This document discusses metaphors used to describe second language acquisition (SLA), specifically the acquisition metaphor which conceptualizes language as a commodity that is received, versus the participation metaphor which frames SLA as participation in a linguistic community. While participation emphasizes sociocultural aspects, it does not fully capture the cognitive dimensions or address what is meant by "language". The author argues that no single metaphor can fully encompass SLA and that learners' own metaphors for language learning involve both participation and acquisition. SLA is best viewed as a complex adaptive system influenced by various interacting individual and social factors.

1. WHAT’S IN A NAME? THE QUEST
FOR A NEW SLA METAPHOR Vera Menezes (UFMG/CNPq)
BRAZIL

2. "What's in a name? that which we call a
rose/ By any other name would smell as
sweet” says Juliet to Romeo, trying to
02
persuade Romeo to abandon his
surname.
Can we use the same reasoning to
abandon the acquisition metaphor?

3. What is a metaphor?

4. Metaphor definition
“A set of conceptual correspondences, or more
technically, mappings, between two conceptual
domains, a source and a target (Lakoff and
Johnson, 1980; Köveceses, 2002). The source
is more physical and the target more abstract.
Ex. source: container
domain: mind
Thus the mind is a container

5. Knowledge Transfer

6. Knowledge building.

7. Knowledge is socially
constructed

8. Etymoloy of “learn”
• learn
– O.E. leornian "to get knowledge, be cultivated," from P.Gmc. *liznojan (cf. O.Fris.
lernia, O.H.G. lernen, Ger. lernen "to learn," Goth. lais "I know), with a base
sense of "to follow or find the track," from PIE *leis- "track." Related to Ger. Gleis
"track," and to O.E. læst "sole of the foot" (see last (n.)). The transitive sense (He
learned me how to read), now vulgar, was acceptable from c.1200 until early
19c., from O.E. læran "to teach" (cf. M.E. lere, Ger. lehren "to teach;" see lore),
and is preserved in the adj. learned "having knowledge gained by study"
(c.1340).(Oxford Dicionary of Etymology)
– apprehend
late 14c., "to grasp in the mind," from L. apprehendere "to take hold of, grasp,“
from ad-"to" + prehendere "to seize" (see prehensile). Metaphoric extension to
"seize with the mind" took place in L., and was the sole sense of cognate O.Fr.
aprendre (Mod.Fr. apprendre "to learn, to be informed about;" also cf.
apprentice). Original sense returned in Eng. in meaning "to seize in the name
of the law, arrest," recorded from 1540s, which use probably was taken
directly from Latin.
to acquire knowledge of or skill in by study, instruction, practice or experience. (Webster)
to gain knowledge of or skill in, by study, practice or being taught: ~ a foreign language
(Oxord)

9. The concept of language

10. Acquisition and participation
• When a metaphor names a phenomenon it highlights
one of its aspects, but hides others. In the case of
acquisition, language is conceived as a commodity,
something the learner (a recipient) acquires from the
ones who possess it. Sfard (1998:5) tells us that “[S]ince
the dawn of civilization, human learning is conceived of
as an acquisition of something” and building on Lave and
Wenger’s theory (1991), she proposes the participation
metaphor (becoming member of a community) to
complement the acquisition metaphor (mind as
recipient). Such a metaphor emphasizes the
sociocultural aspects of the phenomenon but neglects
the cognitive aspects.

11. (Sfard, 1998:7)
In the acquisition metaphor "turning into a part of a greater
language is conceptualized whole“, togetherness,
as a commodity: reception, solidarity, and collaboration.
acquisition, construction,
internalization, appropriation, Learning as a process of
transmission, attainment, participation.
development, accumulation,
grasp.

12. What are the learners’ metaphors?
To enjoy an experience
A journey (sail new seas, travel
crazily, have a passport for the To climb a ladder/ a
globalized world; fly in an mountain
unknown place)
To build a multi-storey
An adventure building
To ride a bicycle To learn the commands of
To discover the world a new software
To open the windows/doors of To make connections
the world To acquire a powerful tool
To dive into an unknown place To be part of a globalized
To overcome an obstacle world

13. “We have to accept the fact that the
metaphors we use while theorizing
may be good enough to fit small areas,
but none of them suffice to cover the
entire field.” (Sfard, 1988:11)

14. Is participation a metaphor?
• What is the source?
source: commodity
domain: language
Thus the language is a commodity
• Acquisition metaphor: something (language) is acquired
• Where is language in the participation metaphor?
• I can say second language acquisition, but I cannot say
second language participation.
• Participation in which community?

15. Language learning histories
• Learners are aware that to learn a
language they must look for linguistic
social practices. So, participation is implicit
in their narratives, but language as a
commodity is also present.

16. SLA AS A COMPLEX SYSTEM
As pointed out by van Lier (1996:170), “we can neither
claim that learning is caused by environmental stimuli
(the behaviourist position) nor that it is genetically
determined (the innatist position). Rather, learning is the
result of complex (and contingent) interactions between
individual and environment”.
There is evidence to support the claim that SLA is a
Complex adaptive system due to its inherent ability to
adapt to different conditions present in both internal and
external environments.

17. A complex
model can
accommodate
apparently
opposed
elements in an
effort to explain
SLA.

18. Automatic
habits
interaction output
Identity/ Neural
Affiliation connections
Innate mental
Sociocultural mediations
structures
input

19. LANGUAGE
In this perspective, language must be understood as a non-
Linear dynamic system, made up of interrelated bio-cognitive,
sociocultural, historical and political elements, which enable us
to think and act in society. A language is not a static object,
but a system in constant movement and its interacting
elements influence and are influenced by each other. As
language is in evolution, so too is SLA and any change in a
subsystem can affect other elements in the network. It
develops through dynamic and constant interaction among the
subsystems, alternating moments of stability with moments of
turbulence.

20. SLA AS A COMPLEX SYSTEM
SLA consists of a dynamic interaction among different
Individual and social factors put into movement by inner
and social processes. The random interaction among all
the elements of the acquisition system yields the changes
responsible for acquisition.
The rate of change is not predictable and varies according
to the nature of the interactions among all the elements of
the system. A live acquisition system is always in movement
and never reaches equilibrium, although it undergoes periods
of more or less stability.

21. In a complex perspective,
Emergence of a second language
might be a good alternative.
BUT

22. What's in a name? that which we
call acquisition or participation/ By
any other name would sound as
inadequate”.