WELCOME TO LANE 423 APPLIED LINGUISTIC PREPARED BY

WELCOME TO LANE 423 APPLIED LINGUISTIC PREPARED BY DR. ANWAR NAKSHABANDI

LANE 423 – APPLIED LINGUISTICS (3 UNITS) Prerequisite: Lane 321 Introduction to Linguistics. Course description: This course is meant to be a general survey of applied linguistics. Its objective is to acquaint students with the application of linguistic theories, methods and findings to the explanation of language problems encountered in learning foreign/second languages. It also aims at exploring students to various theories of first and second language acquisition and learning, and the different factors that affect language acquisition and learning. A special emphasis is put on the learning of English as a second/foreign language (ESL/EFL). Course objectives: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: 1. Define applied linguistics, language, learning and teaching, 2. Know the schools of thought in first and second language acquisition. 3. Compare and contrast the various theories of first and second language acquisition. 4. Identify various issues in first and second language acquisition. 5. Identify the different teaching methodologies.

Textbook: Principles of Language Learning and Teaching by Douglas Brown (4 th edition). It is available at Dar Khawarizm & Al-Amin bookstore. Topics to be covered: • Introduction: What is Applied Linguistics? • 1. Language, Learning, and Teaching. • 2. First Language Acquisition. • 3. Age and Acquisition. • 4. Human Learning. (pp. 103 -108). The final exam will be T/F statements. • • Instructor: Dr. Anwar Nakshabandi. E-mail: anlingworld@gmail. com, Web site: www. kau. edu. sa/ANWARN. Office no. (487) Dept. – Tel. 6951162. Mobile: (Only SMS) 0505646356. Office hours: Sat-Mon: 4 -5 pm&7 -8 pm or by appointment.

THE INTRODUCTION WHAT IS APPLIED LINGUISTICS?

• Linguistics in all its varieties and its interdisciplinary areas (such as psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics and ethnolinguistics ) is a discipline which is relatively new, growing and still in search of stable philosophical foundations and boundaries. • Applied linguistics is more difficult to define and it has been considered a subarea of linguistics for several years. It has been generally interpreted to mean the applications of linguistic principles or theories to certain more or less linguistic practical matters such as second language teaching and the teaching of reading, composition and language arts, speech therapy , speech disorders etc….

• -Applied linguistics uses information from sociology, anthropology, and information theory as well as from linguistics in order to develop its own theoretical models of language and language use, and then uses this information and theory in practical areas such as syllabus design, speech therapy, language planning, literacy, and bilingualism.

• • • Therefore, applied linguistics involves: a- what we know about language b- how it is learned c- how it is used The primary concern of applied linguistics has been second / foreign language acquisition theory, second language pedagogy. • In the British tradition, applied linguistics is synonymous with language teaching.

• To understand the limits and scope of applied linguistics, we have to distinguish between theoretical or pure linguistics on one hand applied linguistics on the other hand. Though the efforts to separate linguistics and applied linguistics have proved to be unfruitful and opinionated rather than informed. • To define what applied linguistics is or is not we have to examine the term linguistics.

• • Linguistics: Linguistics is the study of language. Linguistics is the science of language. Linguistics is the scientific discipline the goal of which is the construction of theory or an extended definition of language. • One way to gain a grasp of what the issues are in constructing a theory of language is to examine some definitions of language.

• • • Language is a system of arbitrary, vocal symbols which permit all people in a given culture, or other people who have learned the system of that culture, to communicate or to interact (Finocchiaro, 1964). Language is a system of communication by sound, operating through the organs of speech and hearing, among members of a given community, and using vocal symbols possessing arbitrary conventional meanings (Pei, 1966). Language is any set or system of linguistic symbols as used in a more or less uniform fashion by a number of people who are thus enabled to communicate intelligibly with one another (Random House, 1966). Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication (Wardhaugh, 1972). Language is any means, vocal or other, of expressing or communicating feeling or thought …. a system of conventionalized signs, especially words or gestures having fixed meanings (Neilson, 1934). Language is a systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the use of conventionalized signs, sounds, gestures, or marks having understood meanings (Gove, 1961).

• All the definitions relate to the central goal of linguistic study; that is: discovering what language is. • Many of the significant parameters of language are illustrated through these definitions. • Other definitions include the concepts of: • The generativity or creativity of language. • The primacy of speech over writing. • The universality of language among human beings. • Some of the controversies about the nature of language are illustrated through the restrictions of these definitions such as (vocal symbols) as a proper domain of language. And (human language) implying that animal language and communication is different.

• The above definitions yield the following composite definition of language : • Language is systematic – possibly a generative system. • Language is a set of arbitrary symbols. • Those symbols are primarily vocal, but may also be visual. • The symbols have conventionalized meanings to which they refer. • Language is used for communication. • Language operates in a speech community or culture. • Language is essentially human, although possibly not limited to humans. • Language is acquired by all people in much the same way – language and languages learning both have universal characteristics.

• Every discipline has its theoretical and its applied aspects. These aspects are usually (mutually inclusive) i. e. theory and practice are mutually interdependent and complement each other ( an area of inquiry may prove certain application of theory to practice and at the same time contributes to a better understanding of the particular phenomenon).

