ProfCert TESOL

LANG 40650 SLA and

TESOL pedagogy

Dr Stergiani Kostopoulou
 LANG 40650 SLA and TESOL pedagogy

Introduction to Second Language Acquisition (SLA)

Theories
Introduction to SLA
Theories
 Overview

○ Key definitions
○ Why do we need to understand SLA?
○ What is a theory?
○ What is the purpose of SLA theories?
○ Theoretical families:
(i) Linguistic
(ii) Cognitive
(iii) Interactionist/Sociolinguistic/Sociocultural
 Definitions
First language (L1): mother tongue, native language, first
language spoken in childhood.

Second language (L2): any language at an individual’s disposal

other than his/her mother tongue which is in substantial use
within an individual’s community as opposed to...

Foreign language: any language not used substantially within

that community.
 Definitions
First Language Acquisition investigates how children acquire their
first language (L1). It includes the study of speech perception and
the role of memory. Looking also at the processes of language use,
one of its central expectations is that findings will yield information
about cognitive operations and the effects of the environment on
how people think and talk.

Furthermore, it is interested in the processes that lead youngsters

to develop proficiency in their mother tongue and ultimately to
become literate, with the expectation that findings will be useful
for L1 education.
 Definitions
Second Language Acquisition investigates the processes by which
children and adults acquire or learn a language other than their
mother tongue and ultimately develop proficiency in this language,
with the expectation that findings may be useful in teaching a
language other than L1.

Though referred to as second language acquisition, the language to

be taught may not be a second but a third or a fourth language for
the person learning it.
 Why study SLA?
Improved knowledge about second language learning:

● Contributes to an understanding of the nature of language, of

human learning, of intercultural communication, and thus of
the human mind itself.
● Helps us to account for both success and failure in L2 learning
and adopt an evidence-based approach to language teaching .
● Interdisciplinary SLA research offers multiple perspectives (from
psychology, neurology and education) into how learners
develop a new language system.
 SLA Theories
What is a theory?

“. . . a set of statements about natural phenomena that explains

why these phenomena occur the way they do” (VanPatten and
Williams, 2007, p. 2).

There is ‘nothing as practical as a good theory’

(Lewin, 1943: 35).

“Theory matters because without it education is just hit and miss;

[. . . ] we risk misunderstanding not only the nature of our
pedagogy but the epistemic foundations of our discipline” (Webb,
1996: 23).
 Purpose of SLA theories

Each theory should be explicit about the following:

1. The theory’s object of inquiry, and views of the nature of

language, of the learner, of the learning process, and of how
these interact with one another.
2. Systematic procedures for (dis)confirming the theory, through
data gathering and interpretation.
3. Not only descriptions of L2 phenomena, but also explanations.
4. Engagement with other theories in the field.

(Mitchell and Myles, 2004: 9)

 3 Theoretical families

a) Linguistic theories - focus on the linguistic properties

of learner language.
b) Cognitive theories - focus on cognitive processing or
psychological makeup of individuals.
c) Interactionist/Sociolinguistic/Sociocultural theories:
focus on the social and interactional context of second
language acquisition.
 3 Theoretical families

Each family is classified in terms of its:

○ Domain of inquiry
○ Views on the nature of language
○ View of the linguistic process
○ View of the language learner
○ SLA research agendas/findings
○ Contribution to SLA theory building
Linguistic approaches
 Domain of inquiry

The formal system underlying learner production and

comprehension.

Goals of linguistic research, according to Chomsky (1986):

What constitutes knowledge of language?
How is knowledge of language acquired?
How is knowledge of language put to use?

Focus on morphosyntax, L2 phonology, semantics and their

interface.
Property theories of language (describe and explain learners’
linguistic systems).
 The nature of language

Language is modular: the formal properties of language are

part of a distinct structure in the mind and different aspects
of language are modular.

