a particular form of address on a particular occasion, or at a deeper level the learner might understand the understand the significance of such as form, realizing that the form used was appropriate because of status differences between speaker and hearer. Noticing is crucially related to the question of what linguistic material is stored in memory, while understanding relates to questions concerning how the material is organized into a linguistic system.

Accor According ding to Schmid Schmidtt and Frota rota (198 (1986), 6), noticing is of considera considerable ble theoretic theoretical al importance because it accounts for which features in the input are attended to and so become intake. They suggest that for noticed input to become intake, learners have to carry out a comparison of what they have observed in the input and what they themselves are typically producing on the basis of their current interlanguage system. They refer to this as ‘noticing the gap.’ Schmidt (1990a, 1993, 1994) says that learners’ focus of attention and noticing of mismatches between the input and thei theirr outp output ut dete determ rmin ines es whet whethe herr or not not they they progr progres ess, s, and and that that noti notici cing ng or conscious perception is necessary and sufficient for converting input into intake, at least for low-level grammatical items such as plural or third-person singular s .

Schmidt (1990a, 1990b) insists that forms that are not noticed in the first, lower level sense (i.e., not consciously perceived), do not contribute to learning. In his perspective, there is not such thing as subliminal language learning. He accepts that implicit  language language learning probably occurs (i.e., (i.e., learning learning by noticing noticing forms forms without understanding the rule or principle involved), but thinks that understanding thos those e rule rules s is highl highly y faci facili lita tati tive ve in case cases s wher where e stra straigh ightf tfor orwa ward rd ones ones can can be formulated. On this account, failure to learn is due either to insufficient exposure or to failure to notice the items in question, even if exposure occurred and the learner was attending. For example, a learner could attend carefully to a lecture in an L2 and still fail to notice a particular linguistic item in it.

  This is the opposite position to that taken by Krashen (1985, 1989), VanPatten (1988), and others, who have denied there is any evidence of beneficial effects of a 7

focus focus on form, form, at least least in the early stages stages of langua language ge learni learning. ng. Krashe Krashen n has claimed that adults can best learn an L2 like children learn an L1, subconsciously  and implicitly , while attending to meaning, not form. In his perspective, attention to linguistic forms is supposedly neither necessary nor beneficial.

 The relationship between explicit and implicit knowledge continues to be a key issue in second language teaching. However, one possibility related to attention/noticing play play in second second langua language ge acquis acquisiti ition on is that that expli explicit cit knowle knowledge dge functi functions ons as a facili facilitat tator, or, helping helping learne learners rs to notice notice featu feature res s in the input input which which they they would would otherw otherwise ise miss miss and also also to compar compare e what what they they notice notice with with what what they they produc produce e (Schmi (Schmidt dt and Frota, rota, 19 1986; 86; Ellis, Ellis, 19 1993a 93a). ). In a sense, sense, expli explicit cit knowle knowledge dge may may contribute to ‘intake enhancement,’ but it will only be one of several factors that do this.

References Long, Long, M. H. (1996). (1996).The The Linguistic Linguistic Environme Environment. nt. In Ritchie, Ritchie, W. W. C. & Bhatia, Bhatia, T. K. (Eds.), Handbook of Second Language Acquisition (pp. 571-604). Academic Press. Ellis, R. (1994). The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford University Press.

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8. What are the differenc differences es between competence competence and performa performance nce and how are they related?

According to Brown (1994), competence refers to one’s underlying knowledge of a system, event, or fact, while  performance is the overtly observable and concrete manifesta manifestation tion or realizati realization on of competenc competence. e. In other other words, words, competence is the the nonobservable ability to do something, while  performance is the actual doing of  some someth thing ing such such as walk walkin ing, g, sing singing ing,, danc dancin ing, g, and and spea speaki king. ng. In refe refere renc nce e to language acquisition, competence is the underlying knowledge of the language system such as vocabulary, grammar, and structure, while  performance is the real productio production n or compreh comprehensio ension n of the language: language: speaking, writing, listening, listening, and reading.

 The distinction between competence and performance is first drawn in Chomsky (1965),, who (1965) who defi define nes s that that competence the speak speaker/ er/ heare hearer’s r’s knowle knowledge dge of his language language and  performance is the actual actual use of langua language ge in concr concrete ete situat situation ion.. (Chomsky, 1965) Since it was first proposed, this distinction has been the subject of  controversy between those who see it as a necessary idealization for linguistics and those who believe it abandons the central data of linguistics. linguistics.

Chomsky (1965) regards competence as an “idealized” speaker-hearer  who does not display such performance variables as memory limitations, distractions, shifts of  attention attention and interest, interest, errors, and hesitation hesitation phenomena phenomena such as repeats, repeats, false starts, pauses, omissions, and additions. His point is that a theory of language has to be a theory of competence lest the linguist vainly try to categorize an infinite number number of perfor performa mance nce variab variables les,, which which are are not refle reflecti ctive ve of the underly underlying ing linguis linguistic tic abilit ability y of the speak speaker er-he -hear arer er.. In his point point of view, view, compet competenc ence e is not learned through or affected by performance and is, therefore, not worthy of study. study.