• Some linguists tried to draw the bounds that separate applied and theoretical linguistics: • -Politzer (1972) discussed applied linguistics with particular reference to Foreign Language Teaching. He noted that applied linguistics in Foreign Language Teaching requires the use of linguistics to formulate assumptions about Foreign Language Teaching and learning and also to devise teaching procedures based on these assumptions “linguistics is the source of assumptions rather than the source of conclusions”. Applied linguistics is not a finite body of knowledge that can be acquired, it is ultimately a habit, a way of using linguistics conceptualization to define and solve pedagogical problems. • So, for Politzer , then there is a definable area called “linguistics” and applied linguistics is simply the process of formulating possible solutions to specific (pedagogical) problems using linguistic theory.

• Pap (1972) discussed applied linguistics beyond language teaching and concludes that applied linguistics may in effect be considered a crossroads or an interdisciplinary area, or a combination of linguistics with psychology, pedagogy mathematics, electronics, politics science and so forth. Thus he stresses the interdisciplinary nature of applied linguistics. • Corder (1973) in reaction to the British usage of the term applied linguistics, as synonymous with language teaching, points out that “whilst applied linguistics and language teaching may be closely associated, they are not one and the same activity”.

• Corder defines applied linguistics as “the application of linguistic knowledge to some object. Or as an activity “it is not a theoretical study as it makes use of the findings of theoretical studies. It is a consumer or user not a producer of theories. • But the purity of so-called pure linguistics is becoming impossible to maintain as Lakoff(1976) notes that linguistics is heading in the direction of practicality of theoretical discoveries and application will be as valuable as pure theoretical contributions to knowledge have been.

• Conclusion : • Applied linguistics refers to the application of linguistic principles or theories to certain practical problems in the real world such as (second language teaching, translation, lexicography, teaching of reading, etc…) • In the British tradition, applied linguistics is synonymous with language teaching. • Every discipline has its theoretical and its applied aspects. These aspects are usually (mutually inclusive) i. e. theory and practice are mutually interdependent and complement each other and there are no clear cut boundaries between them. They are overlapping.

• Corder’s definition of the applied linguist as a consumer of theories and possibly Politzer’s idea of linguistics as a source of assumptions and hypotheses tend to concretize the definition of applied linguistics. • Applied linguistics implies the interdisciplinary relationship as Pap noted. • Applied and theoretical linguistics are not mutually exclusive; theory and practice are mutually interdependent and complement each other. • The strongest theories are those which have been thoroughly tested by applied research; and the best applied activity is that which is carefully and scientifically based on (facts) the explanatory power of a theoretical paradigm.

CHAPTER ONE LANGUAGE, LEARNING, AND TEACHING

Introduction: • Learning a second Language is a long and complex undertaking. • In SLA, you have to go beyond the confines of your first language into a new language, new culture, new way of thinking, feeling and acting. • Language is not a quick do-it- yourself kit. (interaction is of a great demand. ) • Teaching process can be looked at as the facilitation of learning.

CURRENT ISSUES IN SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING: • Here are some questions asked about this complex process: WHO? • QUESTIONS RELATED TO LEARNERS: • Who are these learners? • Where do they come from? • What are their native languages? • What are their levels of education? • What are their socioeconomic levels? • Who are their parents? • What are their intellectual capacities? • What sorts of personalities do they have?

QUESTIONS RELATED TO TEACHERS: • What is the teacher's native language? • His experience and/or training? • His knowledge of the second language and its culture? • His philosophy of education? • His personality characteristics? • MOST IMPORTANT: • How do the teacher and the student interact with each other?

WHAT? • What is it that the learner must learn and the teacher must teach? • What is communication? • What is language? • What does it mean when we say someone knows how to use a language? • What are the linguistic differences between the first and the second language? - These questions are central to the discipline of linguistics. The language teacher needs to understand the system and functioning of the second language and the differences between the first and the second language of the learner.

HOW? • How does learning take place? • How can a person ensure success in language learning? • What cognitive processes are utilized in language learning? • What kinds of strategies does the learner use? • What is the optimal interrelationship of cognitive and physical domains for successful language learning?

WHEN? • When does second language learning take place? - One of the key issues in second language learning and teaching is the differential success of children and adults in learning a second language. • What amount of time is spent in the activity of learning a second language? WHERE? • Within the cultural and linguistic milieu (environment) of the second language? OR • In an artificial environment ?

WHY? • Why do learners acquire the second language? • What are their purposes? • Are they motivated by: • the achievement of a successful career? OR • passing a foreign language requirement? OR • wishing to identify closely with the culture of the second language? ********************************** • "Normal Science" is a process of puzzle solving in which the task of the scientist, (the teacher) is to discover the pieces and then fit them together. Some of the pieces are well established while others are not yet discovered. • Therefore, the second language teacher needs to form an integrated understanding of the many aspects of the process of second language learning.

• • LANGUAGE A definition of a concept is a statement that captures its key features. Those features may vary depending on your own understanding of the construct. That understanding is a theory that explicates (explain) the construct. So, a definition of a term may be a condensed version of a theory. Oversimplified definition of language: (systematic communication by vocal symbols). • • Synthesized definition of language: ( a system of arbitrary conventionalized vocal, written, or gestural symbols that enable members of a given community to communicate intelligibly with one another). The followings are some features of Language: • Language is systematic – possibly a generative system. • Language is a set of arbitrary symbols. • Those symbols are primarily vocal, but may also be visual. • The symbols have conventionalized meanings to which they refer. • Language is used for communication. • Language operates in a speech community or culture. • Language is essentially human, although possibly not limited to humans. • Language is acquired by all people in much the same way – language and languages learning both have universal characteristics. • Conclusion: - Your understanding of the components of language determines to a large extent how you teach a language.

