TheoreticalApproachesto

SecondLanguageLearningDifferencesinLearningL1&L2BehaviorismInnatismInformationProcessingConnectionismTheInteractionistPosition2023/7/61aDifferencesinLearningL1&L2Achildoradultlearningasecondlanguageisdifferentfromachildacquiringafirstlanguageintermsofboth

1)learnercharacteristics

and

2)learningconditions2023/7/62aDifferencesinLearningL1&L2LearnerCharacteristics1.Knowledgeofanotherlanguage2.Cognitivematurity3.Metalinguisticawareness4.Knowledgeoftheworld5.Nervousnessaboutspeaking2023/7/63aDifferencesinLearningL1&L2LearningConditions6.Freedomtobesilent7.Ampletime&contact8.Correctivefeedback:(form)grammarandpronunciation9.Correctivefeedback:(meaning)wordchoice10.Modifiedinput2023/7/64aDifferencesinLearningL1&L2Summary: SLA(SecondLanguageAcquisition)theoriesneedtoaccountforlanguageacquisitionbylearnerswithavarietyofcharacteristicsandlearninginavarietyofcontexts.2023/7/65a

TheoreticalApproachestoLanguageAcquisition

2023/7/66aBehaviorismSkinner:languagebehavioristheproductionofcorrectresponsestostimulithroughreinforcement.Fourcharacteristicsofbehaviorism:1)imitation,2)practice,3)reinforcement,and4)habitinformationLado(1964):CA

ApersonlearninganL2startsoffwiththehabitsformedintheL1andthesehabitsinterferewiththenewonesneededfortheL2.2023/7/67aAmericanStructurismandBehaviorismDominanttheoriesinlinguisticsandpsychologywithintheUSAthroughoutthe1940sand1950s.It’spsychologicalbaseisbehaviorismandlinguisticbaseisstructuralism.

ThegoalofCA:todiscovertheproblemsthatforeignlanguagestudentswouldencounterinthelearningprocess.AndtoincreasetheefficiencyinL2teachingandtesting.2023/7/68aNegativeTransferLadoproclaimedthatmostofthedifficultiesoriginatedfromthedifferencesbetweenL1andL2.Hebelievedthatthemoredifferentthetwolanguagesare,themoredifficultlearningwouldbe,andbyknowingthis,wecouldpredictwhaterrorswouldappear.2023/7/69aastrongandaweakformofCALadoandhisfollowersevenprovidedthedegreeofdifferencesbetweentwolanguages.ThereexistedastrongandaweakformofContrastiveAnalysis(Wardhaugh1970).ThestrongformclaimsthatallL2errorscanbepredicatedbyidentifyingthedifferencesbetweenthetargetlanguageandthelearner’sL1.Theweakformofthehypothesisclaimstobediagnostic.(Tocheckwherecouldbeerroneous).2023/7/610aContrastiveAnalysis(CA)

ContrastiveAnalysiswasrootedinthepracticalneedtoteachaL2inthemosteffectivewaypossible.It’spsychologicalbaseisbehaviorismandlinguisticbaseisstructuralism.

RobertLado:advocatedtheapproachofContrastiveAnalysisinhisfirstBook,LinguisticsAcrossCulture(1957)

2023/7/611aBehaviorismBehaviorismwasoftenlinkedtotheContrastiveAnalysisHypothesis(CAH):

ItpredictsthatwheretherearesimilaritiesbetweentheL1andthetargetlanguage,thelearnerwillacquiretarget-languagestructureswithease;wheretherearedifferences,thelearnerwillhavedifficulty.2023/7/612aMoreDefinitionofCACA:isanapproachtothestudyofSLAwhichinvolvepredictingandexplaininglearnerproblemsbasedonacomparisonofL1andL2todeterminesimilaritiesanddifferences.ItwasheavilyinfluencedbytheorieswhichisdominantinlinguisticsandpsychologywithintheUSAthroughoutthe1940sand1950s.2023/7/613aBehaviorismCriticismsabouttheCAH: Thoughalearner’sL1influencestheacquisitionofanL2,NotallerrorspredictedbytheCAHareactuallymade.ManyoftheerrorswhichlearnersmakearenotpredictableonthebasisoftheCAH.SomeerrorsaresimilaracrosslearnersfromavarietyofL1backgrounds. 2023/7/614aBehaviorismSummary:

TheL1influencemaynotsimplybeamatterofthetransferofhabits,butamoresubtleandcomplexprocessofidentifyingpointsofsimilarity,weighingtheevidenceinsupportofsomeparticularfeature,andevenreflectingaboutwhetheracertainfeatureseemsto‘belong’inthestructureoftheL2.2023/7/615aInnatismCompetencevs.PerformanceUniversalGrammar(UG)inrelationtosecondlanguagedevelopmentKrashen’s“monitormodel”

2023/7/616aInnatism:Competencevs.Performance

語言能力對(duì)語言運(yùn)用Competence語言能力:

Itreferstotheknowledgewhichunderliesourabilitytouselanguage.Performance語言運(yùn)用:

Itreferstothewayapersonactuallyuseslanguageinlistening,speaking,reading,andwriting.Performanceissubjecttovariationsduetoinattentionorfatiguewhereascompetence(atleastforthematurenativespeaker)ismorestable.2023/7/617aInnatism:

Competencevs.PerformanceSLA(secondlanguageacquisition)researchersfromtheUGperspectivearemoreinterestedinthelanguagecompetence(i.e.,knowledgeofcomplexsyntax)ofadvancedlearnersratherthaninthesimplelanguageofearlystagelearners. Theirinvestigationsofteninvolvecomparingthejudgmentsofgrammaticality（合乎語法性）madebyL2andL1learners,ratherthanobservationsofactuallanguageperformance(i.e.,useoflanguage).2023/7/618aInnatism:

UniversalGrammarHowUGworksinL2development:

Twodifferentviews-1) ThenatureandavailabilityofUGinL2acquisitionisnodifferentfromthatwhichishypothesizedtoguideL1learners. AdultL2learnersneitherneednorbenefitfromerrorcorrectionandmetalinguisticinformation(元語言信息).Thesethingschangeonlythesuperficialappearanceoflanguageperformanceanddonotaffecttheunderlyingcompetenceofthenewlanguage.2023/7/619aInnatism:

UniversalGrammarHowUGworksinL2development: Twodifferentviews- 2) UGmaybepresentandavailabletoL2learners,but itsexactnaturehasbeenalteredbytheprioracquisition ofthefirstlanguage. L2learnersneedtobegivensomeexplicitinformation aboutwhatisnotgrammatical（不符合語法規(guī)則的）intheL2.Otherwise,theymayassumethatsomestructuresoftheL1haveequivalentsintheL2when,infact,theydonot.

2023/7/620aInnatism:

Krashen’s“monitormodel”Theacquisition-learninghypothesisThemonitorhypothesisThenaturalorderhypothesisTheinputhypothesisTheaffectivefilterhypothesis2023/7/621aInnatism:

Krashen’s“monitormodel”Theacquisition-learninghypothesis(1)Acquisition:weacquireL2knowledgeasweareexposedtosamplesoftheL2whichweunderstandwithnoconsciousattentiontolanguageform.Itisasubconsciousandintuitive（憑直覺獲知的）

process.Learning:welearntheL2viaaconsciousprocessofstudyandattentiontoformandrulelearning.2023/7/622aInnatism:

Krashen’s“monitormodel”Theacquisition-learninghypothesis(2)Krashenarguesthat“acquisition”isamoreimportantprocessofconstructingthesystemofalanguagethan“l(fā)earning”becausefluencyinL2performanceisduetowhatwehaveacquired,notwhatwehavelearned.Learningcannotturnintoacquisition.Manylearnersmay“know”rulesbutfailtoapplythem.Learnersneedtodoasmuchacquiringaspossibleinordertoachievecommunicativefluency.2023/7/623aInnatism:

Krashen’s“monitormodel”Themonitorhypothesis(1)Theacquiredsystemactstoinitiatethespeaker’sutterancesandisresponsibleforfluencyandintuitivejudgmentsaboutcorrectness,whereasthelearnedsystemactsonlyasamonitor,makingminorchangesandpolishingwhattheacquiredsystemhasproduced.2023/7/624aInnatism:

Krashen’s“monitormodel”Themonitorhypothesis(2)Learnersusethemonitoronlywhentheyarefocusedmoreonbeing‘correct’thanonwhattheyhavetosay,whentheyhavesufficienttimetosearchtheirmemoryfortherelevantrules,andwhentheyactuallyknowthoserules.Sinceknowingtherulesonlyhelpsthespeakersupplementwhathasbeenacquired,thefocusoflanguageteachingshouldbeoncreatingconditionsfor‘a(chǎn)cquisition’ratherthan‘learning’.

2023/7/625aInnatism:

Krashen’s“monitormodel”Themonitorhypothesis(3)

Criticisms:Itisverydifficulttoshowevidenceof“monitor”use.Itisimpossibletodeterminewhathasbeenproducedbytheacquiredsystemandwhatistheresultofmonitoruse.Krashen’sclaimthatlanguagewhichisproducedquicklyandapparentlyspontaneouslymusthavebeenacquiredratherthanlearnedleavesuswithasomewhatcirculardefinition.2023/7/626aInnatism:

Krashen’s“monitormodel”Thenaturalorderhypothesis(1)L2learnersacquirethefeaturesoftheTLinpredictablesequences.Contrarytointuition,theruleswhichareeasiesttostate

(andthusto‘learn’)arenotnecessarilythefirsttobeacquired.

e.g.theruleforaddingan–stothirdperson singularverbsinthepresenttense2023/7/627aInnatism:

Krashen’s“monitormodel”Thenaturalorderhypothesis(2)Thenaturalorderisindependentof

theorderinwhichruleshavebeenlearnedinlanguageclasses(basedonKrashen’sstudiesofgrammaticalmorphemes).SubsequentresearchhasconfirmedthatlearnerspassthroughsequencesorstagesinL2development.2023/7/628aInnatism:

Krashen’s“monitormodel”Theinputhypothesis(1)

Thelearneracquireslanguageinonlyoneway–byexposuretocomprehensibleinput. Iftheinputcontainsformsandstructuresjustbeyondthelearner’scurrentlevelofcompetenceinthelanguage(“i+1”),thenbothcomprehensionandacquisitionwilloccur.2023/7/629aInnatism:

Krashen’s“monitormodel”Theinputhypothesis(2) Thecomprehensibleinput(“i+1”)hypothesisappealstointuition,buthasnotbeensubstantiatedbyempiricalstudies.

e.g.undirectedpleasurereadingasasourceof comprehensibleinput.2023/7/630aInnatism:

Krashen’s“monitormodel”Theaffectivefilterhypothesis(1)“Affect”referstosuchthingsasmotives,needs,attitudes,andemotionalstates.The“affectivefilter”isanimaginarybarrier,whichpreventslearnersfromacquiringlanguagefromtheavailableinput.Dependingonthelearner’sstateofmindordisposition,thefilterlimitswhatisnoticedandwhatisacquired.Alearnerwhoisstressed,upset,anxious,self-conscious,orunmotivatedmay“filterout”input,makingitunavailableforacquisition. 2023/7/631aInnatism:

Krashen’s“monitormodel”Theaffectivefilterhypothesis(2)Itappearstohaveimmediateimplicationsforclassroompractice.Teachersshouldhelpstudentstolowertheaffectivefilterinlanguagelearning.Italsoappealsintuitivelytothosewhohavetriedunsuccessfullytolearnalanguageinconditionswheretheyfeltstressedoruncomfortable.However,itisdifficulttobesurethataffectivefactorscausethedifferencesinlanguageacquisition.2023/7/632aInnatism:Krashen’s“monitormodel”/“hypothesis/theory”SummaryKrashen’s“monitormodel”(i.e.,acquisitionvs.learning,monitor,naturalorder,comprehensibleinput,andaffectivefilter)hasbeenveryinfluentialinsupportingcommunicativelanguageteaching(CLT),whichfocusesonusinglanguageformeaningfulinteractionandforaccomplishingtasks,ratherthanonlearningrules.MostteachersandresearchersseeKrashen’shypothesesintuitivelyappealing,butthosehypothesesarehardtobetestedbyempiricalevidence.2023/7/633aInformationprocessingCognitivepsychologistsworkinginthismodelseeL2acquisitionasthebuildingupofknowledgesystemsthatenablesthelearnertousethelanguageautomatically.Theydonotassumethatthereisadifference

betweenacquisitionandlearning.Twoimportantmodels:

attention-processing(noticing)modelandrestructuringModel2023/7/634aInformationprocessingAttention-processing(noticing)model:Itisassumedthatthereisalimittotheamountofinformationahumancanpayattentiontoandlearnatonetime.Gradually,throughexperienceandpractice,learnersbecomeabletousecertainpartsofthelanguageautomatically.Automaticlanguageperformancemayoriginatefromintentionalorconsciouslearning;i.e.,noticing

(McLaughlin&Schmidt).Everythingwecometoknowaboutthelanguagewasfirst“noticed”consciouslybeforewelearnit.2023/7/635aInformationprocessingRestructuringModel:Sometimesthingswhichweknowanduseautomaticallymaynotbeexplainableintermsofagradualbuild-upofautomaticitythroughpractice.Theyseemrathertobebasedontheinteractionofknowledgewealreadyhave,orontheacquisitionofnewknowledge(withoutextensivepractice)whichfitsintoanexistingsystemandcausesittoberestructured.Thiscanleadtoapositiveornegativeoutcome.

e.g.“Isaw”→“Iseed”or“Isawed”– overapplyingthegeneralrule.2023/7/636aConnectionismConnectionistsarguethatwhatisinnateissimplytheabilitytolearn,notanyspecificallylinguisticstructure.Theyattributegreaterimportancetotheroleoftheenvironmentinlanguagelearning,andseetheinputastheprincipalsourceoflinguisticknowledge.Eventually,alearnerdevelopsstrongermental‘connections’betweentheelementss/hehaslearned,andthusonesituationalorlinguisticelementwillactivatetheother(s)inthelearner’smind.

2023/7/637aConnectionismFindingsofconnectionistResearch:Alearningmechanismcannotonlylearnwhatithearsbutcanalsogeneralize,eventothepointofmakingovergeneralization（過分概括）errors.Thesestudieshavedealtalmostexclusivelywiththeacquisitionofvocabularyandgrammaticalmorphemes（詞素）,thatis,aspectsofthelanguagewhichinnatistswillgrantmaybeacquiredlargelythroughmemorizationandsimplegeneralization.2023/7/638aTheInteractionistPositionSLAtakesplacethroughconversationalinteraction(Hatch,Pica,andLong).LongseesmodifiedinteractionasthenecessarymechanismfortheL2acquisition.Whatlearnersneedisnotnecessarilysimplificationofthelinguisticformsbutratheranopportunitytointeractwithotherspeakers.Researchshowsthatnativespeakersconsistentlymodifytheirspeechinsustainedconversationwithnon-nativespeakers.2023/7/639aTheInteractionistPositionTherelationshipbetweenmodifiedinteractionandSLA(Long):1.Interactionalmodificationmakesinputcomprehensible;2.Comprehensibleinputpromotesacquisition;Therefore, 3.Interactionalmodificationpromotesacquisition.2023/7/640aTheInteractionistPositionModifiedinteractioninvolveslinguisticsimplificationsandconversationalmodifications.Examplesofconversationalmodifications:

elaboration,slowerspeechrate,gesture,additionalcontextualcues,comprehensionchecks,clarificationrequests,andself-repetitionorparaphrase.ResearchhasdemonstratedthatconversationaladjustmentscanaidcomprehensionintheL2.2023/7/641aTheInteractionistPositionVygotsky’ssocioculturaltheoryLanguagedevelopmenttakesplaceinthesocialinteractionsbetweenindividuals.L2learnersadvancetohigherlevelsoflinguisticknowledgewhentheycollaborateandinteractwithspeakersoftheL2whoaremoreknowledgeablethantheyare(Lantolf).Alearneriscapabletolearninthezoneofproximaldevelopment(ZPD)whenthereissupportfrominteractionwithamoreadvancedinterlocutor.2023/7/642aTheInteractionistPositionThedifferencebetweenVygotsky’ssocialculturaltheoryandotherinteractionisttheories:2023/7/643aSummaryThereisnoagreementona“complete”theoryofsecondlanguageacquisitionyet.Eachtheoreticalframeworkhasadifferentfocusanditslimitations.Behaviorism:emphasizingstimuliandresponses,butignoringthementalprocessesthatareinvolvedinlearning.Innatism:innateLAD,basedonintuitionsInformationprocessingandconnectionism:involvingcontrolledlaboratoryexperimentswherehumanlearningissimilartocomputerprocessing.Interactionistposition:modificationofinteractionpromoteslanguageacquisitionanddevelopment.2023/7/644a45TheoreticalApproachesto

L1AcquisitionBehaviorism:SaywhatIsayInnatism:It’sallinyourmindInteractionist/Developmentalperspectives:Learningfrominsideandout2023/7/645a46Behaviorism:SaywhatIsaySkinner:languagebehavioristheproductionofcorrectresponsestostimulithroughreinforcement.Languagelearningistheresultof1)imitation

(word-for-wordrepetition),2)practice

(repetitivemanipulationofform),3)feedbackonsuccess(positivereinforcement),and4)habitformation.Thequalityandquantityofthelanguagethatthechildhears,aswellastheconsistencyofthereinforcementofferedbyothersintheenvironment,wouldshapethechild’slanguagebehavior.

2023/7/646a47Behaviorism:

SaywhatIsayChildren’simitationsarenotrandom: Theirimitationisselectiveandbasedonwhattheyarecurrentlylearning.Theychoosetoimitatesomethingtheyhavealreadybeguntounderstand,ratherthansimplyimitatingwhatisavailableintheenvironment. Children’spracticeofnewlanguageformsThewaytheypracticenewformsisverysimilartothewayforeignlanguagestudentsdosubstitutiondrills.Theirpracticeoflanguageformsisalsoselectiveandreflectswhattheywouldliketolearn.Theyareofteninchargeoftheconversationwithadults.

2023/7/647a48Behaviorism:

SaywhatIsayHowever,imitationandpracticealonecannot

explainsomeoftheformscreatedbychildren.Childrendopickoutpatterns/rulesandthengeneralizeorovergeneralizethemtonewcontexts.(seeexamplesonpp.13-14)“Sohecandoc

mylittlebump?”:showingtheunderstandingofthesuffix‘er/or’“I’mhiccingup”:showingtheunderstandingoftwo-wordverbssuchas‘standingup’and‘pickingup’Father: I’dliketoproposeatoast. Child: I’dliketoproposeapieceofbread.Mother: Iloveyoutopieces. Child: Iloveyouthreepieces.Aredogscanwiggletheirtails?

Are

thisishot?YoutookallthetowelsawaybecauseIcan’tdrymyhands.2023/7/648a49Innatism:

It’sallinyourmindChomskyarguesthatbehaviorismcannotprovidesufficientexplanationsforchildren’slanguageacquisitionforthefollowingreasons:Children

come

to

know

more

about

the

structure

of

their

language

than

they

could

be

expected

to

learn

on

the

basis

of

the

samples

of

language

they

hear.Thelanguagechildren

are

exposedtoincludes

false

starts,

incomplete

sentences

and

slips

of

the

tongue,

and

yet

they

learn

to

distinguish

between

grammatical

and

ungrammatical

sentences.

