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Study questions
1. What do you think“the Joseph Conrad phenomenon” refers to?
Key: It refers to the ability of anadult L2 learner to master aspects of the written language, but to speak with adistinct L1 accent, as exemplified by the writer Joseph Conrad.
2. Why do we say thatmathematics is learned, not acquired?
Key: Mathematics is learned througha conscious process of accumulating knowledge, typically in an institutionalsetting. It is not acquired, because ability doesn’t gradually develop withoutconscious effort, as in the development of an L1 by young children.
3. What are four typicalbarriers to acquiring an L2 as an adult compared to L1 acquisition as a child?
Key: Choose four of these:
(1) Insufficient time is devoted to the process (a few hours eachweek rather than the constant interaction experienced as a child);
(2) Insufficient focus on the process (adults have a lot of otherthings to do and think about, unlike very young children);
(3) Insufficient incentive (adults already know a language and canuse it for their communicative needs);
(4) The ‘critical period’ for language acquisition has passed;
(5) Affective factors, such as self-consciousness, create moreinhibitions for an adult than a young child.
4. What is thedifference between positive and negative transfer?
Key: (1) Positive transfer is whenthe learner tries to use knowledge about a feature of the L1 that is similar tothe L2.
(2) Negative transfer is when the learner tries to use an L1 featurethat is really different from the L2.
5. What happens when aninterlanguage fossilizes?
Key: An interlanguage fossilizeswhen it contains many forms that do not match the target language and nofurther progress is being made.
6. What are the threecomponents of communicative competence?
Key: Grammatical, sociolinguisticand strategic competence
Tasks
A. Whatis the difference between “input” and “intake” in L2 learning?
Key: Input is the language that alearner is exposed to while intake is the input that is internalized by thelearner. Only comprehensible input (which, as defined by Krashen, is the bit oflanguage that is slightly ahead of a learner’s current knowledge of the L2grammar) has the potential to become intake.
Not all input in a language learning session or in a naturally occurringconversation is understandable. Whatever can be understandable and slightlyahead of the learner’s language level is what Krashen refers to ascomprehensible input and what Corder refers to as intake is what the learnerhas added in his language tools for immediate or future use. Intake is thus abetter term since not all “comprehensible input” can be taken in. Depending onthe difficult level of the new concept , a language learner may need to hearthe concept ones or several times before internalizing it. Althoughcomprehensible, the new concept may not be 1 to the learner’s languageacquisition process. Comprehensible input and intake are therefore twodifferent perspectives regarding input in language acquisition.
B. What arguments arepresented in support of “the output hypothesis” in L2 studies?
Key: The Output Hypothesis proposedby Swain argued that language output may trigger the learners to pay attentionto the target linguistic form in order to express their intended meaning. Thenoticing function of the Output Hypothesis posits that learners may notice thegap in their IL knowledge in an attempt to produce the target language toprompt them to solve their linguistic deficiency in ways that are appropriatein a given context.
Recent research implies that attention does work in SLA. For example, Schmidt stated that a connection exists between learning and attention.He further explains that noticing, which requires learner focus, is animportant part of the learning process.
C. What is meant by a“stylistic continuum” in the study of interlanguage?
Key: The stylistic continuum is theproduct of differing degrees of attention reflected in a variety of performancetasks.