Linking Language & Learning 2 Comparisons & Connections

Linking Language & Learning 2 Comparisons &Connections Fall 2006 Scott, Grenvicz, Schwab, Dessein Linking Language & Learning 2

Series Overview • This is the second of three power point presentations designed to make you think about second language learning. • This presentation begins with guiding questions to engage you in the material. • Discussion questions appear at the end of this presentation. You will write your ideas about these questions and turn them in to your teacher. Linking Language & Learning 2

Series Overview • In the first presentation we talked about the meaning of COMMUNICATION. • We also reviewed what is means to be BILINGUAL. • In this presentation we will compare first and second language acquisition. • This presentation will also engage you in a discussion of what it means to use your second language to connect to other areas of interest. Linking Language & Learning 2

Guiding questions mama papa • What are the differences between how babies learn their first language (L1) and adults learn a second language (L2)? • Do children have to be “taught” how to speak? • How long does it take a child to become “fluent” in her native language? Linking Language & Learning 2

Three theories: • Environmentalist • Nativist • Interactionist Linking Language & Learning 2

1. Environmentalist theories • Environment shapes learning and behavior • Children react to their surroundings • Children learn language from • Input • Trial and error • Error correction Linking Language & Learning 2

2. Nativist theories • Children do not need any kind of formal teaching to learn to speak. • Children are born with a natural capacity to learn language. • The brain contains systems for recognizing patterns of sound. • Chomsky’s theories and “critical period” theories are important in nativist theories. Linking Language & Learning 2

Noam Chomsky’s L-A-D Chomsky’s theory of the LAD (Language Acquisition Device) states that every human is born with innate principles of language. Children learn language spontaneously and speak creatively. The “poverty of the stimulus theory” states that what children hear is incomplete and often ungrammatical, and cannot account for the creativity of their utterances. Linking Language & Learning 2

Critical period hypothesis: • There is a critical period for language learning. • There is no agreement about how long this sensitive period lasts. • Genie – the American wild child – provided evidence that language cannot be learned after puberty. Linking Language & Learning 2

Genie … In the fall of 1970, social workers took custody of a 13-year-old child who had spent much of her life chained to a potty chair in her bedroom. She could not speak, walk, or respond to other people. She was called "Genie." Her case attracted psychologists who were interested in finding out whether she could still learn to speak. At the time, some linguists, led by MIT's Noam Chomsky, believed that human speech is a genetically programmed ability. Eric Lenneberg, a neuropsychologist, agreed with Chomsky and added further that if a person did not learn to speak by adolescence, then the natural ability to learn language might be lost forever. This theory was the so-called "critical period hypothesis." Although Genie's situation was one that scientists would never create intentionally to test their theories, her unfortunate circumstances made her a prime candidate for experimentation. Genie was past puberty. If she could still learn language, it would cast doubt on the critical period hypothesis. Ultimately, Genie's caretakers were criticized for combining their research with her treatment. Linking Language & Learning 2

Genie … Genie's vocabulary grew by leaps and bounds, but she was still not able to string words together into meaningful sentences. Normal children begin by learning to say simple sentences, like "No have toy." Soon they are able to say "I not have toy." Eventually they will learn to say, "I do not have the toy.' Later they will refine the sentence to say, "I don't have the toy." Genie seemed to be stuck at the first stage. We do learn many words from experience, from seeing, hearing, reading, and asking. But some scientists think that learning how to speak in sentences and sensing how words get put together in logical order also depends on something that is built into our brains from birth. Was Genie's brain missing something which was necessary for learning language? Linking Language & Learning 2

Genie … Over the next couple of years, some scientists concluded that Genie was not mentally retarded, even though she was still unable to master language. She was brilliant at nonverbal communication. Sometimes she would be so frustrated at not being able to say what she wanted that she would grab a pencil and paper and in a few strokes, illustrate fairly complex ideas and even feelings. She scored the highest recorded score ever on tests that measure a person's ability to make sense out of chaos and to see patterns. Her abilities to understand and to think logically were also strong. She had a perfect score on an adult-level test that measured spatial abilities. One test required that she use a set of colored sticks to recreate a complicated structure from memory. She was not only able to build the structure perfectly, she built it with sticks of the exact same color as the first structure! Despite all this, Genie remained unable to master the basics of language. http://www.feralchildren.com/en/showchild.php?ch=genie Linking Language & Learning 2

3. Interactionist theories: • Children require interaction with a care-giver to develop language. • Children follow the attention of the care-giver and learn to direct the attention of the care-giver; these activities involve intention reading and pattern finding skills. • Communication is 3-way: child, adult, object. • Language structure emerges from language use. Linking Language & Learning 2

Second language learning … • Think about these questions related to learning a second language as an adult: • Does an adult learn a second language the way a child learns a first language? • If not, what happened to the LAD? • Is there a critical period for L2 acquisition? • Which is better … classroom learning or immersion experience? Linking Language & Learning 2

Second language learning … Most people agree that there is a fundamental difference between L1 and L2 learning because: • All children learn their first language easily and well whereas adults vary in their ultimate mastery of a second language. • Children do not need to be taught their first language whereas adults benefit from formal instruction. • Children are intrinsically motivated to learn their native language whereas adult mastery of a second language is dependent upon attitude, motivation, and aptitude. Linking Language & Learning 2

Second language learning… Despite the disadvantages of learning a second language in adulthood you are naturally endowed with important L2 learning abilities: • mature problem-solving abilities • general understanding about the nature of human interaction. • competence in your native language. Give yourself credit! • After relatively little formal instruction, you can use your L2 to gather information about many other subjects. Read the following slide telling about Genie in French. You don’t know every word, but how much can you understand? • Is there new information about Genie that was not included in the earlier information in English? Linking Language & Learning 2

Genie est le nom d’une jeune fille …. … découverte à Los Angeles le 4 novembre 1970. Née en avril 1957, Genie était le quatrième enfant d'un couple instable. Sa mère était partiellement aveugle à cause d'une cataracte et d'un décollement de la rétine. Son père, de vingt ans l'aîné de sa mère, était un déséquilibré mental, longtemps dépressif. À l'âge de vingt mois, Genie allait tout juste commencer à parler quand un médecin annonça à sa famille qu'elle semblait un peu lente, probablement mentalement retardée. Le père de Genie a interprété cet avis à l'extrême et, la croyant profondément retardée, lui a fait subir un sévère isolement et un maltraitement rituel, afin « de la protéger ». Jusqu'à sa découverte, à l'âge de treize ans et sept mois, Genie était attachée à une chaise et portait des couches-culottes. Elle ne parlait pas et pouvait seulement babiller comme un enfant. On disait que son père la battait chaque fois qu'elle essayait de formuler un mot et interdisait à sa femme et à son fils de lui parler. Pendant plus d'une décennie elle fut complètement cloîtrée, laissée seule dans une pièce, sans aucune forme d'échange, de quelque sorte que ce soit, avec un humain. Linking Language & Learning 2

Final discussion questions… Write your ideas about these questions and turn them in to your teacher: • What theory of L1 acquisition makes the most sense to you: environmental, nativist, or interactionist? Explain. • If you were asked to use French to explore another subject area, what would you choose (science, law, art, music, politics, etc.)? Explain. This Power Point presentation is available at: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/french_ital/faculty/scott Linking Language & Learning 2

Linking Language & Learning 2 Comparisons & Connections