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A model for language acquisition
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Elaboration of a model of language acquisition, based on Krashen's and Chomsky's acquisition theories
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THEORIES OFLANGUAGE
LEARNING
A model of language learning
Naam:
Studentnummer:
Module: Theories of language learning
Docent:
Datum: 16-01-2023
Hogeschool van Amsterdam
Faculteit Onderwijs en Opvoeding
Bachelor Leraar Engels Tweedegraads, Deeltijd
, In a globalising world, it is almost a necessity to learn a second or even several
languages. Whereas, as a child, learning the mother tongue occurs unconsciously and
naturally, learning a second language is a complex process. Besides imparting grammar
and vocabulary, the language teacher has a major role in motivating students to acquire
and use a foreign language for communication. This important task requires knowledge
of how a foreign language is acquired. To support teaching, my study group and I have
developed a language model, which incorporates the main aspects that influence the
acquisition of a second language, supported by theory, as well as the relationship
between the different components, the teaching perspective and the main concepts that
influence teaching.
To begin, our language model consists of several compartments and is shaped like a
funnel. To acquire a foreign language, one must first be exposed to input in this foreign
language. According to research by Krashen (1985), this acquisition can only take place
if the learner is exposed to parts of that new language that we can understand. This
understanding can be supported when the offered language is accompanied by
descriptive pictures, gestures and the like and when the level of the language offered is 1
step above the individual level. This individual level is strongly influenced by innate
ability and short-term memory capacity (Doughty, 2018), as well as the learner's social
environment, personality, and motivation, triggering the willingness to communicate.
These individual differences hinder the possibilities to make input comprehensible at
the individual level in our current education system. Because teachers teach a group
with a variety of individuals, the teacher will have to measure comprehensibility against
the goal for the whole group. To acquire a foreign language such that we can refer back
to what we know in a spontaneous interaction requires a lot of repetition, hence the
funnel model, with the input compartment being the largest. The input that is offered
may encounter a blockade before the actual processing of the input can take place in the
brain. This blockage Krashen (1985) calls the affective filter and consists of the emotions
a learner experiences and can positively or negatively affect the uptake of language
input. According to Chomsky's language acquisition theory (1959), this input is
processed in the brain with the presence of an instinctive mental ability to acquire a
foreign language, the language acquisition device. This language acquisition device is an
innate ability to choose the right one from the limitless possibilities of word forms and
grammar when processing a new language. It is so that input becomes intake
unconsciously and thus acquired, however, according to the noticing hypothesis of
Schmidt (2001) a learner has to notice gaps between input data and language
production, and he has to notice the form of usage before the input can become intake.
The knowledge offered is stored in long-term memory, when it is comprehensible and
noticed and through frequent practice and experiencing the skills, such as recognising
patterns and meanings, can be automated. The need for frequent repetition explains
why the output compartment in the model is the narrowest part of the funnel. Not all the
input with which short-term memory works are processed in long-term memory and
thus acquired. After this actual acquisition, there may again be a blockage before output
is realised. The affective filter that sits in front of this output can inhibit the motivation
to generate it. The emotions experienced by the learner determine the motivation to
proceed to speaking or writing the foreign language. By encouraging self-assessment of
this output, constructive reward and correction by fellow students, effective feedback is
formed, which in turn can serve as input.
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