Functionalist Theories of SLA Functionalist theories of L2 acquisition share a number of concerns with variability theories. For example, both are concerned not just with how linguistic knowledge is represented in the mind of the learner, but also with how this knowledge is used in discourse. Also, both types assume that syntax cannot be considered…
Lateralization Lateralization argues that the location of language functions is fixed in one of the brain’s two hemispheres, usually the left one. Cerebral lateralisation or cerebral dominance refers to the differential proficiency of the cerebral hemispheres for the acquisition, performance and control of certain specific neurological functions. Infants as young as four days show a…
Emergentism Emergentism is the name that has recently been given to a general approach to cognition that stresses the interaction between organism and environment and that denies the existence of pre-determined, domain specific faculties or capacities. Emergentism thus offers itself as an alternative to modular, ‘special nativist’ theories of the mind, such as theories of…
Sociocultural Theory in Language Learning Sociocultural theory is based on work by the Russian psychologist, Vygotsky, and represents a fundamentally different way of looking at language and learning. Sociocultural theory is grounded in the ontology of the social individual. A sociocultural approach considers language and, by extension, second language acquisition as contextually situated and is…
Communicative Language Testing Communicative Language Testing The advent of communicative language testing saw a growing preference for face-to-face interaction as the context in which the assessment of spoken language skills would occur. In communicative language testing, the target of test inferences is performance of a set of communicative tasks in various contexts of use. The…
Conversation Analysis Conversation Analysis Like ‘discourse analysis’, Conversational Analysis provides a tool for conducting micro-analyses of classroom discourse and, in particular, for examining the sequential development of classroom talk (Mori, 2002). CA derives from a branch of sociology-ethnomethodology. Seedhouse (2004) identified five key principles of this method of enquiry: Indexicality, i.e. the use that interactants…
Output Hypothesis Output Hypothesis Swain’s Comprehensible Output Hypothesis emphasises the importance of consciousness, both in terms of learners’ noticing gaps in their interlanguage and developing metalinguistic awareness. The comprehensible output hypothesis constitutes an important addition to work on the role of interaction in L2 acquisition. In other words, output contributes to acquisition. It is in…
Interaction Hypothesis Interaction Hypothesis Long’s Interaction Hypothesis, especially the updated version, claims that learners do need to pay conscious attention to form in order to benefit from negotiated interaction. The origins of Long’s Interaction Hypothesis lies partly in Hatch’s work on discourse analysis and L2 acquisition and partly in Krashen’s Input Hypothesis. Hatch (1978, p.…
Inter-group Theory Inter-group Theory Giles and Byrne (1982) identified a number of factors that contribute to a group’s ‘ethnolinguistic vitality’—the key construct in the theory. They then discussed the conditions under which subordinate group members (e.g. immigrants or members of an ethnic minority) are most likely to acquire native-like proficiency in the dominant group’s language.…
Humanistic Language Learning Humanistic Language Learning The best introduction to humanistic learning within language education is Stevick (1997, as cited in Nunan, 2003). He believes that particular classroom techniques matter less than establishing the right emotional climate for the learners. According to Stevick (1990), among different language methods and approaches, Community Language Learning (CLL) seems…