First and second language acquisition 2

HS: Language and the Mind Prof R Hickey SS 2006 First and Second Language Acquisition Tatiana Prozorova (HS/TN) Irina Novikava (HS/TN) Alexandra Wolek (HS/LN) Vanessa Hollands (HS/LN) Verena Scheulen (HS/LN) Nadiya Sowa (HS/LN) Kirsten Leicht (HS/TN) Overview • • • • • • Instruction and Second Language Acquisition Variation in Child Language Psychosocial Aspects of Language Acquisition Social and Discourse Aspects of Interlanguage Psycholinguistic Aspects of Interlanguage Contrastive Linguistics Instruction and Second Language Acquisition Tatiana Prozorova Irina Novikava Structure      main theories dealing with instruction in L2 acquisition effectiveness of instruction key principles for an effective instruction instructions appropriate to each acquisition stage ten things the teacher can to improve instruction for ELL students Introduction  Grammar Translation Method   Audiolingual Method   non-communicative approach that relies on reading and translation, mastery of grammatical rules and accurate writing non-communicative approach that involves heavy use of mimicry, imitations and drill Speech, not writing is emphasised Communicative Language Teaching  is based on the assumption that learners not need to be taught grammar before they can communicate but will acquire it naturally as part of the process of learning to communicate Basic theories of L2 acquisition  "Comprehensible Input" hypothesis (by Stephen Krashen)   "Comprehensible Output" hypothesis (by Merrill Swain and others)   learners acquire language by "intaking" and understanding language that is a "little beyond" their current level of competence providing learners with opportunities to use the language and skills they have acquired, at a level in which they are competent, is almost as important as giving students the appropriate level of input Affective Filter hypothesis (by Krashen and Terrell)  individual’s emotions can directly assist in the learning of a new language Basic theories of L2 acquisition  Basic interpersonal communications skills (BICS) and cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP)  Context-embedded communication   Context-reduced communication   provides fewer communicative clues to support understanding Cognitively undemanding communication   provides several communicative supports to the listener or reader(objects, gestures, vocal inflections) requires a minimal amount of abstract or critical thinking Cognitively demanding communication  requires a learner to analyze and synthesize information quickly and contains abstract or specialized concepts Four key principles for an effective instruction  Increase Comprehensibility   Increase Interaction   language skills are used in real-life situations Increase Thinking/Study Skills   involves the ways in which teachers can make content more understandable to their students advanced thinking skills are developed Use a student’s native language to increase comprehensibility Examples of Instructional Strategies  Silent/ Receptive Stage I  Use of visual aids and gestures Slow speech emphasizing key words Do not force oral production Write key words on the board with students copying them as they are presented Use pictures and manipulatives to help illustrate concepts Use multimedia language role models Use interactive dialogue journals Encourage choral readings Use Total Physical Response (TPR) techniques         Examples of Instructional Strategies          Early Production Stage II Engage students in charades and linguistic guessing games Do role-playing activities Present open-ended sentences Promote open dialogues Conduct student interviews with the guidelines written out Use charts, tables, graphs, and other conceptual visuals Use newspaper ads and other mainstream materials to encourage language interaction Encourage partner and trio readings Language and the mind Prof R Hickey SS 2006 Contrastive Linguistics Kirsten Leicht TN Hauptstudium Introduction What I am going to tell you… - What is ‘Contrastive Linguistics’? - Interference - Differences in special areas: - Phonology - Morphology - Nominal area - Syntax - Semantics - Idioms and Collocations - Pragmatics - Conclusion What is ‘Contrastive Linguistics’? - it means comparing the structures of two present-day languages - goal is an immediate desire like improving instruction in one of the languages examined - it is: - synchronically oriented - not concerned with genetic similarities - two languages - bound to a particular linguistic theory - divided into applied and theoretical sections - we will focus on the applied sections Interference - transferring of structural features of one’s native language when learning a second language - positive and negative transfer - negative transfer is called interference - four main types of interference: - substitution: a learner uses an already acquired element for one he does not yet possess, e.g [w] for [r] in [wein] rain - over-and under-differentiation: in early language acquisition clause types are