Second Language Acquisition and Second ... - Stephen Krashen

More documents

Recommendations

Info

"intermediate French", he found no one who spoke this dialect when he got to Paris.) To summarize: if caretaker speech is helpful for language acquisition, it may be the case that simple codes are useful in much the same way. The teacher, the more advanced second language performer, and the native speaker in casual conversation, in attempting to communicate with the second language acquirer, may unconsciously make the "100 or maybe 1000 alterations in his speech" that provide the acquirer with optimal input for language acquisition. Re-analysis of Classroom Exercises In the previous sections, I have attempted to state the following hypothesis: simple codes such as teacher-talk, interlanguage-talk, and foreigner-talk aid second language acquisition for adults in much the same way that caretaker speech aids child language acquisition. If this is the case, if our hypothesis is supported by subsequent research, we can then ask how classroom exercises compare to simple codes. In this section, I anticipate this discussion with some general comments on the role of classroom exercises. There are various possibilities for classroom exercises. First, they can be classified as to whether their focus is on gaining formal or conscious knowledge of the target language (Monitor), or whether their goal is on gaining acquired or subconscious knowledge. The former are grammar exercises, the latter communicative exercises. Of course, some exercises may do both at once, but we will find it useful to maintain this distinction for the moment. Classroom exercises, in considering one grammatical structure of the target language at a time, may vary as to whether they "hit" the acquirer's i + 1 structure(s). An exercise may undershoot, hitting a structure that has already been acquired, it may overshoot, hitting far beyond i + 1, and of course it may hit the target, i + 1. For drills that focus on acquisition, even if they manage to hit the target, i + 1, we may question whether they actually provide enough input for real acquisition to occur. Also, they typically lack the anticipation and review that simple codes provide automatically. When acquisition-type activities undershoot, the result of course may 132
e boredom. When they overshoot, the result will be frustration. For drills that focus on learning, undershooting may produce either boredom, or, occasionally, for interested amateur linguists in a class, "language appreciation" (see remarks in Chapter 8). If a learning exercise is "on target" or in advance of i + 1, the result will be a contribution to the conscious Monitor, if the exercise is successful. As discussed previously, Monitor use has its advantages, but also has its limits. The use of simple codes may thus have some real advantages over classroom exercises. The latter take deliberate aim at the i + 1th structure; when they miss it, as is probable for some students in a large class, the results are of dubious value. Even when they hit it, there may be a need for more review and we can question whether the quantity of input was sufficient (witness the constant need for review in second and foreign language classes; for the latter, the second year is often exclusively devoted to a review of grammar presented the first year). Simple codes, however, provide a "shot-gun" approach that may cover the i + 1 with built-in review. Finally, many classroom exercises, with their emphasis on correctness, often place the student "on the defensive" (Stevick, 1976), entailing a heightened "affective filter" (Dulay and Burt, 1977), which makes them less than ideal for language acquisition. The use of simple informal codes, on the other hand, generally occurs in situations where the focus is on communication and not form, and where the filter is "down" or at least much weaker. In Stevick's terms, this allows the input to strike more "deeply" and thus be more effective intake for acquisition. (For discussion, see Stevick, 1976; Chapter 2, this volume.) 3 Some Final Comments: A Summer as an Intermediate French Student By way of conclusion, I would like to report on some recent personal experiences as a student of French. The class I attended in the summer of 1978 in Los Angeles was a private class, with a small number of highly motivated, highly intelligent, and mature students. The official "method" used was the Pucciani-Hamil approach (Langue et Langage), used with much apparent success at UCLA and at 133