LEARNING AND TEACHING • Learning: • Traditional Definition: { acquiring or getting of knowledge by study, experience or instruction. } • More Specialized definition: {a relatively permanent change in a behavioral tendency and is the result of reinforced practice. } • Teaching: • As implied in the definition of learning; is showing or helping someone to learn how to do something, giving instructions, guiding in the study of something, providing with knowledge, causing to know or understand. • Teaching cannot be defined apart from learning. • Teaching is guiding and facilitating learning; enabling the learner to learn; setting the conditions of learning.

Conclusion: • Your understanding of how the learner learns determines your philosophy of education, teaching, style, approach, methods and classroom techniques. • e. g. if you view second language learning as a deductive rather than an inductive process, you will probably choose to present copious (many) rules and paradigms to your students rather than let them discover those rules inductively. • Your theory of teaching is your theory of learning "stood on its head".

SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION 1. Structuralism and Behaviorism 2. Rationalism and Cognitive Psychology 3. Constructivism

STRUCTURALISM / BEHAVIORISM Time frame: Early 1900 s&1940 s&1950 s. Scholars: Bloomfield, Sapir, Hockett, Fries, Twaddell, Skinner, Pavlov. Linguist’s Task: to describe human languages and to identify the structural characteristics of those languages, rigorously applying the scientific principle of observation on human language. • Languages differ from each other without Limit.

Main characteristics and tools: • Descriptive approach (answering ‘what’). • Examined Surface Structure only. • Focusing on publicly observable responses, those that can be objectively perceived, recorded, and measured. • Typical behavioristic models like: Operant conditioning, rote verbal learning, instrumental learning, discrimination learning, and other empirical approaches to studying human behavior.

• Nonmentalistic view of language “that mind does not exist…”. Concepts as consciousness and intuition were regarded as “mentalistic”, illegitimate domains of inquiry. • Language could be dismantled into small pieces or units which could be described scientifically, contrasted, and added up again to form up the whole.

Criticism: • It examines only the overtly observable data. • Because of its nonmentalistic view of language, it is impossible to examine topics such as consciousness, thinking, concept formation, or the acquisition of knowledge. • Conditioning organisms to respond in desired ways.

Rationalism and Cognitive Psychology Time Frame: 1960 s to 1970 s. Scholars: Noam Chomsky, (Ferdinand de Saussure (1916) who planted the early seeds of the generative-transformational revolution). Linguist’s task: The generative linguist is interested not only in describing language (achieving the level of descriptive adequacy) but also in arriving at an explanatory level of adequacy in the study of language.

Main Characteristics and tools: • Rational approach (answering ‘why’). • The distinction between the overtly observable aspects of language, i. e. ‘performance’ and the hidden levels of meaning and thought that generates observable linguistic performance, i. e. ’Competence’. • Competence is our underlying unobservable language ability. • Instead of focusing rather mechanistically on stimulus-response connections, cognitivists tried to discover underlying motivations and deeper structure of human behavior.

• They employed the tools of logic, reason, extrapolation and inference to derive explanations for human behavior. • Deep structure and Universal Grammar. Criticism: • They lose some ground by daring to ask some difficult questions about the Unobserved. * Dealt with language without social context.

Constructivism Time Frame: 1980 s, 1990 s & early 2000. Scholars: Jean Piaget and Lev Vegotsky. Linguist’s Task: The linguist, the Constructivist, emphasizes that the social Interaction is foundational in cognitive development and reject the notion of predetermined stages. Main Characteristics: • All human beings construct their own version of reality and therefore multiple contrasting ways of knowing and describing are equally legitimate.

They focus on: • The Social context. • That sociocultural factors are very important in the process of learning. • Interactive discourse. • Interlanguage variabilty.

LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODOLOGY • The cyclical pattern : • It is the case when a new paradigm of teaching methodology breaks from the old one but at the same time takes with it some of the positive aspects of the pervious paradigm. • Historical sequence of teaching methods: • Grammar-Translation Method. • Direct Method • Audiolingual Method. • Communicative Language Teaching. • Today, Language Teaching is not essentially categorized into methods and trends. Instead, each language teacher is called on to develop a sound overall approach to various language classrooms. It is called the Eclectic Approach and it is the best approach. • No quick and easy method is guaranteed to provide success. Since every learner is unique, every teacher is unique, every context is unique, and every learner-teacher is unique.

THE GAMMAR TRANSLATION METHOD (see pp. 15 -16) • • • Classes are taught in the mother tongue, with little active use of the target language. Much vocabulary is taught in the form of lists of isolated words. Long elaborate explanations of the intricacies of grammar are given. Grammar provides the rules for putting words together, and instruction often focuses on the form of inflection of words. Reading of difficult classical texts is begun early. Little attention is paid to the content of texts, which are treated as exercises in grammatical analysis. Often the only drills are exercises in translating disconnected sentences from the target language into the mother tongue. Little or no attention is given to pronunciation. This method does nothing to enhance a student's communicative ability in language. It requires few specialized skills on the part of the teachers. It is a method for which there is no theory.