under-differentiated, as more parataxis than hypotaxis is used; overdifferentiation: use of several different verbs by English speakers of German, where Germans would just have machen - Over-indulgence and under-representation: repeated use of structures, words,…; lack of special structures, words,… - over-generalisation: e.g Mama comed home Contrastive Phonology - - - tradition of incorrect pronunciation, e.g /berlin vs ber/lin; pronounced consistently in an incorrect manner transfer from principle in German to English, although it is incorrect; e.g voiced vs voiceless s after n,l,r – conversation mixed pronunciation, e.g Hifi [haifi] vs [haifai] allophonic differences, e.g (ch) in Buch or Pech contrastive stress - - phenomenon of level stress in English where two or more elements have equal stress e.g /Second/World/War vs \Zweiter/Welt\Krieg /Hong/Kong - /Hong\Kong different stress in noun and adjective, e.g /content (noun) and con/tent (adjective) Contrastive morphology - - - comparative forms of adjectives: in English: Romanic vs Germanic, e.g tall tallertallest vs terrible-more terrible-most terrible two cases in English vs four cases in German affixation in German vs Lexicalisation in English: e.g ver- used as a prefix to indicate a reversal in meaning, in English different words mieten-vermieten rent-let kaufen-verkaufen buy-sell compounding: German favours compounding whereas the English equivalents are lexicalised or arrived at by paraphrase, e.g - snow-sleet vs Schnee-Schneeregen cup-saucer vs Tasse-Untertasse bissfeste Kartoffeln – crunchy potatoes ein schmerzarmer Tag – a day with little pain one should resist to translate piece by piece Differences in the nominal area - - use of the definite article: not used with abstract terms, only if a qualifying clause or element follows, e.g She is interested in philosophy vs The philosophy of Kant singular and plural: - - - formation of plurals in English, e g knife – knives or thief – thieves formal plurals with singular meaning, e.g contents – der Inhalt or means – das/die Mittel Informationen – information, Verwirrungen – confusion differences in singular and plural requirements, e.g Hose – trousers, Schere – scissors, die Möbel – furniture prepositional usage: no hard and fast rule, e.g on foot – zu Fuss, by train – mit dem Zug to fill in – ausfüllen to stand out - auffallen Contrastive Syntax - - different complement types: complements are parts of a sentence which follow a verb e.g He wants her to sing a song (infinitive complement) Er will, dass sie ein Lied singt (causal complement) He saw him running away (participle construction) Er sah ihn weglaufen (infinitive complement) passive constructions: in some passive sentences English allows the original direct object to remain in its slot and only shifts the indirect object to subject position e.g They gave him the book He was given the book i.o d.o Sie gaben ihm das Buch Er wurde das Buch gegeben In German this is strictly forbidden Contrastive Syntax - prepositions: preposition vs no preposition e.g Er ist Freitag abgereist – He departed on Friday 1980 ist er nach München gezogen – He moved to Munich in 1980 - prepositional distinctions; e.g in time: rechtzeitig, on time: zur rechten Zeit - Contrastive Semantics unusualness of English words: many words are not very common in everyday usage, e.g sibling vs brothers and sisters - differing range: e.g Freundin – female friend, girlfriend - false friends: a word in the native language sounds similar to one in the foreign language; different meaning e.g aktuell ‘topical’ actual ‘tatsächlich’ dumm ‘stupid’ dumb ‘stumm’ Gift ‘poison’ gift ‘Geschenk’ sensibel ‘sensitive’ ‘sensible’ ‘vernünftig’ - equivalents: one word in German often has more than one equivalent in English and the other way round, e.g glücklich happy, lucky seit for, since dress Kleidung, Kleid go gehen, fahren - Idioms and Collocations collocation: a sequence of words or terms which co-occur more often than would be expected - equivalents can have different collocations: e.g krönend – crowning A crowning achievment Eine Spitzenleistung Der krönende Abschluss The final flourish Ein preisgekröntes Buch An award-winning book A crowning achievment Eine Spitzenleistung Der krönende Abschluss The final flourish Ein preisgekröntes Buch An award-winning book dictionaries don’t provide enough information on the usage of the words - idioms: small number of idioms which are identical, e.g Too many cooks spoil the broth idioms which are not quite the same, i.e they are similar in their content, but slightly different in their form e.g Zwei Fliegen mit einer Klappe schlagen To kill two birds with one stone - Idioms and Collocations die Daumen drücken keep your fingers crossed ganz Ohr sein to be all ears Eulen nach Athen tragen to bring coals to Newcastle - rhyme-motivated compounds vs alliterations e.g leagle eagle – Staranwalt shop till you drop Stein,… dream-team,… Kind und Kegel über Stock und Contrastive Pragmatics - use of discourse particles, e.g oder? in German as a discourse