Download APPLIED LINGUISTICS LANE 622

LANE 622
APPLIED LINGUISTICS
Prepared by
Dr. Abdullah S. Al-Shehri
Email
[email protected]
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LECTURE
IV
HUMAN LEARNING
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So far, we have learned that..
 Cognitive domain of human behavior plays a
crucial role in the acquisition of L1 & L2.
 Processes of perceiving, attending, storing,
and recalling are central to the task of
internalizing a language, whether L1 or L2.
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In this lecture, we will..
 Examine the general nature of human
learning.
 Learn about the different theories of learning.
 Find out what other universal learning
principles are available.
 Discuss some current thoughts about
‘aptitude’ and ‘intelligence’.
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Learning & Training
In order to achieve an integrated understanding of L2
acquisition, we need to consider the following
questions:
 How do human beings learn?
 Are there certain basic principles that apply to all acts
of learning?
 Is one theory of learning “better” than another?
 If so, how can we evaluate the usefulness of theory?
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What is learning?
 Learning is the act of acquiring knowledge of a
subject/skill by study, experience, or instruction. It
involves:
Acquisition of knowledge.
 Retention of information.
 A change in behavior.
 Reinforced practice.
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Theories of Learning
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Pavlov’s Classical Behaviorism
(Behavioristic)
 Formation of associations between stimuli and
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reflexive responses.
Rejection of mentalistic notion of innateness and
instinct.
Adoption of classical conditioning to explain all forms
of learning.
Behaviors are learned by building up series of
responses.
Rigorous adherence to scientific method.
Language teaching practice was for many years
influenced by behavioristic tradition.
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Skinner’s Operant Conditioning
Verbal Behavior – B. F. Skinner 1957
(Behavioristic)
 An attempt to account for human learning and behavior.
 Importance of ‘stimuli’ de-emphasized.
 Human behavior is controlled more by ‘reinforcers’ that follow a
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response.
Reinforcers are stronger aspects of learning than mere
association of stimulus and response as in classical
conditioning.
Absence of reinforcement leads to extinction of behavior.
Skinner’s Verbal Behavior described language as a system of
verbal operants.
Audiolingual Method was an example of Skinner’s Verbal
Behavior’s impact on American language teaching practices
during the period 1950s – 1970s.
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Ausubel’s Meaningful Learning Theory
(Cognitive)
 Ausubel contrasted meaningful learning and rote learning.
 Meaningful learning is more powerful/effective.
 Rote-learned materials do not interact with cognition in a substantive
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way.
Rote learning results in weak retention and forgetting.
In meaningful learning students relate new knowledge to what they
already know.
In rote learning students remember what they have learned by
association.
‘Cognitive pruning’ is a form of systematic forgetting which clears the
way for more material to enter the cognitive field.
The audiolingual method was mainly based on a behavioristic theory of
conditioning that relied heavily on rote learning.
Rote learning of a foreign language is effective on a short term basis
only.
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Carl Rogers’s Humanistic Psychology
(Constructivist)
 This theory came as a reaction to psychoanalysis and behaviorism and
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stressed the importance of personal choice and responsibility.
Focus is on the affective rather than cognitive side.
This model states that, given a nonthreatening environment, a person
will form a picture of reality that is congruent with reality and will grow
and learn.
Emphasis is on teaching a person how to learn.
Teachers are facilitators of learning.
Teachers establish interpersonal relationship with learners.
Teachers need to communicate openly with learners.
Rejects “banking” concept of education.
Empowerment of learners.
Promotes communal learning.
In agreement with the Constructivist view of learning which refers to the
idea that learners construct knowledge for themselves---each learner
individually (and socially) constructs meaning---as he or she learns.
Constructing meaning is learning; there is no other kind.
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Gagné’s Eight Types of
Learning and Their Impact on
Foreign Language Learning
A Complex task such as Second Language Learning involves
every one of Gagné’s levels of learning.
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1. Signal Learning
 Individual learns to make a general diffuse
response to a signal. (Behavioristic -Classical
Conditioned response - Pavlov).
 Human beings make a general response
(emotional, cognitive, verbal, nonverbal) to
language.
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2. Stimulus-Response Learning
 Lerner acquires a precise response to a
discriminated stimulus (operant). Such was the
classical conditioned response of Pavlov.
 Stimulus-response learning is evident in the
acquisition of the sound system of a foreign
language. Through a process of conditioning and trial
and error, the learner makes closer and closer
approximations to native pronunciation.
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3. Chaining
 Robert Gagne developed a hierarchical theory that some
types of learning are prerequisites to other kinds of
learning. His research has been fruitfully used in
determining the sequence of instruction. ...
 This is evident in the acquisition of phonological
sequences and syntactic patterns. (Note: Generative
linguistics has shown that sentence structure is
hierarchical and not necessarily linear).
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4. Verbal Association
 The learner is able to learn using verbal
chains.
 Internal links may be selected from the
individual’s previously internalized linguistic
repertoire.
