1、 CHAPTER TWELVE LANGUAGE ACQUISITION 1. What is Language Acquisition? 2. Contrastive analysis 3. Error analysis 5. Comprehensible Input and L2 Acquisition 6. Individual factors affecting SLA 1. What is language acquisition? the learning and the development of a persons language. It is studied by lin

2、guists, psycholinguists and applied linguists to enable them to understand the processes used in learning a language, help identify stages in the developmental process, and to give a better understanding of the nature of language. It focuses on the study of the development of phonology, grammar, voc

3、abulary and communicative competence. First language; Second language; Foreign language ; Target language lfirst language / L1: generally a persons mother tongue or the language acquired first, also known as native language.lsecond language / L2: a language which is not a native language in a countr

4、y but which is widely used as a medium of communication e.g. in education & in government and which is usually used alongside another language or languages. English is described as a second language in countries such as Singapore, Canada and Nigeria. lforeign language: a language which is taught

5、 as a school subject but which is not used as a medium of instruction nor as a language of communication within a country e.g. in government, business, or industry. English is described as a foreign language in China, Japan, France etc.ltarget language: a language which a person is learning. l Secon

6、d Language Acquisition (SLA)lThe study of SLA, as an independent field of inquiry, started in the late 1960s, and flourished in the 1970s and 80s, perhaps as a result of the resurgence of interest in the internal mechanisms of the language teaching and learning process. 2. Contrastive analysis / CA

7、a procedure designed to find out the differences and similarities between languages in order to help teachers and learners, and not produce errors at all. It was developed and practiced in the 1950s and 1960s. It was more successful in phonology than in other areas of language, and declined in the 1

8、970s as interference was replaced by other explanations of learning difficulties. l l Role of L1 in L2 Acquisition: lLanguage transfer: the effect of one language on the learning of another. lTwo types of language transfer:l Negative transfer負遷移負遷移, also known as interference, the use of a native la

9、nguage pattern or rule which leads to an error or inappropriate form in the target language. l Negative transfer-interfere or hinder target language learning l It is believed that differences between the native language and the target language would pose difficulties in second/foreign language learn

10、ing and teaching, e.g.l *To touch the society .l *There are more people come to study in the states.l *I wait you at the gate of the school. lPositive transfer :正遷移正遷移 transfer which makes learning easier, and may occur when both the native language and target language have the same form. Positivetr

11、ansfer-facilitate target language learningle.g. Both French and English have the word table, which can have the same meaning in both languages. 3. Error analysis the study and analysis of the errors made by second language learners . It is developed as a branch of applied linguistics in the 1960s, a

12、nd entered its heyday in the 1970s. It set out to demonstrate that many learner errors were not dut to the learners mother tongue but reflected universal learning strategies. By the late 1970s, error analysis had already been replaced by studies of interlanguage 語際語言and Second Language Acquisition.

13、lTwo types of errors: lIntralingual 語內 errors mainly result from faulty or partial learning of the target language, independent of the native language. lIntralingual errors were classified into:lover-generalization概括過頭 the use of previously available strategies in new situations. 學生以為自己已經知道某一語言規則，但實

14、際上并非真正了解，或者是由于他們的直覺，甚至是在其他場合的一些交際策略 l e.g.walked, watched, washed *rided, *goed, *doed, *eatedlJane advise me to give up smoking. Jane told me to give up smoking. *Jane hoped me to give up smoking. *Jane suggested me to give up smoking. *I losed the game. *There are ten sheeps. *I was devoted to do

15、this job.) lCross-association互相聯想 refers to the phenomenon that the close association of the two similar words often leads to confusion, e.g.lOther/another, much/many, lIt may also occurs at all levels of language from phonological to syntactic, e.g. The coffee is too hot to drink.* The apple is too

16、 sour to eat it. lInterlingual 語際 lerrors result from language transfer, i.e. which is caused by the learners native language. e.g. * Someone is knocking the door. * My opinion differs with yours. * - Is he tired? -Tired. * Whats your name? My name Smith. * My family has 5 people. l. Interlingual er

17、rors mainly result from cross-linguistic interference at different levels such as phonological, lexical, grammatical or discoursal etc. For examples, a. Substitution of t for and d for : threetree, thisdis. b. Shortening of long vowels: sheepship, meetmit lError & mistakel An error is a deviatio

18、n 偏離 on learner language that results from lack of knowledge of the correct rule and not self-corrigible by the learner (failure in competence)； l A mistake is a deviation in learning a language that occurs when the learner fails to perform his competence that is caused by fatigue, inattention, care

19、lessness etc ;either intentionally or unintentionally and self-corrigible (failure in performance). 4. Interlanguage 中介語中介語 (S. Pit Corder & Larry Selinker) l Interlangauge - learners independent system of the second language which is of neither the native language nor the second language, but a

20、 continuum or approximation from his native language to the target language. l What learners produce, correct or wrong, are evidence or the approximation from their first language to the target language.l lIt consists of a series of overlapping 重疊 grammar; each one shares some rules with the previou

