Download APPLIED LINGUISTICS

LANE 622
APPLIED LINGUISTICS
Prepared by
Dr. Abdullah S. Al-Shehri
[email protected]
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LECTURE
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FIRST LANGUAGE ACQUISTION
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First Language Acquisition
why?
A coherent grasp of the nature of F1
acquisition helps to construct a theory of
L2 acquisition.
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Theories of First Language
Acquisition
 The Behavioristic Approach.
 The Nativist Approach.
 The Functional Approach.
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The Behavioristic Approach
Verbal Behavior, B. F. Skinner (1957;1968)
 Skinner’s theory of Verbal Behavior is an extension of his general
theory of learning by operant conditioning (stimulus : response).
 Organism (human) emits an operant (an utterance).
 If reinforced, utterance is maintained and strengthened.
 If not reinforced, linguistic behavior is weakened and eventually
extinguished.
 Language is a set of habits acquired by a process of conditioning.
 This approach assumes a ‘tabula rasa’ (no innate predisposition for
language in the human brain).
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Criticism of the Behavioristic (Verbal
Behavior) Approach
 This approach is criticized for failing to adequately account for
the
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Capacity to acquire language.
Fast development of language.
Generativity of language.
Creativity of language.
Abstract nature of language.
Nature of ‘meaning’.
Relationship between meaning and utterance.
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The Nativist Approach
Chomsky (1965) and Lenneberg (1967)
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Language acquisition is biologically and innately determined.
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Existence of a genetic capacity/predisposition to perceive language
systematically.
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Systematic perception of language results in the construction of a creative
language system.
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Language acquisition is therefore systematic and rule-governed.
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Innate capacity is embodied in a ‘language acquisition device’ (LAD).
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LAD is expanded into a system of ‘universal linguistic rules’ or ‘Universal
Grammar’ (UG).
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Discovery of an early grammar of child language: pivotal grammar.
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Parallel distributed processing (PDP): Sentences are the result of the
simultaneous interconnection of a multitude of brain cells, and not a serial
process of rule application.
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LAD’s Innate Linguistic Properties
As described by McNeill (1966)
 The ability to distinguish speech sounds from
other sounds in the environment.
 The ability to organize linguistic data into
various classes.
 Knowledge that only a certain kind of
linguistic system is possible.
 The ability to constantly evaluate the
developing linguistic system.
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Universal Grammar Theory (UG)
 Innate principles of grammar shared by all
languages.
 Attempts to explain language acquisition in
general.
 Proposes a set of rules intended to explain
language development in children.
 Attempts have been made to apply the idea
to the area of second language acquisition
(SLA).
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How does the system of child language
work?
According to the Nativist Theories:
 Child language is a legitimate system in its own right.
 Child language development is not a process of developing fewer and
fewer mistakes.
 All stages of child language are systematic.
 A child is constantly forming linguistic hypotheses on the basis of the
input and testing these hypotheses in speech.
 Hypotheses are continually revised, reshaped or abandoned, as child’s
language develops.
 A child does not learn language as a series of separate discrete items,
but as an integrated system within which there is an active application
of grammatical rules.
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The Nativist (Generative) Framework
 Hypothetical descriptive grammars were constructed.
 Complex language of five to ten-year-olds were
found.
 Early grammars of child language discovered: pivot
grammars.
 Research data yielded a multitude of pivotal
grammatical rules.
 Some of these rules were described as UG rules.
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Contributions of the Nativist Approach
to F1 Acquisition
 Freedom from the restrictions of the ‘scientific
method’ to explore the unobservable, abstract
linguistic structures being developed in the
child.
 Systematic description of the child’s linguistic
repertoire as a rule-governed system.
 The construction of a number of potential
properties of UG.
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The Functional Approach
 Constructivist: Learners construct new linguistic knowledge
from their experiences. Active learning (learning by doing) is
promoted.
 Social interaction: Children learn their language through
interaction with their environment. Their linguistic knowledge is
determined by what they already know about the world.
 Cognition: Acquired language is a manifestation of the
cognitive and affective ability to deal with the world.
 Discourse: What children know and learn by talking with
others.
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Issues in First Language
Acquisition
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Competence and Performance
 Competence: Underlying knowledge of a linguistic
system – grammatical rules, vocabulary etc. It is the
unobservable ability to do use that system.
 Performance: Overtly observable and concrete
manifestation or realization of competence – the
actual production (speaking, writing, comprehension)
of language.
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Competence & Performance and the
Theory of Language
 Chomsky likened ‘competence’ to an
“idealized” speaker-hearer.
 Chomsky said that the theory of language
had to be a theory of competence.
 Competence – Performance model has not
been widely accepted.
 Model is criticized for focusing on an
“idealized” speaker-hearer, neglecting any
performance variables.
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Comprehension & Production
 Not to be equated with competence and
performance.
 Comprehension and production are aspects
of both competence and performance.
 In child language, comprehension is superior
to production.
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Nature & Nurture
 Nature
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Innate property
LAD / UG
Genetic transmission of language
Biological timetable
 Nurture
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Environmental exposure
Teaching
Child’s construction of his/her linguistic reality
Interaction with others
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Universals
 Language is universally acquired in the same
way
 Common deep structure
 Pivot grammar universals:
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Word order, agreement, noun & verb classes,
predication, negation, question formation etc.
 Structural dependency:
Language is organized in such
a way that it crucially depends on the structural relationships
between elements in a sentence.
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Systematicity & Variability
 Language acquisition is systematic:
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Children exhibit a remarkable ability to infer the
phonological, structural, lexical, and semantic
system of language.
 Variability still exists in the process of
learning:
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For example, children who have not learned the
past-tense morpheme tend to learn past tense
forms as separate items before they know the
difference between regular and irregular verbs.
Later, they begin to perceive a system.
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Language & Thought
 Cognitive development is central to human.
 Language depends upon, and springs from, cognitive
development.
 Language influences cognitive development.
 Social interaction, through language, is a prerequisite
to cognitive development.
 Sapir-Whorf hypothesis of linguistic reality:
 Language influences thought.
 Thought influences language.
 Each language imposes on its speaker a particular “world view”.
 Cognitive and linguistic development are inextricably
intertwined.
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Imitation
 Children are good imitators.
 ‘Imitation’ is an important language
acquisition strategy.
 ‘Imitation’ is in agreement with behavioristic
principles of language acquisition.
 Children engage in surface structure as well
as deep structure imitation.
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Practice
 Children practice language, especially in the
early stages of language acquisition.
 Practice is key to language acquisition.
 Practice, as a language acquisition strategy,
covers both speaking and comprehension.
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Input
 Role of ‘input’ in child language acquisition is
crucial.
 Child’s language is shaped by adults’ input.
 Nurture and environment are extremely
important as sources of linguistic inputs.
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Discourse
 Exposure alone to language is not enough for
successful language acquisition.
 ‘Interaction’, rather than exposure, is
required.
 Children do not learn language from
overhearing conversations alone.
 Children acquire language by being spoken
to.
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