Issues In Applied Linguistics

1. Week 7

2. Key Questions in SLA
KEY
QUESTIONS
IN SLA
What exactly
does the L2
learner come to
know?
How does the
learner acquire
this knowledge?
Why are some
learners more
(or less)
successful than
others?

3. LEARNER LANGUAGE
LEARNER
LANGUAGE
Interlanguage Li Influence

4. Question
 Does “interlanguage” exist in the process of L1
acquisition?

5. Interlanguage
 Coined by linguist Larry Selinker (1972) (cited in Ellis,
1997) in recognition of the fact that L2 learners
construct a unique linguistic system that draws, in
part, on the learner’s L1 but is also different from it and
also from the target language.
 Unique to SLA

6. LANGUAGE LEARNER
 Cohen (2010)(cited in Schmitt, 2010) states that success in
learning a foreign or second language (L2) depends on a
variety of factors such as:
 (i). duration and intensity of the language course;
 (ii). characteristics and abilities of the teacher;
 (iii). appropriateness of the teaching methodology;
 (iv). quality of the textbook;
 (v). size and composition of the learner group;
 (vi). amount of natural L2 practice opportunities,
 (vii). characteristics of the language learner.

7. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
LANGUAGE LEARNER

8. Learner Characteristics (Individual Differences) –
Cohen (2010) (cited in Schmitt, 2010)
LEARNER
CHARACTERISTICS
Characteristics
Beyond
Teacher’s
Control
Factors That
Teachers Can
Control

9. Characteristics Beyond the
Teacher’s Control
Beyond
Teacher’s
Control
Age and
Gender
Language
Aptitude

10. (1). Age and Gender
 The traditional view has been that the younger we start
to learn a second language, the better chance for
success we have.
 Explained in terms of a ‘critical period’, where a person
needed to learn the L2 in the period roughly before
puberty, or lose the ability to become native-like
altogether.

11.  Recent research shows that ‘the younger the better’
principle is only valid in environments where there is a
constant and natural exposure to the L2 (exp. learning
English in the UK);
 In typical classroom environments where the amount
of exposure is relatively small, older learners seem to
have the advantage over their younger peers.

12.  Although the ‘age factor’ may have some physiological
basis in the way the brain handles language, there are
also several other age-related factors at work,
including the amount and pattern of L2 input, the
amount of verbal analytical ability and the motivation
to learn the L2 (Cohen, 2010)cited in Schmitt (2010)

13.  Gender factor:
 Research has consistently found females to outdo their
male peers when it comes to language learning
(Cohen, 2010)cited in Schmitt (2010).
 Why?

14. (2). Language Aptitude
 Has been referred to under different names. For
example, a special ‘ability’, ‘gift’, ‘knack’, ‘feel’ or ‘flair’
for languages (Cohen, 2012) cited in Schmitt (2010).
 Seen as the language-related aspect of intelligence,
and it determines the rate of learning and the
amount of energy the progress is likely to require of
the learner.
 (i.e. someone with a high aptitude will pick up the
L2 relatively easy, whereas for another person the
same level of proficiency can only be achieved by
means of hard work and persistence.)

15.  However, language aptitude does not determine
whether or not someone can learn a language.
 If a learner is not a natural language learner, this can
be compensated for by various other factors, such as
high motivation and the use of effective language
learner strategies (Cohen, 2010) cited in Schmitt
(2010).
 (a majority of learners are still able to achieve at least
a working knowledge of an L2 regardless of their
aptitude.)

16. Factors that teachers can actively
address to increase the effectiveness of
instruction
Factors
Teachers
Can
Control
Learning
Styles
Learner
Strategies
Motivation

17. (1). Learning Styles
We learn in different ways and what suits one learner
may be inadequate for another.
Teachers can modify the learning tasks they
use in the classes in a way that may bring the
best out of particular learners with particular
learning style preferences.
It is also possible that learners over time can be
encouraged to engage in ‘style- stretching’ so as to
incorporate approaches to learning they were resisting
in the past (Cohen, 2010) cited in Schmitt (2010).

18. Style Preferences – Cohen & Weaver
(2006) (cited in Schmitt, 2010)
LEARNING
STYLES
Sensory/Perceptual
Style
Cognitive Style
Personality-related
Style

19. (i). Sensory/Perceptual Style
Preferences
 Being more visual, more auditory or more
tactile/kinaesthetic (hands-on).

20. (ii). Cognitive style preferences
 - Being more global or more particular/detail-
oriented.
 - Being a more of a synthesizer and/or being analytic.
 - Being more deductive or more inductive.

21. (iii). Personality-related style
preferences
 - Being more extroverted or more introverted.
 - Being more abstract and intuitive or more concrete
and thinking in step-by-step sequence.
 - Preferring to keep all options open or being more
closure-oriented.