According to Chomsky (1980a), linguistic competence is the cognitive state that encompasses all those aspects of form and meaning and their relation, which are proper properly ly assigne assigned d to the specif specific ic subsys subsystem tem of the human human mind mind that that relat relates es representations of form and meaning. For example, it is part of the competence of  all speakers of English that rules must be structure-dependent , that heads come first in phrases, phrases, and that the Verb “faint” cannot have an object . Chomsky’s notion of competence has sometimes been attacked for failing to deal with how language is used used in a socie society, ty, and the concept concept of commu communic nicati ative ve compet competenc ence e has been proposed to remedy this lack. 9

Hymes (1967) was the first researcher to attack Chomsky’s artificial separation of  competence and performance. Hymes expands the notion of competence to include different kinds of competence and primarily by adding competences that related to what what

Chom Chomsk sky y

call calls s

perf perfor orma manc nce. e.

Hyme Hymes s

dist distin ingu guis ishe hed d

betw betwee een n

linguistic

competence and communicative competence to highlight the difference between knowle knowledge dge “about “about” ” langua language ge forms forms and knowl knowledge edge that that enable enables s a person person to communicate functionally and interactively. According to Hymes, communicative competence is that that aspect aspect of our compete competence nce that enable enables s us to convey convey and interp interpre rett messa messages ges and to negoti negotiate ate meani meanings ngs interp interpers ersona onally lly within within specif specific ic conte contexts xts.. In other other words words,, it includ includes es both both lingui linguisti stic c and pragma pragmatic tic knowl knowledge edge.. Communicative performance cons consis ists ts of the the actu actual al use use of thes these e two two type types s of  knowledge in understanding and producing discourse.

Canale and Swain (1980) adapt Hymes’ model of communicative competence. competence. They say that there are four different components or subcategories, subcategories, which make up the construct of communicative competence. Grammatical competence is knowledge of  lexical items and of rules of morphology, syntax, sentence-grammar sentence-grammar semantics, and phonology phonology.. This is sentencesentence-level level grammar grammar.. Sociolinguistic competence is the the knowle knowledge dge of the socio sociocul cultur tural al underst understand anding ing of the socia sociall conte context xt in which which language is used: the roles of the participants, the information they share, and the functi function on of the intera interacti ction. on. Strate Strategic gic comp competen etence ce is the verbal verbal and nonverbal nonverbal commun communica icatio tion n strate strategie gies s that that may be called called into into action action to compen compensat sate e for breakdowns in communication due to performance variables or due to insufficient competence. Discourse competence is the ability we have to connect sentences in stretches of discourse and to form a meaningful whole out of a series of utterances.  This is concerned with intersentencial relationships.

Bachman’s Bachman ’s (1990) model of communicative language ability is very similar to that of Cana Canale le and and Swai Swain, n, with with the the addi additi tion on of an impo import rtan antt elem elemen ent, t, stra strate tegi gic c competence, but with clearer interaction between the competences. He splits the four competences into two major groups, thus implying that things within those two groups will interact more closely. So, he has organizational competence composed of  grammatical competence and textual competence (discourse competence) and he has pragmatic has pragmatic competence which is composed of sociolinguistic of sociolinguistic competence and functional competence. competence. Sociol Sociolingu inguist istic ic compet competenc ence e is virtua virtually lly the same same as in Canale Canale and Swain’ Swain’s s model model,, and functi functiona onall compet competenc ence e deals deals with with how people people produce speech acts and the form function mappings, which are required to go about

completing

specific

functions 10

in

language.

 The concept of competence and performance is related to second language learning more directly than first language learning. Unlike children, adults can make choice betwe between en two altern alternati ative ve forms forms and someti sometime mes s they they manife manifest st an awar awarene eness ss of  grammaticality in a second language. For children, judgments of grammaticality are not meaningful or interesting. In a study conducted by Brown and Bellugi (1964), when asked whether it is better to say “two foots” or “two feet,” children just said whatever they want to; for example, “Pop go weasel.”

However, language teachers need to remember that adults are not generally able to verba verbali lize ze “rule rules” s” and and para paradig digms ms cons consci ciou ousl sly y even even in thei theirr nati native ve langu languag age. e. Furth urther ermo more re,, in judgi judging ng utte uttera ranc nces es in the the mode modern rn lang langua uage ge clas classr sroo oom m and and resp respon onse ses s on vari variou ous s test tests, s, teac teache hers rs need need to be caut cautio ious usly ly atte attent ntiv ive e to the the disc discre repa panc ncy y betw betwee een n perf perfor orma manc nce e on a give given n day day or in a give given n cont contex extt and and competence in a second language in general. Therefore, one isolated sample of  second language speech may on the surface appear to be rather malformed until you consider that sample in comparison with the everyday mistakes and errors of  native speakers.

 The main goal of SLA research is to characterize learners’ underlying knowledge of  the L2, that is, to describe and explain their competence. However, learners’ mental knowledge is not open to direct inspection. It can only be inferred by examining sample samples s of their their perfor performan mance. ce. SLA resea researc rcher hers s have have used used differ different ent kinds kinds of  performance to try to investigate competence: for example, analyzing the actual utterance of learners, tapping learners’ intuition about what is correct by means of   judgment task, etc.

Reference Brown, H. D. (1994). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. Prentice Hall. Cook, V. J. & Newson, M. (1996). Chomsky’s Universal Grammar. Blackwell Publishers.

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9. How do socio-cultural factors affect second language learning?

