Stephen van Vlack
Sookmyung Women`s University
Graduate School of TESOL
Second Language Learning Theories
Syllabus - Spring 2007
Week 1; March 8
Introductions to the course, to the materials, assignments, and everything else.
Go over `Milestones in Motor and Language Development` From Language Files 8, pp. 278-280. Go over the idea of SLA and SLA theories and where they come from and where they might be going. Different SLA theories from bilingual theories.
Talk about initial reactions to the winter reading book (Singleton and Ryan, 2004).
Homework: Get all materials.
Read M&M Chap. 1, Johnson Chap. 1, and Singleton (1995).
Week 2; March 15
Winter reading assignment due
M&M, Chapter 1: Second language learning: key concepts and issues
Johnson, Chapter 1: Three Major Scientific Research Traditions
Go over some of the main concepts in second language learning. Review some of the major approaches to SLA in the classroom while focusing on the three main traditions in research as analyzed by Johnson. This will lead us into a discussion of the CPH and how it has affected SLA research.
Further Reading - Singleton, D. (1995) Introduction: A critical look at the critical period hypothesis in second language acquisition research. In D. Singleton and Z. Lengyel (eds.) The age factor in second language acquisition. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, pp. 1-29.
Homework: Read M&M, Chapter 2, Johnson, Chapter 2 and articles.
Week 3; March 22
M&M, Chapter 2: The recent history of second language learning research
Johnson, Chapter 2: Behaviorism and Second Language Learning
Go over the history of some of the more popular approaches and methods which have emerged from research on SLA and been used in the classroom, focusing especially on the ideas that behaviorism brought to the table. The take a look at one of the more promising and forgotten areas of behaviorist research, transfer through three articles.
Student Presentation 1
Further Reading - Gomez, C. and R. Reason. (2002) Cross-linguistic transfer of phonological skills: A Malaysian perspective. Dyslexia 8: 2-33.
Further reading - Pavlenko, A. and S. Jarvis. (2002) Bidirectional transfer. Applied Linguistics 23/2:190-214.
Further Reading - Franch, P. (1998) On pragmatic transfer. Studies in English Language and Linguistics 0: 5-20.
Homework: Read M&M, Chapter 3, Johnson, Chapter 3 and articles.
Week 4; March 29
M&M, Chapter 3: Linguistics and language learning: the Universal Grammar approach
Johnson, Chapter 3: The Cognitive Tradition and Second Language Acquisition
First go over what UG is and how it works in brief. Then discuss how UG views the learning/acquisition of language both first and second as just one representative of what have been termed by some as cognitive approaches to SLA.
Student Presentation 2
Further Reading - Yusa, Noriaki. 1998. `A minimalist approach to second language acquisition`, In Flynn et al. (Eds.) The Generative study of second language acquisition. Mahwah, NJ.: Lawrence Earlbaum. pp. 215-238.
Homework: Read M&M, Chapter 4, Johnson, Chapter 4 and articles.
Week 5; April 5
M&M, Chapter 4: Cognitive approaches to second language learning
Johnson, Chapter 4: Information Processing Models
Review some of the main cognitive concerns frequently discussed by researchers in relation to language processing and acquisition. Decide which of them might be the best for our students and classroom situations while looking more specifically at information processing models of SLA.
Student Presentation 3
Further Reading - Selinker, L., D. Kim, and S. Bandi-Rao. (2004) Linguistic structure with processing in second language research: Is a `unified theory` possible? Second Language Research 20,1: 77-94.
Further Reading - Pienemann, M. (2002) Issues in second language acquisition and language processing. Second Language Research 18,3: 189-192.
Further Reading - Hulstijn, J. (2002) Towards a unified account of the representation, processing and acquisition of second language knowledge. Second Language Research 18, 3: 193-223.
Homework: Read M&M, Chapter 5 and articles
Week 6; April 12
M&M, Chapter 5: Functional/pragmatic perspectives on second language learning
Talk about the benefit of using a function-based approach to language learning and the importance of the role this plays in the development of language. Use this basic framework to delve into the rather new topic of pragmatic development in SLA.
Student Presentation 4
Further Reading - Lardiere, Donna. 2000. `Mapping features to forms in second language acquisition`, In Archibald, John (Ed.) Second language acquisition and linguistic theory. Oxford: Blackwell. pp. 102-129.
Further Reading - Matsumura, S. (2003) Modeling the relationships among interlanguage pragmatic development, L2 proficiency, and exposure to L2. Applied Linguistics 24/4: 465-491.
Further Reading - Kasper, G. (2001) Four perspectives on L2 pragmatic development. Applied Linguistics 22/4: 502-530.
Homework: Read M&M, Chapter 6 and articles.
Week 7; April 19
M&M, Chapter 6: Input and interaction in second language learning
First, go over the importance of the input in second language learning before turning our attention to the idea of output and the role of interaction in the second language classroom in relation to the interaction we see in first language learning.
Student Presentation 5
Further Reading - Izumi, S. (2003) Comprehension and production processes in second language learning: in search of the psycholinguistic rationale of the output hypothesis. Applied Linguistics 24/2: 168-196.
Further Reading - Seidenberg, M. (1997) Language accusation and use: Learning and applying probabilistic constraints. Science Vol. 275, pp1599-1603.
Homework: Read Johnson, Chapter 5 and articles.
Week 8; April 26
Johnson, Chapter 5: Communicative Competence Versus Interactional Competence
This week we focus on the difference between two different theories of competence. This again falls back to the idea that SLA has tended to focus strongly on individuals and individual processes and internal mechanisms. Here we will be focusing on the ideal of interaction and interactional competence and how it is a collective effort which requires specific types of forms and uses.