CHAPTER TWO FIRST LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

• The concern of language acquisition goes back to the eighteenth century specifically to the German philosopher Tiedemann when he recorded his observation of the psychological and linguistic development of his son. But the real beginning started in the second half of the twentieth century. • This chapter outlines issues in first language learning as a foundation on which we can build an understanding of principles of second language learning.

• Theories of First Language Acquisition (FLA ) Behavioristic Approaches: • -Behaviorist believe in the stimulus and responses as the way of learning. If such response is reinforced then learning takes place. • -Skinner focused on learning by Operant conditioning which refers to learning by reinforcing the good response which results in increasing and keeping of what have been learnt. But Chomsky criticized this theory. • -Behaviorists proposed a modified theory called mediation theory in which meaning was accounted for by the linguistic stimulus. • -Osgood called it " representational mediation process " Which is about what is going on the learner's brain.

The Nativist Approach: • The pioneers of this field believe that a child is born with a genetic capacity (innate ability) to perceive any language exposed to. This Innateness hypotheses gained support from: • Eric Lenneberg (1967) who proposed that language is a • " species specific " behavior and that language-related mechanisms are biologically determined. • According to Chomsky ( 1965 ) this innate knowledge is embodied in a " little black box" of sorts, a language acquisition device (LAD). • Mc Neil ( 1966 ) described LAD as : • The ability to distinguish speech sound from other sounds, • The ability to organize linguistic data, • Knowledge that only a certain kind of linguistic system is possible, and • The ability to engage in constant evaluation of the developing linguistic system.

• -Researchers in the nativist tradition focused on what has come to be known as ( UG ) • Universal Grammar positing that all human beings are genetically equipped with abilities that enable them to acquire language. • -The early grammars of child language were referred to as pivot grammars. It was observed that the child’s first two-word utterances seemed to manifest two separate word classes, and not simply two words thrown together at random. • - Sentence Pivot word + Open word e. g. My cap , That horsie • - Spolsky (1989) mentioned the (PDP) parallel distributed processing in which neurons in the brain are said to form multiple connections, thus a child's linguistic performance is the consequence of many levels of simultaneous neural interconnections.

• Functional Approaches: • Two emphasis have emerged : • 1– Language was one manifestation of the cognitive and affective ability to deal with the world, with others and with the self. • 2 – The generative rules were abstract, formal, explicit and quite logical even though dealt specifically with the forms of language (morphemes, words, sentences, and the rules that govern them) and not with the deeper functional levels of meaning constructed from social interaction. • Functions are the meaningful, interactive purposes within a social pragmatic context that we accomplish with the forms.

• Cognition and Language Development: • Lois Bloom ( 1971 ) criticized the Pivot Grammar in which the nativist believe that the relationship in which words occur in pivot utterances are only superficially similar. She said that children learn underlying structures, and not superficial word order. Depending on the social context “Mommy sock” could mean a number of different things to a child. • Piaget, Wanner as well as Bloom believe that what children learn about language is determined by what they already know about the world (focus on the relationship of cognitive development to first language acquisition).

• Dan Slobin ( 1971 ) demonstrated that in all languages, semantic learning depends on cognitive development. He also mentioned the importance of semantic complexity over structure complexity. • -So child language researchers began to tackle the formulation of the rules of the functions of language and the relationships of the forms of language to those functions. • Social Interaction and Language Development: • Here we see the importance of interaction to develop the language. • Holzman ( 1984 ) proposed " a reciprocal” behavior system which focus on a child's communication with adults.

ISSUES IN FIRST LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: • Competence and Performance: • Competence refers to one's underlying knowledge of a system, event or fact. It is non-observable ability. It can be assessed by tests and examinations. • In language , it is the underlying knowledge of the system of a language: its rules of grammar, its vocabulary and all the pieces of language and how those pieces fit together.

• Performance is the overtly observable and concrete manifestation of competence. It is the actual doing of something e. g. walking, singing and so on. • In language , it is the actual production (speaking , writing) or the comprehension (listening , reading) of linguistic events. • -Chomsky ( 1965 ) likened competence to an • " idealized" speaker-hearer who doesn't display performance variables. • -Chomsky's point is that the linguist should concentrate on competence to avoid performance variables which are not reflective of the underlying linguistic ability of the speakerhearer.

• Comprehension and Production: • -Children are more superior in comprehension than in production. Children seem to understand more than they actually produce. • -Miller ( 1963 ) mentioned his own experience with Lisa (3 year-old child) as he uttered her name in a wrong way. • -Gathercole ( 1988 ) reported that children could produce aspects of language they could not comprehend. • There should be a distinction between production competence and comprehension competence. The four skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing) are all separate modes of performance.

• Nature or Nurture ? • -Nativists contend that a child is born with an innate knowledge of language and that this property (LAD or UG) is universal in all human beings. This innateness hypothesis contradicted the behavioristic notion that language is a set of habits that can be acquired by a process of conditioning. • -Linguists also mentioned the importance of environmental factors (behaviors that are learned and internalized by environmental exposure -- by “nurture”, by teaching). • -Derek Bickerton ( 1981 ) reported that human beings are " bio-programmed ' to proceed from stage to stage. People are programmed to release certain properties of language at certain developmental stages.

