Research Centre for Foreign Language Education (ReFLEct) Theories in SLA/L2 Learning Language Didactics Seppo Tella Seppo Tella, 1

Seppo Tella, 2 Theories in SL Acquisition (1) a continuum (1) nativist (2) interactionist (3) environmentalist (4) ecological theories at least 40 proposed so far NB. SLA or SL/L2 Learning

Seppo Tella, 3 4) Ecological Theories (1/16) n an ecological approach to cognition, learning and language (van Lier 2000; Vygotsky, Bakhtin; Peirce, Dewey) challenges the 3 premises underlying scientific thinking that has dominated Western civilisation since Galileo and Descartes

Seppo Tella, 4 4) Ecological Theories (2) n The 3 scientific premises: 1) in order to conduct coherent investigations it is necessary to simplify and select from the infinite variety of the real world

Seppo Tella, 5 4) Ecological Theories (3) n The 3 scientific premises: n 2) in accordance with Occam’s razor, the simplest explanations that minimally account for the data are to be preferred William of Occam ( ), an English philosopher and theologian: “ Entities must not be multiplied beyond what is necessary.”

Seppo Tella, 6 4) Ecological Theories (4) n The 3 scientific premises: n 3) problems must be broken down into their component elements and these must be analysed one by one “There’s physics, and there is stamp collecting.” (Rutherford)

Seppo Tella, 7 4) Ecological Theories (5) n shifts the emphasis from scientific reductionism to the notion of emergence at every level of development properties emerge that cannot be reduced to those of prior levels

Seppo Tella, 8 4) Ecological Theories (6) Not all of cognition and learning can be explained in terms of processes that go on inside the head (vs. learning takes place in the brain, by means of computational mechanisms that process information received by the senses)

Seppo Tella, 9 4) Ecological Theories (7) n the perceptual and social activity of the learner, and particularly the verbal and nonverbal interaction in which the learner engages, are central to an understanding of learning they do not just facilitate learning; they are learning in a fundamental way

Seppo Tella, 10 4) Ecological Theories (8) n Learning = the development of increasingly effective ways of dealing with the world and its meanings To look for learning is to look at the active learner in her environment (not at the contents of her brain)

Seppo Tella, 11 4) Ecological Theories (9) n cognition and learning rely on  representational (schematic, historical, cultural…) and  ecological (perceptual, emergent, action-based) processes and systems (Neisser 1992)

Seppo Tella, 12 4) Ecological Theories (10) n Interaction and negotiating meaning: three benefits upon SLA, viz.  improved comprehensibility of input,  enhanced and selective attention,  the need to produce output

Seppo Tella, 13 4) Ecological Theories (11) n Ecology =  (1) totality of relationships of an organism with all other organisms with which it comes into contact (Haeckel 1886);  (2) a worldview different from the scientific or rational one inherited from Descartes (cf. Gaia)

Seppo Tella, 14 4) Ecological Theories (12) n ecological linguistics = a study of language as relations (of thought, action, power), rather than as objects (words, sentences, rules)

Seppo Tella, 15 4) Ecological Theories (13) n it also relates verbal utterances to other aspects of meaning making, such as gestures, drawings, artefacts n the totality of meaning-making is not merely linguistic; it is semiotic n in terms of learning, language emerges out of semiotic activity

Seppo Tella, 16 4) Ecological Theories (14) n The environment provides a ‘semiotic budget’, ie the opportunities for meaningful action that the situation affords n [≠ the amount of input available] n —> affordance

Seppo Tella, 17 4) Ecological Theories (15) n affordance = a reciprocal relationship between an organism and a particular feature of its environment (Gibson 1979) n knowledge of language for a human is like knowledge of the jungle for an animal

Seppo Tella, 18 Raudaskoski (2003) affordanssista: ”Tarjoumilla kuvataan artefaktien käytössä aktualisoituvia ominaisuuksia eli merkityksellisiä toimintamahdollisuuksia”

Seppo Tella, 19 4) Ecological Theories (16) n Provide a rich ‘semiotic budget’, ie structure the learner’s activities and participation so that access is available and engagement encouraged n then ecological LL in line with  situated learning (Lave & Wenger 1991 ),  apprenticeship,  participatory appropriation (Rogoff 1995)

Seppo Tella, 20 Conclusion—SLA Theories n over 40 different theories, difficult to compare and evaluate as they often differ greatly in  (1) scope, or the range of SLA phenomena they treat;  (2) the type of data to which they are held accountable, and  (3) the degree of abstraction of the statements they contain

Seppo Tella, 21 Interim Conclusion? Methods? They come and go … Theory? Theory remains …