Cognition (Ch. 5) Understanding SLA Lourdes Ortega (2009) Published by Routledge © 2009 Mark Sawyer

Some contextualization Positive evidence vs. negative feedback Why not negative evidence? A simple example: Put the adverb often into the sentence I drink coffee The logical problem of language acquisition: Language seems logically unlearnable How can we explain the fact that all children learn it? UG, (skill learning), emergentist answers

5.1 Information processing in psychology & SLA 1. Representation/access Knowledge/processing Symbols/computation 2. Controlled vs automatic processing Effortful vs. effortless Serial vs parallel 3. Attention & memory are limited

5.2 The power of practice: Proceduralization & automaticity Proceduralization / Automatization: Knowledge “that” (declarative/explicit)  Knowledge “how” (procedural/implicit) Involves speed-up + restructuring

5.3 An exemplary study of skill acquisition theory: DeKeyser (1997) 6 sessions (3 weeks) to learn Autopractan grammar, vocab 15 sessions to practice Conditions: (a) single or dual task; (b) comprehension, production, mixed Results: (1)reduction of practice effect (2) mode-specific automatization

5.4 Long-term memory Declarative/propositional (explicit) Procedural (implicit) Semantic: decontextualized Episodic: based on experienced events

5.5 Long-term memory & L2 vocabulary knowledge Strength (procedural) Size (declarative) Depth (both) multiple meanings (polysemy) morpho-syntactic behavior relations to other words contextual/usage constraints Nonselectivity: Simultaneous activation of both L1 & L2 information in language use

5.6 Working memory Manages 同時 storage & processing  capacity limitations can be severe  activation is temporary Site for executive control Site of consciousness Also induction, hypothesizing, analogizing, prioritizing, deciding

Working Memory: Components Central executive Phonological loop Visuo-spatial sketchpad

5.7 Memory as storage: Passive working memory tasks Passive WTM = STM (depending…) Limitations measured by span of recall of… Digits Words Non-words Sentences

STM Limitations: Explanations Capacity (size) Time passage Increasing interference LTM shortcomings

5.8 Memory as dynamic processing: Active working memory tasks Simultaneous processing/storage Limitations in span measured by… Reading span task Listening span task L2 WM capacity predicts L2 proficiency ( Capacity reflects control of processing rather than size of storage (Engle, 2002)

5.9 Attention & L2 learning Characteristics of attention Limited Selective Voluntary Controls access to consciousness

Attentional conditions used in research 1. Incidental 2. Implicit 3. Explicit How do these conditions influence learning?

5.10 Learning without intention = Incidental learning, IS possible e.g. vocabulary thru extensive reading But…intention seems to work better (for specific purposes)

5.11 Learning without attention Noticing vs. detection only, or… Inside or outside focal/selective attention Focal attention entails consciousness (subjective experience) Fleeting recognition of tree while doing other things can be detection-only, but evoked intuition, inference, feeling entails noticing

5.12 Learning without awareness Immediate think-aloud research has shown strong effect of awareness on learning (more so for understanding) Indirect measures--uptake of recasts, note-taking--have shown no effect.

5.13 Disentangling Attention from Awareness? Different Measurements Awareness Self-reports (of subjective experience) Attention Dual task (learning from unattended task) Memory tests Direct: recognize item later Indirect: show bias to prefer old items

5.14 Learning without rules = learning rules without… looking for them (process) awareness of learning (product) Such implicit learning can be shown by Memorizing artificial language strings: aabcd abbce abeec… (*acbbe) Later distinguishing “(un)grammatical” ones (to some extent) w/o awareness

An exemplary study of symbolic vs. associative learning: Robinson (1997) Dative alternation rule: mono-syllabicity Mitt gave his delegates to John Mitt gave John his delegates Mitt donated his delegates to John *Mitt donated John his delegates What can be learned from brief training? John minided some hot coffee to Sue *Sandy bivarded Patrick some Swiss cake

Robinson (1997): Learning conditions Implicit: Memorize word positions Incidental: Read for meaning Explicit 1: Look for rules (with help) Explicit 2: Receive rule, practice Post-test: Speed, accuracy of judgments Results: Explicit 2 fastest, most accurate All groups better on old than new instances

Robinson (1997): Conclusion Low-level implicit learning is possible, allowing fast access of learned instances Explicit learning leads to generalization with awareness.

An emergentist turn in SLA? 3 important tenets of learning 1. associative: based on co-occurrences 2. probabilistic: not categorical, deterministic 3. rationally contingent: guesses based on… accumulated statistical (frequency) information most relevant recent evidence attention to cues contextual clues

Other emergentist tenets Usage-based: use & knowledge are inseparable; no competence/performance, representation/access distinctions Grounded: language & thought are structured by human experience Dynamic system: identifiable patterns emerge from a multiplicity of factors