PSYCHOLOGY

SECOND OF
LANGUAGE
ACQUISITION
group iii
Principles & Theories of Language Acquisition & Learning
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 LANGUAGES
AND THE BRAIN Critical period hypothesis

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 Notions that particular locations in the brain may be
specialized for language functions date back at least into
the nineteenth century. Paul Pierre Broca (1861, 1865)
observed that an area in the left frontal lobe (Broca’s
area) appeared to be responsible for the ability to speak
and noted that an injury to the left side of the brain was
much more likely to result in lan- guage loss than was an
injury to the right side. Wernicke (1874) further
identified a nearby area which is adjacent to the part of
the cortex that processes audio input (Wernicke’s area) as

languages
also being central to language processing.

and the brain

 Paul Pierre Broca (b. Sainte-
Foy-la-Grande, France) 1824–
1880

Neuroscience
After becoming a professor and researcher at the
University of Paris, Paul Pierre Broca made a most
important discovery about the anatomy of the brain:

languages he found its speech center, now called Broca’s Area.

Broca arrived at his discovery by studying the brains of
and the brain patients with aphasia (the inability to talk)
languages
and the
brain
 The topic for the past century, although research procedures have
changed radically with changing technology. Methods for
gathering data have included the following:
• Correlations of location of brain damage with patterns of loss/
recovery in cases where languages are affected differentially.
• Presentation of stimuli from different languages to the right
versus the left visual or auditory fields to investigate which side
of the brain is most involved in processing each language.
• Mapping the brain surface during surgery by using electrical

languages stimulation at precise points and recording which areas are

involved in which aspects of speech, and in which language.

and the •Positron Emission Tomography (PET-scans) and other non-

invasive imaging techniques that allow direct observation of areas

brain of the brain that are activated by different language stimuli and
tasks.
 How independent are the languages of multilingual speakers?
How are multiple language structures organized in relation to
one another in the brain? Are both languages stored in the
same areas?
Does the organization of the brain for L2 in relation to L1
differ with the age of acquisition, how it is learned, or level of
proficiency?
Do two or more languages show the same sort of loss or
languages disruption after brain damage? When there is differential

and the
impairment or recovery, which language recovers first?

brain
LEARNING
PROCESSES information processing (ip)
connectionism

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 Information Processing makes the claim that learning
language is essentially like learning other domains of
knowledge: that whether people are learning
mathematics, or learning to drive a car, or learning
Japanese, they are not engaging in any essentially
different kind of mental activity. Learning is learning.
The Connectionism framework also claims that
“learning is learning,” but considers learning processes
as a matter of increasing strength of associations
rather than as the abstraction of rules or principles.

ip versus
connectionism
 It is a theoretical framework that focuses on cognitive
processes involved in second language acquisition (SLA).
The information processing theory is based on the idea
that humans actively process the information they receive
from their senses, like a computer does. Learning is what
is happening when our brains receive information, record
it, mould it and store it. In information processing theory,
as the student takes in information, that information is
first briefly stored as sensory storage; then moved to the
short term or working memory; and then either forgotten
information or transferred to the long term memory, as:
semantic memories (concepts and general information)
processing procedural memories (processes)

(ip)
images
 For learning to occur, it's critical that information is
transferred from the short term memory to the long term
memory, because if we have more than seven pieces of
information in our short-term memory at one time, we get
an overload (referred to as cognitive overload).

In the Context of Second language learning:

Approaches based on IP are concerned with the mental

information processes involved in language learning and use. It argues

that learning an L2 involves moving from controlled to
processing automatic processing via practice.

(ip)
 Assumptions on the information processing approach
(McLaughlin 1987):
Second language learning is the acquisition of a
complex cognitive skill. In this respect language
learning is like the acquisition of other complex skills.
Complex skills can be reduced to sets of simpler
component skills, which are hierarchically organized.
Lower-order component skills are prerequisite to
learning of higher-order skills.
Learning of a skill initially demands learners’

information
attention, and thus involves controlled processing.
Controlled processing requires considerable mental

processing “space,” or attentional effort.