Criticism:
Studying language in a vacuum, as a mental object rather
than a social or psychological one (Lantolf, 1996), separating
language knowledge from language use.
Dichotomy between competence (i.e. the mental
representations underlying language in the mind) and
performance (i.e. the realization of language in real time).
 The learning process

Focus on the nature of the L2 linguistic system (particularly on

syntax and morphology) not on the L2 learning process. The social
and psychological variables which affect the rate and outcome of
the learning process are ignored.

The learning process is an interaction between linguistic input and

universal linguistic mechanisms operating within the mind of
individuals. Linguistic input triggers these universal mechanisms.
 The language learner
The learner as the possessor of a mind which contains language;
all individuals have the same mental grammar; variations are of
little concern.

Emphasis on language as the object of study; on what is universal

within the mind rather than on the learner as a social being.

Criticism:
An idealized, static and normative view of language and L2
learners endeavouring to achieve the native-speaker norm.
 SLA Research agendas
The analysis of the linguistic system underlying learners L2
development, including the role of L1 in this development.

1. What is the linguistic system underlying learners’ performance,

and how do they construct this system, at various stages of
development and in each of the following: phonology,
morphology, lexis, syntax, semantics, discourse, pragmatics?

2. What is the role of (i) the native language or other previously

acquired language, (ii) the target language and (iii) universal
formal properties of human languages?
 SLA Research findings

Linguistic theories have enhanced our understanding of L2

morphosyntactic development and of how L1 and L2 systems
interact.
Behaviourism
‘Say what I say’
 Behaviourism

○ L2 learning takes place in the same way as any other kind of

learning.
○ L1 and L2 acquisition viewed as similar processes.
○ Children are born with a blank slate of mind (tabula rasa).
○ Habit formation through imitation and repetition.
○ Stimulus-response-reinforcement theory.

B.F. Skinner
 Behaviourism -
Operant conditioning

The child produces certain responses when triggered by specific

verbal stimuli and under carefully controlled reinforcement
provided by the environment (i.e. the caregivers):

‘‘Operant reinforcement, then, is a simple way of controlling the

probability of occurrence of a certain class of verbal responses. If
we wish to make a response of given form highly probable, we
arrange for the effective reinforcement of many instances. If we
wish to eliminate it from a verbal repertoire, we arrange that
reinforcement shall no longer follow’’.

(Skinner 1957: 30)

Innatism
‘It’s all in your mind’
 Innatism : The UG approach

Logical problem of Acquisition - Review of Skinner’s Verbal Behavior

(Chomsky, 1959).
All children acquire their native language within a remarkably short
time, despite its complexity and without having appropriate and
sufficient evidence about it - Children are genetically imprinted with
knowledge about language:

‘‘Given the richness and complexity of the system of grammar for a

human language and the uniformity of its acquisition on the basis of
of limited and often degenerate evidence, there can be little doubt
that highly restrictive universal principles must exist determining the
general framework of each human language and perhaps much of its
specific structure as well’’ (Chomsky 1980: 232)
 Innatism : The UG approach
○ The input from the environment alone is not sufficient to
determine the success of L2 learning.
○ Universal Grammar: Language as a genetic endowment -
human beings are born with language acquisition devices
(LAD) in their brain which contains language universals.
○ Learners viewed as processors of a mind that contains
language - not just repetition of mechanical aspects of
language (Mitchell and Myles, 2004).

N. Chomsky
 Innatism : The UG approach

Universal Grammar:

‘’all human beings inherit a universal set of principles and

parameters that control the shape human language can take, and
which are what make human language similar to each other’’
(Mitchell and Myles, 2004: 54).

Principles are properties that all natural human language shared.

Parameters reveal how languages are different.
 Formal linguistic approaches

https://termcoord.eu/2020/05/video-fix-behaviorist-theory-of-sec
ond-language-acquisition/
Cognitive approaches
 Domain of inquiry
Focus on the individual and on what happens in the brain.
L2 acquisition viewed as the acquisition of a complex skill. Learners
rely on general learning mechanisms (rather than language specific
mechanisms as the UG approach does).

