Applied Linguistics

1.1) TOPIC 1. AN OVERVIEW OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS

1.1. What is Applied Linguistics (AL)? Multidisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity
Essentially a problem - driven discipline
- Narrow and broad definitions of the term Applied Linguistics
Applied Linguistics is concerned with language teaching in mother tongue
education or with the teaching and learning of foreign/second languages
(Wilkins, 1972; Kaplan, 1990; Sridhar, 1993)
Applied linguistics is an academic discipline concerned with the relation of
knowledge about language to decision making in the real world. (. . .) applied
linguistics sets out to investigate problems in the world in which language is
implicated both educational and social problems. (Cook, 2003)
In a broad sense, applied linguistics is concerned with increasing understanding of
the role of language in human affairs and thereby with providing the knowledge
necessary for those who are responsible for taking language-related decisions
whether the need for these arises in the classroom, the workplace, the law court or the
laboratory. Wilkins (1999: 7), cited in N. Schmitt and M. Celce-Murcia (2002: 1).
- Other uses of the term Applied Linguistics
Applied linguistics is using what we know about a) language b)How its learned c) How it used to
achieve some purpose or solve some problem in the real world
- Applied Linguistics versus (Theoretical) Linguistics:
Applied Linguistics differs from Linguistics in general mainly with respect to its explicit
orientation towards practical, everyday problems related to language and communication
(http://www.aila.info/about.html )
Applied linguistics is essentially a problem-driven discipline, rather than a theorydriven
one (McCarthy, 2001: 4)
* What does success in the AL enterprise depend on?
1. Identifying and defining problems.
2. Contextualising those problems within linguistic study and developing a theoretical stance.
3. Employing appropriate resources for the exploration of possible solutions.
4. Evaluating the proposed solutions.
* What might fall within the domain of typical AL problems?

- Applied Linguistics: Multidisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity TASKS 1 AND 2

1.2. The development of Applied Linguistics.
- Applied Linguistics during the twentieth century:
* language teaching concerns
* incorporating social/cultural and contextual elements into Applied Linguistics
* The content of section 1.2 is mainly based on Reading 1
Reading 1: Schmitt, N. and M. Celce-Murcia (2002). In Schmitt, N. (ed.), chapter 1: 1-16.
Task 1. Match the following disciplines to their corresponding definitions. Note
that there is one discipline whose definition is not provided here.
Ethnography
Speech pathology L2 Acquisition
Corpus linguistics Lexicography
Pragmatics
Sociolinguistics Neurolinguistics L1 Acquisition
Lexicology
Forensic linguistics Ethnomethodology
Language planning Psycholinguistics Critical Discourse Analysis
1. Language planning: the systematic approach to developing language as a national or regional
resource. (Davies, 1999, glossary) / official intentions and policies affecting language use in a
country. (Crystal, 1987: 424)
2. Lexicography The art and science of dictionary making (Crystal, 1987: 424)
3. Pragmatics It studies the factors that govern our choice of language in social interaction and the
effects of our choice on others. This field overlaps with other areas, such as
sociolinguistics or discourse analysis, among others. (Crystal, 1987: 120)
4. Lexicology The study of the history and present state of a languages vocabulary. (Crystal,
1987: 424) 5.
5. Neurolinguistics The study of the neurological basis of language development an use in human
beings, especially of the brain s control over the processes of speech and understanding. (Crystal,
1987: 412)
6. Speech pathology The study of abnormalities in the development and use of language in
children and adults. (Davies, 1999: 149)
7. Sociolinguistics The study of the interaction between language and the structure and
functioning of society. (Crystal, 1987: 412)
8. Psycholinguistics The study of the relationship between linguistic behaviour and the

psychological processes (e.g. memory, attention) thought to underlie it. (Crystal, 1987: 412)
9. Ethnography The study of the forms and functions of communicative behaviour,
both verbal and non-verbal, in particular social settings (Davies, 1999: 147) / The study of
language in relation to the social and cultural variables that influence human interaction. (Crystal,
1987: 420)
10. Corpus linguistics It uses large collections of both spoken and written natural texts tht
are stored on computers (Reppen and Simpson, 2002: 92)
11. Forensic linguistics The study of any text or item of spoken/written language which has
relevance to a criminal or civil dispute, or which relates to what goes on in a court of law, or to the
language of the law itself. Thus the linguist may be called upon to analyse a very wide variety of
documents, e.g. agreements relating to ancient territorial disputes, the quality of court interpreting,
an allegation of verballing (claims by defendants that their statements were altered by police
officers), a disputed will, a suicide note, etc. (based on http://www.thetext.co.uk/index.html)
12. L2 Acquisition This is the common term used for the name of the field. It refers to the learning
of another language after the native language has been learned. Sometimes the term
refers to the learning of a third of fourth language (Gass and Selinker, 2001:4)

