Student Handbook Discipline Studies
Language Acquisition and Development
Language Acquisition and Development
MODULE OUTLINE This module introduces teacher candidates to the study of how language is acquired by first and second language learners, and describes the key processes and outcomes of language development.
MODULE OBJECTIVES At the end of this module, teacher candidates should be able to: • • • • • • • •
Understand various theoretical perspectives on first and second language acquisition Be aware of some of the factors relating to the successful development of bi- and multilingualism Understand how humans process language Be aware of how children develop in their first language and begin to develop competence in a second or foreign language through school Understand the relationship between language competence and literacy Understand what language awareness consists of and how various language socialization processes can aid in language development Be aware of individual differences and the effect of age and gender on second language acquisition Be aware of language variation and how its existence influences the child’s acquisition of the language
Language Acquisition and Development
1
TOPIC MAP ___________________
Language Attrition and Shifting First
Some theoretical frameworks
Krashen’s Hypotheses
Language s The Influence of
Bilingualism and
Sociolinguistic
Multilingualism
Difference
Language Acquisition And Development
The Influence of Individual Differences
Language Processing
Language Development:
Language Awareness AndLanguage Socialization
Components
Language Development: In Secondary SchoolYears
Language and Literacy Development
Language Development: In Primary SchoolsYears
Language Acquisition and Development
2
MODULE SCHEDULE Sessions
1
Topics
Competencies
Content
Language First Language Acquisition Understand major +First and Second Language models and viewpoints Acquisition Acquisition: Some about language -The Nature of Theoretical Frameworks applied to understand Language the process of first and -The Role of the Child second language in the Process acquisition -Environmental Factors -Theoretical Views and Models of Language Acquisition: *Piaget’s View *Vygotsky’s View *The Behaviourist Model *The Innatist Model *The Interactionist Model +Second Language Acquisition -Behaviourist View
Mode of Instruction and Time 150’
Teaching Resources Chapter 2 in Goh and Silver
Language Acquisition and Development
3
Sessions
2
Topics
Competencies
Krashen’s Hypotheses & Have a broad overview the Canadian Experiment of second language teaching methodologies. Understand the five hypotheses proposed by Krashen to explain how a language learner learns (or acquires) a second language
3
Bilingualism & Multilingualism
Understand the difference between bilingualism and second language acquisition.
Content
+Second Language Teaching Methodologies in the 20th Century +Innatism and SLA +Universal Grammar +Critical Period Hypot. Natural Order Hypot. The Acquisition/ Learning Hypoth. The Monitor Hypot. The Natural Order Hyp. The Input Hypothesis The Affective filter Hyp. +The Reading Hypot. +The Importance of Output +Interactionism and SLA +Bilingualism & Second Language Acquisition +Models of Bilingual Knowledge +Simultaneous vs. Sequential
Mode of Instruction and Time 150’
150’
Teaching Resources Chapter 3 in Goh and Silver.
Chapter 4 and 16 in Goh and Silver
Language Acquisition and Development
4
Sessions
Topics
Competencies
Be aware of different models of bilingual knowledge.
4
Language Processing
Content
Mode of Instruction and Time
Teaching Resources
150’
Chapter 5 in Goh and Silver
Development +Romaine’s Classification +Adult Acquisition & “Native-speaker” Attainment +Primary Language Shift and Language Attrition +Code-Switching +Valorisation
Understand language +Information processing and Processing Models information processing -Bottom-up models, and how these -Top-down relate to language -Interactive acquisition. +Automaticity and Control +Components of an Information Processing Model -Attention and Perception -Memory
Language Acquisition and Development
5
Sessions
Topics
Competencies
Content
Mode of Instruction and Time
Teaching Resources
150’
Chapter 6&7 in Goh and Silver
+Knowledge Representation -Schema -Script -The Importance of Context +Models of Language Processing -Anderson’s Model of Language Comprehension -Levelt’s Model of Speech Processing 5
Language Development: Understand the typical Form, Semantics & sequence of mastery of Pragmatics different components and aspects of linguistic competence in young children.
+Components of Language Development +Mean Length of Utterance in Young Children +Morphological Development +Syntactic Development +Sentence Complexity +Phonological Development
Language Acquisition and Development
6
Sessions
6
Topics
Competencies
Language Development in Understand how the the Primary School Years school experience helps a child in his/her language development. Understand the role of language instruction in society.
Content
+Semantic Development – Giving Definitions +Pragmatic Development +First Language Acquisition and Second or Foreign Language Learning +Measuring Complexity in Languages Other than English +What Children Know When They Enter School +Literacy and the Development of Academic Language +L2 Learning in Primary School
Mode of Instruction and Time
Teaching Resources
150’
Chapter 8 in Goh and Silver
Understand how the child’s life before entering school affects academic success.
Language Acquisition and Development
7
Sessions
7
8 9
Topics
Competencies
Hands-on Experience
Language and Development
Collect the data by using data elicitation techniques in language acquisition study, Present the data for the purpose of data analysis and interpretation. Analyze the data, and Interpret the data.
Literacy Describe the relationship between language and literacy development. Understand the implications for bilingual contexts and biliteracy development.
10
Language Development in Understand language the Secondary School development during the Years secondary school years.
Content
Mode of Instruction and Time
Teaching Resources
150’
Chapter 9 in Goh and Silver
150’
Chapter 10 in Goh and Silver
+Phonological development +Morphological development +Syntactical development +Semantic development +Pragmatic development +MLU MID-TEST +The role of language in literacy development +The role of literacy in language development +Second language literacy +Home-School connections +Bilingual Literacy +Key Features of Language Form on Entering Secondary School +Key Semantic Features of Language
Language Acquisition and Development
8
Sessions
11
Topics
Language Awareness and Language Socialization
Competencies
Be able to consider language in the abstract as an object of analysis and discussion, and relate this ability to language acquisition and development.
Content
on Entering Secondary School +Key Pragmatic Features of Language on Entering Secondary School +Further Pragmatic and Semantic Development during Secondary School Years +Academic Language Skills +Oral Language Skills +Written Language Skills +“Second” Language Learning or Two First Languages? +Metalinguistic Awareness +Phonological Awareness +Language Awareness and L2 Acquisition +Pedagogical Implications
Mode of Instruction and Time
Teaching Resources
150’
Chapter 11&13 in Goh and Silver
Language Acquisition and Development
9
Sessions
Topics
12
Gender, Age, Individual Differences and Language Learning
13
Language Variation, Interaction and Language Development
Competencies
Understand how values and identity relate to language acquisition and second language learning. Understand how individual differences (gender, age, anxiety, strategies, and motivation) affect language acquisition and language learning.
Be able to relate aspects of language acquisition to sociolinguistic topics, and relate those factors
Content
+Language Socialisation +Interaction Routines +Sociocultural Views of Language Learning: Values and Identity +Gender: “Male and Female Language” +Gender-related attitudes and perceptions +Gender implications for language learning? +Age: The Critical Period Hypothesis revisited +Other Individual Factors +Language Learning Strategies +Anxiety and Motivation +Multilingualism and Diglossia +Language Choice and Language Domains
Mode of Instruction and Time
Teaching Resources
150’
Chapter 12&15 in Goh and Silver
150’
Chapter 14&17 in Goh and Silver
Language Acquisition and Development 10
Sessions
14
Topics
Language Attrition and Shifting First Languages
Competencies
Content
to classroom interaction +Social Networks in the first and second +Language language. Maintenance and Language Shift +Language Death and Language Revitalisation +Language vs. Dialect +Dialect vs. Accent +Social Dialects +Style and Register +Conversational Strategies +Extended Discourse +Interaction with First and Second Language Learners +Classroom Interaction Describe situations when +Language Attrition – language attrition and Definition shifting happen. +The Process of Language Attrition +Causes of Language Attrition +Attrition in Language
Mode of Instruction and Time
150’
Teaching Resources
Various texts
Language Acquisition and Development 11
Sessions
Topics
Competencies
Content
Mode of Instruction and Time
Teaching Resources
Shift Situations +Effects of Language Shift in Children +The Spread of English and First Language Attrition +First Language Attrition in Indonesia 15 16
150’
Group Presentation: PBL Final Test
Language Acquisition and Development 12
ASSESSMENT Assessment is distributed over four assignments, one paper pencil test, and one miniresearch paper in the following manner: Course Assessment Assignment 1 Assignment 2 Assignment 3 Paper Pencil Test
Description Tutorial Discussion Hands-on Experience Group Presentation: PBL Mid-term Test Final Test/Mini-research Paper TOTAL
Percentage 15% 20% 20% 20% 25% 100%
Assignment 1 – Tutorial Discussion (15%) Task Description When a topic is completely discussed, instructor will give the teacher candidates tutorial discussions on the topic being discussed. They are required to answer a weekly Tutorial Discussion Questions listed under “Tutorial Discussion”. The tutorial discussions of each topic are provided in both the faculty manual and the student handbook. Then, the teacher candidates should submit the answer or send a copy to instructor at his/her email address. This counts as a participation grade and is required for attendance. If the teacher candidates miss two Tutorial Discussion Questions in a row, they will be assumed that they have dropped the course, unless they have notified the instructor of their absence in advance.
Assignment 2 – Hands-on Experience in Analyzing a Child’s Language acquisition and Development (20%)
Task description: A central part of understanding in the field of language acquisition and development is gained by hands-on experience in data analysis and data interpretation. In this assignment, the teacher candidates have to work in groups of four to collect, then analyze and interpret the data of children’s language. The sets of data that they should focus on are the components of young children language development: for example, Language Acquisition and Development 13
mean length of utterance, morphological development, syntactic development, sentence complexity, phonological development, semantic development – giving definition, or pragmatic development. Each group should choose one of the components as the focus of their hands-on experience. To collect the data, each group should think about the data elicitation techniques, and how to present the data for the purpose of data analysis and interpretation. A discussion should take place during the process. A given about the data is that there is often ambiguity with regard to the interpretation. Thus, it is frequently the case that there are no “correct” answers in analyzing the data. At best, there are better and worse answers, bolstered by better and worse argumentation. Importantly, the function of good argumentation is to lessen the ambiguity of analysis. Each group should write a report about their hands-on experience, and present it to the class in the seventh session.
Assignment 3 – Problem-Based Learning (20%) Task description: The teacher candidates should work in groups. Each group will receive a problem scenario, and then read it for reflection and inquire of problem in the scenario. Based on this reading, group will come to consensus on problem statements, from which they generate questions of inquiry. Each group then brainstorms, analyses the problem and identify issues being discussed. Each member of the group as a problem solver proceeds to identify sources of information, read, study, and research with a view of offering informed explanation for the problem. Share what each member of the group found to the group. Decide the best solution to the problem. Each group will give a 15-20 minute group presentation in the 15th session. The group will present the findings and the solution to the questions. The presentation will include the list of questions, the theories related to the problems, the answer to the problems, and the list of references. Group should submit the presentation slides to the instructor.
Language Acquisition and Development 14
PBL Scenario 1: Vygotskyan Theory Research Vygotskyan theory, its relation to language acquisition and development. Discuss the implications of this theory to EFL teaching/learning. Relate your findings to your own English teaching learning experience. PBL Scenario 2: Critical Period Hypothesis Review literature on the critical period hypothesis. Discuss the implications of this hypothesis to EFL teaching/learning. Relate your findings to your own English teaching and learning experience. PBL Scenario 3: Motivation Review literature on motivation and L2/literacy learning. Discuss the implications of this theory to EFL teaching/learning. Relate your findings to your own English teaching and learning experience. PBL Scenario 4: Krashen’s Five Hypotheses. Review literature on Krashen’s Five Hypotheses. Discuss the implications of these hypotheses to EFL teaching/learning. Relate your findings to your own English teaching and learning experience. PBL Scenario 5: Codeswitching Review literature on codeswitching theories. Discuss the implications of this theory to EFL teaching/learning. Relate your findings to your own English teaching and learning experience. PBL Scenario 6: Knowledge Representation Review literature on knowledge representation (schemata, script). Discuss the implications of this theory to EFL teaching/learning. Relate your findings to your own English teaching and learning experience. PBL Scenario 7: Communication and Language Learning Strategies Review literature on communication and language learning strategies. Discuss the implications of this theory to EFL teaching/learning. Relate your findings to your own English teaching and learning experience. PBL Scenario 8: Language and Literacy Review literature on Cumming’s interdependence hypothesis. Discuss the implications of this hypothesis to EFL teaching/learning. Relate your findings to your own English teaching and learning experience. PBL Scenario 9: Language Development in Secondary School Years Review literature on language development in secondary school years. Discuss the implications of this theory to EFL teaching/learning. Relate your findings to your own English teaching and learning experience.
Language Acquisition and Development 15
Mid-term Test: Paper Pencil Test (20%) A mid-term test is given at the eighth session. The Mid-term test will be closed-book and closed-note. Instructor could develop his or her test based on the topics discussed from session 1 to session 6.
Final Test: Mini-research Paper (25%) The Final test is in the form of a mini-research paper. The final paper is a comprehensive response to a question/a topic based on curriculum development, while demonstrating higher order critical thinking skills. The format and the organization of the research paper will be given during the course (See attachment: How to write a research paper). The final paper is to be at least 1,500 words in length. The students can produce the paper on word processor (preferably Microsoft word) then proof, spell check, and format the paper per APA guidelines. The students should submit the paper on the final test as scheduled by ASO. Topics for Mini-research paper 1. Give evidence that children’s receptive skills precede their productive skills in first language acquisition. 2. Do error analysis on compositions or speech. 3. Respond to Krashen’s various hypotheses. 4. Do a research on how individual differences affect the success of second language learning process. 5. Observe a child’s language development; be in the first language or in the second language acquisition. Report the data collected, the analysis, and its interpretation. 6. Observe an adult’s language development in his/her attempt to acquire second language acquisition.
TEST REQUIREMENTS, GRADE 1. In order to all your assignments and tests get scored, you should attend at least 80% of the sessions. 2. Missed test: A make-up with full credit will be allowed only in cases of verifiable emergency. The student must contact the instructor by the date of the test; otherwise, 20% will be deducted from the make-up test grade. The make-up test may be more challenging.
Language Acquisition and Development 16
3. Grades for the final score (FS) could be seen at SSE Academic Portal.
RECOMMENDED TEXTBOOKS Goh, C. M. Christine and Rita Elaine Silver (2004). Language Acquisition and Development: A Teacher’s Guide. Longman: Pearson Education. (core) Gass, S. M. & Selinker, L. (2001) Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course. London: Lawrence Earlbaum. Ellis, R. (2004) The Study of Second Language Acquisition. UK: OUP.
Language Acquisition and Development 17
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND DEVELOPMENT
1
First Language Acquisition and Topic Second Language Acquisition: Some Theoretical Frameworks
Content First Language Acquisition The Nature of Language The Role of the Child in the Process Environmental Factors Theoretical Views and Models of Language Acquisition Piaget’s View Vygotsky’s View The Behaviourist Model The Innatist Model The Interactionist Model Second Language Acquisition Behaviourist View A Few Problems with Theories
Language Acquisition and Development 18
Topic Objective After completing this topic, students should understand the major models and viewpoints about language that have been applied in trying to understand the processes of first and second language acquisition.
Topic Map
Theoretical Views and Models of Language Acquisition
Piaget’s View Vygotsky’s View The Behaviourist Model The Innatist Model
Language acquisition and Development
First Language Acquisition
Second Language Acquisition
Language Acquisition and Development 19
Material _________________ Leading Questions: What are some of the things we need to know in order to fully understand the process of how a child learns to talk? What do we need to know about language to understand the process? What does the child contribute to the process? What factors in the environments contribute to the process? Who are some of the key figures who have studied the process and what have they concluded? What theoretical frameworks have been applied to the language acquisition process and with what results?
The Nature of Language Many views have been proposed about the nature of language. One prominent view that has been influencing linguistic studies for over forty years is one which was initially called “generative” and is now more commonly referred to as “cognitive”. This view sees language as consisting of a set of rules that are processed internally, usually in a fixed order to produce output. But language usually has a social purpose. How do children learn to use it to express a variety of pragmatic intentions in different social environments? Language itself consists of:
words made up of sounds combined into sentences (form) the use of sentences to express ideas (meaning) conventions for shaping the language in particular contexts (use)
Language Acquisition and Development 20
How does the child acquire each of these components? • • • • •
Phonology Morphology Syntax Semantics Pragmatics
The Role of a child What does the child bring to the process? Does the child actively try to learn language or do adults teach the child language? How does language development relate to cognitive development? To explore these questions further, we will look at the ideas of two prominent figures: Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky
Jean Piaget Piaget believed that language development was closely related to cognitive development. He believed that young children develop knowledge about the world by interacting with objects around them and by observing the interactions of others. This stage of development – from birth to around 18 months – is referred to in psychology as the sensorimotor period. In other words, cognitive knowledge of the world is required before language can develop.
