Mancuello - Ramello
Explaining second language learning
(Ch. 4 in How Languages are Learned)
1) When discussing the influence of Behaviourism in the study of Second Language Acquisition (SLA),
Lightbown and Spada mention the Audiolingual Method. In order to learn more about this method, read
“What should I know about teaching methodologies?” in Horwitz’s Becoming a Language Teacher
(2008).
2) The authors also discuss the relationship between Behaviourism, the Audiolingual Method and the
Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH). Remember we read about CAH in chapter 2. Go back to it if
necessary.
The Audiolingual Method was developed in the 1960s to take advantage of the insights into
language learning offered by the Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (hypothesis in which errors were
assumed to be the result of transfer from the learner’s first language). Its most prominent features were
structure drills and memorized dialogues. It was argued that this method did not prepare learners for the
spontaneity required by natural conversations, and that it de-emphasized explicit grammar teaching
consistent with the behavioural learning theory.
3) On pp. 105-6 Lightbown and Spada analyse the role the Innatist perspective plays in the study of
SLA; they discuss the type of access to the UG L2 learners have and the role of formal instruction.
Summarize the views presented using the chart below:
authors views
White (2003) and They state that UG offers the best perspective from which
access to the UG
others to understand second language acquisition.
Bley-Vroman They argue that UG does not offer a good explanation for
(1990) and the acquisition of a second language, especially by learners
Schachter (1990) who have passed the critical period.
Schwartz (1993) She concludes that instruction and feedback change only
role of formal
superficial aspects of language performance and do not
instruction
affect the underlying systematic knowledge of the new
language. She argues that language acquisition is based on
the availability of natural language in the learner's
environment.
White (1993) and They agree that the acquisition of many grammatical
others features of the new language takes place naturally when
learners are engaged in meaningful use of it. They also
suggest that learners may need explicit information about
what is not grammatical in the second language to avoid
equivalences that do not exist.
4) In this same section, the authors distinguish between COMPETENCE and PERFORMANCE, and
mention GRAMMATICALITY JUDGEMENTS. Make sure you understand what these concepts mean;
you can consult the Glossary on the last part of the book.
- competence: term used by Chomsky, which refers to knowledge of language. Knowledge that
underlies the ability to use language. We cannot observe it directly, so it is inferred from
performance. It is stable, at least for mature native speakers.
- performance: the way we use language (listening, speaking, reading, writing). It is subject to
variations, due to inattention or fatigue.
- grammaticality judgement: a test/task in which participants are asked to make a decision about
whether a sentence is grammatically correct or not.
5) Watch this video where Krashen himself – very much influenced by innatism – explains what second
language acquisition entails, in his view: https://youtu.be/NiTsduRreug What points did he make in his
presentation? List them.
-We all acquire language the same way.
-We're living in an age of individual variation.
-We're very concerned about how our students are different, not how our students are the same.
-Repeating , memorizing, or writing over and over again doesn't help much.
-Not every word, but more or less, We as a teacher must do everything necessary to teach the language.
-We understand a L2 when we understand messages. (Comprehensible input).
-We acquire language when we understand what people tell us.
-Talking is not practising.
-There are several factors that relate to success in language acquisition: Motivation, Self-Esteem and
Anxiety.
6) Lightbown and Spada briefly present the five hypotheses in Krashen’s model. In the chart below,
summarize the hypotheses and the criticisms raised against them.
Hypothesis What it states …
Acquisition-learning We acquire language as we are exposed to samples of it that we understand,
with no conscious attention to language form. We learn through conscious
attention to form and rule learning.
Monitor Second language users draw on what they have acquired when they engage in
spontaneous communication. They may use rules and patterns that have been
learned as a monitor, allowing them to make changes and polish what the
acquired system has produced. Such monitoring takes place only when the
speaker/writer has plenty of time, is concerned about producing correct
language, and has learned relevant rules.
Natural order Second language acquisition unfolds in predictable sequences. The language
rules that are easiest to state are not necessarily the first to be acquired.
