第二语言习得

Chapter6:Explanationsfordifferentialsuccessamongsecondlanguagelearners6.1Introduction6.2age6.3aptitude6.4social-psychologicalfactor6.5personality6.6cognitivestyle6.7hemispherespecialization6.8learningstrategies6.9otherfactors6.10conclusion6.1IntroductionLanguagemasteryisnotoftentheoutcomeofSLA.Thereisamuchbroaderrangeoflanguageproficiencyachievedamongsecondlanguagelearnersthanfirst.OneofthemostobviouspotentialexplanationsforcomparativelackofsuccessofsecondlanguagelearnersisthatSLlearnersbeginacquiringthelanguageatalateragethandofirstlanguagelearners.Inadditiontoage,languageaptitude,social-psychologicalfactors,personality,cognitivestyleetcalsoexplainthedifferentialsuccessamonglearners.FactorspresentedinthischapterarenottheonlyvariablesthatinfluenceSLA,othervariableslikeinput,instruction,L1influencealsohaveimpact.6.2AgeSomeclaimthatSLAisthesameprocessandjustassuccessfulwhetherlearnersbeginasachildoradultor/thatadultslearnfaster.Othersthinkadultsareatadisadvantageonlyinafewareas,esp.phonology.Youngerlearnersareatanadvantageinultimatelevelsofattainment,suchasaccent-freeSLperformance.ImportanceofthisissueTheoretically,whetherL1acquisitionandL2acquisitionarethesame,whethertheyusethesamemechanism.Practically,peopleinteachingprogrammeswanttoknowtheoptimaltimingforlanguageprogrammes.Whetherthereisacriticalperiodforeachdomainoflanguage?6.2.1studiesofageandSLAAsnotedbyKrashen,LongandScarcella(1979),somefairlyclearpatternsemerge.Theconclusionisthatolderisfaster,butyoungerisbetter.Asrevealedbylong-termstudies,yongerisbetterinultimateattainment.Quiteyoungstartersachieveaccent-free,nativelikeperformance.Asrevealedbyshort-termstudies,adultsfasterthanchildren.Therateadvantageislimitedinseveralways,inearlymorphologyandsyntax,itistemporary.Youngeradultsoutperformolderadultseveninshort-termstudies.Short-termstudiesspeakonlytodifferentialrateofacquisition,nottoabsoluteabilities.Theyfavorolderlearnersbecauseoftheir“teachandtest”,greatercognitivedevelopmentandtest-wiseness.AsherandPrice(1967),taughtRussian134subjectsage8,10,,12andcollegeage,25minutes,foundadultsoutperformedallthechildgroups.SnowanHoefnagel-Hohle(1978)acquisitionofDutchby96Englishspeakingchildren,adolescentsandadults(P156),foundthatatfirsttheolderthefaster,astimegoesby,theyounger,thebetter.Evenshort-termstudiesfoundtheyounger,thebetter.Tahta,woodandLoewenthal(1981a)foundlearners’pronunciationaspectoflanguagedeclinedwithincreasingage.GeneralizationbyKrashen(1979)1.Adultsproceedthroughearlystagesosyntacticandmorphologicaldevelopmentfasterthanchildren(wheretimeandexposureareheldconstant).Age-relatedconstraintsbegintosetinasearlyas6forphonology.Theexistenceofcriticalperiod(Lennenberg1967)afterwhichcompletemasterisimpossibleorsensitiveperiodduringwhichlanguageacquisitionismostefficient.2.olderchildrenacquirefasterthanyoungerchildren.Ekstrand(1976)olderchildrenperformedbetterthanyoungerchildren.Fathmanfoundolderdobetterinsyntaxandmorphology,youngerdobetteronpronunciation.Inlong-termstudies,thosecomparingachievementafterseveralyearsofforeignlanguagestudyandorresidenceintheSLenvironment,youngerstartersconsistentlyoutperformolderones,onlyquiteyoungerchildrenseemtobecapableofnative-likeattainment.Startafter6,therewillbeaccent.(P157)Oyama(1976)pronunciationabilitywithdifferentageofarrival(AOA)foundeffectofAOAnotLOR.AsherandGarcia(1969)theyoungerthebetter.Major(1987)supportthecriticalperiodhypothesisforaccent.FindingsofthesestudiesSLphonologicalattainmentisstronglyconditionedbylearnerage,specificallythatattainmentisinverselyrelatedwithAOAandanativelikeaccentisimpossibleunlessfirstexposureisquiteearlyprobablyaround6.Counterevidenceofcriticalperiodforphonology.Neufeld(1979)demonstratehighlevelofpronunciationandintonationcanbeachievedbybothforeignandsecondlanguagelearners.Therefore,nosensitiveperiod.LimitationofNeufeld’sstudies1.thesubjectsareelitefew,thefindingisnotgeneralizable.2.thespeechsampleislimited.3.wordingofinstructiontotheraterinfluencetheirjudgment.Thefindingsdonotconstitutecounter-evidencetotheideathatthereisasensitiveperiodforSLphonology.Scovel(1981)provideevidenceoftheage-relatedevolutionofaccentrecognitioninnativespeakersandofasensitiveperiodforaccentrecognitioninnon-native.Oyama(1978)foundstrongnegativeeffectforsubjects’AOAintheUSAandtheirabilitytocomprehendmaskedspeech.Childrenarrivingbefore11performedsimilarlytoNScontrols,withlaterarrivalshowingdeclinewithage.Patkowski(1980)foundanegativemaineffectforAOA,noeffectforanyothervariables(LOR,informalorformalexposure),thustheearliertheimmigrantsarrivedintheUSA,thehighersyntacticproficiencyratingtheyreceived.ResultsseemtobeconsistentwiththenotionofagelimitationontheacquisitionofsyntaxinL2.Ageissueintheareaoflexis/collocationMatsunobu(1981)foundcollocationerrorsinNNSs’writing,idiomaticphrasinginNSsampleswhichNNSwritingdidnotexhibit.Thereisaneedforresearchintheareasofdiscourseandpragmaticstoo.Futureworkwillfindage-relatedabilitiesinL2pragmatics.Scarcella(1983)foundthatlat