Piaget’s views are often referred to as “cognitive determinism”. In other words, the development of language is determined by cognitive growth. And this implies that cognitive development must come first, followed by language. The sequence is sometimes described as:
1. Experience with objects 2. Cognitive development (thought) 3. Language
Piaget believes that language initially has an internal function and cites examples of children talking to themselves. This may be relevant in societies in which the child is often left on his own with toys while the mother is busy with household tasks. In many Asian societies, however, where typically many people live in a house, a young child is
Language Acquisition and Development 21
never alone and there is almost always someone interacting with him. Here, children’s early vocalizations always appear to be responses to the vocalizations of others – in other words to have a primarily social function.
Vygotsky Vygotsky’s views differ from Piaget’s in at least two important ways. Vygotsky stressed the importance of cultural and social environments in language acquisition (The private, personal use of language was seen as a later development). Though cognition was seen as closely related to language, the relationship was seen as bi-directional.
Environment Social environment in which child is brought up: • •
Is it a nuclear family or an extended family? Is the household self-contained or is there frequent interaction with outsiders?
Linguistic environment in which the child interacts with other people: • •
Is the environment monolingual or bi- or multi-lingual? If the latter, what is the pattern for language choice?
Models of School The models explored here are: • • •
The Behaviourist Model The Innatist (or Nativist) Model The Interactionist Model
The Behaviourist Model This model was commonly held in the middle of the 20th century. It was also referred to as the empiricist school. According to this view, learning was seen as behavior changes. The model saw language as a subset of learned behaviors. Language learning was seen as a subset of other types of learning. Skinner saw language acquisition as a form of operant conditioning resulting from:
Language Acquisition and Development 22
adult modeling and reinforcement imitation practice habit formation
In this view, the environment is a source of stimuli (parents and caregivers provide modeling) and reinforcement (through reward and punishment).
The Innatist (or Nativist) Model This model of language acquisition was proposed by Chomsky. He emphasized the role of mental processes. Chomsky viewed language as rule-based and generative in nature.
Underlying assumptions:
Humans possess an innate mental capacity for language Language development follows a biological and chronological program Another output of this model, proposed by Lenneberg in 1967, was the Critical Period Hypothesis. According to this hypothesis language acquisition had to take place before puberty. Beyond this point it was believed that people could not fully acquire another language. There have indeed been a few famous cases of children deprived of language input who later, when the input was provided, failed to fully acquire language. However, a second conclusion emerging from this hypothesis, that adults who speak one language can never fully acquire a second language, is more controversial. There have been studies in recent years of adults who began studying a second language in adulthood and were able to successfully acquire it to the extent that they were frequently mistaken for native speakers.
One of the problems with Chomsky’s model, which generates “perfect sentences”, is that we rarely speak in perfect sentences – we produce fragments and incomplete utterances. Children in learning to speak also often produce fragments.
Language Acquisition and Development 23
The Interactionist Model
This approach takes into account an element missing in the other two models – the sociolinguistic factor. Language is used in and for social interaction. To examine it as a specimen under a microscope
(and describe it as a product of a system of inters-
related rules that we all carry in our brains) ignores this important function. This model proposes that children learn language
through adult-child interaction. Though it seems
to “make sense,� this model does not explain the cognitive processes that children engage in when noticing and using language for interaction.
In conclusion, none of the models really work on their own. Perhaps it will be necessary to combine elements and add observations from other disciplines before we can fully understand how a child learns his or her language.
Some crucial questions:
Is the nature of second language learning similar to or different from that of first language acquisition?
Does the learner bring something different to the process in second language learning? (And, if so, what?) Must the linguistic environment be the same in second language learning in order for the outcome to be successful?
What is a first language and what is a second
language?
Can a child have two (or more) first languages?
Can an older child or adult learn or acquire a new
language with native
speaker competence?
Language Acquisition and Development 24
What makes a language a second language? Is it the order of acquisition only? Is it the context in which the acquisition takes place: at home with family, in a classroom Is it the age of the person acquiring the language? Or is it more than one or all of these things?
Second Language Acquisition
In the literature “second language acquisition” usually refers to a language learned later, usually aided by instruction. One idea that developed in connection with SLA in this regard was Contrastive Analysis– comparing the two systems to see where the differences lay, as these would be potential areas of problems for the learners.
Though contrastive analysis does sometimes high light potential problem areas– especially in connection with pronunciation, it is on the whole only marginally useful.
The Behaviorism The same basic principles of Behaviorism apply to both first and second language acquisition. An instructional approach which emerged in response to the theory of Behaviorism was Audiolingualism. This involved, among other things, listening to recordings and memorizing dialogues. Some of the dialogues in early books were rather contrived and not particularly useful, but content needed by the students– like patterns of social interaction (that differed from English ones) or how to bargain for vegetables in the market could be very useful to someone headed for the other side of the world for the first time.
Two concepts later developed, partially in reaction against behaviorism, were those of natural developmental sequences and markedness. The idea of “natural developmental sequences”
refers to an order of language features progressing from easy to more
difficult. The idea was that these structures should be taught in that order. Markedness refers to features which are very unusual in some way among the world’s languages.
Language Acquisition and Development 25
The developmental sequence established for English is based essentially on the order in which English-speaking children learn the structures. Using the same sequence of structures when teaching English as a foreign language seems fairly successful as well. However, adopting the same sequence in the teaching of other languages does not necessarily work.
Tutorial Activities Topic1 Definition of Terms Language – the oral communication system used by humans and written representations of it; experts with different theoretical leanings differ in their opinions of the details of how it works and how we acquire it. First language – usually the first language a person learns in time. (However, in multilingual environments a child may learn a home language but later become more proficient in the language used in school. In such cases, the definition of “first” needs to be clearly defined.) Cognitive development – development of the ability to think and reason Environment – what surrounds the child during language acquisition, including both physical and social factors. Behaviorism – a view common in the 1940’s and ‘50’s and early ‘60’s which regarded learning as behavior change and language as a subset of learned behaviors. Empiricism – another name for Behaviorism. Innatism – the innatist model, based on Chomsky’s theory of language, emphasized the role of mental processes in learning and viewed language as rule-based and generative in nature. Interactionism – a view of language and language development that emphasizes sociolinguistic factors Operant conditioning – a term introduced by Skinner, who described language acquisition as a form of this process, believing that acquisition resulted from (a) adult modeling and reinforcement, imitation (by the child) Modeling and reinforcement – the first step in “operant conditioning,” usually provided by parents Imitation – what the child does in response to the parents’ modeling in Skinner’s framework Habit formation – the eventual outcome of the process of operant conditioning.
Language Acquisition and Development 26
Generative – Chomsky’s model, in which rules, stored in the brain, generate sentences. Critical Period Hypothesis – proposed by Lenneberg in 1967, a belief that language acquisition must take place before puberty Perfect sentences vs. fragments – Chomsky’s model provides a framework for generating “perfect sentences” but according to the Interactionist Model, language is used in and for social interaction, and, as such, often results in the production of “sentence fragments”. Second language acquisition – acquisition of another language after the “first” language. However, there is some debate as to what makes a language “first” or “second” – is it purely order of acquisition or is it eventual proficiency level that determines which is first? Contrastive analysis – the comparison of two language systems in an attempt to discover potential problems for speakers of one in learning the other. Natural developmental sequence – a proposal, based largely on Chomsky’s model, that there is a natural order or sequence to the mastery of language structures. Markedness – a feature of language elements and structures which are unusual (and therefore potentially more difficult to acquire).
Discussion Questions 1. Compare Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s views on first language acquisition. 2. Describe and discuss the Behaviourist model of language acquisition. 3. Describe and discuss the Innatist model of language acquisition. 4. Describe and discuss the Interactionist model of language acquisition. 5. How does second language acquisition differ from first language acquisition?
Language Acquisition and Development 27
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND DEVELOPMENT
Topic
2
Krashen’s Hypotheses and the Canadian “Experiment”
Content Second Language Teaching Methodologies in the 20th Century Innatism and SLA Universal Grammar Critical Period Hypothesis Natural Order Hypothesis The Acquisition/Learning Hypothesis The Monitor Hypothesis The Natural Order Hypothesis The Input Hypothesis The Affective filter Hypothesis The Reading Hypothesis The Importance of Output Interactionism and SLA
Language Acquisition and Development 28
Topic Objective After completing this topic, students will have a broad overview of second language teaching methodologies that have been used from the first part of the 20th century to the present. They will also understand various aspects of the Hypotheses proposed by Krashen and others to explain how a language learner learns (or acquires) a second language, what activities help and which hinder acquisition. Many of the prominent writers on second language acquisition have been associated with the Innatist view of language. The unit will end with discussion of the contributions of Interactionism to ideas about second language acquisition.
Topic Map
Teaching Methodologies
Universal Grammar Critical Period Hypothesis The Reading Hypothesis The Importance of Output
Second Language Learning
Other related hypotheses
Grammar-translation Audilingual Suggestopedia Total Physical Response Direct Method
Krashen’s Five Hypothese
The Acquisition/Learning The Monitor The Natural Order The Input The Affective filter
Language Acquisition and Development 29
Material _________________ In the first unit, we looked at three theoretical frameworks that try to explain how children learn to speak. We also looked briefly at some of the differences between first and second language acquisition. We will now focus on how well the theories explain what teachers need to know about second language acquisition. Before we discuss the theories per se, let’s have a brief look at teaching methodologies for second language learning.
Grammar Translation At the beginning of the 20th century and before Consisted of explaining grammar of the target language using the student’s L1, and Giving practice in translation in both directions.
Audio-Lingualism Introduced in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s when language labs became common in schools in many countries. Consisted of listening to and then memorizing dialogues containing grammar and vocabulary items that the lesson focused on. This was followed by pattern drills (which were usually also available on the recordings in the lab.)
Direct Method Teacher uses examples of language to inductively teach grammar. The teacher interacts with students, asking them questions and telling them to do things.
Language Acquisition and Development 30
Total Physical Response Initially teacher teaches action verbs by example and gives commands. Students do not need to speak until later.
Suggestopedia Provides input in relaxing low-stress environment Teacher acts out dialogues with music in the background
Krashen’s View on Second Language Acquisition One of the most influential scholars and writers in the field of Second Language Acquisition is Stephen Krashen. He is generally classified with the Innatists, but he was and is an excellent teacher and an astute observer of student reactions to input. Beginning in the 1970’s, he formulated a series of hypotheses about second language acquisition that still govern much of second language instruction today.
Krashen’s Hypotheses The Natural Order Hypothesis – unlike earlier attempts to order in great detail structures to be taught, Krashen found clusters of features at each stage of the acquisition process. He made no claims for order of the features within each stage. The
Acquisition/Learning
Hypothesis
– second
languages,
like first
languages, are naturally acquired and not consciously learned. The Input Hypotheses – in order for this acquisition to take place, learners must be exposed to rich input. The Reading Hypothesis – this hypothesis states that not only oral language, but also reading can provide comprehensible input and trigger learning. However, this works best if the student is self motivated to read. Krashen thus proposed free voluntary reading. Noticing more recently that
Language Acquisition and Development 31
students who surf the internet frequently often excel in English as a second language, Krashen has proposed allowing free voluntary surfing. The Monitor Hypothesis – conscious learning of rules can be used as a monitor for checking production, provided there is adequate time to do this. The Affective Filter Hypothesis – if learners are overly anxious, an affective filter is raised, reducing successful learning of input; learners with high motivation, self-confidence, a good self image and a low level of anxiety, are much more likely to be successful learners.
The Output Hypothesis This hypothesis, though meant to be added to Krashen’s list, was not proposed by Krashen. It was proposed by Merrill Swain from Canada. The Hypothesis is: not only do students need to receive adequate comprehensible input in order to successfully acquire a second language; they must also be given adequate opportunities to produce “comprehensible output”. Background to the output hypothesis
Bilingual education in North America was first instituted in Quebec, Canada in the 1960’s. Since then, the schools have spread to other provinces, especially Montreal. Not all children in these provinces from English-speaking homes are enrolled in French bilingual schools; only those whose parents opt for this program are placed in it. The schools that offer this program are known as “French Immersion Schools”. Montreal and Quebec were centers of French colonies centuries ago when Europeans began to colonize the Americas. The population in these areas is still largely French speaking. Previously there was a choice between French language and English language schools. But educated English-speaking parents began to feel that, living in a predominantly French-speaking environment, it would be beneficial to their children to learn French. By the 1980’s it was found that French Immersion students received scores in listening and reading that were on a par with native French speakers. But, to the surprise of language acquisition experts, their speaking and writing skills differed from those of native French speakers.
Language Acquisition and Development 32
Swain’s conclusion was that Input was important, but it was not the only cause of successful language acquisition. Observation of classes revealed that the students did not talk as much in classes conducted in French as they did in the classes conducted in English. She also observed that the teachers did not “push” the students to talk in French or encourage output that was grammatically accurate and sociolinguistically appropriate. The term “negotiating meaning” had previously been used, but had not involved eliciting grammatically accurate forms. Swain proposed that the meaning should be extended and that students should be “pushed” to produce output that was not only comprehensible but grammatically accurate and sociolinguistically appropriate. Look at the following example of “pushed-output”:
NNS
: And in hand in hand have a bigger glass to see.
NS
: It’s err, you mean, something in his hand?
NNS
: Like spectacle, for older person.
NS
: Sorry, I don’t follow. It’s what?
NNS
: In hand have . . . he have ... has a glass for looking through for make the print
bigger to see to see the print, for magnify. NS
: He has some glasses?
NNS
: Magnify glasses . . . he has magnifying glass.
NS
: Oh, aha I see a magnifying glass. Right, that’s a good one, ok.
According to Mackey (2002), students’ perception of being “pushed” is highest when the feedback comes from the teacher and least when it comes from a non-native speaking peer. Swain concludes that students are more likely to modify their output and do so successfully when they are pushed to do so.
Interactionism and SLA The theoretical framework behind Krashen’s, Swain’s, and Mackey’s work, though these authors talk less about theory than practical experiments with learning, is generally taken to be innatist. What then does interactionism have to say about second language acquisition?
Language Acquisition and Development 33
One claim is that interaction is not just a trigger for language learning, but that the learning evolves through communication (Hatch, 1978). In our initial theoretical discussion, innatist and interactionist views appeared quite diverse - almost diametrically opposed. In terms of practical application however, the difference may be seen as a “shift in focus or weightage.” (Goh & Silver, p. 41) The research investigates roles of: input negotiation – trying to guess what the other means output – usually part of negotiation interactional feedback – indication of what is and is not possible
Some interactionists feel that focusing on these four categories alone is inadequate and that it is necessary to take the broader socio-cultural context into account. Though in some sense the world is increasingly becoming one large kampung or neighborhood, in moving back and forth between two very diverse cultures, such as those of Indonesia on the one hand (especially outside of Jakarta), and any English-speaking country on the other, one needs to learn not “how to say it” but “what to say.” Look at the example
English
Indonesian
[Visitor rings bell]
Kula nuwun. (permisi)
Hi, Mary, come on in.
E, Bu Marto, mangga tindak mlebet. Mangga lenggah rumiyen. Wonten punapa inggih?
What’s up?
(E, Bu Marto, mari masuk. Silakan, duduk dulu. Ada apa?)
Language Acquisition and Development 34
English This is really stupid but I started baking a cake and I just realized I haven’t got any brown sugar. You wouldn’t have any I could borrow, would you?
Indonesian Anu, Bu, kala wau kula badhe ndamel kue tart. Sampun kula wiwiti nanging nembe mangertos
menawi
mboten
gadhah gendhis
Jawi. Nyuwun pangepunten, Bu.
Punapa saged nyuwun gedhis Jawi-nipun sekedhik kemawon?
[Anu, Bu, saya mau buat kue tart, sudah mulai baru sadar bahwa tidak ada gula jawanya. Maaf, ya, Bu, apa bisa minta
gula Jawanya sedikit saja?]
From the examples above, several things are clear: Although they say essentially the same thing, they vary in length. The English one is the shortest, and the Indonesian one is a bit shorter than the Javanese one. Why?
Javanese requires extensive politeness markers. Indonesian has some. English has virtually none (because the speakers are friends). These differences reflect socio-cultural differences in the settings where the languages are normally used.
Interactionism and Instruction Often combined with communicative language teaching approaches. May include a functional-notional syllabus, a thematic approach, content-based learning, task-based learning, etc.