Culture is a deeply ingrained part of the very fiber of our being, but language is the most most visibl visible e and availa available ble expr express ession ion of that that cultur culture. e. Thus, Thus, second second langua language ge learning means often second culture learning. Brown (1994) defines culture as “the ideas, customs, skills, arts, and tools that characterize a given group of people in a given period of time.” Since culture establishes a context of cognitive and affective behavior of those who are in the culture, it plays an important role in language learning. Brown introduces some sociocultural factors in second language learning :

(1) Cultural Stereotypes

In the bias of our own culture-bound world view, we picture other cultures in an oversimplified manner , lumping lumping cultural cultural differenc differences es into exaggerat exaggerated ed categorie categories, s, and and then then we view view ever every y pers person on in a cult cultur ure e as poss posses essi sing ng corr corres espo pond ndin ing g stere stereoty otypic pical al traits traits.. School Schoolchi childr ldren en have have no partic particula ularr contac contactt with with the foreign foreign culture and no particular interest in it, nor do their job prospects depend on it; their attitu attitudes des to L2 users users may may depend depend more more on the stere stereoty otypes pes from their their cultura culturall situations than on any real contact.

Cultural stereotypes usually comes from the cultural differences between native culture and foreign culture. If people recognize and understand differing world view, they will usually adopt a positive and open-minded attitude toward cross-cultural differences, but if they have a closed-minded attitude of such differences often results in the maintenance of a stereotype, that is an oversimplification and blanket assumption.

In reference to second language learning, false, oversimplified stereotypes of the target culture and the language can make the learners have negative attitude of the target culture or the language. It can also result in loss of the learners’ motivation to learn the target language and the culture, and finally unsuccessful learning of the target language. Therefore, both teachers and learners of a second language need to unders understan tand d cultura culturall differ differenc ences es betwe between en their their native native cultur culture e and the target target culture so that the learners do not have the negative cultural stereotypes of the target culture. They should recognize openly that everyone in the world is not “just like me.”

(2) Attitudes 12

Cultur Cultural al stere stereoty otypes pes usuall usually y imply imply some some type type of  attitude towar toward d the cultur culture e or language. There are some studies on the relation between learners’ attitude toward the target culture and their second language learning. In the studies of Gardner of Gardner and Lambert (1972), (1972), they say that those who have  positive attitude toward the target language, such as a desire to understand the target culture and the people and to emphasize with them, has high motivation to learn the target language.  John Oller and his colleagues (1977) conducted several studies of the relationship between attitudes and language success. They studied the ESL learners’ attitudes toward self, the native language group, the target language group, their reason for learning English, and their reasons for traveling to the United States. Most of the studies showed that   positive attitudes toward self, the native language group, and the target language group enhanced proficiency.

 The results of above studies tell us that language teachers need to try to help the learne learners rs to have have positi positive ve attitu attitudes des so that that the learne learners rs can learn learn the target target language successfully. They also should know that everyone has both positive and negative attitude and that negative attitude caused by false stereotyping can be often changed by exposure to reality. Therefore, the teachers need to help their students to be exposed to the reality of the target culture through the language classes. It will help the students get motivated to the language learning, and it will finally result in successful second language learning.

(3) Acculturation

Second language learning is often second culture learning. In order to understand   jus justt what what seco second nd cult cultur ure e lear learni ning ng,, one one need needs s to unde unders rsta tand nd the the natu nature re of  acculturation.  Acculturation refers to the process of becoming adapted to a new culture (Brown, 1994). Cook (2001) defines that acculturation refers to the ways in which second language users adapt to life with two languages.

One aspect of acculturation is culture shock . A person’s world view, self-identity, and systems of thinking, acting, feeling, and communicating can be disrupted by a change from one culture to another. Culture shock is a common experience for a person learning a second language in a second culture. It refers to phenomena ranging from mild irritability to deep psychological panic and crisis. It’s associated with feelings in the learner of estrangement, anger, hostility, indecision, frustration, unhappiness, sadness, loneliness, homesickness, and even physical illness. 13

According to Brown (1994), there are successtive stages of acculturation. acculturation. He says the first stage is the period of excitement and euphoria over the newness’ of the surroundings. The second stage – culture shock – emerges as individuals feel the intrusion of more and more cultural differences into their own images of self and security. Persons undergoing culture shock view their new world out of resentment and alternate between being angry at others for not understanding them and being filled with self-pity self-pity.. The third stage is one of gradual, and at first tentative and vaci vacill llat ating ing,, reco recove very ry.. This This stag stage e is call called ed cult cultura urall stre stress ss,, some some prob proble lems ms of  acculturation are solved while other problems continue for some time (Larson and smalley, 1972). In this stage, individuals begin to accept the differences in thinking and feeling second culture. The fourth stage represents near or full recover, either assimilation or adaptation, acceptance of the new culture and self-confidence in the “new ” person that has developed in this culture.

Schumann (1975) proposed the Acculturation Model as a means of accounting for the differ differenc ences es in learne learners’ rs’ rate rate of develo developme pment nt and in their their ultima ultimate te level level of  achievement in terms of the extent to which they adapt to the target-language cult cultur ure. e. He clai claim ms that that seco second nd lang langua uage ge acqu acquis isit itio ion n is just just one one aspe aspect ct of  acculturation and the degree to which a learner acculturates to the target-language grou group p will will cont contro roll the the degr degree ee to whic which h he acqu acquir ires es the seco second nd lang langua uage ge.. He suggests that acculturation affects L2 acquisition by its effect on the amount of  contact learners have with TL speakers. The great the contact, the more acquisition takes place. Subsequently, Schumann (1986) suggests that acculturation may affect the nature of the verbal interactions that learners take part in and thus the quality as well as the internal processes that are involved in acquisition. He explains that the exten extentt to which which learne learners rs accult accultura urate te depend depends s on two sets of factor factors s which which determine their levels of social of social distance and psychological and psychological distance. distance.

