Second Language Acquisition and Morphology Lynn W Zimmerman, PhD

Language Acquisition and Morphology Children use morphology to expand their vocabulary tend to regularize their language Use lexical innovations, mostly compound nouns. Unlike many instances of affixation, compounds have known roots and compounding leaves the root(s) of the word phonologically intact so that and both parts are meaningful. Early acquisition  word formation strategies requiring the least change of original forms and are most obvious, like compounding inflection is acquired relatively early

Phases of Skill Development Development of lexical knowledge a gradual analysis of forms and a subsequent matching of forms to meaning. (Karmiloff-Smith, 1986) In spite of the early start, it takes many years to complete the acquisition of the morphological system. Knowledge of morphology - the (unconscious) ability to produce and comprehend morphologically complex words Children often show comprehension of phenomena they do not yet accurately produce Children use morphological generalizations on a large scale

Morphological Awareness The metalinguistic awareness of the morpheme structure of words and the ability to reflect on that structure. Implicit awareness - intuitive awareness of the structure of words Explicit awareness - actual ability to think and reflect about that structure Children exhibit rule-governed behavior in morphology They not only over-generalize “adult” rules that are present in their input, but even create their own rules. These rules lead to fully obvious and simple formations and will later be replaced by (usually less obvious) forms.

SLA and Morphology Are the processes underlying the acquisition of morphological skills different for L1 learners and L2 learners? What is the role of the second language learner’s first language?

SLA and Morphology Processes Undoable may recognize it because they have seen it before and have remembered it. may fail to recognize it and guess the meaning of the word on the basis of the context. do not recognize the word and attempt to guess the meaning by deconstructing the word into parts they do recognize and arrive at its meaning on the basis of these parts. may use the knowledge of word analysis they have gained in their L1

SLA Strategies The strategy chosen will depend on a range of interrelated factors. Is the word used frequently? Is the word deconstructable? Are the parts of the word used frequently? Does the learner know these parts? Are the parts similar to parts in the learner’s native language? Does the combined meaning of the parts make sense? All these questions are related to the acquisition and use of morphology in L2.

Morpheme Order Studies Order of acquisition of morphemes as a function of the learner’s L1 background provide ample, though contradictory, information about the order of acquisition of several specific morphemes may contribute to the overall picture of foreign language morphological acquisition Paid little attention to the underlying strategies applied by the learner in acquiring, processing and producing morphologically complex words and the general organization and development of the L2 learner’s lexicon.

Developing Vocabulary With a limited knowledge of morphological regularities, the learner can achieve a tremendous expansion of vocabulary. Morphology can be a helpful tool to facilitate the acquisition and use of words. Newly acquired words are better retained if they were initially inferred through linguistic cues rather than through context (Haastrup, 1989).

Morphological Cues Drawing attention to the morphological structure of words in a second language may result in an increasing awareness of morphological complexity, an important strategy of inferring and acquiring words. Morphological cues for the inference of words in a second language can be essential to vocabulary acquisition. Learners who are good at analyzing words are the more successful word learners. (Freyd and Baron, 1982)

Morphology and 2nd Language Teaching Knowledge of processes underlying the learner’s use of morphology may support teaching. It will make clear in which areas of morphology language teaching should concentrate help determine the best way of teaching morphology

References Lowie, W.M. (1998). The acquisition of interlanguage morphology : a study into the role of morphology in the L2 learner's mental lexicon Retrieved from http://dissertations.ub.rug.nl/faculties/arts/1998/w.m.lowie/