• Universals: • -Language is universally acquired in the same manner and moreover, that the deep structure of language at its deepest level is common to all languages. • -Slobin and others (1986, 1992) found interesting universals of pivot grammar and other telegraphese among different languages. • -According to UG, languages cannot vary in an infinite number of ways. Parameters determine ways in which languages can vary. For example, languages are either “head first” or “head last”.

• Systematicity and Variability: • Children acquire language in a systematic way, but in the midst of all this systematicity, there is an equally remarkable amount of variability in the process of learning. One of the major current research problems is to account for all this variability, what is now variable can be systematic one day. • Language and Thought: • -There is a relationship between language and cognition. • -Language is a way of life, it interacts simultaneously with thoughts and feelings. • -There is influence of language on cognitive development and vice versa. • -The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis of linguistic relativity claims that each language imposes on its speakers a particular “world view” i. e. language affects thought.

• Imitation: • -Imitation is one of the important strategies a child uses in the acquisition of a given language. Children are excellent imitators. • -Behaviorists believe in surface structure imitation. • -There are two types of imitations: • 1 -Surface structure imitation where a person repeats or mimics the surface strings attending to a phonological code rather than a semantic code. • 2 -The deeper structure level i. e. the meaningful semantic level. As children perceive the importance of the semantic level of language they attend to the deeper structure of language, so they engage in deep structure imitation. Children focus on meaning and they become poor imitators of surface structure. Here, the attention is paid to deep feelings ( meaning value) or it is called ( truth value).

• Practice: • -Practice is usually thought of as referring to speaking only, but there is comprehension practice also. • -Children practice language constantly especially in the early stages of language acquisition. • -A behavioristic model of first language acquisition would claim that practice-repetition and association-is the key to the formation of habits by operant conditioning. • -Nativists claim that the relative frequency of stimuli is of little importance in language acquisition. But frequency of meaningful occurrence may be more precise refinement to the notion of frequency.

• Input: • -What a child receives from adults is mostly random and haphazard sample. • -The importance of the issue lies in the fact that it is clear that adult and peer input to the child is far more important than what nativist earlier believed in. • - Children react to the deep structures and communicative functions of language and not to expressions of grammatical corrections. • Discourse: • -The child learns not only how to initiate a conversation but how to response to another's initiating utterances. • -Children learn the differences between assertions and challenges, they learn that utterances have both literal and an intended meaning.

• In the Classroom: • Gouin and Berlitz: . • -Francois Gouin (1880 ) stated that language learning is primarily a matter of transforming perception into conception. Children use the language to represent their conceptions. Language is a means of thinking of representing the world to oneself. Gouin devised a teaching method called the Series Method that taught learners directly (without translation) and conceptually (without grammatical rules and explanations) a “series” of connected sentences that are easy to perceive.

• - Charles Berlitz introduced what is called the Direct Method. • -The basic idea behind Berlitz’s method was that second learning should be more like first language learning: • - lots of active oral interaction, • - spontaneous use of language, • - no translation between first and second languages, and • - little or no analysis of grammatical rules. .

• Criticism: • This method did not take well in public education. It was criticized for its weak theoretical foundations. • By the end of the first quarter of the twentieth century its use was declined in Europe and the United States, but it returned in the middle of the 20 th century with a new shape called the Audiolingual Method.

CHAPTER THREE AGE AND ACQUISITION

• Children acquire their first language easily and perfectly while adults learning a second language meet great difficulty and sometimes failure. So, what are the effects of age on language acquisition? • Disproving myths about the relationship between first and second language: • Some people draw a direct analogy between first and second language learning. H. Stern (1970) summarized this analogy in seven points: • 1 -In learning a foreign language, we must practice and practice. Children repeat things over and over again. • 2 -Language learning is a matter of imitation. Small children imitate everything.

• 3 -We should practice sounds, then words, then sentences. That is the natural order and it applies to foreign language learning. • 4 -A child first listens, then he speaks. Therefore, this order should be followed in foreign language learning. • 5 -The natural order for first and second language learning is: listening, speaking, reading and writing. • 6 -Children learn their languages without translation, so foreign language learning should follow the same procedure. • 7 -Children simply use language. It is unnecessary to use grammatical concepts when teaching a foreign language.

• Criticism to this direct analogy of second language learning to first language acquisition: • The above statements represent the views of the Audiolingual Method (Behavioristic Theory) that looks at first language acquisition as a process of rote practice, habit formation. They think that second language learning involves the same procedures of the first language acquisition. • Ausubel , a cognitivist, (1964) issued the following warnings on drawing a direct analogy between first and second language acquisition without bearing in mind the physical, cognitive, and affective differences between adults and children:

• Rote learning practice of audiolingual drills lacks meaningfulness. • Grammar is important since adults learning a foreign language could benefit from the deductive presentations. • The native language of the learner is not just an interfering factor. It can be facilitating. • The written form of the language could be beneficial. • Students could be overwhelmed by language spoken at its natural speed.