(4) Social Distance

According According to Schum Schumann ann (197 (1978) 8),, soci social al dista distance nce refe refers rs to the the exte extent nt to whic which h individual learners become members of the target-language group and, therefore, achiev achieve e contac contactt with with them. them. Brow Brown n (19 (1994) 94) defines defines that social social distance distance is the the cognitive cognitive and affective affective proximity proximity of two cultures cultures that come into contact within indivi individua dual. l. Distan Distance ce means means dis dissim simila ilarit rity y betwe between en two two cultur cultures. es. For For exam example ple,, Americans are culturally similar to Canadians, while Americans and Chineses are, by comparison, relatively dissimilar. We could say that the social distance of the latter case exceeds the former. 14

In the perspective of social distance, Schumann (1978) describes hypothetically good good and bad langua language ge learni learning ng situat situation ion in second second langua language ge learni learning. ng. In the description, he uses factors such as dominance, integration pattern, cohesiveness, congrue congruence nce,, attitu attitude, de, and length length of resid residenc ence. e. Schuma Schumann nn descri describes bes a go goo od  language learning situation is one where 2 LL group is non-dominant in relation to the TL group, where both groups desire assimilation for the 2LL group, where low enclosure is the goal of both groups, where the two cultures are congruent, where the 2LL group is small and non-cohesive, where both groups have positive attitudes toward towards s each each other, other, and where where the 2LL group group intends intends to rema remain in in the target target langua language ge area area for a long long time. time. Under Under such such condit condition ion social social dis distan tance ce would would be minimal and acquisition of the target language would be enhanced.

Schumann also explains two bad language learning situations. situations. One is the situation where TL group views the SLL group as dominant and the SLL group views itself in the same way, where both groups desire preservation and high enclosure for the 2LL group, where the SLL group is both cohesive and large, where the two culture are not congruent, where the two groups hold negative attitudes toward each other, and where the 2LL group intends to remain in the TL area only for a short time. The other is the situation has all the characteristics of the first except that in this case, the 2LL group group would would consid consider er itself itself subor subordin dinate ate and would would also also be consid consider ered ed subordinate by the TL group.

Cook (2001) says that the roots of motivation to learn a second language are deep within within the studen students’ ts’ minds minds and their their cultur cultural al backgr backgroun ounds. ds. Studen Students’ ts’ cultur cultural al background relates to the background projected by the L2 culture. Lambert (1981) makes an important distinction between additive and subtractive bilingualism. In additive bilingualism, bilingualism, the learners feel they are adding something new to their skills and experience by learning a new language, without taking anything away from what they already know. In subtractive bilingualism, bilingualism, on the other hand, they feel that the learning of a new language threatens what they have already gained for themselves. Successful L2 learning takes place in additive situations’ learners who see the second language as diminishing themselves will not succeed. Lambert says that the best way to release the potential of bilingualism is to transform students’ subtractive experiences with bilingualism and biculturalism into additive ones.

References Brown, H. D. (1994). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. Prentice Hall. Cook, V. (2001). Second Language Learning and Language Teaching. Arnold. Ellis, R. (1994). The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford University Press. 15

16

10. What 10. What does does it mean mean to be bili biling ngua uall and and what what are are the the diff differ eren entt type types s of  bilingualism?

According to Webster’s dictionary (1961), bilingual is defined as ‘having or using two langua languages ges especi especiall ally y as spoke spoken n with with the fluenc fluency y charac character terist istic ic of a native native speaker; a person using two languages especially habitually and with control like that of a native speaker’ and bilingualism as ‘constant oral use of two languages.’’

Bilingualism has often been defined and described in terms of categories, scales, and dichotomies, such as ideal versus partial bilingual, coordinate versus compound bili biling ngua ual, l, and and so on. on. Thes These e noti notion ons s are are gene genera rall lly y rela relate ted d to such such fact factor ors s as proficiency, function, and others. In the popular view, being bilingual equals being able able to speak speak two langua languages ges perfe perfectl ctly; y; this this is also also the appro approach ach of Bloomf Bloomfiel ield d (1935), (1935), who defines defines bilingualism as “native native-l -lik ike e contr control ol of two langua languages ges.” .” By contrast, Haugen (1953) draws attention to the other end, when he observes that bilingualism begins begins when when the speak speaker er of one langua language ge can produc produce e comple complete te meaningful meaningful utterances utterances in the other languages. languages. Diebold (1964) gives a minimal minimal defi defini niti tion on of bili biling ngua uali lism sm when when he uses uses the the term term incipient incipient bilingualism bilingualism to characterize the initial stages of contact between two languages.

Hamers and Blanc (2000) say the concept of  Bilingualism refers to the state of a linguistic community in which two languages are in contact with the result the two codes can be used in the same interaction and that a number of individuals are biling bilingual ual (socie (societal tal bilingu bilinguali alism) sm);; but it also also include includes s the concep conceptt of bilingu bilinguali ality ty (ind (indiv ivid idua uall

bili bilingu ngual alis ism) m)..

Acco Accord rdin ing g

to

Hame Hamers rs

(198 (1981) 1),,

bilinguality  is

the

psychological state of an individual who has access to more than one linguistic code as a means of social communication; the degree of access will vary along a number of

dime dimens nsio ions ns

whic which h

are are

psyc psycho holo logi gica cal, l,

cogni cogniti tive ve,,

psyc psycho holi lingu nguis isti tic, c,

soci social al

psychological, social, sociological, sociolinguistic, sociocultural and linguistic.

