Second Language Acquisition and Second ... - Stephen Krashen

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study, however, this alternative explanation is untestable. Nevertheless, it may be true. Mason (1971) is also interpretable in these two ways. In this study, certain foreign students at the University of Hawaii were allowed to follow regular academic programs without extra ESL, despite the fact that their English placement scores indicated that they should be enrolled in English for foreign student classes. Posttests given at the end of the semester showed no significant difference in increase in English proficiency between those excused from ESL and controls who took the required ESL classes. These data are again consistent with hypothesis I, but other explanations are available, including the "self-study" hypothesis described above, which is consistent with hypothesis II. Carroll (1967) studied the second language proficiency of American college seniors majoring in foreign languages (French, German, Russian, Spanish). About 25 per cent of the total population of senior language majors that year (N = 2784) were given form A of the MLA Foreign Language Proficiency test in their language. Carroll's major finding was that, on the average, foreign language majors performed rather poorly: the median score on the MLA corresponded to a Foreign Service Institute rating of 2 plus (out of 5) (between "limited working proficiency" and "minimum professional proficiency"). Of more interest here is the relation found between attainment * and measures of time spent in different linguistic environments. A strong relationship was found between time spent abroad (in the country where the target language was spoken) and test performance, with those who reported a year's study abroad doing best, followed by those who reported a summer abroad or a tour. Both of these groups outperformed those who had never been in the country where the target language was spoken. A significant relationship was also found between test performance and the extent to which the target language was used in the students' home. (Native speakers of the language majored in were excluded from the study.) Those reporting frequent parental use of the target * The listening subtest alone was used in this and subsequent analyses, as intercorrelations among subtests was high. 42
language had higher scores than students who reported occasional use, and this latter group outperformed those whose parents did not or could not speak the target language at home. These two findings (time abroad and parental use) are consistent with hypothesis I but could fit hypothesis II: use of the language at home may have increased motivation to study, and time spent abroad may have meant more formal study and/or more chances for self-study, as well as increased motivation to learn formally. Hypothesis II also receives independent support from Carroll's study. It was found that those who started foreign language study early (grade school) achieved better scores. Those who studied the target language in high school did better than those who started in college (German majors were an exception to this). This relationship was independent of that found between proficiency and time spent in informal environments. Carroll notes that "the simplest explanation of this finding is that the attainment of skill in a foreign language is a function of the amount of time spent in its study" (p. 136). The following series of studies also argue for hypothesis II. Krashen and Seliger (1976) and Krashen, Seliger, and Hartnett (1974) claim that when the effects of "exposure" and formal instruction are compared, it is reliably the case that more instruction means higher proficiency, while more exposure does not necessarily mean more proficiency in ESL. Both studies compared instruction and exposure by matching pairs of foreign students for one of these variables and seeing whether the student who excelled on the other was more proficient in English. The measure of the amount of formal instruction was simply the students' report of the number of years he or she had studied English in a school situation. No questions were asked concerning factors such as the methodology used, the presence or absence of a language laboratory, how often the class met, the amount of time the student devoted to his studies, or grades received. In Krashen and Seliger (1976), exposure was defined as the product of the number of years the student reported having spent in an English-speaking country and how much English the student said he spoke every day (on a scale of 1 to 10). In Krashen et al. (1974) students were asked to indicate years spent in an English-speaking country and also to indicate how much 43
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: settle the issue of whether adults
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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