Language Acquisition and Development 35
All advocate a few common principles: - more learner-centered, less teacher centered - little use of drills, memorization, or rule-based learning - use of pair and group work - contextualized learning of vocabulary & grammar - emphasis on language for communication - attempt to address pragmatic aspects of language
Tutorial Activities for Topic 2 Definition of Terms Grammar-Translation – a language teaching methodology used up to the mid20th century, consisting of explaining grammar and translating in both directions Audio-Lingualism - a language teaching methodology developed during the mid20th century which consisted of listening to and memorizing dialogues, followed by pattern practice based on structures found in the dialogues Direct Method – a methodology in which the teacher interacts with the students, asking them questions and telling them to do things. Total Physical Response – a methodology used in the 1970’s and ‘80’s in which the first vocabulary taught consisted of action verbs; the teacher would repeat the word while acting out its meaning and then tell students to perform the same action(s). No verbal response was required initially. Students merely needed to perform the action. Suggestopedia – a methodology intended to remove the stress element from learning in which the students sat in comfortable environments while listening to soft music. The teacher would read material to them in the target language, acting out the stories. Natural Order Hypothesis – part of Krashen’s theory of language acquisition, postulating that there is a natural order of language structures and that if presented in that order students will learn more easily. Acquisition/Learning Hypothesis – part of Krashen’s theory of language acquisition, that whether the language is a first or second language, we should be talking about acquisition and not learning. Input Hypothesis – part of Krashen’s theory of language acquisition, that in order for acquisition to take place, learners must be exposed to rich input.
Language Acquisition and Development 36
Monitor Hypothesis – part of Krashen’s theory of language acquisition, that, though in general, learning grammar rules is not helpful, there are times when awareness of the rules can be used as a monitor for checking production, provided there is adequate time to do this. Affective Filter Hypothesis – part of Krashen’s theory of language acquisition, postulating that if learners are overly anxious, an affective filter is raised, reducing successful learning of input. Reading Hypothesis – a later addition to Krashen’s theory of language acquisition, proposing that input could come in the form of written text as well as speech. Output Hypothesis – an addition to Krashen’s theory made by the Canadians involved in the French Immersion programmes, in particular Merrill Swain, proposing that students should be “pushed” to produce output that was not only comprehensible but accurate and sociolinguistically appropriate.
Discussion Questions 1. Discuss bilingual education in Quebec and Montreal and explain Swain’s Output Hypothesis. 2. Discuss Mackey’s idea of Pushed Output. 3. Discuss Interactionism and SLA. 4. Of the theories and frameworks we’ve discussed, which do you think is most commonly used in English language instruction in Indonesia? Do you think any other framework might produce more positive results in future?
Language Acquisition and Development 37
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND DEVELOPMENT
Topic
3
Bilingualism and Multilingualism
Content Bilingualism & Second Language Acquisition Models of Bilingual Knowledge Simultaneous vs. Sequential Development Romaine’s Classification Adult Acquisition & “Native-speaker” Attainment Primary Language Shift and Language Attrition Code-Switching Valorisation
Topic Objective After completing this topic, students should understand the difference between bilingualism and second language acquisition, be aware of different models of bilingual knowledge that have been proposed, be able to discuss simultaneous vs. sequential acquisition and possible effects on proficiency, Romaine’s classification of contexts for bilingual acquisition, adult acquisition and the possibility of “native-speaker attainment, primary language shift and language attrition, code-switching and valorisation.
Language Acquisition and Development 38
Topic Map
Classification: Romaine’s Classification
Bilingualism
Other related concepts: Codeswitching Veloration First language Attirition
Model of Knowledge: Coordinate Simulatenous
Material _________________ What is bilingualism? Do bilingual individuals have a first and second language or two first languages? When can a person be said to be bilingual? How does bilingualism relate to second language acquisition? Bilingualism refers to learning and using two or more languages, usually from childhood. Technically, if more than two languages are involved, the term is multilingualism.
Language Acquisition and Development 39
Bilingualism can be discussed in terms of a society in which more than one language is used (such as Central Java, where adults at least usually know both Indonesian and Javanese) or to an individual who can use two or more languages effortlessly. When can a person be classified as bilingual? The bilingual person must be highly proficient in both languages.
Relation between language and cognition in bilingualism Difficult to determine as bilinguals rarely use their two languages in the same or equivalent contexts.
What is the relationship between second language instruction and eventual attainment of bilingualism? If the only context of use for the language is in the classroom, it is unlikely that the student will become a truly proficient user. However, in a bilingual society, if a language that a student did not speak is taught in school, the potential exists for that student to become sufficiently proficient to be considered bilingual. How the society values the languages will also have
an impact on the child’s eventual
proficiency in both.
Models of Bilingual knowledge A distinction is often made between compound and coordinate bilingualism. Compound bilinguals associate a pair of lexical items – one from each language – with a single concept. In other words, the pair of words – each from one of the languages, are regarded by the bilingual speaker as being exact equivalents in terms of their meanings. Coordinate bilinguals have one set of meanings for one language and a different set for the other.
Think for a moment about the problems involved in compound bilingualism involving English and Indonesian. Jam (in Indonesian) can be clock, hour, time [Jam berapa?] in English. Time (in English) can be jam, waktu, masa in Indonesian. Vocabulary items in one language are rarely exact equivalents of vocabulary items in another language – even in the case of languages that are closely related to each.
Language Acquisition and Development 40
Nevertheless, between any pair of languages there are probably some vocabulary items that are exact equivalents of vocabulary items in the other. This will be especially true with regard to recent cultural phenomena– like contemporary technology for communication. Even in English, the telephones most of us use most of the time now (which we can carry around in our pockets), have different names in different places– mobile (phone) in the UK, cell (phone) in the US, handphone in Singapore. Yet these and their translations into other languages (e.g. HP in Indonesian) relate to each other in a compound fashion. So perhaps the terms compound and coordinate should relate more to the semantic relationship between vocabulary sets in two languages rather than to storage patterns in bilingual speakers’ brains.
Now most researchers do not believe that bilinguals hold two completely different concepts in their minds (one for each language), but rather that they have different options for making connections between words in the two languages.
A third option ( in addition to compound and coordinate bilinguals) has been proposed. This is that there is an intermediate layer between concepts and lexicon. This was proposed by Kroll and de Groot in 1997. Their diagram is reproduced on p. 54 of Goh and Silver. Kroll and de Groot also suggest that in general concrete concepts may be easier to translate than abstract concepts.
Bilingualism and Language Acquisition Language learning and bilingualism are both developmental, changing over time. Bilingual development from a psycholinguistic perspective considers not only language forms but also links between concepts within and between languages. Part of bilingual competence is the ability to translate; but it is not just words that are translated. A competent bilingual can translate ideas, whether or not they involve using “equivalent” words.
Language Acquisition and Development 41
Proficiency, Automaticity, and Control in Bilingualism Bialystock’s model of a bilingual’s automaticity and control is diagrammed on p. 56 of Goh and Silver. The diagram has level of analysis on one axis and degree of control on the other. These two axes divide a rectangle into four components with examples given in each of activities requiring the relevant degree of analysis and the relevant degree of control: Low analysis/low control: children’s conversation Low analysis/high control: choral recitation High analysis/low control: giving a definition High analysis/high control: formal school presentation Though we have mentioned “simultaneous acquisition, we have not really answered the question, “Can a person have two first languages?” Another thorny issue is, “Can an adult learn a second language so well that he/she is frequently mistaken for a native speaker?” Let’s take these questions one at a time. Can a person have 2 first language? Meisel (1989, 1990) says that if a child acquires each language in the manner that a monolingual child normally acquires his/her language, the bilingual child’s competence in each language should be equivalent to that of a monolingual speaker of each of these languages.
There are many possible variables, however, in the nature of exposure and, outside of bilingual societies it may be difficult to find appropriate environments for providing input in each language.
According to Lightbown and Spada (1999), “simultaneous bilinguals must be in contact with both languages in continuously in a variety of settings in order for the development to be comparable to that of monolinguals in each language.”
Perhaps the most likely scenario for developing simultaneous bilingualism is one in which the child either spends equivalent portions of each day with speakers of each language, or frequently travels between locations where each of the languages is spoken.
Language Acquisition and Development 42
Can a child change first languages?
This isn’t discussed much in the literature but this is precisely what happened to the youngest of the children of the author of these materials. We will call him C. Born in Yogyakarta, he was a monolingual speaker of Javanese for the first four years of his life. After spending three months at the age of four in an English language kindergarten in North America (while his parents were teaching Indonesian), he became bilingual in English and Javanese. When he was seven years old, the family moved to Brunei, where some subjects were taught in English, and where his mother (a native English speaker) began speaking English to him to reinforce his learning). When he was eleven years old, the family moved to Singapore and he was placed in an International School. When his mother then spoke to him in Javanese (so he wouldn’t forget it), she was shocked to discover that he already had!
The Personality Factor
C is quiet, observant and absorbs information for a long time before processing it and beginning to output. His older brother K, is very sociable and finds a way to interact regardless of where he is or what language people are speaking. When K was 7 years old, the family spent a year in Germany and K was placed in a German school. He apparently communicated with his classmates initially by drawing cartoons. After about three months, K came home one day, very excited, and said, “The teacher said something funny today and I laughed!” After that his German mushroomed and three months later, people thought he was a German child. K never forgets a language. At the age of 36, he still speaks Indonesian and Javanese with a Yogyanese accent, English with an American accent and German with a Hessisch accent (the accent of Frankfurt). C, on the other hand, is a serial language learner. He has during the course of his life (he is now 29) been a monolingual speaker of Javanese, Indonesian/Malay, and English. He has developed native speaker competence in each but never speaks more than one at a time (- Javanese from ages 1 – 6, Indonesian – Malay from ages 7 – 11, and English from the age of 12 to the present.)
Language Acquisition and Development 43
Can an adult develop a native speaker competence? This is a question which it seems is either answered in the negative without any research being done, or which is avoided altogether. However, Nikolov (2000) studied a group of Hungarian adult English learners and another group of English-speaking adult Hungarian learners who learned the new language so successfully that they were frequently mistaken for native speakers. She concluded that the main factor contributing to their success was the desire to assimilate and be accepted in their adopted country and culture.
Social-interactionist view of bilingual development Romaine attempted to classify the environments in which children may develop as bilinguals: Type 1 Parent A speaks language A and parent B speaks language B Type 2 Parent
A
is
a
native
speaker
of
language
A,
the
dominant
language of the community. Parent B is a native speaker of language B. Both parents speak language B at home. Type 3 Language A is the dominant language of the community. Both parents are native speakers of language B and speak it with the child. Type 4 Language A is dominant in the community. Parent A speaks language X and parent B speaks language B to the child. Type 5 Language A is dominant in the country. Both parents speak this language as their native language. Parent B can also speak language B and speaks this language to the child. Type 6 The community is bilingual and the parents are bilingual. Parents speak both languages to the child
Language Acquisition and Development 44
When “one parent one language policy’ doesn’t work
This strategy for “making” your child bilingual has been very successful in many places. However, these places all possess what the author of these materials calls “closed households” In other words, most of the time only the parents and children are in the house. Traditional Asian households in many places were quite different. The population of the household where this author raised her children averaged 12 persons, including servants and “peripheral” relatives (cousins, etc.) The author spoke only English to her children for almost two years, but the children noticed that:
No one else spoke English and “mommy’s words didn’t work with other people” Mommy
spoke
the
language
that
everyone
else
spoke
[Javanese – which “mommy” had to speak to communicate and run the household] By the time the older boy was just over two, he would say in Javanese, “Ibu, mbok aja basa Inggeris! Basa Jawa wae!” (Mommy, stop speaking English! Just speak Javanese!”) Mommy lost in the end and gave in to popular demand. [The only positive outcome is that “mommy” speaks quite good Javanese.]
Codeswitching In bilingual societies, like Singapore (where every-one speaks English and either Mandarin, Malay or an Indian language) or in many parts of Indonesia (where people speak not only Indonesian but also a regional language, such as Javanese), codeswitching is a common phenomenon. Codeswitching refers to beginning to speak in one language and then switching to another. This can involve inserting words of one language into another or switching languages because the
interlocutor or the situation
changes.
Language Acquisition and Development 45
Researchers have classified types of codeswitching into at least the following: Tag switching – adding a tag from another language at the end of a sentence in the current language. For example, in Singapore when speaking English in an informal context, speakers often
add tags
such as lah for emphasis. Intersentential – switching at a clause or sentence boundary. This is often triggered by a change in the addressee, but it may also be due to the introduction of a new topic. Intrasentential – switching in the middle of a clause or sentence. This often occurs because the topic has shifted to one for which the vocabulary of the current language is somewhat deficient.
Research into codeswitching shows that in most cases there are established patterns to codeswitching in bilingual communities. It is not due to lack of competence in one of the languages It usually occurs when the speaker is proficient in
both languages and most members of the community are as well.
Velorization Values associated with language are very important. Placing a high value on bilingualism
is
a
crucial
factor
in
maintaining
high
proficiency
in
both
languages across the lifespan. When a language diminishes in value within a community, it becomes endangered and may experience language death. This has happened to many minor regional languages in Indonesia already.
Language is not only a carrier of a culture but also part
of personal identity. In
Singapore now there are many young near monolingual speakers of English. They cheerfully admit that they cannot speak their mother tongue. The fact that everyone is now learning English means that we can communicate more easily with people in other countries and this is probably a good thing. However, if we lose our first language, the carrier of our identity, we may only realize too late that we have experienced a great loss.
Language Acquisition and Development 46
Tutorial Activities for Topic 3 Definition of Terms Bilingualism – the learning and using of two or more languages, usually from childhood. Multilingualism – “bilingualism” where more than two languages are involved. Societal bilingualism – refers to societies, like Singapore and many parts of Indonesia where two or more languages are used by most of the people on a daily basis, usually with each language having distinct domains of use. Individual bilingualism – referring to the ability of an individual to use competently two or more language Compound bilingualism – referring to a way of storing information in the brain in which a pair of words, one from each language, is connected to a single concept Coordinate bilingualism – referring to an alternative way of storing information in the brain in which “equivalent” words in each of the bilingual speaker’s languages are each connected to a distinct concept. Simultaneous development – the learning or acquiring of the two languages at the same time (though they may have different contexts of use – e.g. one is used at home with the parents and the other is used with the grandparents, both being used with the child from birth) Sequential development – the learning or acquiring of one language first and the other somewhat later. For example, the child may first learn one language at home and then, when starting school, begin to learn another. This previously happened with many children in Central Java, where Javanese was spoken in the home and the child only began to learn bahasa Indonesia upon entering school. Code-switching – changing languages in the middle of an utterance or in the middle of a conversation. This could be due to a different person entering the scene, who does not know the language being used or towards whom the use of that language would be less polite than the use of the language switched to, or the speaker might switch codes because of a topic change, where the new topic is more easily discussed and explained in a different language.
Language Acquisition and Development 47
Code-mixing – the refers to inserting words of one language into sentences of another. For example, a child discussing a science lesson with a friend, using Indonesian, might suddenly insert an English word that he has learned for a particular concept for which he does not know an Indonesian equivalent. Tag-switch code-switching – inserting at the end of a sentence a tag from a language different from the one in which the rest of the sentence is spoken. This commonly occurs in Singapore where tags from Malay or Chinese are inserted at the end of a sentence for which most of the other words are in English (of some kind): “Like this cannot lah!” The word lah here is an emphatic particle. Inter-sentential code-switching – switching languages at a sentence boundary. This often occurs because the addressee changes to someone who either does not know the language that was being used or to whom use of that language would not be polite. Intra-sentential code-switching – switching languages within a sentence. This often occurs when the speaker wants to use a word that doesn’t have an exact equivalent in the language that was being spoken. If a child is speaking a regional language of Indonesia and wants to use a scientific term, he or she may “borrow” the term from Indonesian or English and use this term in the middle of the sentence which is otherwise in the local language. Valorisation – refers to values associated with a language. This is very important because if a child perceives one of the languages he hears as being of lower value, he will be less motivated to learn it. Low-valued languages may eventually cease to be used. Many Singaporean children claim that they cannot speak their “mother tongue”.
Language Acquisition and Development 48
Discussion Questions 1. Do bilingual individuals have two first languages or a first and a second language? 2. Discuss the relationship between language and cognition in the bilingual. 3. Discuss models of bilingual knowledge. 4. Discuss Romaine’s classification of contexts in which bilingualism can develop. 5. Discuss code-switching and code-mixing in relation to bilingualism. 6. Discuss research on adults who succeed in acquiring native-speaker or near-native speaker bilingual proficiency and the conditions required for this to happen. 7. Discuss language shift in the individual and first language attrition. 8. Discuss the concept of valorisation.
