Transcript
The role of input in L2 acquisition Isobel Martínez Duce Eloísa Moya Antón
INTRODUCTION: Issues regarding the role of input in L2 acquisition
It is important to distinguish between two broad approaches in the study of the role of input in L2 acquisition and interaction. Some are based on the computational model of L2
input hypothesis
the interaction hypothesis
frequency hypothesis
comprehensible output hypothesis
noticing hypothesis
and the sociocultural theory (Vygotsky's theory of mediating learning and the role attributed to interaction in assisting learners to acquire linguistic skills in goal- directed activities
Introduction: input
First of all, it is very helpful to describe what is Second Language Acquisition (SLA). SLA focuses on the formal features of language. Its goal is to describe the L2 acquisition, to explain it and to identify the external and internal factors that account for why learners acquire an L2 in the way they do. In SLA, there are several factors that influence the learner. They can be internal and external, and so, learning can be modified. Precisely, one of the external factors is the social milieu, and, the other is the input.
What is input?
¨Inputs are the samples of language to which the learner is exposed. Inputs are needed in order to acquire a second language. Without inputs, language learning cannot occur. Input is the primarily linguistic data for the learner. It is a data source for acquisition¨ Depending on the type of inputs, the learning will be different. So, it is important to say, what kind of inputs are better for learning?
TYPES OF INPUTS
Comprehensible input, the language that the learner can readily understand for its meaning Modifying input, the one which is adjusted to the learner in order to let the student understand the meaning of the utterance
Care- taker speech L1: language that adults used to talk to children, it is usually implies simple syntax, lots of repetitions and paraphrasing (usually focuses on child’s behaviour) Foreigner talk L2: Language used by NS when communicating with NNS (focuses on information exchange) Input enhancement, entails any effort to make formal features of language more salient to learners. Positive IE: involves manipulating input in certain ways to make formal feat. More obvious to learners: e.g.: louder voice or stres s,etc. (could be also Foreigner talk) Negative IE: is basically feedback ( in the form, of re-castings, error correction,or any other way of making the learner know he/ she is making a mistake)
THE ROLE OF INPUT
1. Input hypothesis: comprehensible input
Krashen,
language
is
acquired
throughout
2. Interaction Hypothesis: also considers comprehensible input but it makes more emphasis on the interaction and the negotiation of meaning
Introduction: the input hypothesis
Before we explain what is about the input hypothesis, it is better to clarify what says the natural order hypothesis. The natural order hypothesis says that we acquire the rules of language in a predictable order; some rules come earlier than others. Knowing this, the input hypothesis is strongly related to the natural order hypothesis in that:
INPUT HYPOTHESIS It claims that we move along the development continuum by receiving comprehensible input. Comprehensible input is defined as second language competence, in terms of its syntactic complexity. If the learner’s current competence is I then comprehensible input is i+1, the next step in the developmental sequence. Input which is either too simple (already acquired) or too complex (i+2/3/4) will not be useful for acquisition.
(Krashen, 1985, p.2)
Input is the only necessary condition for language learning.
¨the more input is queried, recycled and paraphrased; the better conditions are offered to increase its comprehensibility, the greater its potential usefulness as input. The exposure to comprehensible input is necessary and sufficient for Second Language Learning take place¨
INPUT PROCESSING
It refers to how learners connect meaning and function with formal features of language in the input, and the strategies and mechanisms that guide and direct the processes in doing this.
Underlying idea: • Acquisition • Learners
is input dependent.
get data during the act of comprehension
• Comprehension
implies extracting meaning from input
Input processing
How do learners get linguistic data from the input while they are attempting to comprehend the language?
Something must be filtering this data, this is the focus of input processing research
PRINCIPLES WITHIN THE INPUT HYPOTHESIS
First noun principle : is the tendency learners have to process the first noun or pronoun in the sentence as its subject. ( fine for lang, SVO, but not others) •
lexical preference principle: learners will process lexical forms for meaning before grammatical forms when both encode the same semantic information. •
e.g.: We travelled to London yestarday. Learners parse sentences paying attention to content words and somehow ignoring grammatical inflections. They will take as a time indicator yesterday and to the _ed Past.
Sentence location principle: learners tend to process elements in sentence initial position,and sometimes final position, before than those in mid position. •
WEAKNESSES OR FLAW AREAS
•
it doesn´t provide a clear insight of the parsing of input and the procedures to link form to meaning.
• It
The name most widely associated with input processing is Bill Van Patten.
does not explain how intake, (language kept in the working memory) becomes finally integrated into the developing interlanguage system.
From input to intake
Differences between input and intake
Input is the first linguistic data Intake is known as the linguistic data processed from the input and held i t in the working memory but not yet acquired
Difference between acquisition and learning
Acquisition refers to the ¨subconscious process identical in all important ways to the process children utilize in acquiring their first language¨ (Krashen, 1985) Learning refers to the ¨conscious process that results in knowing about language¨ (Krashen, 1985, p. 45)
From input to intake
There are several factors that intervene in the acquisition of the second language. It is useful to make clear the difference among input, the language to which learners are exposed; intake, the incorporation of the input in the memory of the learner; and output, the automatic use of the input. ¨A process which mediates between target language input and the learner’s internalized set of rules¨ Chaudron, 1985
INTAKE
OUTPUT
INPUT
THE ROLE OF INPUT WITHIN THE INTERACTION HYPOTHESIS
In the 80s Long in a attempt to justified the importance of input SLL, input should not be fed into the learners' supposed linguistic internal device, but rather negotiated, and it is through this negotiation of meaning that the nature of meaning will be qualitatively changed.
“the more
input was queried, recycled and paraphrased, to increase its comprehensibility, the greater its potential usefulness as input, because it should become increasingly well-targeted to the particular developmental needs of the learner” (Long 1981, 1983, 1996)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ellis, R. (2008). The Study of Second Language Acquisition (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press Rosamond, M. & Florence, M (2004). Second Language Learning Theories (2nd ed.). Hodder Arnold Arellano S.J. , Fernando (1997). Historia de la lingüística, Tomo II. La lingüística del siglo XX, Caracas: Universidad Católica Andrés Bello
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