YEAR TWO Second Language Acquisition
#1: The scope of psycholinguistics and SLA theory. Course overview
1. By and large, psycholinguistics is the study of the relationship between the human mind
and language. Among key issues of the field are (Richards et al., 1985: 234; Johnson &
Johnson, 1998: 267; Field 2003: 2):
o DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLINGUISTICS
żð the acquisition of linguistic knowledge - how humans learn language
żð the acquisition of more than one language system - bilingualism and
multilingualism
o LANGUAGE AND THE BRAIN - LANGUAGE STORAGE AND ACCESS
żð where does the brain store linguistic knowledge and semantic concepts? (e.g.
how vocabulary is stored and retrieved - the organisation of the mental
lexicon)
żð the relation between language and other cognitive systems (e.g. vision,
propositional thought, memory) - what neurological activity corresponds to
reading and listening?
żð the relation between language and articulatory/perceptual mechanisms -
what neurological and muscular activity is involved in speech?
żð can differences in the human brain account for the fact that our species is
unique to have developed language?
o LANGUAGE PROCESSING
żð the mental processes behind speech production and perception
żð what precisely goes on when an individual is listening, speaking, reading and
writing
żð how a grammatical structure is turned into a piece of information
o COMPREHENSION THEORY
żð the use of linguistic knowledge in comprehending and producing utterances
żð how we bring world knowledge to bear upon new information
żð how global meaning representation is constructed from words we hear or
read
żð how social and psychological factors affect language use
o LANGUAGE IN EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES
żð language impairments, e.g dyslexia or stuttering
żð how language is affected by brain damage or age (e.g. aphasia)
żð the effect of e.g. profound deafness on language acquisition
2. Among the issues covered in the first term of this course are:
o language acquisition
żð is second language learning like first language acquisition?
żð nature vs. nurture
żð language acquisition device (LAD) and universal grammar (UG)
żð the critical period hypothesis (CPH)
o bilingualism
żð how the bilingual brain stores languages
żð types of bilingualism (e.g. ambilingualism, double semilingualism)
żð is a FL learner a bilingual?
o language transfer
o sources and types of language errors
o the interlanguage hypothesis
o second language acquisition (SLA) theories
o the psychology of individual learner differences
żð inborn vs. acquired learner differences
żð the effect of biological, cognitive and socioaffective variables on FL learning:
age gender aptitude intelligence memory
modality learning style ambiguity tolerance
learning strategies communication strategies
motivations, orientations and attitudes empathy
attribution theory and locus of control
personality self-esteem anxiety inhibition
specific learning difficulties
BACKGROUND
Fernández, E. M. & Smith Cairns, H. 2011. Fundamentals of Psycholinguistics. Oxford: Wiley-
Blackwell.
Field, J. 2003. Psycholinguistics. A Resource Book for Students. London: Routledge.
Gass, S. M. & Selinker, L. (Eds.), 2008. Second Language Acquisition. An Introductory Course.
Third Edition. Oxford: Routledge.
Majer, J. 2010. "First language acquisition". In Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, B. (Ed.), New Ways
to Language. A
ódz
: A
ódz
University Press. 317-334.
Majer, J. 2010. "Second language acquisition and foreign language learning". In
Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, B. (Ed.), New Ways to Language. A
ódz
: A
ódz
University
Press. 352-375.
Saville-Troike, M. 2006. Introducing Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.