Language Acquisition and Development 49
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND DEVELOPMENT
Topic
4
Language Processing
Content Information Processing Models Bottom-up Top-down Interactive processing Automaticity and Control Components of an Information Processing Model Attention and Perception Memory Knowledge Representation Schema Script The Importance of Context Models of Language Processing Anderson’s Model of Language Comprehension Levelt’s Model of Speech Processing
Language Acquisition and Development 50
Topic Objective After completing this topic, students should understand language processing and information processing models and models of knowledge representation, and how these relate to language acquisition.
Topic Map
Information Processing Models: Bottom-up Top-down
Language Processing
Knowledge Representation: Script Schemata Knowledge
Processing: Anderson’s Levelt’s
Models of Language
Language Acquisition and Development 51
Material _________________ What is information processing? Information processing is a model for explaining the processing and learning of any kind of input: visual sensory audio It is thus not restricted to language processing. Two questions it attempts to answer are: What are the stages of information processing? In what form is knowledge represented?
Language processing and language acquisition Language learners try to understand, produce, store and recall language they are exposed to. If the cognitive load is reduced by familiar language forms and contexts, the task is easier. This enables learners to spend less time on processing and more time on interpreting and communicating meaning. On the other hand, if learners hear complex language in unfamiliar contexts they may not recognize forms they already know.
Bottom-up and Top-down processing Cognitive processes are of two kinds: Bottom-up processes – make use of explicit signals or stimuli (e.g. sounds or images) to build up an understanding of what is perceived. top-down processes – make use of previously stored information to analyze and interpret new information Bottom-up processes are generally considered to be low-level while top-down processes are considered to be high-level. Both types are normally required in most information processing, though there are situations where one may take precedence
Language Acquisition and Development 52
Interactive processing Linear models of information processing (top-down; bottom-up) have been criticized. Interactive processing proposed in its place. Three knowledge sources: lexical syntactic interpretive In practice, external factors such as noise or fatigue may constrain the process.
Automaticity and Control Efficiency of language processing depends to a large extent on whether or not at least some steps in the process have become automatic. Automatic processes have three characteristics: They occur without intention or consciousness They are
concealed
from
consciousness
(or
thinking
about
them) They take up little or no processing capacity or resources.
Partial automaticity: the development of automaticity is gradual. Some processes become partially automated before becoming fully automated. Automaticity and Language acquisition
Partial automaticity is a useful concept for explaining the linguistic behavior of children and second language learners. If we consider language acquisition and use to be similar to any cognitive skill, and if we accept that a skill takes time to develop . . . the idea of partial automaticity helps explain the progress from zero to full control.
Components of a processing model Look at figure 5.1 on page 72 of the textbook. Perception – first stage of process – mind detects signals from different sources. If different signals are competing for attention, selection is necessary. Perception processes are considered low level and can be automated through repetition. Attention, however, is needed throughout the entire process from perception to final decoding & interpretation. Language Acquisition and Development 53
Memory The diagram on page 72 also shows transfer of processed and interpreted information – initially to short term memory and then sometimes eventually to long term memory. Short term memory is for information recently acquired. Some information in short term memory is transferred to long term memory before it is lost. Processing of new information usually involves a link with old information in long term memory. Processing can occur automatically or through cognitively controlled stages. Knowledge Representation Prior knowledge is extremely important in language comprehension and production. Imagine listening to a lecture on a topic you know
nothing about. Your will probably
have difficulty following it. On the other hand, if the topic is familiar, you can follow it easily. The knowledge we have stored in long-term memory is organized according to schema.
Schema This refers to the system for organizing information in our brains. It can include networks of connected ideas, memories of sequences of actions. Schema is important for comprehension and
learning as well as for language production. In conversations and
other verbal exchanges, speakers draw on frequently occurring routines, called scripts. Script
The concept of scripts was first used in connection with artificial intelligence. However, if we learn a new language, we often have to learn new scripts for at least some situations
Let’s take greetings. In English (Greeting a friend who comes to your
house):
Hi, Mary! How are you? Haven’t seen you for ages. Oh, I’ve been taking a course. It’s almost finished now, so thought I’d drop by and catch up.
Language Acquisition and Development 54
Let’s take a similar situation in Bahasa Indonesia: Permisi! E, Antik! Mari masuk! Dari mana? Kok lama tidak ketemu? Ya, akhir-akhir ini saya sibuk dengan kursus, tapi hampir
selesai
sekarang.
Language course books in the 1960’s and 1970’s often included dialogues that were to be memorized. They were later criticized by many language experts but if they used natural language, they could be very useful to the adult learner who was about to visit the country where that language was spoken. Scripts are considered very important in the Interactionist approach to language acquisition. According to this view, whether we are visiting a friend or going for a doctor’s appointment or performing any frequently occurring everyday task, learning an appropriate script in the target language will empower the learner to communicate effectively. Not only in second language learning, but in first language learning as well, poems, nursery rhymes and the like often provide the child with parts of useful scripts. The important of Context
Scripts are important but context is important as well. For example, there may be certain phrases that occur in nearly all service encounters: “May I help you?” “Yes, I’m looking for . . . / I was wondering if . . ..
But the details will differ depending on the context. Is the person seeking service in a shop, a bank, a doctor’s office or another environment? This will determine at least the vocabulary and sometimes sequences of exchanges.
Models of Language Processing We will look at two models that have been proposed: o
Anderson’s Model of Language Comprehension
o
Levelt’s Model of Speech processing.
Language Acquisition and Development 55
The first attempts to explain how we process input and come to an understanding of the intended message. The second attempts to explain the process of language production.
Anderson’s Model of Language Processing Three stages of processing: perceptual processing parsing utilization The three stages are interrelated and recursive. All can occur “simultaneously” during a single
listening or reading event – though partially ordered in time, they may also
partially overlap: “Listeners can be making inferences from the first part of a sentence while they already perceive a later part” (Anderson 1995 p. 379) Perceptual Processing Sound signals or print is detected in speech; boundaries (e.g. sentence, clause) are detected. Perception processes usually occur automatically. Input is retained briefly until replaced my new input.
Parsing During parsing words are transformed into a mental representation of combined meanings. Utterances are usually segmented into meaningful syntactic units: [I + saw + the cat] .The segments are recombined to generate meaningful representations.
I saw the cat →
Utilization
Relating the mental representation to existing knowledge stored in long-term memory as propositions or schema. The listener may then make inferences to arrive at a better interpretation: [Tommy owns a cat. He must be talking about his cat.]
Language Acquisition and Development 56
Levet’s Model of Speech Processing
Four stages: message functional processing positional processing phonological encoding
Stages have also been described as conceptual preparation – message plus positional processing combined formulation – word choice & grammar articulation – phonological encoding
Summary In this unit we have taken a “cognitive perspective”. In other words, we have tried to explore theories about how our brains work when we are understanding and producing messages. This unit did not examine the cognitive processes used
during
language acquisition – either first or second. It also did not address issues such as how the bi- or multilingual manipulates his/her various languages in the communication process. These questions must be left for another course or individual research. The remainder of this course focuses more on how the child’s language/languages develop as he/she matures.
Language Acquisition and Development 57
Tutorial Activities for Topic 4 Definition of Terms information processing – a model for explaining the processing and learning of any kind of input: visual, sensory, audio bottom-up processing – making use of explicit signals or stimuli to build up an understanding of what is perceived top-down processing – making use of previously stored information to analyze and interpret new information interactive processing – a model for processing language which is not strictly topdown or bottom-up; it proposes three knowledge sources used in processing: lexical, syntactic, and interpretive automaticity - an important factor in successful language processing. Automatic processes occur without intention or consciousness and take up little processing capacity or resources. perception – the first stage in automatic processing, in which the mind detects signals decoding – interpretation of input short term memory - portion of memory dedicated to holding temporarily information recently acquired; some of this information is transferred to long term memory long term memory – where information is permanently stored prior knowledge – information stored in long-term memory which is drawn on in processing new input. It is extremely important in language comprehension and production. schema - system for organizing information in our brains – networks of related ideas scripts – sequences of exchanges appropriate to particular situations; part of what we learn in learning a language context – the situation in which an exchange takes place, which may require modification of the script (in terms of, for example, degree of formality, or the insertion of lexical items depending upon details of the context) parsing – the second stage in Anderson’s three-stage model, in which input is analyzed
Language Acquisition and Development 58
utilisation – the third stage in Anderson’s model in which the parsed input is related to knowledge stored in long term memory in order to make inferences and arrive at an interpretation formulation – in Levelt’s model of speech processing, this involves lexical and grammatical choices articulation – the output of phonological encoding according to Levelt’s model
Discussion Questions 1. Discuss information processing and questions it attempts to answer. 2. Discuss the concept of automaticity and how it relates to control. 3. Discuss the information processing model diagrammed on page 72 in your textbook. 4. Discuss the role of memory in information processing. 5. Discuss schema theory and the role of scripts in language acquisition and language use. 6. Describe and compare Anderson’s and Levelt’s models of language processing.
Language Acquisition and Development 59
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND DEVELOPMENT
Topic
5
Language Development: Form, Semantics & Pragmatics
Content Components of Language Development Mean Length of Utterance in Young Children Morphological Development Syntactic Development Sentence Complexity Phonological Development Semantic Development – Giving Definitions Pragmatic Development First Language Acquisition and Second or Foreign Language Learning Measuring Complexity in Languages Other than English
Topic Objective After completing this topic, students should understand the typical sequence of mastery of different components and aspects of linguistic competence in young children.
Language Acquisition and Development 60
Topic Map
Mean Length of Utterance
Phonological Development
Morphological Development
Language Development Sentence Complexity
Semantic Development
Syntactic Development Pragmatic Development
Material _________________ Language: Form, Meaning, and Use Language form includes: sounds – studied under phonology words – studied under morphology phrases, clauses and sentences – studied under syntax
Language Acquisition and Development 61
Meaning is studied under: semantics – which looks at the meanings of words and the
relationship
between words pragmatics – which looks at language functions and use
Mean Length of Utterance Children’s utterances typically develop from one word to two words to three and more words in length. “Mean Length of Utterance” is defined as the average length of utterances
of
English-speaking
pre-school
children,
measured
in
number
of
morphemes. To calculate the “Mean Length of Utterance” (MLU) by using the following formula:
Total number of morphemes Total number of utterances
MLU Phase
Five phases are identified for children up to the age of four, or an MLU of 4.5. Beyond this phase, MLU is no longer a very good instrument for measuring complexity. Here is the chart from page 83 of your book (reproduced from Brown, 1973):
Phase
MLU
Approximate age
1
1.0 – 2.0
1 – 2.5 years
2
2.0 – 2.5
2 – 2.5 years
3
2.5 – 3.0
2.5 – 3 years
4
3.0 – 3.75
3 – 3.5 years
5
3.75 – 4.5
3/5 – 4 years
Language Acquisition and Development 62
MLU Phase and Language Development
Phase 1 – single word utterances or beginning to combine two words (e.g. “big house”)
Phase 2 – use of simple bound morphemes, like the possessive ‘s – “doggie’s tail”
Phase 3 – changes in sentence form – questions as well as statements: “Mummy want toast?”
Increase in utterance length is also accompanied by use of conjunctions and prepositional phrases.
Mastery of Morpheme
Use of a morpheme does not necessarily mean that the child has mastered it. Children may memorize whole utterances without full understanding. A child is said to have mastered a morpheme (such as plural or possessive) if he or she uses it correctly 90% of the time. According to Brown, the following morphemes are mastered in the following order:
Language Acquisition and Development 63
Order of Acquisition of Morphemes by Age 4
Morphemes
Examples
1. Present progressive –ing without Tellytubbies eating Tubby-Toast. auxiliary 2. In
Ball in the box.
3. On
Cat on the chair.
4. Regular plural ‘s’
Two ducks.
5. Irregular past
Mary fell down.
6. Possessive “s”
Mummy’s dress.
7. Uncontracted copula verb
I did not.
8. Articles
I’m a big girl.
9. Regular past “-ed”
I watched Donald Duck at school.
10. Regular third person.
She draws like this.
11. Irregular third person.
Wendy does.
12. Uncontracted auxiliary
He has got one.
13. Contracted copula
I’m a bat.
14. Contracted auxiliary
Daddy’s shaving.
Early Morphological Development
Conceptually simple before conceptually complex. Concrete action orientation before abstract relationships. Overgeneralization and overuse of certain morphemes. Simple phonemic additions first. (Learning of rules regarding phonological alternations – such as /s/ and /z/ for plural – come later.)
Language Acquisition and Development 64
Syntactic Development Phrases Noun Phrases: Single noun Single noun with article or demonstrative (a book, this book) Expansion to include adjectives (a big book) Possessives (Mummy’s car) Multiple modifiers (Two double-decker buses). Use of expanded noun phrases in both subject and object position. Relative clauses (The car that’s next to the bus.)
Verb Phrases: Single verbs without inflection or with invariable –ing form (Mummy driving.) Modal auxiliaries (can, cannot, must - though American children probably learn have to before must) Use of copular be. Contracted copula (He’s my friend. – American children may
learn the contracted before the uncontracted form)
Children may go through a phase of using past tense for every verb form (Where did you went, Daddy?)
Prepositional and Infinitive Phrases:
o
Short prepositional phrases may be produced very early: In bed. In car.
o
Next prepositions may be used with modifiers before the noun:
In
Daddy’s car. o
Commonest prepositions in the beginning are in and on. To is also often used early.
o
Infinitive phrases may appear around the same time: I want to grow big.
Language Acquisition and Development 65
Sentence types
o
Declaratives are always first
o
Interrogatives may initially just be a word with question intonation: Bird?
o
Later the syntax of more complex interrogatives is mastered: What’s this?
o
Understanding
wh-questions
may
come
later
than
understanding yes/no questions. What did you do? Yes, I do it. o
Imperative – imperative forms appear very early – Perhaps because they are frequently heard. Perhaps also because they are morphologically (and usually
syntactically) simple.
Sentence complexity
o
Coordination and, but, or – usually learned first
o
Subordination This usually only appears after children have begun do develop abstract knowledge: •
I want to go to England because I can speak English
• o
If you see some big animals, you must run.
Embedding Usually comes later: •
I’ve got a train who doesn’t have a name so I call it Bandy. (age 4)
Language Acquisition and Development 66
Phonological Development Initially deletion of final consonants may occur. Clusters may be simplified (cloud -> [kaud] ) Alveolar and velar plosives may not be distinguished ( dog -> [gaug] ) Frequently occurring fricatives – e.g. /s/ may appear early, but dental fricatives do not usually appear until much later. Plosives /t/ and /d/ usually replace them. Long vowels and diphthongs may be replaced with short vowels.
Giving Definitions According to the textbook, children can do this by age 6. Some examples given of definitions by a six year old child are: “A library is where ... is a place where people can borrow
books.”
“A crow is a bird and it has a beak and it is black.” “A watermelon is a fruit. It can be yellow or red and it has
seeds.”
Pragmatic Development Skills assessed in determining pragmatic development include: o
understanding and expressing intentions
o
introducing, maintaining and closing a topic
o
sharing and adapting to listeners’ perspectives
o
understanding and establishing coherence
o
organizing extended discourse
First Language Acquisition and Second/Foreign Language Learning Our textbook, like most textbooks on the subject, and like most of the established research on the subject, focuses on first language acquisition of English. English is becoming an increasingly important language in Southeast Asia – for education, for business and for inter-governmental communication. But except for a minority in Singapore and an even smaller minority perhaps in Manila in the Philippines, it is rarely a first language. Language Acquisition and Development 67
First Language Acquisition other than English In cities of Indonesia, even in Central and East Java and areas where other languages were traditionally the primary language, parents are increasingly teaching their children bahasa Indonesia as a first language. In rural areas throughout the country, though, another language is often learned first. What is the order of acquisition of grammatical features in Indonesian and related languages? How does having learned Indonesian help or hinder a primary school child learning English?
Measuring Complexity Does MLU work across languages or are there other factors to consider in measuring complexity? Many examples given in the previous slides were of English phrases consisting of only two or three words. But for many of these, if the words are translated into Indonesian, they make complete well-formed sentences: big house – Rumah(nya) besar. Mummy want toast? – Ibu mau roti?
Do Indonesian speaking children produce complete sentences earlier than Englishspeaking children? To the knowledge of this author, no research has been done on this topic. Other observations about Indonesian structures and their place in the acquisition sequence, though, seem to contradict the results of research
done with English
speaking children.
MLU is probably always important. But do we count: words? (some Indonesian verbs are very long because of
affixes – membicarakan, mempersembahkan) morphemes?