Humans are limited-capacity processors. They can

(ip) attend to a limited number of controlled processing

demands at one time.
 Learners go from controlled to automatic processing with
practice. Automatic processing requires less mental
“space” and attentional effort.
Learning essentially involves development from
controlled to automatic processing of component skills,
freeing learners’ controlled processing capacity for new
information and higher-order skills.
Along with development from controlled to automatic
processing, learning also essentially involves restructuring
or reorganization of mental representations.
Reorganizing mental representations as part of learning

information makes structures more coordinated, integrated, and

efficient, including a faster response time when they are
processing activated.

(ip)
In SLA, restructuring of internal L2 representations, along
with larger stores in memory, accounts for increasing
levels of L2 proficiency.
 L2 fossilization (or apparent cessation of learning) from an
IP perspective aspects of L2 may become automatized before
they have developed to target levels, and positive input no
longer suffices to lead to their improvement.

Information Processing has three stages, as shown in 4.2

(adapted from Skehan 1998):

information
processing
(ip)
 Richard Schmidt (1990) lists the following features as likely
contributors to the degree of noticing or awareness which
will occur:
Frequency of encounter with items
Perceptual saliency of items
Instructional strategies that can structure learner
attention
Individuals’ processing ability (a component of aptitude)
Readiness to notice particular items (related to
hierarchies of complexity)
Task demands, or the nature of activity the learner is
engaged in.

Input
 It is here that learners go from controlled to automatic
processing, and where restructuring of knowledge takes
place. It is possible to test for degree of automatization
because controlled processing requires more time.

In the model of learning that was proposed by Anderson

(1976), development from declarative to procedural stages
of knowledge is parallel to development from controlled to
automatic processing in many respects. The declarative stage
involves acquisition of isolated facts and rules; processing is
relatively slow and often under attentional control.

Central Development to the procedural stage involves processing of

longer associated units and increasing automatization, which

Processing frees attentional resources for higher-level skills.

Proceduralization requires practice.
 The restructuring involves qualitative changes, meaning that
L2 development cannot be characterized as a seamless
continuum along which new forms are added to old, but as a
partially discontinuous plane along which there is regular
systemic reorganization and reformulation.

Central
Processing
 Importance of output for successful L2 learning according to
Merrill Swain Meaningful production practice helps learners
by:
Enhancing fluency by furthering development of
automaticity through practice
Noticing gaps in their own knowledge as they are forced
to move from semantic to syntactic processing, which
may lead learners to give more attention to relevant
information
Testing hypotheses based on developing interlanguage,
allowing for monitoring and revision
Talking about language, including eliciting relevant input

output
and (collaboratively) solving problems
 Fluency is achieved in production both through use of
automatized rule based systems and through memory-based
chunks which serve as exemplars or templates and are
“retrieved and used as wholes” (Skehan 1998:60).

output
THEORIES REGARDING
ORDER OF ACQUISITION
multidimensional model
competition model
connectionist model

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co
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 Multidimensional Model
Developed by researchers who initially studied the German
L2 learning of adult L1 speakers of Italian, Spanish, and
Portuguese in the ZISA project (see Clahsen, Meisel, and
Pienemann 1983). This model claims that:
Learners acquire certain grammatical structures in a
developmental sequence.
Developmental sequences reflect how learners
overcome processing limitations.