Childrenarebynomeanssystematicallycorrectedorinstructedonlanguagebyparents.2023/7/649a50Innatism:

It’sallinyourmindLAD(animaginary“blackbox”existingsomewhereinthebrain):LADcontainsallandonlytheprincipleswhichareuniversaltoallhumanlanguages(i.e..UniversalGrammar–UG).FortheLADtowork,childrenneedaccessonlytosamplesofanaturallanguage,whichserveasatriggertoactivatethedevice.OncetheLADisactivated,childrenareabletodiscoverthestructureofthelanguagetobelearnedbymatchingtheinnateknowledgeofbasicgrammaticalprinciples(UG)tothestructuresoftheparticularlanguageintheenvironment.2023/7/650a51Innatism:

It’sallinyourmindEvidenceusedtosupportChomsky’sinnatistposition:Virtuallyallchildrensuccessfullylearntheirnativelanguageatatimeinlifewhentheywouldnotbeexpectedtolearnanythingelsesocomplicated(i.e.biologicallyprogrammed).Languageisseparatefromotheraspectsofcognitivedevelopments(e.g.,creativityandsocialgrace)andmaybelocatedinadifferent“module"ofthebrain.Thelanguagechildrenareexposedtodoesnotcontainexamplesofallthelinguisticrules

andpatterns.Animalscannotlearntomanipulateasymbolsystemascomplicatedasthenaturallanguageofa3-or4-year-oldchild.Childrenacquiregrammaticalruleswithoutgettingexplicitinstruction.Therefore,children’sacquisitionofgrammaticalrulesisprobablyguidedbyprincipleofaninnateUGwhichcouldapplytoalllanguages.2023/7/651a52Innatism:

It’sallinyourmindThebiologicalbasisfortheinnatistposition:TheCriticalPeriodHypothesis(CPH)–

Lenneberg:Thereisaspecificandlimitedtimeperiod(i.e.,“criticalperiod”)fortheLADtoworksuccessfully. ThebestevidencefortheCPHisthatvirtuallyeverychildlearnslanguageonasimilarscheduleinspiteofdifferentenvironments.2023/7/652a53Innatism:

It’sallinyourmindThreecasestudiesofabnormallanguagedevelopment-evidenceoftheCPH (Readthecasestudiesonpp.19-21).Victor–aboyofabout12yearsold(1799)Genie–agirlof13yearsold(1970)Deafsigners(nativesigners,earlylearners,vs.latelearners)2023/7/653a54Interactionist/developmentalPerspectives:

LearningfrominsideandoutProblemsofInnatism:Theinnatistsplacedtoomuchemphasisonthe“finalstate”(i.e.thelinguisticcompetenceofadultnativespeakers),butnotenoughonthedevelopmentalaspectsoflanguageacquisition.Languageacquisitionisanexampleofchildren’sabilitytolearnfromexperience.

Whatchildrenneedtoknowisessentiallyavailableinthelanguagetheyareexposedto.2023/7/654a55Interactionist/developmentalPerspectives:

LearningfrominsideandoutThispositionviewsthatlanguagedevelopsasaresultoftheinterplaybetweentheinnatelearningabilityofchildrenandtheenvironmentinwhichtheydevelop.Developmentalpsychologistsattributemoreimportancetotheenvironmentthantheinnatists,thoughtheyalsorecognizeapowerfullearningmechanisminthehumanbrain.Theyseelanguageacquisitionassimilartoandinfluencedbytheacquisitionofotherkindsofskillandknowledge,ratherthanassomethingthatislargelyindependentofthechild’sexperienceandcognitivedevelopment.2023/7/655a56TheInteractionistPositionPiaget:Languageisdependentuponandspringsfromcognitivedevelopment.Thatis,children’scognitivedevelopmentdeterminestheirlanguagedevelopment. (e.g.,theuseofwordsas“bigger”or“more”dependsonchildren’sunderstandingoftheconceptstheyrepresent.)Hearguedthatthedevelopingcognitiveunderstandingisbuiltontheinteractionbetweenthechildandthethingswhichcanbeobserved,touched,andmanipulated.Forhim,languagewasoneofanumberofsymbolsystemsdevelopedinchildhood,ratherthanaseparatemoduleofthemind.Languagecanbeusedtorepresentknowledgethatchildrenhaveacquiredthroughphysicalinteractionwiththeenvironment.2023/7/656a57TheInteractionistPositionVygotsky:socioculturaltheoryofhumanmentalprocessing.Hearguedthatlanguagedevelopsprimarilyfromsocialinteraction.Zoneofproximaldevelopment(ZPD):alevelthatachildisabletodowhenthereissupportfrominteractionwithamoreadvancedinterlocutor.Thatis,asupportiveinteractiveenvironmentenableschildrentoadvancetoahigherlevelofknowledgeandperformancethans/hewouldbeabletodoindependently.Heobservedtheimportanceofconversationswhichchildrenhavewithadultsandwithotherchildrenandsawintheseconversationstheoriginsofbothlanguageandthought.2023/7/657a58TheInteractionistPositionHowPiaget’sviewdiffersfromVygotsky’s:Piagethypothesizedthatlanguagedevelopedasasymbolsystemtoexpressknowledgeacquiredthroughinteractionwiththephysicalworld.Vygotskyhypothesizedthatthoughtwasessentiallyinternalizedspeech,andspeechemergedinsocialinteraction.2023/7/658a59TheInteractionistPositionLanguagesocialization

framework:observedfromchildrearingpatterns(parent-childinteraction)Child-directed

Speech(modifiedlanguageinteraction):Phonologicalmodification:aslowerrateofdelivery,higherpitch,morevariedintonationSyntacticalmodification:shorter,simplersentencepatterns,frequentrepetition,andparaphrase.Limitedconversationtopics:e.g.,the‘hereandnow’andtopicsrelatedtothechild’sexperiences.Moreimportantthanmodificationistheconversationalgive-and-take.

2023/7/659aTheInteractionistPositionThe

interactionbetweenalanguage-learningchildandaninterlocutor

whorespondsinsomewaytothechildisimportant(Jim’scase).

Exposuretoimpersonalsources

oflanguagesuchastelevisionorradioalonearenot

sufficientforchildrentolearnthestructureofaparticularlanguage.One-on-oneinteraction

giveschildrenaccesstolanguagethatisadjustedtotheirlevelofcomprehension.Oncechildrenhaveacquiredsomelanguage,however,televisioncanbeasourceoflanguageandculturalinformation.602023/7/660a61ConnectionismThoughbothinnatismandconnectionismlookatthecognitiveaspectoflanguageacquisition,yettheydifferinthefollowing:Connectionistshypothesizethatlanguageacquisitiondosenotrequireaseparate

“moduleofthemind”butcanbeexplainedintermsoflearningingeneral.Connectionistsarguethatwhatchildrenneedtoknowisessentiallyavailableinthelanguagetheyareexposedto.Theyattributegreaterimportancetotheroleoftheenvironmentthantoanyinnateknowledgeinthelearner.2023/7/661aConnectionismConnectionismviewslanguageasacomplexsystemofunitswhichbecomeinterconnectedinthemindastheyareencounteredtogether.Themoreoftenunitsareheardorseentogether,themorelikelyitisthatthepresenceofonewillleadtotheactivationoftheother.Languageacquisitionisnotjustaprocessofassociatingwordswithelementsofexternalreality.Itisalsoaprocessofassociatingwordsandphraseswiththeotherwordsandphrasesthatoccurwiththem,orwordswithgrammaticalmorphemesthatoccurwiththem.622023/7/662a63TheInteractionistPositionWatchthevideoclip“BabyTalk”fromtheInteractionistposition.Readthefollo