Psycholinguistic
Assigment
There are five key hypotheses
about second language acquisition by Krashen:
1. THE ACQUISITION-LEARNING DISCTINCTION
Adults have two different ways
to develop competence in a language: language acquisition and language
learning.
Language acquisition is a
subconscious process not unlike the way a child learns language. Language
acquirers are not consciously aware of the grammatical rules of the language,
but rather develop a "feel" for correctness. "In non-technical
language, acquisition is 'picking-up' a language."
Language learning, on the other
hand, refers to the "conscious knowledge of a second language, knowing the
rules, being aware of them, and being able to talk about them." Thus
language learning can be compared to learning about a language.
The acquisition-learning
distinction hypothesis claims that adults do not lose the ability to acquire
languages the way that children do. Just as research shows that error correction
has little effect on children learning a first language, so too error
correction has little affect on language acquisition.
2. THE NATURAL ORDER HYPOTHESIS
The natural order hypothesis
states that "the acquisition of grammatical structures proceeds in a
predictable order." For a given language, some grammatical structures tend
to be acquired early, others late, regardless of the first language of a
speaker. However, as will be discussed later on in the book, this does not mean
that grammar should be taught in this natural order of acquisition.
3. THE MONITOR HYPOTHESIS
The language that one has
subconsciously acquired "initiates our utterances in a second language and
is responsible for our fluency," whereas the language that we have
consciously learned acts as an editor in situations where the learner has
enough time to edit, is focused on form, and knows the rule, such as on a
grammar test in a language classroom or when carefully writing a composition.
This conscious editor is called the Monitor.
Different individuals use their
monitors in different ways, with different degrees of success. Monitor
Over-users try to always use their Monitor, and end up "so concerned with
correctness that they cannot speak with any real fluency." Monitor Under-users
either have not consciously learned or choose to not use their conscious
knowledge of the language. Although error correction by others has little
influence on them, they can often correct themselves based on a
"feel" for correctness.
Teachers should aim to produce
Optimal Monitor users, who "use the Monitor when it is appropriate and
when it does not interfere with communication." They do not use their
conscious knowledge of grammar in normal conversation, but will use it in
writing and planned speech. "Optimal Monitor users can therefore use their
learned competence as a supplement to their acquired competence."
4. THE INPUT HYPOTHESIS
The input hypothesis answers the
question of how a language acquirer develops competency over time. It states
that a language acquirer who is at "level i" must receive
comprehensible input that is at "level i+1." "We acquire, in
other words, only when we understand language that contains structure that is
'a little beyond' where we are now." This understanding is possible due to
using the context of the language we are hearing or reading and our knowledge
of the world.
However, instead of aiming to
receive input that is exactly at our i+1 level, or instead of having a teacher
aim to teach us grammatical structure that is at our i+1 level, we should
instead just focus on communication that is understandable. If we do this, and
if we get enough of that kind of input, then we will in effect be receiving and
thus acquiring out i+1. "Production ability emerges. It is not taught
directly."
Evidences for the input
hypothesis can be found in the effectiveness of caretaker speech from an adult
to a child, of teacher-talk from a teacher to a language student, and of
foreigner-talk from a sympathetic conversation partner to a language learner/acquirer.
One result of this hypothesis is that language students should be given a
initial "silent period" where they are building up acquired
competence in a language before they begin to produce it.
Whenever language acquirers try
to produce language beyond what they have acquired, they tend to use the rules
they have already acquired from their first language, thus allowing them to
communicate but not really progress in the second language.
5. THE AFFECTIVE FILTER HYPOTHESIS
Krashen
views that a number of 'affective variables' play a facilitative, but
non-causal, role in second language acquisition. These variables include:
motivation, self-confidence and anxiety. Krashen claims that learners with high
motivation, self-confidence, a good self-image, and a low level of anxiety are
better equipped for success in second language acquisition. Low motivation, low
self-esteem, and debilitating anxiety can combine to 'raise' the affective
filter and form a 'mental block' that prevents comprehensible input from being
used for acquisition. In other words, when the filter is 'up' it impedes
language acquisition. On the other hand, positive affect is necessary, but not
sufficient on its own, for acquisition to take place.
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