Student Presentation 6
Further Reading - Cheng, W. and M. Warren. (1999) Inexplicitness: What is it and should we be teaching it? Applied Linguistics 20/3: 293-315.
Further Reading - Bygate, M. (1988) Units of oral expression and language learning in small group interaction. Applied Linguistics 9/1: 59-82.
Homework: Read Johnson, Chapter 6 and articles.
Week 9; May 3
Johnson, Chapter 6: Fundamental Principles of Vygotsky`s Sociocultural Theory
This week we review some of the basic tenets of sociocultural theory and specifically Vygotsky`s own version of it. In the articles we also take a wider view of this and get a feel for how it has been used in the wider field of education.
Further Reading - Gredler, M. and C. Shields (2004) Does no one read Vygotsky`s words? Commentary on Glassman. Educational Researcher 33/2: 21-25.
Further Reading - Hasan, R. (2002) Ways of meaning, ways of learning: Code as explanatory concept. British Journal of Sociology of Education 23/4: 537-548.
Further Reading - Hung, D. Metaphorical ideas as mediating artifacts for the social construction of knowledge: Implications from the writings of Dewey and Vygotsky. International Journal of Instructional Media 29.2: 197-214.
Further Reading - Kozulin, A. (1999) Sociocultural contexts of cognitive theory. Human Development 42/2: 78-82.
Further Reading - Mahn, H. (1999) Vygotsky`s methodological contribution to sociocultural theory. Remedial and Special Education 20,6: 341-350.
Further Reading - Cortazi, M and B. Hall. (1998) Vygotsky and learning. Educational Libraries Journal 41/3: 17-21.
Homework: Read Johnson, Chapter 7 and Holt (2003).
Week 10; May 10
Johnson, Chapter 7: Bakhtin`s Dialogized Heteroglosia
This week we take a look the theories of Bakhtin and see how they can be interpreted and implemented within the area of SLA, primarily through conversational analysis.
Student Presentation 7
Further Reading - Holt, R. (2003) Bakhtin`s dimensions of language and the analysis of conversation. Communication Quarterly 51,2: 225-245.
Homework: Read M&M, Chapter 7, Johnson, Chapter 8 and articles.
Week 11; May 17
M&M, Chapter 7: Sociocultural perspectives on second language learning
Johnson, Chapter 8: Vygotsky`s Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning
This week we go over some of the main concepts surrounding the role of language as a purveyor of culture and how Vygotsky`s thoughts have effected the field of SLA directly.
Student Presentation 8
Further Reading - McCafferty, S. (2002) Gesture and creating zones of proximal development for second language learning. The Modern Language Journal 86 ii: 192-203.
Further Reading - Kinginger, C. (2002) Defining the zone of proximal development in US foreign language education. Applied Linguistics 23/2: 240-261.
Further Reading - Smith, J. (2001) modeling the social construction of knowledge in ELT teacher education. ELT Journal 53/3: 221-227.
Homework: Read M&M, Chapter 8 and articles
Week 12; May 24 (Holiday, class to be rescheduled)
M&M, Chapter 8: Sociolinguistic perspectives
Review some of the specific ways in which language is used and, in fact, needed by a given society as a tool for the preservation of societal norms and this effect on SLA. We will also be looking at the area of variation and how SLA theory is able to deal with this.
Student Presentation 9
Further Reading - Ellis, R. (1999) Item versus system learning: Explaining free variation. Applied Linguistics 20/4: 460-480.
Further Reading - Adamson, H.D. and O. Elliot Jr. (1997) Sources of variation in interlanguage. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 35, 2: 87-98.
Homework: Read Johnson, Chapter 9 and articles.
Week 13; May 31
Johnson, Chapter 9: Building a New Model of Second Language Acquisition
This week we finish Johnson (2004) by reviewing her specific model of SLA based on interactional approaches. At the same time we take a more careful look at the idea of connectionist models of SLA as being the most probable model for allowing the type of learning she argues for in her model.
Student Presentation 10
Further Reading - Mellow, J. Connectionism, HPSG signs and SLA representations: Specifying principles of mapping form and function. Second Language Research 20,2: 131-165.
Further Reading - Ellis, N. (1998) Emergentism, connectionism and language learning. Language Learning 48:4, 631-664.
Homework: Read M&M, Chapter 9 and articles.
Week 14; June 7
M&M, Chapter 9: Conclusion
Talk about some of the main issues of how learning theories are to be viewed as a whole and how these theories are to be used both for future research and, more practically, in the classroom.
Student Presentation 11
Further Reading - Tomiyama, M. (2000) Child second language attrition: A longitudinal case study. Applied Linguistics 21/3: 304-332.
Further Reading - Marinis, T. (2003) Psycholinguistic techniques in second language acquisition research. Second Language Research 19,2: 144-161.
Homework: Read Schmitt (1998) and Libben (2000).
Week 15; June 14
We spend our last week looking at the idea of vocabulary and the role it may play in trying to shed light on the SLA process as a whole.
Student Presentation 12
Further Reading - Schmitt, N. (1998) Tracking the incremental acquisition of second language vocabulary: A longitudinal study. Language Learning 48:2, 281-317.
Further Reading - Libben, Gary. 2000. `Representation and processing in the second language lexicon: the homogeneity hypothesis`, In Archibald, John (Ed.) Second language acquisition and linguistic theory. Oxford: Blackwell. pp. 229-248.
Homework: You must be kidding!
• Final Project: The final exam will be a take home exam. Please do not forget to do it and hand it in no later than June 22.