13. Critical Discourse Analysis might be defined as fundamentally interested in analysing

opaque as well as transparent structural relationships of dominance, discrimination,
power and control as manifested in language. In other words, Critical Discourse Analysis
aims to investigate critically social inequality as it is expressed, constituted,
legitimized, and so on, by language use (or in discourse). (Weiss and Wodak, 2003:
15).
According to Davies (1999), this approach analyses how linguistic choices in
texts are used to maintain and create social inequalities.
14. Ethnomethodology The use of transcripts of conversations to develop descriptions of
the interlocutors knowledge, especially of the social situation in which they interact
(Davies, 1999: 147) / The detailed study of the techniques used during linguistic
interaction. (Crystal, 1987: 420).
Task 2. Group the following titles of presentations given at AESLA 2007 and
AILA 2008
into their corresponding panels/strands in the table1. Justify your answer. (You
can write
the number in the right column of the table above.)
Foreign Language Teaching and Teacher Education 1, 3
Discourse Analysis 9, 12
Lexicology and Lexicography 11

Sociolinguistics 5, 6
Translation and Interpreting 8
Corpus Linguistics, Computational Linguistics and Linguistic Engineering 7, 10
Language Policy 2
Pragmatics 4
1. Maximizing EFL learners communicative competence through cooperative
learning.
2. A reflection on the linguistic situation of the German-Brazilian communities.
3. Content and language Integrated learning in Teacher Education: Bilingual
Approaches
supporting multilingualism
4. Phatic utterances as face-threatening/saving acts or politeness strategies: a
pragmatic
reflection for their teaching in the L2 class.
5. Made in USA. Americanisms in Spanish advertising.
6. The choice of dialects in a diasporic situation: the example of Armenian spoken in
France..
7. On building an automatic text classification model with minimal computational
costs.
8. English noun characterization realized by ing modifiers and its translation into
Spanish: A
corpus-based study.
9. Online chat: speaking with your fingers?
10. Collocation analysis of a sample corpus using some statistical measures: an
empirical
approach.
11. Is there a prototypical phrasal verb? On the relationship between phrasal verbs and
the
processes of grammaticalization, lexicalization and idiomatization.
12. Interlocking textual patterns in written and argumentative discourse: evidence
from USA

paper editorials and articles of opinions.

1.2) AN OVERVIEW OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS: The Development of
Applied Linguistics (Reading 1, pages 4-9)
Feb. 27th 2014
Around mid 40s Applied Linguistics was used both in the US and UK to refer to applying a
so-called scientific approach to teach foreign language.
Applied linguistics: first officially recognized as an independent course at university of
Michigan in 1946.
Late 1950s and early 1960s: use of Applied linguistics was gradually broadened inclusion of
Automatic Translation.
1964, foundation of AILA. Association Internationale de la Linguistique Applique
The founding of other national associations of Applied Linguistics contributed to the growth
of the field.
1967 British (BAAL)
1979 American (AAAL)
1982 Spanish (AESLA)

Grammar-translation method:
Emphasis on accuracy and explicit grammar rules
Grammar taught deductively
Emphasis on reading and writing (not on using language to communicate orally)

Direct method:
Emphasis on listening and speaking/exposure to oral language.
Plenty of drilling and correction
Grammar taught inductively

Reading method:
1. Promoting reading skill through vocabulary management substituting low frequency
literary words for more frequent items.

Audio-lingualism
Derives from the intense training in spoken language, given to American military personnel
during the WW2.
Emphasis on listening and speaking (aural + oral skills)
(Borrowed from direct method) + attention to pronunciation
Influenced by behaviorism. Language = process of habit formation
Language learning based on imitation, memorization and drilling

Chomskys view of language: attack on behaviorism

Language = rule governed system, learning = internalizing
Innate Rules (that is existing in a person from birth)

Competence = the speaker - hearers knowledge of the language

Performance = the actual use of language in a concrete situation
Universal grammar = the ami of linguistics is to go beyond the universal properties of
language are. And to establish a universal grammar

Dell Hymess (1972) Notion of communicative competence

Knowing how to form grammatically correct sentences
Knowing how to use language

4 questions:
Whether (and to what degree) something is formally possible
Whether (and to what degree) something is feasible in virtue of the means implementation
available
Whether (and to what degree) something is appropriate (adequate, happy, successful) in
relation to a context in which it is used and evaluated;
Whether (and to what degree) something is in fact done, actually performed and what its
doing entails.
Feb. 28th 2014
Hallidays systemic functional grammar
Language = a means of functioning in society (Versus Chomskys view: language= internal to
leaner)
Governed by cognitive factors:
Ideational (fact/experiences)
Interpersonal (social relations)
Textual (organization)
Towards a more communicative type of pedagogy
Council of Europe Project (mid 1970s) attempt to create a Europe-wide language
teaching system based on
Needs analysis
Notions (i.e. relevant concepts)
Functions (i.e. Uses of languages)
Notional - functional syllabus in textbook

Krashen s (1982) Monitor Hypothesis. PS: (This part is not good, more info can be
seen at the topic 3 second language acquisition theories summaries)
Language was mainly unconsciously acquired through comprehensible input
2L input just beyond the current level of learners ability
Focus on meaning- long exposure, meaning - based and understandable
Learners emotional state can affect acquisition (Affective filter)

Communicative language

Emphasis on the use of language for meaningful communication

Focus on learners message and fluency rather than on their grammatical accuracy (problemsolving activities, information gap exercises)

Immersion programmes
Using the L2 to learn subject matter content
Learning the L2 by using explicit instruction (PS: notes incomplete)

Technology was advancing throughout the century:

