The Competition Model describes how language learners use different cues like word order, grammatical markers, and animacy to interpret sentence meanings. It involves competition among cues, with stronger or more appropriate cues determining the correct interpretation. For native language acquisition, younger children may rely on weaker cues like animacy that are replaced by stronger cues like word order as they age. For second language acquisition, learners must learn the relative importance of cues in the new language, which can interfere with cues from their first language. The model is used to study how modified input helps learners recognize and adopt the appropriate cues of the language being learned.

1. Competition Model (CM)
By Sawsan Fawzy

2.  It was developed by Bates and MacWhinney (1982)
 Mechanistic explanation of NLA and SLA concerning language
meanings and uses rather than forms
 Associating meanings and uses: How to use language cues
(signals) to show relationships among words in a sentence to
understand meanings; to get comprehensible input
(Lightbown & Spada, 2013, p. 111)
 Kinds of cues are universal and limited (Gass & Selinker,
2008, p. 221).
 However, different languages use different cues
 CM: NLA, SLA

3.  English cues examples:
 Word order (SVO) (the strongest En. cue),
 Grammatical markers (passive voice),
 Semantic characteristics (animacy (used by kids))
 How would English kids understand this English sentence:
“The chair pushes the boy.” (Lightbown & Spada, 2013, p. 111)
 So English NSs interpret the same sentence in different ways because of
different … ?
 So what is meant by “Competition Model”? What are the competitors?
 Older weaker cues vs. newer stronger cues replacing them at different
ages and stages of NLA
Using animacy cue, 2-3 year-old English
kids
Using word order cue, older English
kids
The agent is … The agent is …
NLA

4. Competition Model:
 Language processing involves competition among various cues,
each of which contributes to a different interpretation of the same
sentence (Gass & Selinker, 2008, p. 221).
 So what determines the correct interpretation of a sentence is
which cue is stronger or more appropriate
 Strength and appropriateness of cues sometimes depend on
age
 Relationship between modified input and CM regarding NLA?
 Competition among cues modify and correct NL input at
different ages and different stages of NLA
NLA

5. Which cues are appropriate? More than one?
 Word order (SVO) (Strongest En. cue)
 Grammatical markers
 Animacy
 Lexical/semantic markers
 How to interpret correctly:
 How would an English NS interpret a sentence from an SL with a more
flexible word order than English (Lightbown & Spada, 2013, p. 112)
«‫العلماء‬ ‫عباده‬ ‫من‬ َ‫هللا‬ ‫يخشى‬ ‫إنما‬.»
 Which cue is more likely to be used by the following readers? Why?
 This example has to do with SLA
 Which cues are the competitors in this case?
 Rigid English word order vs. flexible Arabic word order plus semantic markers
 NL cues vs. SL cues
SLA
English NS (SL Learner) Correct interpretation
Which cue? Why?
The agent is …
Which cue? Why?
The agent is …

6.  Completion Model: As different languages use
different cues, SL learners have to learn the
relative importance of different cues of the SL they
are learning (Lightbown & Spada, 2013, p.112).
 Relative importance: Appropriateness of the SL
cues; when to use which cues to get correct
comprehensible input (Lightbown & Spada, 2013,
p.112).
 NOT ALL cues are always appropriate at a time, in
the same sentence

7.  Regarding the interference among NL cues & SL cues, studies have
showed that SL learners have two tendencies:
 First: Consulting NL cues, if they fail
 Second: Adopting meaning-based cues (universal common
selection) rather than grammar-based cues
 Then they adopt SL cues as proficiency increases
 Relationship between modified input and CM regarding SLA?
 Competition among NL & SL cues modify and correct SL input
at different stages of SLA
 The strategies learners use to recognize gradually correct SL cues
are not know so far (Gass & Selinker, 2008, p. 226)
 Generally, Ss sort out the complexities of language & extract rules
through repeated exposure to reliable input (Gass & Selinker,
2008, p. 226).
SL Learners Tendencies
SLA: CM is used in studying the interference
of interpretation cues of NL & SL

8. CM Universal Cues
 Word order (rigid/flexible)
 Grammatical markers
 Morphological markers (affixes, SVA)
 Lexical markers
 Semantic markers (animacy)
 Pragmatic cues
 Primary determinants in English:
Rigid word order & SVA (Gass & Selinker, 2008, p. 226)

9. Gass, S. & Selinker, L. (2008). Second language acquisition (3rd
ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Taylor & Francis.
Lightbown, P. & Spada, N. (2013). How languages are learned
(4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.