Multi- Language instruction which targets developmental

features will be successful only if learners have
dimensional already mastered the processing operations which are

Model
associated with the previous stage of acquisition.
 A reorientation of the Multidimensional Model.
Has the aim of determining and explaining the
sequences in which processing skills develop in
relation to language learning.

processability
theory
 Acquisitional Hierarchy of Processing Skills (proposed by
Pienemann and Håkansson 1999)
1. Lemma/word access: Words (or lemmas) are processed,
but they do not yet carry any grammatical information,
nor are they yet associated with any ordering rules.
2. Category procedure: Lexical items are categorized, and
grammatical information may be added (e.g. number
and gender to nouns, tense to verbs).
3. Phrasal procedure: Operations within the phrase level
Acquisitional occur, such as agreement for number or gender

Hierarchy
between adjective and noun within the noun phrase.
4. S-procedure: Grammatical information may be

of Processing exchanged across phrase boundaries, such as number

agreement between subject and verb.

skills 5. Clause boundary: Main and subordinate clause

structures may be handled differently.
 There were strategies that was explained by Clahsen in
multidimensional model:
1. Canonical Order Strategy: There is no reordering from
“basic” word order. Structures which can be processed
with this strategy will be acquired first.
2. Initialization/Finalization Strategy: Reordering which
moves underlying elements into the first or last
position in a grammatical string are perceptually more
salient, and thus easier to process than permutations
to internal positions.

Multi- 3. Subordinate Clause Strategy: Reordering in subordinate

clauses is not allowed. This accounts for why “learners
dimensional initially use certain reorderings only in main clauses

Model
and [ . . . ] thus the order of the elements in
subordinate clauses is less varied”
 Competition Model (Bates and MacWhinney 1981;
MacWhinney 2001)
This is a functional approach which assumes that all
linguistic performance involves “mapping” between
external form and internal function. The form of a
lexical item is represented by its auditory properties,
and its function by its semantic properties.

Example:
Horses eat hay.
competition Cows drink water.

model
 This approach considers that learning the system of
form–function mapping is basic for L1 acquisition. SLA
involves adjusting the internalized system of mapping
that exists in the learner’s L1 to one that is
appropriate for the target language. This is
accomplished by detecting cues in language input
which are associated with a particular function, and by
recognizing what weight to assign each possible cue
(the cue strength).

Example:
The cue in English that horses is the subject in the
sentence Horses eat hay is word order – horses comes in
competition front of the verb. If the sentence were in Japanese, the

model
cue would be a case marker, the inflection -ga that is
attached to the end of a word which means it is the
subject (i.e. that it has nominative case).
 Multiple cues are available simultaneously in input; for
the grammatical function of subject, possible cues are
word order, agreement, case marking, and animacy.

Example:
The cow kicks the horse.
The cow kick the horses.
Him kicks the horse.
The fence kicks the horse

Acquisition of appropriate form–function mappings is

driven primarily by the probability that a particular

competition functional interpretation should be chosen in the presence

of a particular cue. If the probability is high, the cue is

model reliable.
 Determinants of Cue Strength:
1. Task frequency: how often the form–function mapping
occurs. The vast majority of English sentences have a
subject before the verb, so the mapping of word-order
form to subject function is very frequent.
2. Contrastive availability: when the cue is present,
whether or not it has any contrastive effect. In
example (a) above, for instance (The cow kicks the
horse), the third person singular -s on the verb agrees
with both noun phrases and so the agreement cue tells

Determinants
nothing about which is the subject. An available cue
must occur contrastively if it is to be useful.\

of cue 3. Conflict reliability: how often the cue leads to a

correct interpretation when it is used in comparison to

strength other potential cues.

 Connectionist approaches to learning have much in
common with IP perspectives, but they focus on the
increasing strength of associations between stimuli and
responses rather than on the inferred abstraction of
“rules” or on restructuring.
From a connectionist perspective learning essentially is
change in the strength of these connections.