• Types of comparison and contrast between first and second language acquisition: • It is important to distinguish between three types of age and language acquisition comparisons. • The following figure illustrates the possible comparisons between children and adults according to age and type of acquisition:

• • C 1 = child acquiring his first language. A 1 = adult acquiring his first language. C 2 = child acquiring his second language. A 2 = adult acquiring his second language.

• Notes: • Cell (A 1) is an abnormal situation. It will be ignored. • (C 1 – C 2) comparison (children acquiring their first and second language). • (C 2 – A 2) comparison (second language acquisition in children and adults).

• (C 1 – A 2) comparison (first language acquisition in children and second language acquisition in adults). This comparison must be made with caution bearing in mind the cognitive, affective, physical differences between children and adults.

• The following issues will focus on (C 1 – C 2) and (C 2 – A 2) and try to investigate the relationship between age and language acquisition: • The Critical Period Hypothesis: • This hypothesis claims that there is a critical period for language acquisition which is a biologically determined timetable of life when language can be acquired more easily and beyond which language is increasingly difficult to acquire.

• The (CPH) was initially connected only to first language acquisition. Scovel (1988) and others think that the (CPH) applies to second language acquisition and that it occurs around puberty, beyond which people seem to be relatively incapable of acquiring a second language. • For more evidence about the existence of this period and whether it is only accentrelated critical period, we should look at neurological, cognitive, affective, and linguistic considerations.

• Neurological Considerations: • What is the role of the neurological development of the brain in the process of language acquisition? • Hemispheric Lateralization: • Lateralization means that: as the human brain matures, certain functions are assigned to the left hemisphere (the intellectual, logical and analytic functions). And other functions such as the (emotional and social needs) are assigned to the right hemisphere. Language functions appear to be controlled mainly in the left hemisphere.

• But, when and how lateralization takes place? • As the child matures into adulthood, the left hemisphere becomes more dominant than the right hemisphere. This dominance contributes to overgeneralize and to be too intellectually centered on the task of second language learning. • Eric Lenneberg (1967) suggested that lateralization is a slow process that begins around the age of two and ends around puberty. • Scovel (1969) proposed a relationship between lateralization and second language learning. It is difficult to acquire fluent control of a second language or an “authentic” (native like) pronunciation of the second language after lateralization is accomplished. • This, in turn, supports that there is a critical period not only for first language but also for second language acquisition.

• • • Biological Timetables: The socio-biological critical period claims that accent is biologically preprogrammed in various species and in human beings. It enables species to form an identity with their own community. This accent is stabilized at puberty. Research supports the idea that persons beyond the age of puberty do not acquire “authentic” (native-like) pronunciation of the second language.

• Right-Hemispheric Participation: • This is about the role of the right hemisphere in the acquisition of a second language. • Obler (1981) stated that this participation is particularly active during the early stages of learning a second language. • This participation is defined as “strategies” of acquisition: for example: • The strategy of guessing at meanings. • The strategy of using formulaic utterances. • This, also, supports the CPH.

• Anthropological Evidence: • Some adults have been known to override the neurological critical period effects and achieve a perfect native-like pronunciation of a foreign language after the age of puberty. But, these cases are few and far between. In many cases, native speakers of English were judged to be nonnative. This left the strong CPH unchallenged.

• The Significance of Accent: • According to researches of age and accent acquisition, we are left with a powerful evidence of a critical period for accent but, for accent only. • It is important to remember that pronunciation of a language is not the sole criterion for acquisition and not the most important one. Some people have less than perfect pronunciation but who have fluent control of a second language that can exceed that of many native speakers. • Conclusion: -The acquisition of the communicative and functional purpose of a language is more important than a perfect native accent.

• Cognitive Considerations: • Human cognition develops rapidly through the first 16 years of life and less rapidly thereafter. Some of these cognitive changes are critical. • According to the different outlines of the course of intellectual development in a child, there is a critical stage of the effects of age on second language acquisition that appears in Piaget’s outline at puberty (at this stage the person becomes capable of abstraction, formal thinking and direct perception).

• Ausbel (1964) noted that at this stage, adults learning a second language could profit from certain grammatical explanations and deductive thinking that obviously would be pointless for a child. • Equilibration: • Equilibration means that the cognition develops as a process of moving from states of doubt and uncertainty (disequilibrium) to stages of resolution and certainty i. e. equilibrium then, back to further doubt that is , in time, resolved and so the cycle continues till formal operations finally are organized and equilibrium is reached at the age of 14 or 15. • Thus, disequilibrium may provide significant motivation for language acquisition.

• Rote or meaningful learning : • It is important to avoid rote, mechanistic learning. We should relate items and experiences to knowledge that exists in the cognitive framework. • What children do, when acquiring their first language, is not mere meaningless repetition. It is very meaningful and purposeful activity since it is done in a natural context. • Foreign language classrooms should not use rote activities that are not in the context of a meaningful communication.

• Affective Considerations: • Human beings are emotional creatures. All thought, meaning and action is emotion. We are influenced by our emotions. • What are the differences between first and second language acquisition in relation to affective (emotional) factors? • The affective domain includes many factors such as: empathy, self-esteem inhibition, extroversion, imitation, attitudes and others which are in some way related to second language learning.

• At puberty, these factors undergo critical physical, cognitive, and emotional changes. Their egos are affected not only in how they understand themselves but in how they reach out beyond themselves, how they relate to others socially and how they use the communicative process to bring on affective equilibrium.

