Chapter 1a Second Language Acquisition Research Hi

TheHistoryofSecondLanguageAcquisitionResearchW.Z.LIN2/41™Beforeandinthe1950s,theviewofhowL1andL2werelearntwasderivedfrombehaviouristtheories,whichemphasizedtheroleofthelearningenvironment.™Duringthislongperiod,SLAresearchwasnotestablishedasanindependentfield,butthestudyoflanguagepedagogyinthisperiodbuiltagoodfoundationforSLAresearch.IntroductionIntroduction3/41SLAhasahistoryofabout40years,beginningfromlate1960s.Ithasroughlyrunthrough3stages:1950-1960s;1970s;and1980suptodate.4/41II..TheDevelopmentin1950sTheDevelopmentin1950s--1960s1960sInthe1950s1950sandearly1960s,theorizingaboutsecondlanguagelearningwasstillverymuchanadjuncttoanadjuncttothepracticalbusinessoflanguageteachinglanguageteaching.HoweverHowever,theideathatlanguageteachinghadtobejustifiedintermsofanunderlyinglearningtheorywaswellestablished,sincepedagogicreformmovementsofthelate19thcenturyatleast.5/41™Theearly1960ssawanumberofempiricalstudiesofL1acquisition,andthestudiesofL1acquisitioninformedearlyworkinL2acquisitioninmanydifferentways.SLAresearchhasalwaysowedmuchtothestudyofL1acquisition(Ellis,1992).™Untilthemid-1960s,organizedconcernforL2phenomenawasdominatedbyattemptstoadduceimplicationsforlanguageteachingfromthen-currentbehaviouristthinkinginexperimentalpsychologyandAmericanstructuralistlinguistics(Ritchie,1996).6/41StructuralLinguistics™StructurallinguisticsisanapproachtolinguisticsoriginatingfromtheworkofSwisslinguistFerdinanddeSaussure.DeSaussure'sCourseinGeneralLinguistics,publishedposthumouslyin1916,stressedexamininglanguageasastaticsystemofinterconnectedunits.Heisthusknownasthefatherofmodernlinguisticsforbringingabouttheshiftfromdiachronictosynchronicanalysis.7/41™Structurallinguisticsinvolvescollectingacorpusofutterancesandthenapplyingdiscoveryprocedurestotheminanattempttoclassifyalloftheelementsofthecorpusattheirdifferentlinguisticlevels:thephonemes,morphemes,lexicalcategories,nounphrases,verbphrases,andsentencetypes.OnesetofdiscoveryproceduresareSaussure'smethodsofsyntagmaticandparadigmaticanalysisthatrespectivelydefineunitssyntacticallyandlexically,accordingtotheircontrastwiththeotherunitsinthesystem.8/411.Behaviorism(Skinner19571957)™Behaviouristtheoriesfirstemergedinthe1920sinWatson'sbookBehaviourism(1924),followedbyZThorndike'sTheFundamentalsofLearning(1932)ZBloomfield'sLanguage(1933),ZSkinner'sBehaviourofOrganisms:AnExperimentalAnalysis(1938)andVerbalBehaviour(1957),ZandRobertLado'sLinguisticsAcrossCultures(1957),whichisaboutContrastiveAnalysis.9/41Languageteachingexpertsandreformersappealedtothelearningtheoryofbehaviorismbehaviorism.Itisaconvictionthatthestudyofthehumanmindmustbebasedonobservablebehaviorandphysicalstates,notonpeople’sreportsofthoughtsandfeelings.10/411.1InfluenceonSecondLanguageLearning1.1InfluenceonSecondLanguageLearningAccordingtothebehavioristviewpoint,L1learningwasseenastheprocessofformingasetofnewhabitsaslearnerslearntorespondtostimuliintheirenvironment.However,inL2acquisition,oldL1habitsmayinterferewiththisprocess,eitherhelpingorinhibitingit.Inlate1950s,aprocedurecalledContrastiveAnalysis(CA)wasdeveloped,whichwasawayofcomparinglanguagesinordertodeterminepotentialerrorsbyidentifyingthedifferencesbetweenL1andL2.TheleadingfigureisRobertLado.11/411.2CriticismsonBehaviorism1.2CriticismsonBehaviorism1.2.1NewDevelopmentinLinguisticsandPsychology1.2.1NewDevelopmentinLinguisticsandPsychologyAtthisstage,linguisticssawashiftfromstructurallinguisticsstructurallinguisticstogenerativelinguisticsgenerativelinguistics,whichemphasizedtherule-governedandcreativenatureofhumanlanguage.Inthefieldofpsychology,SkinnerSkinner’’sviewpointsviewpointwaslosinggroundinfavorofmoredevelopmentalistdevelopmentalistviewsviewsoflearning,accordingtowhichinnerforcesplayanimportantrole.12/411.2.2CriticismsfromChomsky1.2.2CriticismsfromChomskyIn19571957,skinnerskinnerpublishedverbalverbalbehaviorbehaviorwhichoutlinedindetailhisbehavioristviewoflearningasappliedtolanguageandwhichwasfiercelyattackedbyChomskyChomskyin19591959inhisreviewofthebook.Chomskywasincensedbytheideaofcomparingthebehaviorofratsinalabtothebehaviorofchildrenlearninglanguageandclaimedthatchildrenhaveaninnatefacultyinnatefacultywhichguidesthemintheirlearning.13/41II.TheDevelopmentin1970sII.TheDevelopmentin1970sArchibald(2001)summarizesthebriefhistoryofSLAinhislectureasthefollowing:inthe1950s-1960s,pedagogywasemphasized,andresearcherspaidattentiontohowtoteach,focusingontheteacher;butfromthe1970son,psycholinguisticsandlinguisticswereemphasized,andresearcherspaidattentiontohowtolearn,focusingonthelearner.14/41Thisperiodactuallybeganfromthelatelate1960s1960sandcontinuedtotheearly1980searly1980s.ThemostdistinguishedachievementsinthisperiodareErrorAnalysisErrorAnalysis,,InterlanguageInterlanguagetheorytheory,,MorphemeStudiesMorphemeStudiesandKrashen’sMonitorModelMonitorModel.SLAbecameanindependentdiscipline.15/411.ErrorAnalysis(EA)1.ErrorAnalysis(EA)1.1BackgroundChomsky’sviewpointsgreatlystimulatedtheinvestigationsoffirstlanguageacquisitioninyoungchildren(morphemestudies)andthefinding