Second Language Acquisition Semester 1, 2004

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Second Language Acquisition Semester 1, 2004

• Week 4
• The influence of the L1 revisited.

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Morpheme Order Studies Findings

• Similar patterns of morpheme suppliance found for
  L1 and L2 children from many language
  backgrounds.
• This was interpreted as evidence for a "natural
  order" in SLA.
• Do the morpheme order findings apply to adult l2
  acquisition?

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Morpheme orders in adult SLA

• Evidence for similar morpheme orders
• Bailey, Madden Krashen (1974) used BSM to test
  L2 speakers from a range of languages
• 33 native speakers of Spanish
• 40 native speakers of Other languages
• Results highly similar to the earlier studies.
• Some effect of L1 noted on outcomes
  (Larsen-Freeman, 1975).

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Challenges to the methodology used in morpheme
order studies

• The order of acquisition as an artifact of the
  BSM.
• Grouping data from multiple languages obscures
  differences.
• The equation of accuracy orders with
  developmental sequences.
• Dependence on the supplied-in-obligatory-conte
  xt (SOC) measure.
• Individual variation is obscured by grouped
  data.
• Cross-sectional versus longitudinal study.

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The order of acquisition as an artifact of the
BSM.

• Porter (1977) tested English L1 children and
  found similar orders to Dulay Burts L2 data,
  but other studies not using the BSM yielded
  similar orders.

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Grouping data from multiple languages obscures
differences.

• The non-Spanish category in Bailey, Madden
  Krashen (1974) consists of very different
  languages, Greek, Persian, Italian, Turkish,
  Japanese, Thai, Afghan Pashto Hebrew, Arabic,
  and Vietnamese.

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The equation of accuracy orders with
developmental sequences.

• Scoring in the BSM depended on the
  supplied-in-obligatory-context (SOC) measure,
  which does not reflect incorrect use.

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Individual variation is obscured by grouped data.

• Hakuta (1974) single child study showed other
  than the natural order of acquisition.

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Criticisms of the MOS interpretations

• Limited number of morphemes studied.
• The baby-with-the-bath-water a rejection of
  the behaviourist approach to language learning
  does not entail the rejection of L1 influence.

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The role of L1 revised

• The evidence from morpheme studies and to a
  lesser extent from the negation and interrogative
  orders indicates that the L1 does not determine
  the order of acquisition in IL. But it doesn't
  mean that the L1 has no role. Rather, the role
  has changed from an essentially negative
  influence -- that it is responsible for errors --
  to the L1 being one factor in how and when given
  L2 forms are acquired.

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The role of the L1

• Inteference gtgtgt Transfer gtgtgt Influence

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Forms of L1 influence

• Avoidance
• Differential learning rates
• Different paths
• Overproduction
• Predictivity/Selectivity

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Avoidance

• Avoidance strategic use of alternative
  strategies to avoid difficult forms.
• Schachter (1974) Chinese Japanese learners
  avoided the use of relative clauses in English
  writing

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2. Differential learning rates(a)

• Ard Homburg (1982) Spanish learners faster on
  vocabulary learning tasks than Arab learners both
  on cognates (mute silent) but also on items
  that are not shared (the door swung on its
  hinges)
• Zobl (1982) French, Arabic, and Spanish-speaking
  children acquisition of the copula (to be) in ESL
• French Sa maison est vielle Spanish Su casa es
  vieja
• His house is old
• Arabic Baytuhu qadimun
• The Arabic child took much longer to master the
  copula than the French and Spanish children.

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2. Differential learning rates(b)

• Zobl (1982) French, Arabic, and Spanish-speaking
  children acquisition of the copula (to be) in ESL
• French Sa maison est vielle Spanish Su casa es
  vieja
• His house is old
• Arabic Baytuhu qadimun
• The Arabic child took much longer to master the
  copula than the French and Spanish children.

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3. Different paths

• Zobl (1982) Chinese and Spanish child learners of
  English.
• Chinese child starts using this as a definitizer
  before mastering the definite article the. The
  Spanish child used both this and the from the
  beginning.

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4. Overproduction

• Overuse of Topic-comment sentences by Chinese and
  Japanese speakers in ESL writing. (Schachter,
  1974)
• As for....,comment structures

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Predictivity/selectivity

• When and under what conditions does transfer take
  place?
• The novelty effect (Kleinmann, 1977)
• Saliency as a predictor of learning
  (Bardovi-Harlig, 1987 Doughty, 1991)

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Similarity can cause problems

• Ringbom, 1987 Oller Ziahoseiny, 1970

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The importance of perceptions

• How the learner relates the first language to the
  second language is of primary importance in
  understanding how second language learning is
  affected by knowledge of the first language.

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Perceiving differences

• Language-neutral elements the learner believes
  are common across all languages.
• Language-specific elements the learner believes
  are unique to his or her language
• These factors make up a continuum called a
• psychotypology (Kellerman, 1979)

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Learner perceptions of distance affectswhat it
seen as neutral and specific.

• Close Distant
• Neutral x x x x x x x x x x x
• x x x x x x x
• x x x x x x
• x x x
• x x
• Specific x

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Perception of core and non-core senses

• He stands when the anthem is played.
• My stomach is standing.
• Room to stand.
• Need to stand time.
• The smoke stands.
• Easy to stand.
• Stand from Japan.

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Learner perceptions of distance affectswhat it
seen as neutral and specific.

• Close Distant
• Core x x x x x x x x x x x
• x x x x x x x
• x x x x x x
• x x x
• x x
• Non-core x

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• Core meanings are more likely to be transferred.

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Predicting transfer

• The greatest likelihood of transfer is in core
  elements, regardless of preceived differences.
• Languages perceived as close will elicit more
  transfer.

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Interlanguage transfer

• Does knowledge of a 2nd language facilitate the
  learning of a 3rd?

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End of Week 4 lecture slides.
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