语言学相关知识

语言学相关知识

1.DiscusstheroleofL1inL2acquisition.(20’)Gass(2001)believesthattransferfromNLplaysa“rocky”roleinthecourseofSLAandinaL2learningsituation.L1hasagreatinfluenceonL2inphonology,morpheme,syntax,semantic,pragmatic,discourseandsoon.Therefore,theroleofL1inL2acquisitioncanbeconcludedinoneword,thatis,transfer,whichmeanstheinfluencethatthelearner’sL1exertsovertheacquisitionofanL2apparentlyinmanyaspectsinEllis’sview.Here,Idividetransferintofourkinds,thatis,negativetransfer,positivetransfer,avoidanceandover-use.Negativetransfercanalsobecalledinterference,iscausedbythesharpdifferencesbetweenL1andL2.WhenlearnerstransfertheirL1habitsintotheL2,errorsaremadeifthehabitsofL1differgreatlyfromthoseofL2.Forexample,ChineselearnersfindverydifficultytolearnattributiveclauseinEnglishbecausethereislittleuseinChinese.Butsomescholarsthoughtthatitisnotagreeablethatwhethererrorsmadearetheresultsoftransferorareintra-lingualinnature.SomeexperimentsindicatethatboththetwofactorsinfluenceL2learning.WhetherornotanagreementonhowmuchnegativetransferactsinL2acquisition,thefactthatthelanguagephenomenon“transfer”existswillnotbedenied.DifferentL1habitswillpreventsuccessfulL2learninginall.PositivetransferL1facilitatesL2learningbutitdoesn’tmeantheabsenceoferrors.Instead,itmeansthereductionoferrors.PositivetransferoccurswhentherearesimilaritiesbetweenL1andL2,thuslearnerscanuseL1habitstounderstandL2moreeasilyandbetter.Studiesdonebylinguistsillustratehowtransferhasafacilitativeorpositiveeffect.Zoble(1980)investigatedsomeadultEnglishlearnersofFrenchoftheplacementsof“verbs”and“objects”.Becausetherearethesameword-ordertypeofverb-objectexistsinEnglish,sotheselearnersfindeasiertolearnthiskindofknowledgeinFrench.TheyquicklygraspthepatternthroughtheirNL(English)transferpositively.Hyltemstam(1984)madeaninvestigationonrelativeclausesinL2Swedish,alanguagethatdoesnotpermitpronounretention.Heinvestigated45adultsubjectsfrom5differentlanguagebackgrounds.Thelanguageswererangedintheextenttowhichtheyprohibitretentivepronouns.TheresultshowsthatthelearnerswiththemostsimilarlanguageruleslearnhisTLfast.ThemoresimilaritiesexistinL1andL2,theeasiertograspL2.AlltheseserveasthepositivetransferinSLA.AvoidancecanalsooccurwhenthedifferencesbetweenL1andL2aresosharpthatlearnerscannotfindanycluesfromL1.L1habitsdon’texistinL2.TheclassicstudyofavoidancedonebySchachter(1974)showsthatChineseandJapaneselearnersofEnglishmadefewererrorsonrelativeclausesthan\nPersianandArabiclearners,notbecausetheformermasteredtheTLbetterthanthelatter,butbecausetheyreducedtheamountofusingrelativeclausesorsimplyavoidedusingthem.Oppositetoavoidance,theover-use,orovergeneralizationreferstothefrequentuseofcertainlinguisticrulesofstructureoftheL2.Forexample,L2learnershaveoftenbeenobservedtousetheregularpasttenseinflectiontoirregularverbsinL2English,suchas“comed”,“goed”,and“runned”,etc.L2learnersoveruselinguisticruleswhentheythinkoveruseofrulesinL1cangetrightanswers.2.CommentonKrashen’sMonitorModel(mainideasandpotentialproblemswiththismodel).(20’)TherearefivehypothesesofKrashen’sMonitorModel,thatis,theAcquisition/LearningModel,theNaturalOrderhypothesis,theMonitorHypothesis,theInputHypothesisandtheAffectFilterHypothesis.TheAcquisition/LearningModelstatesthattherearetwowaysofmasteringasecondlanguage,thatis,learningandacquisition.Learningisaconsciousprocesswhichisdonewiththehelpofpeers,parents,teachers,etc.Educationisthemostcommonwayforlearning.However,acquisitionisasubconsciousprocess.Acquisitionmeansthingsthatareinnate,thatonepersonprocesseswhenhe/sheisborn.Acquisitionandlearningaretwodistinctiveandindependentprocessesofmasteringasecondlanguage.Unfortunately,Krashendoesn’tpointoutthatlearningcanbecomeacquisition.Hegivessomeevidencesuchassometimesacquisitioncanoccurwithoutlearning,sometimesonecanalsobreaktherulesthoughheknowsthemetc.Hethinkslearningdoesn’tprecedeacquisitionbuthedoesn’tthinktheotherhand,whichmeanslearningcanprecedeacquisition.Besides,Krashendoesn’tdefineconsciousandunconscious.Healsodoesn’tpointouthowdolearningandacquisitiondifferinbehavioralterms.What’smore,thereislogicalinconsistencyinthishypothesis.IfmostL2isacquiredunconsciouslythenhowcanlearning,whichisconscious,contributetothedevelopmentofL2competence.ThishypothesisalsoclaimsthatadultscanaccesssameLADaschildren.TheMonitorHypothesisconcernsabouttherelationshipbetweenacquisitionoflanguageandlearningoflanguage.Acquisitioncontributestothefluencyinalanguagewhilelearningplaystheroleofmonitororcorrectorinacquiringalanguage.KrashenlistssomesufficientconditionsinwhichtheMonitorcanbemadefulluse.1)time(sufficienttimeisnecessaryfortheconsciouslythinkaboutanduseruleseffectively);2)focusonform(performersmustpayattentiontowhatiscorrected);3)knowledgeoftherule.However,therearesomedeficienciesofthishypothesis.Firstly,Kreshenclaimsthatlearningisavailableonlyforuseinproductioninsteadforcomprehensionbuthedoesn’tgivesomeevidence.Secondly,focusonformmeansfocusonthecorrectness,thereisnodistinctionbetweenformandcontent.Butsometimesletterswithdifferentformssuchassiteiruandsitteirualsohavedifferentmeanings.Thirdly,knowingtherules\nofalanguageisabsoluteinthatdifferentlearnershavedifferentunderstandingoftherules.Theycanalsousetherulesfromtheirownperspectivetouseandcomprehendlanguageeventhoughsomeofthemareincorrectforlinguists.Krashenneglectsthediversestandardsofrulesofdifferentpeopleandhealsothinksthatchildrendon’tuseMonitor.TheNaturalOrderHypothesisexplainsthattherulesofthelanguage(grammaticalstructures)areacquiredinapredictableorder,somerulestendingtocomeearlyandotherslater.However,therearesomeproblemsleftforthishypothesis.Firstly,Krashendoesn’tpointoutwhatisa‘structure’?Learnerhastoacquiremanystructuresofalanguagesuchastenseendings.Secondly,thereisnodefiniteorderofdevelopingalanguage.Individualvariationmakesthedifferentorderfordifferentperson.Ifthestructuresaredividedintovaryingnumbersoforderedsets,itisneedlesstotalkabouta‘naturalorder’.Krashen’sAffectiveFilterHypothesisisoneofthemostsignificantandwell-knownhypothesesinsecondlanguageacquisition.Itshowstherelationshipbetweenaffectandsecondlanguagelearning.What’smore,thishypothesiselucidateswhysomelearnerscanlearnsecondlanguagewellwhilesomecan’ttoalargedegree.Affect,fromKrashen’sperspective,isintendedtoincludefactorssuchamotivation,attitude,self-confidence,andanxiety.Lowanxiety,highmotivation,self-confidenceandcomprehensibleinputaretheidealconditionsforlearner’ssuccessfullanguageacquisition.Ifthefilterisup,inputispreventedfrompassingthrough,thuslearnerscannotacquirelanguage.Ifthefilterisdown,andiftheinputiscomprehensibleandadequate,theacquisitionwilltakeplace.Tosummarize,accordingtoKrashen,twoconditionsarenecessaryforsuccessfulacquisition.Oneiscomprehensibleinputandtheotherislowaffectivefilter.Thedeficienciesofthishypothesisarethefollowing.Firstly,thishypothesisalsointendstoexplainchildandadultdifferences.TheFilterisnotpresentinchildrenbutispresentinadults.Butquestionssuchas“Howdoesitwork?Howistheinput?”arenotanswered.Secondly,Krashendoesn’tpointoutwhythishypothesiscannotbeappliedtoL1?ComprehensibleInputHypothesisisonepartofKrashen’sMonitorHypothesis.Krashenthoughtsecondlanguageisacquiredbylearners’receivingunderstandableinformation,whichmeansthecomprehensibleinput.Essentially,theinputshouldbeslightlyaheadofalearner’scurrentstateofgrammaticalknowledge.Iftheinputistheonethatlearnerhasalreadylearned,theacquisitionismeaninglessthoughtheinputiscomprehensible.Iftheinputislargelyaheadofalearner’scurrentstategrammaticalknowledge,acquisitionisalsomeaninglessinthattheinputisfarbeyondlearner’scurrentcomprehension.Krashenconsideredalearner’scurrentstateofknowledgeasiandthenextstageasi+1.Therefore,theinputmustbeatthei+1levelinordertobecomprehensible.Inall,thecomprehensibleinput\nhypothesisinvolvesthreemainissues.Firstly,thishypothesishascloserelationshipwithlanguageacquisitioninsteadoflanguagelearning.Secondly,withthehelpofextra-linguisticinformation,learnerscanunderstandnewinformationwhichisabitbeyondtheircurrentlanguagelevel.Thirdly,i+1canemergeautomaticallyiftheinputiscomprehensibleandadequate.Deliberateprovisionofi+1willhavenegativeeffectonlearners’languageacquisition.Someproblemsarealsoleftforthishypothesis.Firstly,Krashendoesn’tpointoutwhatdoesistandforinthatihastwoambiguousmeanings.Onemeansthenextstructuretobeacquired.Theothermeansthelearner’scompetenceatonestageafterstagei.Secondly,thishypothesisexplainsthatextra-linguisticknowledgehelpslearnerlearnnewknowledgeabitbeyondhiscurrentlanguageknowledge.However,extra-linguisticknowledgeonlyprovidesthecontextforlearnertocomprehendnewknowledge.Althoughlearnercanunderstandthemeaningofnewinformation,hecannotreallyunderstandthenewrulesandhemayoverusethem.Thirdly,outputisnotimportantinKrashen’sview,buthedoesn’tgivehisreason.3.Explainthecomponentsofcommunicativecompetenceandtheirrelevancetosuccessfulcommunication.(20’)Therearesomeclassicalclassificationsofcommunicativecompetence.CanaleandSwain(1980)dividecommunicativecompetenceintofourcomponents,thatis,grammaticalcompetence,discoursecompetence,strategiccompetenceandsocioculturalcompetence.Socioculturalcompetencerequiresanunderstandingofthesocialcontextinwhichlanguageisused:therolesoftheparticipants,theinformationtheyshare,andthefunctionoftheinteraction.Inmyopinion,communicativecompetenceinvolvesthefollowingcomponents.Thefirstoneispronunciationcompetencewhichconcernsaboutthepronunciationofwords.Becauseonlywhenthespeakerpronounceswordscorrectly,Imeanthatthenativespeakeruses,canheconveyhismeaningsuccessfully.Thesecondoneisspellingcompetenceinthatcorrectspellingthatisacceptedbynativespeakersguaranteesuccessfulcommunicationespeciallyinwritingandreading.Thethirdoneisphrasecompetencewhichmeansspeakersorlistenerscanunderstandtheunderlyingandsuperficialmeaningofphrases.Sometimes,weknowthemeaningofboththetwowords,butwecannotunderstandthemeaningofthecombinedtwowords.Therefore,meaningsofphrasesdonotjustcombinethemeaningsofthewordscomprisedofthephrasetogethersometimes.Weshouldknowaboutthemeaningsofsomefrequentlyusedphraseswhichfallintotheabovecategoryinordertofacilitateourcommunication.Thefourthoneisdiscoursecompetencewithwhichspeakersandlistenerscanconvey/comprehendthemeaningofthesentencesandthenthediscoursesuccessfullyandtheycanalsolearnaboutthecohesionandorganizationofthetext.Thefifthoneisgrammaticalcompetence.Correct\ngrammaticalrulesaretheonesacceptedbynativespeakersinmyopinioninthattheyinvolvesboththosetaughtbyteachers/grammarbooksandthoseusedbynativespeakersbutnotinofficialgrammarbooks.Sufficientgrammarknowledgeguaranteesspeakers/listenersmakeclearofthedifferentpartsofsentences,forexample.Grammarknowledgeinvolvesphonologyknowledge,morphemeknowledge,syntaxknowledge,semanticknowledgewhicharenecessityforsuccessfulcommunication.Thesixthoneispragmaticcompetencewhichmeanshowtoexpresswhattowhominwhichsituation.Differentlistenersrequiredifferentspeakingstyleandcontent.Differentsituationorcontextrequiresdifferentwaysofspeaking.Theseventhoneisstrategiccompetencewhichconcernsabouthowtoexpressandconveyyourideastootherscorrectlyandquicklyinordertoestablishandmaintainsocialrelationships.CommunicativeCompetencePronunciationCompetenceSpellingCompetencePhraseCompetenceDiscourseCompetenceGrammaticalCompetencePragmaticCompetenceStrategicCompetence4.Commentonthefocusonformandfocusonformsinstructions(20’)IFocusonforminstructionrequireslearnerstopaylittleattentiontogrammarwithnoorlittleinterruptiontocommunication.Focusonformsinstructionrequireslearnerspayseparateattentiontogrammarandneglectcommunication.IIForminfocusonforminstructionreferstolanguageformingeneralwhichincloserelationshipwithmeaning.Formsinfocusonformsinstructionreferstodiscrete,isolated,specificlanguageforms.IIIFocusonforminstructionmeansoccasionalshiftofattentiontoform.Focusonformsmeansmostattentiontoform.IVFocusonforminstructionmeanslearners’firstengagementisinmeaning,andthentheyexploresomelinguisticknowledge.Focusonformsrequireslearnerstopayprimaryattentiontoform.VFocusonforminstructionappliesananalyticalapproachwhilefocusonformsinstructionappliesasyntacticalapproach.VIFocusonforminstructionteacheslinguisticknowledgeincontextwhilefocusonformsinstructionteacheslinguisticknowledgeinisolation.\nVIIFocusonforminstructionmainlyusestask-basedandcontent-basedlanguageteachingapproachandprocesssyllabus.Focusonformsinstructionmainlyusesgrammar-translationteachingapproachandstructuralsyllabus.5.Readthepassagebelowandthenanswerthefollowingquestions.(20’)Thetragiccaseof“Genie”bearsdirectlyonthecriticalperiodhypothesis.Geniewasdiscoveredin1970,attheageofthirteen,havingbeenbroughtupinconditionsofinhumanneglectandextremeisolation.Shewasseverelydisturbedandunderdeveloped,andhadbeenunabletolearnlanguage.Inthecourseofhertreatmentandrehabilitation,greateffortsweremadetoteachhertospeak.Shehadreceivednexttonolinguisticstimulationbetweentheagesoftwoandpuberty,sotheevidenceofherlanguage-learningabilitywouldbeardirectlyontheLenneberghypothesis.AnalysisofthewayGeniedevelopedherlinguisticskillsshowedseveralabnormalities,suchasamarkedgapbetweenproductionandcomprehension,variabilityinusingrules,stereotypedspeech,gapsintheacquisitionofsyntacticskills,andagenerallyretardedrateofdevelopment.Aftervariouspsycholinguistictests,itwasconcludedthatGeniewasusingherrighthemisphereforlanguage(aswellasforseveralotheractivities),andthatthismighthavebeentheresultofherbeginningthetaskoflanguagelearningafterthecriticalperiodofleft-hemispheredevelopment.ThecasewasthusthoughttosupportLenneberg’shypothesis,butonlyinaweakform.Geniewasevidentlyabletoacquiresomelanguagefromexposureafterpuberty(shemadegreatprogressinvocabulary,forexample,andcontinuedtomakegainsinmorphologyandsyntax),butshedidnotdosoinanormalway.Question:Whatcanyoulearnfromthispassageaboutlanguagelearning?Andwhatimplicationscanyoudrawforsecondlanguageacquisition?Criticalperiodisarelativelyshortperiodwithinwhichchildren’sacquisitionandlearningofsecondlanguagecanbemorerapidlyandeasily.Specifically,thehypothesispositsthatchildrenbetweenbirthandsomewherearoundtheagewhenachildenterspubertycanmoreeasilyacquirelanguagethanpost-pubescentchildren.Learnersofasecondlanguagethatbeginthelearningprocessafterthiscriticalperiodareindeedstillabletoacquireasecondlanguage.Thefoundationofthecriticalperiodhypothesisrestsonneurologicalresearchthatsuggeststhatbrainfunctionsbecomelateralizedafterpuberty.Asweknowtherearetwosidesofthehumanbrain-therightandtheleft.Somelanguagefunctionsappeartobecontrolledorstationedintherightwhileothersarelocatedintheleftportion.Languagefunctionsappearmainlycontrolledbytheleftside.Itisbelievedthat,beforepuberty,thesefunctionsarenotcompletelyassignedtoeitherportionofthebrain.Thespecificassignmentorlateralizationofbrainfunctionsisbelievedtobecompleteandsetsometimeduringorjustafterpuberty.Thepre-pubescentbraincanabsorb\nallnewinformationeasily.Somescholarsthoughtthis"absorption"ofaspectsoflanguagetonon-specificlocationsinthebrainsupposedlymakesthelearningoflanguage,firstorsecondlanguage,easierforchildrenthanadultsorolderadolescents.Therefore,childrenneedtolearnasecondlanguagebeforetheircriticalperiodinordertoacquireanaturalpronunciationandgraspsomebasiclinguisticrulesgradually.Foradultlearners,ontheotherhand,itdoesn’tmeantheycannotacquiresecondlanguage.Althoughtheymissthecriticalperiod,thustheymayfindmoredifficultiesinacquiringsecondlanguage,suchaspronunciation,certainlinguisticrules,theycanalsoacquiresecondlanguagewiththeirmutualcognitivesystemandefforts.