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Nature versus Nurture Lloyd Williams W00634255 [email protected] Nature • People are born with some innate abilities that they use to interact with and understand the world world. • Through prolonged use, learners will eventually achieve proficiency in the target language. Nurture • People are born “tabula rasa” (or blank slate) and become who they are through the course of their lives alone alone. • Students need to be taught their language. Naturists vs. vs Nurturists • Noam oa Chomsky C o s y • Stephen Krashen • Gardner • • • • Vygotsky ygots y Piaget Pavlov Skinner The Intelligence Quotient (IQ) • Test created in 1905 to predict which students would benefit from teaching. • Attempts to objectively measure “intelligence” intelligence • Scores are given as numbers that show the test taker’s results relative to others. • When adjusted for age, a person’s IQ generally does not vary greatly over the course of their life. • IQ tests can be given on various skills (linguistic, math, etc) Nurture Theories (Skinner) B h i i Behaviorism • Knowledge and Linguistic ability results from stimulus-response conditioning. • Focus is on controlling behavior behavior, not cognitive processes. • Concerned C d only l with ith observable/measurable behavior. Nurture Methods Th A The Audio-lingual di li lM Method th d • Based on Behaviorism – Positive reinforcement of desired production – Emphasis on “correctness” correctness – Seeks to create language habits – Repetition Nature Theories (Chomsky) U i Universal l Grammar G • Humans are born with a Language Acquisition Device that allows us to understand languages in terms of universal principles. Nature Theories (Chomsky) L Language A Acquisition i iti Device D i • The LAD is said to have 4 aspects – The ability to distinguish speech sound from non-speech sound – The ability to organize linguistic data into classes – The ability to constantly re-evaluate and simplify the developing linguistic system – The knowledge that only a certain kind of linguistic system is possible and others are not. Nature Theories (Chomsky) U i Universal l Grammar G ((cont’d) t’d) • Theories about how UG affects L2 learning learning. – No Access – The learner cannot draw on UG for assistance and relies instead on general learning ability. – Direct Access – The learner has access to the same aspects of UG as a L1 learner. – Indirect Access – The L2 learner uses whatever parts of UG they used to acquire their first language. Nature Theories (Krashen) K h ’ 5 Hypotheses Krashen’s H th • Acquisition of grammar follows a natural progression. • Learners require comprehensible input (i + 1). • Language acquisition is different from language learning. g • Conscious learning allows us to function above our acquired level of learning. • The learners emotional state and anxiety level can inhibit acquisition. Natural affects of aging. aging • Chomsky’s Chomsky s LAD may be subject to shutdown at roughly the onset of puberty. • As age increases increases, heredity heredity’ss role in determining who we are increases. How to study Nature vs. Nurture • Hundreds of studies of twins have been conducted since the beginning of the 20th century. century Studying Twins • Monozygotic Twins (MZ) – same genetic information. • Dizygotic Twins (DZ) – differing genetic material Monozygotic Twins • More commonly called “identical” identical twins. twins • If reared apart, allow us to scientifically hold Nature as the constant and judge the effects of Nurture. • Have H abilities biliti that th t correlate l t more consistently than DZ twins, even when reared d apart. t Correlation of test results for MZ and DZ twins 100 M onozygotic T w ins D izygotic T w ins 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 V arious T ests A look at Gender • Girls are more proficient at language related skills,, particularly p y listening g and writing. g • Boys are more proficient at geometry, problem solving, or spatial skills. …or are they? Bibliography Bates, E. On the Nature and Nurture of Language. [Online]. Available: htt // l http://crl.ucsd.edu/~bates/papers/pdf/bates-inpress.pdf d d / b t / / df/b t i df [2005, [2005 April A il 18]. 18] Bouchard Jr., T. et al. (1990, October 12). Sources of Human Psychological Differences: The Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart. Science, 250, 223-229. Brown, H. D. (2000). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (4th ed.). Longman. Krashen, S. (2003) Explorations in Language Acquisition and Use. Heinemann. Lin J., Lin, J Wu, Wu F. F (2003). (2003) Differential Performance by Gender in Foreign Language Testing. [Online]. Available: http://www.education.ualberta.ca/educ/psych/crame/files/ncmepaper.pdf [2005, April 19]. Sternberg, R., & Grigorenko, E. (2001). Environmental Effects on Cognitive Abilities. New Jersey: LEA. Stromswold, K. (2001). The Heritability of Language. Language, 7794), 647723.