Second-Language-Acquisition-7二语习得

SecondLanguageAcquisitionLesson7FunctionalApproaches•FunctionalapproachestoSLAemphasizelanguageasasystemofcommunicationratherthanasetofrules•Theydifferfromthetheorieswehavebeenlookingatinthefollowingways:–Focusisontheuseoflanguageinrealsituations(performance)aswellasunderlyingknowledge(competence).Nosharpdistinctionismadebetweenthetwo.–StudyofSLAbeginswiththeassumptionthatthepurposeoflanguageiscommunication,andthatdevelopmentoflinguisticknowledge(inL1orL2)requirescommunicativeuse.–Scopeofconcerngoesbeyondthesentencetoincludediscoursestructureandhowlanguageisusedininteraction,andtoincludeaspectsofcommunicationbeyondlanguageFunctionalApproaches•“function”hasseveralmeaningsinlinguistics:–structuralfunction(suchastherolewhichelementsoflanguagestructureplayasasubjectorobject,orasanactororgoal)–Pragmaticfunction(whattheuseoflanguagecanaccomplish,suchasconveyinformation,controlothers’behavior,orexpressemotion).SystemicLinguistics(M.A.K.Halliday)•languagestructurescannotbeidealizedandstudiedwithouttakingintoaccountthecircumstancesoftheiruse,includingtheextralinguisticsocialcontext•Whatwelearnisnot,essentiallyasystemofrules,but“meaningpotential”:“whatthespeaker/hearercan(whathecanmean,ifyoulike),notwhatheknows”•Theprocessofacquisitionconsistsof“masteringcertainbasicfunctionsoflanguageanddevelopingameaningpotentialforeach”SystemicLinguistics•PragmaticfunctionsinearlyL1acquisition:–Instrumental–languageusedasameansofgettingthingsdone(oneofthefirsttobeevolved):the“Iwant”function.–Regulatory–languageusedtoregulatethebehaviorofothers:the“doasItellyou”function.–Interactional–useoflanguageininteractionbetweenselfandothers:the“meandyou”function.–Personal–awarenessoflanguageasaformofone’sownidentity:the“hereIcome”function.–Heuristic–languageasawayoflearningaboutthings:the“tellmewhy”function.–Imagination–creationthroughlanguageofaworldofone’sownmaking:the“let’spretend”function.–Representational–meansofexpressingpropositions,orcommunicatingaboutsomething(oneofhelasttoappear):the“I’vegotsomethingtotellyou”function.UseinSLA•“Secondlanguageacquisitionislargelyamatteroflearningnewlinguisticformstofulfillthesamefunctions[asalreadyacquiredandusedinL1]withinadifferentsocialmilieu”UseinSLA•Nonlinguistic–Regulatory:(Hittinganotherchildwhoisannoying.)–Interactional:Unh?(Utteredasagreeting.)–Heuristic:(Pointingatanobject[withaquestioninglook]torequesttheEnglishtermforit.)•L2formulaormemorizedroutine–Regulatory:Don’tdothat!–Interactional:Hi!–Heuristic:What’sit?•SingleL2word–Regulatory:He!(Pointingoutanotherchild’soffendingbehaviortoateacher.)–Interactional:Me?(Aninvitationtoplay.)–Heuristic:What?(AskingfortheEnglishtermforanobject.)•L2phraseorclause–Regulatory:Thatbad!–Interactional:Youmeplay?–Heuristic:Whatnamethis?•ComplexL2construction–Regulatory:Theteachersaythatwrong!–Interactional:Inoliketoplaynow.–Heuristic:Whatisnamewecallthis?FunctionalTypology•Isusedtoexplain:–WhysomeL2constructionsaremoreorlessdifficultthanothersforlearnerstoacquire–theselectivityofcrosslinguisticinfluenceortransfer(i.e.forwhysomeelementsofL1transfertoL2andsomedonot).Markedness•Afeatureis“unmarked”ifitoccursmorefrequentlythanacontrastingelementinthesamecategory,ifitislesscomplexstructurallyorconceptually,orifitismore“normal”or“expected”alongsomeotherdimension.–MorelanguagesintheworldhaveaSVOsentencestructurethanaSOVstructure.SoSVOisrelatively‘unmarked’whileSOVisrelatively‘marked’–In/into–GreetingsandresponsesMarkednessandSLAFunctiontoFormMapping•languageacquisitionimportantlyinvolvesdevelopinglinguisticformstofulfillsemanticorpragmaticfunctions•acquisitionofbothL1andL2involvesaprocessofgrammaticalizationinwhichagrammaticalfunction(suchastheexpressionofpasttime)isfirstconveyedbysharedextralinguisticknowledgeandinferencebasedonthecontextofdiscourse,thenbyalexicalword(suchasyesterday),andonlylaterbyagrammaticalmarker(suchasthesuffix–ed–Iplaysoccer–YesterdayIplaysoccer–Iplayedsoccer•WecanthinkofthisastheevolutionfromapragmaticmodeofexpressingmeaningtoasyntacticmodeInformationOrganisation•Thewayinwhichlearnersputtheirwordstogether•ThetaskofstudyingSLAfromthisperspectiveincludes:–describingthestructuresofinterlanguage–discoveringwhatorganizationalprinciplesguidelearners’productionatvariousstagesofdevelopment–analyzinghowtheseprinciplesinteractwithoneanother.•Developmentallevels–NominalUtteranceOrganization(NUO).Learnersgenerallybeginwiththeseeminglyunconnectednamingofsubjectsandobjects(i.e.withnounsandpronouns,or“nominals”).Theymayalsouseadverbsandadjectivesorotherelementsbutseldomuseaverbtohelporganizeanutterance.•charlieandgirlaccident•thismanoneideafromthewindow–InfiniteUtteranceOrganization(IUO).Learnersincreasinglyaddverbstotheirutterances,buttheyseldomusegrammaticalmorphemestoconveythemeaningoftense,person,ornumber(i.e.theverbisuninflected,or“infinite”).Knownasthe‘basicvariety’interlanguage.Learnerssometimesstophere.•charlieandgirlandpolicemanputonthefloor•theblondefriendtellotherwomanabouttheson–FiniteUtteranceOrganization(FUO).Learnerswhocontinueinterlanguage