When qualifiers qualifiers are used to describe describe bilingualis bilingualism m or bilinguality bilinguality,, they generally focus on one single dimension of these phenomena which are thereby viewed from a particular angle. However, we must not lose sight of the fact that bilinguality and bilingualism are multidimensional phenomena which must be investigated as such. Hame Hamers rs and and Blan Blanc c (200 (2000) 0) say say that that ther there e are are a numb number er of   of   psychologi psychological cal and  sociological dimensions of bilinguality .

17

Psychological and Sociological Dimensions of Bilinguality Dimension 1.

Relative Competence

Type of   Bilinguality Balanced

bilinguality Dominant bilinguality

2.

Compound

Cognitive

bilinguality Coordinated

Organization

bilinguality 3.

Age of  Acquisition

Childhood bilinguality

Description   The balanced balanced bilingual bilingual has equivale equivalent nt competen competence ce in both languages.

For the dominant bilingual, one of the languages, more often the mother tongue, is superior to his competence in the other (Lambert, 1955). In a compound language system, two sets of linguistic sign signs s come come to be asso associ ciat ated ed with with the the same same set set of  meanings (Ervin & Osgood, 1954). In a coordinate system, system, translation equivalents in the two lan languag uages corr orrespon spond d to two diffe ifferrent set sets of  representations (Ervin & Osgood, 1954). Bilingual experience takes place at the same time as the general general developm development ent of the child; in other other words, words, this bilingual experience occurs at the time when the various deve develo lopm pmen enta tall comp compon onen ents ts have have not not yet yet reac reache hed d matu maturi rity ty and and can can ther theref efor ore e be infl influe uenc nced ed by this this exper xperie ienc nce. e. In chil childh dhoo ood d bili biling ngua uali lity ty,, one one must ust distinguish :

before age of 10/11 (1) Simultaneous early or infant bilinguality when the child develops two mother tongues from the onset of  language language,, as for example example the child of a mixed-l mixed-lingu ingual al family. family. (LA and and LB). The develop development ment of simultane simultaneous ous bilinguality takes place through informal. In form-function mapp mappin ing, g, the the chil child d has has to map map two two form forms s onto onto one one function, which is called compound mapping.

18

3.

Childhood bilinguality

(2) Consec Consecuti utive ve childh childhood ood biling bilingual uality ity when when he acquires a second language early in childhood but after the basic linguistic acquisition of his mother tongue has been been achi achiev eved ed.. (L1 and L2) The The devel velopme opmen nt of  consecutive childhood bilinguality may occur informally, as in the case of the child of an immigrant family, but may also result from intentional learning, as in certain bilingual educational program. In form-function mapping, simple mapping (one language form) occurs before the acquis acquisiti ition on of the second second langua language ge for the functi functions ons acquired already. already.

Adolescent bilinguality

When When the the bili biling ngua uall between 11 and 17.

Age of  Acquisition

acqu acquir ires es

the the

seco second nd lang langua uage ge

Adult bilinguality

When the bilingual acquires the second language after 17.

4.

Endogenous

Exogeneity

bilinguality

Endogenous language is one that is used as a mother tongue in a community and may or may not be used for institutional purposes.

Exogenous Bilinguality

5. Social Cultural Status

Additive bilinguality

Subtractive Bilinguality

Exogenous language is one that is used as an official, institutionalized language but has no speech community in the political entity using it officially as for example Englis English h or French rench in West, est, Centr Central al and East East Afric African an counties. In those counties (ex. Cotonou), the language used at home (e.x. (e.x. Fon) is different from from the one used used at school (ex. French). If the two languages are sufficiently valued, the child’s cognitive development development will derive maximum benefit from the bilingual experience, which will act as an enriching stim stimul ulat atio ion n lead leadin ing g to grea greate terr cogn cognit itiv ive e fle flexibi xibili lity ty compar compared ed to his monoli monolingu ngual al counte counterpa rpart rt (Lamb (Lambert ert,, 1974).

If the the soci socioc ocul ultu tura rall cont conte ext is such such that that the the moth mother er tong tongue ue is deva devalu lued ed in the the chil child’ d’s s envi enviro ronm nmen ent, t, his his cognitive cognitive development development may be delayed delayed in compariso comparison n with a monolingual peer’s (Lambert, 1974).

19

6.

Bicultural

Cultural

bilinguality

Identity

L1 Monocultural Bilinguality L2 Acculturated Bilinguality Deculturated bilinguality

Bicult Bicultura urall biling bilingua uall identi identifie fies s positi positive vely ly with with the two cult cultur ural al grou groups ps that that spea speak k his his lang langua uage ges s and and is recognized by each group as a member. L1 monocu monocultu ltural ral biling bilingual ual is a fluen fluentt biling bilingual ual while while remainin remaining g monocult monocultural ural and identify identifying ing culturally culturally with only one of the groups. L2 acculturated bilingual renounces the cultural identity of his mother-tongue group and adopts that of the second language group.

Deculturated bilingual gives up his own cultural identity but at the same time fails to identify with the L2 cultural group, and as a result becomes anomic and deculturated (Berry, 1980)

References

Grosjean, F. (2001). The Bilingual’s Language Modes. In Nicol, J. L (Ed), One Mind, Two Languages (pp. 1.-22). Blackwell Publishers Inc. Cook, V. (2001). Second Language Learning and Language Teaching. Arnold. Hamers, J. F. & Blanc, M. H. A. (2000). Bilinguality and Bilingualism. Cambridge Press. Romaine, S (1996). Bilingualism. In Ritchie, W. C. & Bhatia, T. K. (Eds.), Handbook of  Second Language Acquisition (pp. 571-604). Academic Press.

