What do we know when we know a

What do we know when we know a language? TESOL Teacher Professional Development in Namibia May 2013

Perspectives Linguistic Social Psychological

Linguistic Perspective Phonetics and Phonology Morphology Syntax Semantics Pragmatics

Linguistic Perspective Important concepts Universal grammar Linguistic competence Linguistic performance

Linguistic Perspective Universal Grammar (UG) The innate ability people are born with to learn a language. All languages have similar properties with limited parameters: Word order, parts of speech, displacement All languages are rule-governed and are generally learned in the same way

Linguistic Perspective Linguistic competence: what speakers of a language know about the language Linguistic performance: how speakers of a language use what they know

Linguistic Perspective The Monitor Model (Krashen) Acquisition/Learning Hypothesis Monitor Hypothesis Natural Order Hypothesis Input Hypothesis Affective Filter Hypothesis

The Monitor Model i+ 1 Language Acquisition Device

Linguistic Perspective Interlanguage (IL) L 1 Restructuring/Backsliding Fossilization L 2

Social Perspective Communicative competence Microsocial factors Macrosocial factors Language community Interaction hypothesis Interpersonal intrapersonal Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) Scaffolding Acculturation Model

Social Perspective Communicative Competence: “what a speaker needs to know to communicate appropriately within a particular language community” (Saville-Troike, 2003) Vocabulary + phonology + grammar + any other linguistic structure + rules re: what to say to whom and when and how…and if.

Social Perspective Microsocial factors Variability among a language community or within a learner that is systematic and predictable I ate dinner v. I ate supper. Hi v. hello v. good morning Macrosocial factors Features of the larger political setting, social position, societal attitudes, values, ethnicity, gender, age

Social Perspective Language Community A group of people who share knowledge of a common language at least to some extent How many language communities do you belong to? How are they different? How are they similar?

Social Perspective Interaction Hypothesis The claim that modifications and collaborative efforts which take place in social interaction facilitate SLA because they contribute to the accessibility of input for mental processing (Saville-Troike 2012, p. 190) Modifications: Oral: high frequency phrases, pauses grammatical junctures, slower speed, repetition, paraphrase, expansion, sentence completion Written: academic texts include frequent organization markers, clear topic sentences, highlighting of key terms (synonyms + paraphrases), lists of main points, elaboration of specific points, visual aids, explicit summations at regular intervals, questions

Social Perspective Accommodation Theory: Speakers change their pronunciation and even grammatical complexity to sound more like whomever they are talking to. …so if teachers use the language they want their students to use…. Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky) The distance between current ability and potential growth. In order to learn, the learner needs guidance. It is where learning happens.

Social Perspective Teacher ZPD Learner

Social Perspective Scaffolding Verbal guidance which an expert provides to help a learner perform any specific task, or the verbal collaboration of peers to perform a task which would be too difficult for any one of them in individual performance S: Taki T: What did Taki do? S: Pencil T: What did Taki do with the pencil? S: Throw (makes a throwing motion) T: Taki, don’t throw pencils.

Social Perspective Acculturation Model Identifies group factors such as identity and status which determine social and psychological distance between learner and target language populations.

Psychological Perspective Information Processing Controlled/Automatic Connectionism Critical Period Hypothesis and Age Gender Cognitive Style Learning Style, Learning Strategies

Information Processing

Critical Period Hypothesis

Gender

Cognitive Style Tolerance for Ambiguity Risk-taking Reflective Field dependence Visual Auditory Kinesthetic

Learning Strategies Metacognitive: attempt to regulate learning by planning and monitoring. Ex: pre-viewing, deciding in advance to attend to specific input… Cognitive: make use of direct analysis or synthesis of linguistic material. Ex: repeating after a language model, translating, guessing meaning through inferencing Social/affective: involve interaction with others. Ex: asking questions for clarification, asking for repetition, explanation or examples