CALL: Computer - assisted language learning
Computing technology - in corporation of audio and video input into learning
programs + analysis of language on the basis of corpora

A closer look at the main developments over the 20th century shows:
Important change in the 1970s regarding:

The study of language use/ language of communication

Focus on social factor and language use - social linguistics led to the development
Context: affects communication - pragmatics discourse analysis
The view of cognition
Language learning cannot be separated from the context where is takes place
New view: social cultural theory: it is only through social interaction with other humans
develop thir language and cognition
Language learning
Leaners active participation in the learning process
Importance of what learners aid - learner strategies
Learner autonomy

1.3) The notion of Communicative Competence (CC) 1

* ABILITY TO USE LANGUAGE EFFECTIVELY IN A GIVEN SPEECH
COMMUNITY
* IT REFERS TO BOTH KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL IN USING THE
KNOWLEDGE
COMPONENTS: 4 AREAS OF KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL
Task 1. Match the DEFINITION with the TERM
1. Grammatical competence 3. Discourse competence
2. Sociolinguistic competence 4. Strategic competence
A. Knowledge of how to combine grammatical forms and meanings to achieve a
unified text. 3

B. Appropriateness in meaning (the right speech act, i.e., complaining, suggesting,

etc.) and in form. 2
C. Mastery of verbal and non-verbal communication strategies that can compensate
for breakdown in communication. 1
D. Mastery of linguistic code itself. 4
Task 2. Identify the type of C.C. involved in each of these activities. Justify your
answer.
1. Knowing how to apologize. 2
2. Recognizing paragraph markers in a text. 3
3. Being able to construct conditional clauses. 1
4. Knowing how to use a dictionary. 4
5. Knowing how to interrupt in a conversation. 26. Knowing the different possible
meanings of the present tense. 1
7. Knowing how to break down the exam material into studiable parts. 4
8. Knowing how to structure an oral presentation to be given in class. 3
1.4) READING 1. An overview of Applied Linguistics
(Schmitt N. and M. Celce-Murcia, 2000: 1-16)
Questions1:
1. What are the traditional areas that Applied Linguistics covers?
A1. Essentially a problem - driven discipline, Applied Linguistics is concerned with language
teaching in mother tongue education or with the teaching and learning of foreign/second
languages.

2. What is the current interest of Applied Linguistics? Choose three nontraditional

areas that Carter and Nunan (2001: 2) include as sub-disciplines of Applied
Linguistics and find out what they study by looking in your glossary, checking
encyclopaedias or using the Internet. Be ready to explain it in class with some
examples.
1. Corpus linguistics It uses large collections of both spoken and written natural texts tht
are stored on computers
2. Psycholinguistics The study of the relationship between linguistic behaviour and the
psychological processes (e.g. memory, attention) thought to underlie it.
4. Pragmatics It studies the factors that govern our choice of language in social interaction and the
effects of our choice on others. This field overlaps with other areas, such as
sociolinguistics or discourse analysis, among others.

3. In the section entitled Applied Linguistics during the Twentieth Century there are
a number of movements that need special attention due to their influence on language
learning and teaching. Look for the following teaching methods and explain them
briefly: Grammar-translation method, Direct method, Reading method.

Grammar-translation method:
Emphasis on accuracy and explicit grammar rules
Grammar taught deductively
Emphasis on reading and writing (not on using language to communicate orally)
Direct method:
Emphasis on listening and speaking/exposure to oral language.
Plenty of drilling and correction
Grammar taught inductively
Reading method:
1. Promoting reading skill through vocabulary management substituting low frequency
literary words for more frequent items.

4. Behaviourism and Chomskys Cognitivism are two opposite views of the

process of language acquisition. Can you explain briefly how they oppose one
another?
Behaviorism: language = process of habit formation, language learning based on: imitation,
memorization and drilling.
Chomskys view of language: attack on behaviorism
Language = rule governed system, learning = internalizing
Innate Rules (that is existing in a person from birth)
Competence = the speaker - hearers knowledge of the language
Performance = the actual use of language in a concrete situation

5. In what way does Hallidays Systemic Functional Grammar differ from

Chomskys approach? And what are the three types of functions that Halliday
identifies in language?
Language = a means of functioning in society (Versus Chomskys view: language= internal to
leaner)
Governed by cognitive factors:
Ideational (fact/experiences)
Interpersonal (social relations)
Textual (organization)

6. In the 1980s a new learning method appeared, known as Communicative

Language Teaching (CLT). What were its main objectives?

Emphasis on the use of language for meaningful communication

Focus on learners message and fluency rather than on their grammatical accuracy (problem solving activities, information gap exercises)

7. Explain the meaning of the acronym CALL.

CALL: Computer - assisted language learning

Computing technology - in corporation of audio and video input into learning programs + analysis
of language on the basis of corpora

8. What main changes took place in the 1970s regarding the following areas?
- the study of language use / language communication:

Focus on social factors and language use - social linguistics led to the development
Context: affects communication - pragmatics discourse analysis

- the view of cognition

Language learning cannot be separated from the context where is takes place.
New view: social cultural theory: it is only through social interaction with other humans
develop thir language and cognition

- language learning

Leaners active participation in the learning process.