• Language Ego: • Alexander Guiora (1972) proposed the language ego to account for the identity a person develops in reference to the language he speaks. • Adults manifest a number of inhibitions such as embarrassment when acquiring a second language, whereas younger children do not. • The child’s ego is dynamic, growing and flexible to the age of puberty (children are less aware of the language forms and mistakes that one must make in an attempt to communicate spontaneously). Therefore, the new language at this stage does not pose a substantial inhibition to the ego and the adaption is made relatively easily.

• So, when acquiring a new identity and a new language, ego is an enormous process for adults and it requires mastering the necessary ego strengths to overcome inhibition and bridge this affective gap. It is likely then that the necessity to communicate overrides these inhibitions.

• Attitudes: • Attitudes are taught consciously or unconsciously by parents or by the society. • Negative attitudes towards races, cultures and languages can affect success in language learning. • Children who are not developed enough cognitively in attitudes are less affected than adults.

• Peer Pressure: • This is also another important variable in childadult comparison. It means requiring the child to be like the rest of the kids. • The peer pressure extends to language especially in children who are more critics of one another’s actions and words. Thus, providing a necessity and sufficient degree of mutual pressure to learn the second language. • Adults tend to tolerate linguistic differences more than children.

• Linguistic Considerations: • Here are some of the age-related questions about children’s second language acquisition: • Bilingualism: • Children learning two languages simultaneously, acquire them using similar strategies. • People who learn second languages in separate contexts are described as coordinate bilinguals (they have two meaning systems). • People who have one meaning system for the two languages are described as compound bilinguals.

• Most bilinguals engage in code-switching (inserting words or phrases of one language into the other). • The acquisition schedule in bilingual children is slower than the normal one for first language acquisition (though it has a cognitive benefit).

• Interference Between First and Second Languages: • Research confirms that the linguistic and cognitive processes of second language acquisition in younger children are in general similar to first language processes. • Similar strategies and linguistic features are present in both first and second language learning in children and most the errors reflected normal development characteristics that is, they are expected intralingual strategies, not interference errors from the first language. The first language could be a facilitating factor.

• Interference in Adults: • Adults’ second language is affected by the first language especially if the two events are farther apart. • Adults appear to manifest more interference since they operate from the solid foundation of the first language that is used to bridge the gaps that can’t be filled by generalization. • It is noticed that second language learners manifest some of the same errors types found in children learning their first language.

• Order of Acquisition: • Dulay and Burt (1976) claimed that Children learning a second language use a creative construction process, just as they do in their first language. • They found a common order of acquisition (of eleven English morphemes) among children of several native language backgrounds, an order which is similar to that found by R. Brown (1973) using the same morphemes but for children acquiring English as their first language.

• Conclusion: • Adults have been shown to be superior second language learners than children since they can choose between alternatives. They can overcome any disadvantages except one i. e. accent which is not important for effective communication.

• • • Issues in First Language Acquisition (Revisited): Competence and Performance: It is difficult to get at linguistic competence in a second language as it is in a first. But, adults can make choices between alternatives and manifest awareness of grammaticality in second language though they cannot verbalize rules even in their native languages. Teachers need to be cautiously attentive to the discrepancy between performance in a given context and competence in a second language.

• Comprehension and Production: • Adults’ second language learners will, like children, comprehend more than they can produce. The inability to produce an item should not be taken to mean that the learner cannot comprehend the item. • Learning a second language means to speak it and comprehend it. Teachers should attend to both comprehension and production.

• • • Nature or Nurture? The influence of the environmental factors on language is clear when acquiring a language. Adults and children appear to have the capacity to acquire a second language (they have innate capability toward the language). The only trick that nature might play on adults is to virtually rule out the acquisition of an authentic accent. Universals: Language, whether first or second, is acquired in the same manner. Universal Grammar and deep structure of language apply to second language learners also.

• Systematiciy and Variability: • Second language acquisition in both children and adults is characterized by both Systematiciy and Variability. • Learners induce rules, generalize, overgeneralize, and proceed in stages of development. • The variability of second language acquisition is due to cognitive, affective, cultural and contextual variables.

• • • Language and Thought: Language helps to shape thinking and thinking helps to shape language. Students are presented with a great task of sorting out new meanings from old, distinguishing thoughts and concepts in one language that are similar but not quite parallel to the second language, perhaps acquiring a whole new system of conceptualization. Second language teachers need to be aware of cultural thought patterns that may be interfering.

• Imitation: • Imitation is important for second language learning but meaningful contexts are necessary in order not to focus on the forms and lose the functions of the language • Practice: • The best possible practice for the second language learner is the contextualized, appropriate, meaningful communication not just rote practice.

• • Input: Input is important to second language learners as it is to first language learners. Parental input is replaced by teacher input. So, teachers should be as meaningful in their communication with students as parents do with their children. Discourse: Teaching communicative competence to second language learners is important in order to acquire rules for conversation and receive intended meaning as children do in their first language.

• In the Classroom: The Audiolingual Method (ALM): • The Audiolingual Method emerged in America during World War II due to the need for Americans to be proficient in both their allies’ and enemies’ languages. It was called “The Army Method”. • The Audiolingual Method was grounded in linguistic theory (structural-scientific descriptive analysis of languages) and on psychological theory (behavioristic) of conditioning and habit formation models of learning.

