1. Chapter 4: The psychology of Second Language Acquisition
Saville-Troike, M. (2005). Introducing second language acquisition. New York: Cambridge UP.
By Jasmine & Grace Date: October 9, 2010

2. Preview 1. Language and the brain 2. Learning process: SLA
3. Differences among learners

3. Language and the brain Principal hemispheric specializations (p69)
also see Brown (2007):p125
Left hemisphere
Right hemisphere
Phonology
Nonverbal (as babies’ cries)
Morphology
Visuospatial information
Syntax
Intonation
Function words and inflections
Nonliteral meaning and ambiguity
Tone systems
Many pragmatic abilities
Much lexical knowledge
Some lexical knowledge

4. Language and the brain
1. lateralization(側化現象) 2-puberty 2. Critical period hypothesis 3.Broca’s area/ Wernicke’s area- B&W 4. language activity /core linguistic processes 5. SLA-right hemisphere involvement L2-learnt by many means; use more memorization /L1-learnt by single means

5. * Multilingual speakers
Coordinate bilingualism
Compound bilingualism
Subordinate bilingualism

6. Q1:When there is differential impairment or recovery in the brain, which language loses first and recovers first?

7. Learning processes 1. Information processing (IP) (訊息處理)
(1) Attention-processing
(2) Skill Learning Theory
(3)Restructuring
2. connectionism (聯結論)
--PDP

8. Information Processing(訊息處理)
Cognitive psychologists
language acquisition →storing, integrating, and retrieving information.
do not think that humans have a language-specific module (i.e. LAD) in the brain.
do not assume that ‘acquisition’ and ‘learning’ are distinct mental processes.
L2 acquisition→ the building up of knowledge → automatically

9. Stages of information Processing
Input
Central processing
Output
Perception
Controlled-automatic processing
Production
Declarative –procedural knowledge
Restructuring
noticed input→pay attention to it →intake (frequency, perceptual saliency…p75)
practice
Fluency in speech and writing

10. McLaughlin’s Attention-Processing Model 注意力處理模式(Brown. P299)
Input: notice, pay attention→intake
Brown (2007):p300, 302
- Controlled processes
- Automatic processes

11. McLaughlin’s Attention-Processing Model also see Brown (2007):p300,302
controlled
automatic
Focal
(intentional attention)
Performance based on formal rule learning
Performance in a test situation
Peripheral
Performance based on implicit learning or analogic learning
Performance in communication situations
From Brown (2007), p300

12. Anderson’s Skill Learning Theory
Declarative knowledge
Procedural knowledge
Three stages:
(1) information is stored. (drowned-drown+ed)
(2) associative stage: (past tense…+ed)
(3) autonomous stage

13. Question 2:
Anderson thinks that L2 learners do not reach full autonomy as L1 learners. What factors may influence the process of achieving autonomy in L2 acquisition?

14. Restructuring 將訊息自動化需要重組的過程 from exemplar-based to rule-based
L2 knowledge as continua of controlled-automatic and explicit-implicit
將訊息自動化需要重組的過程
from exemplar-based to rule-based
Restructuring :because L is complex, hierarchical, not (necessarily) linearly
Restructuring doesn’t necessarily happen all at once, but over time

15. Restructuring
U-shaped behavior is often evidenced during restructuring
correct utterances
incorrect utterances
Stage 1
Stage 3
Stage 2
feet
feet
foots

16. Three psychological approaches
Multidimensional Model
Processability Theory
Competition Model

17. Multidimensional model
2 principal axes: developmental & variational
grammatical structures (organized hierarchically)
Individual variation
Focus on the relationship between implicit knowledge and output
hierarchy:
(1) Canonical order strategy (COS)
(2) initialization /finalization strategy (IFS)
(3) subordinate clause strategy (SCS)

18. Processability Reorientation of Multidimensional model
Hierarchy of processing skills
(1) lemma/word access (ex:apple)
(2) category procedure (ex: three apples)
(3) phrasal procedure(ex: three big apples)
(4) S-procedure (ex: There is an apple./
There are three apples)
(5) Clause boundary

19. Competition model Functional approach: L1 form-function mapping→SLA
Competition among cues that signal functions
Cue strength: task frequency/ contrastive availability/ conflict reliability
Language process involves “competition” among the various cues
Reminder to teachers that Ss do not only depend on L2 formal linguistic features as their only tools for deciphering the target language L2 –(Brown 2007, p.255)

20. Competition model (form-function mapping)
1. horse
-form: sounds [hors]
-function: 4 legs/ hay eating animal
2. Horses eat hay.
- Word order-form: horses + V + hay
- Function: “horses” is S.; “hay” is O.
- inflection- _s: form; function: more than one horse
(p79)

