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2 Behaviorism and Second Language Learning Contrastive Analysis The origin of SLA as a scientific field is embedded in the behavioristic tradition, which dominated the field from the 1940s to the 1960s. It is also closely associated with contrastive analysis (CA), which had a great impact not only on SLA theory but also on second language classroom teaching. Contrary to its counterpart in Europe, where CA was viewed as an integral part of a general linguistic theory (Fisiak 1981) and the goal was to under- stand and explain the nature of natural languages, CA in the United States had strong pedagogical roots. In addition, it adhered to the prevailing scien- tific tradition of its time—behaviorism. Behaviorism was regarded as a general theory of learning, and language learning (whether first or second) was considered to adhere to the same prin- ciples. It was believed then that learning is advanced by making a stimulus- response connection, by creating new habits by means of reinforcement and practice of the established links between stimuli and responses. Behaviorism undermined the role of mental processes and viewed learning as the ability to inductively discover patterns of rule-governed behavior from the examples provided to the learner by his or her environment. In accordance with the fundamental principle of behaviorism, first lan- 18 Behaviorism 19 guage learning was viewed as the imitation of utterances to which the child had been exposed in his or her environment. Children were believed to acquire their native language by repeating and imitating their caretakers’ utterances. This idea of habit formation is illustrated in Leonard Bloomfield’s (1933) explanation of the child’s first language acquisition: Exactly how children learn