21、sly constructed grammar, but contain some new or revised rules.lCharacteristics of interlanguagelInterlanguage has three important characteristics: systematicity, permeability and fossilization.l l l Fossilization僵化僵化l In second or foreign language learning, a process which sometimes occurs in which

22、 incorrect linguistic features become a permanent part of the way a person speaks and writes a language. l Aspects of pronunciation, vocabulary usage, and grammar may become fixed or fossilized in second or foreign language learning. Fossilized features of pronunciation contribute to a persons forei

23、gn accent. 5. Comprehensible Input and L2 Acquisition According to Krashens Input Hypothesis, in second or foreign language learning，learners acquire a language along the natural order by understanding input that contain structures a little bit beyond their current level of competence; comprehensibl

24、e input is necessary for acquisition to take place, but it is not sufficient. Learners also need to be willing to internalize the input they comprehend. l美國南加州大學語言學系教授克拉申（Krashen）的輸入假設理論認為：只要接受到足夠的語言輸入，而且這些輸入又是可以理解的（comprehensive），人們就可以習得語言。如果人們的語言水平為i，他們接觸到大量含有i+1的語言輸入，他們的語言水平就會從i向i+1提高。 Two means

25、of second language learning Acquisition is a process similar to the way children acquire their first language, it is a subconscious process without minute learning of grammatical rules. Learning is a conscious learning of the second language knowledge by learning the rules and talking about the rule

26、s. lComprehensible Input : i+1li represents learners current state of knowledge, the next stage is i+1. By providing comprehensible input which is bit higher than the learners current level, the learners Language Acquisition Device /LAD 語言習得機制will be activated 激活 and contribute to acquisition. lInpu

27、t, output, intake lInput : language which a learner hears or receives and from which a person can learn.lThe language a learner produces is by analogy called output.lIntake 吸收的語言吸收的語言 is input which is actually helpful for the learner. Some of the language (i.e. input) which a learner hears may be t

28、oo rapid or difficult for the learner to understand, and therefore cant be used in learning (i.e. cannot serve as intake). 6. Individual factors affecting SLAl Age of Acquisition: an early period of ones life until the age of puberty青春期, during which language acquisition for all normal children is n

29、atural, effortless and successful. l Learning strategiesl Language aptitude see Dai P169 l語言潛能（language aptitude）l 定義:學習者所具備的某種能力傾向。包括：語音能力、語法能力、推理能力。l Chomsky的語言能力（language competence）：語言是天賦，語言能力即是一種語法能力，是一種普遍語法。從語言知識角度來看，嬰兒學習母語是一個從無到有的過程（從普遍語法到個別語法的過程），而外語學習則是在具備了一套具體語言規則的基礎上進行。已有的語言知識不可避免地成為學習外語的

30、參照系，原有語言知識必然發生遷移。l Hymes的交際能力(communicative competence)：語言使用者根據社會情景因素恰當運用語言規則的能力。從交際能力的角度來看，嬰兒學習母語是一個社會化的過程，是一個確定自己社會角色，接受社會規范和文化價值的過程，而對外語學習者來說，他的社會身份已經確定、語言中的指示轉移規則已經掌握，外語交際涉及到了跨文化問題，語言規則和交際準則的矛盾凸現出來。 l Motivationl學習動機l 動機屬于情感因素之一。從教育心理學角度講，學習過程中影響學習效果的最大因素之一就是學習者的情感控制。l 定義：l 所謂動機就是對某種活動有明確的目的性；為達

31、到該目的而作出的一定努力。l 分類：l 綜合型動機（integrative motivation）：學習者對目的語社團有特殊興趣，期望參與或融入該社團的社會生活。l 工具型動機（instrumental motivation）：學習者為了某一特殊目的，如通過某一考試，獲得某一職位等。l 態度l 態度的定義：（1）認知成分，即對某一目的的信念；（2）情感成分，即對某一目標的好惡程度；（3）意動成分：即對某一目標的行動意向及實際行動。 動機和態度與外語習得之間關系研究達成的共識：（1）動機和態度是決定不同學習者取得不同程度成功的主要因素。（2）動機和態度的作用與能力的作用不是一回事。最成功的學習者

32、是既有才華又有強烈學習動機的人。（3）有些情況下，綜合型動機有助于成功掌握外語，有時工具型動機也可以。有時兩種同時起作用。（4）動機類型與社會環境有關。 (5）動機和態度主要影響外語習得速度，對習得程序并無影響。 lCritical period hypothesis 關鍵期假說: the theory that in child development there is a period during which language can be acquired more easily than at any other time. According to the biologist Le

33、nneberg, the critical period lasts until puberty (around age 0f 12 or 13 years) and is due to biological development. Lenneberg suggested that language learning may be more difficult after puberty because the brain lacks the ability for adaptation. This, he believes, was because the language functions of the brain have already been established in a particular part