(mem-bicara-kan – 3 morphemes; mem- per-
sembah- kan – 4 morphemes)
syllables? (membicarakan – 5 syllables; mempersembahkan – also 5 syllables)
Most research on English-speaking children suggests that the passive is acquired very late. However, in Indonesian, it is the usual way to give informal instructions: Ini dimakan. Susunya diminum. Ini disapu.
Language Acquisition and Development 68
Again, to the author’s knowledge, no research has been done, but the impression is that this structure is acquired very early, probably as early as age 2! Another feature of Indonesian and related languages is the prevalence of expressive particles:
lah lho dong deh kan sih
These function to express pragmatic meanings that are often acquired very late in English speaking children. Again, no research has been done, but one would guess that these particles are acquired much earlier in children learning
Indonesian and related
languages than equivalent means of expression in English. Thus, though equivalents may not be exact across languages, one would guess that an increase in MLU is an important indicator of increasing complexity in many languages. However, sequence of acquisition of semantic features may vary depending on the complexity of the forms that express them. Many pragmatic functions that are indicated with a one syllable particle in Indonesian require complex sentences in English and so are only acquired much later.
Differences in order of acquisition depending on the child’s first language can be easily understood
and exemplified. What happens when the child goes to school? In
particular, what happens if the medium of instruction is not the language the child has been acquiring at home? What happens if the child is required to learn two languages at school? What if the first language of school is the one the child already knows? What if the child’s first language is the second language at school?
Language Acquisition and Development 69
Tutorial Activities for Topic 5 Definition of Terms form – the shape of words and sentences; the phonological sequence as well as the morphological structure of words, and the sequence of constituents in larger syntactic structures meaning – what is conveyed to the listener or reader by a particular word or sequence of words. MLU – mean length of utterance. A measurement used for assessing the development of linguistic competence in a young child. coordination – combining clauses with coordinating conjunctions to form compound sentences subordination – combining clauses with subordinating conjunctions to form complex sentences embedding – inserting a structure, such as a clause, inside a larger structure pragmatic development – development in a young of the ability to convey various types of meaning first language acquisition – acquisition of the language acquired first in time by a child medium of instruction – language used by teachers as the main vehicle of communication to teach in schools expressive particles – short words used, especially in Indonesian and other languages of Indonesia, to add meanings such as surprise, requesting, informing and other pragmatic meanings.
Language Acquisition and Development 70
Discussion Questions 1. Discuss the research done on MLU phases for monolingual Englishspeaking children. 2. Discuss the order of acquisition of morphemes in English-speaking children. What are the key features of early morphological development according to the research? 3. Discuss syntactic development in English-speaking children. 4. Discuss phonological development in English-speaking children. 5. Discuss pragmatic development in English-speaking children. 6. Discuss some potential problems with measuring complexity of Indonesian utterances if the procedure used for English is adopted without modification. 7. Discuss Indonesian expressive particles, how they relate to pragmatic competence in English and how an Indonesian child’s pragmatic competence might differ in terms of age of acquisition of pragmatic skills because of structural differences in the languages.
Language Acquisition and Development 71
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND DEVELOPMENT
Topic
6
Language Development in the Primary School Years
Content What Children Know When They Enter School Literacy and the Development of Academic Language L2 Learning in Primary School
Topic Objective After completing this topic, students should begin to have an understanding of how the school experience helps a child in his/her language development and how, in bilingual contexts the role of the language of instruction in society and in the child’s life before entering school can affect academic success..
Language Acquisition and Development 72
Lesson Outline
Phonology
Pragmatics
Morphology Child’s Language in Primary School Years
Semantics
Syntax
Material _________________ What Children Know When They Enter School In terms of language they know something about the following aspects of the language they learned at home: Morphology Syntax Semantics Phonology Pragmatics Speech Acts (what to say to achieve particular goals) Genre or text types Language Acquisition and Development 73
What will the typical Indonesian child know? Most Indonesian children know either Bahasa Indonesia or a related language before entering school. As Bahasa Indonesia is the medium of instruction in most schools in the country, comprehending the
language
of instruction is unlikely to be a serious problem. The textbook lists the features that English-speaking children have acquired by the time they enter school – Let’s compare these with Indonesian.
Morphology
This is the part of grammar that looks at parts of
words and how they are put together.
According to the textbook (p. 123), English speaking children, when they enter school, know: •
the base form of verbs
•
the third person singular present tense (with an –s suffix)
•
the –ing form used to make the present progressive
•
the –ed ending to make the past tense.
•
They also know the –s plural for nouns and the ‘s ending to
make the
possessive form of nouns. What morphological forms do Indonesian children know upon entering school? They probably know:
•
The meng- prefix for active verbs (and how it changes to men- or menyor mem-)
•
The di- prefix for passive verbs.
•
They probably know many words that contain the suffix –kan and possibly some that have the suffix –i.
•
The probably know the prefix ter-
•
They know that doubling a noun means “plural” and that doubling a verb usually refers to repeated action.
Language Acquisition and Development 74
Syntax According to the textbook, English-speaking children, when they enter school, recognize and understand the meaning of subject (who did it), direct object (who or what did something happen to), and indirect object (the person something was given to or sent to or lent to, etc.) They understand and can make simple comparisons and explain or understand cause and effect
relationships.
Syntax in Indonesian Children Children who learned Indonesian at home, upon
entering school can probably use
effortlessly:
•
Simple active and passive sentences
•
Compound sentences
•
Imperatives (often by using the passive)
•
A number of pragmatic particles (deh, dong, lah, etc.)
Phonology
On entering school some English-speaking children may still have difficulty producing the “th” sounds, the “ch” sound and “v”. The sounds Indonesian children usually take longest to master are “r” and “l” However; many have mastered these before entering school. Speech Acts
Children speaking either English or Indonesian, speech acts
upon entering school, can perform
such as:
•
making statements
•
asking questions
•
giving and responding to simple commands
•
asking permission
•
stating opinions
Language Acquisition and Development 75
Genre and Text Types
Upon entering school, children speaking both languages are probably familiar with:
•
fictional stories as well as recounts (true stories)
•
instructions (how to do something)
•
descriptions of animals, objects
They may also be familiar with various kinds of language play:
•
jokes
•
making changes in the shapes of words to form a “secret” English – “Pig Latin”; in Indonesian reversing
language (in
syllables and other types
of word play)
Learning a Second language at School
In many parts of the world, a child may begin learning a second language upon entering school. In Singapore many children teach Malay, Chinese, Tamil or another Indian language at home and
only begin learning English at school. In Indonesia, in many
parts of the country, children may learn another local language first – Javanese, Sundanese, Balinese, Batak, Minangkabau, or one of hundreds of other indigenous languages. Fortunately, most of these are similar to Bahasa Indonesia.
In Singapore, English is the medium of instruction in the schools. So children who learned only Chinese or Malay or Tamil at home have a difficult task on entering school – they must master English so they can learn their other subjects.
In Indonesia, traditionally, English was only taught in secondary school as a foreign language. Now, increasingly, schools are offering English at primary level, and some English medium schools exist. There are arguments for and against the early introduction of English. The earlier a language is introduced, the easier it is for children to learn it. However, there is concern in many parts of Indonesia, that the result of focus on English and Indonesian will be the loss of regional languages. There is concern about
Language Acquisition and Development 76
this especially with regard to formerly widespread languages that carry very old cultures – such as Javanese. It is possible for people to learn and use fluently three or more languages but certain conditions must be met. There must be “domains” within their lives where each language is the appropriate one to use. The domains may consist of groups of people, places where certain activities are performed, or geographical regions, in fairly close proximity, each of which has a distinct primary language.
Ideally, if Indonesian children are to master and retain three languages (Indonesian, English and their regional language), each should be the medium for relevant parts of the curriculum: English could be for science and mathematics, as is the case in Malaysia. Indonesia could be the language for history, Indonesian literature and other subjects with a social focus. The
local
language
could
be
the
medium
for
teaching
indigenous art forms (e.g. batik-making), traditional dance and the like. Primary School and the Development of Academic Language
Academic language is the style of language that is used in the academic context and to talk about academic subjects. Academic language often contains technical words that relate to a particular topic. Academic language also involves using expressions that may not be common in other contexts. For example, to “draw a conclusion” is an expression that is often used in academic contexts. Children will learn in school that the same word may have different meanings in different contexts: draw a picture draw water draw your own conclusions.
Children will also learn in the school setting how to expand their own language knowledge by:
Language Acquisition and Development 77
looking up words in a dictionary looking up terms on the internet
The textbook focuses mainly on contexts in which children acquire English (either as the only language or one of their languages) before beginning school. It then looks at how their English develops further during the primary years. In Indonesia there are more variables influencing the child’s linguistic development:
What is the regional/home language? Are any languages other than Bahasa Indonesia taught in early primary school? If so, is a regional language one of the additional languages? Is English introduced in primary school? If so, is it used as a medium of instruction for any subjects?
Final Comment
Humans can easily become and remain trilingual but appropriate conditions must exist. The earlier a language is introduced, the easier it will be for the child to acquire it. However, to retain two or three languages and be able to use all of them competently, each language must have specific domains where it is the appropriate language to use and everyone in that domain uses it. In the school context, this is most easily achieved if each language is associated with particular school subjects.
Language Acquisition and Development 78
Tutorial Activities for Topic 6 Definition of Terms Some of the terms have been introduced before but the focus now is on (1) what the child knows on entering school, and on (2) what the child is required to learn during the first year(s) of school. (This will be explored further in the discussion questions.) medium of instruction – the language in which classes are taught in school. [Note: there may be more than one medium of instruction – one for some subjects and a different one for other subjects morphology – the study of affixes added to words, either to add grammatical meaning or to change the part of speech. The focus here is on which ones the child has mastered upon entering school and on which ones he or she needs to learn to do well in school. syntax – the arrangement of words to form phrases, clauses and sentences. Again the focus is on the patterns and structures the child is familiar with on entering school and on which additional ones he or she must learn to succeed in school. semantics – the study of meanings of words and relationships between meanings of different words. The focus here is on the vocabulary of the child upon entering school and on what additional knowledge he or she will need to succeed in school. phonology - the sound system of a language. Here the focus is on which phonemes or significant sounds of the language the child has mastered upon entering school and on which additional ones he or she still needs more help and practice with. pragmatics – the study of how intended meanings are conveyed, focusing on the intention of the speaker and the requirements of the context. Here we are interested in what the child is aware of in terms of pragmatic factors upon entering school and what he or she still needs to learn to succeed in the school context.
Language Acquisition and Development 79
speech acts – utterances which perform particular functions, such as greeting, instructing, requesting, showing gratitude or appreciation, etc. Within the school context, this would include the child being able to interpret the teacher’s instructions and questions and being familiar with the conventions for responding. genre / text types – types of texts classified according to purpose. Upon entering school children would be expected to be familiar with narratives (fictional stories), recounts (true stories), and instructions at least. The would soon need to develop familiarity with information texts (texts that define and describe something), and explanations (texts that describe a process). first language – this usually refers to the first language a child learns in time. However, in some studies of bilingualism, it may refer to the language in which a person becomes most proficient as an adult. Within the school context, the first language of education is the one in which most of the instruction is conducted. second language – this usually refers to the second language learned in time. However, in the school context this may be a language that is only taken as a subject and is not the medium of instruction for other subjects. In many multilingual societies, the “second” language may actually be the child’s first language (i.e. the first language he/she learned in time). academic language – this term refers to special features of language used in an academic context technical words – these are words which refer to abstract concepts or to details of particular fields of study. polysemy – the phenomenon of a word having more than one meaning or use.
Language Acquisition and Development 80
Discussion Questions 1. What are children expected to know in relation to language upon entering school? What does the average Indonesian child (who has learnt Indonesian before entering school) know about his/her language on entering school in terms of morphology and syntax? 2. In terms of phonological development, many English-speaking children still have difficulty pronouncing the sounds spelt with ch, th, and v upon entering school. What sounds do some Indonesian children have difficulty with on entering school? Those whose home language was not Bahasa Indonesia may have additional problems. If you know of examples, discuss these as well. 3. Discuss speech acts and text types. What do most English-speaking children know in terms of these skills upon entering school? Are there any differences for Indonesian children in terms of skills they have gained in these areas before entering school? 4. Discuss situations in which children have learned one language at home but must learn another language upon entering school. Give examples from both Indonesia and any other country you may know about. What difficulties are likely to arise? 5. In the Indonesian context, what are some of the issues regarding languages to be taught in schools? What is your opinion on these issues? 6. What conditions must be met in order for bi- or tri-lingualism to be developed successfully? 7. What are some of the features of academic language that differ from informal conversational language? [You may give examples from English and/or Indonesian.]
Language Acquisition and Development 81
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND DEVELOPMENT
Topic
7
Hands-on Experience
Topic Description A central part of understanding in the field of language acquisition and development is gained by hands-on experience in data analysis and data interpretation. In this assignment, the teacher candidates have to work in groups of four to collect, then analyze and interpret the data of children’s language. The sets of data that they should focus on are the components of young children language development, either first language or second language development: for example, mean length of utterance, morphological development, syntactic development, sentence complexity, phonological development, semantic development – giving definition, or pragmatic development. Each group should choose one of the components as the focus of their hands-on experience.
Topic Objectives The objectives of this hands-on experience are to give the teacher candidates some real experience in: • • • •
Collecting the data by using data elicitation techniques in language acquisition study, Presenting the data for the purpose of data analysis and interpretation. Analyzing the data, and Interpreting the data Language Acquisition and Development 82
Material _________________ The focus of the data to be collected is on a child’s language acquisition, either first or second language. The child’s language could be the child’s:
•
Phonological development
•
Morphological development
•
Syntactical development
•
Semantic development\
•
Pragmatic development
•
MLU
Language Acquisition and Development 83
Language Acquisition and Development
Topic
8
Mid-term Test
Material _________________
The exact items will, of course, need to be formulated for each administration of the test but suggestions include the following topics:
1. The theoretical frameworks that underline the study of language acquisition and development. 2. The five Krashen’s hypotheses and their implications to second language acquisition. 3. Bilingualism and Multilingualism 4. Language processing 5. Child’s language and development
The test will take different types that may include True-False, Multiple Choice items, Completion, and Essay questions.
Language Acquisition and Development 84
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND DEVELOPMENT
Topic
9
Language and Literacy Development
Content The role of language in literacy development The role of literacy in language development Second language literacy Home-School connections Bilingual Literacy
Topic Objective This unit looks at the relationship between language and literacy development and at the implications for bilingual contexts and biliteracy development.
Content map • • • • •
The role of language in literacy development The role of literacy in language development Second language literacy (Phonics vs. the Whole Language Approach) Home-School connections Bilingual Literacy
Language Acquisition and Development 85
Material _________________ Language and Literacy Development Language and Literacy Interconnection How do spoke and written communication differ? Spoken communication is: Oral – it involves production and interpretation of speech sounds. It is face-to-face, so listeners can interpret speaker’s facial expressions, gestures and the like. It takes place between people who share a social connection, whether close, as in the case of family members or good friends, or distant, as in the case of institutional contexts, business transactions and the like. It involves “primary discourses” – messages created by the speaker specifically for the listener. Written communication is: It is written by the person creating the message and read by the recipient of the message. It is not face-to-face, so there are no visual cues as to the meaning of the text – only the words and perhaps illustrations or diagrams on the printed page. Though it may take place between people who share a social connection (as when reading a personal letter or an email message from a friend or relative), written messages are often composed without a specific target audience in mind. It involves “secondary discourses” – messages created by the writer for any reader. Knowing an oral language is, of course, an extreme advantage in learning to interpret the written representation of that language. But the relationship is two-way. Knowing how to read can also help one improve one’s oral language, but building vocabulary and expanding understanding of grammatical relations.
Language Acquisition and Development 86
The story of K: K was a 7-year old Indonesian boy who spoke Javanese and Indonesian and was literate (for age 7) in both languages. He had spent several months in the U.S. when he was 4 years old and had been placed in an English medium day-care centre during that time. By the end of his stay in the U.S. he spoke English like a four-year-old American child. After learning to read in Indonesian and Javanese, it did not occur to K that he would not be able to read in English as well. When his mother acquired some English language children’s story books with pictures, he immediately tried to read them. At first he tried the Indonesian sound-letter correspondences, but upon finding that they did not work, he made adjustments so that they sounded like English words. Thus K used his knowledge of reading in Indonesian to make an initial interpretation of symbol-sound correspondences. However, when the result was not meaningful, he used his knowledge of English to guess the closest sounding word that the spelling might represent. Thus he used literary skills acquired in Indonesian and his knowledge of oral English to teach himself to read in English. This is, of course, not necessarily an ideal way to achieve bi-literacy and probably not all children in similar circumstances would be as successful as K was. Personality factors are also relevant. However, the story does point out the bi-directional nature of language competence and literacy acquisition. Cummins (1979), who studied bilingual French-English-speaking children for whom English was the first language and who later acquired French and learned to read in it in school, also concluded that children who are literate in their first language will have far less difficulty in acquiring literacy in the second language. Cummins conclusions are referred to as the “interdependence hypothesis”.
