SecondLanguageAcquisition1.pptVIP

Lesson 1 A Universal Grammar A hypothesis which many linguists and psychologists support is that a great many of the abstract principles governing correct language use are common to all language, as opposed to the principles that are language-specific (i.e. specific to particular languages). According to this view, those principles that are universal are “programmed” into all human children just by virtue of their being human, and this accounts for children’s ability to process the smorgasbord(大杂烩) of sounds and words that they hear, and their ability to come up with essentially the same structures as other children For a child to learn an L1 all that is required is the natural process of maturation and the right environment of input and interaction L2 learners are already cognitively mature and maturation plays no role in their language development. Rather, it is generally agreed that transfer of prior knowledge from L1 to L2 plays a huge role in L2 learning Interaction is not necessary for L2 learning Second Language Acquisition Course Overview The set text is Introducing Second Language Acquisition (2005) by Muriel Saville-Troike We will be concentrating on chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 but we will try to cover as much as possible You will be assessed as follows: Quiz in week 5 (7.5% of final grade) Midterm in week 10 (30% of final grade) Quiz in week 15 (7.5% of final grade) Final in week 18/19 (40% of final grade) Classroom participation (15% of final grade) What is language? Suppose you taught a dog to heel, sit up, roll over, play dead, stay, jump, and bark on command, using the italicized words as cues. Would you be teaching it language? Why or why not? First and second languages The study of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) is study of the learning of a language (secondary language, or L2) that takes place after the learning of a first language as a child (called a primary language, or L1) The study of SLA includes the study of informal and formal L2 learning