Connectionist
approaches
 Also known as PDP
Processing takes place in a network of nodes (or
“units”) in the brain that are connected by pathways.
As learners are exposed to repeated patterns of units
in input, they extract regularities in the patterns;
probabilistic associations are formed and strengthened.
These associations between nodes are called

Parallel connection strengths or patterns of activation

Distributed
Processing
 Assumptions about processing from a connectionist/PDP
viewpoint differ from traditional IP accounts in other
important ways. For example:
1. Attention is not viewed as a central mechanism that
directs information between separate memory stores,
which IP claims are available for controlled processing
versus automatic processing. Rather, attention is a
mechanism that is distributed throughout the
processing system in local patterns.
2. Information processing is not serial in nature: i.e. it is
not a “pipeline . . . in which information is conveyed in

Parallel a fixed serial order from one storage structure to the

next” Instead, processing is parallel: many connections
Distributed are activated at the same time.
3. Knowledge is not stored in memory or retrieved as
Processing patterns, but as “connection strengths” between units
which account for the patterns being recreated.
DIFFERENCES
IN LEARNERS age, sex, aptitude

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asp
leg
 It is a common belief that children are more
successful L2 learners than adults, but the
evidence for this is surprisingly equivocal.

Younger Advantage Older Advantage

Brain Plasticity Learning Capacity
Not Analytical Analytic Ability
Fewer Inhibitions (usually) Pragmatic Skills
Weaker Group Identity Greater Knowledge of L1
Simplified Input Real-World

age (more likely) Knowledge

 We noted in the earlier section of this chapter on
languages and the brain that there is a critical period for
first language acquisition: children have only a limited
number of years during which normal acquisition is
possible. Beyond that, physiological changes cause the
brain to lose its plasticity, or capacity to assume the new
functions that learning language demands.

Critical Period Hypothesis

The critical period hypothesis says that there is a period of

growth in which full native competence is possible when
acquiring a language. This period is from early childhood

age to adolescence. The critical period hypothesis has

implications for teachers and learning programmes, but it
is not universally accepted.
 Evidence for Critical Period Hypothesis

The tragic case of “Genie” bears directly on the critical

period hypothesis. Genie was discovered in 1970, at the
age of thirteen, having been brought up in conditions of
inhuman neglect and extreme isolation. She was severely
disturbed and underdeveloped and had been unable to
learn language. During her treatment and rehabilitation,
great efforts were made to teach her to speak. She had
received next to no linguistic stimulation between the
ages of two and puberty, so the evidence of her language-
learning ability would bear directly on the Lenneberg
age hypothesis.
 Analysis of the way Genie developed her linguistic skills
showed several abnormalities, such as a marked gap between
production and comprehension, variability in using rules,
stereotyped speech, gaps in the acquisition of syntactic skills,
and a generally retarded rate of development. After various
psycholinguistic tests, it was concluded that Genie was using
her right hemisphere for language (as well as for several other
activities), and that this might have been the result of her
beginning the task of language learning after the critical
period of left-hemisphere development. The case was thus
thought to support Lenneberg’s hypothesis, but only in a weak
form. Genie was evidently able to acquire some language from
exposure after puberty (she made great progress in vocabulary,

age for example, and continued to make gains in morphology and

syntax), but she did not do so in a normal way. (After S. Curtiss
1977, in Crystal 1997b.)
 Critical Period Hypothesis

Lenneberg (1967) speculated that the critical period

applies to SLA as well as to first language acquisition,
and that this accounts for why almost all L2 speakers
have a “foreign accent” if they do not begin learning
the language before the cut-off age.
Seliger (1978) and Long (1990) argue instead that
there are multiple periods which place constraints on
different aspects of language: e.g., different periods
relate to the acquisition of phonology versus the
acquisition of syntax. They also suggest that these
periods do not impose absolute cut-off points; it is just

age that L2 acquisition will more likely be complete if

begun in childhood than if it does not start until a
later age.
 There is a widespread belief in many western cultures that
females tend to be better L2 learners than males, but this
belief is probably primarily a social construct, based on
outcomes which reflect cultural and sociopsychological
constraints and influences.

sex
 The assumption that there is a talent which is specific to
language learning has been widely held for many years.
The following four components were proposed by Carroll
(1965) as underlying this talent, and they constitute the
bases for most aptitude tests:
Phonemic coding ability
Inductive language learning ability
Grammatical sensitivity
Associative memory capacity

aptitude
 Phonemic Coding Ability

It is the capacity to process auditory input into segments

which can be stored and retrieved. It is particularly
important at very early stages of learning when this ability
“is concerned with the extent to which the input which
impinges on the learner can become input that is worth
processing, as opposed to input which may simply be an
auditory blur or alternatively only partially processed”

aptitude
 Inductive Language Learning Ability and Grammatical
Sensitivity

Both concerned with central processing. They account for

further processing of the segmented auditory input by the
brain to infer structure, identify patterns, make
generalizations, recognize the grammatical function of
elements, and formulate rules.

Associative Memory Capacity

Importantly concerned with how linguistic items are

stored, and with how they are recalled and used in output.

aptitude Associative memory capacity determines appropriate

selection from among the L2 elements that are stored,
and ultimately determines speaker fluency.
DIFFERENCES
IN LEARNERS motivation
learning types
personality

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kamil
agan,
il
 They make rapid and apparently effortless
progress while others progress only very slowly
and with great difficulty.
They have different personalities and styles.
Thus, each individual is different from the
other.
Humans differ from each other due to many
biological or conditioned factors (affected by
nature) or unconscious forces (affected by past

differences experiences).

in learners
 Motivation largely determines the level of effort
which learners expend at various stages in their L2
development, often a key to ultimate level of
proficiency.

Components
Significant goal or need
Desire to attain the goal
Perception that learning L2 is relevant to
fulfilling the goal or meeting the need
Belief in the likely success or failure of
learning L2

motivation Value of potential outcomes/rewards

 Types of Motivation

1. Instrumental Motivation is found in learners

who want to learn a second language with the
objective of getting benefits from the second
language skill. Objectives, such as business
advancement, increase in professional status,
educational goals etc. motivate the learner to
learn a second language in this case.
2. Integrative Motivation is found in learners who
are interested in the second language in order
to integrate with and become a part of a target
community/ culture. The learner wants to

motivation resemble and behave like the target community

 Learning Style refers to the individuals’ preferred
way of processing: i.e. of perceiving,
conceptualizing, organizing, and recalling
information.

1. Concrete learning style - Learners with a

concrete learning style use active and direct
means of taking in and processing information.
They are interested in information that has
immediate value.
2. Analytical learning style - Learners with an
analytical style are independent, like to solve

learning
problems, and enjoy tracking down ideas and
developing principles on their own. Analytical

style learners are serious, push themselves hard, and

are vulnerable to failure.
 3. Communicative learning style - Learners with a
communicative learning style prefer a social
approach to learning. They need personal feedback
and interaction, and learn well from discussion and
group activities.
4. Authority-oriented learning style - Learners with
an authority-oriented style are said to be
responsible and dependable. They like and need
structure and sequential progression.
learning
style
 Individuals’ preferred way of processing: i.e. of
perceiving, conceptualizing, organizing, and
recalling information.

Field-dependent (FD)
Right-brain dominance
FD is defined by a relative inability to distinguish
detail from other information around it.
Learners who are FD are also considered more global
and holistic in processing new information.
Deductive (or “top-down”) processing begins with a

cognitive
prediction or rule and then applies it to interpret
particular instances of input.

style Focus on meaning (FonM) requires the leaner to focus

on the message being conveyed by the L2.
 Field-independent (FI)
Left-brain dominance
FI is defined by a tendency to separate details from
the surrounding context.
Learners who are FI are considered more particularistic
and analytic.
Inductive (or “bottom-up”) processing begins with
examining input to discover some pattern and then
formulates a generalization or rule that accounts for it

cognitive
and that may then in turn be applied deductively.
·Focus on form (FonF) requires the learner to focus on

style the grammatical correctness or incorrectness of the L2.

