Second Language Acquisition and Second ... - Stephen Krashen

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3. Formal and Informal Linguistic Environments in Language Acquisition and Language Learning The question of the optimal linguistic environment for the adult second language student has been approached empirically in the last few years in a number of studies. It is a question of obvious importance to the teacher and language student and has also become a matter of concern to the psycholinguist interested in the nature of primary linguistic data, or linguistic input necessary for language acquisition to occur. In these studies, two sorts of linguistic environments are contrasted: artificial, or formal environments, found for the most part in the classroom, and natural or informal environments. Krashen and Seliger (1975) have noted that all language teaching systems utilized for the adult use activities in which linguistic rules are presented one at a time and in which some sort of feedback (error correction and/or error detection) is present. Other features of formal instruction (e.g. deductive presentation of rules ) are not common to all teaching methods and, while their presence may sometimes be catalytic, are not necessary for learning to take place. Krashen and Seliger also note that these features (rule isolation and feedback) do not seem to be present in informal environments. Several studies, which will be considered in some detail below, suggest that adults can not only increase their second language proficiency in informal environments, but may do as well as or better than learners who have spent a comparable amount of time in formal situations. Other studies present evidence that seems to indicate that "exposure" has little or no effect on increasing adult second language proficiency. In the literature review that follows, it will be argued that these studies are not definitive. Even taken as a group, they do not 40
settle the issue of whether adults are able to acquire language in informal situations with any real efficiency. Following the survey, it will be argued that formal and informal environments make contributions to different aspects of second language competence. We are thus considering two hypotheses: 1. The informal environment can be efficiently utilized by the adult second language learner. 2. Formal study, or its essential characteristics, is significantly more efficient than informal exposure in increasing second language proficiency in adults. Review of Literature Upshur (1968) compared three groups of ten adult ESL students enrolled in a special summer session for law students at the University of Michigan. The first group, who scored highest on the entrance test (Michigan Examination in Structure), attended seminars and classes during the 7-week period that were conducted in English, but had no extra ESL classes. The second group, who scored lower on the entrance test, also attended law classes and had 1 hour daily of ESL in addition. The third group scored lowest on the pre-test and had 2 hours of ESL daily in addition to law classes. At the end of the summer, an alternate form of the pretest was given. While all three groups showed some improvement in performance, Upshur's statistical analysis revealed "no significant effects on language learning attributable to amount of language instruction", and concluded that "foreign language courses may at this time be less effective means for producing language learning than the use of language in other activities". This is a strong version of hypothesis I. Upshur's conclusion appears to be consistent with his data. Krashen and Seliger (1975) suggest, however, that motivated second language students are able to provide themselves with the essential ingredients of formal instruction without going to class. Rule isolation can be done by recourse to a text or by asking informants about grammar, while feedback is available when helpful friends correct the learner. Without extensive probing of the private lives of those involved in the 41
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: predict differences in student achi
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 and 136:
Freed (1980) reports that foreigner
Page 137 and 138:
e boredom. When they overshoot, the
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
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Second Language Acquisition and Second ... - Stephen Krashen

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