Interdependency hypothesis The Interdependence Hypothesis was developed during the study of EnglishFrench bilingual children. In the story of K, the principal languages involved were English and Indonesian. English, French and Indonesian all use the same alphabetic system. If the child’s second language uses a different writing system will the hypothesis still apply? Probably being literate in any language will be helpful in acquiring literacy in a second language. However, the more similar the writing system and the more similar the sound symbol correspondence the more useful the previously acquired literacy is likely to be.
Language Acquisition and Development 87
Second Language Literacy Acquisition _two approaches Learning to read in English is not as straight- forward as it is in other languages – like Indonesian or Spanish – where there is a very good sound - symbol correspondence. In English, there are multiple ways of spelling nearly all of the vowel sounds: Just as an example, /i:/ can be spelt: ee as in seek ea as in meat e as in be, me, he eCe as in eke
As a result of this inconsistent complexity, two methods of teaching beginning reading in English have been developed: the whole-word approach phonics The whole word approach consists mainly of learning to recognise and eventually memorise words. This is part of the whole language approach, in which extracting the meaning of the text as a whole is given priority
Phonics Phonics was introduced in the 1950’s as a way to systematically teach children the many different spellings for each English sound. It involved rules, rhymes and word games. Though generally successful, it was felt that carrying it too far reduced creativity and the enjoyment of reading engaging texts for understanding and appreciation. In recent years there has been a movement away from phonics towards the “whole language approach”
Phonics vs Whole Language Though no one denies that the ultimate goal of literacy instruction is to make children literate and to encourage a love of reading, . . .There is increasing awareness that “at risk” children, even in monolingual English-language settings, profit from explicit instruction in phonics in the beginning. In contexts where English is a second or foreign language (even if it is regarded as the first language of education, as in Singapore) this is all the more true.
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The home-school Connection Formal education – which takes place in school does not take place in a vacuum. Anything learnt at school, which is reinforced in some way at home, will be more likely to be remembered. When values and practices at school are very different from those at home, the child may have difficulty adjusting. Literacy practices can also be reinforced or discouraged by the home environment .If the family at home read stories to the child, he is much more likely to adapt to and embrace literacy related activities at school. Four areas have been explicitly explored in relation to the home-school connection: Storybook knowledge Decontextualised oral language Phonological awareness and Valorisation Story book Knowledge Reading to a child – even before he or she begins to talk! – is the best way to establish a literacy foundation. From reading and being read to children learn that stories have a setting (where did it happen?) stories have a problem (e.g. a dragon is threatening the village) a series of events take place to solve the problem and, finally, there is a . . . happy ending In other words, they are becoming familiar with the structure of the genre of narrative. Decontextualised Oral Language Language is never really decontextualised or else it wouldn’t make sense. However, stories are decontextualised in the sense that the action takes place in a time and in space which is removed from the time and space that the child and his parents occupy. In other words, it helps the child to understand that the whole world is not “I-centred” – that there are other times and places where others are located with interesting stories to tell. Phonological Awareness Reading to a child helps to develop phonological awareness and, if the child looks at the print as the adult is reading, he/she will begin to notice sound- letter correspondences. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the narrator – a 7-year old child – “learned” to read by sitting on her father’s lap each evening as he read the newspaper out loud. The child in the story must have been extraordinarily intelligent, but many children can begin to notice sound-letter correspondences if their parents read them very simple story books with many pictures and few words on each page. Language Acquisition and Development 89
Bilingual Literacy and Valorization
For a child to develop language – spoken and written – he must first valorize it – that is, attribute certain positive values to its functions, or recognize that it is useful. This is also true for developing literacy in the second language. The child must want to read in that language.
Motivating Children to read In the past, books with engaging pictures that told exciting stories were often sufficient motivation for some children. Interestingly, in recent years, technology that allows communication across distance and provides access to a vast quantity of information on many diverse subjects has probably done more to motivate children and help them learn English – the most common language of the internet – than any methodologies proposed by language experts in the past.
Definition of Terms primary discourses – discourses produced by the speaker especially for the listener, as in face-to-face communication secondary discourses – messages created by a writer for any reader interdependence hypothesis – a hypothesis developed by Cummins (1979) in connection with the French immersion programme in Canada, that children who learned to read in their first language (English) would have far less difficulty learning to read in their second language (French) when they later acquired it at school. sound-symbol correspondence the relationship between the sounds (phonemes) of a language and the symbols of the writing system used to represent them. Some languages – such as Spanish or Indonesian – have a quite good match, whereas in English one sound may have different representations in different words and a single syllable may represent different sounds in different environments. whole-word approach – an approach to reading instruction that focuses on recognizing whole words initially. This is usually in connection with the “whole language” approach to reading, which focuses on understanding the whole text rather than decoding small parts. phonics – an approach to reading instruction usually contrasted with the “whole word” and “whole language” approach, in which the initial emphasis is on
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getting children to notice any sound-symbol correspondence that occurs frequently. storybook knowledge – one type of knowledge children gain from having stories read to them at home. Storybook knowledge includes understanding that stories have a setting (where the story happens), that they have a problem, and that a series of events will lead to the solution after which there is a happy ending; in other words, they become familiar with the structure of the narrative genre. decontextualised oral language – decontextualised language, or secondary discourses, are messages created by the author for anyone who happens to read them. Familiarity with such language, through having stories read to them, will help the children understand other examples of secondary discourses when they begin school. phonological awareness – if the child looks at the print while the adult is reading, especially if there are only a few words per page and large pictures illustrating the meaning, the child will start recognising letters and sequences of letters that seem to consistently represent the same sounds. valorisation – valorising refers to attributing certain positive values to something or recognising that it is useful. Reading to a child helps the child come to value stories and reading.
Discussion Questions 1. Discuss the interconnections between language and literacy development. 2. Discuss some of the problems associated with second language literacy development in English. What two approaches have been proposed? Which do you think is the more likely to be successful? 3. Discuss the home-school connection in literacy development. What are four areas that have been noted in this connection?
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LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND DEVELOPMENT
Topic
10
Language Development in the Secondary School Years
Content Key Features of Language Form on Entering Secondary School Key Semantic Features of Language on Entering Secondary School Key Pragmatic Features of Language on Entering Secondary School Further Pragmatic and Semantic Development during Secondary School Years Academic Language Skills Oral Language Skills Written Language Skills “Second” Language Learning or Two First Languages??
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Topic Objective This unit looks at language development during the secondary school years. We must remember that the textbook we are using, more relevant than any other that was found because it assumes a bi- (or multi-) lingual environment, was nevertheless written in and for Singapore, where English is the primary working language and the home language (or “second” language) is studied at school only for enrichment. Though English appears to be taking an increasingly prominent role in education in Indonesia, it is unlikely that it will replace bahasa Indonesia in function within the country at any time in the near future. We will thus look at each of the topics covered in the book in terms of the progress made in the “first” (or National) language during these years and the progress made in the “second” language – English during the same period. We will end by raising the question and discussing the research concerning whether or not it is possible for a child to have and develop “two first languages”.
Lesson Outline • • • • • • • •
• •
Key Features of Language Form on Entering Secondary School: Key Semantic Features of Language on Entering Secondary School Key Pragmatic Features of Language on Entering Secondary School Further Pragmatic and Semantic Development during Secondary School Years Academic Language Skills Oral Language Skills Written Language Skills Specific current factors in the Indonesian context & future possibilities: o Language of education o Other factors contributing to successful language acquisition Negative Effects of Bilingualism? Bilingual First Language Acquisition?
[Note: Information on the last topic is taken largely from Genesee & Nicoladis, “Bilingual First Language Acquisiton,” in HDBK BFLA Sept 2005.
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Material _________________ Language Development in Secondary School Key Features of Language forms By secondary school, morphological, syntactic and phonological development is nearly complete, at least in the primary language. For a second language that is also the medium of instruction for some subjects, it is possible that not all complex structures have been completely mastered. Key Semantic Features in Secondary School Students are usually capable of creative language use at this point – creating rhymes, making puns and using metaphors. They can usually give adequate definitions and recognize relationships between words, but they may be confused about meanings of some academic or technical words. However, they can use specialized vocabulary drawn from curriculum subjects and areas of personal interest. Key Pragmatic Features in Secondary School Can produce extended oral discourse, such as narrative, detailed and accurate recounts and explanations. They can link the parts of extended discourse with appropriate connectives. They tend to state their views dogmatically, using few qualifying adverbs. They tend to present arguments as lists of evidence rather than in the form of logical development of ideas. They do not always consider the context or the listener’s perspective. They may digress easily from the main topic. Having said this, not everyone is an excellent orator. Some adults show many of the same weakness when presenting an argument. As students progress in secondary school they tend to become more proficient at constructing arguments and debating. Their vocabularies also expand making their expression more precise.
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Advanced Literacy and Academic Language Skills Advanced literacy is developed mainly in later adolescence. If they are exposed to an adequate array of written academic texts, they will also acquire more complex sentence patterns, involving nominalizations and embedding of clauses. Their school assignments often require writing pieces that require abstraction and reflection, such as literary criticism and the like. At this stage, they can analyze, hypothesize, judge and respond critically to ideas. They tend to develop a growing concern about social issues and are easily drawn into debate. Though most can talk easily about such issues, some still find it difficult to write about them in a coherent and convincing way. This may be because in speech ideas are usually presented in an exchange and so they are responding to things others have said, whereas in writing, they must construct their own complete arguments. Roles and Relationships of Oral and Written Language Skills in the Upper Secondary Classroom Language Form Well developed structures and pronunciation Fluency in extended discourse Control of complex sentence structures Frequent use of adverbials as modifying clauses Semantic Features Creative use of language Precise words to express difficult concepts & logical relations Vocabulary for describing mental states and social relations Pragmatic Able to analyse and present views on abstract concepts Develops and presents arguments in a logical manner Takes communicative context into account. Oral Interaction Skills Affects listener’s behaviour through using language. Can express psychological and emotional states Can make use of appropriate greetings and demonstrates other features of appropriate interpersonal relations. Displays control in initiating and maintaining con- versations. Cues listener regarding topic shifts. Responds appropriately to input from interlocutor.
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Second Language Education The previous discussion concerned students whose home language is the same as the medium of instruction in schools. What if the two languages are different? If there is no home support for the language which is medium of instruction in schools, the development may be slower. However, the Canadian research on children from English-speaking homes who had their entire education in French showed no noticeable difference in proficiency at the end of schooling. What are the current and future possibilities in Indonesia? The most common pattern is probably still: Bahasa Indonesia as medium of instruction throughout the school career. Local language (where one exists) as a subject in primary school. English as a subject beginning in secondary school. Previously the outcome of this system was that children were proficient in both bahasa Indonesia and their mother tongue (if it was not bahasa Indo- nesia), but could barely speak or write intelligible English on completion of schooling. Now one much more frequently meets young people who are nearly as fluent and proficient in English as they are in Bahasa Indonesia. How did they get that way? In some cases they have had an opportunity to study abroad for a time. In other cases they live in Jakarta and have had extended opportunities for contact with native speakers of English. Increasingly one finds children in this category who are attending English-medium schools. Probably not. But there may be several scenarios that can work. Going back to Krashen, the single most important factor is probably adequate comprehensible input in all languages to be acquired. Previously parents spoke the home language (i.e.Javanese) if different from Bahasa Indonesia and children learned this language (from their parents) and bahasa Indonesia (in school) to the extent that they were probably fully bilingual. For a number of years now, parents have been speaking bahasa Indonesia to their children so that they will do well in school. They get plenty of input in bahasa Indonesia anyway. So the main consequence of this strategy is that Language Acquisition and Development 96
they do not learn the local language. Previously English was mostly a badly taught subject with no home support. Now instruction is increasing and improving, at least in the cities. As a result of more contact with English – in and out of school (via the internet and films) – more young people are becoming more proficient in English. There may eventually be a language shift to predominance of Indonesian and English with region- al languages gradually disappearing. Whatever the outcome, it will be a direct result of the quantity and quality of input that the children receive and partially of the requirements of output that the schools and society demand. Possible Negatiove effects of Bilingualis The textbook mentions code-switching and code- mixing as a possible negative effect of widespread bilingualism. Under what circumstances these phenomena occur needs to be investigated before value judgments are passed. To be able to choose the appropriate code as the circumstances demand is a skill in itself which should probably be valued. The textbook also mentions limited pragmatic abilities in one or both languages as a possible consequence of bilingualism. However, again, whether or not this is an outcome probably depends on the range and depth of input the child receives in the two languages when in the process of acquiring them. If exposed to adequate input for a variety of differ- ent social contexts in both languages, there is no reason why adequate competence in both languages cannot develop. A great deal of research has been done on this topic in a variety of settings. According to Genesee and Nicoladis in a review of the literature, there is evidence that: bilingual children exhibit the same rate of syntactic development as monolingual children. However, there is more likely to be some cross-linguistic transfer of specific morphosyntactic features from one language to another Vocabulary acquisition is usually comparable to monolinguals. Bilingual children develop distinct phonological systems early.
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Research summary by Genesee and Nicoladis suggests that though there are minor examples of interference and delay in acquisition of features, in general children who are simultaneously acquiring more than one language proceed at about the same rate as monolingual children and with about the same success rate. We could conclude from this that early introduction of the second language appears to be recommended.
Definition of Terms
creative language use – includes creating rhymes, making puns and using metaphors. specialised vocabulary – vocabulary dealing with technical topics, drawn from the students’ curriculum subjects context (of a communication act) – where the communication act is taking place, who the participants in the act are, what the topic is, etc. listener’s perspective – this could involve the level of the listener’s education, the languages he/she controls, his/her knowledge of and convictions about certain topics interlocutor – the person a speaker is talking to code-switching – changing languages during a speech act. [usually at sentence boundaries and usually due to a change in the context, such as the entrance of a person who does not know the language that was being used, or the beginning of a class, meeting, or event that will be held in a different language from the one the subjects were previously using. code-mixing – inserting words from one language into sentences of another language. bilingual first language acquisition – simultaneous acquisition by a child of two or more languages.
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Discussion Questions 1. What are the key language forms, semantic features and pragmatic
features that children bring to secondary school? 2. What are the key advances in language use that children make during 3.
4. 5. 6.
their secondary school years? If the child’s home language is different from the language of instruction and there is no home support for the school language, what are the consequences likely to be? What was the previous pattern of language acquisition in Indonesia and how has it changed in recent years? What possible negative effects of bilingualism have been suggested? How does the most recent research analyse and evaluate these suggestions? Can a child have two first languages? If so, how does the child’s competence in the two languages compare with that of monolingual speakers of each of the languages?
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LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND DEVELOPMENT
11
Topic
Language Awareness and Language Socialization
Content Metalinguistic Awareness Phonological Awareness Language Awareness and L2 Acquisition Pedagogical Implications Language Socialisation Interaction Routines Sociocultural Views of Language Learning: Values and Identity
Topic Objective This unit looks at metalinguistic awareness – the ability to consider language in the abstract as an object of analysis and discussion, and how this ability relates to language acquisition and development. In addition in this unit we will look at Language Socialisation and how values and identity relate to language acquisition and second language learning.
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Lesson Outline • • • • • • •
Metalinguistic Awareness Phonological awareness Language Awareness and L2 Acquisition Pedagogical Implications Language Socialisation Interaction Routines Sociocultural Views of Language Learning o Values o Identity
Material _________________ Language Awareness and Language Socialization Metalinguistic Awareness Metalinguistic awareness is the ability to analyze and discuss language form, semantics and pragmatics. It involves: having explicit knowledge about language being able to make judgments about accuracy and appropriateness of language use. Metalinguistic awareness is often seen as a bi-product of literacy development. Phonological awareness Initially awareness that words are made up of sounds Eventually, awareness that certain words begin with the same sound: e.g. cat, kitten, kite. Such awareness is an important skill in learning to read.
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Phonics instruction - activities that focus specific- ally on helping the child perceive a relationship between letters and sounds – helps to strengthen this awareness. Phonological awareness also includes the ability to segment words into sounds: “If you take the ‘c’ away from ‘cat’ you have ‘at’.” It also involves learning that parts of words do not always mean what they sound like: “The ‘cat’ in ‘caterpillar’ is not a cat.” Morphological Rules These are rules that look at what happens to morphemes when they occur in different environments. For example, the –s plural suffix: When added to a word that ends in a voiceless consonant, like /t/, it sounds like /s/: cats /k&ts/ When added to a word that ends in a voiced consonant, like /g/, it sounds like /z/: dogs /dQgz/ When added to a word that ends in a sibillant (/s, S, z, Z, tS, dZ/) it sounds like /@z/: horses /hO:s@s/. Ryming Rhyming is useful in teaching phonological aware-ness, especially if the spelling is “regular”: The cat sat on a mat. The cat was fat. The cat wore a hat. Imagine that! This one might be useful for older children who that spelling is not always regular:
are starting to learn
The cat wanted to diet. But the bat wouldn’t try it.