Input (i + 1) Acquisition occurs when one is exposed to language that is comprehensible
and contains i+1.
i: level of language already acquired.
+1: language that is just a step beyond that level.
Affective filter Metaphorical barrier that prevents learners from acquiring language even when
appropriate input is available. Affect makes reference to feelings of
anxiety/negative attitudes that may be associated with poor learning outcomes.
Krashen’s “Monitor Model” has been criticized by researchers. McLaughlin (1987) argued that it
is not possible to test the hypothesis in empirical research and White (1987) stated that he has drawn
the wrong conclusions from the research.
7) As the authors assert (p. 38), Krashen’s ideas were quite influential in the field of L2 teaching and
methods were developed following his proposal. In Horwitz’s Becoming a Language Teacher (2008),
read about The Natural Approach and Total Physical Response.
The Natural Approach (developed by Tracy Terrell) and Total Physical Response (developed by
James Asher) are input methods. Both focus on the development of students’ listening abilities based on
the premise that listening comprehension is the basis of all language ability. Both methods allow a silent
period where students are not required to talk to encourage the development of listening comprehension
abilities. Nevertheless, they differ in the way listening experiences are offered to learners and how much
speaking is asked of the students. In TPR, the teacher gives commands which students, later, follow
using their bodies.
8) Cognitivist perspectives resort to categories such as attention, automaticity, knowledge, connections,
etc. to explain SLA. Summarize the different positions in the chart below:
Information Processing Usage-based Learning
Attention Pay attention means using cognitive
resources to process information.
Practice Through experience and practice,
information that was new become able
to access quickly and even
automatically.
Automaticity It is achieved by practice, which frees
up cognitive processing resources to
notice other aspects of the language
that become automatic.
Restructuring Changes in language behaviour that
seem to be based on qualitative
changes in the learner’s knowledge.
Procedural The ability to use language. With
knowledge continued practice, it can become
automatized.
Declarative Knowledge that we are aware of Less importance is attributed to the
knowledge having. Through practice, it becomes kind of declarative knowledge that
procedural knowledge. characterizes skill learning and
traditional structure-based approaches
to second language instruction.
Exposure – The emphasis is on the frequency with
Frequency which learners encounter specific
linguistic features in the input and the
frequency with which language features
occur together.
Rules Overgeneralization errors based on the
use of general patterns. Backsliding,
which occurs when a systematic aspect
of a learner’s language incorporates too
much or incorporates the wrong things.
9) Read about Long’s Interaction Hypothesis and Swain’s Comprehensible Output Hypothesis. How are
they related?
Long (1983) stated that comprehensible input is necessary for language acquisition. He focused
on the question of how input could be made comprehensible. He argued that modified interaction is the
necessary mechanism for making language comprehensible. What learners need is opportunities to
interact with other speakers, working together to reach mutual comprehension through negotiation for
meaning. Through these interactions, interlocutors figure out what they need to do to keep the
conversation going and make the input comprehensible to me less proficient speaker.
Long then revised the interaction hypothesis, placing more emphasis on cognitive factors such as
noticing and corrective feedback during interaction. When communication is difficult, interlocutors must
negotiate for meaning, and this negotiation is seen as the opportunity for language development. The
Comprehensible Output Hypothesis, developed by Swain (1985), can be related to it because COH
argued that when learners must produce language that their interlocutor can understand, they are most
likely to see the limits of their L2 ability and the need to find better ways to express their meaning, and
those demands of producing comprehensible output push learners ahead in their development.
10) Interaction is one of the main tenets of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), another method
(or approach?) presented by Horwitz; read about CLT on pp. 57-8.
Communicative Language Teaching is a reaction to the limited oral flexibility students developed
in Audiolingual Method courses. CLT classes emphasize authentic communication from the first day of
class, teachers urge students to communicate in the target language, and they also do a lot of
scaffolding. They do not generally accept answers in the L1, but if students do so, the CLT teacher will
help the student formulate that idea in the second language.