Importance of what learners aid - learner strategies
Learner autonomy

1.5) Task 1 (For reference only)

Part I: The audiolingual method in practice

1. What is the lesson about? What is/are the aims of the lesson?
A1: Language teaching method: audio-lingual method, its about a salesman and a woman.

2. What skills are practised? In what order?

A2: listening - speaking - reading

3. How are structured patterns of language taught/learnt? (Try to be as specific as

possible)
A3: First, introduce the theme/dialog (what it is about). Second, listen to what the teacher says.
Third, repeat what the teacher says. Fourth, pronounce after the teacher sentence by sentence.
Fifth, reconstruct the dialog by students themselves.

4. Is there any grammatical point in the session? At what stage of the session is it
introduced? What two grammar drills are used?
A4: Towards the end of the session. Single slot substitution drill and question and answer drill.

5. Are mistakes corrected? How?

A5: Yes, by using backward build up drill.
Part II: The principles underlying the audiolingual method

1. What is one of the teachers major role?

A1: A model of the target language.

2. What is the students job?

A2: To repeat as accurately as they can.

3. What does it mean that language learning is a process of habit formation?

A3: The more students repeat something, the stronger the habit and the greater the learning.

4. Why are the following elements considered important in the process of learning?
A4: Positive reinforcement: such reinforcement helps the students develop correct habits.
Part III: In your opinion, what are the main advantages or/and disadvantages of using this
method?
A: My opinion is that this method is obsolete, this video was made in 1990, now we are in 2014,
how could we apply this method in our generation? However is not saying that this method is not
fine, rather it needs to evolve, the main advantage is that spoken language is more important than
the written language, I support this idea without a doubt. But in the video, the students were
adults, it is confirmed that grown-ups are less efficient in learning written language. However if
this method wants to be applicable for adolescents or children in our generation, it would be better
to show the written text (even pictures) frist, then combine it with this method, multimodal text
would be a better way of studying.

TOPIC 2 APPLIED LINGUISTICS AND FIRST LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

APPLIED LINGUISTICS AND FIRST LANGUAGE ACQUISITION (L1)
2.1) Theories of L1 Acquisition (See campus under the file Theories of First Language
Acquisition )
More notes:
Mar. 6th 2014

Children attempt to imitate and practice sounds and patterns produced by those around them.

It encouraged by positive reinforcement they would continue to imitate/practice the sounds

and patterns they heard

Continuous imitation and practice formation of habits of correct language use

Adherence to the scientific method

As a result, such concepts as consciousness and intuition were regarded as mentalistic

illegitimate domains of inquiry

Focus on form/study on surface structure

Focus on correctness and primary interest in the phonetic system of language

However, their grammatical ability cannot be explained on the basis of imitation:

Children seen unable to imitate grammar construction exactly (e.g the single negative pattern)

According to OGrady (2005:65/reading 2) Children are not every good at imitating

sentences containing unfamiliar words and structures

The behaviorist perspective:

The earliest stages of child language acquisition may manifest a good deal of surface
structure imitation since the baby may not passes the necessary semantic categories to assign
meaning to utterances

But as children perceive the importance of the semantic level of language, they attend to
greater extent to that meaningful semantic level - the deep structure imitation

The inadequacies of the behaviorist approach can be summarized as follows:

1.

Language is not merely verbal behavior underlying the actual behavior that we observe
there is a complex system of rules. These enable speakers to create and understand an infinite
number of sentence. Most of which they have never encountered before. sentences are
created as the need arises

2.

What children learn, that is an abstract knowledge of rules for competence, however, they
are exposed only to peoples speech performance not exposed to competence. Extracting
abstract knowledge from concrete examples cannot be explained habit-formation. (Creativity
e.g forms such as mouses goed wented cannot be explained on the basis of imitation)

3.

Although children are exposed to different actual speech, they arrive at the same underlying
rules as other children in their community. They also pass through similar sequence in
acquiring these rule.

4.

The learning task is therefore a complex one, yet it occurs at a very early age and with
exceptional speed. Again, this cannot be explained by habit-formation alone

Mar. 7th 2014

The nativist approach:

Language is regarded as a rule-governed system.

A theory of language had to be a theory of competence

Competence is ones underlying knowledge of the system of a language

A persons knowledge of the rules of a language (How all the pieces fit together)

Performance is actual production (speaking, writing) of the comprehension, (listening,

reading) of linguistic events

Chomsky (1963) likened competence to an idealized speaking-hearer who does not display such
performance variables as memory limitations, distractions shift of attention and interest, errors and
hesitation phenomena
Universal grammar (UG)
UG consists at all sorts of grammatical categories and principles that are common to all languages.

Nativist: language acquisition is innately determined

Chomskys criticism centered on a number of issues:
A) The creativity of language
B) Complexity abstractness of linguistic rules
LAD experience - the brain (LAD) - grammar

Chomskys view: LAD is just for language.

The acquisition device tells children what to do and what to look for. In particular categories
(nouns, verbs, for example) and it gives them some clues that help them figure out which words
belong to which category (reading 2 page 184-185)
It provides children with:

A knowledge of linguistics universals (e.g. The existence of word order and word classes)

General procedures for discovering how language is to be learned

Other concepts:

Systematicity:

The childs language at any stage is systematic

The child is constantly forming hypothesis on the basis of the input received and then testing
those hypotheses in speech (and comprehension)

Pivot grammar: (notes incomplete)

The early grammar of child language were referred to as pivot grammar.