The development of processing skills in L2 learners and the role of

individual differences in terms of a) cognitive factors (e.g.
intelligence, working memory, aptitude) and b) socio-affective
factors (e.g. motivation, anxiety, extroversion, learner beliefs,
learning styles or learner strategies).
 The nature of language
An underdeveloped view of language as the focus is on the
learning process.
Transition theories (focus on how learners develop over time in
L2).
Interested in the role played by individual differences in
facilitating or speeding up learning focusing on psychological
variables.

Cognitive theorists of SLA:

a) Processing approaches (e.g. Pienemann, 2005;2010 and
VanPatten, 2002;2007)
b) Emergentist/Constructionist approaches (e.g. Ellis, 2003; Ellis
and Larsen-Freeman, 2006 and Tomasello, 2003)
 The learning process
Information processing approaches investigate how different
memory stores (short-term and long-term memory) deal with
new L2 information and how this information is automatized and
restructured through repeated activation.

Processability theory examines the processing demands made

by various formal aspects of the L2 and the implications and for
learnability and teachability of L2 structure (Pienemann, 2003;
2005; 2010).
 The learning process

According to Constructivist/Emergentist views, language learning

is seen as the analysis of patterns in the language input and
language development is seen as resulting from the billions of
associations which are created during language use and which
lead to regular patterns in learner performance.

Language is seen as a set of probabilistic patterns which become

strengthened in the brain of the learner through repeated
activation.
 The language learner

Focus on the individual but not as a social being - interested in

the learner’s mind as a processor, organizer and storer of
information rather than on the linguistic information it contains.

They also look at individual differences and how individual

characteristics interact with the learning process.
 SLA Research agendas

1. How do learners develop their ability to access and use their

L2 system in real time, i.e. their processing capability?
2. What are the roles of individual differences and learning styles
in shaping and/or facilitating L2 development?
3. What is the influence of the age of the learner, in shaping
and/or facilitating L2 development?
Interactional/
Sociolinguistic &
Sociocultural approaches
 The domain of inquiry
The situated context in which L2 learning takes place and its role
in the construction of linguistic knowledge and identity.

Sociocultural framework: the learning process as a social activity

and language as a mediation tool.

Interactionists focus on the role played by the different types of

interactions in which the learner may engage.

Sociolinguistic/sociopragmatic competence - social and

pragmatic functions of language.
 The nature of language

Language embedded in its social and interactional context - interest

in the role this context plays to answer different research questions
depending on the theoretical framework that is adopted.
 The nature of language
Sociolinguists: paralinguistic aspects of communication appropriate
to various contexts (e.g. formal vous vs informal tu).

Interactionists: language as a source of input to be modified in

various ways in order to facilitate the learning process.

Sociocultural theorists: language as a tool for thought; dialogic

communication as central to the joint construction of knowledge
(including knowledge of language forms).
 The learning process

The same general learning mechanisms are involved in language

learning as in any other kind of learning.

But learning is primarily social rather than individual, with learners

actively shaping their learning environment and co-constructing
knowledge with their interactional partners.

Language learning is language use.

 The language learner

The view of the language learner varies substantially according to

the approach adopted.
 The language learner

Sociocultural theorists:

The view of the language learner closely related to that of language

and of learning. Language seen as a means of mediation in mental
activity and learning is a process mediated through learners’ use of
mental tools - it is socially mediated through interaction.
 The language learner
Sociolinguists:
Learners as social partners within social settings/focusing on how
they negotiate their learning in situated context and how their
identity is shaped by these encounters.

Interactionists:
Learners as individuals engaging with conversational partners in
order to develop an interlanguage system, making use of internal
cognitive and linguistic mechanisms.
 SLA Research agendas

1. How does input/interaction/output facilitate, shape and/or

accelerate the development of learners linguistic system
and/or processing capability?
2. How do the environmental/social context facilitate shape
and/or accelerate the development of learners linguistic
system and/or processing capability?
 SLA Key Research Findings