21. Connectionist approaches
Focus on the increasing strength of associations between stimuli and responses (IP: focus on the inferred abstraction of “ rules” or restructuring.)
Learning is change in the strength of these connections; learning is not dependent on UG or rule-formation.
Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP): a network of nodes (units)→ repeated patterns of units (input)→ extract regularities→ probabilistic association (connection strengths/patterns of activation)
Frequency influences learning

22. IP
PDP
Attention is available for controlled processing vs. automatic processing
Not serial in nature
Attention is distributed in local pattern
Processing is parallel pattern
Knowledge is not stored in memory or retrieved as patterns
Connection strengths /Patterns being recreated

23. Question 3:
Why are some L2 learners more successful than others?

24. Differences in learners
Age
Sex
Aptitude
Motivation
Cognitive style
Personality
Learning strategies
(the last three are closely related to and interact with each other.)

25. Difference in learners: age
Children are more successful L2 learners?
1. initial rate learning (success) / older learners have an advantage (popular belief)/ learners who are introduced to the L2 in childhood (ultimate achievement)
Critical period hypothesis(Lenneberg hypothesis):Genie

26. Age difference in SLA 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 more likely
Real-world knowledge

27. Differences in learners: sex
Female are better L2 learners?
--verbal fluency
--women’s brain may be less asymmetrically organized than men’s for speech (Kimura 1992).
--women: better at memorizing complex forms/ men: better at computing compositional rules (Halpern 2000)
--differences related to hormonal variables

28. Differences in learners: aptitudes (1/2)
Phonemic coding ability: the capacity to process auditory input into segments which can be stored and retrieved. If the hearer cannot analyze the incoming stream of speech into phonemes in order to recognize morphemes, input may not result in intake.
Inductive language learning ability and grammatical sensitivity concerned with central processing.

29. Differences in learners: aptitudes (2/2)
Associative memory capacity: how linguistic items are stored and with how they are recalled and used in output (speaker fluency).
Skehan (1998 )concludes that language learning aptitude “is not completely distinct from general cognitive abilities.”

30. Differences in learners: motivation(1/2)
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 if learning L2/value of potential outcomes or rewards

31. Differences in learners: motivation (2/2)
2 type of motivation(Brown 2007, p175)
--integrative motivation: based on interest in learning L2; emotional or affective factors are dominant (learning by a member of the dominant group in a society)
--instrumental motivation: involves perception of purely practical value in learning L2 (learning by a subordinate group member)

32. Differences in learners: cognitive style
Refers to individual’s preferred way of processing: (perceiving, conceptualizing, organizing and recalling information.)
Brown (2007):p120

33. Cognitive styles Field-dependent Field-independent Global - Particular
Holistic
Analytic
Deductive
(top-down)
Inductive
(bottom-up)
Focus on meaning
Focus on form

34. Differences in learners: personality
Anxiety :most attention in SLA research.
Low anxiety facilitates language learning.
Instructional context or task influences anxiety and reporting. (oral performance)
Systematic cultural differences are found between groups of learners. (face concept)
Low anxiety and high self-confidence increase Ss motivation to learn.

35. Personality traits Anxious - Self-confident Risk-avoiding Risk-taking
Shy
Adventuresome
introverted
Extroverted
Inner-directed
Other-directed
Reflective
Impulsive
Imaginative
Uninquisitive
Creative
Uncreative
Empathetic
Insensitive to others
Tolerant of ambiguity
Closure-oriented
Boldface print means positive correlation with success in L2 learning.

36. Differences in learners: learning strategies (1/2)
Metacognitive : preview a concept/ decide specific aspects of input in advance/ rehearse linguistic components/ self-monitoring of progress and knowledge states
Cognitive: repeat or translate/ remember words by L1’s sounds/ create vivid images/ guess meanings through inferencing.

37. Differences in learners: learning strategies (2/2)
Social/affective: seek chances to interact with native speakers/ work cooperatively with peers/ ask Qs/ request repetition, explanation, or examples

38. Good learners traits (Ellis 1994):
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

39. Question 4:
How do you feel about multilingualism so far?

40. The effects of multilingualism (1/2)
Positive effects:
1. foreign language study is good for “training the mind.”
2. an essential characteristic of “educated” and “cultured” members of society
3. on intellectual function based on “measures of conceptual development, creativity, metalinguistic awareness, semantic development, and analytic skills” (p93)

41. The effects of multilingualism (2/2)
Negative effects:
1. negative impact on general intelligence
2. capacity limitations for language acquisition and maintenance, that simultaneous bilingualism in childhood may result in a narrower range of lexical development in either language and that intensive and continued use of L2 many reduce accessibility of L1

42. Thank you for your attention!!