二语习得7

HowLanguagesAreLearnedPatsyM.Lightbown&NinaSpadaChapter7Popularideasaboutlanguagelearning:Factsandopinions1)Languagesarelearnedmainlythroughimitation.•Difficulttofindsupportfortheargument•Learnersproducemanynovelsentences•Imitationdoesplayarole•Childrenimitateagreatdealbutselectively•Imitationisimportantwhenlearningpronunciationandintonation2)Parentsusuallycorrectyoungchildrenwhentheymakegrammaticalerrors.•Thereisconsiderablevariation•Forveryyoungpre-schoolers,parentsrarelydoso•Forchildrenofschoolage,parentsoftendoso•Theparents’ownsociolinguisticbackgroundisalsoasourceofvariation.•Asarule,parentstendtofocusonmeaningratherthanform.•Withoutcorrectivefeedback,SLlearnersmaypersistinusingcertainungrammaticalformsforyears.3)PeoplewithhighIQsaregoodlanguagelearners.•AhighIQscoreisagoodpredictorforsuccessinclassroomfocusingonlearningaboutthelanguage.•Ifthelearningfocusisonoralcommunicationskills,learnerswithawidevarietyofintellectualabilitiescanbesuccessful.4)ThemostimportantfactorinSLAsuccessismotivation.•Cannottakeitabsolutely,fortherearehighlymotivatedlearnerswhohavegreatdifficultiesorfailtoachievenative-likeability.Therearemanyotherfactors.•Teachershavenoinfluenceoveralearner’sintrinsicmotivation.Theprincipalwaythatteacherscaninfluencelearners’motivationisbymakingtheclassroomasupportiveenvironmentwherestudentsarestimulated,engagedinactivitiesappropriatetotheirage,interestsandculturalbackgrounds,andmostimportantly,wherestudentscanexperiencesuccess.5)TheearlieraSLisintroducedinschoolprograms,thegreaterthelikelihoodofsuccessinlearning.•Whentheobjectiveisnative-likeperformanceintheSL,itmaybedesirabletobeginexposuretothelanguageasearlyaspossible.•Itisimportanttorecognizecertaindisadvantagesofanearlystart.IfchildrenhavelittleopportunitytocontinuetodeveloptheL1,subtractivebilingualismmayhavelastingnegativeconsequences.5)TheearlieraSLisintroducedinschoolprograms,thegreaterthelikelihoodofsuccessinlearning.(Cont.)•Whenthegoalisnotnative-likeperformancebutbasiccommunicativeskillforallstudents(andtheyneedtomaintainthedevelopmentoftheL1),itcanbemoreefficienttobeginL2teachinglater.Olderchildrencancatchup.•Oneortwohoursaweek–evenforsevenoreightyears–willnotproduceveryadvancedL2speakers.The‘drip-feed’approachoftenleadstofrustration.6)MostofthemistakeswhichSLlearnersmakeareduetointerferencefromtheirfirstlanguage.•InterferencefromtheL1isundoubtedlyoneofthemajorsourcesoferrors.However,thereareothercausesforerrorstoo,forexample,overgeneralizationoftarget-languagerules.L2learnersfromdifferentL1backgroundsoftenmakethesamekindsoferrors.•Errorscausedbytheoverextentionofsomepartialsimilaritymaybedifficulttoovercome.7)Teachersshouldpresentgrammaticalrulesoneatatime,andlearnersshouldpracticeexamplesofeachonebeforegoingontoanother.•Languagelearningisnotsimplylinearinitsdevelopment.•ResearchershavefoundtheU-shapedcourseofdevelopment,forexample,“ran—runned—ran”.8)Teachersshouldteachsimplelanguagestructuresbeforecomplexones.•Researchhasshownthatnomatterhowlanguageispresentedtolearners,certainstructuresareacquiredbeforeothers.Thissuggeststhatisneithernecessarynordesirabletorestrictlearners’exposuretocertainlinguisticstructureswhichareperceivedtobe‘simple’.•Learnerscertainlybenefitfrommodifiedspeech.9)Learners’errorsshouldbecorrectedassoonastheyaremadeinordertopreventtheformationofbadhabits.•Errorsareanaturalpartoflanguagelearning.Whenerrorsarepersistent,especiallysharedbyalmostallstudentsinaclass,itisusefultobringtheproblemtothelearners’attention.Iftheerrorisbasedonadevelopmentalpattern,thecorrectionmayonlybeusefulwhenthelearnerisreadyforit.9)Learners’errorsshouldbecorrectedassoonastheyaremadeinordertopreventtheformationofbadhabits.(Cont.)•Excessivefeedbackonerrorcanhaveanegativeeffectonmotivation.Teachersshouldvarythekindofcorrectionaccordingtothecharacteristicsofthestudents.•Immediatereactiontoerrorsinanoralcommunicationsettingmayembarrasssomestudentsanddiscouragethemfromspeaking,whileforothers,suchcorrectionisexactlywhatisneededtohelpthemnoticeapersistenterroratjustthemomentwhenitoccurs.10)Teachersshouldusematerialsthatexposestudentsonlytothoselanguagestructureswhichtheyhavealreadybeentaught.•Materialscontaininglittleornothingnewmayhavenegativeconsequences,fortheyarenotchallengingenoughandcauselossofmotivation.•Givenameaningfulcontext,learnerscancomprehendthegeneralmeaningofmanyformswhichtheycertainlyhavenot‘mastered’and,indeed,mayneverhaveproduced.11)Whenlearnersareallowedtointeractfreely(forexampleingrouporpairactivities),theylearneachothers’mistakes.•Researchhasshownthatlearnersdonotproduceanymoreerrorsintheirspeechwhentalkingtolearnersatsimilarlevelsofproficiencythattheydowhenspeakingtolearnersatmoreadvancedlevelsortonativespeakers.12)Studentslearnwhattheyaretaught.•Itiscertainlynotthecasethatstudentslearneverythingtheyaretaughtorthattheyeventuallyknowonlywhattheyaretaught.Theylearnmuchmorethantheyaretaught.•Accordingto‘natural’sequencesofdevelopment,learnersaremorelikelytolearncertainlanguagefeatureswhentheyaredevelopmentally‘ready’.•