E.g: my cap. Childs first 2 words utterances, 2 separate words classes
First rule of the generative grammar of the child:
Sentence = pivot word + open word ( closed: my, that, other... ) or (open: mommy, wet)

The innateness hypothesis presented a number of problems itself (Brown 2000:34-35) (WTF
is this? I dont remember anything from this)

Role of environmental factors

Role of the nurturing environment
The nature - nurture controversy:
What are those behaviors that nature provides innately and what are those behaviors that are by
environmental exposure - by nature, by teaching-learned and internalized

Functional approaches: cognition and language development. (Piaget) and social

interaction

Relationships between cognitive development and L1 language acquisition. Lightbown and

Spada (2006:20)

The developing cognitive understanding is built on the interaction between the child and the
things that can be observed or manipulated

Language can be used to represent knowledge that children have acquired through physical
interaction with the environment

1. Sensorimotor stage (birth - 2 years) infants mainly make use of senses and motor capabilities to
experience the environment

The sensorimotor infant gains physical knowledge

Children develop a sense of object permanence (later part of period)

2. Preoperational stage (2 - 7 years)

Children start to use symbols such as language to represent objects. For instance, the child
understands the word apple although a real apple is not seen.

Learning from concrete evidence

Unaware of another persons perspective. They exhibit egocentric thought and language

3. Concrete operational stage (7 - 11 years)

The concrete operational child begins to think logically. Operations are associated with
personal experience but not in abstract manipulations

4. Formal operational stage (11 and beyond)

After roughly 11 years old, students have the ablity to:

A) consider many possibilities for a given condition.

B) Deal with propositions that explain concrete facts

C) Have the ability to use planning to think ahead, they can also think abstractly

Remarks (Yule 1985 143-144)

1. Instances of overgeneralization patterns:

Plural forms: foots - footses, boys - boyses (following the houses pattern)
Regular past tense (walked, played) overgeneralization wented, comed,
2. Variability throughout the sequence:
good forms one day and odd forms the next, the child is working out how to use the linguistic
system.

Task 4. Look through your notes on Behaviourism and the Nativist Approach
and complete the following table:
Behaviorism (Skinner)
View of language:
Language is

Apart of total human behavior

A collection of habits

Described on the basis of observable data

Language Learning:
Language is learned by rules for competence
Language learning is based on imitation, memorization and drilling

Relation to any teaching method?

Audio-lingual method

Problems (notes incomplete)

The nativist approach (Chomsky)

View of language:
Language is regarded as a rule-governed system

A theory of language should be a theory of competence

The aim of linguistics is to establish a universal grammar

Language Learning:
Language acquisition is innately determined
Children learn when exposed to speech certain principles begin to operate

Key concepts (notes incomplete)

Problems (notes incomplete)

* Cognition and language development. Piaget s theory of cognitive

development:
1. Sensorimotor stage (birth-2 years) 3. Concrete operational stage (7-11 years)
2. Preoperational stage (2-7 years)
4. Formal operational stage (11 years and
beyond)
Task 5. What do you think children (can) do at each stage?
a. The child begins to think logically. Operations are associated with personal
experience, but
not in abstract manipulations. Stage 3
b. The child gains physical knowledge from his/her experience with the environment.
Stage 1
c. Among other, children have the ability to consider many possibilities for a given
condition
and deal with propositions that explain concrete facts. Stage 4
d. Children start to use symbols such as language to represent objects. Stage 2
2.2) General stages in the L1 Acquisition Process: phonological, grammatical, semantic and
pragmatic/discursive development (see campus, its part of the mock exam)
Task 1
Negatives:
Stage 1 1, 3 no and not at the beginning of any expression
Stage 2 2,5,6,8 dont cant begin to be place in front the verb
Stage 3 4,7,8,10 incorporation of other auxiliary forms such as didnt and wont

Questions:
Stage 1 15, 12 utter the expression with rising forms add to the beginning of the expression
Stage 2 11,14,18,20 more complex expressions, rising intonation strategy continues
Stage 3 13,16,17,19 inversion of subject and verb (but not always in wh- forms)

Task 3
A: overextension
B: mismatch
C: underextension

Task 5
Early

Conversations are often very erratic and disjointed

Parents do most of the work

Children use sequences of utterance which may not be directed to any listener.

Effect: curious mixture of monologue and dialogue

3 years

Both parties very much involved with detail of what each is saying

By 3 it is plain that children have learned many aspects of conversational strategy, they are
able to initiate a dialogue - ask questions/introduce a topic

3-5

Major development in child awareness of the social factors that govern a successful
conversation. Correct use forms of address and markers of politeness (please and sorry)

They carry out conversational repairs such as by repeating utterance that are unclear or ask
for clarification

Studies of young children in conversations show that many adult interaction skills are already
present well before school age.
2.3) The role of input and interaction in L1 Acquisition: motherese / Child Directed Speech
(check campus)

2.4.) The Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) in L1 Acquisition (check campus)

Mar 28th 2014
A critical period was found with certain species, the question was therefore raised whether there
were also critical periods in human maturation.