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Language Awareness and SLA Can children learning a second language – especially if they only begin learning it in school – develop phonological and metalinguistic awareness without explicit instruction – in the same way children learn their first language? In other words, is “comprehensible input” sufficient? Or must some “awareness raising” and “conscious learning” be involved? In the 1970’s when the author of these materials first came to Indonesia, instruction in English only began in secondary school. A typical lesson might begin with the teacher saying: “Selamat pagi, anak-anak. Hari ini kita akan belajar mengenai past tense. Apa anda tahu artinya past tense itu? Past tense itu adalah bentuk kata kerja yang mengandung akhiran –ed, dan kata kerja itu digunakan utk membicarakan tindakan yang terjadi pada masa lampau.” Obviously they weren’t getting any “comprehensible input” – just a lot of “comprehensible explanations” - in the language they already knew. On the other hand, the author’s attempts to use a “target language only” approach with adults at that time produced visible frustration. So the question is – what is an appropriate balance between “comprehensible input” only and “explanations about the language only”? The answer probably depends on the age of the students and on their linguistic background. Are children who are bilingual when they enter school (which is common in cities in Indonesia) in a better position to acquire a third language? The terms intention, attention, noticing and understanding need to be addressed. Research has shown that people can learn without intending to do so. (In fact, too much intention without a good idea of appropriate methods may be detrimental – as in the case of my adult learners in the 1970’s who wanted explanations in Indonesian about English because they thought that was what they needed.)
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Intention, Attention, Noticing and Understanding Attention is necessary for most learning to take place but different types of attention may be involved in language learning. Some aspects of second language learning may require focal attention. For example, in order to acquire complex syntax, we may need to focus on the forms. It has been hypothesised that second language learning cannot take place without noticing – conscious registration of the occurrence of an event. It is not clear how much learners notice or if they learn everything they notice. Understanding is a higher level of learning that allows the learners to generalise patterns they have noticed into “rules”. The textbook does not mention this, but probably the age of the learner has something to do with which of these mental activities are most important. Very small children probably pay attention to everything that is going on around them. Small children probably also almost always have the intention to interact with those around them. They may notice and come to understand form - meaning relationships on the lexical level but conscious understanding may not come until a later age. Especially for older learners, explicit instruction is useful, in fact may be more useful than implicit instruction in the classroom. (Norris and Ortega, 2000). Implicit and Explicit Instruction Harley (1993) proposed a compensatory salience principle for making pedagogical decisions about explicit teaching. She suggests teachers use more explicit teaching strategies if features in L2: are subtly different from features in L1 are irregular, infrequent or in some way difficult to notice in the L2 input do not carry a heavy communicative load Language Socialization “An interactional display of expected ways of thinking, feeling and acting through participation in social interaction.” This concept emphasises performance competence (unlike explicit teaching of grammatical items and vocabulary).
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Contextual factors in interaction that determine language form: Who is involved in the interaction and what is their relationship? What is the topic of the interaction? What activity are the participants involved in and where does it take place? What is the role of each participant in the interaction? Contextual Factors and Language Form The questions in the previous list can be reduced to labels as follows: Who: Topic: Activity: Where: Roles: Examples of how these factors influence language choices may be clearer in Indonesian than in English and is extremely clear in Javanese. Javanese: Mother speaks first to father-in-law and then to children: Bapak, mangga kula aturi dhahar rumiyen. Ayo, bocah-bocah, gek mangan dhisik, ya. As can be seen, the words are all completely different. In Indonesian: Bapak, mari makan dulu, ya. Anak-anak, ayo sini, makan dulu. In English: Come on, everyone, dinner’s ready. Dad, you sit here. Jimmy, you sit here, Tommy, you sit over there. As can be seen in the preceding examples, Javanese is the most explicit in indicating role relations. Indonesian is less explicit but there are still subtle indications about the role relationships. In English there appear to be none. In fact, in English, the important social distinction is normally only – personal vs. impersonal In other words, am I speaking to family or friends . . . or am I speaking to total strangers Related, but not identical is personal (to individuals)vs. formal (to a group of strangers)
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Contextual Factor in Multilingual context In regions where more than one language is used the variables mentioned earlier may determine not only style within one language but choice between languages. For example, in the Javanese speaking parts of Indonesia, there are many contexts – usually at school, in government offices, usually in shops owned by Chinese – when one uses bahasa Indonesia rather than Javanese. The textbook gives an example (p. 198) of language choice patterns in Singapore. Individual Factors in Socialization Each context is unique in terms of the languages or styles that speakers have available and the conventions for choosing one style rather that another. The textbook suggests that usually, regardless of individual contextual differences, the following factors – for both speaker and addressee are important in determining code choice: Age Gender Socio-economic class Ethnicity Values and Identities Studies by Labov in New York City showed that values were also important in determining choices in language and style. Values are also often related to identity. How a person speaks a particular language may be at least partially determined by how he sees himself and who he wants to be. Perhaps due to “globalization,” whereas previously speakers from each Southeast Asian country had distinctive accents, young people in the region now often develop nearly identical Americanized accents Conclusion Language use and the choices competent speak- ers make can be quite complicated. It is thus useful for teachers to be aware of: The linguistic repertoire of most people and the motives for linguistic choices they make within their society.
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Contextual and individual factors that influence these choices Values expressed by and learned through language Identity factors in language choice and language use
Definition of Terms
metalinguistic awareness – the ability to discuss language form, semantics and pragmatics phonological awareness – initially awareness that words are made up of sounds; this includes the ability to segment words into sounds morphophonemic rules – rules that look at what happens to morphemes in different phonological environments. intention – relating to whether learning requires the intention to learn – research has shown that people can learn without intending to do so. attention – related to whether the learner must pay attention to learn – the research has shown that different types of attention may be involved in language learning. noticing – learners may notice patterns in a language they are learning, but conscious understanding may only come later understanding – especially for older learners, explicit instruction (explanation) may be necessary or at least useful in attaining an understanding of the forms in the new language. language socialisation – an interactional display of expected ways of thinking, feeling, and acting through participation in social interaction. Discussion Questions 1. Discuss the relationship between language awareness and L2 acquisition. 2. Discuss the distinction between talking about a language and acquiring it. 3. Discuss the difference between implicit and explicit instruction. 4. Discuss the role of contextual factors in determining language form 5. How do values and identity influence language choice?
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LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND DEVELOPMENT
Topic
12
Gender, Age, Individual Differences and Language Learning
Content Gender: “Male and Female Language� Gender-related attitudes and perceptions Gender implications for language learning? Age: The Critical Period Hypothesis revisited Other Individual Factors Language Learning Strategies Anxiety and Motivation
Topic Objective This unit looks at a individual differences and how they can affect language acquisition and language learning. We begin with gender. There have been many studies about gender differences and, among them, differences in how gender affects the learning and use of language. We will then revisit the Critical Period Hypothesis and look at some apparent exceptions: cases of adult learners who mastered a second or foreign language so well that they were often mistaken for native speakers. The unit will then examine other individual factors that may affect language learning and go on to the topic of learning strategies, which are most successful, and how individual factors relate to success in the use of particular strategies. Finally we will look at the presence and effects of anxiety and motivation in language learning.
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Lesson Outline • • • • • • •
Gender: “Male and Female Language” Gender-related attitudes and perceptions Gender implications for language learning? Age: The Critical Period Hypothesis revisited Other Individual Factors Language Learning Strategies Anxiety and Motivation
Material _________________ Gender, Age, Individual Differences and Learning
Language
Gender and Language Much research – not just on language acquisition, but also on language use – has shown that “women speak better.” Past research which arrived at these conclusions usually also tried to link the difference to other aspects of male and female personality differences. For example, males were said to be more “macho” and thus the use of more informal and slightly deviant linguistic forms was thought to emphasize this trait. However, the research that showed these conclusions was all done in English-speaking countries and often among the working classes. Other factors here may be responsible for the differences observed. A study involving the speech of university lecturers in an English-speaking country would probably not show such a difference. If we look at other languages in other countries with other cultures, the hypothesis seems even less tenable. In Thai, utterances are marked with one particle for female speakers (ka with a Language Acquisition and Development 109
falling tone) and another for male speakers (krap with a high tone). But there is no value judgment attached to this difference – it is simply an audible mark of the gender of the speaker. A counter-example to the original claim occurs in Javanese – at least in village settings in previous generations. Here men performed ceremonial functions and had better control of polite speech (Krama/Krama Inggil) Women – mostly in the market or kitchen – had little need for the polite forms. In other words, where differences occur, these have to do with differences in social roles and not in speech per se. Research in English-speaking countries (Edelsky, 1981) found that men tend to speak more than women. More recently, Holmes (1995) has found that men speak more than women in formal public contexts, but that women speak more in informal private settings. This research is interesting because it is consistent with the distribution of men’s (formal, polite) language and women’s (informal) language in Java. The research is important because it shows that in conducting such studies, we must consider not only who is speaking but what the context is. This hypothesis – rather than looking at the influence of our personal and social traits (including gender, social class, age) on our language, turns the tables and looks at the influence of the language on how we think. The strong version of this hypothesis – which would practically make it impossible for an adult monolingual speaker of one language to learn another well – has been severely criticized. But a weaker version – which recognizes how our language (or languages) can shape our thought processes – provides a useful perspective. Age and Language Use Language changes over time. What was considered the only correct form a generation ago may now be thought of as obsolete or uncommon? And what was considered incorrect by an older generation may become the norm with younger people. Examples of change in English: My auntie, who was a school teacher, used to say, “Don’t end a sentence with a preposition!” My version of the rule: “A preposition is a bad thing to end a sentence with.”
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Another example of change in English: the following sentence occurs on page 230 of the textbook: How is men’s speech different to women’s? For the author of this course, whose first language was English, but who is now nearly 67 years old, the preposition is wrong. It should be: How is men’s speech different from women’s? But I have seen the “deviant” usage in print quite frequently recently. It seems quite probable that the language is changing or has changed in this respect. Age and Language Learning We have mentioned several times the Critical Age Hypothesis, as well as claims that contradict it. Summarizing and expanding on what we have noted so far” Very young children can pick up a “second” language effortlessly, in the same manner that they acquire their first language. Children who are exposed continuously to two languages from birth can acquire the two languages with native-speaker proficiency. More recent research has shown that adults who are highly motivated and wish to assimilate to an adopted society can also master the new language to the extent that they are frequently mistaken for native speakers. We have also learned, however, that the kinds of learning activities that work for adults may be different from those that are successful with children. Though comprehensible input is still very important for adults, explanation about the language is also helpful, especially in the beginning stages. Other individual Factors In addition to gender and age, individual people may have different learning styles. Activities that are useful and successful with some learners may cause frustration or boredom for others.
An anecdote: When the author was learning Javanese, she recorded stories told by her brother-in-law and listened to them over and over again. In this way, she picked up many common expressions and found the procedure not only useful but fun.
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At the same time, a friend of the author, an anthropologist, was trying to learn Javanese. He kept a vocabulary notebook. The author’s reaction to her friend’s method: How can you learn words out of context?? The friend’s reaction to the author’s method: How can you catch anything when the speaker on the recording speaks so fast?? After three or four years we both spoke excellent Javanese. Language Learing Startegies There has been quite a lot of research on strategies, especially comparing those used by good language learners with those used by poor language learners. Strategies can be classified as: Cognitive Metacognitive Socio-affective Visualise the information Use background knowledge to make inferences Draw concept maps to group items to be learned Make notes about important information to be remembered Read about a topic before listening to a talk on it. Check to see whether one is using the right words or manner when speaking. Assess whether the composed texts meets the specifications of the required text type. Read about a topic before listening to a talk on it. Check to see whether one is using the right words or manner when speaking. Assess whether the composed texts meets the specifications of the required text type. Functions of metacognition: self-management of cognition self-appraisal Self-management of cognition – control of our Self-appraisal – personal reflections about our
thinking knowledge and ability.
Metacognitive knowledge has three components:
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Person – knowledge about possible effects of personal factors (e.g. age, aptitude, learning-styles) on learning. Examples: I lose concentration quickly during listening comprehension tasks Task – knowledge about the purpose and nature of the learning task. Examples: I need to use the past tense when I’m writing a recount. Strategy – knowledge about strategies that can facilitate learn-ing Looking at the title of a passage may help me predict what it is about. Anxiety and Motivation Studies generally show a strong correlation between language proficiency, selfconfidence and anxiety. A moderate degree of anxiety is often beneficial - it keeps the student alert during a task. Overly anxious students, however, may develop negative reactions which can have adverse effects on learning. Source of Anxiety Fear of negative social evaluation Fear of failure Negative perception of own proficiency Communication apprehension Competitiveness Motivation Theory Addresses these questions: Why is behaviour directed toward a specific goal? What determines the intensity or effort invested in pursuing a goal? (MacIntyre, 2002, p. 46) Affective variables in motivated behaviour: Effort to reach a goal Desire to reach the goal
Positive attitudes towards the goal Affective variebales infliecnced by leanring condition
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Interest – an intrinsic desire to learn a language or a desire stimulated by interesting classroom activities and materials Relevance – strong connection between learning tasks and personal interest and motives Expectancy – perception of the likelihood of suc- cess in completing a challenging learning task. Satisfaction – a feeling of achievement through individual or group excellence. Summary In this unit we have talked about the effect of individual differences – including gender and age – on language learning. We have also examined learning strategies that may be effective and the fact that sometimes the effectiveness of these strategies varies according to characteristics of the learner. We then looked at anxiety – its positive and negative effects on learning – and what produces motivation. Definition of Terms
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis – a hypothesis which states that our language influences the way we think and perceive the world Cognitive strategies – strategies that operate directly onincoming information and enable learners to process texts and materials for learning Metacognitive strategies – mental processes for managing thinking and learning Socio-affective strategies – learner initiated actions to engage another person’s help or cooperation Motivation theory – a theory concerning why behaviour is directed towards a specific goal and what determines the intensity or effort invested in pursuing that goal Interest (as an affective variable) – an intrinsic desire to learn a language or a desire stimulated by interesting classroom activities and materials Relevance (as an affective variable) – strong connection between learning tasks and personal interest and motives Expectancy (as an affective variable) – perception of the likelihood of success in completing a challenging learning task Satisfaction (as an affective variable) – a feeling of achievement through individual or group excellence
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Discussion Questions 1. Discuss the research that has been done on the relationship between
gender and language. 2. Discuss the relationships between (a) age and language use, and (b) age
and language learning. 3. Discuss effective strategies for processing and producing written texts or speech. 4. Discuss the relationship between anxiety and motivation.
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LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND DEVELOPMENT
Topic
13
Language Variation, Interaction and Language Development
Content Multilingualism and Diglossia Language Choice and Language Domains Social Networks Language Maintenance and Language Shift Language Death and Language Revitalisation Language vs. Dialect Dialect vs. Accent Social Dialects Style and Register Conversational Strategies Extended Discourse Interaction with First and Second Language Learners Classroom Interaction
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Topic Objective In this unit we will explore aspects of language acquisition that relate to sociolinguistic topics such as diglossia, language domains, social networks, language shift, language death, social dialects, register and how these factors affect classroom interaction in the first and second language.
