reading sla

B3 – Corden

• How is learning of L1 different from learning L2?

• Motivation – learning of L1 is inevitable, L2 not

• Hypothesis – human infant is born with an innate predisposition to acquire language, that he must be exposed to language for the acquisition process to start, the process is still largely unknown to us

• When L1 is not learned by age of 12, the person looses the ability to learn any language

• When learning L1, mistakes are important – it shows us that the child is using its own mind and not only repeats something he had heard – which comes with making mistakes

• Errors – you have some system, but it is not the right one (-ed for all past verbs), mistakes – non-systematic - tiredness

B3 – Kellerman

• Homoiophobia = feelings learners of L2 sometimes have that for particular language structures, L1 an L2 should differ from each other (usually occurs between two languages that are very similar)

• Examples: dutch learners of English and their idiomatic expressions with direct equivalents in Dutch, they are received with suspicion – or as a joke, too much literal translation

• Prototype – best example of a category, influenced by your homeland, nationality…

• People tend to adopt more conservative approach to parallelism between the languages

• What can be transferred into L2 seems to depend on prototypicality in the native language (Derives from actual physical experience of activities like breaking, and it is degree of prototypicality of a particular usage that will determine whether it is considered transferable of not

• => learners will be careful when transferring their knowledge of L1 into L2

B3 – Gregg

• Criticised Krashen and his hypotheses because he did not give any substantial evidence to support his claims

• SLA is too complex to be answered in single theory

• Krashen – learning does not turn into acquisition – Gregg criticised it heavily

• Better understood when reading the original text – go on page 137-142

Selinker & Grass – Chapter 7

• Chapter studies two approaches – typological (patterns exhibited in all languages) and functional (how language functions)

Typological approach

• Studies differences/similarities in laguages all over the world

• Tries to determine types of languages, even the ones that are not adjacent and not geographically related

• Many of the features are expressed in terms of implications (when language has X, it will also have Y)

• Typological approach is studied by Greenberg (1963)

• Many universals in Greenbergs work are based on word order

• Languages as “head-initial” or “head-final” – the head is the verb, noun, or a preposition

• Head-initial – verb will precede the noun, head-final – verb will follow the object

• All universal are true for primary languages are also true for interlanguages

• Universals can affect the shape of learners grammar, the acquisition of order

• Accessibility hierarchy (universal dealing with relative clause formation) – one can predict the types of relative clauses that a given language will have based on the following hierarchy

• Test case II studies the relationships between universals and second language acquisition, studies acquisition of questions (Can Greenbergs universals for natural languages be also true for second languages?)

• Wh- inversion implies wh- fronting

• Yes/no inversion implies wh- inversion

• With second language, we are hoping for getting only probabilistic predictions

• Test case III voiced/voiceless consonants (word-final voiced and voiceless consonants