Adults:
By contrast children with left-hemisphere damage showed an ability to recover onver a longer
period.

Right hemisphere that over the language function - brain plasticity in childhood

The development of language was said to be the result of brain maturation. The hemispheres
were equipotential at birth with language gradually becoming lateralized in the left
hemisphere

The process of lateralization began at around the age of 2 and ended at puberty

Conflicting evidence - see Genie

Language and the brain:

At birth both hemispheres are equipotential (equally involved in all activities)
The idea that a single area of the brain can be related to a single behavior ability is known as The
theory of cerebral Localization.

Brocas area: crucial involved in the production of speak

Wernicke's area: in the understanding of speech

Supplementary motor area: involved in the actual physical articulation of speech.

Linguistic processes are typically housed in the left hemisphere.

A critical period for language? (crystal 1987:265)

The critical - period hypothesis has been controversial, reasons:
1. The pathological evidence is mixed. Child recovery help by right hemisphere. But also left
hemisphere damage producing long-lasting aphasia.
2. The evidence of normal language acquisition is also mixed. Some aspects well established
before age 5. But some linguistics skill (in semantics and pragmatics) still developing in teenage
children and young adults.

3. Neuropsychology evidence: some studies suggest that lateralization maybe established long
before puberty- as early as the 3rd year.
4. The case of Genie supports Lennebergs hypothesis only in a week form (see this part of text on
campus)
TOPIC 3: APPLIED LINGUISTICS AND FOREIGN/SECOND LANGUAGE
ACQUISITION/ LEARNING (most info can be seen on campus, especially the 2 nd language
theories summary)
April 4th 2014
Krashens model
1. Acquisition-learning hypothesis (subconscious-conscious)

The process of L2 acquisition uses the language faculty in essentially the same unconscious
way as L1 acquisition, LAD (process language input)

The result of natural interaction with the language via meaningful communication

2. The monitor hypothesis

Learning has only one function, and thats as a monitor or editor

Editing and making alterations or corrections when they are consciously perceived

Consciously modify the output

An optional amount of monitoring sound be used only once fluency is established

3. The natural order hypothesis

This order us independent of the order in which rules are taught in language class

4. The input hypothesis

Input + 1 the next step in the development sequence
Gap between input and input + 1 bridged by information drawn from context or previous
experience
Krashens view the input hypothesis as central to his model of L2 acquisition

Speaking is the result of acquisition and not its cause. Speech cant be taught directly but
emerges on its own

If input is understood and theres enough of it, the necessary grammar is automatically
provided

5. The affective filter hypothesis

Learners also need to let that input in

For acquisition to take place, the learner has to be able to absorb the appropriate parts of the
input

If the filter is down, learners can make effective use of input

E.g. The best acquisition will occur in a low anxiety

The affective filter hypothesis captures the relationship between affective variable and the
process of L2 acquisition

Swains output hypothesis:

Experience content-based second language French instruction

Output is necessary to increase fluency.

The noticing/triggering function or consciousness raising role. Learners become aware of

gaps and problems in their current L2 system

The hypothesis -testing function. Producing the target language provides learners with
opportunities to experiment with new structures/forms

The metalinguistic function reflective role producing the target language provides learners
with opportunities to reflect on, discuss and analyze problems explicitly

It drives forward most effectively the development of second language syntax and morphology

April 10th 2014

Longs interaction hypothesis

Early 1980s: long (1983) agreed with Krashen that comprehensive input is necessary for
language acquisition. However he focused more on how input could be made
comprehensible.

The more the input is queried, recycled and paraphrased to increase its comprehensibility.
The greater its potential usefulness as input.

Comprehensible input is the result of modified interaction

How does interactional modification promote acquisition?
Adjustments (modification) - comprehension - acquisition (comprehensible in put promotes
acquisition)
Negotiation makes learners aware that there is incongruity between their forms and those by
native speakers

The new version (Long 1986) highlights:

The possible contribution to second language learning of negative evidence

The notion of selective attention which facilitates the process whereby input becomes intake

Vygostky's Zone of Proximal Development

Learning is mediated process. It occurs through social interaction.
Constructing knowledge in collaboration with interlocutors
Ket concepts:
A. Scaffolding: process of supportive dialogue
1) Directs the attention of the learner to key features of environment
2) Guides him/her through a successive steps of a problem
B. Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
1) A metaphorical location or "site" where learners co-construct knowledge in collaboration with
an interlocutor
2) Here the learner is not yet capable of independent functioning, but can achieve the desired
outcome given the relevant scaffolded help

The interlanguage theory Larry Selinker (1972)

This system of rules is viewed as a mental grammar and is referred to an interlanguage. L1 interlanguage grammar - L2
Characteristics (most info can be seen on campus, under the theories summary file, the following
stuff only as extra info)
1. System open to change and open to the influence of other linguisitic systems known to the
learner.
2. Learner construct a series of mental grammar or interlanguages as they gradually increase the
complexity of their L2 knowledge.