• • The characteristics of the ALM: Leaning a language is a habit formation through conditioning. New material is presented in dialogue form. There is dependence on mimicry and memorization of set phrases. Structures are sequenced by means of contrastive analysis and taught one at a time. Structural patterns are taught using repetitive drills. There is little or no grammatical explanation (grammar is taught inductively). Vocabulary is strictly limited and learned in context.

• There is much use of tapes, language labs, and visual aids. (aural/oral skills). • Great importance is attached to pronunciation (listen and repeat = practice makes perfect). • Very little use of the mother tongue by teachers. • There is a great effort to get students to produce error-free utterances and successful responses are immediately reinforced hoping to form good language habits • There is tendency to manipulate language and disregard content.

• Criticism to the Audiolingual Method: • It failed to teach long-term communicative proficiency. • Learning a language is farther than the formation of habits. It is something creative/innovative. • Students are not exposed to real language since this method emphasizes on surface structure rather than on the deep structure of the language. • This method is suitable for beginners.

CHAPTER FOUR

The "Designer" methods of the 1970 s: The age of audiolingualism and its emphasis on surface structure and on the rote practice of scientifically produced patterns, began to wane when the chomskyan revolution in linguistics turned linguists and language teachers toward the "deep structure" of language and when the psychologists began to recognize the fundamentally affective and interpersonal nature of all learning. On this basis, certain teaching methods came into vogue.

1)Community Language Learning (CLL) The founder: Charles Curran Methodology: Students and teacher join together to facilitate learning in a context of valuing and prizing each individual in the group. In such a surrounding, each person lowers the defenses that prevent open, interpersonal communication. The anxiety caused by the educational context is lessened by means of supportive community. The teacher's presence is not perceived as a "threat" imposing limits and boundaries; rather as a "counselor" centering the attention on the student's needs. (counseling learning)

Advantage(s): It lowers learners' anxiety, creates as much of a supportive group in classrooms as possible, allows students to initiate language, and points learners toward autonomous learning. Practical problem(s): Counselor-teacher can be too nondirective. This method can be successful later when the learner has more independence. Not good for beginners

2)Suggestopedia The founder: Lozanov Methodology: In applications of suggestopedia to foreign language learning, Lozanov experimented with the presentation of vocabulary, readings, dialogues, role-plays, drama, and a variety of typical classroom adjectives. In addition, classical music was carried on in the background, students sitting in soft, comfortable seats in relaxed states of consciousness. Students were encouraged to be as "childlike" as possible, assuming the roles (names) of native speakers of the foreign language. Students then became "suggestible".

Advantage(s): We can adapt certain aspects of suggestopedia in our classrooms without "buying into" the whole method; a relaxed unanxious mind, achieved through music and/or any means, is helpful to build confidence. Practical problem(s): the unavailability of the requirements of this method. The issue of the place of memorization in language learning is also a serious issue.

3)The silent way The founder: Caleb Gattengo Methodology: Silent Way was characterized by a problem-solving approach to learning. 1. Learning is facilitated if the learner discovers or creates rather than remembers and repeats what is to be learned. Discovery learning : students can work out certain things themselves. 2. Learning is facilitated by accompanying physical objects. 3. Learning is facilitated by problem-solving involving the material to be learned.

Learners should develop dependence, autonomy, and responsibility. At the same time, learners must cooperate with each other in the progress of solving language problems. The teacher – a stimulator – is silent much of the time. Advantage(s): discovery learning, innovation, exposure to new thoughts. Practical problem(s): In the silent way method, the teacher is too distant. Much time is spent with a concept that could be easily clarified by the teacher's direct guidance. (it doesn’t work with lower students).

4)Total Physical Response (TPR) The founder: James Asher Methodology: He noted that children, in learning their first language, appear to do a lot of listening before they speak, and their listening is accompanied by physical responses (reaching, grabbing, moving, …). According to him motor activity is a right-brain function that should precede left-brain language processing. Therefore, a typical TPR utilizes the imperative mood. Commands are an easy way to get learners to move about and loosen up. No verbal responses are necessary and even more complex syntax is incorporated into the imperative.

Advantage(s): It is especially effective in the beginning levels. TPR can be used as a type of classroom activity in which students do a great deal of listening and activity Practical problem(s): It is too limited and loses its distinctiveness as learners advanced in their competence.

5)The Natural Approach The founder: Stephen Krashen Methodology: The Natural Approach was aimed at the goal of basic interpersonal communication skills, that is, everyday language situations – conversations, shopping, listening to the radio, and the like. The initial task of the teacher was to provide comprehensible spoken input. Learners did not need to say anything during the "silent period" until they felt ready to do so. The teacher is the source of input and the creator of classroom activities.

Advantage(s): It lessens the responsibility and anxiety of risk-taking oral production. It gives learners enough time to gain insight and develop their intuition. Practical problem(s): The delay of oral production can be pushed too far, and it is important to encourage students to talk at early stage. This method is ignoring the fact that language learning is an interactive process.

THANK YOU & GOOD LUCK WITH THE COMPLIMENTS OF DR. ANWAR NAKSHABANDI