22.  The style preferences are presented as dichotomies,
but in reality, many learners do not favour one
learning style to the exclusion of all others. Many
learners operate somewhere in the middle ground in
the extreme positions – being a global learner, but at
times focusing on details depending on the task
(Cohen, 2010).

23. (2). Learner strategies
 Studies of good language learners over the years have
indicated that it is not merely a high degree of
language aptitude and motivation that causes some
learners to excel, but also the students’ own active and
creative participation in the learning process through
the ‘application of individualized learner strategies’.

24.  Several ways to classify strategies:
 (A). Language use strategies.
 (B). One of four groups – ‘cognitive’, ‘meta-cognitive’,
‘affective’ and ‘social’ strategies.
 (C ). Grouped according to ‘skill areas’.

25. Learner Strategies
Learner
Strategies
Language Use
Strategies
Cognitive, Meta-
Cognitive,
Affective &
Social Strategies
Skill Areas
Strategies

26. (a). Language Use Strategies
 Referring to strategies for using the language that has
been learned.
 Includes four sub-sets of strategies:
 (i). ‘Retrieval strategies’ – strategies used to call
up language material from storage
 - Exp. Calling up the correct verb in its appropriate
tense or retrieving the meaning of a word when it is
heard or read.

27.  (ii). ‘Rehearsal strategies’
 - strategies for practising target language structures.
 Exp. Rehearsing the various forms of verb tenses in
English in preparation for using them
communicatively in a formal situation.

28.  (iii). ‘Cover strategies’
 - strategies for creating an appearance of language
ability so as not to look unprepared, foolish or even
stupid.
 Exp. Using a memorized and partially understood
phrase in a classroom drill in order to keep the action
going, or laughing at a joke that you did not
understand at all.

29.  (iv). ‘Communication strategies’
 - strategies used to convey a message that is both
meaningful and informative for the listener or reader.
 Exp. When we want to explain technical information
for which we do not have the specialized vocabulary.
 (Refer to handout)

30. (b). Cognitive, Meta-cognitive,
Affective and Social Strategies
STRATEGIES
Cognitive
Meta-
cognitive
Affective
Social

31.  Chamot (1987); Oxford (1990) cited in Schmitt (2010)
 (i). Cognitive Strategies:
 - encompass the language learning strategies of
identification, grouping, retention and storage of
language material, as well as the language use and
other elements of the L2.
 - they cover many of the processes or mental
manipulations that learners go through in both
learning and using the target language.

32.  (ii). Meta-cognitive Strategies
 Those processes which learners consciously use in
order to supervise or manage their language learning.
 Allow learners to control their own cognition by
planning what they will do, checking how it is going
and then evaluating how it went.

33.  (iii). Affective Strategies
 Serve to regulate emotion, motivation and attitudes
(i.e. strategies for reduction of anxiety and for self-
encouragement)
 An example:
 Before a job interview in the L2, a learner may engage
in positive self-talk about focusing on the message
rather than on the grammatical errors that will
emerge.

34.  (iv). Social Strategies
 Include the actions which learners choose to take in
order to interact with other learners and with native
speakers (i.e. asking questions to clarify social roles
and relationships or co-operating with others in order
to complete tasks)
 Usually directed at increasing the learners’ exposure to
L2 communication and to interactive practice.

35.  A learner’s use of what is ostensibly a single strategy
may actually represent a continual shifting or ‘dance’
from one of these strategy categories to another
(Schmitt, 2010).

36. (c ). Strategies According to Skill
Areas (Cohen, 1990; Paige, Cohen, Kappler, Chi & Lassegard,
2006) (cited in Schmitt, 2010)
SKILLS
AREAS
STRATEGIES
Listening
Reading
Speaking
WritingVocabulary
Grammar
Translation

37. (i). Listening strategies
 (Refer to handout)
 Examples:
 Strategies to increase exposure to the new language.
 Strategies to become more familiar with the sounds in
the new language.
 Strategies for better understanding the new language
in conversation – before listening to the language,
when listening to the language.

38. (ii). Reading Strategy Use
 With regard to reading habits in the target language.
 As basic reading strategies.
 When encountering unknown words and structures.

39. (iii). Speaking Strategy Use
 In order to practise for speaking.
 In order to engage in conversation.
 When not able to think of a word or expression.

40. (iv). Writing Strategy Use
 As basic writing strategies.
 While writing an essay.
 Once a draft essay has been written.

41. (v). Vocabulary Strategies
 To memorize new words.
 In order to review vocabulary.
 In order to recall vocabulary.
 As a way of making use of new vocabulary.

42. (vi). Grammar Strategies
 In order to master a verb tense.
 In order to remember pronoun position.
 In order to check for number and adjective agreement.

43. (vii). Strategic Use of Translation
 In order to enhance language learning and use.
 To work directly in the target language as much as
possible.

44. Questions
 As a teacher, what can you do to increase the
awareness among your students of their personal
learning styles?
 What are the skills areas that the students are having
difficulties with in the classroom? How do you address
these difficulties?