Page 1 and 2:
Second Language Acquisition and Sec
Page 3 and 4:
Acknowledgments I would like to tha
Page 5 and 6:
Introduction This book is concerned
Page 7 and 8:
performance..." (p.35). Corder (196
Page 9 and 10:
when it does not get in the way of
Page 11 and 12:
language (some similarities to firs
Page 13 and 14:
In the second part of this chapter,
Page 15 and 16:
far more valuable then the exercise
Page 17 and 18:
Monitoring generally improves accur
Page 19 and 20:
overconcern with correctness, howev
Page 21 and 22:
language is spoken or may be expose
Page 23 and 24:
2. Attitude and Aptitude in Second
Page 25 and 26:
1973, p. 8). Carroll also suggests
Page 27 and 28:
outines and patterns, and at a more
Page 29 and 30:
Sentences, Paired Associates, and S
Page 31 and 32:
stay-ins appeared to be integrative
Page 33 and 34:
motivation played no role because o
Page 35 and 36:
(1977), after interviewing teachers
Page 37 and 38:
did not produce the same results. T
Page 39 and 40:
a stage many people, but not all, r
Page 41 and 42:
The Good Language Learner Revisited
Page 43 and 44:
predict differences in student achi
Page 45 and 46:
settle the issue of whether adults
Page 47 and 48:
language had higher scores than stu
Page 49 and 50:
Table 1. English proficiency and ye
Page 51 and 52:
The "self-study" reinterpretation o
Page 53 and 54:
series the evidence for learning is
Page 55 and 56:
4. The Domain of the Conscious Gram
Page 57 and 58:
Ann Fathman, confirmed our earlier
Page 59 and 60:
significant differences for any of
Page 61 and 62:
Table 1. Studies analyzing grammati
Page 63 and 64:
Table 3. Counterexamples to orderin
Page 65 and 66:
Table 4 (cont.) ___________________
Page 67 and 68:
ut *der Katze Ohr (The cat's ear).
Page 69 and 70:
Research Findings 1. First language
Page 71 and 72:
First-language-influenced errors he
Page 73 and 74:
and (4) Ich weiss nicht, I know not
Page 75 and 76:
ain", the right hemisphere, appears
Page 77 and 78:
second language acquisition in adul
Page 79 and 80:
hemisphere is removed, and the pati
Page 81 and 82:
Monitor, to exist, and the degree t
Page 83 and 84:
advantage in the first language. En
Page 85 and 86: while English "orients its users to
Page 87 and 88: 7. On Routines and Patterns in Lang
Page 89 and 90: adulthood. A. Smith (1966) describe
Page 91 and 92: "That's a _______") which were char
Page 93 and 94: variation. Nelson, for example, dis
Page 95 and 96: which he had learned by imitation.
Page 97 and 98: and often incorporated them into hi
Page 99 and 100: what utterances mean by observing h
Page 101 and 102: Furthermore, she associated strings
Page 103 and 104: and patterns other than as discours
Page 105 and 106: similar difficulty orders for gramm
Page 107 and 108: understanding language that is "a l
Page 109 and 110: up to the intermediate level. As Wa
Page 111 and 112: practical only in a foreign languag
Page 113 and 114: is making some effort at making him
Page 115 and 116: It may be useful to distinguish thr
Page 117 and 118: the luxury of building up acquired
Page 119 and 120: marker /-s/, and the regular and ir
Page 121 and 122: to speak the language they were lea
Page 123 and 124: 9. The Theoretical and Practical Re
Page 125 and 126: contact with. "Teacher-talk" is the
Page 127 and 128: language in Los Angeles. S. K. also
Page 129 and 130: Caretaker Speech and Language Acqui
Page 131 and 132: speech is so well rooted in the "he
Page 133 and 134: speech is: they are simpler than na
Page 135: Freed (1980) reports that foreigner
Page 139 and 140: class was conducted entirely in Fre
Page 141 and 142: more expansions as well as repetiti
Page 143 and 144: Broen, P. (1972) The Verbal Environ
Page 145 and 146: Dulay, H. and M. Burt (1977) "Remar
Page 147 and 148: Hakuta, K. and H. Cancino (1977) "T
Page 149 and 150: Learning Aptitude. Rowley, Ma.: New
Page 151 and 152: Academy of Aphasia. Victoria, Briti
Page 153 and 154: Smith, A. (1966) "Speech and other
show all

Second Language Acquisition and Second ... - Stephen Krashen

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?