Lesson Outline • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Multilingualism and Diglossia Language Choice and Language Domains Social Networks Language Maintenance and Language Shift Language Death and Language Revitalisation Language vs. Dialect Dialect vs. Accent Social Dialects Style and Register Conversational Strategies Extended Discourse Interaction with First and Second Language Learners Classroom Interaction
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Material _________________ Language Variation, Interaction and Language Development Multilingualism and Diglosia Multilingualism can refer either to a society in which more than one language is used or to an individual who speaks several languages. In multilingual societies we often find a situation referred to as diglossia. In diglossia, either one language or one variety of a language is the standard which is used for official purposes and taught in schools, while another language or variety is commonly used in informal social interaction. Much research has been done in Singapore both as an example of a multilingual society (English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil are all official languages), and as a diglossic society, where two varieties of English (the standard formal variety taught in schools and used for official purposes, and the informal colloquial variety called “Singlish” which is used in many informal exchanges, even by educated people). What about Indonesia? Though Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia, probably the majority of Indonesians speak at least two languages – either Indonesian and a regional language or Indonesian and English, or all three. So Indonesia could certainly be described as a multilingual society, even though only one language is official. What about diglossia? Diglossia Jakarta Malay, or Jakarta Indonesian or Bahasa Betawi is regarded as a variety of Indonesian/Malay, but it is quite different from the standard language. Newcomers to Jakarta have difficulty understanding it, just as newcomers to Singapore have difficulty understanding “Singlish” Though standard Indonesian and bahasa Betawi are quite different in many respects, most linguists would agree that they are varieties of the same language. So for natives of Jakarta who speak bahasa Betawi a diglossic situation exists. Another example of diglossia would be in the Javanese speaking parts of Indonesia. If someone comes from a village where “Krama desa” is used, but goes to the city and learns standard Krama, then the alternation between the Language Acquisition and Development 118
use of Krama desa in the village and standard Krama in the city would also represent a kind of diglossia. Some people might ask whether the very existence of the speech levels in Javanese (as well as Sundanese, Balinese, Madurese, etc.) represents diglossia. Diglossia involves the use of a Standard variety in some contexts and a “sub-standard� variety in others None of the speech levels (Ngoko, Krama, Krama Inggil) is sub-standard. They represent different styles that are appropriate in different social contexts. Domain is a very important concept. It refers to the location or social context in which a particular language or variety of a language is appropriate. In some cases it simply depends on the linguistic repertoire of the person we are talking to. It would not make sense to address them in a language they do not know. However, if we share two or more languages, other factors determine the domain. When speaking about the use of Singlish and Standard English in Singapore or Standard Indonesian and Bahasa Betawi in Jakarta, the determining factor is often the physical and or social context rather than the language repertoire of the interlocutor. Suppose two natives of Jakarta work in the same office. During official functions they will probably address each other in Standard Indonesian, but informally they may slip into Bahasa Betawi. Social Network In studying variation in language use in individuals it is important to consider their social network - the various people they interact with and what their relationship is with each. The concept of density refers to whether or not the different people in one’s social network know one another or are only linked through the subject in question. Adults often have several sub-networks: home & family, work, one or more recreational networks. Children, after beginning school, may also begin to develop several networks: home & family, school friends, friends from one or more after school activities. There may or may not be overlap between the members of each network. How are social networks related to language use? Even in multilingual societies language use may vary between the different networks in terms of formality or, at least, frequently occurring vocabulary. Language Maintenance and Language Shift
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Bilingualism has been described as an inherently unstable condition. (Mackey, W. F., 1967). It tends to exist in a society which is in the process of shifting from one predominant language to another. However, bilingualism is clearly a useful trait. Thus governments tend to institute policies that are intended to maintain bilingual competence among the citizens. This is often done through language programmes in schools. Reasons Why does language shift take place? Though it isn’t generally planned, from the individual’s point of view, increasing use of one language and decreasing use of another is usually due to one or a combination of the following reasons: Social and economic advantages Socio-political issues Demographic changes Attitudes and values There is now a tendency in many parts of the world for people to shift to English as their primary language due to the economic advantages. This is happening in Singapore. In regions of Indonesia where another language was the mother tongue of most, placing greater value on Bahasa Indonesia and losing interest in traditional literature and art forms may be part of the reason why the younger generation is no longer learning the local language. Language Death Can a language die? If it no longer has any native speakers, yes. Latin was spoken throughout most of Europe during the days of the Roman empire, but as the empire broke down, the language changed in different ways in different places and became Italian in Italy, Spanish in Spain, French in France etc. Other languages have died more rapidly and completely. Many Celtic languages formerly spoken in the United Kingdom have no native speakers. Language Revitalization Though regional languages in Indonesia are usually school subjects at least in primary school, proficiency appears to be dropping in many, even the ones with large numbers of speakers. Javanese is ranked 12th or 13th among the world’s languages in terms of number of speakers but the younger generation is not learning it. This is partially due to the tendency of parents to speak bahasa
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Indonesia to their children at home. A more aggressive language revitalization programme might be required to preserve this and other regional languages. Language vs Dialect According to the technical definition, dialects are varieties of a language that differ in terms of some vocabulary and pronunciation and perhaps minor grammatical features. However, they are nevertheless generally mutually intelligible. Examples in Indonesia would be the Betawi dialect and some dialects of Malay spoken in Sumatra, which are generally mutually intelligible with bahasa Indonesia. Dialect and Accent refers only to pronunciation. Dialect refers to other features as well, such as vocabulary and grammar. An example of an accent which most people in Indonesia tend to recognize is the accent of Javanese people speaking Indonesian. Even if the speaker uses perfectly standard gram- mar and vocabulary, he or she will be described as medok if a strong Javanese accent is noticeable. Geographical and Social Dialects Geographical dialects refer to dialects found in different geographical regions. For example, the English spoken in the UK, Australia and North America all differ from each other, not just in terms of pronunciation but also in terms of vocabulary and some minor grammatical features. But even within each of these countries there are geographical variations. Within the UK, a Scottish dialect, or a Yorkshire dialect is distinctive in terms of all the language features. While geographical dialects are varieties that are found in different geographical locations, some features vary within the same location based on the social class of the speaker. Two cities that have been studied for this phenomenon are London and New York City. In London, one finds both the prestigious “RP” pronunciation with standard grammar and vocabu- lary and the working class Cockney accent with unique vocabulary and grammar as well. This distinction was the basis of the plot in the famous musical “My Fair Lady,” which was based on the play “Pygmalion,” written by George Bernard Shaw. “The Rain in Spain Stays Mainly in the Plane” was the song Professor Higgins used to teach Eliza to pronounce the vowel as /eǺ/ and not /aǺ/. In New York City one of the features that differs according to social class is the pronunciation (or lack of it) of post-vocalic /r/ Whereas the pronunciation of the Language Acquisition and Development 121
letter “r” after a vowel only found in some regional dialects in the UK, in North America, its pronunciation is the standard. In New York City, however, the lower classes do not pronounce this /r. Labov conducted a famous study in which he entered lower class, middle class and upper class shops in New York city and asked a sales girl where he could find a particular item which he knew was on either the third or fourth floor. He recorded their responses and analysed them later, finding that the higher the “class” of the shop the more frequent the pronunciation of the “r” in these words, and the lower the class, the less frequently it was heard. Style and Register Speech styles are often classified by linguists as“careful,” “casual,” and “spontaneous”. “Careful” speech would be likely to conform more to accepted standards, while “spontaneous” speech would be most likely to contain “deviations” Register has more to do with specialised language used for particular topics. For example, the register of linguistics will contain a lot of specialised vocabulary which non-linguists may not understand. Child-directed speech is often accompanied by many gestures and facial expressions to reinforce meaning. The adults also often respond with encouragement, such as “Good!” and “That’s right!” The language of adults when speaking to children is sometimes referred to in the literature as “Motherese” The goal of adults in their conversations with children is mainly to encourage more active participa- tion. Classroom interactions And Extended Discourse In older methodologies, teachers did most of the talking and children listened. Now it is common for teacher talk to consist of questions or other probes to elicit responses from the pupils. Classroom responses tend to be short answers. It is important for the teacher to create contexts in which the children can produce more extended discourse. Show and Tell, or classroom demos are one way of encouraging extended speech. For first language learners, producing responses from pupils is mainly hindered only by shyness. In a second language context, the question of proficiency influences the types of contexts in which the child is able to respond. Short answers are fine for a start but eventually the aim should be to prepare the children to speak at greater length in the target language. Group work activities can reduce stress as they are interactive and thus generally more fun.
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Definition of Terms
multilingualism – the term can refer to either a society in which more than one language is commonly used or an individual who knows and uses more than one language.. diglossia – this refers to a situation in which two varieties of the same language are used by a society. Typically one – the “high” variety – is used in government, education and for other official purposes, while the other – the “low” variety – is used for informal communication among individuals. domain – this term refers to the contexts where each language is used in a multilingual society. Typically one language is used in formal contexts, such as education and government, while the other is used in more informal contexts. This, however, is not necessarily the case. The domains may consist of different groups of relatives or acquaintances with different first languages. social network – an individual’s social network consists of all the people he or she knows and interacts with. In a multilingual context, the language used by other people in one’s social network may determine things like the proficiency of the person in each language and/or the types of vocabulary and competencies the bilingual individual has in each language. language maintenance – in a bilingual society, official attempts made to preserve a language, the use of which may be threatened by another language whose popularity is spreading.. language shift – the shift from one language to another as being the primary language – usually within a society, but the term can also be used in reference to individuals. language death – the loss of a language, usually due to language shift among its speakers, but also possibly to death of the last speakers in a multilingual society. language revitalisation – usually referring to government programmes and policies in multilingual societies to prevent the death of a minority language. dialect – a variety of a language which involves differences in vocabulary and grammar as well as in pronunciation accent – differences within a language that involve only pronunciation geographical dialect – one of two or more dialects of a language that differ in their distribution across geographical space
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social dialect – one of two or more dialects of a language that are used in the same (usually urban) area but by different social classes style – ways of speaking depending on the context; usually classified by linguists as careful, casual and spontaneous. register – register refers to language – especially vocabulary – that is restricted to specialised topics, professions or the like.
Discussion Questions 1. Discuss the concepts of diglossia and multilingualism in the Indonesian 2.
3. 4.
5.
context in connection with the idea of domains of use. What are social networks? How does a bilingual’s social network affect the likelihood of that person maintaining proficiency in one or both languages or shifting from one to the other as his/her primary language? What can cause language death and what are strategies used in language revitalisation? Discuss the differences between language, dialect and accent. What are the differences between geographical dialects and social dialects? Use examples from your own experience or observations. Discuss style and register and conversational strategies in adult-child communication.
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LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND DEVELOPMENT
Topic
14
Language Attrition and Shifting First Languages
Content Language Attrition – Definition The Process of Language Attrition Causes of Language Attrition Attrition in Language Shift Situations Effects of Language Shift in Children The Spread of English and First Language Attrition First Language Attrition in Indonesia
Topic Objective This course as a whole has looked at how language is acquired and, in the case of a second or foreign language, what factors lead to success in the acquisition process. But bilingualism has been described as an unstable phenomenon. What happens when the first language one learned is not used in a new environment that the speaker moves to? What happens to speakers of a language in a bilingual context when the other language becomes dominant? What happens to children when their families migrate to a country where the first language of the children is not spoken? And finally we will look at first language attrition in Indonesia. It has been reported that many minor languages are hardly spoken any more. Should something be done about this? Does having a national language threaten the survival of regional languages? Does learning an international language threaten the national language?
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Lesson Outline • • • • • • •
Language Attrition – Definition The Process of Language Attrition Causes of Language Attrition Attrition in Language Shift Situations Effects of Language Shift in Children The Spread of English and First Language Attrition First Language Attrition in Indonesia
Material _________________ Language Attrition and Shifting First Languages What is language Attrition? Language attrition is the loss of a first language. People who normally use two or more languages do not usually use them in the same context. If one context ceases to exist in the life of the speaker and he or she has little opportunity to use the language formerly used in that context, proficiency is likely to become reduced and, in extreme cases, the language may be lost. If L1 is the language that ceases to be used, L2 may become the primary language – this is called “L1 change”. The Process The first stage is usually lexical attrition. The speaker cannot think of words in the former L1, especially for concepts that are usually discussed in L2. Grammatical attrition – the loss of structures in the first language. This frequently happens in contact situations where the original first language comes to be used less frequently. Yamamoto (2001) found that bicultural families that maintained only one language in the family - the minority language – were able to raise bilingual children. [One domain for each language] With families that adopted the
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one-parent-one-language policy, however, there was a 50% chance that upon entering school, the children would lose the non-dominant language. Older children had a better chance of remaining bilingual; younger ones often never became bilingual. Factors Yamamoto (2001) found that bicultural families that maintained only one language in the family-the minority language – were able to raise bilingual children. [One domain for each language] With families that adopted the oneparent-one- language policy, however, there was a 50% chance that upon entering school, the children would lose the non-dominant language. Older children had a better chance of remaining bilingual; younger ones often never became bilingual. Community Language Attrition Often the attitudes are split. When a minority language begins to be replaced by a national language, some will work to preserve the minority language. Others will embrace the national language as it appears to hold more economic advantages for the future. Many in the latter camp feel that efforts to maintain the minority language interfere with children mastering important subjects at school. Effects What are some of the effects in terms of language use when the first language is in the process of attrition? Graciet, who recorded her own experience as a French speaker who switched to English when she moved to the UK, lists: Language mixing – when speaking French, she would use an English word instead of the French one. Syntactic interference – use of English structures which don’t make good French. Pronunciation interference – she said that her “French-speaking muscles can get a bit out of shape.” Literal translation of an English expression into French. Static vocabulary – missing out on the evolution of French (so that she didn’t learn new words) Cultural references – in referring to shared codes or experiences using English referents in French. She notes, however, that it is now getting easier to maintain her French because of the internet. Unfortunately, for many children, who search the web and take
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part in chat-rooms in English, the internet may be speeding up the replacement of their native language. Another Contect of L1 lost An article in the online journal Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists (Vol. 18, Issue 51, p. 5) notes that “Practically all children adopted by monolingual English-speaking families lose their native language.” In a “full English language immersion” situation, it takes children in the three and a half to four year old range 7 – 12 weeks to “reduce their express- ive language to a practically non-functional state.” They may retain receptive ability for 4 – 6 more weeks. For 6 – 9 year olds it may take several months for them to lose their first language, but their ability to function in their L1 still diminishes rapidly for every week in an English-only environment. Children who can read and write in their native language do not retain that language for any longer than pre-literate children do. According to the article the causes include: Initial low level of language skills lack of motivation to retain the first language no support for the first language in the family or the community a possible adverse emotional reaction to their first language Reasons for concern: Language is a tool for development of cognitive, academic and bahavioural skills If the tool is taken away, these skills can deteriorate. First language attrition and new language acquisition take place concurrently but at a different rate – attrition is much faster. Most of the research done to date on first language attrition has dealt with families who migrated to an English-speaking environment or children adopted from non-English-speaking countries by foster parents in English-speaking countries. But what of first language attrition due to the spread of English as a medium of instruction in countries where instruction was formerly in a local language? Singapore is a prime example of language shift due to educational policies. Singapore is probably a unique case. The country is very small and relies on international trade. Certainly the ubiquity of English in the country provides an economic advantage. And the many young near monolingual English speakers do not seem particularly upset about their linguistic identity. Many other
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countries in the region look to Singapore for guidance because of its financial success. Other countries, however, do have strong and more unified linguistic and cultural traditions. What is the risk of them losing their language and culture if they follow the educational path that Singapore has set out? It will probably be a long time before there are any Indonesians who cannot speak Indonesian. But what about the regional languages? Languages that carry thousands of years of history and culture Do we really want them to die? Certainly knowing English well is an economic advantage. Is it possible to produce a nation of trilingual?
Definition of Terms
language attrition – the loss of a first language community language attrition – the loss of a community language in a language shift situation language mixing – a phenomenon that sometimes occurs when first language attrition begins – words from the new language are inserted into the original first language to replace words that have been forgotten syntactic interference – sentence patterns from the new language are used in trying to speak the original first language pronunciation interference – phonological patterns of the new language are used in trying to speak the original first language literal translation – expressions from the new language are translated literally into the original first language static vocabulary – the person who has experienced some degree of language attrition is not aware of new vocabulary developments in the original first language
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Discussion Questions 1. Describe the different contexts in which first language attrition might occur. 2. What are the most common steps in the process of language attrition? 3. What are some of the findings in Yamamoto’s study about strategies in bicultural families that were successful in maintaining bilingualism? 4. What are some of the contexts that do result in language attrition? 5. What are some of the causes of community language attrition and what are attitudes often found in communities in which a language shift is in progress? 6. According to Graciet, what are some of the effects of first language attrition in progress? 7. How does language loss in children adopted from overseas differ from the language loss reported in migrant families? 8. What educational policies are resulting in the shift to English as the primary language in some countries? 9. What do you think the linguistic future of Indonesia is likely to be? Do you think this is the ideal situation or not? If not, how could it be averted?
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Language Acquisition and Development
Topic
15
Group Presentation
Topic Description The topic provides the teacher candidates with the opportunity to present their work during PBL (Project Based Learning) activities.
Topic Objectives
After completing this session, teacher candidates should be able to present their ideas about the topic they have been working on.
Content Group Presentations
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Material _________________ Presentations – Group Teacher candidates must choose one topic from the list provided in the PBL topics. This activity requires applying knowledge of language development and acquisition.
Notes: Poster session will also be conducted during this session.
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Language Acquisition and Development
Topic
16
Final Test
Mini Research Paper (See explanation on “assessment� in the previous section)
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