 Personality in all its shapes and colors brings
variety to this world. People tend to choose and
consequently do what they feel comfortable with
and get better at the given skills.
Extroversion vs. Introversion - Extroverts, who
use the second language to interact without
inhabitation, talk more fluently, tend to take
actions with less reflection, work better in
groups and excel during classes with high levels
of activity. Introverts tend to talk less and
reflect more before acting, like to be quiet, like
to work independently or with one or two other

personality
people.
 Self-esteem - It is a personal judgment of
worthiness that is expressed in the attitudes that
the individual holds towards oneself. The degree
of self-esteem is correlated with success in
second language acquisition, especially in tasks
involving oral performance.
Inhibition - It is the set of defenses an individual
builds to protect himself/herself. Inhibition is
related to the condition in which learners are
losing face, worry about making mistakes and
are afraid of the attention that their speech
attraction will be loose.
personality
 Risk-taking - 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.
Beebe (1983) described some of the reasons
that create fear of risk-taking:
In the classroom: a bad grade in the course,
a reproach from the teacher
Outside the classroom: fear of looking
ridiculous, fear of the frustration coming
from a listener's blank look

personality
 Anxiety - Anxiety comes with feelings of
uneasiness, frustration, self-doubt, apprehension,
or worry. A learner’s willingness to communicate
has also been related to anxiety. The two types
of anxiety have been identified are:
Trait anxiety - It is a more permanent
tendency to be anxious.
State anxiety - It is a type of anxiety
experienced in relation to some particular
event or act which can be temporary and
context-specific.

personality
STRATEGIES
AND EFFECTS learning strategies
effects of multilingualism

atrice
ce, ve
dul
 Different outcomes may also be affected by
individuals learning strategies.
The choice of possible strategies is often a
conscious decision of the student.
The other variables we consider are age, sex,
and aptitude.
Many learning strategies are culturally based.
Not all strategies are equal.

Learning
Strategies
 Metacognitive
Previewing a concept or principle in anticipation of
a learning activity: deciding in advance to attend
to specific aspects of input: rehearsing linguistic
components which will be required for an
upcoming language task.
Cognitive
Repeating after a language model; translating from

a typology of L1; remembering a new word in L2 by relating it to

one that sounds the same in L1.
language- Social/Affective

learning Working cooperatively with peers to obtain

feedback or pool information; asking questions to

strategies obtain clarification;

explanation, or examples.
requesting repetition,

(O'Malley and Chamot)

 Retrospective Reports
Self-report is a common means of gathering
information about the strategies that students
choose, usually through interviews and
questionnaires about what they have done or
usually do.
a typology of Simultaneous Reports

language- Through reflection activities in which students talk

about their activities while studying. found in an

learning L2. they are an active learning task.

strategies
(O'Malley and Chamot)
 Concern for language form (but also attention
to meaning). Concern for communication
Active task approach
Awareness of the learning process
Capacity to use strategies flexibly in
accordance with task requirements

good learners
characteristics
 The potential benefits of multilingualism in
relation to other cognitive abilities or processes
have been speculated and studied for many
years
•Philosophically, the notion that
multilingualism has positive effects on
cognitive development has traditionally been
related to the belief that teaching foreign
languages is good for "training the mind"
•The opposing view that multilingualism has a
negative impact on general intelligence may
have peaked in U.S. immigration research in the

effects of 1930s
Research since the 1960s has largely supported

multilingualism claims that multilingualism has positive effects

on intellectual functions,
 Bilingual children show consistent advantages
in tasks.
Bilingual children show advanced
metalinguistic abilities.
Cognitive and metalinguistic advantages appear
in bilingual situations that involve systematic
uses of the two languages.
The cognitive effects of bilingualism appear
relatively early in the process of becoming
bilingual.
Bilingual children have advantages in the use

summary of of language for verbal mediation.

positive findings