Appunti lezioni del corso di English Linguistics and Translation I

SLA differs from the process of L1 acquisition for the following factors:

Age: We usually learn second languages at different ages, but never from birth, as what happens for L1.

Learning process: in L2 there is an explicit effort to learn the language, while in L1 no instruction is needed from the child to arrive at the target language.

Levels of competence: at the end of the L1 acquisition process every speaker reaches the same level of grammatical and communicative competence. On the contrary, two speakers acquiring a second language, even if they have the same L1 and have the same exposition to the L2, will not have the same level at the end of the SLA process. The highest level reachable in L2 is near-nativeness (level that is reached approximately by the 5% of learners).

The extent to which UG intervenes in SLA has been debated over the last 20 years and three main hypotheses have been considered:

1. No access to UG and its rules in SLA;
2. Partial access;
3. Full access.

The most

Accredited theory nowadays is Full Transfer/Full Access Hypothesis, which claims that UG is fully accessible during the L2 acquisition process. According to this hypothesis, L2 learners approach the L2 with the parameters set on the L1 values and apply these values to the L2 as well, that is they transfer L1 parametric set onto the L2. Then, as the learning process progresses, learners adjust the parametric set to match that of the L2. This readjustment process is guided and constrained by UG, hence the term full access.

ELT 8- INTERLANGUAGE

"Interlanguage"

The term was first introduced by Selinker in an influential paper published in 1972. He stated that interlanguage is a linguistic system that is used by the L2 learners and it is influenced by the L1. When the learners learn the target language, they build their own system of language which is different from L1. For the first concept, interlanguage can be defined as between L1 and L2. He hypothesizes a

"latent psychological structure" in the brain which is activated when one tries to learn a second language after having acquired "meanings" in a first language.

Interlanguage is a linguistic system used by second language learners. Learners create this language when they attempt to communicate in the target language. Interlanguage is affected by the learner's native language and it is entirely different from both the learner's first language and the targeted second language. It is always unique from speaker to speaker. By a gradual process of trial and error hypothesis testing, learners slowly succeed in establishing closer and closer approximations to the system used by native speakers of the language.

Selinker believes that the evidence for interlanguage can be found in what he calls "fossilizations", that is, phonological, morphological and syntactic features in the speech of L2 speakers that are different from the TL rules, even after years.

ofinstruction in, and exposure to, the TL. Some factors that may cause fossilization comefrom both learner's factors, as his/her age (the older learners are, the more possiblethe fossilization occur), and no-learners' factors, as teaching methods.

Saville-Troike named interlanguage as "transfer", meaning a transition of priorknowledge from L1 to L2, as one of the processes that is involved in interlanguagedevelopment. Further, she identifies two types of transfer: positive transfer andnegative transfer.

Positive transfer occurs when an L1 structure or rule is used in an L2 utterance and that use is appropriate or "correct" in the L2.

Negative transfer occurs when an L1 structure or rule is used in an L2 utterance and that use is inappropriate and considered an "error".

The stages of interlanguage development are:

Random Error Stage: the learner is only vaguely aware that there is some i.e *Adam cans sing);systematic order to a particular

Class of items (i.e. Emergent Stage: the learner grows in consistency in linguistic production (Adam can sing, Adam has a good voice, Adam has a very good voice); Systematic Stage: the learner is now able to manifest more consistency in producing the second language (Adam can sing, Adam has a good voice, truly a good voice, Adam can sing melodious songs); Stabilization stage: the learner has relatively few errors and he masters the system to the point that fluency and intended meanings are not problematic.

The three main processes that operate in interlanguage are:

1. Language transfer: the learners use their mother tongue to create their own language system;
2. Overgeneralization of target rules: some of the rules of the interlanguage system may be the result of overgeneralization of specific rules and features of the target language, like in the phrase "I goed home";
3. Transfer of training: some of the components of the interlanguage system may be the result from

Transfer of specific elements through which the learner is taught the second language, so a rule enters into the learner's system as a result of instruction;

Principal features of Interlanguage:

• It's PERMEABLE - › At each stage of development, the learner's language system is not fixed, but it's opened to amendment (miglioramento). The difference between a natural language and an interlanguage is in:
  • the degree of permeability: An interlanguage is more permeable because it's a work in progress;
  • the loss of permeability: L2 learners can stop absorbing inputs. That means that interlanguage can fossilize and inputs will never become intakes.
• It's DYNAMIC -> Interlanguage is constantly changing. It constantly goes under a process of revision and expansion.
• It's SYSTEMATIC-> At each stage of Interlanguage development, the learner follows specific and systematic rules (A2, B1, B2...).

Morpheme studies

Morpheme studies were carried out during

In the mid 70s, studies were conducted to investigate the acquisition of grammatical morphemes in learners of English as a second language (L2). The main focus of these studies was to determine if there is a specific order in which grammatical morphemes are acquired in English as L2.

The hypothesis behind these studies is that if similar patterns of development are observed among learners with different native languages, it can be concluded that the development of interlanguage is influenced more by the L2 than the L1.

There are two types of morpheme studies:

1. Cross-sectional study: These studies involve analyzing a group of individuals at a single point in time to examine specific aspects of language acquisition. The findings of these studies suggest that all L2 learners progress along the interlanguage continuum in a similar manner, regardless of their first language.
2. Longitudinal study: In these studies, an individual or a group is observed over a period of time to observe how the use of the tense system and other grammatical morphemes develops.

Changes and develops with age. From longitudinal studies it emerged that L2 learners do not progress from zero knowledge to perfect knowledge of the TL rules, but they progress through a series of developmental stages (transitional constructions) on their way to the TL competence, always carrying with them unanalyzed units.

1. Stage standard word order;
2. Stage expansion of utterances and variety of word order in accordance with the pattern of the TL (textual competence);
3. Stage systematic and meaningful use of grammatical morphemes;
4. Stage acquisition of complex structures (embedded clauses);

Interlanguage variability

Interlanguage is also variable. Variability refers to cases where a second language learner uses two or more linguistic variants to express a phenomenon, which has only one realization in the target language. Language users vary in the use they make of their linguistic knowledge. This variability can be unsystematic (haphazard) or systematic (two or more linguistic forms function

don’t know why.This kind of variability can be split in:

• Free variability: with irregularity the learner uses one form or the other. It is irregular and unsystematic;
• Performance variability: refers to the learner’s emotional or physical conditions that can lead to the slip of the tongue (or pen), hesitations or repetitions. According to Chomsky, this type of variability is not part of the user’s language competence;

The learner slowly extends the range of the forms he has acquired and he slowly resolves the free variability that exists in his interlanguage by developing clear form-functioning relationships. Development does not consist of sudden jumps, but of the gradual extension of regularities to formal and informal styles and from simple to complex linguistic.

ELT 9- INTERACTION/INPUT, INTAKE, OUTPUT

The Interactive Hypothesis states that conversational interaction facilitates language acquisition because it connects input (what learners hear and read), internal learner capacities,

Particularly selective attention and output (what learners produce) in productive ways. Input is the language data which the learner is exposed to, that is listening and reading. It is used to determine the rules of the target language. Not all available input is processed by the learner, either because some of it is not understood, or because some of it is not attended to.

It is important to second language learning because without it there can be no output; this means, if you don't hear or see the language, then you can't learn the language.

It is believed that the act of noticing, deliberately attending to the stimuli, may actually lead to intake. Intake may be viewed as the parts of input that L2 learners can actually retain, store, and relate to existing knowledge. It is the part of the input that is processed or "let in".