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5. Multiple Discrimination
 An individual learns to make a number of
different identifying responses to different
stimuli which may resemble each other in
physical appearance.
 Multiple discrimination is necessary in L2
learning, where a word has to take several
meanings, or an L1 rule is reshaped to fit L2
context.
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6. Concept Learning
 Concept learning( :learning from examples .)It is "the search for and listing
of attributes that can be used to distinguish exemplars from non exemplars
of various categories." Concepts are the mental categories that help us
classify objects, events, or ideas where each object, event, or idea has a set
of common relevant features.
 Concept learning is a strategy which requires a learner to compare and
contrast groups or categories that contain concept-relevant features with
groups or categories that do not contain concept-relevant features.
 Concept learning also refers to a learning task in which a human or machine
learner is trained to classify objects by being shown a set of example
objects along with their class labels. The learner will simplify what has been
observed in an example. This simplified version of what has been learned
will then be applied to future examples.
 Concept learning includes the notion that language and cognition are
inextricably interrelated. Linguistic rules are linguistic concepts that have to
be acquired.
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7. Principle Learning
 A principle is a chain of two or more
concepts.
 A principle is a “subsumer” or a cluster of
related concepts.
 It is the extension of concept learning to the
formation of linguistic concepts.
 Linguistic rules are not isolated in rote
memory. Instead, they are subsumed in a
total system.
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8. Problem Solving
 A type of learning that requires “thinking”.
 Previously acquired concepts and principles
are consciously combined to deal with
unresolved or ambiguous events.
 Problem solving is evident in L2 learning as
learner is faced with problematic sets of
events, as difficult as algebra problems.
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Some say “language is concept learning” and
others say “language is a conditioning
process”
Both are correct in that part of language
learning consists of each of the above types.
Both are incorrect to assume that all of
language learning can be so simply classified.
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TRANSFER, INTERFERENCE,
AND OVERGENERALIZATION
 Human beings approach new problems with existing
set of cognitive structures and, through insight,
logical thinking, and various forms of hypothesis
testing, call upon whatever prior experiences they
have had and whatever cognitive structures they
possess to attempt a solution.
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Transfer and Interference
 The carryover of previous performance or knowledge
to subsequent learning.
 Positive transfer occurs when prior knowledge
benefits the learning task.
 Negative transfer (or interference) occurs when
previous performance disrupts the performance of a
second task.
 In L2 learning, the role of ‘interference’ – interfering
effects of the native language on the target language
– has been stressed.
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Generalization / Overgeneralization
 Generalization is an important strategy in human
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learning.
The principle of generalization can be explained by
Ausubel’s concept of ‘meaningful learning’.
A child’s learning of concepts is a process of
generalization.
An L2 learner generalizes particular rules in the
second language beyond legitimate bounds.
Overgeneralization is the incorrect application
(negative transfer) of previously learned L2 material
to a present L2 context.
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Inductive and Deductive Reasoning
 Two polar aspects of generalization.
 Inductive is a type of reasoning which involves
moving from a set of specific facts to a general
conclusion.
 Deductive reasoning is moving from a generalization
to particular instances.
 Untutored (natural) Language learning mostly
involves an inductive process, in which learners infer
rules from all the data around them.
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Aptitude and Intelligence
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Is there such a thing as foreign language aptitude?
If yes, what are its properties?
Can these properties be reliably measured?
Can aptitudinal factors predict success in learning L2.
What is intelligence?
How is intelligence defined in terms of L2 learning
process?
 What kinds of intelligence are related to foreign
language learning?
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Aptitude
 Do certain people have aptitude for learning foreign languages?
 Anecdotal evidence says yes.
 Language Aptitude Tests (MLAT 1958) & (PLAB 1966) were
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designed to find that out.
Tests were independent of specific foreign languages and
predictive of success in any language.
Tests were popular at first then declined.
Tests simply reflected general intelligence and academic ability
of an individual.
Tests were difficult to do and considered biased.
Further efforts to construct foreign language aptitude and
success have not yielded a coherent theory of language
aptitude
Today, focus is headed in the direction of ‘learner
characteristics’ to search for factors that make up foreign
language aptitude.
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Intelligence
 Intelligence has mainly been measured in terms of
linguistic and logical-mathematical abilities of a
person.
 According to Ausubel’s meaningful learning model,
intelligence is measured by the ability to store items
that would be particularly useful in building
conceptual hierarchies and systematically pruning
those which are not useful.
 Success in second language learning may seems to
boil down to memory rather than general intelligence,
but, it appears that “language learning IQs” are much
more complicated than just that.
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Howard Gardner’s (1983) Theory of
Intelligence
Gardner’s seven forms of intelligence:
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Linguistic
Logical-mathematical
Spatial (ability to find one’s way around..)
Musical (ability to perceive and create music
patterns)
Bodily-kinesthetic (fine motor movements)
Interpersonal (ability to understand and deal with
others)
Intrapersonal (ability to develop a sense of selfidentity)
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