20

DEFINITION

6. Affect

Brown (1994) defines that affect  affect is is emotion or feeling. Arnold & Brown (1999) says that affect  affect  is considered broadly as aspects of emotion, feeling, mood or attitude which condition behavior. According to Brown, there are two facets of the affective domain dom ain of sec second ond lan langua guage ge acq acquis uisiti ition on:: person personali ality ty factor factors s and socioc sociocult ultura urall variables. Personal factors are the intrinsic side of affectivity within a person that contribute in some way to the success of language learning. Sociocultural variables are extrinsic factors that emerge as the second language learner brings not just two languages into contact but two cultures, and in some sense must learn a second culture along with a second language. The affective domain is the emotional side of  human behavior, and it may be juxtaposed to the cognitive side. The followings are the personal factors of the affective domains in SL A.

(1) Self Esteem Brown explains how specific personality factors in human behavior work in second language acquisition. Self-esteem refers to personal judgment of worthiness that is expressed in the attitudes that the individual holds towards himself. People derive their sense of self-esteem from accumulation of experiences within themselves and with with others others and from from asses assessm sment ents s of the exter external nal world world aroun around d them. them. Brown Brown introduces three categories of self-esteem: general or global self-esteem, self-esteem, situational or specific self-esteem, self-esteem, and task self-esteem. self-esteem. According to Heyde (1979), all three levels of self-esteem correlates positively with performance on the oral production measure measure,, with the highest highest correla correlation tion occurring occurring between between task self-este self-esteem em and performance on oral production measures.

(2) Inhibition In terms of Inhibition of  Inhibition,, Brown explains that all human beings, in their understanding of themselves, build sets of defenses to protect the ego. As children grow up, they crea create te a syst system em of affe affect ctiv ive e trai traits ts that that they they iden identi tiffy with with them themse selv lves es.. In adolescence, teenagers bring on mounting defensive inhibitions to protect a fragile ego, to ward off ideas, experiences, and feelings that threaten to dismantle the organization of values and belief on which appraisals of self-esteem have been founded. The human ego encompasses what Guiora called the language ego to refer to the very personal, egoistic nature of second language acquisition. Ehrman (1993) suggests that the openness, vulnerability, and ambiguity tolerance of those with thin ego boundaries found different pathways to success from those with hard21

driving, systematic, perfectionistic, thick ego boundaries.

(3) Risk-taking Rubin and Thompson (1982) says that risk-taking is the ability to make intelligent guesses. Learners have to be able to “gamble’ a bit, to be willing to try out hunches about the language and take the risk of being wrong. Risk-taking is an important characteri characteristic stic of successful successful learning of a second second language language with self-este self-esteem em and impulsivity. When students make a mistake in a language class, a person with high global self-esteem is not daunted by the possible consequences of being laugh at. Beebe (1983) notes that fossilization may be due to a lack of willingness of take risks.

(4) Anxiety  Anxiety  is

asso associ ciat ated ed

with with

feel feelin ings gs

of

unea uneasi sine ness ss,,

frus frustr trat atio ion, n,

self self-d -dou oubt bt,,

apprehens apprehension, ion, or worry worry.. Like Like self-est self-esteem eem,, anxiety anxiety can be experienc experienced ed at various various levels. Trait anxiety is anxiety is a more permanent predisposition to be anxious. State anxiety  is experienced in relation to some particular event or act. Foreign language anxiety focuses more specifically on the situational nature of state anxiety. According to Horwitz et al. (1086) and MacIntyre and Gardner (1989, 1991c), there are three component components s of foreign foreign language language anxiety anxiety:: communica communication tion apprehen apprehension, sion, fear of  negative social evaluation, and test anxiety. Anther important insight to be applied to our unders understan tandin ding g of anxiet anxiety y lies lies in the dis distin tincti ction on betwe between en debili debilitat tative ive and facilitative anxiety. Bailey (1983) says that facilitative anxiety is one of the keys to success and closely related to competitiveness.

(5) Empathy Accor According ding to Brown Brown (1994 (1994), ), empathy  is the the proc proces ess s of “put “putti ting ng your yourse self lf into into someone else’s shoes, “ of reaching beyond the self and understanding and feeling what what anothe anotherr perso person n is underst understand anding ing or feelin feeling. g. In more more sophis sophistic ticate ated d terms terms,, empathy  is usually described as the projection of one’s own personality into the personality of another in order to understand him or her better. Communication requires a sophisticated degree of empathy. In order to communicate effectively you need to be able to understand the other person’s affective and cognitive states.

(6) Extroversion Extroversion, and is counterpart, introversion, are also potentially important factors in the acquisition of a second language. Brown (1994) says that extroversion is the extent to which a person has a deep-seated need to receive ego enhancement, selfesteem, and a sense of wholeness from other people as opposed to receiving that 22

affirmation within oneself. Introversion, on the other hand, is the extent to which a person derives a sense of wholeness and fulfillment apart from a reflection of the self from other people. Extroversion may be a factor in the development of general oral communicative competence, which requires fact to fact interaction, but not in listening, reading, and writing.

