Download Nature versus Nurture

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.