1. Developmental stages in L2/L3 acquisition which are

independent of L1 and the mode of exposure and they are
similar to the stages followed by children acquiring their
mother tongue.
2. The linguistic system underlying learner production is rule-
governed. Learners acquire subtle grammatical L2 properties
which do not seem learnable from the input alone and which
have not been taught explicitly.
3. Some properties from the L1 are likely to transfer, other not.
Crosslinguistic transfer remains poorly understood.
4. The rate and outcome of the learning process is highly
variable (fossilization vs near-native competence).
Interactionism
‘A little help from my friends’
 Interactionism

○ L2 learning results from the complex interplay between the

unique human faculties and the environment of the L2
learners.
○ Emphasis on the importance of interactional conversation -
Krashen’s (1981) comprehensible input hypothesis.
○ Scaffolding provided in interaction by NSs or more capable
peers.
○ No conclusive evidence to suggest that comprehensible input
affects L2 learning (Davies and Elder, 2004).

M. Long
 Social constructivism

○ L2 learning results from interactions with more capable others.

○ Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD): “the distance between

the actual developmental levels as determined by independent
problem solving and the level of potential development as
determined through problem solving under adult guidance, or in
collaboration with more capable peers” (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 86).

L. Vygotsky
 Social constructivism

Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD; Vygotsky 1978:86)

implies that ‘learners are able to achieve much more collaboratively
than individually without help’ and ‘what learners can initially
achieve through collaboration, they will later be able to achieve
independently’ (ibid.: 67).

This happens because during group interaction, individual cognitions

(multiple ZPDs) influence each other and produce ‘a great deal more
than the sum of what the learners could produce individually’ (Little
2000a: 20).
L. Vygotsky
 Social constructivism

Pedagogical ‘scaffolding’ defined as follows:

‘‘in social interaction a knowledgeable participant can create, by

means of speech, supportive conditions in which the novice can
participate in, and can extend skills and knowledge to higher
levels of competence’’.
(Donato, 1994: 40)
 Social constructivism

○ Language produced interactively gradually becomes part of

the individual learner’s internalised mental resources.

Vygotsky’s (1978) principle of internalisation - social speech is

gradually transformed into the capacity for inner speech (or
discursive thinking) in the target language.

L. Vygotsky
 Conclusion

No one approach to date has succeeded in capturing all

facets of second language development and giving answers
to all related questions.

The various theoretical families have all enriched our

understanding of the complex phenomenon of second
language acquisition, and they complement each other by
focusing on different theoretical and empirical agendas.
 Translating SLA theories
into practice

What are the pedagogical implications of each

family of SLA theories?
Recommended readings
 Follow-up task

Based on a critical review of the 3 theoretical families (linguistic,

cognitive, interactionist/sociolinguistic/sociocultural approaches),
try to formulate a theory of SLA that resonates with your personal
experience as language learners and teachers. Specific reference
should be made to the theory’s domain of inquiry and views about
the nature of language, language learners and the learning process.
Please try to explain how this can inform your teaching practice.

Recommended reading:
Myles, F. (2013). Theoretical approaches. In Herschensohn, J. and M.
Young-Scholten (Eds.) The Cambridge Handbook of Second Language
Acquisition (pp. 46-70). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
 References

Carlile, O., A. Jordan, and A. Stack (2004). Learning by Design: Learning Theory
for the Designer of Multimedia Educational Materials. Waterford: WIT/ BBC
Online.
Davies, A. and C. Elder (Eds) (2004) Handbook of Applied Linguistics. Oxford:
Blackwell.
Mitchell, R., and Myles, F. (2004). Second language learning theories (2nd ed.).
London: Hodder Arnold.
Mitchell, R., Myles, F. Marsden, E. (2013) Second language learning theories.
Third Edition. Abingdon: Routledge.
Myles, F. (2013). Theoretical approaches. In Herschensohn, J. and M. Young-
Scholten (Eds.) The Cambridge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition (pp.
46-70). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
VanPatten, B. and J. Williams, Eds. (2007). Theories in Second Language
Acquisition: An Introduction. New York: Routledge.
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in Society. London: Harvard University Press.
Webb, J. (1996). Why theory matters. In J. Webb and C. Maughan (Eds.),
Teaching Lawyers Skills. London: Butterworth.