(7) Motivation Brown (1994) says that motivation is an inner drive, d rive, impulse, emotion, or desire that moves one to a particular action. Or, in more technical terms, motivation refers to “the choices people make as to what experiences or goals they will approach or avoid, avoid, and the degre degree e of effort effort they they will will exert exert in that that respe respect. ct.” ” (Kell (Keller, er, 19 1983 83)) Motivation is typically examined in terms of the intrinsic and extrinsic orientation of  the learne learnerr. Those Those who learn learn for their their own self self-perc -perceiv eived ed needs needs and goals goals are are intrinsically oriented and those who purse a goal only to receive an external reward from someone else are extrinsically motivated. The foreign language learner who is either intrinsically or extrinsically meeting needs in learning the language will be positively motivated to learn.

According to Arnord and Brown (1999), a broad understanding of affect  of affect in in language learning is important for at least two reasons. First , attention to affective aspects can lead to more effective language learning. When the language teacher deals with the affective side of learners, they can figure out the way to help the learners overcome problems created by negative emotions such as anxiety, fear, stress, anger or depression. Also, the language teachers can try to find out how they can create and use more positive, facilitative emotions of learners in their teaching. For example, the language teachers need to know that the positive emotions like selfesteem, empathy or motivation can greatly facilitate the language learning process. The second reason why language teachers need to be concerned about affective aspects of learners is that the purpose of classroom learning is not only to convey content information but also to bring the learners new “life goals,” educating the learners to live more satisfying lives and to be responsible members of society. In short, short, attention attention to affect  can impro improve ve langua language ge teachi teaching ng and learni learning, ng, but the language classroom can, in turn, contribute in a very significant way to education learners affectively.

Reference Arnold, J. and Brown, Brown, H. D. (1999). (1999). A map of the terrain. In Arnold, J (Ed.), Affect (Ed.), Affect in Language learning (pp. 1-24). Cambridge Press. Brown, H. D. (1994). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. Prentice Hall. 23

7. i+1

A number of researchers researchers see i+1 (comprehensible input) as a major causative factor in L2 acquisition. The most influential theoretical positions are those advanced by Krashen and Long. Krashen’s Input Hypothesis (Krashen 1981; 1985; 1989) makes the following claims: (1) Learners progress along the natural order by understanding input that contains structures a little bit beyond their current level of competence. competence. (2) Although Although comprehens comprehensible ible input is necessary necessary for acquisitio acquisition n to take take place, it is not sufficient, as learners also need to be affectively disposed to ‘let in’ the input they comprehend. (3) Input becomes comprehensible as a result of simplification and with the help of contextual and extralinguistic clues; ‘find-tuning’ (i.e. ensuring that learners receive input rich in the specific linguistic property they are due to acquir acquire e next) next) is not necess necessary ary.. (4) (4) Speaki Speaking ng is the resul resultt of acquis acquisiti ition, on, not its cause; learner production does not contribute directly to acquisition.

 The Input Hypothesis claims that an important condition for language acquisition to occur is that the acquirer understand (via hearing or reading) input language that contains structure a bit beyond his or her current level of competence. competence. If an acquirer is at stage of level I, the input he or she understands should contain i + 1. In other words, words, the langua language ge which which learne learners rs are are expos exposed ed to should should be jus justt far enough enough beyond their competence that they can understand most of it but still be challenged to make progress. Therefore, input should neither be so far beyond their reach but they are overwhelmed (i+2 (i+2), ), nor so close to their current stage that they are not challenged at all (i+0 (i+0). ). Krashen insists that speech will “emerge” once the acquirer has built up enough comprehensible input (i+1 (i+1). ).

References Brown, H. D. (1994). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. Prentice Hall. Ellis, R. (1994). The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford University Press.

8. Output

Although Krashen (1985) says that output or interaction has no direct effect on acquisition, other researchers view learner output  output as as contributing to interlanguage development. Following Krashen (1989), two different hypotheses that allocate a role to output can be identified. The skill-building hypothesis states that we first 24

learner learner rules or items items conscious consciously ly and then gradually gradually automatize automatize them through through practice. The second hypothesis Krashen considers is the output hypothesis.

Output hypothesis comes in two forms, according to Krashen. First , there is ‘output    plus correction’  . Learners try out rules or items in production and then use the corre correcti ctions ons they they recei receive ve from from other other speak speakers ers to confir confirm m or dis discon confir firm m them. them. Schach Schachter ter (1986 (1986b) b) points points out that that metali metalingu nguist istic ic infor informa matio tion n relat relating ing to the correctness of learners’ production is available both directly (through corrections) and indirectly (through confirmation checks, clarification requests, and failure to understand) understand).. The second  form form of the the outp output ut hypo hypoth thes esis is invo involv lves es the the idea idea of  ‘comprehensible output’ . Swain (1985) argues that learners need the opportunity for for mean meanin ingf gful ul use use of thei theirr lingu linguis isti tic c reso resour urce ces s to achi achiev eve e full full gram gramma mati tica call competence. She argues that when learners experience communicative failure, they are pushed into making their output more precise, coherent, and appropriate. She also argues that production may encourage learners to move semantic (top-down) to syntactic syntactic (bottom(bottom-up) up) processing processing.. Whereas Whereas comprehe comprehension nsion of a message message can take place with little syntactic analysis of the input, production forces learners to pay attention to the means of expression.

