Carroll, John B. “Current Issues in Psycholinguistics and Second Language

1. CURRENT ISSUES IN PSYCHOLINGUISTICS
& SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING
ISSUES in PSYCHOLINGUISTICS Tuesday 16th , May 2017 TESOL Quarterly, vol 5, no.2 ( Jun 1971 )
@ Doha ZALLAG @ Kawtar SAYFALLAH @ Ikram TRABELSI Author: John.B Carroll

2. THIS IS THE OUTLINE
More details in some parts will be found in the outline we aforehand distributed.
INTRODUCTION
o THE FALSE OPPOSITION BETWEEN “ RULE GOVERNED BEHAVIOR” VS “HABITS”
o WHAT GRAMMATICAL THEORY IS MORE USEFUL TO LANGUAGE TEACHERS ?
o LANGUAGE LEARNING
o AUDIO-LINGUAL VS COGNITIVE LEARNING
CONCLUSION : PEDAGOGY & THE TEACHER

3. “
“It is urged that there is no real conflict between the "audiolingual habit" and "cognitive-code learning" theories as
applied to language teaching. It is false to make an opposition between rule-governed behavior and language habits.
The notion of habit is, however, more general than that of rule, and is not as conceptually inadequate as sometimes
claimed. The learning of second languages requires both the acquisition of knowledge about rules and the formation of
the habits described by these rules.
Language teaching procedures can be improved by application of psychological knowledge concerning the learning of
language habits.
It is stressed that situational meaning must be incorporated into language rules where it is applicable, and that the
corresponding language habits must be made contingent upon these situational meanings.”

4. CONCEPTS
A B
Cognitive -
Code Learning
Theory
Audiolingual
Habit Theory
📌 📌

5. Map ( Virginie 1966)
Basic
knowledge
of relevant
disciplines
Insight into
processes of
L.A ( 1st & 2nd )
Later
Teacher should acquire
insight into the
principles of educational
psychology & linguistics
…
HE
Will use to facilitate the
learner’s acquisition of the
English language + American
Culture.

6. Map

7. PART 1: In this specialization, you will learn about the basic
foundational principles of language acquisition and the basic
techniques founded upon those principles. It will describe
second or foreign language theories, and basic studies in
second language acquisition and their pedagogical
implications. It will elaborate upon basic design for lesson
plans and provide access to professional resources.
PART 2: It covers the design and implementation of reading
and writing, listening and speaking, and technology enriched
activities, as well as a teaching practicum.
TESOL CERTIFICATE , Online course in coursera.org
If you would like to learn more about the course, click on the hypertext in blue.

8. 1
THE FALSE OPPOSITION BETWEEN “RULE
GOVERNED BEHAVIOR” & “HABITS”
HABIT
RULE
GOVERNED
BEHAVIOR
HABIT
Lge behavior
Linguistic Rules
False opposition
WHY ?😒

9. According to John.B CARROLL :
The Notion of Habits:
Rule
Habit
No one-to-one correspondence between linguistic habits and
linguistic rules.
The notion of “knowledge” in linguistic habits = no exclusion

10. WHAT GRAMMATICAL THEORY IS
MOST USEFUL TO LANGUAGE
TEACHERS ?
2
Solution :
Language teachers should
evaluate the grammatical
theories
the degree to which they
conform to the linguistic
habits => enable a language
user to speak + understand
the language !
AUDIO-
LINGUAL
THEORY
COGNITIVE
CODE
LEARNING
THEORY
GRAMMATICAL
THEORY
=
X ITS
GOAL’’
ITS
GOAL
👪 👪

11. According to Chomsky :
Theory of Competence + Theory of Perfomance
(langue & parole)
CARROLL :
The Transformational Theory of Competence as it has developed
thus far presents itself as mainly a set of abstractions that may or
may not relate to actual linguistic behavior.

12. According to CARROLL :
An adequate theory would include the statement of rules :
HOW speakers encode meaning into commincatively acceptable
utterances
+
HOW hearers decode those meanings
One other aspect that has been ignored
FULL DESCRIPTION = LEXICAL + GRAMMATICAL Information associated
with each of the words in the language.

