NYSTCE ESOL EXAM STUDY GUIDE GRADED A 2024

Stages of first-language acquisition - 1. Babbling; 2. One-word; 3. Two-word; 4. Telegraphic; 5. Multi-word 1st stage of first-language acquisition - Babbling - 6-8 months old; child beings making repettitive patterns of sound with his mouth 2nd stage of first-language acquisition - One-word (aka one-morpheme, one-unit, holophrastic) - 9-18 months; child begins to make basic word stems and single open-class words 3rd stage of first-language acquisition - Two-word - 18-24 months; the child begins making miniature sentences with simple semantic relations 4th stage of first-language acquisition - Telegraphic (aka early multiword or multimorpheme) - 24-30 months; child begins to express sentence structures with lexical rather than functional or grammatical morphemes 5th stage of first-language acquisition - Late multiword - 30+ months; characteristic grammatical or functional structures of the primary language emerge and are incorporated Behaviorist model - B.F. Skinner. Individuals learn language as a direct response to stimuli. Language words/pattern produce certain activities in the real word and the individual develops a mental response to those stimuli. Correct responses are reinforced and therefore perpetuated. Problems with application of behaviorist model to language acquisition - Overly simplistic and does not take into account the extreme complexity of language. Linguistic response does not always elicit clear and recognizable rewards/punishments suggesting it would be difficult for a child to have responses reinforced. Nativist model - Chomsky. People are born with universal grammar wired into their brains which they use as template for language acquisition. Principles of language are innate and parameters of each language are acquired in the first few years of life. Zone of proximal development - Vygotsky's sociocultural theory. Learning begins as a result of interpersonal communication. Difference between what a person knows and what he could know if given assistance from someone else. Scaffolding (temporary aid) including modeling, providing cues, and encouraging. Brofenbrenner's ecological model - Described development in terms of 4 nested levels: 1. Microsystem - immediate environment; 2. Mesosystem - interactions between components of environment; 3. Exosystem - more general elements of environment; 4. Macrosystem - overarching environmental influences like cultural beliefs Steve Pinker - Agreed with Chomsky that humans are born with an innate capacity for learning/understanding language. Added that this capacity is the result of millions of years of evolution; people developed predisposition toward language because communication increased odds of survival. BICS and CALP - Jim Cummins. BICS - language in informal and social settings CALP - language in the classroom (academic) Uses of these terms has made it easier for educators to assess linguistic ability. Social interactionist model - Relationship between newborn and caregiver. Child will begin to establish goals in the world and will need eto devise linguistic strategies for achieving them; child will draw on linguistic and nonlinguistic utterances that he has heard and use it to achieve his ends. Does not provide explanation for ability to improvise language even by young children. Cognitive model - Piaget. Individuals develop linguistic skills in order to control their environment - 4 stages of cognitive development. 1. Sensorimotor - 0-2 years; child learns to physically hand objects; 2. Preoperational thought - 2-7 years; child improves physically and begins to think conceptually; 3. Concrete operations - 7-11 years; child develops logical thinking skills 4. Formal operations - 11-15 years; child begins to think abstractly and can develop mental hypotheses Cognitive model application to language acquisition - Piaget. As the child moves through cognitive stages, they work through various strategies of language use. 1. Assimilation - child uses a known word to describe a new object or concept until he is corrected. 2. Accommodation - child learns to correct his own errors of linguistic identification. 3. Equilibrium - child uses the right word to describe the object. Acquisition-learning model - Model of 2nd-language learning - 2 ways in which an individual develops proficiency in a 2nd language (acquisition and learning). Emphasizes acquisition is superior means of acquiring fluency. It is ultimately long-term exposure to a lang. that develops unconscious sens of its rules and idiom. 1st - Acquisition: subconscious process by which vocab. and basic rules of grammar are slowly & steadily absorbed; the way small children learn native language. 2nd - Learning: conscious study and knowledge & rules of grammar. Input hypthesis - Krashen's model of 2nd lang. acquisition. Individuals need to be given info slightly above their ability level in a given language, as the individual acquires the ability to understand the given material, the level should be raised. In order for acquisition to be possible, learner needs to understand the majority of what he is hearing however the addition of a small amount of incomprehensible information will encourage listener to continue expanding vocab. and overall sense of grammatical structures. Difficult to implement in classroom setting because of different appropriate points for each child (reason why self-instruction techniques like reciprocal teaching and scaffolding are essential). Monitor hypothesis - Explains how learning grammatical rules affects language acquisition. When an individual learns rules of grammar, he is able to monitor consciously the discourse he hears int he future. Extroverts tend to ignore rules and plunge ahead while introverts strive for perfection. Indicates that it can be helpful to learn rules as a part of 2nd language training. Sociocognitive approach - True competence is demonstrated in the ability to express oneself in different social contexts, when student can modify his expression in different contexts. Emphasizes conversation in social contexts. Social necessity is primary motivator of language development. Natural order hypothesis - Acquisition of 2nd language will follow predictable patterns. Certain grammatical structures will almost always be acquired before others, regardless of age of learner. Support the idea that bilingual programs should follow a specific order of instruction. Krashen said a rigid sequence of grammatical instruction should be avoided in favor of immersion and interactive performance. Affective filter hypothesis - Shows the importance of establishing a positive and welcoming environment in the bilingual classroom. A number of emotional factors contribute to 2nd language acquisition (self-confidence, anxiety, motivation) and influence ability to internalize vocab. and grammatical rules.