particle is not or? in English - third person reference: In England it is regarded as very impolite to refer to a third person who is present by means of a pronoun In German it is quite acceptable Conclusion - in Contrastive Linguistics the structures of two present-day languages are compared to achieve an immediate aim - in many respects (phonology, morphology, syntax,…) English and German differ in their structure - learners should be constantly aware of these differences to avoid too much interference - teachers should be aware of the danger of interference and should prevent this by naming the differences and talking about them in class, so that pupils cannot make up negative transfer on their own References - - ELE Multimedia, Version April 2003 Crystal, D (1997) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language Second Edition Cambridge University Press Fisiak, J (1981) Contrastive Linguistics and the Language Teacher Oxford: Pergamon Institute of English [...]... appropriate to each acquisition stage have been introduced    http://www.nwrel.org/request /20 03may/general.html Rod Ellis Second Language Acquisition Oxford University Press Thank you for your attention! NEXT PART Language and the Brain Prof R Hickey SS 20 06 Variation in child language Aleksandra Wolek (Hauptstudium LN) Content:        Characteristics considering first language acquisition Basic... The study of language Cambridge: University Press THE END!!! Thank you for your attention! Language and the Mind Prof R Hickey SS 20 06 Psychosocial Aspects of Language Acquisition Vanessa Hollands (Hs/LN) Psychosocial Aspects of Language Acquisition Content     Introduction Piaget‘s Theory Vygotsky‘s Theory Conclusion Psychosocial Aspects of Language Acquisition Introduction Language acquisition. .. Basic requirements for first language acquisition Variation in child language  Variation in rate  Variation in route Types of variation Direct & indirect influences Summary Conclusion Characteristics considering first language acquisition :     It is remarkable for its speed In normal conditions language acquisition generally occurs Small differences in a range of social and cultural factors have,... acquire language, they acquire a sign system which bears important relationships to both cognitive and social aspects of their life Psychosocial Aspects of Language Acquisition Introduction Psychosocial aspects of language acquisition are mainly concerned about how language, thought and social interaction interrelate in the child‘s development Does social interaction influence the child’s language acquisition? ... child to acquire language exists TRUTH: each human child posses a language -faculty Basic requirements for first language acquisition  Biological aspects must be fulfilled  This process requires interaction  Language must be culturally trasmitted Variation in child language Variation in rate  Variation in route  Types of variation: Inherited attributes: Sex, intelligence, personality and learning... experience of linguistic interaction and patters of language learning is very complex and variable Social background: Family structure cultural environment  social group affiliation child's linguistic behaviour depends, for sure, on all these factors, however, the size and nature of this variation is unknown Summary: Characteristics considering first language acquisition  Basic requirements  Review... Instruction 1 2 Enunciate clearly, but do not raise your voice Add gestures, point directly to objects, or draw pictures when appropriate Write clearly, legibly, and in print—many ELL students have difficulty reading cursive 3 4 Develop and maintain routines Use clear and consistent signals for classroom instructions Repeat information and review frequently If a student does not understand, try rephrasing... of variation in child's language behaviour  Evaluation of significance of these factors  Conclusion:    It is still a “young” discipline There is a need for further research There is a need for a theory or theories integrating all observations and results References:   Wells, Gordon , “Variation in child language , In: Fletcher, Paul and Garman, Michael 1997 Language Acquisition Cambridge: University... shorter sentences and simpler syntax Check often for understanding, but do not ask "Do you understand?" Instead, have students demonstrate their learning in order to show comprehension Ten Things the Teacher Can Do To Improve Instruction 5 6 7 8 9 10 Try to avoid idioms and slang words Present new information in the context of known information Announce the lesson’s objectives and activities, and list instructions... lesson, and always emphasize key vocabulary words Recognize student success overtly and frequently But, also be aware that in some cultures overt, individual praise is considered inappropriate and can therefore be embarrassing or confusing to the student Conclusion     The main theories dealing with instructions in L2 acquisition have been considered Instruction can be both successful and non-successful