13. FINDINGS OF A STUDY
.. Shows the relevance of this information to the interpretation and comprehension of
English sentences by native speakers of grades 3,6 and 9. (pg 108; line 5)
“.. A large number of such words with multiple grammatical functions and asked my subjects
to use them in sentences.”
HE CONCLUDED :
1- an important component in child’s competence is his “Knowledge” of the
lexicogrammatical information associated with each word.
2- For a large number of words, the lexicogrammatical knowledge is seriously defective in
children VS educated native speaker.

14. ON LANGUAGE LEARNING3

15. ◉The acquisition of a first language depends mainly on some "innate"
language ability/ mysterious process of “hypothesis testing”, whereby
language is "acquired," not learned.
◉There is a critical period for language acquisition that lasts only until about
the age of puberty, after which there is a decline of language-learning ability.
◉ The process of language acquisition, the first language or another, is
depicted as very mysterious and different from ordinary learning which made
second language teachers almost despair of their profession. that they could
never hope to compete with these processes.

16. The Author’s View
There is indeed a large
biological component in first
language acquisition.
The human child has a very
complex and well-differentiated
brain and that language is
acquired in step with the
maturing of that brain.
(chimpanzee ‘s example)
◉The "Critical period" and a decline
in lge acquisition ability after it, MUST
NOT be explained by biology.
◉ An alternative hypothesis: this is
due to the consolidation of the habits
established in primary language
acquisition and their interference
with the acquisition of new habits.
John B. Carroll

17. The Author’s View
◉Chief concern about these claims is that they underplay the role of
learning.
◉People can and do "learn" second languages by normal learning
processes without reinforcement procedures.
◉By the conscious acquisition of knowledge about the language-
knowledge that with time and appropriate experience is converted into
habits.

18. vs.
Cognitive-Code
Learning?
Audiolingual

19. NO Theory is Perfect
"Cognitive
Habit-
formation
Theory."
Audiolingual
Habit Theory
Cognitive-
code Learning
Theory
(CCLT)
Synthesized Theory

20. ◉It directed attention to a particular objective of language
teaching, the aural-oral objective and thus achieving of good
pronunciation everyone has to speak.
◉BUT Learning is a two-way street between aural-oral and
reading-writing skills.
◉The use of dialogues and drills are effective in foreign lge
teaching as they lead the students to produce speech.
◉The use of dialogues and drills, also enables students to
respond quickly and accurately in spoken lge.
Audiolingual Habit Theory
The Merits

21. The Demerits
◉Teacher- centered/ Students play a passive role in
the classroom
◉Memorization and repetition exclude context
knowledge
◉Errors were seen as a bad thing
◉Difficulties transferring to real conversation.
◉Focus on class as a whole

22. The Cognitive Code Learning
Theory The Merits
* It put more emphasis on guided discovery of the rules.
* It changed the attitude of teachers towards errors which
were accepted as natural happenings in the process of learning
foreign languages.
* It rejected the habit formation of Behaviorist theory. There is
language acquisition rather than habit formation.

23. The Cognitive Code Learning
Theory The Merits
*Learning is not a habit formation but requires cognitive
processing and mental effort because learners are thinking
beings.
* It stressed on the learning of the rules via meaningful practice
and creativity.

24. The Demerits
* CCLT is essentially a theoretical proposal because it did not
lead to the development of any teaching method in relation to
classroom procedures and activities.
* There is little use of examples from authentic material.
* Human thinking is said to be an invisible process, and therefore
cognitive processes are hypothetical constructs.

25. The Demerits
* Human information processing is resembled computers, which
perhaps oversimplifies the human mind; human brain is much
more sophisticated than computer systems.
* The theory attaches more importance to the learner
understands of the structure of the foreign language than to the
facility in using that structure.
* It never took off in a big way; this theory did not gain support
over time.

26. PEDAGOGY AND THE TEACHER:
• The practices of Cognitive Habit Formation Theory.
• Adopting one-sided theory of lge.
• The critical factor in lge teaching=
• Successful learning=
• Research on “Teacher Behavior”.
• The teacher’s ability to manage learning behavior

27. Thanks!