Process of constant revision and extension

The interlanguage evolves in the direction of the L2 as long as the process of acquisition
takes place

3. Handout
4. Handout
Become permanently established in a form that is deviant from the target language norm.

Interlingual errors:

Errors due to transferring rules from the mother tongue

The influence of L1 as a source of error is known as negative transfer (interference) versus

positive transfer

Compare (L1=Spanish) eats well the baby - negative transfer

Intralingual errors:
The show that the learner is processing the L2 in its own terms (e.g. Errors of overgeneralization,
goed. breaked)
There are also ambiguous cases (e.g. As that can be interpreted as both interlingual or intralingual)

Errors are regarded as evidence for the learners developing systems

Interlingual and intralingual errors are classified as errors of competence (versus errors of
performance, mistakes or lapses)

TOPIC 4. DISCOURSE ANALYSIS AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS (Info can be found on

campus, its a short topic)
4. 1.) What is discourse?
Task 1
a) What do these definitions have in common?
1. language in use
2. Language above sentence
3. Context (situational context)
4. Communicative events
5. Communicate ideas and beliefs

b) What other aspects are highlighted by some of the definitions?

1. Form + function (2)
2. Spoken/written language (4)
3. Language use = vague concept include when? How? Why?
4. Communication of ideas and beliefs

c) Considering your answers to a) and b), what three dimensions should be taken into account
when characterising discourse?
Discourse as language use
Discourse as interaction in social situation

Discourse as cognition

Discourse as language use

What does such language use consist of? I.e. What are its components?

Who are these components ordered combined into larger constructs

Discourse a sequence of sentences

Discourse as interaction in social situation

Discourse as practical social and cultural phenomenon

Language users engaging in discourse accomplish social acts and participate in social
interaction

Such interaction is in the turn embedded

Discourse as cognition
Discourse studied in terms of the actual cognitive process of its production and
comprehension by language users
Making sense, understanding, interpretation, meaning and many other notions.
Realm of discourse structures and social interaction = realm of the mind

Discourse: what is it?

Interested in the relation between texts and the contexts in which they arise and operate. - context
of situation, culture

Typically study longer passages of text (Vs. grammarians)

Look at real text (Vs. formal grammarians)

4.2) Speech and writing

Task 1
Speech: 1,2,4,5,9
Writing: 3,6,7,8,10

4.3) Main approaches to the analysis of discourse

4.3.1. Conversation Analysis
1. What is the main concern of conversation analysis? What questions do they address?

Concerned with the detailed organization of everyday interaction

2. What is a turn in conversation analysis?

The basic unit of speech is the individual speaker turn. A turn is each occasion when the speaker
speak, speakers select themselves self-selection or are selected by the current speaker
3. What are back-channel responses?
Vocalization: such as Hmm. Which take place white another person speaks
4. When does overlapping occur?
It occurs when an interlocutor completes the speakers turn or add a comment when he/she is still
talking
5. For conversational analysts, are back-channel responses and overlaps perceived as rude? How
do they function in conversation?
They are normally perceived as rude, rather, for conversational analysts they are viewed as part of
a cooperative activity that facilitates communication. Overlapping is not the same as interruption.
If more than one participant tries to talk at the same time on of them usually steps.
6. What is an adjacency pair? What are preferred and dispreferred sequences of adjacency pairs?
The most basic pattern, its a pair of turns that mutually affect one another.
Preferred - sequences
Greeting - greeting
Compliment - thanks
Apology - acceptance
Dispreferred
Who producing a dispreferred second pair - pair speaker try to make the sequence as littledamaging to the participantss face. (sense of personal worth) as possible.
4.3.2. The ethnographic approach
Reading 4 question: Section Ethnography
What is a speech event? Can you provide an example?
Activities or aspects of activities that are directly governed by rules or norms of the use of speech
(e.g. Conversation during a party)

Language as a system of use whose rules and norms are as integral a part of culture
Analysis of communicative pattern/language use (versus Chomskys theory of competence)
Method: participant observation

5.1. What is Corpus Linguistics?

Corpus linguistics uses large collections of both spoken and written natural texts that are stored on
computers (Reading 5, p. 92). Corpus linguistics can be described as the study of language on the

basis of text corpora (Aijmer and Altenberg, 1991:1)

Corpus based-analyses of language: Empirical + quantitative and qualitative analytical
techniques. Analysis of the actual patterns of on the basis of a large and principled collection of
natural texts
5.2. Corpus design and compilation
Corpora can be include both written and transcribed spoken texts
Text archive/database : is a text repository often huge and opportunistically collected and normally
not structured (project gutenberg)
General corpora
Body of texts which linguists analyze to seek answers to particular questions about the
vocabulary grammar or discourse structure
Also know as balanced corpora or core corpora
Many of the modern general corpora include samples of spoken discourse (versus early
general corpora = mainly limited to written language)
Specialized corpora:
Designed with more specific research goals in mind:
Sociolect corpora
Regional corpora
Non-standard corpora
Learner corpora
5.4. How can corpora aid and inform discourse analysis / language acquisition and teaching?
Corpus Linguistics = an extremely powerful tool for analysing natural language relevant to
Discourse Analysis and Second Language Acquisition/Foreign Language Learning and Teaching.
It provides researchers with large collection of spoken/written text.
It enables researchers to make more objective and confident descriptions of language usage
(relevance in discourse analysis and SLA/FLL research). It allows investigators from different
locations to work together in research projects
Issues in corpus design and corpus compilation:
The size factor - Number of words, number of texts from different categories, number of
samples from each text.
Representativeness
Validity, reliability
Annotation systems (e.g part of speech tagging)
Corpora provide language a basis for deciding which language patterns are relevant in particular

situations (Spoken/written, formal/informal)