  The evidence indicating that comprehensible output  is important for acquisition is largely indirect. For example, a number of studies (Harley and Swain 1978; Harley 1988 19 88;; Harl Harley ey,, Alle Allen, n, Cumm Cummin ins, s, and and Swai Swain n 19 1990 90)) have have show shown n that that alth althou ough gh imme immers rsio ion n

lear learne ners rs achi achiev eve e

cons consid ider erab able le conf confid iden ence ce in usin using g

the the

L2 and and

consid considera erable ble dis discou course rse skills skills,, they they fail fail to develo develop p more more mark marked gramm grammati atical cal distinctions. Swain explains that this is not because of lack of comprehensible of comprehensible input  but because of limited opportunity to talk in the classroom and not being pushed to produce the output (comprehensible (comprehensible output ). ).

Reference Ellis, R. (1994). The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford University Press.

9. Modularity

One way to categorize L2 theories or theoretical approaches is according to where they stand on the question of modularity  of  modularity . It is related to the issue, whether people should should view the human human brain and mind as modular or unitary. unitary. That is, should we see the mind mind as a bundle bundle of modul modules, es, with with dis distin tincti ctive ve mecha mechanis nisms ms relev relevant ant to different types of knowledge? Or, is it more helpfully understood as a single, flexible 25

organism with one general set of procedures for learning and storing different kinds of knowledge and skills?

 The concept of modularity  of  modularity  tracks back to Franz Joseph Gall, who maintained that different parts of brain has different functions. He insists that many brain functions are organized independently. For example, in one’s brain, there is a module for language, one for music, one for art, and so on. Each of the modules is ruled by specific, specific, different different structure structure of the brain. In that perspective, perspective, language is a distinct distinct module of the brain and it is supported by a specific brain structure, differently from the other cognitive modules.

(1) Modular Approach Modular approaches to L2 acquisition has consistently found support from within linguistics, most famously in the further debate between Chomsky and the child development psychologist, Jean Piaget. Piaget argues that language is simply one manifestation of the more general skill of symbolic representation, acquired as a stag stage e in gene genera rall cogni cogniti tive ve deve develo lopm pmen ent. t. Ther Theref efor ore, e, he says says that that no spec specia iall mechanism is required to account for first language acquisition. Chomsky’s general view is that not only is language too complex to be learnt from environmental expose, it is also too distinctive in its structure to be ‘learnable’ by general cognitive means. Universal Grammar is thus endowed with its own distinctive mechanisms for learning (so-called parameter-setting). parameter-setting).

  Those who support the module approach assume the modularity of the mind in general, and the existence of a language module (UG) specifically. In the view of  scho schola lars rs who who advo advoca cate tes s modu modula lari rity ty,, a lang langua uage ge user user is a com comple plex x of qui quite te independent subsystems (modules), (modules), each obeying different principles. For example, learning how to assemble complex syntactic structures is driven by one system, and learning how to match words from available resources to particular situations is driven driven by quite quite anothe anotherr system system.. They They see langua language ge knowle knowledge dge as a separa separate te module from general knowledge of the world, and hence see language acquisition as essentially different in character from the acquisition of real-world knowledge, although no doubt interacting in part with that knowledge. In modular approach, a range of distinct learning mechanisms contribute to the learning of different aspects of lang langua uage ge.. For exam exampl ple, e, voca vocabu bula lary ry and and pragm pragmat atic ics s woul would d be lear learnt nt by mechanisms quite different from those which account for grammar learning. (Smith, 1994)

(2) Nonmodular Approaches 26

Nonmodular approaches see learning as a general process irrespective of object. For

exam exampl ple, e,

in

this this

pers perspe pect ctiv ive, e,

such such

proc proces esse ses s

as

hypo hypoth thes esis is

test testin ing, g,

generalization, analogy automatization, and so on, apply equally to any learning task – linguistic or otherwise (McLaughlin, 1987). A very antimodular approach to language learning is taken by advocates of connectionist models (e.g., Rumelhart, McClelland, & the PDP Research Group, 1986). Connectionists do away with rules, structures, and so on, and instead see learning as the relative strengthening or spreading activation of associations, or connections, between interconnected units or nodes.

Reference Candlin, C. N. (Ed.) (1994). Second Language Learning: Theoretical Foundations. Longman. Romaine, S (1996). Logical and Developmental Problems. In Ritchie, W. C. & Bhatia,  T. K. (Eds.), Handbook of Second Language Acquisition (pp. 571-604). 571-604). Academic Press.

10. Acculturation

Second language learning is often second culture learning. In order to understand   jus justt what what seco second nd cult cultur ure e lear learni ning ng,, one one need needs s to unde unders rsta tand nd the the natu nature re of  acculturation.  Acculturation refers to the process of becoming adapted to a new culture (Brown, 1994). Cook (2001) defines that acculturation refers to the ways in which second language users adapt to life with two languages. According to Brown (1994), there are successive stages of acculturation. acculturation. He says the first stage is the period of excitement and euphoria over the neswness of the surroundings. The second stage – culture shock – emerges as individuals feel the intrusion of more and more more cultur cultural al differ differenc ences es into into their their own images images of self self and securi security ty.. Perso Persons ns undergoing culture shock view their new world out of resentment and alternate between being angry at others for not understanding them and being filled with self-pity. The third stage is one of gradual, and at first tentative and vacillating, recovery. This stage is called cultural stress, some problems of acculturation are solved while other problems continue for some time (Larson and smalley, 1972). In this stage, individuals begin to accept the differences in thinking and feeling second culture. The fourth stag stage e represen represents ts near or full recover, recover, either either assimila assimilation tion or adaptation, acceptance of the new culture and self-confidence in the “new ” person that has developed in this culture. cult ure. 27

Reference Brown, H. D. (1994). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. Prentice Hall.

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