PREPARING FOR THE FINAL EXAM: MOCK EXAM (for reference only)
THEORY SECTION (X points)
1. Decide whether the following statements are TRUE (T) or FALSE (F). Justify your answer
(X points, 2 points each if the justification is correct):
1. A narrow definition of the term Applied Linguistics states that Applied Linguistics is
concerned with investigating educational and social problems in which language is implicated.
F. This is a broad definition. The narrow definition is Applied linguistics is concerned with
language teaching in mother tongue education or with the teaching and learning of foreign/ second
language

2. According to Skinners theory of L1 Acquisition, many of the mistakes that children make are
the result of a process of overgeneralization.
F. Caused by imperfect learning.
3. In Chomskys view, a theory of language had to be a theory of competence.
T, its par of Chomskys nativist approach, because according to Chomsky language learning is a
set of rules.

4. There is evidence in neurological research that language functions are assigned to the left
hemisphere.
T. Broca and Wernicke had shown that the damage to left hemisphere led to language disorders.

5. The case of Genie supports the critical period hypothesis in a strong form.
F. The case of Genie supports in a weak form because Genie was evidently able to acquire some
language (vocabulary) from exposure after puberty

6. Longs Interaction Hypothesis stresses the importance of modified interaction.

T, The more the input is queried, recycled and paraphrased to increase its comprehensibility. The
greater its potential usefulness as input. To make input comprehensible

7. Interlanguage refers to the system of rules or mental grammar that the learner constructs
drawing entirely on the L2.

F. It draws in part on the learners L1 but is also different from it and from the target language
(part L1 and L2)

8. Critical Discourse Analysis is interested in the connection between language, social structure
and ideology
T. Connection between power in language society, for example: same event is represent by two
different newspaper

2. Short questions
1. According to Chomsky, what is the language acquisition device? What role does it play in the
process of acquiring a language? (X points)
The acquisition device tells children what to do and what to look for. In particular categories
(nouns, verbs, for example) and it gives them some clues that help them figure out which words
belong to which category
The LAD is part of the brain contains a premade grammar. Turns experience in to knowledge of
the language. To distinguish the categories
2. Explain briefly Krashens model of 2L Acquisition (i.e. all the hypotheses). (X points)
1. Acquisition-learning hypothesis; Acquisition is subconscious process and learning is conscious
2. The monitor hypothesis: operates when there is a focus on form and learners know the
grammatical rule.
3. The natural order hypothesis: rules are acquired in a predictable order
4. The input hypothesis: just beyond learners current level of competence input + 1
5. The affective filter hypothesis: there can be a mental block that prevents acquires from fully
utilizing the comprehensible input they receive for language acquisition (e.g. Tension,
nervousness, anxiety)

3. What questions do conversation analysts address? (X points)

How is conversation structured?

How do people open/close conversation

How do they take turns?
How speaker achieve smooth turn-taking, and what the rules are for who speaks when.

How are topics introduced, closed or shifted

4. What is a corpus? (X points)

A corpus is a large and principled collection of texts stored in electronic format. In other words, a
corpus is a systematic, planned and structured compilation of texts. It is designed for linguistic
analysis.

PRACTICE (X points)
1. Analyse the following examples of childrens use of vocabulary. Identify the type of
semantic errors that children have made (errors concerning the meaning of words) or the
linguistic hypothesis they have built when creating a new word (word formation processes).
(X points). Justify your answer.
a. The use of the word apple for tomatoes. Overextension
b. The use of the word shoes as applied only to the childs shoes. Underextension
c. Saying Im going to shut that door hard because Im a shutter. Variation
d. Saying I want to scissor this meaning I want to cut this with the scissors. Conversion
e. Asking where my orange juice-cup? Compounding two separate words to form a new
f. Using the word tractor to refer to a telephone. Mismatch

2. Read the following conversation between a native speaker (NS) and a non native speaker (NNS)
who is learning English as a foreign/second language and answer the questions below.
NNS: And they have the chwach here
NS: The what?
NNS: The chwach I know someone that
NS: What does it mean?
NNS: Like um like American people they always go there every Sunday.
NS: Yes?
NNS: You know every morning that there pr-that-the American people get dressed up to got to
um chwach.
NS: Oh to church I see (Pica, 1987: 6)

2.1. How is meaning negotiated? Identify the most relevant strategies that both participants use in
order to negotiate meaning:

a) What moves does the NS make?

To seek clarification I dont understand
b) What strategy (typical of Foreigner Talk) does the NNS use?
Contextual definition

2.2. How do you think that this particular interaction may help the non-native speaker to develop
his/her L2?
Aware pronunciation problem

3. Using the tools of critical linguistics / critical discourse analysis compare the texts below
(based on OHalloran, 2003). Please make sure that you address the following issues: the use
of lexis and the notion of agency / agentivity. (X points)
Text a:
police is a participant (as victims), passive structure, pickets demolished negative words.

Text b:
Police is active agent, active structure